Hades

The girls nodded in agreement, happy to relinquish rights to the role of medium. I felt Molly shiver beside me. “Now join hands,” Abby said. “And whatever you do, don’t let go. We need to form a protective circle — if you break the circle you set the spirit free.”

“Who told you that?” Savannah whispered. “Doesn’t breaking hands just end the seance?”

“Yes, and if it’s a harmless spirit then breaking hands will send it back to rest, but if it’s vengeful then we have to be careful. We don’t know what we’re summoning.”

“Well, how about we just summon a nice friendly ghost,” Madison said, prompting Abby to give her a contemptuous stare.

“What, like Casper?”

Madison didn’t appreciate being mocked, but we all knew Abby was right. “I guess not,” she conceded.

“Then it’s luck of the draw.”

I bit my tongue to refrain from commenting on Abby’s foolproof plan. Conducting a seance on the one night of the year when it was actually likely to work was stupid in the extreme. I shook my head and tried to banish my doubts. I reminded myself this was nothing more than a childish game; something most teenagers dabbled in for fun. The sooner we got it over with, the sooner we could go downstairs and enjoy the rest of the night.

Molly and Savannah, who were sitting on either side of me, each took hold of one of my hands and gripped them tightly. Their palms were clammy and I sensed a combination of fear and excitement. Abby bowed her head and closed her eyes. Her blond hair flopped inconveniently in front of her face and she interrupted her invocation to tether it into a loose ponytail with the Day-Glo hair tie she wore around her wrist. Then she cleared her throat theatrically, cast us all a meaningful look, and began to speak in a low voice that sounded like a chant.

“Spirits that walk the earth, we invoke you to come forward and dwell among us! We mean you no harm; we only want to make a connection. Do not be afraid. If you have a story to tell, we want to hear it. I repeat, we will not harm you; in return we ask that you do not harm us.”

The room swelled with a deadly silence. The girls exchanged uneasy glances. I knew that some were now regretting expressing so much enthusiasm for Abby’s project and wished they were downstairs drinking with their friends and flirting with the boys. I gritted my teeth and turned my thoughts away from the distasteful ceremony that was taking place before me. I had enough sense to know that disturbing the dead was not only unwise, but insensitive too. It went against everything I’d been taught about life and death. Hadn’t they ever heard of the expression rest in peace? I wanted to pull my hands away and leave the room, but I knew Abby would be furious and I’d be wearing the label of buzzkill for the rest of the year. I sighed heavily, hoping they would soon get bored when no response was forthcoming and abandon the game. Molly and I exchanged dubious glances.

Five long minutes elapsed with only the sound of our breathing and Abby periodically repeating her incantation. Just as the girls were beginning to get restless and someone complained openly about a leg cramp, the crystal glass began to wobble. Everyone sat bolt upright, each girl’s attention fully restored. The glass shook for a moment longer and then began to teeter its way across the board, spelling out a message as it went. Abby, as self-appointed medium, called out each letter the glass touched until it had spelled out a clear message.

Stop. Stop now. Leave this place. You are all in danger.

“Oooh, that sounds exciting,” Madison said mockingly. The others looked at one another uncertainly, trying to determine the person in the group who was behind the prank. With everyone’s fingers on the glass, it was impossible to tell who was moving it. I felt Molly clutch my hand tighter as another message began to be spelled out.

Stop. Listen. Evil is here.

“Why should we believe you?” Abby asked boldly. “Do we know you?”

The glass now seemed to move in giant swoops, entirely of its own volition. It swam across the board and came to rest defiantly on the word YES.

“Okay, now I know this is a joke,” said Madison. “Come on, own up. Who’s doing it?” Abby ignored her protest.

“Shut up, Mad. No one’s doing it,” Hallie snapped. “You’re breaking the mood.”

“You can’t honestly expect me to believe …”

“If we know you, tell us your name,” Abby insisted.

For several long seconds the glass seemed to stall.

“Told you this is all a load of crap,” Madison began, but no sooner had she spoken that the glass resumed its dance around the board. At first it seemed confused, lingering under some letters and then steering away suddenly as if to tease us. It seemed uncertain to me, like a young child, not entirely familiar with the process. It careered across the board spelling out T-A-Y. Then it stopped as if it were unsure what to do.

“You can trust us,” Abby urged.

The glass slunk back to the middle of the board and slowly looped across to spell out the final three letters, L-A-H.

It was Molly who broke the uncomfortable silence. “Taylah?” she whispered in a voice that came out sounding strangled. Then she furiously blinked back tears and glared around the circle.

“Okay, this isn’t funny,” she hissed. “Who did it? What the hell is wrong with you guys?”

Her accusation was met by a flurry of head shaking and protests. “It wasn’t me,” they each said. “I didn’t do it.”

I felt a chill run down my spine. Deep down I knew none of the girls would stoop so low as to bring their dead friend into the game. Taylah’s death was still fresh, no one would dare joke about it. And that meant only one thing — Abby had made a connection, broken the barrier. We were treading on dangerous ground.

“What if it’s not a joke?” Savannah suggested tentatively. “No one here would be that sick. What if it really is her?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Abby said. “We have to summon her and ask for a sign.”

“But she just told us to stop,” Molly protested. “What if she doesn’t want to be summoned?”

“Yeah, what if she was trying to warn us?” Hallie shivered.

“You’re all so gullible.” Madison rolled her eyes. “Go ahead and summon her, Abby, nothing’s going to happen.”

Abby leaned forward, bending low over the Ouija board. “We command you,” she said, her voice deepening. “Come forward and show yourself.”

Through the window, I saw a dark cloud drift across the sky, obscuring the moon and completely blotting out the silver light that had been filling the room. For a moment I felt Taylah’s presence, radiating warmth as strong as the heat in the hand I held. But just as suddenly she vanished, leaving nothing but a cold space in the air.

“We command you,” Abby repeated with heightened emotion. “Come forward!”

The windowpanes rattled as the wind started to howl outside. The room suddenly felt very cold, and Molly wound her fingers so tightly around mine she was almost cutting off my circulation.

“Come forward!” Abby commanded. “Show yourself!

At that moment the window flew open and a harsh wind rushed into the room, snuffing out the candles in an instant. Some of the girls squealed and gripped each other’s hands more tightly. I felt the wind on the back of my neck, like cold, dead fingers. I shuddered and hunched forward, trying to protect myself from it. Savannah whimpered and I knew she felt it too. These girls might be oblivious to most things, but anyone could sense that there was now a presence in the room and it was none too friendly.

I knew then I had to say something before it was too late.

“We have to stop this,” I cried. “It isn’t a game anymore.”

“You can’t leave now, Beth. You’ll ruin everything.” Abby’s eyes darted around the room. “Is someone here?” she asked. “Give us a sign that you can hear me.”

I heard Hallie gasp and looked down to see the glass drifting silently across the Ouija board. It came to rest on the word YES. Savannah’s hand in mine was now slippery with sweat.

“Who’s doing that?” Molly whispered.