Thursday Night
Bobby flicked the DVD off, grousing, “There’s really nothing in there to help us. Do you really want to sit through “The Craft”, too?”
“I like the buggy part,” Kitty commented distractedly, as all eyes swivelled to her in surprise. “What?”
“Oh, please,” Jubilee moaned, “that’s the suckiest part of the entire movie.”
“But the rest is pretty good, and from what I hear, kind of accurate about some things. I’m up for it,” Rogue settled into the deep cushions as the opening credits rolled, much to Bobby’s dismay. An hour later, she heard the front door slam shut. In moments, Logan strolled into the room and flopped down on the couch between Rogue and Jubilee, throwing an arm around each.
“What’s the fare for tonight, ladies?” He noted Bobby’s expression of disgust.
“Witchcraft!” cackled Kitty in a shrill falsetto that made Logan’s ears quiver inside, but he smirked and settled in for the rest of the movie.
Friday Night
“I give up,” groused Bobby. “Three nights of research, and we’re stuck making it up.” He tossed the copy of Belanger’s “Communicating with the Dead” onto the table.
“Don’t crap out on us, dude. I’m logged onto ghostvillage.com and it’s not bad,” Jubilee turned the laptop around so all could see the screen.
Rogue shoved her hands through her hair to push the white strands back from her face, then offered, “I say we take what we’ve got, and put it all together, and add what I remember from Aunt Millie, then polish the edges.” Her eyes met the others’ as she added, “That is, of you still want to try this seance thing?”
“Why not? The full moon is tomorrow and it’s the closest one to Halloween, so let’s do it. The parties don’t start until next weekend, so it’ll get us in the mood,” Kitty added.
Eventually, Rogue handed the supplies list to Jubilee who was designated Supplies Coordinator. Bobby volunteered to open and air out one of the empty and unused rooms at the far end of the teacher’s wing, making himself the Venue Coordinator. Kitty offered to help and was dubbed Venue Assistant and Gopher, and Rogue was chosen as Seance Facilitator since she had the most experience, having declined the title of Officiating Medium.
They retired for the night, excitement building as the night of the seance drew near.
Saturday Night
With the little table draped in dark blue velvet and candles burning in a circle on the floor around the perimeter, the four huddled on their chairs. Rogue watched the full moon rise through the eastern window as Kitty lit the incense sticks and placed them in a small bowl of sand in the center of the table. Jubilee placed a crystal ball on a pewter base that looked like a dragon’s clawed foot, then using her sleeve edge, polished away a fingerprint she’d left behind. With a squinted glance at Bobby, Jubes asked, “Did you bring the salt?”
“Uhhh...” Bobby hesitated while he dug in his backpack, then produced three fast-food packets of salt. “Think that’s enough?”
“Oh god,” Rogue groaned, “I thought you were gonna ‘bring’ some, like a bag full, or a bowl, or a box. All the web sites are adamant about salt.”
“I’ll run down to the kitchen and get a salt shaker,” he grumped and started to rise, but Kitty grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the table.
“The moon is already risen, and according to that ceremonial magic website, it’s the hour of Saturn and it’s time to do this now.”
“Without the salt?” Rogue asked.
“Well, we’ve got... this much...” Jubilee ripped open the packets and dumped them into a little dish. “It might be enough, and this is just an experiment, right? It’s not like we’re summoning demons or anything evil, so let’s just do this. If it works, we can get more later.”
“Oookay,” Rogue agreed as they all joined hands around the table, her gloved hands grasping Jubilee on the left and Kitty on the right, who bracketed Bobby as well. Clearing her throat, Rogue spoke the initial words of the seance, “We declare this seance to be opened, and invite any spirits to make contact with us.”
The foursome sat in silence as the candles flickered, the twin streams of incense smoke danced and curled in the darkness.
“Is anyone there? Are there any messages for us?”
“Maybe we’re not concentrating hard enough,” offered Kitty, and Jubilee frowned hard, making her eyes cross as Bobby erupted in laughter before Kitty kicked him under the table. “Pay attention, Bobby!”
“Okay,” he stifled himself and focused again for a few seconds. “Hey, did you hear that?”
“WHAT?!” The three females chorused.
“You are sooo easy.”
Kitty kicked him again, harder, and made him grunt in pain.
Rogue continued, speaking in a low voice at nothing in particular, “We open a portal to the other side, and welcome any spirits who have messages, unfinished business, anything that needs to be said. Show yourselves; speak to us. Give us a sign that you are present.”
Jubilee shivered slightly, then whispered to Bobby, “Dude, cut that out. I can feel the cold rolling off of you.”
“Uh, Jubes, it’s not me,” Bobby whispered back, hesitantly. “I’ve got the mutation cranked down. You’re just not dressed warm enough in this old room. Black lace isn’t for October in New York.”
“I look fantastic, and you know it,” Jubilee sniped, gripped his hand tighter, then commented, “Your hand does feel warm. Why am I cold?”
“Maybe it’s a cold spot. That’s supposed to happen when spirits are present,” Rogue muttered, then added, “Is anyone there?”
