Page 21 of We Live Here Now

20

Emily

It’s boiling in the house when I wake up, the day already darkening into afternoon. I’ve been asleep for hours. My mouth is dry and I’m disoriented as I come down the stairs. The thermostat is up at twenty-six. No wonder it’s like a sauna in here. I can hear football on so I head to the sitting room.

“Jesus, Freddie, you’re going to burn if you’re not careful.” Freddie’s so close to the fire that his hands are almost in it. “And it’s boiling in here.”

“There was a draft.” He doesn’t look at me, still leaning so far forward he’s blocking the fire with his torso.

“You came to bed late last night.” Maybe it was him I heard on the landing. “Who stayed up with you?”

“No one.” He’s irritated. I can hear it in his voice. “In fact, I went upstairs but you’d opened that hall window again and it was freezing. So I came down and stoked the fire to warm up.” He looks at me now and I see something in his expression I’ve never seen before. A slight darkness. As if he’s holding back a deep rage. It unsettles me. Freddie’s never looked at me like that before. Does he know? Or suspect?

“Why do you keep doing that? You know how cold this house gets.”

“I don’t keep doing that,” I protest. “I didn’t open it the first time and I didn’t open it last night. I went straight to sleep. It must have been one of the others.”

There’s a long pause before he finally speaks. “I guess it must have been.”

He leans back and my eyes widen as I see what’s burning.

It’s the Ouija board.

“That’s mine.” I stare at him, astounded that he’d have the audacity to destroy it. “You can’t burn it.” I watch the Yes being consumed by the crackling flames and it suddenly feels like a bad omen.

Were you murdered in this house?

“I should have thrown it away before we moved. It’s a stupid thing. And it’s not good for you.”

“It’s just a game.”

“I know you, Em. You believed it. Even though everyone else was sure it was Iso moving the planchette.”

“I was caught up in the moment.” My face burns red with both denial and the truth of his words. I did believe it. Maybe I still do a little. “It was creepy. That’s all. But I know you’re right. She must have been doing it.”

I glance again to the blackening wood. It’s taking a while to burn given how hot the fire is. As if it’s fighting it.

“Maybe you should speak to Dr. Canning.” He’s watching the flames rather than looking at me.

The fire spits loudly at us in our awkward silence and finally the board succumbs and joins the flames. It was damp, that’s all. Nothing supernatural about it.