Page 1 of Things Get Dark

Ouija Oopsie

By K. L. Thorne

The Demon from Down Under Cometh…

“And that’s it fortoday, my beautiful goddesses.” Eidie held up her hands, forming a heart shape with them. She stared at her reflection in the monitor, the bright ring light illuminating her face. “As always, if you’ve found this video helpful, please hit the like button and subscribe for more wicked wiccan wonders. See you all soon and goddess be with you.”

Eidie clicked the red ‘stop’ button on her laptop and sagged forward with a heavy sigh. She stretched her back and picked the prickly crown, formed by dried brambles from her hair.

“Fucking thing,” she hissed, carefully untangling her long, auburn locks. “I’m going to have to find something more comfortable to wear.”

She pushed away from her desk, her wheeled chair rolling off across the laminate. She reached down and unhooked the green screen that hid her messy apartment from the view of the camera. She had been running this semi–successful YouTube channel for several years, building her following from the ground up. She had over one hundred thousand subscribersnow – fellow wannabe wiccans. In truth, she knew very little of the religion outside what she had googled and read about in books, but it seemed something about her aesthetic hit the right note with her fans and what had started as a bit of a joke had quickly transformed into a full–blown business. She was making enough through her Patreon account that she no longer had to work. Sometimes Eidie felt guilty that she was profiteering off something she didn’t truly believe in, but the healthy pay cheque that landed in her bank account every month made it easier and easier to forget.

Eidie returned to her desk, opening a notebook and crossing through her script from the session. She spent a few moments running through the rest of her plans – tomorrow was Halloween and her diary was packed. She still had to post an advertisement for this new episode up on Instagram and do a live on TikTok, never mind getting to work on writing the next episode and then editing this one before it went live… She sighed. Not tonight. Filming always took it out of her. No, tonight she was going to heat up some leftovers and read a little more of the filthy romance book she was obsessed with, before grabbing a shower and heading to bed.

Eidie got to her feet, shrugging out of her witch costume, shedding layers of hessian and forest green satin to reveal a baby pink hoodie and pastel tie–dye leggings. She caught sight of her reflection in her monitor and smirked – the dramatic gothic make–up she donned for her shows looked decidedly out of place upon her face now she was back in her everyday clothes. She leaned over and shut her laptop down, turning her ring light off and packing away the rest of her recording equipment.

A chime rang out from the doorway and Eidie frowned. Padding barefoot to the door, she tugged her iPhone from her pocket. It was eleven–thirty at night, who could this be? She tiptoed to peek out at the corridor through her peephole. Adelivery man stood at the door, tapping something into the electronic palm device in his hand. Beside him was a tall, slender cardboard box. Eidie opened the door, keeping the chain fastened. She poked her head into the gap.

“Hello?”

“Hello, love.” The man greeted her with a polite smile. “Parcel for you.”

Eidie hesitated, but when the man gave her an expectant look, gesturing to the box, she unfastened the chain from her door and opened it. He handed the parcel over.

“Thanks,” Eidie said, scanning her eyes curiously over the package. Sure enough, her name and address were emblazoned on the sticker attached to it. “Where has this come from? I don’t think I’ve ordered anything.”

“Couldn’t say,” the delivery man replied, stepping back to take a photograph as proof of his delivery. “I courier all over.”

“At eleven at night?” Eidie asked, cocking a brow.

The man smiled at her. “I make sure everyone gets what they deserve, no matter the time of day. Happy Halloween.”

Eidie frowned, but before she could ask any further questions, the man dipped his head and strode off, still tapping away on his palm device. She dragged the box into her apartment, locking the door behind herself. She eagerly scurried into the kitchen, snatching a pair of scissors from the drawer. Eidie made short work of opening the mysterious box, surprised when it fell open to reveal a rolled–up rug. Inside was an invoice, but when she unfolded it, most of the details were smudged beyond recognition. There was, however, a personalised message, typed into a text box.

‘To a wonderful wiccan – happy Halloween. Hopefully this gift will inspire one of your brilliant episodes. All the best, your number one fan.’

