It's been a week since the last time Ember saw Amy. She hasn't heard anything from Ailon, so she assumed that everything worked out. Tonight, she was going over to Ailon's house. They were having a game night with some friends. Well, maybe more than game night. It's been a while since everyone got together, and more likely than not, the night will start with games and end up with everyone getting completely and utterly drunk.
Ember went to Ailon's house early to help with setting up. It would be more accurate to say Ailon lives in a villa. He bought it for himself when he turned 21. He didn't have the luxury of using family money to buy it. Like Ember, he grew up in foster care. He was set to be adopted multiple times; however, each time, for some reason, the adoption fell through. Either the family no longer wanted to continue the adoption, or they ended up dying. So Ailon aged out.
Lucky for him, his talent saved him a lot of trouble. He was able to start working at the age of 16. He was able to charm people into doing pretty much anything if he really wanted to. He ended up charming his way into a few business deals, becoming a sought-after consultant. As long as you need a deal closed, he is the guy to go to, and his fees are ridiculously high.
It didn't take long for everyone to arrive. Both Ember and Ailon tended to keep their circle small. Even with Ailon being so outgoing, there are a few people whom he would consider friends. And even then, close friends he would invite to the villa are far and few between.
Ember, being the homebody that she is, doesn't like talking to people in the first place. So most of the people she knows also know Ailon. Her job focuses on computers. She became a Cybersecurity Engineer. She realised she had a knack for computers from a young age. Her parents nurtured that talent and were her biggest supporters until they passed away when she was 19. They were both orphans, so as far as Ember knew, she had no relatives.
There were a total of six people invited to the game night. Inclusive of Ember and Ailon, there would be eight people there. The first to arrive was the only couple of the group, Phoenix and Gabriel.
Ailon answered the door enthusiastically, "Hey! My favourite bird people."
Gabriel pushed Ailon out of the way and walked in, not acknowledging his comment. It wasn't the first time he called them the bird couple. Gabriel knew his parents had named him after the angel Gabriel, who apparently isn't an angel but a divine messenger. But to Ailon, angels depicted in mainstream media are just bird people. And because of his girlfriend's name, they became the bird couple.
Ailon closed the door while dramatically holding his shoulder and limping towards Ember, "Em, my shoulder, the bird boy broke my shoulder. How am I supposed to live? Woe is me!!"
Ember palmed her forehead. This idiot, she thought to herself. She had been sitting on the couch watching him limp over. Before he could sit down, she kicked towards the leg he was limping on, causing him to dodge. This only caused more theatrics as he fell to his knees.
"Em, how could you do this to me? Don't you know you don't kick a man when he's down? First, the bird boy, and now you. Don't you love me anymore? I'm injured woman, have pity on a poor man."
Ember, used to his antics, didn't glance his way anymore and started talking to Phoenix while Gabriel helped himself to a beer.
"Are you just going to leave him like that?" Phoenix asked, eyeing Ailon, who was still on the floor being "injured".
"He'll be fine," Ember waved her hand dismissively. "The more you give him, the more likely he is to act up. You know him."
By this time, Ailon made his way to Ember and rested his head on her knee, "I need a medic, Em! I...need...ahhh", he screamed as Gabriel hoisted him back to his feet.
He leaned into Gabriel's arms, pretending to be breathless. "Oh! A big, strong man, I've always wanted one like you."
Everyone rolled their eyes at his antics. While the bird couple hadn't known Ailon and Ember for long, they had a sense of ease around each other that you don't normally find in people who have only known each other a year.
Everyone started arriving one after the other, not long after Ailon started his schenanigans. By the time everyone had shown up, the four were already 10 shots and four beers deep.
"The goal for tonight is to get as drunk as possible without throwing up in my house. If you absolutely have to, find a bathroom, or you will be paying the cleaning fee." Ailon said with a beer in hand and a smile on his face.
As the night progressed, they played games from Uno to Monopoly, beer pong to truth or dare. Then came the inevitable. Someone decided they wanted to play with ghosts. Who was that person? The last person to arrive and the most drunk, Logan.
According to him, if you don't try to contact the spirit realm, is it really the end of game night? And so, with no choice but to indulge, mainly because he kept shouting at the top of his lungs, the other seven people decided on a seance.
