Devil's Board

Part 1

It took her a few minutes to change the baby’s diaper and get him a bottle. Poor little guy was out even before he finished his bottle. She settled him back in his crib and smiled down at him. She adored the little tyke. Even when he screamed his head off.

She picked the bottle up and started for the door. An odor hit her nose and she stopped. She sniffed and scrunched up her nose. Oh my god, what was that? It smelled rotten, like someone had forgotten food for a few days. It reeked. Sarra tried breathing through her mouth, but it was impossible to escape the foul smell. She turned on the light and searched the room, thinking someone had eaten something up here and forgotten, but she couldn’t find anything. She pulled her shirt up to cover her nose, trying not to gag.

A thump sounded and then a wail. Forgetting the odor for a moment, she hurried to Dakota’s room. She found him on the floor, crying. “Hey, little man. Are you okay?”

His big blue eyes were full of tears and he pointed at the corner. Sarra looked over but didn’t see anything. “What it is, Koda?” she asked.

“Boo-boo,” he whispered.

Sarra picked him and sat down on his bed, rocking him. “Shh, little man. You just had a bad dream. There’s nothing there, baby. I promise.”

He whimpered, but settled against her, trusting her. It took her twenty minutes to get him to calm down enough to fall back asleep. She tucked him in and made sure his night light was on. The small lamp lay on the floor. He must have knocked it off when he fell out of bed. She turned it on, and the room lit up with images of dinosaurs. The lamp shade spun around and the shapes that had been cut out flashed over the walls.

Now to figure out where that smell was coming from. She tucked Dakota in and turned toward the door. She nearly screamed when she caught an image of something in the corner. It did look like a boo-boo, dark and hunched over. She blinked and it was gone. Sarra rubbed her eyes and shook her head. No more scary movies tonight.

Going back to Mason’s room, Sarra frowned. The smell was gone. It smelled like baby powder again. She checked the baby and gave the room a last once over before turning the light off and going back downstairs. She grabbed the popcorn bowl to empty it out. She’d freaked herself out enough for one night. Maybe she’d find a good old fashioned comedy on. Lord knows she’d had enough weird for one night.

Flopping back down on the couch she channel surfed for a few minutes, but found nothing on she really wanted to watch. It was Halloween and everyone had on scary movies or other specials. Her eyes landed on the Ouija board. Why not? It was Halloween after all.

She pulled the table closer and ran her fingers over the wood. The letters were carved deep into the smooth surface. A chill swept through her when she touched the pointer. Sarra shivered, but continued to lazily move the pointer over the surface. She’d seen movies about the board, read horror stories about them and even played with once with some friends in middle school. It was a silly game and they’d scared themselves to death, each moving the cursor without letting on they were. It had been fun.

Well, Halloween was All Hallow’s Eve, the night when the veil between the living and the dead was supposedly at its weakest. Sarra laughed at the thought. Silly superstitious nonsense. Fun to play at though. She stopped moving the cursor and let her fingers rest lightly on it instead.

“Alright, oh great and powerful spirit board, talk to me.” She laughed out loud as she said it, but then frowned when there was a small tug from under her fingers. She glanced down, but it had stopped. Or maybe it had never moved at all.

“Hello?” she tried again. “Is anyone here?”

This time she knew she felt a tug. The cursor pulled itself to the word yes. Sarra let go as if the thing was on fire. She just stared. No freaking way. She hadn’t move it. It moved. On its own. How? Was someone pranking her maybe? Tom deciding to have some fun with her because she missed the party? She pulled out her phone and dialed his number.