Skeptics.

My stomach dropped as we entered the large old house. It felt like a million tonne weight hung on my shoulders, pulling my centre of gravity down towards the earth. The air contained within the unstable walls felt colder than outside, where a freezing wind was fleeting through the streets. But I didn't let it deter me. It was just stupid superstition, riling up my imagination.

"Effy?" I whispered as we entered, clinging to her arm.

"Yeah, Lisa?" she replied, speaking just as quietly.

"Aren't they supposed to be here already?"

"I think so," she breathed.

"ARGHH!" a bloodcurdling holler sprung from behind the door, piercing my ears until I jumped, my heart stuttering.

"JAKE! You asshole!" Effy shouted, pushing his shoulders with all her might. Unsurprisingly, he didn't fall over.

He laughed so much he almost did fall over of his own accord, bending as he clutched his sides. "Unagi," he gasped between breaths. I pushed him on the way past instead, but even incapacitated I couldn't force him over. This only made him laugh harder.

We found Oli sitting on the floor on his own as we entered the room, staring at a circular board that appeared to have something written on it, unreadable in the dim light. They had a torch each, Oli's lying next to him unused, and a fat purple candle sitting on the floor.

"Oli... What smells so nice?" Effy asked cautiously. She scanned the room carefully, and I pointed to the candle.

"Is that- is that your mum's candle, Oli?" I exploded, and we burst into uncontrollable giggles, Jake arriving to join Oli on the ground.

"Shut up," was his not so clever comeback. I told him so and he glared at me.

The warm lavender scent slowly filled the air, disturbing the cold vibe of the dank room horribly.

"Oh, Jesus. This is gonna be a long night, isn't it? Where the fuck's the alcohol?" I questioned, momentarily forgetting my earlier fears.

"Party over here," Jake called from the floor. The room was extremely dimly lit, even after we turned on the torches we had brought - three altogether. We sat in a circle around the board Oli had been staring at, all swigging from cans. Jake had brought some weak shit he knew his parents wouldn't miss, but we were knocking them back to make up for it. And as soon as we were tipsy, it started.

"So, do you ladies know the story of this house?" Oli began, smirk forming on his lips.

"... No," Effy replied slowly. "And you do?"

"Well, I've heard things."

I scoffed. "Things?" I repeated doubtfully, "what kind of things?"

"Things like... Like what happened here, years ago, before we were even born. A couple of Satanists moved into this town, onto this street. Into this house. The whole town shunned them of course, banning them from their society, though they didn't care. They didn't move here to make friends with the neighbourhood Christians. But one day a little girl felt sad for them. A pretty little girl of eight, with bouncy curls and wide eyes. She told her parents, but they only warned her to stay away from the devil worshippers, that they were dangerous. She agreed, but felt compelled to approach them, tell them it was not to late.

"So she went up to their house, asking for at least providence for her church. But the Satanists, they went crazy. They murdered her in their living room, placing candles around her hanging corpse, using her blood for their own sick purposes. She was a sacrifice to the Devil, an offering. And one day, shortly after the little girl was found to have gone missing, they disappeared. The local coppers busted the door down, searched the house. They hadn't taken anything with them. There was still food in the fridge, and clothes in their drawers. And the girl was still hanging in the sitting room, swinging slowly from side to side, lifeless.

"Who knows why they left her. The townspeople liked to believe it was the work of God, punishing them. Rationalists think they picked up and left town in a hurry, knowing they'd be executed. But others think something different. That maybe this was the work of the Devil, rewarding them. That maybe the little girl was the punished one, destined to walk this house forever. That the abuse made her twisted and cynical. That she is possessed. And that all who dare to come inside are doomed to die the same night they enter."

Oli's expression was more somber than I had ever seen. Effy and I were clutching each other and even Jake was wide eyed and serious. Then the laughing started all over again. "Here, Oli, come off it," I gasped. "Where do you get all this shit?"

"It's true," he shrugged. "If you don't believe it, that's not my fault. I warned you."

