Ouija

The candles were set in a triangle and lit one by one. The room smelled like mint. Even though we hadn't yet even opened up the ouija board, I felt a chill down my spine.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, now doubting myself.

"Don't you want to find out?" asked Amy, concerned.

Okay so here's the thing about this. Yeah of course I wanted to find out what happened to dear old dad. But of course, with me being a mere mortal not knowing anything about death and ghosts, I was apprehensive! I might've been edgy but I had some sense. Well, not enough to keep me alive. Anyway…

"Of course I want to find out," I replied softly.

"Alright. Then, let's do this thing. It's very simple. Both of us have to put our hands on the planchette, and we then start asking for your dad's ghost. Then we wait a minute and ask if he's in the room with us. Ask him any questions you want if he makes his presence known and he will spell out his answers. Make sense?"

"I, uh, I guess?" My mind was in a haze. I couldn't think straight since I was about to either talk to my dad or have no indication of where he is. I breathed in and out before I placed my fingers on the planchette.

"What's your dad's name?" whispered Amy.

"I don't know. I only knew his name to just be Dad," I whispered back.

Amy thought for a moment before she got an idea, and then the seance began.

"Please come forth the ghost of Amber Mclain's father. Please join us."

My heart pounded in my chest as my eyes quickly darted around the room to see if anything would move. Amy was about to say something, but a chair moving out stopped her dead in her tracks.

She appeared calm before, but now was clearly shaken up by what happened.

"Are you Amber's dad?"

The planchette moved to yes. A single tear dropped from my eye.

"Dad… what happened that day? How did you die?"

Y-O-U-R… M-O-T-H-E-R.

"I knew it," I breathed out. "How did she kill you?"

P-O-I-S-O-N.

Then why did mom act like a victim? Did she regret what she did? Is this really dad? Or is this another ghost pretending to be my dad? I needed answers.

"When's my birthday?" I asked. Only my dad would know this.

But before the entity could answer, the session was interrupted by an earthquake. While my friend and I ran to the basement, the planchette fell off the table and in a crack in the floor boards, never to be seen again. After what felt like an hour, the earthquake stopped. I frantically got up and ran back upstairs.

"No… no no no no no!" I yelled. I threw everything around, frantically searching.

"What're you looking for?" asked Amy.

"The planchette! It's missing!" I cried as I ran my hands through my hair in a panic.

I couldn't tell at the time because I was in my own head, but Amy was very quiet because she was scared. In the rules, it said that you're supposed to say "good bye" to a spirit before ending the session, otherwise some very bad things might happen. I should've paid closer attention.