Title: Omniscient Ouija
Author: Bidie McCucholl
Category: S
Rating: PG
Spoilers: The Blessing Way, Paper Clip
Keywords: Pre-XF.
Summary: On a stormy Halloween night, a young Dana and Melissa
Scully decide to play with the newest of Melissa's discoveries---
a Ouija board. Dana is skeptical at first, but as the spirit
begins to reveal more and more personal (and eerie) information
about their futures, she too begins to wonder if the Ouija
board is indeed a channel by which the living can contact the
departed spirits of the dead.
Disclaimer: Yes, by now you all know the drill. Mulder and
Scully do not belong to me. They belong to FOX, Chris Carter,
and Ten Thirteen Productions. I am in no way making money off
of this endeavor, but my reward is feedback from incredible
fanfic-loving Philes like yourself! Please forward any
questions and comments to AgentXDoll@aol.com. Enjoy!
==============================================================
Miramar Naval Air Station
San Diego, California
October 31, 1976
11:21 p. m.
A furious flash of lightning penetrated the black sky
outside the window, one of many that had succeeded in scaring
the living daylights out of the trembling twelve-year-old.
She couldn't sleep. She never slept when night storms
brought torrential downpours and rumbling thunder to the Scully
house. She often wondered why the most furious storms would
choose night to perpetuate their acts of havoc upon the small
houses of the military base.
The fact that it was Halloween did little to better
the situation.
Dana sighed heavily, rolling out of her warm bed. She
hated storms, but she hated them worse when they fell upon All
Hallow's Eve, the night when the dead (and perhaps the undead)
campaigned to have one last attempt at dominion over the earth.
Father Patrick had warned her in church about this night, how
the dead could capture an innocent soul such as hers if she
were seen beyond the protective boundaries of her Christian home.
Dana had taken his advice.
Melissa, however, had laughed at Dana, renouncing the idea
of ghosts and goblins and evil spirits waiting to claim her soul
for the Devil. She had gone out anyway, dressed as a cartoon
character, saying that there were only good spirits in the world,
and the rest was superstitious nonsense.
So Dana had helped her mother give candy to the many trick-or
treaters who had shown up on their doorstep, always with a
warning to be careful of finding an evil spirit. The parents
had laughed; the children had giggled, and no one had taken her
seriously. Not even her own mother, who instead sat with her in
front of the television while the Halloween specials ran their
course.
"Why aren't you out trick-or-treating, Dana?" Maggie had
asked her. "Did Father Patrick frighten you with all that talk
about the Devil and his demons?"
Dana remembered her mother's response. "Father Patrick says
a lot of things to keep children from doing what he thinks are
sinful. It was probably just a story meant to scare you. And
believe me, he knows how strong your faith is, how much you want
to be in Heaven someday, more so than the other children your age.
More so than even Melissa."
Her mother was right, as always. She wanted to hold true to
the faith, to be the best person she could be, so that someday
God would look down from Heaven and call her to be with Him.
The Devil was not going to have her soul.
Silently she crept into the kitchen for a late-night snack.
Chocolate chip cookies always seemed to chase away the willies.
As she tiptoed past the living room, suddenly she heard
something. A faint moan coming from the center of the room.
Dana's breath caught in her throat.
Without a sound, Dana moved into the room to investigate.
Hopefully that sound wasn't what she thought it was. Hopefully
it wasn't even real, just a figment of her imagination. She
tiptoed closer to the couch.
There it was again. She heard it again. It wasn't her
imagination. This was real. This was really happening. Her
hands began to tremble.
she
prayed silently as she gained full vantage of the room. What
she saw next completely floored her.
There, on the soft plush of the living room rug, sat
Melissa, still dressed in her costume, humming something and
saying some sort of prayer. Beside her was a wooden
contraption of some sort, burning something which smelled like
incense. Dana's nostrils burned from the pungent odor.
She watched her older sister for a few moments as Melissa
repeated her incantations over and over again, ending each cycle
with a low hum. What was she doing? Dana had never seen her
sister so focused, so concentrated, before.
Finally she heard Melissa say something faintly intelligible.
"With the powers of the heavens and the earth, so mote it be,"
and then her eyes opened, resting upon Dana.
Dana lost the ability to breathe.
"Dana." Melissa's voice was calm, comforting. "Did the storm
frighten you?"
Dana nodded, unsure whether to approach or retreat into her
bedroom.