Effy hummed disbelievingly, taking another gulp from a can. "What's this thing anyway?" she asked, nodding to the board, which I could now see had the alphabet and numbers zero to nine winding in a circle, the words 'yes', 'no' and 'goodbye' printed in the middle.

Jake explained this time. "That, my friend, is a Oujia Board."

"A Ouija Board?"

"A board used to talk to the dead. You take one of these," he lifted a wine glass from the floor, "and place it upside down on the board. Then everyone puts two fingers on the edge of the glass and ask a question."

I was skeptical. "What sort of question?"

"Like, 'is anybody there?'. Then wait for a reply."

"And they reply by...?"

"Moving the glass," Oli finished, smirking.

We sat there staring at the wooden board for several seconds, taking in the sudden change in atmosphere. The candle suddenly wasn't so funny anymore. The air was lonely, and I realised no cars had gone by the road, and there were no streetlights around this unkempt area. The house wasn't near anywhere else, stuck in the middle of a deserted, overgrown field. My parents thought I was at a party, then going to Effy's house. Hers thought the same, and then to my house. Nobody would be looking for us for a while.

"Well? Let's get this freak show on the road," Effy insisted. Jake smiled at her and lifted the board from the middle of the circle, instructing us all to sit on our knees and pushing them together. When we were finished he placed it back on top of our legs, like a makeshift table.

"Okay, now everyone place their index and middle fingers on the rim. Press them very lightly."
Effy and I glanced at each other silently. But her expression was enough to tell me she was doubtful anything was going down here tonight. I rolled my eyes at her in agreement.

Oli noticed our silent exchange. "Just do it."

The glass rim was cold when I touched it, like metal rather than glass, despite the close perimeter of bodies supplying heat. The silence was so solid it was almost tangible. I could hear everyone's shallow breathing, and the sloshing of liquid as Effy placed her drink down.

"How do you start off?" I asked loudly, trying to disturb the unnerving silence.

I could hear air being released from Oli's lips on my left, then sucking as he pulled back in as much as possible. "Is anyone here?" he asked clearly.

I suppressed a laugh. I don't know how they ever thought this would work.

"Nothing's happening," Effy sighed finally, but not removing her fingers.

"Just wait," Oli insisted. "Is there anyone there? Does anyone have a message for us?"

The glass suddenly jerked, and I gasped, hearing the others taking in simultaneous breaths. It moved slowly but smoothly towards the 'yes', placed below the 'no' in the middle of the circle of numbers and letters.

"Oli? Stop it. This isn't funny," I ordered him sharply.

"It's not me, Leese," he replied, using my old nickname.

"Jake?" Effy whispered as the glass came to a stop. He shook his head, eyes fixed on the board.

"My name is Oliver," Oli declare bravely, though his voice shook as he spoke. "Is your message for me?"

The glass moved steadily to 'no'.

Effy spoke next. "My name is Elizabeth, is your message for me?"

The glass moved to the middle of the board and back to 'no'.

"My name is Jake. Is your message for me?"

Again the glass moved to the middle and back. My breathing sped up wildly, heart pounding. Oli was the only one to look directly at me, Jake and Effy kept their heads down. We all knew who the message was for. "My." I took a breath. "My name is Lisa. I-Is your message for me?"

My heat pounded as I felt the glass pull itself towards the middle once again, and I prayed for it to pull back. But it slid across the board with ease, landing on 'yes'.

"W-what's the message?" I managed to choke out, hoping to God that the glass would just stop moving. But it didn't.

"Okay, that's enough. Let's stop now," Effy suggested, glancing at me.

"That sounds like a good idea," Jake seconded.

But the glass slid from it's original direction with ferocious speed, stopping directly over 'no'.

"What do we do?" I asked, desperate. Everyone just stared at me helplessly, and then back at the board.

"G," Oli announced as the glass stopped. It was moving quicker than before. "O. U. P. S. T. A. I. R. S."

