by Sarah Riad
I laughed as he looked around the room with wide eyes.
‘Is there anyone here?’ he said again, as I pushed at planchette to move it but not enough that he would believe it was someone else.
He took another deep breath as though he was running out of them. ‘Is someone called AB here?’
As the words fell from his mouth, I felt a rush of energy shoot through me. It was so powerful that I was almost stunned for a moment.
What on earth was that?
I reached out and slowly moved the planchette towards ‘yes’. Finn’s mouth fell as he let go of the planchette and kicked himself away from the board.
I laughed at his reaction. ‘What did you expect from doing a Ouija board?’ I said as his eyes darted across the room and he scrambled to his feet.
‘Who said that?’ he said from the corner of his room.
‘Who said that…’ I mocked with laughter before I froze. ‘Wait…who said what?’ I stepped closer to him, looking at him hard in the face as his breathing became erratic.
‘No, no, no.’ He rubbed his face. ‘I’m hearing things.’
‘Oh my god, you can hear me?’ I took a few steps back. ‘Can you see me too?’
Finn rushed through me, confirming he couldn’t, as he pushed the planchette to ‘goodbye’ on the board.
‘I’m closing this now. You’re not welcome here. Goodbye. Go home.’
Back in his corner, his eyes darted around the room like moths to a freshly lit flame. Just as he began to release his held breath, I whispered, ‘Did it work?’
‘Mu-um!’ He yelled rushing to the door where she appeared half asleep a few seconds later.
‘What the hell are you screaming for? It’s gone midnight!’ She looked around his room, noticing the candle on the floor. ‘Why on earth do you have one of my candles in your bedroom…Is that a Ouija board?’
Finn reached out to grab Cait’s arms, and I could tell from her face and the way she looked down at his hands that she was surprised at his touch.
‘Mum! Listen, tell me if you hear anything.’ His panicked face worried her enough to stay quiet for a few moments. As the silence surrounded us, Finn was growing annoyed.
‘Just give it a minute.’ He begged her.
‘Is this where I say something?’ I whispered watching his eyebrows raise and mouth fall open again.
‘Did you hear that?’
Cait looked at her son like she had done her daughter after announcing I was joining them for dinner.
‘Can I hear what, Finn?’
‘That voice!’ he shouted.
‘Finn, keep your voice down. I can’t hear anything. You’ve probably just scared yourself with that stupid board. Now get back in bed and keep the bloody noise down.’ She shook her head as she walked off down the dark hallway. Both Finn and I watched until she disappeared into the darkness.
‘It’s weird she can’t hear me, huh?’ I said, causing him to jump and shut his bedroom door muttering under his breath.
‘This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening.’
‘I’m AB by the way. I’m actually good friends with your sister and Mitzi.’ I kept my voice casual, even though the new energy made me giddy.
‘Nope. Not happening,’ he said walking out of his room and into the bathroom. He double-checked the lock and handle before he sat on the edge of the bath and rubbed his face.
‘I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but doors and walls aren’t really an issue for me—perks of being a ghost, I guess,’ I said.
He made sobbing noises from behind his hands.
‘Please, just leave me alone. I’m sorry for playing with the board. I promise I won’t do it again. Just please don’t hurt me.’
‘Whoa,’ I said holding my hands out in front of me. ‘You need to calm down and stop watching so many horror films. I’m not going to hurt you, the same way I haven’t hurt your sister. You idiot.’
‘I can’t help you. I don’t know how to help you pass over or see the light. I’m just a kid.’ He uncovered his face to reveal slight dampness on his cheeks.
‘Seriously? Not every ghost needs saving, you know.’ I rolled my eyes, wishing he had been more like Maia.
‘Then what do you want?’ he said raising his voice.
‘Just because you only seem to talk to people when you need something doesn’t mean the rest of us do.’
He looked around the room trying to pinpoint my voice. ‘Then why can I hear you all the sudden?’
‘To be honest, I am more interested in why you can’t see me like Maia can,’ I replied, ‘Will you stop looking around the room like I am some sort of fly buzzing around. I’m by the door.’
His eyes whipped over to me except he was looking at my knees.
‘And I’m about four feet taller than you think I am.’
He looked up with his eyes almost hidden underneath his hair, looking far more relaxed than his hysterical self a few moments before. ‘Maia can see you?’
I smiled. ‘Yeah, she’s my little buddy.’
‘I thought she was lying—we all did,’ he said, shaking his head gently.
‘Well, technically you didn’t,’ I said remembering the small rush of energy I got from him the day he comforted Maia after a bad dream.
‘What do you mean?’ he replied, looking back at me consciously trying to aim for my face but staring at my shoulder.
‘I know when someone is questioning whether I exist or not,’ I said.
‘I mean, there is wondering if your little sister can see dead people, and then there is actually believing that there’s an actual ghost in the house.’ He rested his forehead on the palm of his hand. ‘How is this even possible? Ghosts are real?’
‘I mean, I can’t speak on behalf of all ghosts but I’m real...kind of.’
‘Who are you talking to?’ said Theo’s groggy voice as he banged on the door causing both of us to jump.