Eidie smiled. She often received fan mail, but she’d never had a gift, never mind one so large, arrive at her home address before. She slid the blade of the scissors through the plastic ties holding the rug together. It unfurled and she pushed it open across the floor, a small chuckle escaping her as the design was unveiled. It was a giant Ouija board. She had seen these on Pinterest and had thought they were amusing, but once she had seen the price tag, she had quickly put all thoughts of purchasing one from her mind. This would be perfect. She was sure she could come up with endless hours of content using this. Besides, it looked rather fetching amongst the other oddities and witchy props she had all around her apartment from her video show.

Eidie clapped her hands together, getting to her feet. The rug was still bent up on the edges and would need a little time to settle until it laid flat. Her stomach rumbled and she headed to the kitchen, throwing leftovers from the night before into the microwave and cracking open a cocktail in a can. Tonight was strawberry daiquiri. Eidie licked her lips, sipping the premixed cocktail whilst she waited for her dinner. When the microwave pinged, she carefully eased the dish out and headed to the living room. Smiling at her newest acquisition on the floor, already beginning to flatten out, Eidie tucked her feet up beneath her bottom as she sat upon her sofa.

She grabbed her book and spooned in mouthful after steaming mouthful, eyes riveted to the story in her hands. She was a huge fan of romance novels, the dirtier the better, but this one? It was entitled ‘Demon from Downunder’ and it was mostly porn – the monstrous main man was even in possession of two cocks. She shivered, nibbling her lip as she took in a rather detailed passage.

Before Eidie had realised it, her dinner was finished and her can was empty. Though she was loath to tear her eyes away from her book, she was in desperate need of a shower; still covered inglitter and stage makeup as she was. It was almost midnight, and it was now or never. With a heavy sigh, Eidie bookmarked her place and strode to the bedroom, stretching her arms above her head.

A sudden beep startled her and Eidie leapt to the side with a yelp, her shoulder colliding with the doorframe. She scowled at the Roomba in the corner of the room as it sprang to life, rolling off its dock and heading out into the living room of its own accord. She shook her head and stepped over it, walking into her bedroom.

She undressed quickly, heading into the adjoined bathroom. Under the heat of the shower spray, Eidie yawned. She had stayed up far too late finishing off that recording. She was looking forward to slipping into bed… Though perhaps she would bring that particularly spicy book with her when she did. She quickly got to work shampooing her auburn locks and washing her witchy costume art from her skin.

Soon enough, Eidie was stepping from the shower, wrapping a pink towel around herself. She squeezed the worst of the water from her curls into a microfibre towel, tousling them to encourage the natural wave in her hair. She headed back to her room, flopping down heavily onto the bed. Eidie stared at the ceiling for a long moment, her eyes already growing heavy. With a start, she remembered her book was still on the side table. Eidie wrestled with her own laziness for a moment before the desire to finish the captivating book grew too strong. She heaved herself up and wandered back towards the living room.

As soon as she stepped through the door, she knew something was off. The Roomba was still buzzing steadily around the living room, but it was now plunged into darkness. There was a strange chill in the air that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end. She frowned; had she turned off the lights? She couldn’t remember doing that. A shiver ripped through herbody, and she wrapped her arms around herself. Something about this room feltwrong,somehow insidious…

“Well, shit, he really gets up in her business, eh?” A deep voice spoke from the far side of the room and Eidie gasped, scrambling backwards and pressing herself against the wall. The bedroom light was still on, but it began to flicker ominously. She planted her hand over her mouth, terror shooting through her.

“There’s no point hiding, darlin’,” the voice drawled. Eidie heard the page of a book turn. Despite her fear, Eidie frowned. This intruder had an Australian accent. That was beyond bizarre, given she lived in a small village in the United Kingdom. It was so sleepy around here that even she had been the talk of the town when she’d first moved there, and she’d only come from London. She was certain gossip of such an exotic character being in town would have reached her.

When her bedroom light flickered once more, this time plunging the whole flat into darkness, Eidie screeched and dropped into a crouch, body shaking.

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