"Go up stairs?" Effy repeated. "But why?"

"L. E. F. T. A. T. S. T. A. I. R. L. A. S. T. R. O. O. M. L. E. F. T. Left at the stairs, then last room on the left, I guess," Oli read back.

"Why me?" I asked quickly. I couldn't believe this was happening. I thought this was a joke, a gimmick. But the cold air, our dank surroundings, and the icy glass beneath my fingertips told me this wasn't a game.

"Y. O. U. L. L. S. E. E. You'll see."

"And if she doesn't?" Jake questioned.

"Y. O. U. K. N. O. W. You know."

"Who are you?"

"Y. O. U. K. N. O. W. You know."

"Oh, God." The glass had stopped for the moment, waiting as I reacted. "What the Hell do I do?! I thought this wasn't real!"

"It's not meant to be," Oli replied, eyes wide.

"It's moving again," Effy warned, but everyone had already felt the shudder of the glass.

"N. O. W. Now." I swallowed harshly, and Oli continued. "I'll go with you, Leese. Come on."

"No, no!" Effy argued. "No one's going upstairs." The glass quickly slid over 'yes', our fingers almost left behind at the speed. "Okay, then, we all go."

"No," Oli told her. "It's enough for the two of us to go. Let's just go up, do what it asks, and come back down."

The glass moved suddenly once again, just before we removed our fingers. "O. N. C. H. A. I. R. On the chair."

"Let's go," I mumbled, standing up. Oli grabbed my hand and we walked through the huge wooden double doors, blackened with age, that lead to the main room. He pulled me along as I looked back at Effy and Jake reluctantly. Their faces were of despair.

We were both quiet as we climbed the massive staircase, his hand felt warm in mine. I thought about how I had longed for this moment, and the almost ironic circumstances that now accompanied it.

"We left the torch downstairs," I groaned.

"We might as well get it over with. Can you see okay?" I nodded. "Okay. Left," he muttered, tugging my hand to the left corridor. "Last room..." We reached the end of the corridor at the third room on the left, a closed door. I held onto the air in my lungs for as long as possible as he opened the door one handed, and entered.

"There's a piece of paper on the chair," he told me. I was cringed into his side, afraid to look. "Do you want me to get it?"

I thought about letting him go get the letter for me momentarily. But it's my letter. I should go get it. "No," I replied.

"But I could-"

"No," I stated, voice final. I swallowed as I neared the chair, Oli's hand refusing to release mine. "Really. Nothing will happen." A white piece of paper was visibly folded on the hard chair beneath a window, illuminated by whatever light was winding its way in from outside. I picked it up gingerly, glancing behind me nervously.

But when I opened it, I felt I recognized the messy scrawl. Anxious to read it I didn't speculate, trying to read the words as quickly as I saw them. I jumped lines in my haste, and had to read it all again.

if you're looking at this, i won. and you're a gullible idiot. i was moving the glass the whole time, retard.
me and jake? making out downstairs as you read. i wouldn't come back for a while if i were you.
and, other than jake and i finally having some alone time, i have another reason for doing this.
i may be ditzy sometimes, but i'm not stupid. i knew it before you did, trust me. kiss oli. right now.
lots of love, effy. xX

I keep telling people she's an evil genius, but no one believes me. She is so dead.

"That has to be the most brilliant thing I've ever heard." I jumped at the sudden sound, but when I turned my head, it was just Oli reading over my shoulder. I nodded, crumpling the paper quickly, wondering how much he had read.

"Is that true?"

"Yes, I'm an extremely gullible idiot," I replied quickly, blushing. I prayed he couldn't see me in the dark.

He smirked, his smile devastating even only in the smallest light. "Well, if you didn't understand what I meant, at least she got the idiot part right." And I knew, as soon as I felt him push back my bangs, what would happen. He'd lean in, I'd take a breath, and our lips would connect.

And it would feel like nothing I'd ever felt before.

"I hope Effy was right," he whispered.