Orphic - Until Dawn (Josh Washington)

☆ Chapter Seven - Ouija ☆

Turns out something good had come out of the stupid prank Chris had decided to pull on us whilst he rummaged through the old stuff down in the back storage rooms of the basement – he had found the Ouija board.

“You sure we should be doing this?” Ashley asks me as she places two candles on the table beside where I had placed the board and planchette. “I mean, what if they come through?”

“Who?”

“Hannah and Beth.” she whispers pointedly as though it were obvious before glancing over her shoulder at Josh and Chris as they converse about something just feet away.

My lips pull together as the familiar grief shoots through my heart, annoyance pairing with it. “They are not dead; they’re missing. There is a big difference there.” I mutter through clenched teeth whilst trying to keep myself composed.

Ashley looks at me with sympathy and guilt, her gaze softening just as she reaches out to touch my shoulder though I’m quick to step back and shake my head in thought. “Matches. We need matches.” I mumble before turning and heading for the bathroom where I knew they were kept.

I try to block out the possibility that the twins are dead from my mind, it is something I have spent the better half of this year doing so by this point it should be fairly easy. Unfortunately on this occasion it feels almost impossible, especially with Ashley's words ringing in my ears. It was a very real possibility now, it was even more likely that they were dead rather than alive and that alone caused an unbearable ache in my heart.

No, I can’t lose hope.

I sigh and tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear before looking up at my reflection in the mirror above the bathroom sink. I frown at the person staring back at me, her green eyes are dim and surrounded by dark circles from lack of sleep. Her skin, though clear and soft to the touch is also pale and lacking the usual glow.  Truthfully, I look like the shadow of my former self. That night one year ago had taken a part of my soul, the sisters wherever they are have taken a part of who I am with them and I have yet to find it again – even with Josh.

Odin knows I miss them. So much.

I feel familiar arms wrap around my mid section from behind as a face nuzzles itself into my neck. I smile and lean back against the person with eyes closed, enjoying the calm and quiet moment with him.

“What are you thinking about?” he murmurs against my skin curiously.
My smile widens as I peel my eyes open, locking gazes with Josh as he stares back at me in the reflection in the mirror though his chin still rests on my shoulder gently. I lift my hands and wordlessly place them over his arms that are resting on my stomach gently, momentarily tracing my fingers over his warm skin causing goose bumps to arise. 

“You,” I admit. “I’m thinking about you and I’m thinking about Hannah and Beth.”

I watch his expression intently, being careful with my words as to not trigger something in him. I don’t want to cause him more trouble than he is probably already battling, I don’t want to be a source of pain and discomfort especially when it comes to his sisters but I also cant lie to him.

He doesn’t say anything for a moment as he once more nuzzles his face into my neck almost for comfort whilst humming in response. I lift my hand and run my fingers through his short hair before turning in his arms to face him.

“Josh,” I whisper delicately as I caress his cheek. Again, he hums in response whilst fiddling with my necklace between his fingers. I keep my gaze on his face as I speak, “are you okay?”

He lifts his head and looks at me, no fake smile or feigned happiness present. I can see his sadness, I can see the conflict, the pain, the grief, the fear and everything else he had been working so hard to hide from everyone. His eyes reflect it all, having always been his biggest giveaway. I don’t say anything more because I don’t need to. He knows I know how he feels and that’s all he needs from me right now.

I lean forward and capture his lips softly with my own, my movements are gentle and loving rather that needy and desperate like earlier. This time I intend to comfort him, to express my deep care and concern for him. I want him to feel wanted and needed, to understand the way I feel for him without having to say the words out loud just yet.

His lips immediately work in sync with my own, his hands coming up to cup my cheeks tentatively as his thumbs run along my cheekbones. My hands wound around his neck as I lean into him, wanting no space between us.

“Yo! Bone zone crew! Time to contact Casper!”

I sigh at the sound of Chris's voice from down the hall as we pull apart, my expression dropping into one of annoyance as Josh chuckles lightly in amusement. I feel his hands drop from my cheeks as he crouches down and retrieves the matches from the cabinet below the sink, he then stands upright once more and shakes the small box at me with a grin.

“Finish that thought later?”

