The Darkness Within

by Alice J Black

  Sylvia’s head cocked to the side as she regarded me, her lips pressed together in a pout. “Do you know anything else? Who did they contact on the Ouija board?”

  ”Nothing.” I shook my head. “And no she has no idea.”

  “And your coming woke them again.” She nodded. “The spirits can sense our energy. It draws them to us. The Ouija is not something to be messed with. It is taken far too lightly and played as a party game,” Sylvia remonstrated, shaking her head.

  “I know. But what can I do?” I pleaded.

  She stopped, silent for a moment as she looked at me. “There is only one thing that can be done.”

  “What?”

  “Use the board again.”

  The breath caught in my throat. “What?”

  “The only way to get rid of the spirits is to force them back to the other realm and it must be done through the Ouija.”

  I shook my head. “Sylvia, I have no idea how to do this. Or even if I can.”

  “I know. I will help. Tonight we will attempt to thrust the spirits back into their world.”

  It was dark when I heard the knock at my door. I drew in a deep breath, glanced at Adele and hurried to open it. Sylvia stood there in her usual attire, complete with an overcoat that stopped at the knee. Her expression was grave.

  “Come in,” I stood aside, ushering her in.

  She passed by me and I caught a faint whiff of the sandalwood I had come to associate her with and then she was inside. I shut the door and hurried in.

  “Sylvia this is Adele, my friend,” I introduced the two and watched as they shook hands.

  “I’m so grateful for your help,” Adele gushed as she leaned in.

  “Don’t thank me yet.” Sylvia shook her head. Her face was sterner than I had ever seen it, her mouth pressed in a tight grimace and her eyes dour. She was apprehensive about this evening’s activities.

  “I’m afraid I haven’t managed to get all the insurance and tax for the car yet so is it okay if we walk?” I asked with a wince as I glanced at the older lady. I knew I needed to sort the car out but the magnitude of the last day had caught up with me and I was running on fumes. There was only so much I could do and making sure I maintained an even keel was more important right now.

  “Don’t worry. We can go in my car. You are staying here tonight?” she asked Adele.

  “Yes. Me and my boys.”

  “How old are they?”

  “Thirteen.”

  Sylvia clicked her tongue in dismay as she made the assumption.

  Adele was quick to put the idea out of her mind. “It wasn’t them that, well, you know. It was me.”

  Sylvia’s eyes widened. “At least they had more sense than you.”

  “Yes.” Adele dropped her head, unable to meet the woman’s eyes. “It was a stupid mistake when I was drunk and—”

  “Do you realise what you have done?”

  “I thought it was just—”

  “Of course you did. You all do!” Sylvia flung her hands in the air.

  “Sylvia,” I warned. “Adele has made amends for her behaviour. It can’t be helped and there’s no need to remonstrate her now.”

  I watched as the woman took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a second and let it out slowly. “Very well.” She finally nodded. “I apologise for my outburst. I have worked in many cases where people have used the Ouija thinking it is nothing more than a game and the results have been catastrophic.”

  “I’ve learned from my mistake, don’t worry.” Adele offered a feeble smile.

  “That’s all I ask. Now,” she turned to me. “We should go. There is a lot to do.”

  I nodded and turned to Adele. “Make yourself comfortable. What is mine is yours and all that.” I waved my hand. “There’s a pizza in the freezer if the boys get hungry.”

  She grinned. “Great, thanks. They’re always hungry.”

  “See you later.” I turned away from her and as I followed Sylvia to the door, it felt like we were leaving something behind. I felt like this would be the last time I would set foot in my own house. A deep darkness settled heavy on my shoulders as if the spirits knew we were coming and already I was sagging beneath their weight.

  Adele watched us leave, her hands pressed together in a tight steeple.