Melissa smiled. "Storms are Nature's way of restoring
balance to our world. You shouldn't be frightened of them."
She beckoned to Dana. "Come here."
Hesitantly Dana walked over to where her sister was sitting
and joined her. "What are you doing, Missy?" she asked.
Melissa smiled. "Experimenting." She snuffed the tiny fire
of burning incense.
"Experimenting with what?"
"Nothing you'd understand," she told Dana, patting her arm.
"But I want to understand," Dana replied, covering Melissa's
hand with her own. "I want to know what you were doing."
Melissa pointed to a book in front of her. "I got this
tonight, at an old bookstore in town," she said.
"What is it?"
"It's a book of spells." She grinned.
"Spells?" Dana gasped. "Like witches' spells?"
Melissa laughed. "No, not like that. Ancient spells.
Healing spells. Spells to get more money. Love spells."
Dana frowned, wrinkling her nose. "They sound like witches'
spells to me."
"What do you know about witches' spells?" Melissa replied
condescendingly. "All you know is what you learn in school and
what Father Patrick tells you. You just follow blindly. Have
you ever considered the prospect that there is more out there?"
"What do you mean, Missy?" Dana wasn't sure she liked the
things coming out of her sister's mouth.
"I mean, other things. Things that go beyond your biology
class or your precious catechism. Things of the cosmos. Things
beyond even God, or the other gods we worship." Melissa grinned.
"There are so many powers we can call upon to better our lives,
or make them worse, depending on how we use them. We just have
to tap into them."
Dana's eyes widened, her frown replaced by a wary look.
"You're scaring me, Missy." This wasn't her sister at all.
Melissa Scully always went to Mass. There wasn't a day that she
wasn't seen in Confession. What was going on?
"Why are you scared, Dana? I'm not scared. I'm enlightened.
I'm finally getting some answers to the questions of life."
"But you can find all the answers you need in the Bible,"
Dana argued, knowing how dedicated her sister had once been to
reading and understanding the Scriptures.
Melissa shook her head. "The Bible doesn't explain any of
the answers I'm looking for. It only offers vague solutions.
But this...this is the key to understanding why we're here, and
how we can control the forces around us to have a good life."
"We pray for a good life," Dana said, "And God takes care of
us."
"But we have no control," Melissa said. "Don't you want
control, Dana? Don't you want to get into the best college,
land the best job, make the best money? You don't have to pray
to God for that. You can do it yourself, with the help of
Nature."
"Control?" Dana frowned. "I have control."
"Not if you give it to God," Melissa reasoned.
"But God knows best." Dana was unconvinced.
"So why does God allow innocent children to be murdered?
Why does God allow accidents to happen? Why do bad things
happen to good people?" When Dana shrugged, Melissa smiled
triumphantly. "Your faith doesn't give you those answers."
"Our faith," Dana corrected her.
"No. Your faith," Melissa said. "I have a new one."
"And what is that?"
"My own."
The sudden clasp of Melissa's hand on hers slightly startled
Dana. She shook her head, puzzled. "I don't understand," she
said.
Melissa smiled again. "You don't have to understand," she
replied gently. "You have your faith, and I have mine. Each
of us believes in something. Each of us has a god, whatever we
choose to make it. And each of us has a journey to complete in
this life, things to do before we go to the next life. Why
should this life be uncomfortable or out of control, just because
an all-powerful God says it has to be? There has to be more,
Dana. There has to be. And I intend to find it." She turned to
the book.
Dana knew there was no point in arguing with Melissa; both
of them were equally as stubborn and bull-headed about their
opinions. But she could at least attempt to understand why her
older sister felt so strongly about this new faith of hers.
"What---what was it you were just saying, a minute ago?"
Dana asked, pointing to the book. "You were chanting something."
Melissa smiled. "You'll laugh if I tell you."
"No I won't." Dana crossed her heart with her finger, a
secret sign of confidence between the two sisters.
"All right," Melissa said. "I was reciting a love spell."
"A love spell?!" Dana squeaked loudly, promptly silenced by
Melissa.
"Yeah," Melissa told her. "You remember Greg? The boy that
took me to the party tonight?" Dana nodded. "Well, I've had
a crush on him for months, and we had fun tonight, but we didn't
spend much time together. He was with his football buddies most
of the evening. But I did get an invitation to the Christmas
Dance out of him, if that's any indication of his feelings." She
sighed. "But I still don't know. I don't know if he'll still
like me then. That's why I'm chanting this love spell. I want
him to love me so completely that he'd never live without me."
