Chapter 2: Play The Ouija Board

“Pray for the ghost, devil, god, and saint in heaven, in hell, or in any other direction, please enter this planchette, 3 incense sticks are lit. Please come and play with us. Please make the planchette rotate, the flags go round and round. Please come and play with us."

The prayer reverberated through the room and crept through other openings. People closed their eyes and focused their energies on the thought of summoning the spirits of the dead. Meanwhile, Roxanne suddenly opened her eyes and slowly raised her hand to touch her glasses. She hesitated for a few seconds, then decisively took it off.

Roxanne inhaled and exhaled. She lifted her head to reveal ash gray eyes. Her eyes were like those of a cat looking around. Roxanne stopped breathing for a few seconds and then became trembling. Around the people performing Ouija, more and more spirits appeared.

"I'm coming to play this time," said a ghost in a maid outfit. Her whole body was wet and there were a few drops of water on the floor.

“Hey, you just started playing last week. You have to give it up to me,” another spirit immediately argued. His whole body was black and wrinkled as if he had faced a fierce fire.

“…” Other ghosts suddenly appeared but made no sound. Roxanne could only see the other ghost's legs dangling from the shoulders of the burned spirit. She mustered up the courage to look up at the ceiling. That ghost's neck was hung from a rope tied to a chandelier.

Every word in the invocation of the soul attracted all the spirits present here. Or rather, they had been following Roxanne's group for a long time just to wait for the moment to speak with the living. Their voices were always heard by Roxanne, but she didn't expect the number of undead to be so numerous.

Roxanne went from a state of fear to a state of helplessness as she watched the spirits scramble to play Ouija. Roxanne was not an ordinary girl. She had the ability to see ghosts after an accident at the age of twenty-two. Roxanne not only lost all her memories but was also gifted with eyes that can see ghosts. She heard people say that she was an orphan. Eating, studying and all expenses were the things Roxanne has to take care of herself.

These eyes had followed Roxanne for five years now. Initially, she followed the teaching profession according to her original aspirations. However, the spirits who died young had too much resentment. They looked for someone who can see and hear them. Many times being haunted by ghosts, Roxanne lost her mind and composure to stand in the lecture hall. She took a long-term leave of absence to find a way to solve the problem.

Roxanne went everywhere but spiritualists and skilled magicians were powerless to deal with her problem. They told her that this was the fate she had to go through so they couldn't help or they would be punished. However, Roxanne did not give up. She would find a way to save herself. Since then, Roxanne had been collecting spiritual facts. Fate came to make her join Sensationalism. Roxanne could both earn money to cover her life and research her condition. After two years of working at Sensationalism, she still had not found the answer to her eyes.

The prayer was still repeated. The host said that they have to pray three times for the game to work. This made Roxanne quieter. She knew she was the one who felt the coldest here. Ghosts appeared more in paintings, windows and walls. There was an oddity that intrigued Roxanne. The spirits here die for only three main reasons: hanging, drowning, and burning to death. Roxanne looked around the room for an oddity but to no avail. She also discovered that the spirits were getting closer and closer to her.

“Hey, come back here. Standing next to this lady is very comfortable,” the maid spirit waved at the other spirits and pointed down at Roxanne.

"Right. This lady smells good on her, too,” the other spirits began to chime in.

Roxanne felt the back of her neck grow colder and colder. Suddenly, a strange object touched her shoulder. Roxanne glanced over and wanted to faint on the spot. A pair of feet was standing on her shoulders.

“Where is that lady? Why can't I see anything?" The spirit that died by hanging shouted.

"Oh my God. If you stay so high, how do you know what's going on? Hurry down, butler.” The other spirits began to grab the legs of the spirit that had died by hanging.

"Wait a minute. Stuck in my neck. Ugh..." The ghost hugged her neck and struggled. She kicked off the arms of the other spirits and shouted, “I can get off on my own. You guys help me, but it's like letting me die again."

The spirit untied the rope from its neck and made a whirlwind and landed next to Roxanne. No one would have known right now, Roxanne was crying without tears and silently praying for her life instead of reciting her vows like everyone else.

“Hmmm, this lady smells so good. It's a miracle to be alive until now,” the spirit concluded after examining Roxanne's entire body. This statement made Roxanne surprised and extremely curious. She really wanted to look at the back and ask if the butler spirit knew how to solve her problems.

“Oh, you definitely know the reason. Quickly tell us,” the other spirits asked. Roxanne couldn't help but sit up straight. Her ears pricked slightly to hear what was behind her.

