Wheels

Chapter XXII

I read the rules aloud from my phone:

Never use the Ouija Board by yourself.

Never take your hands off the planchette until after you've said 'goodbye.'

Don't allow the spirit to count down numbers or through the alphabet.

Be serious- don't upset the spirits.

Never use the board in a graveyard or in a place where a terrible death has occurred.

The board will scream if you try to burn it- if you hear a scream you have less than thirty-six hours to live.

"Oh sounds like Candice." Vanessa snickered.

Never ask about God, and don't ask about when you are going to die.

Don't use the Ouija Board if you are doubting or Atheist.

"Well shit, I'm out." Ansley slapped her knee.

"It's fine, I'm Atheist and I've played this many times. Just don't talk about your beliefs or God." I explained.

"Whew." she sighed.

We sat in the center of the living room, the Ouija board being surrounded by all of us. I sat right in front so I could see all of the letters and numbers correctly, since I was the only one who actually knew what they were doing and would be asking the questions.

We chose Leo to write down everything the spirit says, since he was too afraid to play himself. We all then assigned Carson as the watcher, to see if anything seems off or if something bad happens. Also because we don't trust him to be semi serious for once.

We turn off all the lights, the only source of light coming from the full moon and the candles we placed around the room.

The order around the board going counter-clockwise was me, then Vanessa, Bradley, Owen, Ansley, Anthony, then Link.

"It's time to start." I announced to everyone. I could tell that most of them were visibly worried, except for Bradley.  I'm pretty sure I heard from Vanessa at some point that he had a huge thing for horror movies and paranormal stuff.

We all placed our fingers onto the planchette. I started it off. "If there are any spirits in this room that would like to communicate with us, now would be the time to do so."

Everyone's eyes shuffled around the room and to the board as they waited for something to happen.

I suddenly felt goosebumps grow onto my arms and I felt a cool breeze on my neck. Somebody was here.

"Why do I have goosebumps!" Carson hissed, running his arms.

"Shhh!" Vanessa replied.

The next thing that happened made everyone jump a little. The planchette started moving.

I watched as it moved towards the word 'yes'.

I looked over to my right as Vanessa's eyes widened. I genuinely felt bad for her since I know she hates this stuff.

"What is your name?" I questioned.

The planchette moved to the letters E-M-I-L-Y, causing me to gasp.

"That's my grandmother's name." I whispered, more to myself.

"Ask it some questions." Ansley suggested.

"What is your last name?"

B-O-O-T-H

"Maiden name?"

R-A-D-L-E-Y

Oh. My. Lord. It really is my grandmother.

She died just when I was about 4 years old in a car accident.

"Where are you now?"

H-E-A-V-E-N

"Is it what we all believe it to be?"

N-O

"Are you safe?"

Instead of answering my question, the planchette moved to "Goodbye."

I took the planchette off and placed it to the side of the board. "Okay which one of y'all did that?"

"None of us." Vanessa said. "I'm pretty sure nobody here knows your grandmother's name, let alone maiden name."

I looked over at Link, and he shrugged.

"Whatever, let's do this again." I suggested.

"I don't think we should." Carson said, sitting on the couch.

"Oh come on, it won't hurt." Owen spoke.

I placed the planchette back on, and everybody put their two fingers on it.

"If there are any spirits nearby that would like to communicate with us, now would be the time to do so." I announced. "Is anyone here?"

The planchette moved quickly to "Yes."

"What is your name?"

It began spelling out the same two letters- Z-O-Z-O-Z-O-Z-O-Z-O...

"Zo-" Carson was immediately interrupted by Ansley.

"Don't say it!"

"Why?"

"Trust me, you don't want to." Bradley's voice became husky and harsh.

"Geez Louise." Carson pouted.

"Unless you have good intentions, we are going to say goodbye." I've never had the chance to talk to.... you know who before. Therefore, I didn't really know how to end it.

The planchette moved to "No."

"What the fuck?" Link touched his face and wiped away a tear. Tears began falling down his face like water fountains. "I'm not even... what."

"I don't like this..." Vanessa's voice became shaky.

I forced it to move to goodbye, however the spirit was too strong and resisted.

Then it moved to 4.

"Everybody move it to goodbye!"

3.

We moved it with as much force as we could. A door swung open, and the TV turned on, but it was all grey static.

2.

Papers started flying around and the lights started flickering.

"In the name of Jesus Christ goodbye!" Vanessa shouted, and the planchette immediately moved to "Goodbye."

I through the planchette to the other side of the room and everybody gasped for air. It was all so tense. One of us could've very easily gotten possessed, and that would not be good.

"Holy shit." tears started streaming down Vanessa's face, and she stood up and walked away from the board.

I was frozen, and I didn't know how to move.

I watched as Owen stood up and went over to Vanessa, wrapped his arms around her. She cried onto his shoulder, and I felt horrible.

"Maeve? Are you okay?" Bradley noticed that I was spacing out, and his grey eyes filled with worry.

I slowly nodded, then figured out how I was going to destroy the board.