Finn opened the door and walked out of the room. ‘No one,’ he said with the screwed up face Theo usually received from him. Finn didn’t wait for a reply as he walked into his room and closed the door.
He was sat cross-legged on his bed, fidgeting with his hands when I joined him in the room.
‘Are you in here?’ he whispered.
‘Yeah. I’m sitting in your chair,’ I replied, watching his face grow horrified as I turned the chair to face him.
‘Why is it that only Maia and I can hear you?’
I shrugged, remembering a few seconds later that he couldn’t see me. ‘I don’t know. Maia is the first person that’s ever been able to see me. I just thought she was a little spooky ghost-seeing kid, but now you can hear me…’
‘How long have you been here? Like, when did you die? Are you dead? How did you die?’
‘Whoa,’ I said stopping him before he could ask any more questions. ‘Chill out. Yes, I’m dead—I have been for thirty-three years.’
‘Oh my god, so you’re, like, old?’ he said.
‘No, not really. I died when I was eighteen.’
‘Wow...’ he looked down at his hands, picking at the torn skin around his bitten nails before he looked at me again—well, just above me, but it was getting closer. ‘How did you die?’
I grew uncomfortable in the chair and quickly stood up, causing Finn to flinch.
‘You know, I think I’ve had enough human chit-chat for one day. I’m going to go now.’
Finn straightened up, still looking towards the chair as I stood by the door. ‘Yeah, ok. Where do you go?’
‘Oh, mostly the library.’
He nodded seeming unsurprised. ‘AB, do you think we can chat more tomorrow?’
It felt insane that I had spent so long with no one to talk to, and in a matter of days, I had two people able to hear me. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
‘Well, let’s see, I can’t leave the house, and you don’t want to leave the house, so I can’t see why we wouldn’t be able to fit so
me time in.’
‘Cool,’ he replied.
‘Yeah…cool.’
16
Finn
I couldn’t sleep. How could I after discovering I could hear an actual ghost? A ghost. If Maia hadn’t already spoken about her, I’m sure I would have thought I had officially lost it.
I couldn’t think clearly. I closed my eyes and replayed our encounter. Her voice was strange. You could tell she was young, but it had a rasp to it. The kind of voice you’d hear on the radio that just felt right. I wondered what she looked like, was she blonde or brunette? Tall or short?
‘What does it even matter? She’s a ghost,’ I whispered to myself.
I pulled out my laptop and stared at the search bar not knowing what to search. I had already searched for her name and this address, but nothing had come up.
‘AB has to be short for something,’ I whispered, convinced I could find out more once I knew her full name.
I closed the laptop, unable to work through the tornado of thoughts my mind had become, and laid back in the bed. My chest pounded, and I noticed my breathing was shaky.
I did the math in my head. She must have died sometime in the 1980s which meant at eighteen, she was probably around my parent’s age. This was weird.
My mind raced through the different ways she might have died until I remembered she said she couldn’t leave the house…did that mean she died here? A shiver went down my spine, and the hairs on my arm stood up.
At some point, I had fallen asleep and woke with the blinding sun pouring through my open blinds. My eyes felt so heavy that every time I opened them, they’d fall shut soon after. I couldn’t hear a sound in the house, which meant it was still super early. Only Theo would have been up at this time, doing his morning workout.
There was a time when that was me too. I’d get up every morning at 5.30 and head to the swimming centre where I’d get an hour-long training session in. That was all in the past now, though, and I preferred sleep much more.
I pulled the covers over my head, not having enough energy to shut the blinds until I caught sight of the Ouija board in the corner of the room.
Suddenly I sat up, eyes wide open. I didn’t feel the slightest bit tired anymore.
‘The ghost…’ I said.
That was real. Wasn’t it?
I looked around the room, remembering how the chair had turned to face me when she spoke.
She must have also been the one that tidied my room, I thought, remembering when I found it immaculately done.
There was no way I was going back to sleep. I needed to speak to her. I needed to make sure I hadn’t gone crazy and started hearing Maia’s imaginary friend.
I climbed out of my bed and headed straight to the bathroom noticing the sound of my dad snoring in his room. It was 8.23 a.m., everyone would be up soon enough. After running the shower, I peeled away yesterday’s clothes and climbed in. The hot water hit my back as I squirted the shower gel into my hands. As I washed, I suddenly felt exposed. What if she had been in the room with me? I was naked, and she could see everything!
I grabbed onto the shower curtain and wrapped it around me before whispering, ‘Are you here?’
There was not a single sound until several knocks came from the door causing me to jump and almost slip.
‘Get a move on,’ my dad called from the other side of the door.
I grabbed the showerhead and quickly washed off the soap left on my body, all while hiding behind the curtain, just in case.
I was greeted by my dad as I opened the door.
‘Sorry, I thought you were your brother,’ he said, moving to his left to let me leave. I didn’t say anything to him as I returned to my room. I had neither the words nor the time.
Once dressed, I cautiously headed for the library wondering what I might find. It was the one room none of us had been in, so I wasn’t exactly expecting a palace. As I went to push the handle down, I stopped and instead knocked on the door.
