Free Dark Winter by John Hennessy

spirit will come on the third time of asking.”
     
    Toril was having none of it. “Jacinta Crow, you should be ashamed of yourself. Who around this table knows more about the occult than I do? I never heard of any such third rule. Come on silly, keep your fingers on the planchette.”
     
    Smiling broadly, Toril said aloud “Is anyone there? Yes or No ?”
     
    The girls shrieked as the planchette flew towards the YES on the ouija board.
     
    “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod,” said Beth, over and over again.
     
    “Knock it off, Beth,” said Toril. “Be cool. It’s still cool, alright?”
     
    Beth nodded her head, but none too convincingly.
     
    “Next question,” said Jacinta. “I think we got an answer to the first.”
     
    “Can you tell us your name?” asked Toril.
     
    The planchette moved slowly, but deliberately, to NO on the ouija board.
     
    “Okay…what can you tell us?”
     
    The planchette moved furiously. Toril nominated Beth to write down the letters, but her hands were trembling so much it was hard to make out what she was writing.
     
    Soon, it became clear, and shocked the girls terribly.
     
    BOY. TRAPPED. FIFTH. FLOOR. CURIE.
     
    The last word in particular scared the girls. It mean that the spirit summoned through the ouija knew someone the girls knew, Mr Curie, the school caretaker.
     
    “Boy trapped fifth floor? And Curie?” I really don’t understand, said Jacinta.
     
    “The Ouija won’t literally spell it all out for you, Jay,” said Toril.
     
    “I think it means some poor boy is trapped somewhere in the school,” said Beth breathlessly.
     
    “Why would you think that?” asked Jacinta.
     
    “No…she’s right. That’s logical. It makes sense,” said Toril. “Maybe…..maybe some boy is trapped, on the fifth floor-”
     
    “In the girl’s toilets,” said Beth. “By Curie ! I bet that old devil is involved in this! We have to go, and go now.”
     
    But the plan was doomed to fail before it even started. The girls knew all too well that the school was locked up by Curie every night, but they couldn’t deny what they had just witnessed.
     
    “We have to go, we have to get in there, somehow,” said Beth, exasperated. She found her sense of bravery rather overwhelming. Perhaps it was just because she would love to know that Curie was up to no good and would be caught in the act. Then the police would have some evidence to go on.
     
    “We’re staying put,” said Toril. “You know as well as I do that there is no way into the school, and even if there was, Curie will be there, and he’ll have four kids to look after instead of one. You know, Bethany, I’m surprised at you even suggesting this.”
     
    Beth started to feel more anger than anything else. “Is this a bit of fun, or for real? If it is real, you can’t let him get away with this Toril. You can’t! Can we at least call the police?”
     
    “Of course not,” said Toril. “Can you imagine it? Oh, hello, Police? Well, we’ve been using a ouija board and we know a boy is in trouble, and is locked up by the crazy caretaker at the school. Can you go and get him out please?”
     
    Toril paused for a moment. “Come on Beth, can’t you see how that would go down?”
     
    “That’s why we have to go,” Beth stammered. “This is no longer a game, Toril. Now I have played this damn thing with you and we have to do something, now that it has become real. If a boy dies because we don’t do nothing, can you live with that? Can you? Because I can’t. That Curie, he’s evil. You know it.”
     
    “She’s right,” said Jacinta. “We called the spirit out. We should be thanking the spirits, to be honest, even if it’s a malevolent one. Staying put isn’t a plan.”
     
    The rain continued to beat down. The girls talked amongst themselves, trying to formulate a plan.
     
    Something loud, something un-nerving, something that in the day-time, would be quite normal, stopped them in their