“I look forward to it.” I smile whilst pecking his lips and gripping his hand, “come on, stud. Best not keep the spirits waiting.” I half joke in an effort to lift both our moods before pulling him towards the others.

****

“So, it says here that ‘to communicate with the spirit world you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, supplementing your every desire to the whim of the spirit master.’ – which is me.” Chris says whilst pointing to himself and looking at Ashley, almost flirtatiously.

I shake my head at him and glance to Josh as he finishes lighting the last candle on the wall behind Ashley before walking over to the table and taking the seat to my left and opposite where Chris sits to my right.

“It doesn’t say that,”

I nod in agreement with Ash whilst flickering my gaze to her briefly where she sits opposite me. Chris smiles innocently as he looks down at the book on the table and pretends to read it out loud to the three of us, almost earning an eye roll from me.

“And all present will remove their garments under my sole discretion.”

“Come on, Chris. This is serious.” Josh cuts in, no longer finding this to be a humorous moment for his best friend.

Chris laughs and places his hands on his hips whilst leaning forward slightly and tilting his head at Josh, amusement playing in his eyes. “Oh, I’m deadly serious.” he replies in a silly British accent, a posh tone to his voice.

“Oh shush it. Let’s try this.” Ash cuts in.

“Yes please.” Josh agrees with a pointed look at his friend, although a smile does twitch on his lips.

“Okay,” I breathe whilst reaching out and placing a finger on the planchette.

“Okay, let see what happens then.” Chris shrugs whilst copying my movements, his own finger now beside my own on the planchette, quickly followed by Josh and Ash's fingers. Chris turns his head and looks at the woman he is head over heels for, then he makes an unexpected suggestion. “Ashley, since your a recent convert. Why don’t you be our medium for today?”

She hesitates, almost as though she really doesn’t wish to play such a vital role in this ‘game’. Then after a nod of encouragement from myself and Josh, she nods and speaks up with a firm tone, a strength to her voice I had far from expected in her. “Okay, um... is anyone there?”

Silence. A mocking air of silence is all that greets her words.

“Can you show yourself to us? Use the board to communicate with us.” She tries again.

I smile at her attempt to take this seriously, she was being respectful and considerate and I appreciate that. It’s in this moment where I’m too focused on admiring her respectful nature that the planchette begins to move along the board.

“Oh, are you doing that?” Josh asks us to which we all shake our head no.

“Ah, its moving again.” Chris chuckles, not taking any of this seriously.

H-E-L-P

“Holy shit.” I whisper in disbelief.

“Help?” Ash repeats, her voice now shaking nervously upon having watched and felt the planchette move from something other than our own hands. The spirits had spelt out help and now we were left wondering how we could do that.

“How can we help? Who needs help?”

She fires off questions much too quick for the spirit to keep up, her fear and uneasiness taking the reigns as she stares intently at the board.

“Ash, breathe. Calm down and ask who we are speaking with. Let’s start there, yeah?” I tell her gently, hoping to help her calm herself.

She nods and looks up when speaking, “we can’t help you if we don’t know who you are. Can you tell us who you are?”

My heart suddenly begins to race as the planchette begins to move once more, anxiety is building within me. Each time it moves I worry that the two names I dread to see come up on this board too. It feels like I’m waiting for life changing results, or studying for an important exam – utterly exhausting both mentally and emotionally.

“Oh...”

“Here we go, its moving again.”

S-I-S-T-E-R

“Sister,” I whisper in disbelief as my heart drops and my mouth dries. I feel tears threaten to build in my eyes but I hold them at bay. Determined to be strong for Josh if it is the people I had feared would communicate with us.
I look over to him, my gaze softening as his brows dip into a frown and his sky blue eyes glass over with unshed tears that glimmer in the candlelight. He stares at the board in both disbelief and utter sadness, then his head snaps up to look at Ashley desperately.

“Who's sister?” he asks her, his voice plagued by grief.

“Oh, come on. Is this real?” Chris asks sceptically with an accusatory smile.

“Shut up!” Josh snaps forcefully. He points a finger at Ash, his emotions more than visible for all too see as his eyes continue to flood with tears he refuses to let fall. “Ask it whose sister.” he almost demands.