And what better way to contact the spirit realm than to use an Ouija board?
"Why do you have that in your bag?" someone asked Logan.
"Because someone should. It doesn't work anyway, and we're all spending the night. So it won't turn into a horror movie," replied Logan. "Come! Ember, m'lady, you get to ask the spirits."
"Why me?"
"Because you have the nicest voice. Maybe the spirits like hearing soothing voices." Logan shrugged and walked wobblingly to the small table set up for games.
To set the mood, the lights were dimmed. No candles were used because, in Gabriel's words, his soul is dark enough, so he doesn't need the room to be dark too.
Everyone crowded around the table while Ember gave instructions.
"Everybody hold hands, nobody touch the planchette. Since you want to do this," she turned to look at Logan, who was giggling briefly, "let's do it. Don't let go, no matter what happens, at least not until I tell you to let go."
Even without using the candle, the room was eerie. So when Ember started calling the spirits, the elongated shadows sent a chill down people's spines.
"Spirits from the other world, I summon you. Commune with us here. Is there anyone here?"
Everyone's eyes went to the planchette; it didn't move, but that didn't stop Ember from trying again. She decided that since they wanted to do this, she needed to go all out. So she added her own little hocus pocus.
She decided to use a touch of authority when she asked again, "Spirits from another world. Are you here with us? Commune with us. Let us know what you need."
No sooner had she spoken than the planchette moved.
"Don't let go," she shouted to her friends when she felt the grip on her hand loosen.
They watched it move to 'YES', answering the question of whether anyone was there. While Ember still didn't believe it was ghosts, she wanted to see where this would go. She looked at Ailon, who smiled at her with a wicked grin. She rolled her eyes, deciding that he must be the culprit.
"Who are you?" she asked.
The planchette glided smoothly, spelling out the word 'L-E-V-I'
"Do you need help, Levi?"
The planchette moved to 'YES'
"How do you want us to help you?"
The planchette moved across the board. With each complete word, it stopped for a moment before continuing. When it was finished, it said 'TAKE MY PLACE'.
"What do you mean, take your place? You're dead, dude. I don't know if you haven't noticed, but this is the land of the living. Nobody wants to take your place."
The planchette aggressively moved to 'YES' over and over again, circling it.
People had started to get scared. No matter how much they were told not to let go, when fear takes hold, you forget everything and listen to your body's instinctive reaction.
Someone let go. And that's when the planchette flew towards Logan, who promptly fell back and stopped moving.
With the circle already broken, everyone got up to check on him. Phoenix turned the lights back up while Gabriel checked on him. It was only when they saw he was fine that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"What the hell was that?" Logan asked, rubbing his forehead.
"That was you, communing with the spirits," Ailon responded with a smirk.
"Commune my ass, which one of you was it?"Logan looked around the room, trying to find the guilty party.
While everyone was looking around, Ember was looking at Ailon. As far as she was concerned, he was the one who caused the problem, and she was about to throw him under the bus. She knew he wouldn't mind. In fact, he expected it.
"Ask Sir Grins-a-lot over here," Ember said, pointing to Ailon.
"Guilty as charged." He took off his socks to show the magnets he had hidden in them. "I had my fun, you had yours. Don't tell me you weren't excited about Levi when you saw it."
"Well, whatever it is, I'm done. I'm going to bed. We'll help with the cleanup tomorrow." Phoenix stated. She grabbed Gabriel's hand and made her way up the stairs to their usual room. How did they get a "usual" room after one year? It's just a matter of feeling between people. Ailon feels close to them.
Slowly, everyone slinked off to the guest rooms Ailon had designated to them. Ember wanted to help with some cleaning before she went to bed, but Ailon refused to let her help, and she too went off to bed.
What everyone didn't remember, probably because they were too drunk, is that the planchette Logan brought was plastic, and magnets wouldn't work. They missed the subtle eye contact between Gabriel, Phoenix and Ailon while playing the game. Even Ember missed the signal that passed between the three.
When he was alone in the living room, Ailon didn't actually clean anything. He closed his eyes and took a breath.
"Come out," his voice took on a rougher edge. His eyes glowed. A tall shadow stretched its way towards him. "The rooms without the sigil, take one."
No sooner had he spoken than the shadow rushed into a room.