The Devil's Playground

It was a chilly, bright, moonlit night. I did not want to be out tonight, but when Gloria, the girl you have secretly loved for years, begs you to come, you could not say no. We trekked through the woods on the same beaten path that we have always used. Although we have been through this trail a million times, there was something eerie about it tonight. A fog started to settle in, and even though the night was bright, the darkness felt darker beyond what you can see.

Gloria, Philip, Ricky, and I have been friends since we were toddlers. We walked this path every day to an abandoned plantation, in which we have made ours. Axel and Emilio are the newest members of our little group; we met them in middle schools when their families moved into the neighborhood. As part of a tradition, we made our way to the plantation the weekend before school started and spent the night as an end-of-summer hoorah.

Philip and Axel lead the way, followed by Ricky, Emilio, Gloria, and I took up the rear. The closer we were to the plantation, an uneasy feeling kept tugging at me. My chest started to feel heavy, and suddenly I felt a hand brush against my back. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned, but there was no one there. I scanned the woods behind us, but there was nothing, just stillness.

"Christina, you okay?" Gloria grabbed my arm, making me jump.

"Yeah, I thought I heard something." Gloria hung onto my arm as we continued walking, catching up to the boys.

"Tonight, seems creepier than usual, huh?" Gloria leaned her head against my shoulder. I hoped she could not tell how fast my heart was beating. Since freshman year, I knew that Gloria was the one, but I did not want to ruin our friendship, and she has never mentioned being attracted to girls.

"Aye, are you two lovebirds now?" Axel teased us as he waited for us to reach him.

"Oh, you'd love that girl-on-girl action, huh? But then that would mean you would have no chance with Christina. But you're in luck because it's not like that with Christina and me." Gloria let go of me to punch Axel in the stomach and walked past him.

"I guess you got your answer. Sorry." Axel threw his arm over my shoulders. He and Philip were the only ones who knew how I felt about Gloria. We finally reached the old plantation. The six of us stood before the run-down mansion, and we felt the temperature drop tremendously. We made our way inside the giant living room and dropped our things in front of the fireplace. You could tell, in its prime, the mansion was a fantastic work of art. I always felt the mansion was majestic.

Emilio and Ricky got the fire going, and Philip set up the small generator to plug in our electronics. Gloria and Axel laid out the sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows. I went down the hallway to the dining room to get our treasure box. Throughout the years, we kept our favorite games, books, and memories in this box. Everyone was gathered around the fireplace when I came back to the living room. We all started going through pictures and reminisced about past summers.

"I don't remember this." Ricky pulled out an antique Ouija board.

"I don't either; I don't think any of us put this here." Axel grabbed the board from Ricky and placed it in the middle of us.

"You guys down to play?" Emilio placed his hand on the planchette with a sly smile on his face. We all took a moment, and one by one, they all put their hands on the planchette and waited for me to place mine.

"I'm not sure about this, guys. I don't have a good feeling." I wrapped my blanket around myself right as a cold breeze rolled through the room. Suddenly, the room temperature dropped, and the darkness surrounding us grew menacingly darker.

"C'mon Christina; it's just a little game. I won't do it unless you do." Gloria motioned for me to place my hand next to hers.

"Fine. But for the record, I do not think this is a good idea, just saying." I sighed and reluctantly placed my hand on the planchette. We moved the planchette in three circles around the board.

"Hello, is anyone there?" We all asked in perfect unison. A moment passed, and we looked at each other before the planchette pointed to 'yes' on the board. A little spooked, we all let go of the planchette, and we felt the house shake slightly. The fire grew dimmer, making the room even darker and the board menacing. The planchette started to move on its own so fast that we could not make out what it was saying. We all stood up and grabbed one another. The shaking grew stronger like an earthquake. Emilio grabbed the board and threw it in the fire. As if we had angered some entity, the house grumbled, the windows blew open, putting out the fire, and somewhere in the mansion was a loud crash like thunder.

It was pitch dark and dead silent when the mansion finally settled down. Philip made his way to restart the fire. We all got up and gathered again around the fire. I looked around the room, and the house felt ominous. I noticed everyone was staring at a little black book in the middle of the room.

"You all see that, right?" Axel asked shakingly, pointing at the book.

"Aye, where's Gloria?" Ricky asked, looking around the room. Everyone started to panic a little bit, calling out for her. Suddenly, the little black book flew open; the pages flipped back and forth. Philip got up and grabbed the book.

