Title: Ouija Author: La Lune E-mail: la_lune86@hotmail.com Rating: PG-13 Genre: Alternate Reality ::Standard Disclaimers Apply:: --------------------------------------------------- 'The basis of optimism is sheer terror.' -Oscar Wilde --------------------------------------------------- Chapter Three: The Shadow Serena silently thanked God it was Friday, that meant she had two whole days before she had to see Darien again. Hallelujah, praise Jesus! Serena immediately thought of the Trinity Broadcasting Network and smiled, the fact that people actually sent them money never ceased to amaze her. She herself wasn't exactly a 'religious' type. When she lived with her parents the family had gone to church every week, it had been over ten years since that phenomena had occurred. Warm yellow light softly illuminated Serena's living room, including the cream-colored 'Fitzgerald Chair' Serena presently found herself curled up in. It was at times like these when a certain sentence found its way into Serena's head: 'God bless Bombay Company'. It was true though, Serena found herself able to spend thousands of dollars during one visit, she just couldn't resist, everything seemed to catch her eye. Besides weren't women supposed to be shop-o-holics? Serena wasn't that obsessed with shopping...except when it came to her three primary material weaknesses - clothing, furniture, and jewelry. She sat facing the oversized, ornate marble fireplace, the focal point of the room. Too bad she would never be able to use it, that would involve something along the lines of lighting a match, and that just wasn't going to happen. It was a shame though, she could just picture herself curled up in front of it reading a book as it cast a reassuring orange glow for her to read by, instead of the harsh artificial light projected by the lamp situated next to her chair. In all truth though, Serena realized the absolute foolishness of her phobia, but could never bring herself to overcome it. Besides, it wasn't like there was a support group she could meet with. In her lap rested 'The Other Side and Back' by Sylvia Browne, beside her chair two other books were stacked, 'Life on the Other Side' and 'Adventures of a Psychic', both also by Sylvia Browne. Serena simply adored Sylvia and believed every word, written or spoken that came from her being. She owned every book she had written, and read each of them numerous times, she was currently waiting impatiently for her latest 'Past Lives, Future Healing' to arrive, until then the others would have to do. Eddie lounged in front of the fireplace basking in the glow from the lamp on her beige 'Aubusson Hook Rug', another Bombay Company find. Serena yawned slowly and lowered the book from her gaze, she gasped, slightly startled by what she saw causing her to drop her book and lose her page. The soft thud of her book impacting with the floor was deafening. It was happening again. There was no barking this time, but the intensely penetrating gaze was still the same. Eddie's eyes were seeing, and at the same time - blind. His dark eyes almost immediately met Serena's, her startled ice-blue irises dissipated somewhat as the inky pupils slowly expanded. He was staring at her, and just as before she felt invisible. Her presence seemed to have been forgotten, but the presence she had the uncanny feeling was standing behind her was not. Not again. The feeling of fierce alarm came over Serena as she swiftly turned around, expecting to see Hannibal Lecter or John Doe to be standing there. Instead she saw nothing, well at least no cannibals or nut jobs obsessed with the seven deadly sins, she could have sworn though, like before, in the corner of her eye she saw something, a shadow or figure of some sort. She turned her face to look at the object directly but saw nothing, it was almost as if it had vanished. Not again. The uneasy feeling remained, and helped Serena hastily decide it was time for bed. Sleep was indeed a welcome venture for Serena, who was unable to shake the unsettling feeling that something was there, in the house, in her bedroom, standing in one of the darkened corners. Serena's release came with the unconsciousness of sleep, but with sleep comes dreams, thankfully Serena didn't dream that night. ------------------------- From the second Serena regained consciousness and opened her eyes she knew that not only was something wrong but that she was no longer alone as well. Throughout the day Eddie would suddenly stare at her, and she was constantly seeing 'something' in the corner of her eye, or she would just catch a mere glimpse of a shadowy form. Something was wrong. She needed to tell someone, but who could she call? There was no chance in hell that she would talk to her parents and she didn't want to worry Aaron. She wanted to call Darien. But calling Darien involved having to talk to him, and Serena had to do that enough during the week, and besides he'd have her committed if she told him she was seeing things. Serena logically couldn't talk to anyone, it wasn't like they could make her paranoia go away. It