Unforgettable (OLD COPY DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 20

Forest River Park is silent and cool the next evening, the sound of the waves from the nearby shoreline calming me even though deep down, I'm petrified. I have an Uber drop me off in the far parking lot and I walk the rest of the way into the park alone.

The Ouija board feels cold and strangely heavy in my arms as I carry it, the discreet, black box perhaps fooling the driver on the ride over, though I wouldn't put much trust in it. I am out by myself in a town that is notorious for witchcraft. Who wouldn't miss a chance to make dares to summon spirits in a place with such a dark history?

Luckily Diana had driven her personal car, a battered, silver Honda that she steps out of in a parking lot near the shoreline as I approach. She walks over to me, she herself wearing jeans and a heavy coat with a backpack slung over her shoulder as she nods to me.

"Are you sure about this?" she asks as she switches on a flashlight.

"Yes," I tell her even though I doubt myself and fear for our safety.

I've yet to get another text from Ava, the last one telling me that she was here yet I don't see her. Sand glitters in the beam of the flashlight as we start across a small field next to the road, the patchy sea-grass that is growing under the massive oak trees crunching under out footsteps as we walk.The air is salty and damp as I swallow nervously.

A flicker of blue light catches my eye and I notice a picnic table standing out in the faint light of the street lights that ring the road behind us. A dark figure is sitting at the table and as we walk closer, I can see that it's Ava. I carefully set the Ouija board on the table across from her, much like how I would set down something that could possibly explode as the cool, harbor air makes me shiver.

I take a breath as I reach for the lid, but Ava stops me.

"Wait, did you bring candles?" she asks and Diana nods.

"I brought black candles, we need to cleanse this space," Diana says as she brings her backpack around and unzips it.

She then proceeds to pass me five, black candles and I help her set them out as she directs me to put them on the table before she lights them with a yellow Bic lighter. The orange flames flicker and flare upwards as the wicks catch fire before they fall eerily still and I can almost believe that the flames are light-bulbs instead of actual fire.

"Okay, now you can take off the lid," Diana instructs me, almost like she's done it before and I choose to voice the question.

"Have you done this before?" I ask her as I carefully take off the lid and set the board on the table.

She looks away, her lip twisting into a frown as she shrugs, "I was a teen once too, it was mainly as a joke though, it didn't work for me."

"Let's just get this over with," Ava announces and I can almost believe that she sounds nervous as she says it. "This session will only allow positive energy and spirits, all negative energy is not allowed nor welcome," she says and I know then that she's not speaking to us but to any spirits that are lingering.

"I'd like to speak with my sister first, if possible, this was hers," Diana says as she pulls on a necklace around her neck to reveal that it has a silver, barn swallow pendant hanging on it. "If you don't mind, I can try to contact her first so we know that we're contacting friendly spirits."

"That's fine," I tell her as I look to Ava, who nods in agreement.

Diana breathes out a short breath before we sit down, Ava and her across from me as we reach forward and place our fingertips on the planchette in the center of the board. Diana eyes me nervously for a moment, her lips pressing into a thin line as she looks away.

"Is my sister here?" she asks in a timid voice.

The planchette refuses to move for a second, the wooden heart remaining in one place before it starts to slide under my fingers as we guide the planchette across the board.

I glance up at the others, their eyes widening in the candlelight as we eye each other suspiciously before it comes to rest on 'No'.

"What is your name?" I ask even as I notice that Diana's shoulders slump with disappointment.

At first, nothing happens and for a moment I think that it's a fluke before it slowly starts to move again, the wood softly shushing over the board. I feel a rush of irritation and pull my hands away and the others do the same as it stops moving.

"Guys, you don't have to move it-," I start to say, but the planchette suddenly trembles.

I can only watch in horror as it moves on its own with no one touching it.

I fall silent and stare at it uncomprehendingly as it hovers over the 'F' and then the 'I' and over to the 'N' where it comes to a stop. Ava stares at me from across the board, her dark eyes reflecting some of the flames from a nearby candle as she opens her mouth to say something.

"Your name is Finn?" Ava says and I repress the urge to shiver.

"What was your familiar?" I ask, paranoid that it may be another spirit trying to fool us.

The planchette moves all on its own and I can almost picture Finn here with us as it moves to spell out 'dragon'.

"Do you know who I am?" I pry and a 'yes' answers my question.

I swallow and try to think of a good question to ask him as nerves rush over me, on the one hand, he's here and on the other, he may want to warn me about something else. The black candles sitting around us flicker, the flames leaping eagerly like they can sense my mind at work as they wait.

"Did I really see your ghost a couple of nights ago?" I ask at last, the words tasteless and heavy on my tongue as my heart pounds in my chest like a rhythmic hammering.

The planchette swoops off to the side before it hovers over the 'yes' once again and my mouth goes dry.

So I'm not crazy.

"Why?" Ava interrupts as she eyes me, a newfound understanding lighting up her gaze like she's realizing that something beyond her understanding may actually be going on.

The planchette whirs across the board and I can feel a sense of urgency as it spells out 'funeral'.

"What about it?" I ask.

The planchette moves again and I can't help but hold my breath as it spells out 'ask Shawn' before it moves on to spell out 'danger'.

"What danger?"

I look up as Diana asks this, her words hollow and harsh as she stares down at the board. For a moment, the planchette doesn't move and instead stills as the blood rushes in my veins and my chest grows tight with anxiety.

At last, it starts to move as it spells out another word.

"'Hallewell'," I whisper as it hovers over the last 'L', "but-."

I don't get to ask anything else because a sudden, cold breeze blasts across the grass, extinguishing the light from the black candles. Right before the lights go out I can see the planchette fly over to the 'goodbye' and we are plunged into darkness.