"But Missy, you can't make someone love you," Dana said.
"They either do or don't. That's what Mom says."
"And when did you become the expert on love, Miss Seventh
Grade?" Melissa rumpled her sister's carrot-colored hair,
prompting a giggle from Dana. "You don't even like boys yet."
"And I won't," Dana said. "Boys are trouble."
"More advice from Mom? Or Father Patrick?"
"Neither. That's my advice to myself." Dana grinned proudly.
"You're a smart girl, Little Sis. Too smart for boys
anyway."
Dana nodded vehemently. "They just stand in the way of
what's important."
"And what's important to you?"
"Being a doctor." Dana smiled. "Being the best doctor in
the country."
"Then do it," Melissa encouraged her. "Meanwhile I'll keep
chanting this love spell."
Dana giggled.
"Hey, I have an idea," Melissa hissed excitedly, whispering
so as not to wake anyone. "Let's find out what the future holds
for us."
"How do we do that?" Dana wanted to know.
"Simple." Melissa reached under the couch and pulled out a
dust-covered box. "We'll ask the spirits."
"What?" Dana whispered, stifling a giggle. "You can't talk
to spirits."
"You talk to God, don't you?" Melissa argued. "God's a
spirit, at least to you. So you can talk to other spirits too."
She opened the box and set an odd-looking board game on the
floor, with a pointed wooden trinket.
"What---what is this?"
Melissa grinned impishly. "It's a Ouija board. I got it
tonight at the bookstore. It's supposed to be an antique."
"A Ouija board? What does it do?" Dana briefly touched the
letters and numbers on the board.
"It allows spirits to speak to us." She balanced the
board between their knees. "We need as much body contact as
possible with the Ouija board." She then placed Dana's hands
on one end of the planchette and placed her own hands on
the other end, positioning it between the two sections eerily
marked 'Hello' and 'Goodbye'. "Now we clear the mind of all
thoughts and ask the spirit to spell out the answer to a
question we ask it."
"How does the spirit know the answer?" Dana asked. "I thought
only God knows all the answers."
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Melissa said. "Ask
a question."
Dana shook her head. "No, you ask first," she replied. "I
don't know if I'd ask the right one."
"It doesn't matter," she told her. "The spirit will answer
anything." When it was clear that Dana was still a little wary,
Melissa sighed. "All right, I'll go first, then. But you'd
better be thinking of questions."
She closed her eyes. "Spirit, tell me what my career will
be."
When nothing happened, Dana rolled her eyes. "This is
stupid," she said. "This doesn't work at all."
"Shhh," Melissa said. "You're clouding the energy in the
room. Concentrate on the board."
Suddenly, as if by magic, the planchette began to move
of its own accord. Dana gasped as it rested on the section marked 'Hello'.
Melissa giggled. "Hello," she said aloud.
"What are you doing?" Dana wanted to know.
"Greeting the spirit," she said. "He's very polite."
Dana closed her eyes, her brow furrowed with concern. "I'm
not sure I like talking to a spirit, even if he is polite."
Suddenly the planchette began to move again. Dana
gasped as it seemed to move with no physical force from
either of them. The planchette rested on the letter F,
then the letter R, and finally, twice on the letter E.
"F-R-E-E," Melissa said. "Free."
Dana frowned again. "That makes no sense," she grumbled.
"Yes it does. It makes perfect sense."
"Explain it then." Dana folded her arms, the frown still
etched across her freckled forehead.
"I don't have a career in my future," Melissa said, "at
least not the career everyone else will have. I'll be free
as a bird." She grinned. "I like that."
"But everyone has to do something," Dana countered. "You
can't be just free for your life. You'd have to settle down,
get married, have a family."
"Not me," Melissa said. "I'm going to be free."
Dana made a disgusted noise, unimpressed with the workings
of this Ouija board. "This is rigged somehow," she said.
"There's no spirit here. There must be a magnet in the board
somewhere, something that forms combinations of letters to make
words." She turned the board upside down, searching for clues.
Melissa laughed. "Dana, some things just don't have an
explanation. Surely you know that."
Dana grimaced. "I'll die trying to find one, though."
"Ooo, sounds like a good question," Melissa said. "Ask
the spirit when you'll die."