  Outside, the night was full. The moon was a crescent high in the sky offering a wan light to guide us along the path. We passed gardens that were quiet, houses with lights on upstairs and down and now and again I heard the soft murmur of the TV. Everyone was living a normal life, going about their daily business ignorant of the world that existed around them. I was momentarily jealous. I wished I was curled up on the sofa with a tub of ice cream and a film on. Something nice and normal, instead of heading to a house to evoke the spirits that I woke upon my entry into my friend’s house. I sighed and Sylvia turned back to glance at me once before carrying on. I knew she was assessing me, wondering whether I would fit the bill or make it through. I had to admit I was going through my skill set myself. So far I had sobriety on my side but I wasn’t sure that would count for much tonight.

  At the end of the pathway, Sylvia produced a set of keys from an oversized bag hanging on her elbow and pressed a button. Orange lights flashed and I opened the door to her car and sat down. Her car was much more plush than mine and comfortable too though it still put me in mind of Thumper. The seats were warm and the air inside the car wasn’t stale. I waited patiently as Sylvia shoved her big bag onto the back seat and then climbed into the car herself, starting up the engine with a gentle purr.

  The journey was silent but not uncomfortable. I got the impression that Sylvia was gearing up for something. I was too, I just didn’t know what.

  The house was dark as we pulled up outside just like I knew it would be but the energy emanating from inside was palpable. It hit me as soon as the engine stopped. I stared at the house, summoning up the will to move. The last thing I wanted to do was go in there. The darkness was thick and heavy, like oil leaking down a drain, and I knew it would be worse inside.

  “Are you ready?” Sylvia asked me without turning her head. She too was staring at the house.

  I took a deep breath. “No. But let’s do this.”

  Sylvia’s door opened and then mine and I stepped out into the street. The chill night air whipped around me and I shivered as goose bumps rose on my flesh. But I didn’t care, nothing mattered when we stood outside of a house like this. Sylvia retrieved her bag from the back seat, pulling it over her shoulder and clutching it tight. Moving around to the other side of the car, I grabbed the key flung to me earlier that morning and started what felt like the death march up to the door. The darkness got thicker with each step I took and I knew we were being watched. They were waiting for us.

  Swallowing hard, I inserted the key into the lock. I was just about to open the door and step inside when Sylvia swept me aside with a brush of her arm. Her eyes flashed in the dark and then she took my place, opening the door and stepping inside.

  Coming to face the doorway squarely, I felt a searing pain in my head as if I had been branded with a hot poker and then it subsided, not as foreign in my mind but still there nonetheless. I had come to recognise it as a sign of the spirit world around me and I knew that we were there to face the darkness within.

  Taking a deep breath, I stepped over the threshold and into the madness.

  “I feel it,” Sylvia’s voice was small as she looked around at the house as if expecting them to show up right in front of here. “This is dark.”

  “How do we do this?” I asked, joining her in the front room. Everything was so impossibly white in such a dark room.

  “We set up the Ouija.” From the bag over her shoulder, she produced a board.

  Instinctively I stepped back. I’d known what was coming but now it was real, it was happening.

  “We need to re-open the portal to send them back.”

  My stomach knotted as she set the board down on
the glass table and knelt down beside it. Hesitant, I remained standing and watched as she pulled a glass counter from her bag and set it in the middle of the board.

  “I don’t like this.” I danced from foot to foot, glancing behind me. The darkness was weighing heavy on me and the searing pain in my head was beginning to intensify. I was in way over my head and I wanted out.

  “Peyton, sit,” Sylvia instructed. Instantly my legs dropped out beneath me and I was on the floor beside the older lady. “I need you to keep your cool, do you understand?”

  I took a deep breath and nodded.

  “Good. Now once we start, you cannot let go. Your finger stays on this glass. I can do everything else but I need your energy here.”

  I nodded again.

  “Good. Now we begin.” She lifted her hand and dropped her index finger onto the glass on the centre of the board. I hesitated, toying with the idea of running far away from the place, but finally I copied her actions, my finger coming to rest just beside hers, the warm touch of her hand offering some comfort.

  “We are here to talk,” Sylvia spoke into the room, her voice low. Her eyes flickered around the space. “We know you are here.”

