“Not a single aboriginal came to claim the territory, but as soon as these eastern travelers landed, devastating storms continually tore through the area. All their attempts at architecture and agricultural harvest failed them, and they soon found themselves in famine. To make matters worse, stories began to pass around about a skeletal being lurking in the shadows of the woodlands just off the coast. As more and more stories of this ghostly individual circulated, more and more of the townspeople began to vanish, with their dismembered bodies being discovered at the grave sites of the War’s casualties nearby the following mornings. Everyone was certain that the natives had to be behind the acts, so they confronted the nearest tribe.
“The local chief told the settlers that they were not the ones responsible, and he relayed a grisly tale, warning them that something far more blood lustful was to blame. The reason why the natives never returned to these lands following the massacre was because a creature, called the Baykok, had settled here. The Baykok was said to be a demon, spawned from the blood of warriors, spilt during battle. The Indian Wars had literally created what was said to be Death itself. Armed with razor claws, glowing red eyes, and an appetite for destruction, the Baykok preyed upon anyone with a taste for war. Hence, all the folks who disappeared were that of weapon bearing men.
“So, as all white settlers had become accustomed to, the English disregarded the advice to vacate and lay their weapons down. Instead they armed themselves heavily, ready to wage war on this hideous, malevolent spirit. One night, the entire village fell under attack. Only, their adversary was not that of this world. No manmade creation could defend them from the cruelty of Death. This phantom ripped through the community, sparing no person who carried armaments. By night’s end, only the women and children of the parish had survived. Upon abandoning their surroundings, they fled to the north and heeded the native’s counsel.
“Building refuge here, free of devastation and all weaponry, the newly established ‘New Haven’ was constructed with only the purest of intentions in mind. This God-fearing parish is said to be free of all malevolence, a sanctuary for all who wish to be liberated from the evils of aggression and carnage. That is why, to this day, when the sun sets on the hills of New Haven, the townsfolk light the beacons at the tops of all the churches and even the bell tower of this very school. It signals to all opposing forces that we have no other objective but to provide safety and knowledge for this world. Paying tribute to our local legend, we will all light a candle. Upon everyone in the circle possessing one, we will blow out the flames at the exact same moment. It is said that if you are marked for Death, the Baykok’s gleaming red eyes will become visible to you in the darkness,” concluded Trish.
Gwen began to unload her bag, handing each of us a candle of our own.
“Now, hurry and get these things lit and blown out, before the smoke detectors go off,” said Stacy as we passed around a lighter.
“To our fallen ancestors and to a hopefully long life,” declared Gwen, raising her candle once the last candle was lit.
Everyone held up their own candle as Stacy counted us down.
“Five... four... three... two... one...”
We all extinguished our flames with a puff of air from our lips, and darkness swallowed the entire space. My eyes shifted across the room with a childish sense of relief that I saw nothing.
Gwen and Trish both switched on the lanterns beside them, and I happily invited the light.
“How about we make things really interesting?” said Stacy, reaching into the book bag behind her.
“Hell no,” I said the instant she pulled out and displayed an Ouija Board. “You can count me out.”
“I second that,” said Ashley Canton.
“Third,” said Stacy’s fellow cheerleader, Brittany Laver.
“Yeah, my mom played with one of those things when she was our age, and she and her friends wound up levitating someone off the floor. I don’t mess with that kind of hoodoo,” affirmed Gwen.
“Well, you’re all more than welcome to go venture your way back to the gym, alone,” said Stacy, watching us rise up from the floor. “Make sure to tell Michael Myers that I say ‘hi.’”
“Come on,” said Trish, motioning us to sit back down. “It won’t take that long.”
The four of us decided to stay, but we refused to participate. Instead, we stepped outside the circle and parked our butts down on the carpet in front of the long bookshelf by the computer station, watching them set up the board with a few yards between us and it for safe distance.
“I don’t get why people even mess with those things,” whispered Ashley. “When do you ever hear somebody ask it something of importance? It’s always, ‘Will Bill ask me out?’ or ‘Will I pass Mrs. Smith’s exam next Tuesday?’”
“Exactly,” I affirmed. “Besides, everyone else partaking in the reading is responsible for the piece moving across the board. It’s nonsense.”
“Well, if you’re so sure, then why don’t you go give them a hand?” cracked Gwen, playfully nudging me forward.
“Because it still gives me the heebie-jeebies. I believe in the laws of science. Everything has positive and negative energy that affects the objects it comes in contact with. And that board over there has some seriously bad mojo. Its own popularity is based on the belief that it has demonic origins.”
“Okay,” Stacy said, commencing the reading. “Has anyone ever used one of these before?”
Everyone exchanged unknowing glances.
“Come on! Not a single weird, satanic, emo Goth here? Figures, the one time you need ’em.”
“Whatever,” said Trish. “We’ll just wing it.”
“Yeah, we’re just opening up the portal to a demonic dimension. What could go wrong?” whispered Brittany.
All the girls in the circle placed their hands of the triangular playing piece.
“Okay, spirits from beyond...” announced Stacy.