"No way," Dana gasped. "That's too creepy."
"Aren't you curious?" Melissa asked her. "Everybody wants
to know when they'll die. Just think...if you knew, you could
prepare for it. You'd know how to spend every day of your life
until The Big Day. Go ahead. Ask it."
Sighing, Dana said, "Spirit, tell me when I'll die."
Suddenly the planchette began to circle wildly around the
board, causing both sisters to look at each other, completely
perplexed. Finally, the planchette stopped on 'No'.
Dana frowned. "Hey, that's not fair. Why won't it answer?"
"I don't know," Melissa said, "but he doesn't want to.
Besides, I heard that if you ask a spirit when you'll die,
the spirit will be angry."
"Then why did you tell me to ask that question?" Dana growled
at her sister.
"I dunno, maybe just to see if it would work," Melissa
remarked, shrugging her shoulders.
Dana snorted. "Well, I get to ask another question, then,"
she said. "Spirit, I didn't mean to anger you or cause bad luck,
but if you can't tell me when I'll die, tell me how I'll die."
Slowly the planchette began to move toward the letter U,
gradually picking up speed as it touched the letters W-O-N-T.
"Uwont?" Dana scratched her head. "What does that mean?"
Melissa thought for a second, then suddenly smiled. "You
won't," she said. "The spirit can't spell very well."
"I won't die?" Dana grunted disbelievingly. "We all die.
Everyone and everything dies. I don't understand."
"You ask the spirit, he gives you an answer," Melissa
replied. "It's not up to us to understand the mysteries behind
the answers."
"Well, if you ask me, this thing is a piece of junk," Dana
muttered, taking her hands off the planchette. "Probably some
sort of scam to cheat people out of their money."
"But people keep buying them," Melissa said, "so there must
be something to them."
"Well, I'm not playing any more," Dana said to her. "You can
play all you want. This is a waste of time."
"No, I can't play alone," Melissa said. "It's bad luck. I
could conjure an evil spirit or something, or become possessed.
You have to stay here and play with me, even if you don't ask
any more questions."
Dana sighed. "All right." She placed her hands back on the
planchette. "What are you going to ask?"
"Probably the same thing you did," Melissa said. "I'm curious
to see what he'll say." She closed her eyes. "O Great Spirit, if
it be within your power, please tell me when and how I will die."
Suddenly the planchette began to move furiously around the
board, repeating the same movements it made when Dana asked the
same question just moments before. Again the sisters looked
quizzically at each other, both wondering what was happening.
When the planchette rested on U, Melissa laughed. "He's probably
trying to tell me the same thing."
But when the planchette moved to the letter R, and stopped,
Melissa frowned. "UR. Doesn't make sense. Unless he's saying,
'You are'. But what am I?"
The planchette began to move again, as if in response to her
comment, and moved rapidly through the letters L-A-M.
"LAM?" Melissa sighed. "I still don't understand."
Dana humphed. "I told you it was a scam."
The planchette moved again, moving through the letters O-O-P-
S. "Oops," Melissa said, smiling. "He made a mistake."
"Well, good for him," Dana muttered. "And how can spirits
make mistakes anyway?"
"Beats me," Melissa said, "but he's writing again."
The planchette moved through the letters L-A-M, and hesitated
for a brief second, floating around several letters before resting
on the letter B.
"L-A-M-B." Melissa spelled the letters aloud. "Lamb."
"Lamb?" Dana shook her head. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Melissa frowned. "This spirit isn't making any sense."
The planchette moved once more, completely startling Dana and
Melissa, to the number 3. It made a brief circle before resting
on the number 3 once more.
"Now I'm completely confused," Melissa mumbled. "First I get
the letters U and R, which could be a word, or something else, and
then the word LAMB. Then I get the number 33, and all of it from
a spirit that can't even spell. I can't even remember the
question."
"You asked when and how you'd die," Dana reminded her. "So
the number must be the age you'll die."
"Thirty-three?" Melissa rolled her eyes. "I'd better have a
longer life than that!"
"Well, just in case," Dana grinned, "make it count."
"Ha ha. Very funny, sister dear."
"And what about those words?" Dana wanted to know. "UR, or
You Are. And Lamb."
"I didn't understand the first thing he wrote," Melissa said,
"so he went back and wrote something else. So they must mean the
same thing."
"Lamb," Dana mused, frowning. "What kind of death happens
with a lamb?"
