"Don't look at her or she'll cast a spell on you!" Giggling, followed by a sudden silence as her gaze swept across them. Aradia Megido cast her eyes down at the floor once more, her tattered grey skirt flowing eerily around her legs. Her mass of dark hair fell around her face, a convenient blockade to keep the jeering faces out. She clutched the small package in her hand tighter, feeling the edges cutting into her skin. Something clicked inside her backpack as she shifted it slightly on her shoulders. She smiled, the sound of wood on wood both a comfort in this friendless time and a sign that she was needed for conversation.
The tardy bell rang, but she didn't pay it any mind. The other kids looked at her strangely, but she did not let that distract her. She knelt on the ground, assuming a sort of prayer position, and brought her backpack to sit in front of her. Pushing it slightly forward, she undid the rubber band around the small deck of cards she had clutched so obsessively. Fanning it out in front of her, she selected three cards at random and placed them in a shallowly concave arc around her knees. She flipped them over in quick succession from the left to the right and studied them intently. The Moon card, upside down, then the Emperor card, again upside down, and finally the Fool card, shining brightly in its proper orientation. Aradia smiled knowingly, then continued with her complex ritual.
Slowly, reverently unzipping it, she brought out a small, battered wooden rectangle. Letters, numbers, and a few words were burned painstakingly precisely in even rows along the face with several pentagrams and signs of incredible importance around the edges. She then pulled out the accompanying planchette and five candles, placing them in a circle around herself and the board. Next she extracted the small lighter out of its concealed pocket, lighting the candles in a star pattern and murmuring something to herself. Then she closed her eyes, placed her delicate fingers on the planchette atop the board, and waited.
"You called me?" she whispered softly, anticipatory.
The planchette glided across the board without hesitating. Yes.
"What's wrong?"
They're watching you.
"I know."
They don't understand you. Does it not tire you?
"It does sometimes." A confused teacher poked his head out of the door. All he saw was a mass of pitch black hair that seemed to be slightly floating and rising wisps of smoke.
He's watching you now.
"Go away now," Aradia said lightly, playfully, voice eerily calm. The teacher jumped a bit. She turned slowly, her eyes rolled back in her head, freakishly showing only the whites. "I said go away now." The teacher was frozen. Her voice deepened. "Go, now," she hissed. The teacher ducked back into his classroom frantically, eyes wide and wild, the door slamming behind him. She laughed maniacally. The planchette vibrated anxiously under her fingertips, and she focused her mind once more.
Soon you will meet someone.
"Oh?"
Someone who will be your friend.
"A friend..." her thoughts drifted wistfully. She hadn't had a friend since sixth grade, since the voices had first started talking to her. Then the laughter had turned to fear and the friendship to ashes. But that was fine. The voices kept her company. They were always there for her.
You must not frighten him away. He is important to your future.
"Don't worry." Her eyes rolled into their proper positions again, but remained glazed over. "I don't think he will be the kind of person easily frightened."
I must leave. They're coming for you. The planchette slid across the board to point at the beautifully scripted Goodbye at the bottom.
"Goodbye," Aradia murmured softly, still in a daze. The instant the word had left her lips, her back arched painfully and she let out a small cry, her eyes refocusing. The five candles around her flickered and then died simultaneously. A voice from above her head spoke harshly.
"Just what do you think you are doing?"
She looked up at him, her heavy makeup and haunting eyes momentarily disorienting him, as she carefully packed her things back into her bag. "You will take me to the office now."
"This is the last straw, Ms. Megido. If you cannot properly contain your..." he paused, searching for words that wouldn't come, before blazing over his inability with quick, worthless words. "If you cannot contain yourself, we will have no choice but to suspend you."
She repeated herself, her voice lowering to the same demented growl as before. "You will take me to the office now."
The man seemed not to register that she had spoken at all except to blink irritably. "You leave me no choice. Please come with me to the office."
Aradia smiled, her eyes already unfocused as one of the many voices whispered in her ear. The man put a heavy hand on her shoulder, succeeding only in maintaining his image as he thwarted her non-existent attempts at escape, and guided her down the hallway to the office. As they reached the door, she began to laugh madly.
"What's so funny?" The harsh man demanded.
"They told me that you have nothing on the inside. No light, no hope, no love. Just a silly old man inside a silly old carcass." She laughed again.
The man blinked several times, then opened the door and pushed her roughly inside. She half-fell into the nearest plastic chair, still giggling softly. She could hear yelling inside one of the offices with the frosted glass. Aradia's face clouded with slight confusion before she cocked her head to the side, and then laughed again.
"Those silly stupid counselors don't understand anything, do they? But don't worry. We understand." She paused again. "Yes, I know. I'll just have to be patient. He'll come out eventually." She brought her backpack up onto the chair next to her, unzipped the first pocket just enough to reach her hand in, and stroked the side of the Ouija board lovingly. "And I'll be waiting when he does."