Creepypasta [ON HOLD AGAIN]

Voices in the Spirit Box

When I was 17 my mother was murdered. But this story isn't about her. My mother's killer is still in prison for his crime. No, this story is about what happened afterwards.
About a year after my mother's funeral, my dad started mentioning that she would come visit him at night. He said she glowed in a pure white light and reached out to him with a warm smile on her face. He said she looked just the way she did the last time he saw her, before she left for the store on the last night of her life.
My sister and I both missed my mother very much and we wanted to believe it was true. We did whatever we could think of to try and contact her, but it was only my dad who ever saw her. We just wanted to say goodbye.
Ouija boards, spirit boxes, automatic writing, psychics and mediums; we tried them all and all proved to be little more than distractions.
About three months into our efforts my dad had his first blackout. He claimed it was just stress but my sister and I agreed in confidence that it was more than that. He would forget things all the time, talk about old memories out of the blue, and then he started getting these horrible migraines. We didn't learn the source of it all until he finally agreed to go to the doctor. He had a brain tumor. Inoperable.
His doctor told us it was the likely source of all he'd been experiencing, including the hallucinations of his dead wife. My sister and I lost all hope in ever saying goodbye to our mom and focused on our dad instead.
By then I was nearly 19 and my sister was 22. She ended up moving back in with Dad and me to help take care of him. Even with treatment he only lasted 6 months, though, which was 3 months longer than the prognosis. When my dad finally passed away, we were both devastated. I can still remember that night so vividly in my mind; the loneliness, the realization that both my parents were gone. And it was worse to realize that in all of our attempts to find proof of some kind of afterlife, we'd found nothing.
Dad's last words to the both of us were about Mom:
"She's telling me to come with her, she looks so beautiful...so beautiful."
My actual story starts almost a year later though, when I finally decided to move out of my parents' house and in with my longtime girlfriend.
"Alex!" I could hear my sister yelling for me downstairs. She had moved back in with her boyfriend months ago but she was home to help me pack up the last of our parents things for sale or donation. "Alex, what do you want to do with all these dishes?" I poked my head out of my half-packed room and yelled back down to her.
"Donate!"
"What?"
I sighed and went bounding down the stairs, taking the last 5 in a single jump, landing in the hallway. My sister stood in kitchen doorway and repeated her question.
"What do you want to do with all these dishes?"
"Donate. Clean your ears, Lilly, I could hear you just fine."
"Are you telling me to clean something? That's a fucking laugh!" Lilly spun around and went back into the kitchen, talking as she walked. "Are you sure you don't need any of this stuff?"
"Nope. Carla has everything we need in the dishes department." I followed her into the kitchen and saw her staring down at a beige plate decorated with a chicken and two ears of corn which sat below its feet. It was from our usual dining set, I remember sitting down to dinner every night to those plates in front of me.
"I think I want to keep one of these."
Lilly's eyes had misted over, and I knew how she felt. It was the little things that seemed to catch you. I smiled and walked over to her, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, you should. Save one for me too, okay?"
She looked up at me and smiled.
Suddenly, we both felt something whiz between our heads at a high speed and heard it crash against the far wall just below my mom's old cat clock. Lilly nearly dropped the plate she was holding as she jumped back and let out yelp. We had both been startled right out of our family moment and I could feel my heart beating at a mile a minute.
"What the fuck was that!" Lilly yelled, setting the plate down on the kitchen table and stepping toward the far wall.
She bent down and disappeared behind the table cloth for a second before reemerging with a piece of broken plate in her hand. She had a confused look on her face, one I must have mirrored. We were the only two people in the house; no one else could have thrown that plate. On the sliver of porcelain Lilly was holding I could see a chicken's foot raising up from behind an ear of corn. It was from the same set we had been discussing.
