We sat there, staring at the Ouija Board. None of us had so much as a fingernail touching it. But it had just moved anyway.

"Is this for real?" Tobias said, breaking the stunned silence. The Ouija Board answered him.

"I... F... Y... O... U... D... L... I... K... E... T... O... M... A... K... E... A ... C... A... L... L... P... L... E... A... S... E... H... A... N... G... U... P... A... N... D... T... R... Y... A... G... A... I... N..."

There was absolutely no denying it this time. The board was moving itself.

"What's up with these weird messages, though?" I wondered.

Rachel reached out to grab the planchet again.

"I think it needs us to actually hold on to it, or the message gets distorted," she said. "Well, what are you waiting for? Touch it!"

Tobias stretched his hand out, then Cassie, and then me.

"Is this really a good idea?" Marco asked.

"Hey, you're the one who bought the Ouija Board and wanted us to test it out," I said.

He glared at me, reached out to touch the planchet, and then spoke to the Ouija Board again, much less confidently this time.

"OK... how are you able to talk on your own?"

"Y... O... U... T... O... O... K... A ... S... P... I... R... I... T... B... O... A... R... D... I... N... T... O... A... H... A... U... N... T... E... D... H... O... U... S... E... W... H... A... T... D... I... D... Y... O... U... T... H... I... N... K... W... O... U... L... D... H... A... P... P... E... N..."

"All right. Who are we talking to?"

The planchet circled around the letter G a few times, then stopped moving.

"Are there, uh... are there a lot of ghosts in here with you, G?"

"1... 3..."

"Thirteen ghosts? Well, I wasn't superstitious ten minutes ago, but that seems like kind of a bad number."

"I... F... Y...O...U... L...I...K...E... W...E... C...A...N... G... E... T... M... O... R... E..."

"Yeah, that doesn't sound ominous at all," Marco quipped, "They're just going to turn US into ghosts, aren't they?"

The planchet jumped around again, landing on the word "NO".

"Yeah, I'm not feeling very reassured," Marco said, "I think that's enough seancing for one night. Let's-"

He was interrupted by the front door slamming itself shut. We exchanged a few nervous glances. Then, after a moment's hesitation, we jumped up, ran to the door, and tried to open it again. The handle turned just fine, but even with the combined weight of all five of us pushing, the door wouldn't move.

"So, we're trapped in a haunted house," Rachel said as we gave up on trying to force the door open. "Cool!"

There was a scraping sound coming from the parlor. Afraid of what we might see, I turned around to look. It was the Ouija board, slowly sliding across the floor. It kept moving until it got to my feet, then stopped. It was easy enough to get the hint, so, despite being scared out of my mind, I kneeled down to touch the planchet again. Rachel and Tobias joined me, while Cassie and Marco went back to trying to force the door open.

"What do you want from us?" I pleaded at the board.

"G... O... T... O... T... H... E... C... E... L... L... A... R..."

"The cellar with the secret laboratory?" Rachel asked.

"Y... E... S..."

"Well, that sounds like fun," she said, "Come on, let's go find the-"

Once again, the Ouija board started sliding across the floor under its own power. We followed it back into the parlor, and into a dark hallway, where it ran up against a door. Rachel opened the door, revealing a staircase leading into the basement.

"Well, let's check it out!" she said, and started walking down the stairs.