Bobby felt the hands gripping his on both sides tighten to the point of pain as heavy footsteps echoed in the hall just outside the door. A shadow passed beneath the door as the doorknob suddenly rattled and turned, the door bursting open.
“What the hell’s goin’ on in here?” Logan growled through the open door as the four gasped and then relaxed. “What’s that smell? Thought the place might be on fire until I traced it up here and knew it was somethin’... sweet-smellin’.”
“It’s just some incense sticks, Logan - it’s okay. We’re having a seance,” Rogue explained in a calm voice, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. “Wanna join us?”
“Nah, that stuff makes my nose go out of whack. Just try not to burn the joint down, okay?” With four nods of agreement, Logan shut the door and they heard his footsteps fading away, back down the hallway.
“As you were saying before we were so rudely interrupted,” groused Bobby to Rogue as she tugged her gloves tighter and they all joined hands again.
“Are there messages for us? Is anyone here?” she repeated to the quiet room.
“Bobby, seriously, turn off the AC, will you? I’m shaking from the cold,” Kitty complained.
“I told you, it’s not me. It ‘is’ cold in here, even I can feel it. It’s not.... natural, and it’s not me, I swear.”
Jubilee was bouncing in her seat to keep warm, and they all noted the steam rise from her breath as she asked, “You think we made contact?”
“I don’t know...” Rogue whispered, and then gave a short scream as the candles suddenly blew out in a gust of wind as the room grew even colder.
“Okay, I’m done,” Jubilee said and started to rise from the table when Kitty suddenly pointed to the door. All eyes turned and saw the shadows of feet pass by the door again, doubling back from the direction Logan had left.
“It’s just Logan messing with us,” sniped Bobby, who leaped to his feet and ran to jerk open the door. Sticking his head into the hallway, he saw nothing. No one was there. Kitty was right on his heels and peered around his shoulder.
“It couldn’t have been Logan. He couldn’t have gotten down the hall that fast without us hearing him.”
“Uh, maybe,” Rogue whispered behind them. “Logan is quiet and fast, and he absolutely would try to scare us. But that doesn’t explain that sudden wind, or the coldness. He can’t make that happen.”
“Come on, Jubes, we’re apparently making some progress. Let’s try again,” Kitty was tugging her hand and they all returned to the seance table again.
The moment they were all seated and were reaching to join hands, the door started rattling on it’s hinges again. It continued as Bobby bravely approached the door, grabbed the knob and tried to hold it still, then suddenly twisted the knob and jerked the door open, expecting to see Logan with his hand on the knob.
There was no one there.
No one was in the hallway at all.
He exhaled slowly, not even realizing he’d been holding his breath, and even his chill breath steamed in the cold air. It seemed to seep through the room, around him, and into the hallway. “Kitty, if someone’s phased out here, can you phase and see them, or if anyone’s invisible?” Bobby stuffed his hands in his pockets to cover the fact that he was trembling.
“Yeah, probably. I don’t know about invisible mutants, but if someone’s phasing, I can see them,” she rose from the table and stepped through the wall beside Bobby, scanning the hallway in both directions. Phasing back, she said, “I’ll search the rooms all around us, just to make sure.” She slid away through the plaster as the other girls gathered behind Bobby.
Less than two minutes later, Kitty reappeared beside Jubilee who gave a squeak of surprise and then swore under her breath. “There’s no one on this floor in this wing but us, visible or phased,” she started rubbing her hands over her upper arms. “Even the teachers are out of their rooms at the other end.”
“Did you go through Logan’s room? Is he there? Is it a wreck? Was there a woman in there with him? What did you see?” The rapid-fire questions poured from Jubilee.
“Perv,” Kitty shushed her friend. “His room was... oh, never mind! He wasn’t there.”
“Like I said before, I’m done. We’ve succeeded in freaking me out, and I’m stainless steel, so we are done. I’m taking my toys and going home,” Jubilee returned to the table to pick up her crystal ball, but her hand froze a few inches from it. Gazing into the crystal surface, she saw the shadow of a disguised face staring back at her from the crystalline surface, as if the man stood just behind her shoulder, watching her. His face was distorted with dark camouflage paint, making him look monstrous in the thin moonlight that slipped through the window.
With a distinct tremor in her voice, she asked, “Kitty, phase again and tell me if there’s someone standing behind me.”
A split second later they all heard Kitty scream, then saw her momentarily phase back into reality, then she phased again and fell through the floor!
“What?! What is it?” Rogue and Bobby were both shouting as Jubilee felt her knees try to buckle. She grasped the table’s edge for support, the crystal ball rolling out of it’s holder and thudding onto the floor.
“I’m so out of here,” she rattled breathlessly as she grabbed things from the tabletop, stuffing the half-burnt incense sticks top-down into the sand to extinguish them. “Game’s over, and I’m not playing any more.” She rushed from the room.
Kitty’s head appeared through the floor again just as Jubilee exited the room, making Rogue and Bobby both squeak with fright before they realized the bodiless head on the floor was Kitty’s. “I’m standing on Pete’s shoulders. I landed on him while he was reading, but we’re okay.”
“What did you see behind Jubes?” Rogue asked anxiously.
“A soldier,” Kitty spoke softly. “One of Stryker’s goons.”
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