Chapter 1 Chapter 1

The Ouija board was set up on the floor, illuminated by dim candlelight. Flickering flames painted an ominous glow over the three women sitting around it.

“I’m still convinced this is a bad idea,” Valerie mumbled, glancing at her friends Hope and Naomi, who weren’t the least concerned. They grinned excitedly, not budging from their plan to have a real ghost appear in Valerie’s living room.

When they had come over this Friday evening, Valerie thought they would watch movies together. Instead, Hope had brought a creepy old Ouija board she wanted to use to summon a ghost. Hope was just as superstitious as her grandma, the owner of the board. She believed in ghosts, demons, and other beings that Valerie found unsettling.

“You are a chicken, Valerie.” Hope laughed, nudging her friend. “Come on, this will be fun!”

Reluctantly, Valerie put her fingers on the wooden pointer just like the other two. She glanced at their faces, seeing their eyes glow in the eerie candlelight.

“Are there any ghosts here in this room with us?” Naomi asked and waited for a few seconds. Nothing happened, of course not, but this didn’t make Hope lose hope. She was persistent and had too much patience regarding her ridiculous belief that ghosts were real.

“Is anybody here?” Valerie asked, not expecting anything to happen, but she was in for a surprise. The pointer moved under their fingers, slowly inching towards Yes. Wide-eyed, the three women stared at it, unable to believe what was happening.

“What are you doing?” Valerie hissed at Hope, but she looked just as flabbergasted as Naomi. They both weren’t good at hiding their astonishment, observing the Ouija board with excitement and trepidation.

“It’s not us,” Hope said breathlessly. “I told you, this is legit.”

“Uh… hell no,” Valerie whispered, unsure if she should actually believe her. Maybe Naomi and Hope were playing a stupid prank on her.

“Let’s ask a question,” Hope said, driven by curiosity. “How old are you?”

The pointer moved to the numbers on the board, spelling 375.

“Let me ask something too,” Naomi yelled, her eyes never leaving the board. “Are you really a ghost?”

The pointer shifted to Yes, pausing there, but Naomi wasn’t convinced yet. “Prove it to us. Tell us something only a ghost would know.”

The pointer moved again, dragging over the board with increasing speed, occasionally halting over a letter or a number until it had spelled something that made Valerie’s stomach lurch. Rika 05132024.

“What does it mean?” Naomi asked in confusion about calling the others out for messing with her, but she was interrupted by Valerie, who knew all too well what the numbers and the name meant.

“Rika is my cat's name,” she said, her voice quivering in fear and sadness. “She died on May 13, 2024…”

“What?” Naomi hissed, snapping her head around to look at her friend. “Are you serious right now?”

“I remember. You were very sad when it happened.” Hope confirmed. “We really are dealing with a supernatural being here. How else could it have known?”

She had a point, and Valerie hated admitting it. Until now, she had been able to convince herself that all this was nothing but a silly children’s game. Opening her eyes to the sinister truth behind it was difficult and nauseated her. A part of her still hoped the others were playing some cruel prank on her.

“I want to ask something else,” Naomi said, filled with morbid fascination and curiosity. “Is the devil real?”

The entity answered with Yes, and Valerie’s jaw dropped. “No way. And what about demons?” The pointer stayed on Yes and didn’t move despite the trembling fingers of all three women.

“See, I told you,” Hope whispered.

“Can you show us a demon?” Naomi asked, tilting her head when the entity answered No. “Aww… and here I was hoping,” she started, but trailed off as it spelled something else.

Summon.

An ominous sense of foreboding filled Valerie, and her stomach churned with dread. This sounded like a bad idea.

“How? What do we need to do? Explain.” Hope asked, earning a sharp glare from Valerie, who didn’t like where this was going.

Summoning Circle. Blood. Fire.

“That’s so cliché.” Naomi frowned. “I don’t think we can do it.”

“Wait, wait. We can try it.” Hope cut in and eagerly leaned closer to the Ouija board. The flickering candlelight painted eerie shadows over her face. “My grandma showed me how to draw a summoning circle. It’s complicated, but I remember how it works.”

“Your grandma is so weird,” Naomi said, rolling her eyes. “If I didn’t know better, I would have guessed she’s a witch. No offense, but she comes across as quite peculiar.”

Valerie had to agree. While the older woman was friendly and kind, she had always had a strange aura around herself, and owning an Ouija board wasn’t exactly typical either. Hope was unconcerned by her friend’s comment and shrugged her shoulders, a daring grin stretching over her lips.

“I’ll prove that demons and ghosts are real. We’ll summon one right here, and then you’ll believe me.”

“What the…? We are not doing this in my living room.” Valerie protested, but her two best friends were pushy, insisting until she gave in.

“Come on, it’s not like it’s going to work. Let’s have some fun with this,” Naomi grinned.

Valerie crossed her arms. “If it’s not going to work, then why do it in the first place?”

“Why wouldn’t it work? We received help from an actual ghost; how insane is that?” Hope said persistently. “By the way, thank you for your help.”

My pleasure.

A chill went down Valerie’s spine as she observed the pointer, which seemingly moved by itself. She had had enough of this madness and decided to end it, forcefully pushing the pointer to Goodbye.

“Why did you cut the connection off? Now we can’t communicate with it anymore. Who knows if we will ever get a chance like this again?” Hope insisted. “You have to make up for it. We need a drop of your blood.”

“Oh my God, fine.” Valerie sighed, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible.