“Why is it so dark in here? I can’t even see you Nikita.” Seema said.

“I know. It was a bad idea of play Ouija board in complete darkness. Now, you can’t even see what the spirits are telling us.” Nikita grumbled.

“And whose idea was that?” Seema asked. “If it weren’t for you, then we would have spent our Friday night with Netflix and cheap popcorn.”

“Karan ditched us because of the same reason.” Nikita said. “He often complained that you only watched gossip girls on Netflix. That was the only reason why I suggested this spirit calling thing. But Karan was acting like an asshole.”

“That he is.” Seema agreed. “It’s been more than twenty minutes in this dark room, don’t you think we should head back or at least switch on the lights?”

“Fine.” Nikita said. “Hey, why is the light not turning on? Do you think, the bulbs have gone bad?”

“I don’t know.” Seema said. “They were old. Try the other switches.”

“Is it only me or do you feel very cold all of a sudden?” Nikita asked. “And to our fate, none of these switches are turning on the light!”

“God, you are such a drama queen!” Seema said. “Weren’t you the one who told spirits are out of our league? May be the power has gone.”

“Black out just when we started playing this?” Nikita asked. “Don’t you feel like it’s a bad omen?”

“Just shut up, Nikki.” Seema grumbled. “I didn’t give up my gossip girls for your show now. Just use your mobile torch. Mine is in the hall.”

“Oh, my God!” Nikita muttered. “I can’t find it. Though we were in here like twenty minutes, my eyes have still not adjusted to the dark. I can see nothing.”

“Urgh!” Seema sighed. “Fine, I’ll open the door and we can go out.”

“Okay but be careful.” Nikita said. “You were making fun of this sacred game when you came into the room.”

“Okay, okay.” Seema consoled. “Nikki, did you lock the doors when we came in?”

“No.” Nikita whispered. “I’m not liking this at all, Seema.”

“Hey, stop pulling my hair.” Seema said. “You have made me suffer so much already.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Nikita almost shouted. “Just leave my hand alone. Don’t start hitting me for things I didn’t do.”

“I am not hitting you.” Seema exclaimed. “I can hardly grasp anything here. Let alone to hit you.”

“Seema?” Nikita drawled.

“What is it now?” Seema’s voice was dejected. “Don’t tell me we should be shouting out for help at twelve on a Friday night. All of them would have gone to the pubs to party.”

“I am not able to reach you and you are not able to reach me.” Nikita stated the obvious. “And you say, the neighbours are away. Do you think… may be…”

“No, no.” Seema said urgently. “Don’t you dare tell her name. That’s only your fear talking.”

“But, she completed our trio.” Nikita said uncertainly. “And Ouija was the last game we played together.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t want to play now.” Seema scolded. “Too many memories to deal with. Well, it’s all just a freaking coincidence.”

“Something cold touched me! Very cold!” Nikita screamed. “I’m scared. Please Vanita, I’m sorry. Just let me go!”

“It touched me too!” Seema said. “Oh, my God! Sri guru charana sarojara je…”

“Who the fuck is laughing like that?” Nikita interrupted Seema’s scared mantras. “It seems so familiar.”

“Did you hear matchsticks?” Seema asked. “I think she wants to burn us alive!”

“Please spare us!”

“I can’t see the light from the matchstick! I can’t see!” Seema said. “Am I going blind?”

“I’ve closed my eyes.” Nikita declared. “I don’t think my heart is strong enough to see her again, especially after five weeks of her burial.”

“I can hear that booming laugh again.” Seema whispered. “I’m trying to be brave, but those laughs are driving me crazy.”

“Open your eyes you rat faced mortals!” A third voice came.

“Karan! Is that you!” Seema exclaimed.

“You bastard!” Nikita angrily said. “I’m going to kill you!”

“When did you get in?” Seema asked. “The door is locked!”

“It was so much fun!” Karan said. “I thought I would skip your Friday night to go out with my girlfriend.”

“You scared us, you idiot!” Nikita said.

“Don’t hit me, you will only make the matchstick fall out of my hand.” Karan warned. “Anyway, my girlfriend had got another errand to run, so I came here.”