"Guys, HELP!!!" Philip read the open page out loud and passed it around to everyone. "Guys, please help. I do not know what is going on. Hello? Please, it is dark here, and it is cold. Please, anybody, help me." Philip kept reading as the words appeared and disappeared on the pages.

"Do you guys think it's Gloria?” I grabbed the book, and the pages started to fill with some drawing. The boys hovered over my shoulders to watch.

"Is this for real? I gotta get outta here." Emilio stepped back and started packing up his stuff. "I'm out."

"What about Gloria? We're not gonna leave her, wherever she is!" I grabbed Emilio by his collar. "We just need to get it together and figure this out; we are not leaving her!" Letting go of his collar, I turned my attention back to the book.

"It looks like some kind of blueprint or map of the mansion. Look, here we are." Philip pointed to five letters in the space labeled 'living room.' I flipped to a page titled 'The Other Side,' and in the middle of the page was the letter 'G.'

"Do you think that's Gloria?" Axel pointed to the 'G.'

"It might be. Question is, how do we get to this other side?" Ricky started pacing around the room.

"Guys? Please help. There's a giant door, but I can't get it open. Please hurry. I don't think I'm alone here." The page filled with Gloria's cries for help. As Ricky continued to pace around, I noticed his letter would move around in the book.

"Aye, look, this map is like the one in that wizard movie. If we could figure out how we can follow it to this other side, then maybe we could find the room Gloria is in." I showed the boys the book. They all nodded in a silent agreement to venture out and look for a way to Gloria. We all looked for anything we could use as a weapon before venturing out to the rest of the mansion. Using the book as our guide, we made our way through the house and down to the cellar.

The cellar was so dark that we could barely see anything with our flashlights. Based on the book, we were getting closer to the room Gloria was in. The air surrounding us felt heavier, making it a little hard to breathe, and the temperature was unusually warm. We started hearing faint whispers surrounding us in some foreign language. Picking up our pace, we rushed towards the giant door that Gloria had mentioned. The door was a deep, blood-red color with intricate carvings. The five of us pushed as hard as we could to get it open. The house started shaking again like before, and there was a presence with us, one that felt evil. We kept pushing the door as hard as we could when it finally gave way. We all fell forward into the other side where Gloria stood before us. We quickly got up and gathered in a quick group hug.

"C'mon, we gotta get outta here. Now!!" Philip motioned for everyone to start running. He led the way using the book to get us out. I grabbed Gloria by the hand and started running. The house began to crumble around us as we ran as fast as we could. We got upstairs to the foyer when I realized that Emilio was missing.

"You've got to be kidding me. Where's Emilio? He was just right behind us, wasn't he?" I tried to catch my breath. I looked over at Gloria, and she was pale, bruised, and scarred. She had claw marks all over her.

"I don't know, but we got to go! We can look for him tomorrow in the morning or something. I can't be here anymore!" Gloria let go of my hand and started towards the front door. Everyone followed when she suddenly stopped just before the door swung open. Emilio stood just outside the doorframe with a devilish smile across his face and a black duffel bag at his feet.

"Sorry to do this to you guys, but the devil pays well, $20k to play with your souls. I couldn't resist, have fun at the devil's playground." He grabbed the duffel bag, pulled out a stack of cash, and waved goodbye with it before turning away to leave. The door behind him closed shut and sealed itself. We tried to pry it open, but it was no use. We tried the other doors and windows, but there was no way out. We gathered back in the living room, scared and out of breath.

"There's no way ou----" something grabbed Axel and pulled him into the darkness. His screams echoed throughout the house. Before I knew it, this thing snatched Philip and then Ricky. Gloria and I backed ourselves against the fireplace. The boys' screams pierced through the air until the house became dead silent.

"Christina, we opened a door we shouldn't have. We should've listened to yo----." I grabbed onto Gloria as she was being dragged away from me. I held onto her for dear life, but I could feel her slipping away. "Say goodbye," Gloria whispered right before getting swept away into the darkness. I sat against the fireplace, crying while I waited for my fate when I noticed in the ashes the antique Ouija board. I grabbed the board and searched for the planchette as I felt something wrap around my legs. I found the planchette, and as fast I could, I moved it in three circles.

"Goodbye."

ONE WEEK LATER

It was the first day of school, a sunny autumn day with a cool breeze. The town was still mourning the loss of the neighborhood kids, whose bodies were never recovered. I walked into my first period and locked eyes with Emilio immediately. I took my seat behind him and whispered in his ear, "It's your turn to play."