The candles flickered in Megan's bedroom, casting long
shadows across the walls. The Ouija board sat between them on the plush carpet,
its wooden planchette waiting patiently for their fingertips.
"I can't believe we're doing this," Jen said,
brushing some stray strands of blonde hair out of her eyes. "These things are supposed
to be dangerous."
Megan rolled her eyes. "It's just a board game, Jen.
Parker Brothers makes them, for God's sake. It's not like we're summoning the
devil."
"Fine," Jen sighed, placing her fingertips lightly
on the planchette. Megan did the same, their hands nearly touching. "What
should we ask it?"
Megan's eyes glinted mischievously in the candlelight.
"I know exactly what to ask." She cleared her throat dramatically.
"Spirit World, we seek your wisdom. Is Jen sleeping with my boyfriend,
Tyler?"
"Megan!" Jen's face flushed crimson. "What
the hell?"
"What? You've been acting weird around him lately. And
he's been acting weird around you." Megan's voice was light, but there was
an edge to it. "Let's just see what the spirits have to say."
They watched as the planchette remained stubbornly still
under their fingertips. Then, slowly, it began to move.
"I'm not moving it," Jen whispered, her eyes wide.
"Neither am I," Megan replied, her earlier bravado
fading slightly.
The planchette slid deliberately across the board, stopping
first on 'N', then 'O'.
Megan let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"See? The spirits confirm what I already knew. You'd never do that to
me."
Jen's shoulders relaxed. "Of course I wouldn't. I can't
believe you even asked that."
But before either could lift their hands, the planchette
began moving again, more quickly this time, as if with purpose.
Y-O-U-T-W-O-S-H-O-U-L-D-B-E-L-O-V-E-R-S
"What?" Megan's voice cracked.
K-I-S-S-H-E-R-N-O-W
Jen's eyes met Megan's across the board, her expression
unreadable in the dim light. "This is stupid. Someone's obviously messing
with us."
"Yeah," Megan agreed, but neither of them moved
their hands from the planchette.
D-O-I-T-N-O-W
"This is crazy," Jen whispered, but she was
leaning forward slightly, her gaze dropping to Megan's lips.
"Totally crazy," Megan agreed, but she was leaning
in too, drawn by something she couldn't explain—curiosity, the atmosphere, the
commanding presence of whatever was moving the planchette beneath their
fingers.
Their lips met hesitantly, softly. It was nothing like
kissing boys—Jen's lips were softer, her approach gentler. Megan felt a strange
flutter in her stomach, not unpleasant but confusing. They pulled apart after a
few seconds, both breathing a little faster.
"That was..." Jen started.
"Different," Megan finished, not meeting her
friend's eyes. "I don't know if I..."
"Yeah," Jen agreed quickly. "Me
neither."
The planchette moved again beneath their fingers.
M-O-R-E
Meanwhile, in the fiery depths of Hell, three demons lounged
around a cracked television screen, watching the scene unfold with rapt
attention. Empty cans of Red Dog and Coors Light littered the floor around
them, and a half-eaten pizza sat congealing on a nearby table, the cheese
bubbling in the heat.
"Dude, this is working better than I thought,"
snickered Balphezor, a portly demon with small horns and a goatee. He crushed
another beer can against his forehead and tossed it onto the growing pile.
"Humans are so easy to manipulate."
"I told you the boyfriend angle would work," Asmahdeus,
a lankier demon with scaled skin, said smugly. "Nothing gets humans going
like jealousy and forbidden fruit."
The third demon, Malphis, belched loudly and reached for
another slice of pizza. "So what do we tell them to do next? This is
getting good."
Balphezor scratched his chin thoughtfully. "We could
tell them to strip. That's always entertaining."
"Nah, too obvious," Asmodeus countered. "We
need something more... psychologically damaging. Something that'll really mess
with their friendship."
"How about we tell one of them to call the boyfriend
right now?" Malphis suggested, his forked tongue flicking out to catch a
string of cheese. "While they're still all hot and bothered?"
"Not bad," Balphezor nodded appreciatively.
"Or we could tell them that one of them has to sacrifice something
important to the other. Create some real trust issues."
"Wait, wait," Asmahdeus held up a clawed hand, his
yellow eyes gleaming with malice. "I've got it. We tell them that one of
them is possessed, and the only way to save her is for the other to do
something really embarrassing."
"Like what?" Malphis asked, leaning forward with
interest.
"Like... having a threesome with each other and the
boyfriend on the church front lawn?" Balphezor suggested.
The three demons erupted in laughter, spilling beer and
knocking over empty cans.
"Perfect!" Asmahdeus wheezed, wiping a tear from
his eye. "And then we can—"
He was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps
approaching. The demons froze as the door to their den swung open, revealing a
much larger, more imposing demon with massive horns and glowing red eyes.
"What do you three think you're doing?" the
newcomer growled.
"Just a little recreational possession, sir," Balphezor
stammered. "Nothing serious."
"Unauthorized use of the Ouija network for personal
entertainment?" The senior demon's voice was dangerously calm and measured.
"Need I remind you that we have quarterly corruption quotas to meet? The
Dark Lord doesn't look kindly on wasting resources for your amusement."
"We were just—" Malphis began.
"Save it," the senior demon cut him off.
"Clean up this mess and report to soul-flaying duty immediately. And turn
that thing off before you do any real damage."
As the senior demon stomped away, the three looked at each
other guiltily.
"Should we at least finish this session?" Asmahdeus
asked hopefully.
Balphezor sighed and reached for the remote control.
"Nah, not worth getting our tails singed over. Besides, we've probably
freaked them out enough for one night."
Malphis chuckled as the screen went dark. "Those girls
are going to have some awkward conversations going forward."
Back in Megan's bedroom, the planchette suddenly stopped
moving. The girls quickly pulled their hands away from it, as if it had burned
them.
"Okay, that's enough," Megan said firmly, standing
up and turning on the lights. The spell of the moment was broken, leaving them
both feeling embarrassed and confused.
"Yeah," Jen agreed, avoiding eye contact.
"These things are stupid anyway."
They packed up the Ouija board in awkward silence, neither
quite sure what to say about what had just happened between them—or whether it
had meant anything at all.
"So..." Megan finally broke the silence.
"Movie?"
Jen smiled, relieved at the offer of normalcy. "Yeah.
Movie sounds good."
As they settled onto Megan's bed with her laptop, carefully placed
between them and so maintaining several inches of space between them. Neither
noticed that, in the corner of the room, the lid of the Ouiji board’s box
seemed to lift itself and slide half off on its own accord, perhaps wanting to
make sure there would be another round of questions in the future.
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