Chapter 2

Two

Skyler

Slate drops us off, and we spend the next hour getting ready, or they do. I’m pretty much set after I change into the outfit I’d stashed in my bag. My grandma would have lost her shit if I left in a crop top, even with my favorite ripped-up sweater over it. With a quick swipe of eyeliner, I’m done and left waiting on them.

They go through at least ten outfits each before they decide on the first ones, just like they always do. Then they do their hair and makeup, taking their sweet time. I alternate between talking with them and reading on my phone.

Even though they took forever, we still have about a half hour before the guys come grab us.

“Oh, I’ve got just the thing!” Bridget shrieks, startling me from my reading and taking off into her closet in a rush.

Fuck, it’s always at the good parts. The main female character was just about to fuck not one but two of her mates for the first time.

Reluctantly, I pocket my phone just as she comes rushing back out, a box hugged to her chest and a smile on her face that tells me I’m going to hate whatever this is.

She doesn’t say a word, instead moving to the middle of the room before she turns the box toward me and Val, proudly holding it out as if it’s the best thing ever, with a huge smile on her face.

It’s not.

Ouija; of fucking course, it’s an Ouija board. Bridget goes through phases, and right now, she’s all about crystals, cards, and spirits. I don’t have a particular belief in any of that, but I’d rather not fuck with it. The same way, I won’t be going in the bathroom to say Bloody Mary in the damn mirror.

“I don’t know about this, Bridge,” Val says, voicing my thoughts before I can.

Bridget’s smile melts at Val’s words, and I already know Val will cave. She hates feeling like she’s letting people down.

“I—I just, it’s Devil’s Night, and I don’t know if this is the best time to play with those kinds of things,” Val stammers, trying to make Bridget see reason.

It won’t help. All she did was feed Bridget’s desire to do it. You would think after all these years, Val would get it, but somehow Bridget always gets her way. It’s better to just get it over with.

“Exactly! This is the perfect chance. If we don’t do it now, I’ll have to wait a whole year for another chance like this. I only want to do something with my best frie?—”

“Let’s do this,” I say, cutting her off before she can finish her guilt trip speech.

Bridget lets out a squeal of delight and drops to the ground, wasting no time setting it up.

“I knew you guys loved me,” she says with a smile as we move to join her on the floor.

“What do we do?” Val asks, looking down at the board before glancing at us nervously. I shrug, unsure myself.

Bridget hops to her feet, grabbing a candle from her nightstand and something else I can’t see. She sets it down and lights it, dropping a piece of paper and a pen before running across the room to flip the light off.

Shit, this was a bad idea.

“Okay, so Val, you take these,” Bridget says, pushing the pen and paper to her. “You're going to take notes while we talk, so we know what they say.”

Val’s already pale skin looks even whiter as she opens her mouth to say something, but Bridget doesn’t give her the chance.

“Everyone needs to touch it while we ask our questions. Just two fingers will do,” she explains, reaching out to set her fingers on the triangle-looking piece to demonstrate. “Make sure you aren’t pushing it; the spirits do that, so no funny business,” Bridget says with a laugh.

At least one of us is enjoying this.

With a sigh, I reach out and mimic her, placing my fingers on the piece, and Val does the same.

“Ah, this is amazing! I’m so excited to see what they have to say,” Bridget gushes before taking a deep breath to calm down.

“Okay, deep breath, let’s get to it, girls.”

We sit there for a second, waiting, and I get the feeling she wants one of us to start. But I have no idea what I’m doing, and I worry Val might puke if she opens her mouth.

“Why don’t you show us how we do it?” I ask, and Bridget slaps a hand to her head with a laugh.

“Duh, of course, no problem.” Sitting up straight, she let out a breath before closing her eyes. “Are there any spirits with us?” Bridget asks, her voice suddenly serious as she watches the pointer. I’m sure she expects what everyone sees in the movies, but nothing happens.

None of us says a word, waiting, watching, but still nothing happens.

Clearing her throat, she tries again. “Are there any spirits with us?”

