MirrorMirror

37 / Chaos

Recognition can be a trigger. It can spur a person from inactivity to response in an instant.

Cassidy leaped forward and grabbed the Ouija board. The planchette spun in the air as it was launched from the wooden square, and he expertly snatched it before it could land and placed it on the table. Taking the board in both hands, he smashed it against his knee.

It broke cleanly in two. When it did, the planchette cracked and separated into two pieces that jumped away from each other.

The screaming ceased, sucking all sounds from the room as it vanished. A vacuum remained that made the siblings' ears pop.

This is your captain speaking. Cabin pressure had now equalised. Snacks and drinks will soon be available from the refreshments trolley. All currencies are welcome. Please enjoy your flight.

Jazz and Ethan dropped their hands. Both were panting. The bleeding had spread to one of Jazz's ears and a bubble of reddened mucus popped in Ethan's nose as he scrambled for breath.

"What the actual fuck was that?" he asked.

"Amy," Cass said quietly.

"We got that, but what the fuck?"

"I... I don't know. She was... we were hurting her."

"Hurting her? She had us trapped! I was shitting myself!"

"I was scared too," Jazz said. "But she seemed to be trapped or something. And in pain."

"Yeah, us too."

"Yes, but we did that to her, somehow."

"She'd dead. She shouldn't be able to feel anything!" Ethan was almost shouting now.

"Fishy, keep your voice down!"

"Why? Why should I?"

"Because I don't want my neighbours to hear me talking about someone being dead, or ghosts or any of that shit. Rein it in."

Ethan slumped in his chair with an exasperated muttering. Jazz shook her head. She thought it might help contain the shaking of her body.

"Is she still here?" she asked Cassidy.

"I don't know," he said. "We don't have, like, a psychic link. I think we'd know if she was still here."

"Yeah, we'd be deaf," Ethan said.

"Funny," Jazz punched his arm to try and get him to stop making stupid jokes.

He didn't take the hint.

"Of course I am. You should know by now."

"You're an idiot," she told him. "So shut up."

"Sorry," he said haughtily. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

"It doesn't need lightening. It needs addressing."

"She's right," said Cassidy. "Look. I don't know what happened, but we hurt her. Where did you find this thing?"

"I've had it years," Jazz told him. "I couldn't even tell you where I got it from."

"Maybe it's not the board." Ethan shrugged. "Maybe it's you, Fucker."

"Me? Why would it be me?"

"Because there's got to be some reason why it was Amy and not..."

"A demon?"

"Yeah. Or something. Got to be."

"But what? She just talks to me through messages. It's not like I conjured her. She was already there."