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Chapter 4

Savannah's POV

It was already midnight, but I couldn't sleep. Thankfully, I wouldn't have to wake up early the next day. I was just tossing and turning. Today's events were really creepy. I had enough of this bullshit, so I got up with a sigh. I needed a good book. I knew that Maddie had some books in the guest room that I haven't had the chance to read yet. I opened my door slowly and quickly opened the door to the guest room. After I closed the door behind me I turned on the lights and the sight left me speechless. The sheets on the bed were crumpled, like someone slept in them. The room was empty though.

I stepped towards the bookshelf and skimmed through the titles. One book in particular caught my eye. The Supernatural World. I'm not interested in myths and fictions in general, but for some strange reason I chose that book. Maddie had a really comfortable armchair in her guest room. I remembered that there were some blankets in the closet, but when I opened it all I could see were male clothes. I had no idea who they belonged to, but they were huge. I needed to ask Maddie about all this in the morning. She was hiding something. I spotted the blanket on the top shelf, but I couldn't reach it thanks to my pinguin size. I've always wanted one of those hoodies that says I'm not short, I'm penguin size. Anyway, I stood on my tip toes and tried to reach it. I could've sworn that the blanket moved on its own when I finally touched it. I haven't become taller, but I was holding the blanket.

I got comfortable in the chair and picked up the book. I was halfway through the book, when I felt my eyes dropping. The myths and fictions inside the book were so well-written that I couldn't put down the book. I was so sleepy and the bed in the room was basically calling my name. At that moment I didn't care that somebody was sleeping in it before me. I turned off the lights and I fell asleep immediately.

“Sav! What are you doing here?”

“Maddie. What the hell? You scared the crap out of me, I was sleeping.” - I replied the next morning while my heart was still beating fast from the scare my best friend gave me.

“Why were you sleeping here?”

“I couldn't fall asleep last night so I came looking for a book and I was too tired to go back to my room. By the way, what are all these male clothes? And why are you holding a tray with breakfast?”

“Uhm…Well…I just wanted to eat breakfast here.”

“Maddie! What are you not telling me exactly? I’m not dumb. It’s obvious that someone else lives here. I respect the boundaries you set up, but please don’t deny it. It’s clear that you brought that food for him. However, he’s not here. The room was empty when I came in.”

“Fine. A family friend moved in not too long ago. He said he had some errands to run and I thought that I heard voices, so I came in to check if he came back.”

“Then why did you have to keep it a secret? He’s not wanted by the police, is he?”

“God no! I just didn’t know how you’d react to a man living here.”

“Maddie, this is your house. You can let whoever you want live here. You don’t need my permission as long as he’s not a criminal I’m okay with him living here. Do I know this person?”

“You don’t know him, but you will soon. His name is Zamyr.”

“Will he mind that I slept in his room and in his bed?”

“He won’t. Now let’s go.”

“Okay, but I’ll take this book with me. I want to finish it.”

“Where did you get that from?”

“From your bookshelf.”

“It’s not my book. Maybe it’s Zamyr’s. He’s obsessed with the supernatural world.”

“He believes in that stuff?”

“Yeah, he does. And maybe we should too. It sounds silly and imaginary, but people in the past had to get the idea of mythical creatures from somewhere. I mean, I know that imagination is a powerful tool, but the ideas had to come from some kind of reality.”

“I don’t know. Just think about the concept of Heaven and Hell. Nobody has actually seen it. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but how do we know that for sure? I’m not an atheist, I believe in God, but still.”

“I think it’s the same. You believe in God and the concept of Heaven and Hell. What if you started believing in the supernatural? Maybe there are supernatural beings among us and we don’t even know it. Think back to the Salem witch trials. People were accused of being witches. What if they were really witches? And there’s the Ouija board too. Many people believe that it’s really working.”

“Maddie, there are no witches, spirits or other non-human beings. The Salem witch trials were nothing more than executions. Those people were innocent, but some high and mighty religious figures thought they saw something more. They did not see anything and they were responsible for the death of many innocent people, even children. And foolishly the people believed them. It was a massacre and they were so proud of it. They walked among people with so much pride while others were suffering. Ouija boards are just hoaxes. All these ‘true phenomena’ come from medieval religious beliefs. They’re not real and will never be. With today’s technology everything can be explained scientifically or medically.”

“How do you know so much about this?”

“I took a course when I was a university student. There was a lecture about this topic.”