  At that the light flickered. A grim smile appeared on Sylvia’s face. We weren’t alone. I shuddered and fought the urge to let the planchette go.

  “What is your name?” she asked.

  Beneath my hand, the glass began to move, slowly at first as it went to the first letter. D. I swallowed and looked at Sylvia. She concentrated hard on the board. The glass continued to move. E. M. O. N.

  I sucked in a deep breath as my eyes snapped to Sylvia. She seemed unperturbed by the word.

  “You are no demon. You are a spirit. Tell me why you are here,” she demanded.

  The glass moved again, sliding swiftly across the board. E. V. O. K. E.

  “You were evoked?”

  The glass slid to the word yes.

  Sylvia’s eyes met mine. We knew this much to be true as Adele herself had admitted it.

  “What do you want?”

  D. E. A. T. H.

  I swallowed as the knot in my stomach tightened.

  “Whose death?”

  The lights flickered again as the glass sped around the board, my hand flying with each movement and threatening to fall off. I gripped as tight as I could and watched my hand fly as it spelt out the word Y. O. U. R. S.

  The light above us exploded as the last letter was indicated and I screamed.

  “Don’t let go!” Sylvia yelled.

  With a whimper I came back to the centre, taking a deep breath and grounding myself. Sylvia would keep me safe. I hoped.

  “You are not welcome here. I command you to pass through the veil once again.”

  No.

  “You cannot remain in this world, it is no longer yours.”

  Yes.

  I shuddered.

  “The portal is open for you to depart. Be gone, spirit,” her voice was loud and clear as she commanded the darkness.

  The searing pain began to lessen in my mind and with a startling realisation I realised it was working. The spirit was going back. It was being dragged back into its own realm.

  “It’s working!” I yelled.

  “You must go,” Sylvia spoke to the darkness. “Leave our world.”

  No.

  “Yes.” She pushed the planchette to the single world.

  Around me, I felt the air hum with a deep vibration. This thing was holding on to anything it could get. The pain in my mind continued to subside but it was still there which meant so was the spirit.

  “You are not welcome here!” she yelled, her voice filling the space in an impossible ethereal tone.

  There was a pop in my mind and the pain was completely gone. My eyes flicked to Sylvia as she pushed the glass to the word at the bottom of the board. Goodbye.

  Then she slumped, her head falling down to her chest and her hand falling from the glass. I knew it was safe now and as I rushed to Sylvia, laying her down on the floor, her eyes opened. “It is done.”

  “How can I ever thank you?” Adele gushed for the third time as she stepped back into her home.

  “Don’t thank me, it was all Sylvia.” I gestured to the woman.

  “I’m just glad you are back in your home.” Sylvia smiled.

  “Thank you. If there is ever anything I can do, let me know.”

  “Come on.” I took Sylvia by the arm. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  Outside the sun shone impossibly bright as if in celebration of the erasure of the darkness the night before. Sylvia had wanted to come back just to be sure everything was gone and it appeared she was satisfied.

  Pressing the button on her key fob, the car unlocked and she opened the door.

  “Thank you again, Sylvia. You have no idea how much you saved my behind,” I told her. I don’t think I would ever be able to repay the woman, not in kind.

  She smiled. “Peyton, I don’t think you realise just how strong your gift is. If there is one thing I would ask you to do, it is to consider keeping it. It may become useful to you in the future.”

  I nodded. “I will. Thank you.”

  I watched the woman who had become an important part of my life drive down the street. I knew it wouldn’t be our last meeting.

  … to be continued

  About the Author

  Alice lives and works in the North East of England with her partner and slightly ferocious cats! She writes all manner of fiction with a tendency to lean towards the dark side. Most of her work is rooted in darkness, her inspiration coming from a macabre selection of reads as well as the dreams that frequent her sleep.

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  Future Books in the Soul Seekers

  1The Darkness Within

  2The Room of Arches

  3The Beginning

  4Dead Drunk

  & more to come…

  The Parliament House

  THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE

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