Trapped On A Haunted Huse with Denis Đặng

Chapter 3 - split pov - The Horrors of the House

Myria brought out the ouija board. "Let's do this." 

Cece said she was going to go quickly to the bathroom. And when she did, she locked the door, and turned on the bathtub.

The box hadn't been touched since it was bought. It took them a couple minutes to remove the tape and unbox the board. They put both hands on the planchette.

"Is anyone there?..."

Cece took out an origami lotus and a small wooden intrument used for a resurrection ritual. She placed the lotus on the bath. She knew something that the others didn't. She knew who died in this house.

Denis and Quỳnh looked at each other. They knew what to do. They each took out their respective locks of black hair. They had an ornate antique dish that was supposed to be for incense, but they didn't have enough time to fully prepare. They wanted their friend back now.

"Is anyone there...?"

Cece didn't know any Vietnamese, so she didn't say anything, she just concentrated her mind  on bringing him back.

The backyard was dark and cold in northern USA winters, even at 5 pm. They took out the candles that they had hidden in their bags. They tied up their hair, even though it made them both shiver, and Quỳnh took out her lighter with art of the dragon intricately carved into main body. As she pressed down multiple times trying to get it to properly light, denis placed the candles on the patio. The the moonlight shone through the screen at the top of the 20 foot-tall stone fence. Click. No flame. Click. No flame. Click...

"Please, if someone is on the other side, let yourself be known..."

Thinking alone clearly wasn't going to cut it. "Please, please work." She tapped more quickly "I want you to come back. I beg thee, come alive through this vessel I present." She looked at her origami lotus. She didn't even make it, Mari had to for her. It was pretty crude, but she was breathing down Mari's neck for 10 minutes straight -- it was allowed to be crude. Plus, it was clearly a lotus -- it had to work. "Please..." "Spirit of the Van Oirschot household, I invite thee to my realm. Spirit of the Van Oirschot household, I invite thee to my realm. Spirit of the Van Oirschot household, I invite thee to my realm!"

The flame seemed to slice through the darkness of the sky. It's warm cast on Quỳnh's face and the back of Denis's right shoulder heavily eclipsed the cool blue light the moon had laid upon them. There was finally a little warmth.  Even in winter, Vietnam never got this cold. He wasn't expecting to have to wear much more than this, let alone at 5:47. She scrambled to get the first red candle to light, and then blew out the flame while Denis used it to light the second candle. Together, they got all of the candles lit. Now was time for the real part. They caredully placed the bowl of hair in the center. They exchanged a glance and a nod. And both got on their knees. Neither of them knew any ancient prayers, but they tried their best to make one, even with modern Vietnamese. 

"I will only ask once more, is there anyone on the other side?'

It's not working, it's not working! It has to work. She was tapping as fast as she could, so much so that she started forcing it harder and harder against the instrument. "Come on now, it's all ready for you!"

Their quiet prayers were rushed with the uncomfortable heat on their faces. That is, until  the foul smell of burning hair hit the both of them. The section of hair they cut was too long. This wasn't supposed to happen! 

The planchette shook for a second.

"You're not doing that are you?"

"No. It's not you either?"

"No." They stared at each other for a second.

It was all ready for him. The paper lotus started to unfold. The tapping of the instrument halted. As it tried to undo itself, the paper wasn't strong enough, from the centre out, the paper tore itself apart. Cece stumbled back towards the locked door, ready at any moment.

The flames went out, including the hair. They could tell that they were looking at each other in the dark. "Did it work?"