Séance Insomnia

III - mistake

[She was always the one we relied on to give advice for this kind of situations. So, seeing her so terrified, we all had the same thought, we were screwed.]

Then all eyes turned on me since I was the one actually acting upon Emily's guidance.

The planchette moved faster and faster, and my mind was turning. I could hear the sound of footsteps in the hallway, just behind the wall. I could smell an awfull rotten odour and I felt like I would black out.

"Fuck this. Just stop, take your hands off." I said in a rush.

We knew we should end the session before leaving. We always did, but it just kept spelling out more and more nonsense, until finally we had to just get up and leave.

"We thank you spirits for coming to our circle. Any energy that is not of a greatest good get the fuck out!" Emily chanted loudly just before we took our hands away from the board and simultaneously crawled away from it.

But the planchette continued to move on its own, and we could feel a cold breeze blowing through us and blowing the candles out. For a glimpse of time I saw shadows moving with the corner of my eye, and I could feel a presence looming over us.

"I need to fucking sleep." I said holding back tears.

"It's not the fucking time, Sophia!" Max shouted.

The planchette stopped all of a sudden and we had the slightest amount of time to take in what just happened.

"Fuck you, Max." I scoffed before grabbing my school bag and walking away.

As I did, I felt like something had followed me, something that didn't wanted me there.

"Where are you going?" asked Ethan from behind me when they realised I was getting away from school.

I didn't answer. I just walked home, tears had streamed down my cheeks, but I never realised until they dried out.

I walked in. My mom was in the living room, getting ready for work. She looked up and saw me, concern etched on her face.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice gentle and soothing.

I felt my cheeks getting hot. I knew I couldn't tell her about the seance. I couldn't give her the full truth. But I could give her half of it.

"What are you doing home? Why are you skipping school?" she asked, her voice now stern.

I tried to give an explanation, my voice heavy with fatigue. "Mom, I'm just really tired. I didn't feel well this morning, and I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate in class," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"That's not a good enough excuse." she laughed, "You need to go to school. You can't just skip whenever you feel like it," she added, shaking her head.

"Mother-" I sighed, trying to hold back tears, "I haven't had a proper sleep for days. I just need some rest," I said, feeling frustrated.

"You didn't sleep again?," she yelled, her tone unyielding.

I sighed, feeling like I would never be able to satisfy her with an answer. Fighting over this was the last thing I wanted at the moment. But the conversation had already begun and I might as well get the best of it. "Mom, I've told you before. I can't fall asleep. I try! But I can't!" I said, my voice low.

Mother's face hardened. "Sophia! This has been going on for too long!" she said, her tone accusatory.

No shit. I thought to myself.

"Believe it or not, I didn't want to be awake all night," I said, in an obviously ironic tone.

She looked up and saw me, frowning in disapproval. "Well, maybe we could figure out a solution if you ever talked to me. It's not healthy to be up all night, don't you understand that?" she said, putting on her shoes.