Nya drew the final line at the bottom of her folio paper, her lips forming a satisfied smirk. She was finally done her weekend's homework, so that she could enjoy her weekend without the nagging that sat at the back of her head, reminding her that she had homework to finish.
She spun around on her computer chair toward her friend, Lloyd, who made himself comfortable on her bed. When Nya said that she wanted to do her homework first, Lloyd's first reaction was to groan in an overdramatic manner. She managed to persuade him with a packet of Sour Worms she found in the pantry.
Her parents and older brother, Kai, weren't home and she hoped that she wouldn't get into any trouble for taking sweets without her parents' permission. They were the cliché 'strict parents', after all. The type you would find in movies. Those with good children who then rebel and turn into the bad guys. Nya didn't think she would turn into a bad guy, though. She was too much of a scaredy-cat to rebel against her parents' wishes.
"I told you that I would finish quickly!" She told him, still smirking.
The blonde looked up from his phone and stuck his tongue out.
"I came here to hang out, not watch you do your homework," He said, "That, my dear friend, is why Sunday exists."
Nya rolled her eyes as she grabbed her own phone that lay dormant on the foot of her bed.
"We spend the whole day at Church on Sundays," She said as she sent her brother a WhatsApp. It was Friday and that meant that he was coming home for the weekend.
"Two hours doesn't seem like the whole day. That sounds like something Kai would say, really," Lloyd snickered as he plopped another Sour Worm into his mouth. The sour taste didn't even phase him like it made Nya's whole face scrunch up.
At that moment, they could hear the familiar sound of the front door of the house slamming closed.
"Pfft, speaking of the devil," Lloyd said and put his phone down, keeping his packet of Sour Worms by his side.
Not even a few seconds passed before Kai himself came bursting through Nya's door. His hair was a mess as always and he carried a box under his arm. The mischievous look he had on his face made Nya facepalm immediately.
"What did you do now?" She asked him after letting out an overdramatic sigh. Whatever he did this time was more than likely not good at all.
Kai placed his free hand on his chest, "You don't even say hello? Dear sister, your words hurt me," he said.
He placed the wooden box on Nya's bed and gave Lloyd a greeting in the form of a nod before turning his attention back to the box.
"Guess what I found!" He sang and buried his hands in the pockets of his Ninjago University hoodie. His eyes excitedly moved between the two teens, waiting for them to guess the answer to his question.
"Just tell us," Lloyd told him as he reached his hand to lift the top of the box.
Kai immediately slapped his hand away and mimicked the hissing of an angry cat.
"Just guess!"
Nya hummed and pretended to stroke a non-existent beard, "Something we aren't supposed to have and that will get us in trouble."
Kai huffed, "Close. I found an Ouija Board at this shady guy's shop on my way back from NU. Very interesting dude. His name is Ronin and he has a second-hand shop. Apparently, this thing belonged to some rich snob. I bought it for only R200, which is a good price, really- "
"Why would you buy one of those? You know how mom and dad feel- "
"Nya," Lloyd said and rolled his eyes, "You're no fun! It's just an Ouija board. It won't hurt anyone."
Nya sat back in her chair and spun herself around in it, keeping her arms crossed.
"My parents are very religious and having a demonic thing in our house is not a good idea," She said, "I'm not touching that. You two can take the blame. I'm not getting in trouble for such silly things."
Kai kept his mouth shut, completely ignoring his sister, and opened the box to take the round object out from its wooden prison. It opened with a satisfying click. The board lay snug in a sapphire velvet casing. This made Nya think that this thing was quite important to someone at a stage.
It was a pearly white oval with unfamiliar letters engraved into it. Nya had no idea what they meant. It was in a language that she had never seen before.
Kai frowned after inspecting the object.
"I don't know what the hell this means," He muttered and drew his thumb over the engravings. He then carefully placed it on a pillow floor that he had tossed down on the floor, careful not to break it. It looked very old and very, very fragile.
"Woah, are we seriously gonna speak to some ghosts right now?" Lloyd said as he got off Nya's bed and made his way to the strange object. He sat with his legs crossed and looked at it. He gently dragged his pointer finger over the object.
"It's so smooth," He muttered.
