"Why are you doing this?" Lizzie pleaded, her hands not leaving the planchette. "Go!"

NO.

"But Theo doesn't believe me," continued Lizzie, and waited for the Ouija board's response. When she saw it, she wondered if her eyes were deceiving her—

H-E-W-I-L-L-B-E-T-H-E-F-I-R-S-T-T-O-D-I-E

"Die?!" Lizzie whimpered. "And what of my daughter?"

The Ouija board's words made Lizzie feel as if an ice cube had been dropped into her stomach. Her feet tingled and tears stung her eyes.

S-T-A-N-D-A-S-I-D-E, it spelled out.

"N-No!" Lizzie cried. "Leave Sophie alone! Leave us alone!"

S-T-A-N-D-A-S-I-D-E-N-O-W.

"Why are you doing this?" Lizzie repeated desperately. "W-What do you want from us?"

Down went the planchette. It landed on Goodbye.

"Goodbye? No, I need answers!" Lizzie shouted, and she moved the planchette back to the middle of the board. Again she demanded: "Leave Sophie alone!"

Goodbye.

Lizzie tried again.

Goodbye.

"What do you mean, goodbye?!" Lizzie shrieked.

And as she blinked she swore she saw a flash of green light, the same one she'd been seeing in her dreams ever since she, Theo and Sophie had moved into this house—and all the lights went out.

OCTOBER 24, 1982

"Oh, Theo, it's perfect," Lizzie Andrews sighed, cradling her fifteen-month-old daughter, Sophie, in her arms. Her husband, Theo, was examining the deed to the house. They had recently bought a cottage in a small village called Godric's Hollow, which had been uninhabited now for almost a year. They didn't know what had happened to the previous owners, but they had never done any research on their previous homes, and it didn't seem important to either of them. The graveyard near the church was rumored to be haunted, but Theo and Lizzie were both skeptics.

The house really did seem perfect—it had a drawing room, a bedroom for her and Theo, and a little room that would make a perfect nursery for little Sophie. They had just left a flat in busy downtown London for a more quiet life in West Country. Their realtor had seemed rather in a hurry to sell them their little cottage, but they'd loved it.

Before she did anything else, Lizzie brought Sophie up to the room where the baby would have her nursery. She wondered, casually, if there had been a baby living here before. She hadn't asked. They knew the house had been rebuilt after something had happened to it, but Lizzie figured that just meant maybe a minor earthquake. Surely the family had gotten out okay….Well, even if they hadn't, Lizzie had the feeling she would. This new house was going to be great.