After school she and Claire decided to go over to Zelda’s house and see what was up. They were trying to be casual about Zelda but both were a little worried.

“Her phone probably died and she’s sick or something,” Claire offered.

“Yeah. I guess. It’s just not like her to not be glued to her phone.”

They made their way through the ten minute walk and approached the front door. Zelda’s parents would be at work and her brother might not be back yet from his concert weekend. They knocked. They knocked again. Nothing.

“I guess there’s no one home.” Annie was perplexed.

She and Claire turned away from the door when a breathless Zelda suddenly flung it open. “Hi guys!” she exclaimed as if it were perfectly normal for them to show up unannounced.

“Why didn’t you come to school? Why haven’t you answered your texts?” Annie asked a bit more harshly than she meant to.

“Are you the attendance police now?” Zelda laughed a little too loudly and there was a strange look in her eyes like her laugh didn’t meet them.

“We were just wondering. It’s not like you to not be on top of your phone. We wanted to make sure you were okay” Claire rescued Annie from the tense interaction.

“I’m totally fine. I told my mom I was sick. I wanted some time off. Guess what I’ve been doing? You gotta see!”

Zelda moved to the side to let Annie and Claire in. They were greeted by the dogs who had been hiding just out of sight. Watch dogs they weren’t apparently. Zelda proceeded to the basement stairs expecting Claire and Annie to follow. They looked at each other and obliged.

Annie didn’t know what she had expected but was shocked at what they found. Instead of one candle, there were candles on every surface of her brother’s basement room. No other lights were on but the room was lit so one could easily see. With a pit in her stomach, Annie recognized the parchment paper with the lettered circle and glass perched on the coffee table. She turned to Zelda.

“You’ve been doing it on your own?” She felt her heart skip a beat. Claire looked pale.

“Yeah. All day. You wouldn’t believe what we’ve talked about.” Zelda talked about the board like it was a person which didn’t put Annie any at ease.

Claire stepped in. “Zelda, that’s not a good idea. You don’t know what you’re contacting.”

“Oh, you sound like Annie. It’s totally fine. Look, I’ll show you.”

Zelda sat herself down in front of the board. The other girls stood where they were, uneasy about moving at all. 

Zelda asked the glass a question, not bothering to whisper. “Annie and Claire have come. Can they play now too?” She placed the glass in the middle of the board. Nothing happened.

“I asked, Annie and Claire are here, can they play now too?” Zelda looked eagerly at the board. 

Annie and Claire looked at each other with the same furrowed brow and looked back. The glass began to move slightly under Zelda’s index finger. It was hard to tell how hard Zelda was pressing but it still had the look of Zelda following where it led. The glass circled the board slowly twice. It finally landed on “No.”

Claire drew in her breath. Annie reached for Claire’s hand without any thought. Zelda was completely unphased it seemed though and actually laughed that jittery too loud laugh.

“Oh, don’t be silly! It’s joking,” Zelda looked at Annie and Claire with a zeal that Annie felt unsettling. She noticed that there seemed to be dark circles under Zelda’s eyes. Annie didn’t like how Zelda talked about the board like it was a person.

“I don’t think this is funny Zelda. I think you need to stop,” said Claire. She was squeezing Annie’s hand a little too tightly. “How long have you been down here?”

“I don’t know…” Zelda trailed off looking bewildered and vague. “I came down last night sometime. My mom thought I had fallen asleep down here so it was easy to tell her I was sick this morning.” Zelda’s eyes were so far away now Annie wanted to go to her but something stopped her.

Instead Annie asked, “Have you eaten today?” It seemed like the thing to say.

Again Zelda was vague and far away. “No, I haven’t. I told you I’m sick Mom.”

“What?” Claire was alarmed. “Mom?”

Suddenly Zelda seemed to snap out of her haze. “Oh, what am I saying? Duh, sorry.” She laughed and it was a bit more like her.

Annie said, “Come on Zelda, let’s go upstairs and get something to eat. You don’t need to be down here all day.”

Zelda obliged and started blowing out the candles. She rolled up the parchment paper and hid it under her brother’s bed. Annie would have preferred she had thrown it out but didn’t want to fight that battle.