"Nope, not ghosts, Greenie. Ronin told me this thing can let us speak to demons," Kai said and took out the familiar triangle with a hole in it that Nya would see in movies. It was the same colour as the board itself. The hole was perfect, and the object looked very smooth. Nya almost wanted to touch it. Almost.
"Spooky," Lloyd laughed and gave a very sceptical Nya a wink.
Nya kept her distance. She was quite sceptical. She didn't believe in ghosts and demons, but at the same time, this object clearly was no joke. From the wooden and sapphire velvet casing to the smooth sculping and the perfect engravements made her quite nervous. The person who had this before giving or selling it to the crooked shop owner took communication with demons very seriously.
Kai took a spot next to Lloyd, placing the triangular shape in the middle of the board before looking up to his sister.
"When are mom and dad coming home?" Kai asked Nya, who was still sitting on her trusted office chair. She was defiantly not moving.
"They said 'round about six."
Lloyd joyfully clapped his hands together before rubbing them like an evil overlord.
"Awesome! It's only 4 now, so that means we still have a lot of time to make a demon friend! Maybe Nya can even get her a sexy demon boyfriend."
"Ahaha, no we aren't," Nya stated.
"Why not? A demon can make a very interesting partner, don't you think," Lloyd slurred, raising his eyebrows up and down.
"No. Also, stop doing that with your eyebrows. It's weird."
"What is that I feel?" Kai asked and rubbed his arms.
Lloyd mimicked his motions, "Oh yes, I feel it too! It feels like, hmm, I'm not sure. What do you think, Kai?"
"Ah yes, it feels like a wet blanket."
"Kai, be logical-" Nya started.
"Nya, stop being a wet blanket and come and talk to the demons with us."
"No!"
"As you said, Nya, 'Demons and ghosts aren't real'. Come and prove us that you're right," Kai said, knowing that his sister would do anything to prove a point, just like he would.
"Fine," She grumbled and took a spot between her brother and Lloyd.
The board lay on the cushion and the triangle rested on it. It seemed to pull Nya to it. The light in Nya's room simmered off it, making it look more shiny and appealing.
Lloyd was the first one to put his hand on the triangle, followed by Kai's. Nya hesitated, but after an encouraging nod from her brother, she put her hand on top of the heap.
"Hmm," Kai hummed, "Is there a demon in this house or room?"
The triangle didn't move one bit.
"Told you, Kai," Nya said and stuck her tongue out.
"I'm not done yet!" Kai said after shooting his sister a stern look.
"Is there, hmm, a demon inside the board?" Lloyd asked.
"You moron, Lloyd. Why-" Kai said before being cut off by the triangle moving.
Kai's hand immediately shot away, as if the triangle was a red-hot iron, threatening to burn him alive
Lloyd's hand followed, leaving Nya's hand on the triangle. She immediately shouted when it didn't stop moving.
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE MOVING IT! WHAT THE HELL!"
"DON'T MOVE YOUR HAND, KEEP IT STILL!" Kai shouted.
Nya was scared to retract her hand as well. She had seen enough horror movies to know that that would not end well.
The room was quiet when the triangle finally stopped. The hole perfectly circled one of the engraved symbols, 羊, to be exact. The symbol turned into a shade of navy blue and Nya finally found the courage to retract her hand from the triangle. She was in too much shock to run away as her instincts were telling her to. Her body wouldn't listen. She didn't even move a muscle.
Things got worse the moment a hand shot through the board. Kai and Lloyd let out a string of curse words and backed up closer to the wall if that was even possible.
The hand didn't move or twitch. It just sat there, waiting for someone to take hold of it. It looked exactly like a human hand would, except for the fact that it was deprived of all colour. It looked like something from a black and white horror movie.
"Nya, get away from that thing!" She heard Kai shout.
Instead of listening, she grabbed the hand instead.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" Lloyd yelled and ran to Nya's side. Before he could come close, however, Kai already yanked him down by his foot to the ground and Lloyd returned to his old spot against the wall.
The hand gripped her hand and Nya started pulling it upward. As she pulled, she saw an arm come out of the board, followed by the body of a teenage boy.
For the first time in her life, Nya was tougher than the petrified boys she called her best friend and older brother.