Gwen and I snorted with laughter.
“Is there a problem?” asked Stacy, flashing us a glare.
“You’re honestly going to tell us this doesn’t sound cheesy?” said Gwen.
“Fine, let’s cut to the chase. Anyone have a question?” said Stacy, looking around the room.
“Should Jill break up with Todd?” asked one of the girls.
Everyone started to giggle.
“What? Like you weren’t thinking it,” the girl remarked.
Jill, the individual in question, simply shrugged. “Yeah, I’m not gonna lie. I wouldn’t mind hearing what the afterlife’s opinion is on this.”
Even from afar, the four of us could still see inside the circle as their hands shifted over the board.
“Yes!” they screamed laughingly.
“Like, oh my god!” Gwen mimicked.
“All right,” said Stacy, rubbing her hands together readily as she gave me an unkind smile. “Will I go to Homecoming with Jackson Matthews?”
“Woo-hoo!” declared Trish. “Now, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.”
Again, their hands shifted. “Yes!”
I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes. “Is he deranged? Um, YES!”
The four of us chuckled.
“What the hell? Who’s doing that?” said Stacy.
“What?” called out Gwen.
We could see the piece shifting about under everyone’s hands.
“Hey, morons, you have to ask it something first,” Stacy cracked.
“Don’t look at me,” said one girl.
“Yeah, I’m not doing anything,” replied another.
Everyone shook their heads to confirm they weren’t the culprits.
“Whoa!” Everyone jumped the instant the piece jerked sharply crosswise over the board.
“This isn’t funny,” said Trish, her once joyous expression turning grisly pale.
The triangle wrenched about from side to side, racing across the letters.
“A-D-V-O-S-M-O-R-S-V-E-N-I-T,” they spel
led out.
“Apparently, the otherworld needs a brush up on grammar,” I whispered lightly.
Suddenly, everyone screamed! The piece started jerking furiously about, causing everyone to remove their hands from the board. Only the triangle did not stop. Ashley, Brittany, Gwen, and I all rose to our feet disquietly, and I felt an unnatural urge to investigate it. After a half dozen steps forward, I froze the moment the piece paused.
“This is too weird,” muttered Trish.
The piece moved again, respelling ‘A-D-V-O-S-M-O-R-S-V-E-N-I-T.’
“I think it’s time we put this thing to rest,” I said, everyone else nodding in agreement.
When the piece stopped again, the board began shaking on the carpet like the ground beneath it was in the middle of experiencing an earthquake. Only, the floor was perfectly normal.
All of the sudden, the triangle levitated off the board by several inches. Trish swiped her hand underneath it to prove to our eyes and her own that it was legitimately happening. We all jumped back the moment it began rapidly spinning around in circles.
“Move!” I cried out, pushing Gwen to my left as I dove right.
Sure enough, the playing piece came hurtling through the air, flying right between Gwen and myself! Everyone, including me, screamed and scrambled away as the triangle sat lodged in the spine of an Encyclopedia Britannica volume.
“What do we do?” bellowed Gwen.
“Get out of here!” declared Stacy.
We all threw the furniture back into place as we did our best to not touch the board.
“What do we do with that thing?” Brittany asked, pointing at the Ouija’s contents cursedly.
“Dump it in the trash,” said Gwen.
“Go get it,” said Stacy.
“Why don’t you? You’re the one who brought it.”
Trish proved to be the bravest out of us all. She pried the triangle free from the book and snatched the board off the ground before dumping it into the garbage bin at the front entrance.
“Isn’t that bad luck to just throw it out?” asked one girl.
“Yeah, what if someone finds it?”
“Like who, the janitor? If he wants to play with it, then by all means, let him have a ball. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not our problem anymore,” said Gwen.
We all raced out of the library, shutting the door behind us. Quietly trotting down the steps and through the hallways, we eventually arrived back safe and sound to the gym.
“Let’s all agree to never speak of this, to anyone,” said Stacy.
“Agreed,” we all concurred as we slinked inside.
Throwing myself back into my sleeping bag, I laid motionless as my heart continued to flutter like that of a hummingbird’s.
“You okay?” whispered Gwen.
“Just peachy. You?”
“That’s the freakiest shit I’ve ever seen, but you have to admit, that was kind of cool.”
“Having a levitating board game piece nearly slice into my legs isn’t exactly my definition of ‘cool.’”
Thankfully, my prior lack of sleep, along with my nerves draining whatever energy I had left, allowed me to fall back asleep rather quickly. Unfortunately, that didn’t spare me from the hellish nightmares in my dream state.
Chapter 6
Kiss With a Fist
Attempting to improve my biology grade was the last thing on my mind. Amid Rothenberg’s yammering, I tried desperately to fend off the darkness behind my sinking eyelids. Every time I’d begin to doze, my mind continued to replay the disturbing nature of last night’s events.
After dismissal, I found myself beginning to fall asleep as I rested my exhausted frame against a locker beside Gwen’s.
“I take it that the lock-in was successful?” said Ian, taking notice to my near catatonic state.