"You've gotta be kidding me." I said, turning my head to glance at the cupboard full of dishes and then back at Lilly. She shrugged and gave me the 'I dunno' look. That's when I noticed that the familiar ticking from my mother's cat clock, a sound I had been accustomed to hearing for years, had stopped. I looked up at the wall behind Lilly and noticed the cat's tail had stopped swinging and it's always shifting eyes had frozen in place.
It was staring directly at me.
I shivered involuntarily and went to help Lilly pick up the pieces of broken dish scattered about the kitchen floor.
The plate incident reminded us of all our efforts to contact our mother. In all of our attempts we never saw anything even remotely paranormal happen, yet here we were face to face with an event that neither of us could explain. It didn't take long to decide we should pursue it.
The incident had also cast doubt on the theory that my father had been hallucinating prior to his death. In our desperation, we eagerly jumped on the small chance to talk to them one more time. I know now that hope can be as dangerous as it is comforting. Lilly and I went to our significant others and explained what we were going to attempt: we wanted to give the Ouija board and the spirit box one more try. Carla was open to the idea when I told her about it and she actually seemed kind of excited. Lilly had a harder time with David. As she relayed it to me she had to "drag him along, kicking and screaming." In the end, though, he showed up and I knew that even if he didn't buy in to any of it, he would be there for my sister.
Two nights later we all gathered at my parent's house. At the time, we were excited, giddy. We had no idea what we were signing up for. If we had, I would have walked away from that place and never looked back.
"Is everyone ready?" Lilly asked, her fingers already resting on top of the planchette.
Carla looked at me, green eyes that darkened to a near black in the dim, orange candle light. She winked at me and put her hands on the planchette next to Lilly's. Then I placed my fingers on the other side of the plastic toy and did my best to ignore the disapproving look on David's face. He had reluctantly agreed to be our scribe, writing down the words that might be spelled out during our séance.
Lilly started moving the planchette around the board in the infinity shape like we had always done before. I could feel the same excitement welling up inside me like it had the first time we'd tried this. I could see the same fervor reflected in my sister's expression.
"What now?" Carla whispered over the board.
"Now we ask some questions." Lilly held her head high like she was trying to channel some kind of divine energy. My sister always got a little bit too into the theatrics of the whole thing.
"Is there anyone here with us?" I took the lead.
We all watched the board with bated breath hoping to feel some movement beneath our fingers. Suddenly the infinity shape motion stopped and we watched the planchette move slowly across the board towards the top left corner before stopping at the word YES.
"Okay...you guys aren't fucking with me right? Cause I didn't do that." Carla was looking at me again, I could see her out of the corner of my eye. I was stunned; in the million times we had tried this, nothing had ever really happened at all.
"No, we...we aren't fucking with you."
"Ask another question!" Lilly's voice had gone up at least two octaves and she was smiling like a crazy person. It was the same look she would get on Christmas morning when we were kids. The joy of discovery and the satisfaction of finally getting what you've been waiting for.
"What is your name?" I asked, diving right in. This was going to be the moment of truth.
I was surprised at just how quickly the planchette started moving around the board. We called out each letter as the planchette briefly stopped and I heard David scribbling away.
I-T-S-D-A-D-D-Y
"It's...Daddy." David murmured the words in a voice that contrasted his previously cool demeanor.
Lilly's hands left the planchette and she slapped them across her mouth. I could see her eyes quickly filling with tears. Carla and David both sat there slack jawed and I'm sure my face had a similar look.
"Lil, put your hand back on the thing." I said weakly, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of me. "Lilly! Please put your hand back on."
She did as I asked and when her hands left her face I noted the smile she had been hiding.
"Daddy, is that really you?" Lilly's question choked out through a mixture of laughter and tears.
YES
The response was immediate.
"We miss you so much Daddy. It's been so hard since you and Mom have been gone!"
W-E-M-I-S-S-Y-O-U-T-O-O
"Holy shit!" Carla couldn't contain herself any longer and I found myself smile at his use of the word 'WE'.
"Dad!" I couldn't even hope to disguise the excitement in my voice. "Is Mom there with you?"
