As I said in the summary, it's gonna start out a bit slow, so I apologize in advance. Also, I do have a healthy fear of Ouija boards and refuse to ever use one, so I apologize for any mistakes made on that front, as well. Well, enjoy!

"Crys, I don't like this. It's a bad idea and we're gonna end up cursed or dead or somethin'! Please, please put the Ouija board away!"

This is how it all started; my favorite dream turned into my worst nightmare. And it wasn't even my fault!

Meet my friend Crystal, also known as Crys. She's pretty and smart, gets dates, and is all around perfect... and she's been getting me into trouble every chance she gets for the last decade. We met in 3rd period Spanish; the teacher paired us up to make an authentic Mexican dish. We hit it off right away, which surprised me since she's... well... perfect... And I'm... uh... not. My hair has been blue ever since I got this bad dye job in junior high, I got my nose broken in kindergarten and it never set right, and let's not get into the blobs of fat. But still, she was as big a dork as I am, and managed to make me like her despite all odds.

Of course, it wasn't until after we became friends that she set the home ec room on fire trying to make quesadillas, and I'm the one who ended up with detention. But, all this is meaningless.

The important thing is, I was staying over at her house for the weekend and she was about to screw me over again. You see, she's the adventurous type who has to try everything once, and she had found her older sister's Ouija board stuck back in a closet. I have a healthy respect (or fear) of the beyond, and didn't want to mess with powers beyond my control. Crys, however... Crys won't take no for an answer.

I tried reasoning with her.

"You don't even know how it works. Why don't you put it away until you can look stuff up... and I'm safely away. I mean, we're already in our pj's, we've got the mud-masks on... I wanna just go to bed."

I tried scare tactics.

"You never know what these things are going to attract! Haven't you watched Rose Red? The channel is too wide, bad things come out, blah, blah, blah."

I even resorted to begging!

Never mind, you don't need to hear that.

Anyway, nothing worked. She was bound and determined to play with the thing, and ignored my every whining plea. She wouldn't even let me leave the room while she did it, so I had to sit right there while she pulled out all the little pieces and parts and set them out as best she could figure. With a resigned sigh, I helped her "call the spirits."

It didn't take long for an odd feeling to come over me. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up, I broke out in a cold sweat, and my teeth started chattering. Nothing was happening on the board, much to Crys' disappointment, but I knew something was there. Something... unpleasant. Still, there was no reaction that Crys could see, so she quickly lost interest and started putting things away.

"Um, aren't you supposed to do something to shut it off or something, Crys? You know, tell the spirits to go away and stuff?" I was shaking so bad, I'm surprised she understood me, but understand me she did. Rolling her eyes, she started trying to placate me like I was a scared little girl who thought there was a monster in her closet.

"It's not like we got anything, anyway. Besides, I'm sure my sis would have mentioned it at some point or another. She was always talking about her mystic crap. Quit being such a chickenshit!" I hate it when she does that...

Still, I couldn't think of anything to say that would convince her, so I gave up. I even tried to tell myself she was right.

You're just being silly... You probably didn't get anything, just like she said. You're just scaring yourself for nothing... Surely they wouldn't sell the blasted things to teenagers if they were that dangerous...

I almost managed to convince myself before I went to sleep.

Later that night, I woke to this terrible moaning sound. My eyes popped open before I could stop myself, and I saw a shadowy figure in the dim light from the bathroom. "Crys?" My voice wavered; I sounded pathetically whiny even to my own ears.

I whimpered softly as a distinctively masculine voice answered.

"No."

Like it? Hate it? Either way, let me know. I need some constructive criticism so I can do better next time.