“She’s not your girlfriend.” Seema said. “You only went on one date.”

“If she is, then it’s the sixth one in this month.” Nikita noted. “I can’t believe we are friends with a womanizer!”

“Anyway,” Karan said. “I saw you playing Ouija with so much concentration that you didn’t notice me coming in. Well, I hadn’t had my share of fun in a long time.”

“Don’t look so happy.” Seema said. “Before that matchstick burns your hand, switch on the lights.”

“You, chanting The Hanuman Chalisa was worth everything.” Karan laughed. “When you say you are not scared of anything, it came to me like a surprise.”

“Look, he wasted another matchstick with his stupid talks.” Nikita noted. “Just switch on the lights, Karan. It’s late already.”

“Okay, okay.” Karan said. “I turned off the main MCB when I came in. Since you were already in dark, you didn’t notice it.”

“We can all have our happy talks later, Karan.” Seema muttered. “I want to see some light now.”

“Hey, the door’s jammed.” Karan said.

“It’s not time to make jokes and spook us.” Nikita said. “You have already achieved that. Just get the damned door open.”

“Let me try.” Seema volunteered. “Meanwhile, takedown another matchstick.”

“This is the last one, Seema.” Karan said. “So, make it worth it.”

“It seems like it’s locked from outside.” Seema muttered. “I tried like three times.”

“You guys are hopeless. I’ll try.” Nikita said. “Shit! The key fell down.”

“Damn it, Nikki!” Karan roared. “This is the last matchstick. You want to waste it in searching the key or you want to open the door?”

“Why did you have to lock the door in the first place, genius?” Nikita flared.

“Don’t fight guys.” Seema interfered. “With the last matchstick gone, we are in the pitch-dark blackness again.”

“Karan’s a macho man. Maybe he should break the door down.” Nikita suggested.

“No one is breaking anything.” Seema said. “My landlord is going to kill me if he knows about it.”

“Are you guys feeling cold?” Karan asked.

“And smelling something rotten?” Nikita added.

“Are you guys taking turns to scare me?” Seema asked. “Because, you are winning. Please stop it now. I’m starting to hate the darkness and it’s creeping me out. I want to see some light now.”

“Do you hear the small chuckles?” Karan asked. “Just how… you know, Vanita used to?”

“Shut up, Karan.” Nikita said. “How can it be her? She’s dead!”

“You are just hallucinating, because she was your girlfriend.” Seema said softly.

“I’m not crazy, okay?” Karan said. “She was your friend too! I know she’s dead and I was there at the burial till the last rites were performed on her. But it’s just that… the giggles seemed familiar. Just like she used to.”

“The chilly feeling is increasing.” Nikita said.

“I can feel goose-bumps on me.” Seema sniffed. “Do you think it’s really her?”

“Stop it you guys.” Karan said. “You are acting as if you killed her.”

“But we didn’t do anything while she was on the road, having met with the accident.” Nikita confessed. “We tended to those strangers than her.”

“It was because she didn’t have a scratch on her body.” Karan defended. “She died because she had a heart attack. That was it. Come on, Seema. Don’t cry.”

“We killed her.” Seema admitted. “And she has come back from the dead to take us with her. After all, didn’t we do everything together?”

“Oh! I felt something terribly cold go down my spine.” Nikita exclaimed. “Someone’s hand is holding mine and they are too cold.”

“Not me.” Karan said. “My hands are sweating profusely. You will know if I held it.”

“I’m not holding any hands, Nikki.” Seema said.

“I’ve missed you. You never came to visit me.”

“Who the hell was that?” all said in unison.

“Did it seem like Vanita’s voice?” Seema asked.

“Don’t cry, Nikki.” Karan consoled. “She’s not coming back, okay?”

“My hand hurts, like someone twisted it!” Nikita said. “Oh, it pains so much.”

“I feel something cold on my cheeks, like someone is kissing me.” Karan gulped. “I know it is not you girls.”

“Then, what… what are you saying?” Seema asked.

“A small light is coming over, look!” Nikita interjected.

“Why is the light tracing the outline of the Ouija board game?” Karan asked.

“Let’s look at what it is tracing.” Seema suggested.

“Vanita is not dead. She is with you.”