I felt ridiculous doing it, but I didn’t seem right just walking in. There was no response which either meant she wasn’t in the room or I had actually gone crazy.
I took a deep breath before I pushed open the door. What it revealed was surprising.
Sure, it was dusty and smelled a little weird, but it was nothing like the rest of the house. I stepped inside slowly so that I could see the whole room. Every wall was a bookcase filled with old hardback books. The kind that didn’t have pictures on the front but only one solid colour and the title. On either side of the room were huge windows that poured in sunlight to the exact same spot which was in the middle of the room where a worn circle rug laid. It was there that I saw a floating book.
I flinched as my heart raced erratically. I could feel the thumps pound across my body.
‘Are you here?’ I whispered. I knew she was but still needed confirmation as I tried to steady my breathing.
‘Yeah,’ she replied.
I couldn’t decide if I felt relieved that I hadn’t gone crazy imagining meeting a ghost the night before or panicked that I might have gone crazy by being able to talk to an actual ghost again.
She must have noticed the horrified look on my face because the book closed and floated back to its spot on a shelf. I watched with my mouth almost on the floor.
‘Sorry, I forget you can’t see me,’ she said.
I shook my head and tucked my trembling hands in the pockets of my jeans, picking at the loose strands of fabric inside. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said, glancing around the room again. ‘I don’t think any of us have been up here yet.’
‘No, your mum tried but I scared her off,’ she replied. I struggled to hold back the nervous giggle rising through my throat. I could only imagine my mum’s reaction.
‘Do you read a lot?’ I asked, scanning my eyes at the walls filled with books.
‘You could say that.’
I nodded as a heavy silence weighed down on us. My hands fidgeted in my pockets as I shifted from one foot to another. My eyes darted around the room like I was trying to avoid eye contact with her even though I had no idea where in the room she was.
I was about to open my mouth to speak again when Maia called my name from the bottom of the stairs. ‘Finn!’ she said again once she arrived in the room.
‘What’s up?’ I replied, trying to remain calm and collected.
‘Why are you here?’ Maia looked around the unfamiliar room before setting her eyes directly in front of me.
‘Maia, Finn can hear me now,’ AB said in a way that almost sounded disappointed.
Maia hadn’t noticed though. Her eyes widened, and a relieved smile grew on her face.
‘Really? Can you see her too?’ she grabbed onto my hand, holding onto my fingers.
I shook my head. ‘ I can only hear her.’ I still was not completely sure how any of this was possible.
‘Why?’ Maia asked before turning back to where I assumed AB was stood. ‘Why can’t he see you?’
‘I don’t know, looks like you’re the special one, kid,’ she said with what I could imagine was a smile, but I couldn’t help but sense that she was sad.
‘Finn!’ my dad called, sounding harsh like a lion’s roar.
‘Oh yeah, Dad said you have to go with him and Theo to take the rubbish away,’ Maia said before turning to me and then straight back at AB. ‘AB, do you want to watch a film with me?’
‘Sure,’ she replied.
‘Ok, I’ll go pick,’ Maia said skipping off out the room.
As the sound of her footsteps on the wooden stairs became more distant, my dad called me again sounding more irritated. ‘Finn, I want to get moving before the roads start getting busy. Hurry yourself up!’
I sighed. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, continuing to shuffle uneasily.
‘What for?’ AB asked.
I shrugged as we were interrupted by the creaking of heavy footsteps on the old floor.
‘Finn, are you deaf?’ my dad shouted an
d I knew I was pushing my luck.
‘I’m coming,’ I yelled down the stairs before turning back to the room.
‘Can I speak to you later?’ I whispered feeling my stomach twist in knots as the words came out of my mouth.
‘Sure.’ Her voice was flat.
How was it possible that not even a ghost wanted to hang out with me?
17
Ab
I stood alone in the middle of the library for a few minutes trying to silence my mind. I was overwhelmed. It chocked me as though hands were reaching for my neck, ready to tighten. I was so happy that I existed to another person, and I was only getting stronger, but it all just felt too sudden. Thirty years of living in silence had done its damage.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten as I tried to push it all away before heading to Maia’s room. When I reached the next floor, I could see Maia walking into her mum’s makeshift art studio. I followed her, watching as she walked around the room looking at her mum’s work.
‘Maia, what are you doing in here?’ Cait said from behind us. ‘You know you’re not supposed to be in Mummy’s room.’ She stroked her daughter’s hair, neatening the frizzy stray hairs that always stood on Maia’s head.
‘I like looking at the pictures,’ Maia said, watching as Cait wrapped an apron around herself and began working on a painting of a girl’s face drawn of intense splashes of red smears and black strikes. ‘Mummy?’
‘Yes, sweetheart?’ Cait said, going over the details of the girl’s eyes.
‘Can you see AB too?’
I sighed as she asked, knowing she must have been just as confused as I was at who could see me and who couldn’t.
‘No. Remember, honey, we said she’s just your friend and only you can see her,’ Cait replied, giving her daughter a worried smile before turning back to her painting.
Maia continued to stare at her mum’s current piece of work for a few seconds before her eyebrows bunched together. ‘Mummy?’