“Depends on your definition of the word,” I mumbled groggily.
“Were there any pillow fights in skimpy lingerie?” he chuckled.
“Yeah, it was just like Animal House.”
“With a bit of The Craft,” chirped Gwen.
I hit Meyer in the arm to silence her just as I saw Miss Tipton approaching.
“Cassie, could I borrow you for a moment?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said, following her to her classroom.
“You know how you said you were looking for extra credit?”
I nodded.
“As it just so happens, I may have found you some,” she said, seeing my eyes brighten. “How would you feel about tutoring temporarily? A few students could use an extra hand, and I’m hoping to enlist my best to lend some assistance. You game?”
“Absolutely.”
“Terrific,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. “How do you feel about Jackson Matthews?”
The plane just lost cabin pressure.
“S-sorry?” I stammered.
“Well, he came to me asking for help, and happened to specifically recommend you.”
“He certainly needs help,” I said roughly, “but I highly doubt I’m the one for the job.”
She chuckled. “I take it you haven’t exactly warmed up to the new kid yet, have you?”
“And not planning to.”
As amused as she was, Miss Tipton still seemed deflated. “I’m going to be straight with you, Cassie. Mr. Matthews doesn’t have, let’s say, the finest track record grades-wise. The very fact he’s reaching out at all is a big step, and the fact that he seems to have taken a particular shine to you, I was hoping was going to make this all the more easy. Now, I can always ask Peter to take your place, but I highly doubt he’ll have the same affect on Jack when it comes to his attention span.”
My head plummeted forward as I released an exhaustible sigh.
“Look, Cassie, I know you’re not the type to hold something against someone without reason. But despite whatever ill will you may have towards him, try to see this for what it is. You both have something to gain here,” said Miss Tipton.
I pitifully bobbed my head up and down. “Fine.”
“You’ll do it?”
Just hearing the elation erupting in her tone was enough to guilt me into agreement.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Bless you! I’ll let Jack know first thing third hour,” she said.
“No need,” I replied. “I’ll tell him.”
“Thank you,” she said upon my departure.
“Hey, Meyer?” I said, seeing Gwen and Ian still at her locker. “You always say you’re the eyes and ears of this place. Tell me, where’s Jack right now?”
“You changing your position on him?” she asked curiously.
“On not wanting to kill him, yeah,” I said.
“Last I saw, he was in the main cafeteria with Satanic Stacy. Why?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Refueled with utter rage, I hastened down the hallway and leapt down the stairs to the cafeteria. Three tables away from the entrance sat Jack, along with the popular clique full of cheerleaders and jocks. Normally, I tried to avoid all contact with these people, since they were either part of Stacy’s creepy fan following or the jerks that harassed Ian, but today was subject to change.
Approaching the table in a less than hospitable manner, I glared at Jack and said, “We need to have a few words.”
“Look who wandered off the mother ship,” cracked Stacy, giving me a sneering once-over. “Aren’t you supposed to be assisting your magician friend with making your slim chance at some sort of social standing disappear?”
“I don’t know, Stacy. Why don’t you go clean the chocolate laxative out of your teeth, and I’ll get back to you?” I countered.
The guys laughed, until their girlfriends returned their outbursts with harsh glares.
“Now, Jack,” I said coolly.
“I’ll be with you in a minute,” he returned dismissively.
To everyone’s complete surprise, including my own, I grabbed Jack by the back of his shirt colla
r and dragged him clear off the end of the bench, replying commandingly, “Now!”
“Damn, woman!” he said, regaining his footing after I released him. “You trying to give me whiplash?!”
“That’s funny coming from you, since I was about to ask the exact same thing!” I barked. “I just had a little chat with Miss Tipton.”
The sides of Jack’s mouth tipped up in amusement, which only made it all the more tempting for me to want to kick him in the shins.
“Are you high, or just that much of an egotistical jackass that you couldn’t resist the urge to annoy me further?!” I snapped, catching everyone’s attention within hearing distance. “Because I’m absolutely certain that I made myself clear after the things you said that I did NOT want to have anything to do with you.”
“Don’t pretend like you’re walking outta this empty handed, Little Miss Overachiever,” he said smugly. “I didn’t rope you into this. Your self-interest for an Ivy League future did, so don’t go around acting like you’re doing me the favor.”
“Excuse me?! I could have chosen among other students, ones that would actually appreciate and benefit from my help.”
“So you agreed to it then, I take it?” he queried, leaning haughtily against one of the pillars bordering the cafeteria.
I couldn’t say the words. All I could do was stare at him fixatedly, hoping that my mind held the capability to make his brain explode. Nothing. That’s what I get for watching too much Sci-Fi.
“What’s the big deal? So I pull you away for a couple hours from studying for a test you were already guaranteed to pass,” said Jack at last.
“Firstly, unlike you, I care to rise above the bar of academic mediocrity, so simply passing isn’t an option for me. And secondly, I can think of plenty of other things I would rather do to occupy my time than wasting it with you.”
Divine Vices Page 7