Devil's Board

Part 3

Sara hit the stairs at a dead run. Dakoda was screaming as if someone was trying to kill him and for all she knew, there was. She found him curled up on the floor in the corner of his room, his eyes covered, big fat tears leaking through his fingers. She did a quick search of the room and then swept him up in her arms. He wrapped his little fingers around her neck and wouldn’t let go. His whole body shook with the force of his sobs.

“Shh, little man, what’s wrong, what happened?”

“Get me,” he hiccupped. “Boo-boo get me.”

Her eyes hunted the room, but there was nothing. “What did it do, little man?”

“Twied to get my feet,” he cried. “Pull me.”

Sarra felt her face pale. She could feel the blood drain from it. That thing she’d seen earlier had tried to get Koda? “Where did it go, Koda?”

He just cried harder and Sarra held him close, moving slowly towards the door. She made it out and went straight for the baby’s room. Thankfully, Mason was dead to the world and sleeping peacefully. Sarra closed the door and then sat down in the rocker, holding Koda and just rocking him. It always helped to soothe him and soon his choked sobs turned into the soft easy pattern of sleep. She put him in the crib with Mason, moving Mason out of his way. Normally, she’d never do that, but right now she needed them both in the same place. She walked over to the closet and dragged the heavy changing table over to block the door. That should do it. She could also lock the nursery door. It was one of the few in the house that actually locked. At one point it had been Mrs. Muncey’s office, but they’d turned it into a nursery.

Her eyes landed on the cross hanging on the wall. The Muncey’s were deeply religious. Sarra went over and took the cross off the wall and placed it in the crib with the babies. She didn’t know if there was a God or not, but right now she knew she needed help and she’d take it where she could get it.

“If you’re real, then keep them safe,” she said. “Keep them safe.”

Sarra left then, locking the door behind her. She needed to call the police and the Muncey’s. Once the cavalry arrived, she could get the kids and run. Her eyes swept the hallway, looking for anything, but she found nothing. Taking a deep breath, she walked down the stairs and into the living room where her phone lay on the couch. The Ouija board sat silent now, it wasn’t doing anything. It looked just like the simple toy she’d thought it earlier. The foul odor was gone and the room was as silent as a tomb. Everything looked so normal. She could almost think she’d imagined the whole thing if not for Dakoda screaming like a banshee.

She leaned over the back of the couch and picked up her phone. No way was she standing anywhere near that board. She pulled up her keypad and hit 911. Nothing. She looked at the screen and saw there was no service. She always got full bars here. She’d had full bars earlier. She glanced at the board suspiciously and then shook her head. That thing couldn’t have knocked out her cell reception. She slid the phone into her back pocket and found the cordless on the hall table where she’d left it. Her frown deepened when all she heard was dead air. She turned the phone off and then back on again.

Dead air greeted her.

Her cell and the house phone both couldn’t be out by accident. She debated what to do. The neighbors would let her use their phone, but that meant leaving Mason and Dakoda alone in the house with that board. If she didn’t go call, though, something even worse might happen. They needed help and the boys were locked in a room. No one was going to be able to get them. Maybe. She had to chance it. It was only a little after eleven and the Muncey’s wouldn’t be home for another two hours. She wasn’t staying here alone in this house with that thing two more hours. No, she’d run right next door and stay on the doorstep so she could watch the front door. Sarra didn’t have a key so she couldn’t lock it, but she could watch the door while she called the cops.