Crossing the Line

Chapter Fifteen

Hey, so sorry this took so long. Things are starting to wrap up, I hope you enjoy!

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"in the weeks leading up to my sixteenth birthday, my mother had fallen dreadfully ill. I loved her dearly, I was terrified by the possibility of losing her. Losing her became the only possibility I could see when we were told that she was suffering from pneumonia."

Lillian let out a shaky breath; reliving these memories was painful. She wiped her eyes dry with one hand, the other remaining by her side, tight fist falling limp. She huffed when Bonibell didn't seem to grasp the gravity of her statement.

"Oh – uh, right. That was pretty much deadly back then, wasn't it?" she asked, catching the hint. "I mean, it is still now, but..."

"'Back then'? You say that like I lived one hundred years ago... this was only 1902, Miss Bonibell." Lillian gave the other girl a tight-lipped smile; in all honesty, she had no idea how long she had been stuck here.

"Uh, dude, it's... it's 2015. That's more than a hundred years."

Lillian gaped, eyes wide. No wonder it had felt like an eternity... She was unable to find words that even began to describe her shock.

"Are you going to continue your story?" Bonibell demanded. She was growing impatient – sure, her curiosity had been piqued, but she wanted this to be over with. Maybe if she could get Lillian to trust her, she could leave... besides, it looked like Lillian was going to give her a little more insight into their predicament, and having more information couldn't hurt. But that information wouldn't come if Lillian kept stopping.

"Oh – yes, yes. Sorry. Um... alright. My father sent us to live with his sister for a short while, as my mother lay on her deathbed. My parents didn't wish for us to see her dying. That was when things really started to go wrong. My uncle was a traveller, and he had just returned from the United States, and for my cousins, he had brought back this 'game'." Malice had overcome her voice, it was shocking to Bonibell. The girl had been so soft-spoken before (aside from their initial meeting.) "My cousins were enthralled with the American idea of the dead communicating with the living, and this game was supposed to have something to do with that."

"You'd better not be talking about-" Bonibell deadpanned, but Lillian kept going.

"I didn't believe in it, but apparently a spirit was supposed to push this little thing around on the board, spelling out words-"

"Oh, fucking hell. You're not serious, right? Ouija boards are fake. It's either a trick, or your mind doing it. I knew I shouldn't believe this. You're just toying with me."

"It certainly seemed fake in the beginning. You think I'm here because of a useless piece of wood?!" Lillian cleared her throat, regaining her composure. "My cousins refused to let my siblings and I touch it, they claimed we did not have 'what it takes'. But they were the ones who screamed when it actually spelled out things. I remember laughing at them, but then they said that soon we'd be able to talk to my mother on it." Now it was Bonibell's turn to stare in shock. Who on Earth would say something like that, especially about their own aunt? "I kicked the board and my aunt sent us all to bed without supper.