"Unless I die eating it, or get trampled by a flock of sheep,"
Melissa joked.
Dana giggled softly with her sister.
"This spirit must be playing a joke on us," Melissa said,
still giggling. "Maybe he's trying to tell us not to ask about
our deaths."
"Good idea," Dana agreed. "That stuff's too morbid for me
anyway, especially tonight."
"Your turn," Melissa said, "if you still want to ask
questions."
Dana nodded. What could it hurt? Obviously there was no
harm in asking a few questions into the darkness. The darkness
was apparently the only other entity in the room.
"OK, I will." Dana sat for a second, thinking of a question
to ask. "Spirit, tell me what I will be when I grow up." She
wondered if the random combination of letters and words would
offer her the answer she was looking for.
Magically the planchette moved instantly to the 'Unclear'
section. Dana frowned. "That's about as clear a question as I
can ask," she said aloud. "What is unclear about it?"
"Try rephrasing the question," Melissa suggested.
Dana nodded. "Spirit, tell me what my career will be when I
graduate from college."
The planchette remained still for a few seconds, then slowly
moved to the letters M and D. Dana grinned triumphantly. "Maybe
there is some truth to this stupid game after all," she said to
Melissa, sitting back.
"No, wait!" Melissa exclaimed, stopping her from releasing the
planchette. "It's moving again!"
The planchette, as if suddenly inspired, began moving toward
the letter F, resting on it, then moving to the letter B. When
it stopped on the letter I, both sisters looked up at each other
in complete confusion.
"FBI?" Dana frowned. "It just said I was going to be a
doctor!" Her voice was becoming louder in frustration.
"Shhh! Do you want to wake Mom?"
Dana snarled at her older sister. "I don't care. This game
is a complete crock. It tells you one thing, then another, like
it can't make up its mind about the future. I don't even know
why I've stayed this long."
"You can't quit now, Dana. Ask the spirit why he said FBI."
Dana sighed. "Well, a little explanation would be helpful."
She thought for a second, then said, "Spirit, will I be a doctor?"
After several seconds, the planchette slowly began to move
toward 'Yes'. Dana grinned. "I told you."
"He's just messing with your mind," Melissa said. "I like
this spirit. He knows how to joke around."
"Whatever," Dana replied halfheartedly.
"Dana Scully, M. D. That sure has a nice ring to it," Melissa
told her.
"It does," Dana agreed, laughing. "There's no way I could see
myself working for the FBI. That's about as big of a whopper as
the lies I used to tell Mom and Dad."
Both sisters exchanged soft snickers at Dana's remark.
"You're on a roll," Melissa said. "You finally got an answer
that made sense. Ask another one."
"I think I will," Dana replied. Pausing to think, she made her
next request. "Spirit, where will I be living in twenty years?"
"Why twenty?" Melissa asked.
"I don't know," Dana said, as the planchette slowly began to
move. "Seemed like a nice round number."
The planchette drifted between letters, as if in thought about
which letters to spell. Dana gave her sister a quizzical look.
"It's moving," Melissa whispered, as the planchette moved
toward the letter M and then the letter D.
"M-D? Again?" Dana was perplexed. "A hospital, maybe?"
"You'll be busy enough, if you're a doctor," Melissa remarked,
receiving a hateful look from her younger sister.
The planchette moved again, through the letters M-A-R-Y.
"M-D. Mary. He must mean Maryland," Melissa concluded
proudly.
"Aren't you the wise one tonight." Dana's sarcastic remark
caused Melissa to giggle.
"Why would I be living in Maryland?" Dana wanted to know.
"What's in Maryland?"
"Apparently whatever you'll be doing twenty years from now,"
Melissa said drily.
"Why not Boston? Or Chicago? Why Maryland?" Dana asked again.
Melissa silenced her with a reply. "It's not for us to know,"
she said. "Besides, you sure are taking this seriously for
someone who doesn't believe in talking with spirits."
"Well," Dana reasoned, "it's fun to speculate about the future,
even if it doesn't happen the way you expect."
The look on Melissa's face clearly indicated that she didn't
believe a word Dana said.
"Ask one more," Melissa suggested. "The third time's the
charm."
Dana thought for a minute, then asked, "Spirit, will I be
married?"
"Married?" Melissa snickered again. "You hate boys."
"Well, you never know," Dana replied, as the planchette began
to move. "I figure if this game is giving me crazy answers, I
might as well ask it crazy questions."
