Broken Together // J. Washington

Isolation

Josh had said he was going with Chris and Ashley to do something together, but I didn't really want to be alone. So, I decided to tag along. I had no idea what Chris and Ash had in mind.

"So, it says here," Chris starts, "To communicate with the spirit world, you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the 'Spirit-master' which is me-" Chris plays, Ashley cuts him off before he can continue. I don't say anything, but I listen.

"It doesn't say that-" Ashley retaliates, only to be cut off in return by Chris. It was so damn obvious that they had feelings for each other. I wish they would just act on it already!

"And all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion-" Chris continues the joke, but this time Josh cuts him off.

We were all sitting around a table that had a 'spirit board' on it. I was very skeptical of the whole thing, but I still went along with it anyway.

"Chris, come on. This is serious." Josh tries to chill Chris out. And successfully does so.

"Oh, I'm deadly serious." Chris continues to joke, trying to sound funny and laughing. Nobody really laughs, but they give him the 'can-you-please-shut-the-fuck-up' look and he stops playing around.

"Oh shush it. Let's try this, please." Ashley says, getting everyone ready to start.

"Yes, please." Josh pleads, and everyone adjusts themselves to start the game.

"Okay. Is anyone there?" Ashley asks, everyone putting their fingers on the board. I was nervous about the whole thing, not because I was scared, but because of Josh. I didn't know what kind of mindset he's in right now, especially since we're back at the lodge.

After a prolonged silence, the board piece begins to move, sending chills down my spine. What the hell? Somebody has got to be moving it, I mean, ghosts aren't real...right?

"Who's doing that?" I ask everyone, as the piece continues to move. It moves towards letter 'h' and then 'e' and then spells out the word 'help' and I'm shaking in my seat.

"Help?" Ashley asks, concerned and confused about the whole situation. Who needs help? How do we even help a ghost? This cannot be real, it's gotta be fake.

"How are we supposed to help?" Chris asks, genuinely curious as to how the hell we are supposed to help someone who may not even exist to begin with.

"I don't know. What does it mean?" Ashley looks at Chris, trying to find some sort of answer. We all have each other worried looks and I wanted to just quit. But, I knew it didn't work like that. So, I kept playing.

"We need to know who it is if we're supposed to help them." Chris puts out there, and it's actually a good idea. Maybe someone really does need our help. I'm just worried about who it might be...

"Who are you?" Ashley asks, and the piece begins to move again. I never thought that I would be in this kind of situation.

The piece begins to spell the word 'sister' out. Josh and I exchange a look and I immediately know who it might be trying to contact us; his sisters.

"Whose sister?" Josh asks, starting to breathe heavily, and I could tell he was getting progressively angrier. I had no idea how he was going to react to this. Hell, I didn't even know how to react to this.

"Oh, come on! Is this for real?" Chris asks, sighing and Josh almost immediately tells him to shut up. I don't want Josh to be mad at me, so I stay out of it to the best of my ability.