YES
My sister - now suffering through full blown sobs of joy - leaned her head over and rested it on David's shoulder. He stared down at his notepad rereading the words, barely registering that she was there. I didn't know if he was stunned by what he was seeing or horrified at how deluded we all were. David had never been much of a believer.
"Dad, can Mom talk to us?" I wanted to keep the dialogue going.
IM SORRY
I raised an eyebrow at the response.
"What are you sorry about?" I asked, unsure if I was speaking to my mother or my father.
SHES TOO COLD
TOO HARD FOR HER
The smile fell from Lilly's face and the mood of the room became more solemn as David read the last sentences out loud. The planchette continued to move then without any more prompting.
SO COLD HERE
SO LONELY
WE MISS YOU
WE MISS YOU
ITS DADDY
PLEASE HELP
PLEASE
WE NEED YOU
After the last 'U' the planchette suddenly shot out from under our hands, paused just milliseconds over GOODBYE, and then fired across the room and hit the wall at roughly the same speed as the plate that morning.
I jumped up, away from the board in shock. Lilly was now sobbing loudly as David held her but his eyes remained fixed on the board as if it were the most alien object he'd ever seen. Carla touched my hand with shaking fingers and I looked down to see fear in her eyes.
"I don't understand." Carla said and stood up."I'm so sorry, baby." She wrapped her arms around me and it was only then that I noticed the wetness on my own cheeks. I hadn't cried since my mom's murder, and I figured something in me had broken that day. Even when Dad passed I didn't cry. Now though, in this moment, the tears finally came.
We tried to contact my parents again all night but the planchette didn't move again.
We'd hoped contact with our parents would make us feel better, give us some sense of closure, but instead it had devastated us, Lilly most of all. Most days she would sit in the living room for hours, listening to the static of the spirit box, hoping to hear a voice.
As the weeks went on Lilly became quieter and more introverted. She retreated into herself, hardly speaking to anyone. The conversation with the Ouija board had made an impression on me too, but Lilly had become obsessed. I gradually became less interested in contacting our parents again and more concerned about my sister's mental state.
And then one night I woke from that nightmare to a realer, more horrifying one.
I answered my ringing phone to hear David's voice yelling through earpiece.
"Alex! Your sister just took off!"
"Took off? What do you mean?" David's tone was panicked and I rubbed the sleep from eyes and tried to focus.
"Alex, she's been way worse than she lets on. Lilly doesn't sleep anymore. She just sits in the kitchen and listens to that damn little radio."
"The spirit box?"
"Yeah, that fucking thing! She says she can still hear your parents talking to her. I want to believe her, man, but I sat for hours with her one night and didn't hear a single thing."
"Jesus."
"Alex, I'm scared for her. Tonight she was listening to it and talking back to it, her voice woke me up. I couldn't understand exactly what she said but she was crying and then I heard her bolt out the door and slam it behind her."
"She went back to my parents' house."
It wasn't a question, I could feel it in my bones. I may not have known the full extent of what was happening but I did know that something very, very bad had just happened to my sister. She couldn't cope with what the Ouija board had told us and after all these years of suppressing her sadness, she had just cracked.
"You think? That's what I was thinking too. I know you have keys, man, can I meet you there? I think we need to get her help."
I sighed into the phone, knowing he was right. Lilly may never forgive us but I was quickly becoming convinced that she needed professional care. The weight of the decision to admit her somewhere felt smothering. I looked down at Carla who was awake, staring warily out the window with lines of worry etched on her face.
"Yeah. Yeah, just let me get dressed. I can be at my parent's in about 45 minutes. Let me see if I can talk to Lilly."
"Thanks, Alex, I'm gonna head over now. I'm a lot closer so I'll let her know you're coming."
We hung up and I relayed the entire conversation to Carla. Despite my best efforts to keep her safe at home, she insisted on going with me. And when I protested she challenged me to try and stop her. Ten minutes later we were in the car heading to my old house.