Melissa rolled her eyes, smiling.
The planchette rested on the section marked 'Unclear'. Dana
frowned. "Now what?"
"Be more specific," Melissa suggested. "Ask him when you'll
marry, or who you'll be married to. Maybe it's too general for
him to answer."
"Or maybe it depends on me," Dana said.
"Ask anyway," Melissa told her.
Dana thought for a minute. "Spirit, when will I be married?"
She watched intently as the planchette moved slowly to the
row of numbers near the bottom of the board, resting on the
numbers 3 and 7.
Melissa's eyes widened slightly. "Thirty-seven, huh?" She
grinned. "You'll be old and wrinkled before some man notices
you."
"Very funny, Missy," Dana remarked sarcastically. "Besides,
if this game has any truth to it at all, you won't even be
around to see my wedding."
Melissa laughed. "Maybe you're right. Maybe this spirit
is just playing tricks on us."
Suddenly, without prompting, the planchette began to move
again, moving through the letters H and A, repeating itself.
"HAHA. Ha ha." Melissa giggled. "He does have a sense of
humor."
"Figures," Dana grumbled. "The first 'spirit' we ever contact
is a comedian." She sighed in frustration.
"So how do we know if anything the spirit said tonight is
true?" Melissa wanted to know.
Dana shook her head. "You're asking the wrong person," she
replied to her sister. "This isn't my specialty."
Melissa nodded in agreement, saying, "Then I'll ask him
something about my future. Something I already know." Pausing
for a minute, she closed her eyes. "Spirit, tell me who is
taking me to the Christmas Dance at school."
"That's not fair!" Dana hissed. "You already know the answer
to that question!"
"You wanna know the truth, don't you?" Melissa whispered back.
"You wanna find out if this is real or not?" Dana nodded. "Then
shut up and let the spirit do the work."
The planchette slowly began to move towards the letter G.
Melissa gave her sister a smug look. "It is true," she said
confidently.
Suddenly the planchette stopped mid-board, and moved toward
the section marked 'No'. Melissa frowned. "That's not how it's
supposed to work," she said, disappointed.
Dana giggled. "Looks like the spirit doesn't like to be
second-guessed," she joked.
Melissa shook her head, glaring evilly at her sister. "You did
that," Melissa growled.
"I did not!" Dana hissed indignantly.
"Yes, you did! You deliberately moved it there to throw me
off!" Melissa grabbed Dana's hands, clenching them tightly.
"Ow, Missy, that hurts!" Dana yelled.
"Be quiet! Do you want to wake Mom?"
"If you don't stop, I'll tell Mom everything!" Dana threatened.
"You wouldn't." Melissa grabbed her sister's hands even more
tightly than before.
Dana winced, gritting her teeth. "Stop it, Missy, or I'll
scream!"
"First tell me you moved it to 'No' and I'll let go."
"I didn't do it!" she said vehemently.
"I don't believe you."
"Fine." Dana took a deep breath and yelled, "MOM!".
Two seconds later she found herself on her back, her older (and
much stronger) sister straddling her torso, her mouth covered by
Melissa's hands.
"You listen to me," Melissa growled, attempting to secure the
trashing limbs of her sister. "You wake Mom up, and this is all
over. Everything. I'll have to take back the Ouija board, the
spell book, and you'll never find out how it works. Not only
that, but I'll make sure you never live to see the eighth grade.
You got that?" She pressed her hand more firmly onto Dana's
mouth for emphasis.
Dana managed to nod weakly.
"Good." Melissa sat down beside the Ouija board. "Now be
a good girl and help your sister get her answer."
Dana rose from the floor and joined her sister, glaring at
her. What choice did she have in the matter, anyway?
She placed the board in her lap and covered the planchette
with her hands, still frowning at her sister. "I'm ready,"
she mumbled.
Part 2 of 2
Melissa asked again, "Spirit, tell me who is taking me to
the Christmas Dance."
This time, with more determination, the planchette moved to
'No'. Melissa stared at Dana's hands the entire time, searching
for any voluntary muscle movement, but found none. Dana's hands
were relaxed.
"You---didn't do it, did you?" Melissa wanted to know.
Dana shook her head. "If you'd believed me the first time,
you would've saved us a lot of trouble."
Melissa thought for a minute. "I guess the spirit doesn't
want to answer that question." She thought again. "Maybe he
doesn't like my attitude."