When the spirit was about to speak, the prayer ended at the same time. Another chill came with an indescribable pressure. The spirits present were suddenly silent. They lowered their faces in fear and disappeared. Roxanne frowned at this strange phenomenon. However, she felt more uncomfortable and her chest was compressed even though there was no soul present.

"OK. We have successfully invoked the spirit. What do you want to ask?” The host spoke, interrupting Roxanne's train of thought.

Everyone looked at each other. Along the way, they talked a lot about what they were going to ask. However, when the game started, their brains stalled and goosebumps kept popping up all over their bodies.

"Can you tell me if there's a soul here?" a guy who spoke first made everyone nervously look at the planchette on the table.

At first, the planchette didn't budge. Everyone turned and looked at each other suspiciously. Roxanne glanced around the room. This was so strange. There were a lot of ghosts here just now and they were still fighting each other to play Ouija board. Why did they leave so suddenly? Only the boy with the scholarly appearance remained calm and stared at the planchette on the table.

“Hey, are you sure…” another guy asked the host impatiently. However, the sentence did not end, the planchette in everyone's hands moved to the word 'yes'.

The word 'yes' had a strange energy rushing into the room that made those present feel suppressed like there was a rock on them. However, that was only a fleeting feeling. Roxanne was the one most sensitive to this. She knew something was wrong here, but she couldn't tell.

“Are you male or female?” another person asked a question. The planchette no longer stood still, but moved through each letter and then formed the word 'female'.

"Can we summon the soul of that painter's wife?" a girl in the group asked timidly. The faces of the others showed excitement. If they could summon the soul of the painter's wife, they would discover secrets that no one had ever known. This would shake up social networks.

"You're the wife of the talented painter Edward Dieter, aren't you?" As soon as the question was over, the planchette immediately went to the word ‘yes’.

Another girl, unable to contain this attraction, quickly asked, "Why did you die?"

The planchette trembled once and then gradually moved through each letter. Everyone moved closer to the table and tried their best to focus on putting each letter together.

"Beheaded!" the last words were enough to put together the reason. One girl was so scared that she intended to pull her hand out to stop. However, she was stopped by the host.

“Don't stop halfway. This will irritate the soul. We will have terrible consequences.”

Hearing this warning, the rest of them tried to suppress the fear in their hearts. At this moment, the boy with the scholarly appearance raised his arm. Everyone saw that he was always silent, but now there was something he wanted to ask, so they accepted to give this question to him. Really, they were just curious about this young man's question.

“Are you a ghost, a demon, a god, or a saint?” The deep voice came out, but the question was like a cold iceberg. The host was startled. Initially, they had to ask this question first. If they were unlucky enough to call the devil, they must immediately perform a ritual to stop the game.

The planchette moved according to everyone's suspense. When it came to the word 'ghost', everyone breathed a sigh of relief. However, the action did not end there. The planchette couldn’t stay still for a few seconds. It moved quickly around the board and then glided over the number '8' and the word 'demon'. People wanted to pull their hands away from the planchette, but there was a strong pull pulling them back.

When everyone was shocked and didn't know what to do, the planchette stopped right between the words 'ghost' and 'demon'. The air stagnates. No one dared to do or ask anything more.

“Are you still there?” The boy with a scholarly appearance asked again with the calmest expression among the people present. The planchette returned to its normal state and then moved to the word 'yes'.

Roxanne remained silent and watched the game. Or rather, she was trying to observe the existence of that spirit in the room. She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Why don't you reincarnate?"

The planchette did not stand still for a few seconds like when answering other people's questions. It immediately scrolled through the words, "Impossible".

When the last letter was put together, a sudden noise rang out from outside the room. It was the sound of knives hitting the wall, startling everyone. The Ouija board trembled uncontrollably and fell to the ground. At the same time, the host also struggled and his limbs twitched. The two girls took turns shouting. Moments later, he returned to his normal state and lowered his head to the ground. Everyone looked at each other and then a man took all his brave to walk over to shake the host's shoulder.

Suddenly, the host grabbed the man's hand while still in the air. He looked up and stared straight ahead with white eyes. At this point, the rest of them huddled together momentarily, shivering and holding their breath. The other man wanted to withdraw his hand but did not fight back with the host.

“Hahaha!” The host let out a laugh in his throat, making the air colder. Then his mouth opened wide. A scream came out without blinking, "Who gave you permission to talk to my wife?"

The candles suddenly went out. The room was once again engulfed in darkness causing everyone to scream. The host still let out a growl in his throat and in an instant rushed to the girl in front of him...