“But how can you explain the Salem witch trials medically?”

“Not the Salem witch trials, but diseases for example. Medieval people thought that the plague was connected with vampires. They dug out numerous bodies which they thought were vampires. They were not, but they still desecrated the dead. They drove stakes to their chests like savages. They freaked out when they saw that the corpses weren’t decomposing the way they should. Today all that can be explained medically. Even the blood in the veins after days can be explained medically. Think about all this. Who were the real murderers and who should’ve gone to Hell instead of Heaven? All those people who belonged to one of the churches. Not all those innocent who were murdered in Salem, not those whose corpses were dug out and desecrated.”

“Wow, you’re scaring me here Sav. I’ve never seen you so passionate about something related to the supernatural. I get your point, but what if all that was true?”

“Okay. Hypothetically, strictly hypothetically speaking, if that was true would you’ve still murdered them in cold blood?”

“Hell no! According to you they didn’t do anything bad.”

“Exactly. They’ve done nothing wrong. Just think about this from another perspective. It’s a known fact that people with mental diseases see things that are not true. What if that was the case in medieval times? What if those who accused the innocent were suffering from mental diseases. They were well respected people. No doctor dared going against them saying they’re crazy.”

“Okay, let’s say you convinced me. Why are you so hung upon those murders?”

“I don’t know Maddie. It just infuriates me every time I think about the topic. So many innocent lives were taken and for what? Nothing at all, because later there was scientific proof. Don’t look at me like this.”

“I can’t help it, Sav. You’re too passionate about this, it’s like you’re personally connected to this.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. How could I be personally connected to the Salem witch trials or digging out corpses? I’ve never lived in Salem or in Eastern Europe nor did my ancestors.”

“If you say so. Let’s make a deal. I’ll get us an Ouija board. Would you believe in the supernatural if it works?”

“Nice try Maddie, but it won’t work then why try it?”

“If it won’t work, what's the harm in trying it?”

“Ugh, you’re impossible. Fine, let’s try it. You won’t let me off the hook until we do it. When do you want to do it?”

“Today.”

Maddie is a pain in the ass when she sets her mind on something. Maybe that family friend, Zamyr, is starting to influence her. It’s not a bad thing to be passionate about something, but it’s unhealthy if the passion becomes an obsession with something that doesn’t exist. I knew that I couldn’t back off now that I promised her to try out the Ouija board. It won’t work anyway. I heard the front door slam and Maddie drove off. With a sigh I started preparing lunch.

My crazy best friend came back just as the food was ready. She was holding an Ouija board. After lunch she disappeared in her room saying that she needed to gather information on how to do this properly. I was bored too so I decided to finish reading the book I found. About halfway into the book I noticed that the topic focused on one ‘supernatural race’, the fae. The more I read the more information I got about the supposedly existing race. The more I read the more I started believing that the writer was delusional. I mean immortality, magic, otherworldly beauty? What a joke! There’s no such a thing as immortality, only old age. There’s no such a thing as magic, only illusion. There’s not such a thing as otherworldly beauty, only good genes. That’s it and nothing more. I didn’t even notice how much time had passed until Maddie was knocking on my door.

“Are you ready?”

“Fine. Let’s get this over with. Nothing’s going to happen anyway.”

“Don’t be so sure about that. I read that Halloween is associated with spirits. The veil between the different worlds, realms or what is the thinnest at Halloween. It was two days ago, so who knows what’ll happen when we try this.”

“I hate to shatter this picture, but it’s also connected to religion. It has Celtic origin to ward off ghosts and spirits. We just transformed it into something completely different.”

“You’re a party pooper, really. You always have some explanation. I can’t wait for your explanation if this thing works out.”

“I told you that all these beliefs are connected to religion. You shouldn't be so surprised about this. By the way, I can’t wait to meet that friend of yours to tell him all these. That book he has is utter bullshit.”

“Why? What’s in it?”

“All these crazy stories about supernatural races, especially fae. Immortality, otherworldly beauty and other crazy things. Does he really believe in it?”

“Yeah, he does. I don’t even dare ask your opinion about what you read.”

“It might be better not to ask anything. Now what do we have to do?”

“Leave that to me. Do you have anybody in mind we should try to summon?”

“Just think of someone already. It doesn’t matter Maddie. It can be a dead cat for all I care.”

“Fine, fine. No need to be so grumpy about this. Okay, I have someone in mind. Let’s start.”

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