"I don't blame him," Dana muttered. "Right now, *I* don't
even like your attitude."
Melissa grinned.
Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered for a brief
second before bathing them in darkness. "What's going on?"
Dana asked.
"I don't know," Melissa said, "but I bet dollars to doughnuts
the spirit's getting pretty mad."
"Bull," Dana said disbelievingly. "It's the storm."
"But would the storm turn the lights on instead of the other
way around?" Melissa countered.
Dana thought for a minute. "You're right," she said. "It
doesn't make sense."
"Maybe we should stop," Melissa said. "I don't want to anger
the spirit and risk having bad luck on both our heads."
Suddenly, without warning, the planchette moved to spell the
letters MLSA. Pausing, it continued through the letters URNDNJR.
"What does that mean?" Dana wanted to know.
Melissa suddenly gasped, the color draining from her face.
"What?" Dana asked again.
Melissa looked at her sister. "The spirit says I'm in danger,"
she said.
"What kind of danger?" Dana asked her.
Melissa shook her head, but was interrupted by the moving of
the planchette, moving through the number 4 and the letters
HARMNG DANA. "For harming you," she murmured.
"WHAT?" Dana gave her sister a skeptical look. "You didn't
harm me."
"The spirit seems to think I did," Melissa said. "He must
like you a lot, Dana."
"This is creepy," Dana said, her voice wavering. "I don't like
this at all. This is too personal to be some trick with a bunch
of magnets."
"You're right," Melissa agreed.
Suddenly the planchette moved again, startling both of them.
It made several combinations of letters, pausing between each
combination. EVL AGNT KILL MLSA. Pause. MISTAK ID. Then,
suddenly the planchette repeated the number 3 twice.
"Are you getting this?" Melissa asked her sister.
"Every letter," Dana said, attempting to memorize the
combinations.
The planchette kept moving. B ALRT MLSA. NO VIST DANA.
Then, suddenly, the planchette moved quickly to the section
marked "Goodbye".
"No!" Melissa cried. "Come back! Tell me more! Don't leave!"
Dana's eyes widened as the planchette came to a final halt.
As the storm continued to wreak its havoc outside the small
house, the two sisters sat on the floor in silence and absolute
stillness, staring at the board.
Finally Melissa gathered the courage to speak. "I wonder what
he was trying to say," she mused.
Dana shook her head. "I don't think it was good," she told her
sister.
"Did you get what he said?"
Dana nodded. "I tried to piece it together, as best I could."
She recited her phonetic translation of the cryptic message,
closing her eyes. "Evil agent kill Melissa. Mistaken identity.
Thirty-three." She paused, reciting the last few combinations,
as her sister joined in unison.
"Be alert Melissa. No visit Dana."
A sudden flash of lightning lit the entire room, bathing the
two sisters in a ghostly light. Dana jumped with a shriek as a
loud clap of thunder bellowed just outside the door. Clutching
her chest, she took several deep breaths to calm herself.
"Are we...are we still alive?" she murmured.
Melissa nodded. "Yes," she said, "but how long will I be?"
Dana shook her head as she felt her blood begin to curdle.
Melissa grasped Dana's hands suddenly. "Dana, you have to
protect me," she said. "You can't let me go anywhere without
you. At least until we figure out what this means."
Squeezing her sister's hands in agreement, Dana said, "I
don't think I want to go anywhere alone for a while."
Melissa smiled and broke the comforting gesture to close the
old wooden board. "This is going in the attic," she whispered.
"Up there, maybe we'll forget about it, about what happened
tonight."
Dana frowned. "Are you sure you want to forget?" she asked
her.
Melissa thought for a minute before responding. "The spirit
said to be alert. That's all I need to do. The rest will take
care of itself. And you'll protect me, won't you, Dana?"
Dana nodded. "Yes, I will." She smiled. "The future hasn't
been written yet, for either of us, regardless of what that
spirit said."
Another sudden flash of thunder made Dana and Melissa jump with
a start.
"Or has it?" Melissa asked her sister, her eyes wide with
fear.
Dana embraced her older sister tenderly. "I'll find out for
you," she told her. "I'll consult Einstein in the morning."
"On the board?" Melissa gasped breathlessly.
Dana laughed. "No, silly. In the public library." She threw
her arms comfortingly around her sister, hearing the welcoming
sound of Melissa's laughter.
THE END.
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