Shallow Grave by Alex van Tol

Author:Alex van Tol [Tol, Alex Van]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: JUV018000, General Fiction, JUV021000, JUV028000
ISBN: 9781459802025
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2012-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

I stare at the door. The door that closed all by itself.

Moved the brick.

Closed.

And locked itself.

My head spins. I feel like I might puke.

Under my fingers, the lid moves. I try to pull away, but it won’t let me. I go to stand, but it’s like my legs have been cast in concrete. I’m stuck in this squat. My fingers are stuck to the lid.

I feel a sudden flash of heat, and my back breaks out in a sweat. Fear.

I try to push the lid off with my other hand. No dice. Those fingers become trapped too. Gorilla glue.

Now that both of my hands are on, the lid moves faster. With more purpose. My heart thrums as I watch—I can’t tear my eyes away. I’ve heard that Ouija boards make a lot of spelling mistakes.

This one’s not making any mistakes at all.

It’s spelling out the same letters. Same order.

One name.

Over. And over. And over.

I nearly jump out of my shorts when something bangs on the door. Shannon.

“Elliot!” she yells. “Open up!”

Bangbangbang.

I try to stand, but the concrete’s still holding me down. “Hang on!” I yell. I pull, but my hands are stuck. To the lid, which is stuck to the board. I’d pull it off the floor if I could, but it’s stuck there too.

I fight a sudden urge to giggle.

“Open the door!” Shannon yells again. “I told you not to lock me out! It’s freezing out here!”

I look at the door. The hook-and-eye closure tightens and loosens in time with Shannon’s frantic tugging on the other side.

“Elliot! Please!”

I look back at the board, suddenly angry.

“What do you want?” I hiss. “What do you want from me?”

The lid heats up under my fingers, superhot. Agonizing. The heat travels up through my fingers and across my wrists. It’s like having hot wax shot through my veins.

“Ahhh!” I scream.

Shannon stops pounding. “Elliot?” Silence. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

The heat fades as quickly as it came. I’m left sweating, panting, my hands throbbing.

“I don’t know what you want, you goddamn freak spirit.”

The door starts rattling again as Shannon yanks and pounds on it. “Elliot, open the door!” she shrieks. “This isn’t funny!” I can hear the fear in her voice. It feeds mine.

I open my mouth to tell her I can’t. Before I can speak, the heat flares again. Up through my forearms and into my shoulders this time.

“Aaaaaaauuugh!” Pain descends on me like a red haze. The noises blur together. Me screaming. Shannon screaming. Shannon pounding on the door with both fists, then kicking it with her boots.

“What do you want, Jessica?” I scream. That last bit, the name. I didn’t know I was going to say it. It was pulled up from inside me. Thrown out of my mouth. By something other than me.

And just like snapping your fingers, all the craziness stops. The board releases me. I lurch sideways and fall over, hitting my head against a shelf.

There’s a little metal plinking noise, and the door swings open. Shannon’s standing there holding a brick, like she’s about to plow it into the door.

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