got worse though. The frequency of the sightings increased rapidly throughout the day and the glimpses would be longer, Serena thanked mother and father god when night set in. It was extremely early by Serena's standards when she uneasily changed into her pajamas and went to bed. She found sleep almost unobtainable, all she could do was lay helplessly in a mass of tangled sheets with her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Sleep came eventually, but lasted only a short time. Something was wrong. Serena could sense it. Without thinking she sat up in bed and opened her eyes, slowly in order for them to adjust to the total darkness of the room. Darkness. Total darkness. That couldn't be, Serena had a tendency to be rather apprehensive so she had night-lights scattered throughout the house which she lit religiously every night. But they weren't on, she knew for a fact they had been lit when she had retired for the evening. But they weren't on. Darkness. Total darkness. That's when she saw it, the shadow was at the foot of her bed, only this time it wasn't disappearing. Every ounce of color slowly drained from Serena's face, leaving her as white as her sheets. A sudden shock of horror ripped through her body, leaving her incapable of thought, movement, or sound. She shook violently, her hand flew to her mouth when she finally found her voice and let out a scream of sheer terror that came from her very soul. When her initial terror's sharp edge wore down slightly Serena found herself filled with a white hot rage she could not recall ever feeling before. Unthinkingly she stood up on top of her bed with shaky legs. If the figure standing before her had any discernible eyes on its 'face' she would have been looking right into them. She opened her mouth and began yelling random obscenities at the nameless form which remained unmoving. The way Serena screeched and flailed her arms madly resembled a child having a tantrum over something trivial, this of course was anything but trivial. When Serena finally ran out of steam she sank to her knees like a deflating balloon. An unnoticed tear ran slowly down her left cheek as Serena dejectedly regarded the unwavering form before her, she wondered if she would ever be able to sleep again. Eventually Serena considered her options and came to the sad conclusion that she was trapped in her bed, and all she could bring herself to do was pull the blankets over her head and lay there, a quivering mass and pray that it wasn't real. She knew from experience though that prayers weren't answered. At that moment Serena experienced an epiphany. She recalled an important piece of information that every psychic knew of, but apparently she had forgotten momentarily. Dogs had the keen ability to sense things humans could not, things she could sense as well. Oedipus' strange stares were not in vain, he had seen it as well. It. Serena guessed 'it' was an apparition, an entity. Oh, no. Slowly and most definitely reluctantly, Serena pulled the covers down from over her head and sat up. She looked around expectantly but thankfully saw nothing. She wondered briefly if it had just been a figment of her imagination or maybe even a dream. The distinct trembling in her hands told her otherwise. She crawled across her bed and sifted through the top drawer of her bedside table. Her hand retracted holding a pad of paper as well as a slightly chewed on pencil. On a whimsy, Serena found herself scribbling down a message, the letters slightly crooked from the persistent shaking in her hands: 'Who are you!? Why are you here!?' Sure, the message itself wasn't too earth-shattering, but in the end it did make Serena feel slightly more at ease. Slightly. She placed the pad on top of her bedside table by her alarm clock, with the pencil carefully resting on top, so as not to roll off. Serena had the urge to laugh at her childishness, Darien sure would get a kick out of it. Serena eventually fell asleep, wondering what she would find when she awoke in the morning, most likely nothing. Hopefully nothing. Serena stretched her tired muscles languorously as she slowly dragged herself out of bed. Light was streaming in the windows through partially closed drapes, giving the room a comfortable warmth. She stood and retrieved her slippers and was about to walk away when she remembered the pad. Stopping in mid-stride she turned around and approached her bed once more. She took a seat and reached over to pick up the pad, it was then that she noticed the pencil on the ground. Slightly distraught, she grabbed the pad quickly and read the contents of the page. Her message of course was there, but written a few lines underneath it was something else, something she had not written herself: 'Now where's the fun in telling you? All in good time, my dear. All in good time... ' A reply. To be continued... --------------------------------------------------- Author's Notes: Slightly shortish chapter, sorry!! The next one should and most likely will be longer. Please review, and e-mails are always welcome!! Until next time... -La Lune