The girls all walked up the stairs and Annie looked back over her shoulder. She thought for a split second that the glass moved but shook her head deciding it was a play of light. It occurred to Annie that they hadn’t said goodbye to the board but she didn’t say anything. She was relieved that Zelda was getting out of the basement. Saying goodbye was just a thing from a dumb book anyway.   

When the girls got upstairs to the kitchen Claire took over. She made her way through the pantry, taking it upon herself to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the three of them. They ate in silence which was a little unsettling for Annie as she was used to non stop chatter from Zelda. Zelda looked distracted and kept picking at the crust on her sandwich. 

Zelda had hardly eaten anything when she looked at Claire and Annie and said, “I don’t know why it doesn’t like you.”

Annie and Claire looked at each other. Annie wanted to ask “What?” but she knew what Zelda was referring to. It was the board. It said “No” when Zelda asked if she and Claire could play.

Claire seemed to be playing dumb. “What are you talking about?”

Zelda looked uncomfortable. A blush was just creeping up from her collar. She swallowed nothing and said, “It says that only I should play. That I’m special.” The fact that she didn’t say what “it” was again hung in the air.

“You need to quit messing around with that thing. Look at you. You’re a mess. You’ve been doing this all day and I told you it was dangerous,” Claire was fired up, not her usual soft self. 

Annie looked from one to the other and didn’t like the tension but was glad that Claire said what she had been thinking to herself.

“It said you’d say that,” Zelda sat up straight and had a sudden blazing look in her eye. “It said you’d be jealous and you are.”

“We’re not jealous, we’re worried about you.” Claire held her ground.

Annie tried to intervene, “It’s not like you to lie to your mom and not answer my calls or texts. You’re not being yourself.”

Zelda was having none of it. “My mom and I are just fine. It’s you who has to worry about your mom. And your dad. Leave my mom out of this.” 

Annie thought this was low. Zelda knew how Annie’s relationship with her parents both saddened and stressed her. She didn’t know why Zelda was being so mean and this vague reference to being worried about them was unsettling. 

“You don’t have to be like that,” Annie almost whispered.

“I’m not being like anything. You guys are the ones being nosey. Why did you even come here?” Zelda met Annie with venom.

Claire stepped in. “We were worried about you but I see you’re fine and not in the mood to be nice. We don’t have to be here. We can go.”

Just then, Zelda’s mom stepped in through the door from the garage. Zelda instantly shifted her demeanor and looked fragile and actually ill. Annie assumed this was an act because Zelda had played sick but it was weird how the color drained from Zelda’s face.

“Hello girls!” Zelda’s mom beamed as usual. The dogs greeted her with yips and jumps which added to the tension. “How are you feeling Zeld?” she asked, absentmindedly reaching down to pet the dogs.

“I’m a little better. Claire and Annie came to say hi and Claire made us sandwiches.” Zelda motioned to the girls’ empty plates and her own picked apart peanut butter and jelly. She smiled at the three of them as if they had not just had the ugly exchange.

Her mom put down her things and gave Zelda a hug. Then she turned to Annie and Claire and said, “I don’t want you to get sick too. You girls should probably be getting home. I bet Zelda will be back at school by tomorrow. Just a bug going around.”

There was nothing else to do. Annie didn’t want to leave without fixing things between them but they couldn’t really talk while Zelda’s mom was there. It felt bad all around.

“I’ll walk you out,” Zelda offered, suddenly cheerful.

Claire and Annie looked at each other nervously and started toward the front door. They had nearly reached it when Zelda said, “Hey, do we have any homework in English?” as if it was just another day.

Annie wasn’t sure how to react and just said “no.” 

Claire reached for the door and turned to Zelda who had begun looking like herself again. “Let us know when you’re feeling like talking about what happened.”

“Talking about what? What do you mean?” Zelda looked genuinely perplexed. The color was back in her face and she was smiling a Zelda-like smile. Annie didn’t know what to think.

Claire took a long searching look into Zelda’s face and said, “Never mind” before turning down the walk. Annie followed.

When Annie turned back Zelda was waving and saying “Bye, see you tomorrow” as if nothing weird had happened.

Claire and Annie walked toward their street in silence for a bit before Claire said, “I don’t think that that thing is okay. We need to get it away from her.”

Annie agreed but wasn’t sure what to do.