Page 114 of Séance

“This is why we don’t communicate with the other side. This is why we don’t use Ouija boards like it’s a cute parlor trick toplay with your friends. You opened the door to the dead. You welcomed them into our world.” I drag my hair away from my face and shake my head at the foolish girl. “Now, the only way to close that door is to exhaust the energy that keeps them alive and pray we stop them before they can hurt people.”

Chapter Thirty-five

RUE

The room is as silent as a graveyard. A heartbeat passes, and that’s all it takes for fear to churn anew, the teenagers acting like rats looking to escape danger.

“Can you get us out?” the young man who threatened violence before asks, and I have no doubt he will do whatever is necessary to stop the ghosts, even if it means killing me to do it.

Knowing he’s seconds away from a full freak-out, I glance back at the broken mirror. “If you want my help, release them. I can’t do anything for you if they kill me.”

A prolonged beat of silence passes, the kids glancing between me and the mirror, violence hovering in the air like a bomb ticking down to zero. Just when the young man takes a threatening step toward me, no doubt taking my suggestion to heart, the sound of the door popping open clicks loudly in the silence.

The man pauses and glares at me like he’s tempted to ignore the doors, seeing me as the threat and not the ghosts. He isn’texactly wrong. The other kids don’t wait and charge toward the exits without prompting, nearly trampling each other to leave.

Gunner, the twins, Hicks, and Ellis escort everyone out, almost being swept up in the rush. When they don’t leave, I shake my head at them. “You need to go as well. You?—”

“No,” the guys retort, a stubborn glint entering their eyes.

Jameson steps toward me, and I hold up my hand to ward him off. “If you remain, you’ll just be used as hostages.”

Energy builds in the room, and I know I only have seconds to act. “Please, if you ever cared for me at all, just leave. Once you see into the afterlife, a connection forms, and there is no going back.”

Hicks takes a step toward the door, and my breath leaves me in a rush, relief making me lightheaded.

Then he shuts the door with a nearly silent snick that sounds as loud as a gunshot in my mind.

Holding my gaze, he fishes the jewelry case out of his pocket, snaps it open, and slips the silver and gold metal over his head. “I got you into this mess, and I’m not leaving until it’s done.”

He will be leaving.

It’s inevitable.

Unable to look at them, afraid to see their reactions, I peer down at the Ouija board.

It’s only compressed cardboard, but with the way it impacted my life, I would expect it to be more monumental or something.

Not just a cheesy toy for children.

With a deep breath, I press my index finger against the wound in my arm until fresh blood coats the tip. I place my fingertip against the planchette, leaving a bloody fingerprint behind.

It immediately stills.

The mirror across the room ripples, like a pebble striking a pond. Waves undulate outward, and the dapper gentleman wholooks like he was pulled right from the prohibition era steps out from the flat surface.

The temperature in the room plummets, and energy crackles in the air as his transparent form solidifies. The young man couldn’t be more than twenty-five years old. He tips his head backward, arches his spine, and takes a breath so deep that his chest expands.

“Aw, fresh air.” His smile is bright as he settles back on his heels and glances around the room, his eyes gleaming pure black. The flesh on his face ripples, slowly stretching until the gaping wound seals over. He inhales deeply, then winks at me. “That’s better, don’t you think?”

His voice has an echoing quality like he’s talking into a microphone that’s a little too close to a speaker.

“Holy fuck,” Gunner murmurs, his eyes nearly bulging in disbelief.

Ellis doesn’t even blink as he stares at the apparition, shock clearly breaking his brain.

Jameson scowls at the ghost, obviously pissed at it for putting me in danger in the first place. Jaceson only gapes, blinking repeatedly, then he rubs his eyes before leaning toward his brother. “Do you see him too?”

“Of course,” Jameson snaps, but he doesn’t take his attention away from the threat. “Pookie doesn’t lie. She said ghosts exist, so that means ghosts exist.”

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