Again, we wait, and still nothing.

“Ugh, maybe one of you should try?” Bridget asks, looking at us with pleading eyes and I huff a sigh, knowing it has to be me. No way Val can do it.

“Are there any spirits with us?” I ask halfheartedly, not actually wanting an answer. No, I want them to stay quiet so we can pack this up and go to the damn party. I want to get drunk, forget the shit show that is my life, and maybe get fucked while I’m at it.

Sex makes everything a little better.

Movement pulls me from the thought of Slate’s vibrating tongue ring, and I hear Val’s gasp before I realize what the fuck is happening.

It’s moving!

I turn to Bridget and find the last thing I want to see. Her eyes are wide in surprise as she watches the piece move across the board before coming to rest over the ‘yes.’ I’d hoped she was fucking with us. Some part of me still does, but she’s a terrible liar, and the look on her face tells me she’s just as shocked as I am right now.

“Nope,” I say, drawing the word out for proper emphasis before pulling my hand away. That’s all the crazy I have in me for the night. I’m done.

“No!” Bridget cries, peeling her gaze away from the board to look up at me with big, pleading eyes.

“No! No way, Bridge. I played, it answered, and now I’m done,” I tell her, shaking my head, but of course, that’s not enough.

“Come on, we won’t ask anything bad, just a few more questions!” I’m still shaking my head, but that only makes her double down.

She’s almost in my lap, her lip poked out in a pout, hands clasped in front of her like she’s praying, and her eyes even more pleading than before.

Who the fuck taught this girl to beg like this? No wonder she gets every damn thing she wants.

“Ugh, fine!” I finally cave, throwing my hands in the air, and she lunges at me. Her arms wrap around my neck in a hug that takes us both to the ground. “But I’m so serious, Bridge. No crazy shit, I’ve got enough trauma in my life.”

Time ticks by impossibly slow as I count the seconds, praying the guys arrive and save me from this shit. True to her word, Bridget asks simple questions and, by some stroke of luck, gets bored after about her seventh one when neither Val nor I want to ask anything of our own.

“Fine, I guess that’s enough for tonight,” Bridget turns to look at her alarm clock, a smile turning up her perfectly painted lips. “Besides, the guys should be here any time now!”

Val visibly sags in relief, but before she can pull her hand away, the damn thing moves again.

I watch in horror as it moves not to the same yes and no markers it’s been going to so far, but to a letter.

M

Even through her shock, Val’s quick to scribble the letter down on the paper Bridget gave her. The girl’s smart as hell. Writing notes is second nature.

It goes on for what feels like forever, and while I want to pull away, I can’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I sit and watch as the piece glides across the board from one letter to the next.

Finally, it stops, and I snatch my hand away, feeling as if I’ve just been released from some kind of trance.

“What did they say?” Bridget asks excitedly, as if the words on that paper are going to be the best thing she’s ever heard.

“Me—Meet me in the woods…” Val says, her voice shaking. She looks down at the paper like it might turn into a monster and eat her.

“Oh!” Bridget claps her hands together, pushing to her feet and bouncing around. “That’s amazing, so very cryptic,” she says, wiggling her brows at us as she heads over to flick the lights back on.

I’m blinded for a second as I blink, trying to let my eyes adjust. My gaze falls back to the board and I could have sworn we released the piece on the ‘S’. It was the last letter it gave us, so it would make sense, but as I look down at the board, I see that it’s now sitting on top of the moon.

Strange.

I don’t know shit about this stuff. Unlike Bridget, I don’t really do phases. I just like what I like. I’ve seen a few horror movies with Ouija boards in them before. Some claim the moon and sun represent the light and dark of the spirits, but I don’t know for sure, and I never wanted to.

Before I get the chance to ask Bridget, my phone vibrates and lights up, telling me I have a new message from Caelan.

Your chariot awaits.

“The guys are here,” I tell them, quickly standing and heading for the door.

If I didn’t need a drink before, I sure as hell do now.