“Josh, its gotta be-" Ashley speaks carefully.

“Okay, well... which sister is it then?”

I take a deep breath as my throat continues to dry and my heart begins to ache more painfully. My anxiety is sky high and my concern for Josh is overwhelming in this moment. He looks so broken, so conflicted on how to feel right now that I can’t handle it. I’m in no fit state to help him right now, I’m barely keeping my shit together right now as it is.

I am weak. I am worthless. I am a broken mess.

“Ashley, ask who it is.” Chris tells her, his playful tone now replaced with a serious one upon seeing how invested in this spirit board session all his friends and crush were; especially Josh.

“Beth, is that you?” She asks carefully whilst glancing around herself.

Not a second passes before the planchette moves to the word yes on the board. I feel it, I feel that wall within me crumble piece by piece. That delusion that the two girls would turn up alive and well, that they were safe and okay was crumbling down around me with no happy ending in sight. If this is real, if this is really Beth then that means...

No, I can’t say it. I can’t even think it.
I choke a sob and lift my free hand to muffle it best I can. They were gone, I would never see them again – we would never see them again.

They will never get married or have the chance to raise a family. They will never sit with their family for a nice meal or tease Josh during one of their many board game sessions. They won’t get to experience the Joy’s of being an aunt or grandmother. They just won’t be here, like they aren’t right now.

Hannah and Beth are dead and with this spirit session, so is my hope.
I sniffle and shake my head in disbelief, feeling that darkness crawl up my throat and latch onto my tongue. I want so desperately to give in to it, to just give up in my fight against it. To just lay back and let everything I feel wash over me and destroy me but I can’t. Not when two people I care about right now are trying to comfort me in their own ways.

I feel Josh's hand on my thigh, rubbing soothing circles on it whilst listening to Ashley apologise profusely through her own tears. Chris on the other hand has taken to holding my hand that sits on the planchette with his free hand, offering it comforting squeezes as a reminder that I’m needed and wanted here.

“Josh?”

He lifts his head to look at Ash with sad eyes, tears still glinting within them as my own eyes dry and my expression blanks. “Are you-" he cuts her off bluntly.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure cause we can stop-"

“No.”

“Dude its cool.” Chris speaks up whilst flickering his gaze to me momentarily.

“I wanna hear what it says.” Josh tells us with a crack to his voice, a pleading to his saddened tone.

“I don’t know where to start.” Ash confesses nervously.

“Think about it... if this really is Beth then we can find out what happened that night to them.”

Once more I remain silent even if I agree with Chris’s words. I keep my head down as Ashley thinks for a moment, trying to decide what to ask or say next. She hums in thought before she shifts on her seat and straightens her posture. “Beth, oh, Beth... we want to apologise for what happened last year with Hannah and if you can hear this please know that we are all so so sorry.” she sobs.

I look up at her, my eyes hard and my expression lacking any empathy towards her. That deep part of me that held resentment towards all those involved in that stupid and cruel prank was rising and fast. That lack of forgiveness makes itself known as I shake my head at the girl sat opposite me, biting my tongue hard to prevent an equally cruel comment from being made towards her.

“You and Hannah, Beth. We are sorry to both of you...” Chris adds.

“For which part Ash? For humiliating your supposed friend in front of all our others or for acting like her running off into the woods was an overreaction? Something you all thought was clever to do at the time.” I snap angrily before turning my head to look at Chris. “You and Josh did nothing wrong that night, you had no part in their disappearance... in their death. I should have known better than to leave Hannah with the others especially with Mike there. I shouldn’t have gone to bed early or been ignorant to her naivety that night. I should have been there for her, I should have been a better friend to both of them.” I whisper guiltily as my head again dips down.

H-A-N-N-

“Its spelling Hannah.” Chris cuts in causing the planchette to move to spell another word.

I glance to Josh from under my lashes to see him watching me intently, a permanent frowns and distant look in his eyes. He looks confused and conflicted as his eyes remain glassy with unshed tears. He looks utterly troubled by something – his thoughts perhaps?

K-I-L-L-E-D

“Killed?” Josh breathes whilst locking eyes with Chris.

