I grew up in New York. Specifically, New York City. My family and I lived in a particularly bad part of town, because it was all we could afford. Even though we lived under these circumstances, my parents always taught me to be a kind person and to be content with what I have.
I was homeschooled all the way through middle school, because my parents didn’t want me to be under a bad influence at a young age. Due to this, I never had any friends. After asking for a while, my parents finally said I could go to a public school for high school, since I was older and more mature. Being older meant I would have a harder time being influenced. Or so they thought.
A week later, it was my first day. It was a small public school with two floors. The bottom held large areas and the bathrooms, and the top floors held the classes and their rooms. There was one door on the bottom floor that no one went in. The door looked busted and there was a huge hole in the glass at the top. Even if you looked through the hole, you couldn’t see what was inside. The room was pitch black and even the light from the hallways couldn’t penetrate the darkness. I always got a strange feeling from that room, but never really paid any attention to it.
My first day was pretty boring. Since I was the new kid, no one really spoke to me. When the bell finally rang, telling students school was over, I was already wondering if the public school life wasn’t really all it’s cracked up to be. As I walked out of the school, I heard shouting coming from the back of the building. I didn’t want to go back there, in case it was something bad, but curiosity got the better of me and I walked around to the back. When I got there, I noticed there was a fight going on. A really pretty girl was hurting another girl, who’s glasses were crooked on her face. The pretty girl had two other girls behind her, who were laughing and taking photos and videos of the girl with glasses. Next to the girl with glasses were some books.
I felt a lump arise in my throat. Without thinking, I started to speak.
“Hey! Leave her alone! Why are you bullying her?! Can’t you see she’s already damaged enough?!”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished I hadn’t said anything. The pretty girl glared at me before walking over to me.
“Do you know who you’re talking to?”
“Uh..no?”
“Well that’s too bad. I hope you know how to fight.”
Before I could even respond, she started throwing punches. I backed up quickly and threw my bag on the ground. Luckily, I knew some basic self-defense moves and was able to get her to back off. She scoffed before motioning at her girls and they all left. I walked over to the girl and helped her up. I learned that her name was Bethany and I told her mine was Athena. I also learned the name of the girls that had been bullying her. The girl who was doing the fighting was the leader, Catherine. The two girls with her were Delilah and Emily.
The next day, I met up with Bethany outside school and we talked all day. At lunch, I was waiting for Bethany when Catherine came up to me and apologized for the fight yesterday. As an apology, she asked if we could hangout after school. Something felt off, but I blew it off and accepted the invite. When I walked past the dark room though, I noticed what looked like a flame in the center of the room. It didn’t seem to be giving off any light because the room was still dark, but it was still there.
That weekend, I went over to Catherine’s house. She invited me in and said that her parents were gone for a while so we’d be alone and that she had a board game prepared for us. I asked what game it was and she asked me if I knew what a Ouija Board was. I told her no, since my family had never dealt with dark magic or evil spirits. She told me that was ok and that she would explain the rules to me.
We sat down at a small table with the board in the middle. We were on opposite sides and the Ouija Board looked old. Catherine explained the rules and said that if I ever got uncomfortable all I had to do was take my fingers off the board. I nodded and we began. Catherine “summoned” them and began asking questions. When the triangular piece began to move, I was immediately freaked out. But I didn’t move. I felt frozen. Like I was stuck in place. Fear struck my face as it continued to move around the board.
Up until now, Catherine had been asking Yes or No questions. Then she started asking questions that requested other answers. Then the Ouija Board started spelling out words in response. I immediately took my hands off the board as my face went pale. The moment I did, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. I told Catherine I wasn’t feeling well and ran straight home.
The next day, I woke up at 10:00 AM, meaning I was late for school. I ran into the living room and asked my mom why she didn’t wake me up. She told me my school had burned down in the middle of the night. The cause was still unknown. I decided to go on a walk to clear my head. That’s when I decided to search up the Ouija Board. I read all about it, including the rules. One rule specifically caught my eye. It read: When finishing the game, please say “Goodbye” before taking your hands off the board. If you take your hands off without doing anything else, you will allow a demon to possibly possess you.
Catherine had lied to me. As anger began to rise in me, I lost control of my own body. My body began to move on its own. I ran to Catherine’s house and barged in. I found her in her bedroom on her bed. Shock arose on her face. Then, without warning, I attacked her. When finished, I burned her body and lit her room on fire, before closing her bedroom and walking away. I did the same to Delilah and Emily. That’s when I gained control.
Immediately, I ran home. What had I done?! My mother and father later left and that’s when I lost control again. I grabbed the glass cups we had and threw them on the floor and stabbed smaller pieces into my parents mattress. I regained control and ran to the bathroom. Who was I?! But I was only more horrified by what I saw in the mirror.
It was my face, but somehow it wasn’t. My skin was blood red and it looked like my skin was burned and I had an evil, distorted smile. I smashed the mirror and ran into my room locking the door. I called Bethany and brought her in through my window. I had taken a glass shard of the bathroom mirror with me into my room. As I was speaking, I lost control to my body once more. All I could do, was watch in horror as I stabbed Bethany in the heart multiple times.
Now Bethany is dead on my floor. My parents are knocking on my door. The floor is getting stained from the pool of blood and I’m holding the glass shard in my hand. I think my parents are next. And then this house. Anyone who wrongs me, Athena, is in danger.
I’m going to open the door.