Forever and Always

Chapter 73 - Ghosted

Okay. Author's note.

1) I'm a terrible human. I feel like I should know the Lord's prayer but I literally had to look it up. I guess that's a downside to having no religious bone in my entire body.

2) Please be responsible and do your fuckin research if you ever decide to use a ouija board. I don't need y'all gettin' possessed by demons or some shit.

3) If you guys make planchette a drinking game, I apologize for the future hangover you will experience.

Before we had even began to play, Levi lifted his hands from the planchette and looked at me with wide eyes. "I actually think I'm gonna sit this one out," he said quietly. "I dunno. I've just never fucked with one of these before. I don't wanna do something I'll regret."

"No pressure, but we haven't ever been possessed, so I'm pretty sure you have nothing to worry about bro," Ymir said, reaching out and patting Levi's shoulder. "Would going through the rules first make you a little more comfortable?"

"I- I dunno," Levi replied. His voice was soft but there was panic written all over his face.

"Levi, it's just a game. It's okay, Babe," I said, pressing my lips to his temple. "It's supposed to be scary."

"I know that, dumbass," he said, a strained smirk playing his lips. I wondered what about what we were about to do scared him so badly. I figured that ouija boards would be right up his alley, so I was curious as to why he was so hesitant.

"Let's just listen to the rules and then you can decide afterwards," I assured him, pressing another kiss to the side of his head, feeling his freshly buzzed undercut tickle the side of my mouth. "Okay?" I asked, wrapping an arm around his body, rubbing his back gently to try and calm his nerves.

"Sure. Right."

"We don't have to," Christa offered. "I just figured that was kinda your scene," she added, batting her long eyelashes at my fiancee.

"No, it's fine. I'm just overreacting," Levi muttered. "Let's get on with the rules."

"Well, how about this?" Ymir began. "If you wanna talk about why it's freaking you out, this is a safe place to talk about it, and we can all say something first, so you feel comfortable sharing. Cuz I like y'all's vibes, and I'm pretty open about my life, so if that would make you feel better, we can do it that way. And then we can go over the rules if it's something you feel comfortable doing, but just to make you feel like you're not the only one being vulnerable. It could be like truth or dare without the dare."

"Ooh, that's a good idea," I said, nodding at my new friend. I figured that maybe Levi would feel comfortable once the people around him weren't total strangers to him. I hadn't met Ymir before, but I had heard plenty about her, so I felt comfortable around her to begin with, but I was also aware that Levi didn't have that kind of standing with Christa to know that much about Ymir. The only things that he would have known about Ymir based on what I had told him was that she was Christa's girlfriend and that she was "really pretty." He hadn't even really met Christa up until that night, so I could certainly understand how a new experience with a couple of randos would stress him out. "What do you think about that?" I asked, trying to get his council without seeming condescending.

"Sure," Levi scoffed, trying to appear abrasive as he built the walls up one final time, knowing he would have to tear some part of it down again before the night was over. "That works, I guess. But I'm not going first. I need to test the waters," he said with a smirk.

"Okay, well, I can start," Christa chimed in, raising a soft petite hand up and wiggling her fingers, slowly closing each one until just her index finger remained protruding from her fist, pointing at herself.