“Oh my God.” Ash whispers as she lifts her hand to cover her mouth in shock.

“What- what is she talking about?” Josh asks as though we have an answer to provide him with.

“I don’t think I can keep doing this-" Ash says with a shaky voice.

“Let’s just stay calm,” I whisper, my voice barely audible as it breaks subtly. I look at Ash through my tears, my vision blurry enough to make it difficult to make our her expression though I’m almost certain she is afraid. “I think- I think it’s trying to tell us that Hannah was...” I suck a breath in, “killed.” I release the breath and close my eyes as a sharp pain shoots through my chest once more.

“I just-" Chris sighs and looks at Ash, “ask it something else.”

“Okay... how was Hannah killed?”

L-I-B-

“The library, maybe there is something in the library.”

P-R-O-O-

“Proof, there... there's proof in the library.” Chris once more cuts the board off urgently whilst darting his gaze around at each of our faces. I simply nod, mainly because I know my voice is sure to fail me if I try to speak.

“Watch out!” Josh shouts as the planchette and board suddenly shake violently before the planchette very quickly shoots off the wooden surface of the table, landing on the floor a few feet away behind Ashley's chair.

We all scream in a panic with Ashley stands upright in a panic. “Holy shit...” Chris says though a breathy laugh as I run a hand down my face and breathe a sigh of relief.

“Chris!” Ash moans at him as I watch Josh stand whilst shaking his head at the three of us, that distant look in his eyes once more.

“No, you know what... this isn’t real. This is bullshit.” He mutters.

“Josh, I don’t know what’s going on-" Ash tries but Josh is quick to shut her down with a shake of his head, lifting his hands as he addresses the three of us.

“Listen, I don't know if you think that messing with me is going to help me get through my grief or something but this is not cool.” He says with hard eyes, his feet carrying him around the table and towards the top of the stairs.

“We are not messing with you, Josh. You wanted to do this, you wanted to use the spirit board. This wasn’t us, I promise.” I hold his gaze as I speak calmly and firmly to him, determined to make it clear that we had nothing to do with anything that just occurred before our very eyes.

“Josh, calm down man. It’s not our fault.” Chris cuts in.

“I don’t need this right now. You guys are full of it!” Josh snaps before jogging down the stairs.

I immediately stand and ignore Chris's suggestion to give Josh space as I run after the oldest Washington child. “Josh!” I call causing him to stop just halfway down the set of stairs, his back remains facing me as he breathes heavily. I smile at the fact he had waited for me rather than running off and come to a stop just behind him.

I place my hand on his shoulder making him turn to face me with an unfamiliar look in his eyes. My head tilts in curious thought as he silently stares at me for the moment, almost as though he were going through a silent internal battle, as though something important and complicated was plaguing his thoughts.

“I promise you I had no part in causing what just happened. I don’t know if that was real or not but either way I’m just as confused as you are.” I tell him whilst reaching up to run my thumb along his jaw, as he had earlier, he leans desperately into my touch with eyes falling closed. Like a child needing physical comfort. “This might be a stupid question but are you okay?” I whisper.

His eyes open and meet my own worried green ones, his brows dip and a heavy sigh leaves his lips as he looks down for a moment before meeting my gaze once more with a little more certainty. He reaches up and takes my face in his hands with a gentle smile, “I have to do this. I just- I need some space and time.” He tells me.

I nod, “then you can have it. Whatever you need.”

His smile widens and his hands slip from my cheeks as he turns to continue down the stairs only to falter for a moment. I watch him in confusion as he doesn’t move before suddenly he turns and takes my face in his hands again, his lips crashing against mine with far more emotion than ever before. I smile against his warm lips and grip his shirt, tugging his body against mine.

This is happiness. This is home. This right here with him.

He pulls back breathlessly and presses his forehead to mine whilst closing his stormy blue eyes. “It's gonna be okay, I’m gonna make things right.” he whispers and then before I can utter a response asking him what he means, his touch is gone and his footsteps are echoing down the stairs.

I stare after him and wrap my arms around myself. Allowing his fading footsteps to echo in my ears as one thought comes to mind.

We need to find what proof is hidden in the library and now.

*****