standing behind the row of children, his face shadowed by his wide-brimmed hat. All of the kids had their hair cut short, and were wearing what looked like tattered nightgowns. For a moment that look seemed familiar, although I couldn't tell why.
Henry rubbed the picture with his thumbs. "Did you laminate this?"
I nodded. Everyone at the table laughed.
"I was worried it might get something on it, ectoplasm, or s-something," I stuttered, defensive.
"Spirit fluids?" Alex asked, causing everyone else to crack up again.
I looked up at the painting again. The man gave me the shivers. It reminded me of an evil painting in an old movie I had seen, that cursed anyone who looked at it. Or the idea that a soul could be trapped inside a photograph. The oil-painted black eyes never left mine.
Theo helped me set up the table to match the picture in the book, putting the candles in a diamond shape with the red one in the center.
"Where's the Ouija board?" Alex asked.
"I didn't bring one," I said.
"What kind of fake s茅ance is this?" he demanded. I gritted my teeth.
It had started to storm outside, bursts of thunder rattling the walls. Funny, it seemed like a clear night before we came in. But I hadn't been worried about the weather then. And in Michigan, a storm could start on one side of the sky while the other half was sunny and clear.
"It was a dark and stormy night," Henry recited.
"Be serious," I said. I sat down again, and stumbled a bit on the way down.
"Are you okay?" both Henry and Theo said at the same time. They looked at each other, exchanging silent communication. It reminded me of my parents, and irritated me even more than Alex had.
"I am fine," I repeated yet again. "Let's just do this. Oh...before I forget."
I rummaged through the side pocket of my purse, and pulled out Grandma's necklace. I brought it in a plastic sandwich baggie for safekeeping.
"Fancy," Theo said. "Wouldn't want the ghosts to see you without your fine jewels."
"Are you going to pick on me, too?" I asked wearily.
"Sorry."
I put the necklace around my neck and attached the clasp. The green stone was already promisingly warm.
Alex lit the candles with his lighter. We joined hands around the table, Theo and Henry holding mine, and Alex holding Theo's.
"Gross," Theo moaned, her eyes closed.
"What?" I asked.
"His hand is wet," she said, pulling hers out of Alex's and wiping it on her skirt.
"I have a sweating problem, okay?" he said. "And I'm not holding hands with Henry."
"You don't have to. As long as we form a chain," I said, looking at the book. Theo gingerly took Alex's hand back. I took a deep breath, and began chanting the text.
"We gather here to call the spirits that have been left behind," I recited. "He who cannot face death, and so has turned away. We call thee to our gathering."
Henry started to chuckle. "'Thee'?"
"Keep it on thee low," Alex said in an old man accent. Both he and Henry laughed.
"You're really not funny," I said to Alex. Then I glared at Henry.
"I'm sorry, but I warned you," he said, still smiling. His eyebrows raised apologetically as he laced his fingers through mine again.
I tried to focus back on the book, but I was more aware of how he was running his thumb over the back of my hand. He didn't seem to notice he was doing it. All was forgiven.
The amulet was growing almost uncomfortably hot. I had to resist the urge to take it off, reasoning I only had to keep it on for a short time. I expected the stone to emit a glow or something, but it looked the same. The candles gave me tunnel vision and I blinked, mentally envisioning the Tylenol at home on the kitchen counter.
"We gather here to extinguish the flame that keeps you from finding the dark," I recited, fully aware that Henry was still chuckling under his breath. "Appear to us, so that we may send you on your way. Appear! Appear!"
A lightning bolt shot through the center of the table. The accompanying boom deafened me, and I went blind.
We are starving. He won't feed us. We are locked in the room all day long. I haven't seen the sun in weeks. I don't remember what it feels like.
A little girl, cuts visible on her arms.
This is what happens when you disobey me.
A little boy emaciated from hunger. In a box beneath the ground.
This is