Blood in the Bath (3/5) By Leah Scarpati

(1/5), (2/5), (3/5), (4/5), (5/5).

The fire continued to crackle noisily and the girls began to sweat a little. Chang sat beside Evie in a huff because he was no longer the centre of attention, but he still wanted to be in the middle of the action. The rain finally managed to gather enough momentum to pour down outside, tapping against the windows in a steady rhythm. The clock on the mantle began to chime.

"Midnight!" Evie exclaimed. The fingers on the glass began to shake; it was suddenly becoming more serious. "Spirits of the other world," she said in a dramatic voice, "we ask that you show yourselves! Communicate with us!" There was a collective intake of breath around the table. Nothing happened. "I don't like this," chirped Sarah, her voice wavered, eyes wet. "Don't you dare take your finger off the glass, it's already started!" Amanda whispered next to her. Amanda and Sarah were very similar in appearance. Amanda was petite and childlike, with tumbling curly blonde ringlets She had a very old head on young shoulders.

"Spirits!" Evie commanded. "Show yourselves to us; communicate with us through this board. We come to you with love and light and ask that you prove your existence!" Slowly, the glass moved. The girls' mouths hung open in horror as it travelled across the middle of the table towards the word 'yes'. Amanda gasped in shock. "I don't like this!" Cried Sarah, but her finger remained on the glass, the girls were glued to the spot. "Evie, you've gotta be moving this glass!" Lori exclaimed. "Shh! I'm not, I swear!" Evie hissed, looking across at Gemma. Gemma looked equally as shocked as the rest of the girls.

Taking control of the situation, Evie asked; "Spirit, what is your name?" The glass moved from letter to letter, spelling out T-H-O-M-A-S. "Thomas, how old are you?"

The glass pointed to the number six card. Evie lifted her eyes up from the glass to scan the faces of her class mates. They were buying it! She stifled a laugh, as she asked 'Thomas' another question. "Do you have a message for any of us Thomas?" The glass did not move for a while, then it flew across the table to the 'yes' card. It moved so fast that Gemma's finger couldn't keep up and it fell off. She quickly put it back on. Evie frowned a question at her. The glass moved across to the letters E-V-I-E. "What?" She asked, rolling her eyes. Why did Gemma have to make this all about her? It was bound to give the game away.

The glass continued to move in a quick motion from letter to letter; it spelt out the words: B-L-O-O-D-I-N-T-H-E-B-A-T-H. "What?" Evie forgot about the pretence and questioned Gemma directly. Gemma had taken her finger off the glass and placed her hand over her mouth as the glass repeated the phrase with increasing speed ...

BLOODINTHEBATH BLOODINTHEBATHBLOODINTHEBATH. The glass was now moving so quickly none of the girls could keep up with it. Their fingers fell away and all six of the girls watched in horror as the glass spun frantically around the board on it own! "Stop it!" Amanda screamed.

A wind began to pick up in the living room, spinning around the girls, causing their hair to fly up around their heads. "Make it stop!" Gemma cried above the sound of the wind, "Stop the glass!"

Continued .... Next Page (4/5)

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