Breathless | Colby Brock ✔️

2

Corey's voice cut through the thick air. "I wanna fucking go home."

"Let's find a place to set up the board," Gwen cut in, an edge of finality to her voice. We all started collectively searching for a dry enough area to play. After five minutes that felt like a lifetime, we found a dry stretch of concrete along a graffitied wall. Sam and Colby started to set up the board, while Corey stood as far away on the dry ground as possible.

"You ready?" Colby looked up at us – no, me – and motioned for Gwen and me to sit down. We all sat down around the board, crossing our legs. I felt Colby's knee brush mine and subconsciously held my breath.

We each put two fingers lightly on the planchette, moving it around the board in circles before coming to a rest in the middle of the letters. It felt like something was constricting my chest – was that the nerves and air of the terrifying basement? Or was it because I was kind of touching THE Colby Brock?

"Is there anyone here who would like to speak with us?" Sam asked. I felt ridiculous, but kept my fingers barely hovering on the triangle. I wasn't going to be the one to accidentally move it.

The planchette slowly started sliding towards the 'YES' on the board. I watched everyone's hands and arms intently, looking for the hint of a muscle movement to indicate they were moving it.

A loud bang echoed throughout the basement, and we all immediately jumped.

"What the fuck was that?!" Corey shouted, his hands on his head as he came towards us. The noise had come near the entrance. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

"Holy shit," Sam muttered, and Colby's eyes were wide with shock. Even Gwen looked a little scared.

"It's an old building," I whispered, not even believing myself. "It's probably just settling. Or maybe we made something come loose when we were walking around."

While we were all looking towards the entrance, dead silent, the planchette began to move again. I looked back down in disbelief as it slowly spelled out my full name.

"Eleanor? Is your name Eleanor?" Colby asked the spirit. It moved, faster this time, to "NO."

Gwen stared at me, fear evident in her eyes. "That's Nora's name," She whispered. "It just spelled her name. How did it fucking know your name?" She lifted her fingers off the board, covering her mouth.

We kept our full names off social media as to keep privacy. Gwen – Guinevere, which is obvious – and Nora. Short for Eleanor. None of the guys, even if they had seen our channel, would've known my full name. And the terror plastered on Gwen's face was enough proof to me that it hadn't been her who moved it.

"I don't wanna fucking play anymore," I raised my hand from the board, knitting my fingers together in a tight hold. Colby and Sam did the same, using their flashlights to look around the room.

And then, I couldn't believe it. The planchette started moving without anyone touching it. Corey started hollering at the top of his lungs, and Colby let out a long string of curses. Sam and Gwen looked petrified.

But I didn't react. I sat there, almost in a trance, staring at the board and the planchette flew around the alphabet faster than I thought possible. I could barely make out the words as it spelled.

GET OUT OR YOU WILL DIE

Gwen let out a whimper, pulling me out of my trance.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," I said, rushing to stand up.

"Wait! We have to say goodbye or it might latch on to us," Sam grabbed my arm, pulling me back down.

"I don't wanna do this," Gwen whispered as we all put our hands back on, moving the planchette to "GOODBYE." Sam grabbed the board and shoved it in his bag lightning fast, and the rest of us bolted for the exit.

Banging noises came from every wall and we ran up the stairs, panting in fear. Tears were welling up in Gwen's eyes – something I hadn't seen since we were kids. She was the strongest person I knew, and here she was, on the verge of crying.

We reached the exit at record-speed, each of us hopping through without a care of the broken glass littering the ground. Our only thought was to get the hell out of that place.

As I was jumping through the window, my arm caught a shard of glass still sticking out of the wooden frame. My adrenaline was pumping so quickly that I didn't notice it until we were booking it back to our cars.

"Fuck, Nora, you're fucking bleeding," Gwen cursed, grabbing my arm.

"It's not a big deal," I said breathlessly, grabbing the keys from my pocket and jumping into the driver's seat. I shoved them in the ignition, turning the car on – only, it didn't start. I tried again, and again. No luck. The battery was dead.

"Shit," I muttered. I got out of the car and ran to Sam, sweat pouring down my face. Gwen was close behind me.

"My car won't start. Can you give us a jump?" I asked.

"You're bleeding!" Colby shouted, snatching my arm. The blood was really flowing now, the glass must have cut deeper than I realized. I was still so scared that I didn't even feel it.

"I'm fine, I just need a jump -"

"You need to go to the fucking hospital." Gwen looked at me pleadingly, then glanced at the boys. "Can you please take us to the emergency room? We can get a cab back to get our car in the morning, but please, I don't wanna wait for the jump and have her bleed out in front of me."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "It's not that bad," I insisted. "Just a little cut, okay?"

But it wasn't just a cut. I started to feel my head spin and realized the length and positioning of the injury – I actually could bleed out from a cut like this.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit." I cursed, using my good arm to steady myself against the car. "I'm usually so careful."

"We're going to the emergency room, now," Colby grabbed me and ushered me into the car, and Gwen was right by me. She clutched me helplessly, looking at my arm with panic.

Someone started the car, driving quickly down the street. By that point I was delirious with blood loss.

"I'm sorry for bleeding in your car," I mumbled, barely coherent. "It's a really nice car. Really nice. How much did you pay for it?"

"Use something to help stop the bleeding." Sam instructed. Gwen ripped off her jacket and wrapped it around my arm. Corey looked on, seeming lost, his eyes wide and face pale with fear.

"Make sure you get this on video," I mumbled, closing my eyes. "It'll be really good clickbait."

"Nora! Open your eyes! You gotta stay awake, okay? For me?" Gwen pleaded, clutching me even harder.

"'Mm awake."

After a few minutes, I felt the car jolt to a stop. The door opened and Gwen dragged me out of the car.

"Can you walk?" She asked, her eyes flitting back and forth.

"Yeah," I whispered, trying to steady myself. I took a step forward and then collapsed, but didn't hit the ground – someone lifted me up, carrying me quickly into the emergency room entrance.

"You smell nice," I said, closing my eyes and burying my face into the hoodie of whoever was carrying me.

"If this was a different circumstance, I would be very excited to hear that," A deep voice reverberated in the chest I was leaning against. I could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Colby?" I asked, opening my eyes to slits. The room was insanely bright, so white that it hurt my head to look. I closed my eyes again, taking a deep breath. "I'm scared."

"Me too," He whispered, and after that, it all went black.