The argument with Carla had delayed my departure and we actually arrived at the house more than an hour later. Both Lilly and David's cars were parked in the driveway, so I parked on the street and Carla and I headed to the front door.
I noticed as we climbed the porch steps that no lights were on inside the house. The front door was slightly ajar and I took a deep breathe before pushing it all the way open with a creak. Beyond the door was utter blackness, a seeming void instead of a welcoming foyer. I had never seen the house this dark before. As I let my eyes adjust, I listened intently for any sound. All I could hear the clicking of the spirit box rapidly changing channels through the soft static. I finally stepped inside and made my way down the hall, taking Carla's hand as she followed behind me. "Lilly!" I yelled out and I heard the acute fear in my weak, shaking voice. I couldn't understand why I was suddenly so terrified in my own house. But I couldn't shake the feeling.
I hugged the walls until we rounded the corner into the softly lit living room. A dull, blue light was emitting from somewhere and I could see Lilly sitting in front of it. She was cross-legged on the floor; the spirit box was in front of her and her head was hung between her shoulder blades, blonde hair covering her face. "Lilly?" I whispered, squeezing Carla's hand as I let go to walk toward my sister. I was halfway to her when Carla suddenly flipped on the light switch - and screamed.
I was blinded at first, and disoriented by the screaming, but my eyes gradually made the adjustment.
I blinked a few more times and found myself still facing Lilly, who had remained sitting on the floor with the spirit box in front of me. Her forearms were cut wrist to elbow and she was sitting in a pool of blood. David was there, lying next to her, stabbed god knows how many times in the chest, neck, and face. I could only assume it was him, as the body was unrecognizable.
I heard Carla take off down the hallway and slam the front door as she left the house. As I adjusted to my state of absolute shock, I scanned the room calmly before hysteria set in. The walls were covered in writing, the same three phrases over and over again, written in fresh blood.
ITS DADDY
WE MISS YOU
WE NEED YOU
I snapped out of my trance, suddenly, and stumbled over to Lilly. I begged every god I had ever heard of to let her be alive somehow, to let me save her. I choked on my prayers as I rescued Lilly's limp body out of the crimson puddle and screamed for Carla to call 911.
Her skin lacked the warmth of life and I pressed my face to hers, begging her to wake up, my whispers falling on dead ears. I cried, the soft static of the spirit box played the score to my pain. How many eternities passed before Carla returned, I do not know. But I saw her there, finally, standing in the doorway, talking to emergency services and staring at us. I cradled Lilly's body and rocked back and forth. I could tell from the look of disgust and pity set upon her face that Carla couldn't hear the sounds coming from the spirit box.
"Alex, it's mommy....we need you."
It was faint, but it was her. My mother's voice was unmistakable.
A year later, when the detectives finally called to let me know they were releasing my sister's things, I brought the spirit box home. I didn't let Carla know that I had it; she had never quiet recovered from what she'd seen the night of the murder/suicide. The media had called Lilly's case a "tragic descent into madness". Carla and I couldn't have agreed more. But sometimes late at night, when Carla is asleep, I slip out of bed and sneak into the living room. I pull the spirit box out from behind a stack of books and I turn it on, just for a few seconds. But in those moments, I listen closely to the clicking sounds of the radio quickly scanning through the static. I strain to hear their words, the voices of my family.
And sometimes I hear them.
In the few seconds, I've heard them say many things. They tell me that they need me, that they love me, and that it's lonely without me. They claim that it's cold. They beg me to join them, Lilly says it's easy, and that I should bring Carla with me.
They say we'll all be happy there.
But there is something behind their voices, something that sometimes bleeds through. Lilly must have either ignored the sound, or blocked it out completely.
Beneath their warm invitations and desperate pleading, I can hear something laughing. Something inhuman.

this is why i don't touch ouija boards. fuck that. i love ghosts but that thing really terrifies me bye. ao go vote on the hashtag yo