(A:N// *raising from tombstone* I LIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!)

(Got the idea from the episode 'Three Dorks and a Demon' from My Babysitter's a Vampire! You can find it on YouTube in decent quality if you're curious!)

(I have translations in the comments. Forgive me if they're incorrect, I used Google Translate.)

Josh was startled by the sound of something loud being dropped onto the table in front of him, looking up to see JJ with a mischievous smile on his face. "JJ," Josh said with a cough as dust rose from the long, thin wooden box now on the table, giving it an odd look, as Simon and Vikk, who were at the kitchen table with him, did as well. "What is this?"

"Well, you know how we were going to cancel Sidemen Sunday tomorrow because the others couldn't make it? We don't have to now! Look what I found!" JJ swept the box back into his arms before turning I for them to see. It was adorned with a weird, swirling symbol on its front, and upon the three's silence, JJ let out a huff and continued. "I found it in a corner in the attic. It's a Ouija board! Not one of those crappy store ones either... This has gotta be a real one!"

At the sound of the word 'Ouija', there were mixed reactions springing up from around the table. Vikk's eyes widened as he scooted his chair back with a loud clatter. Josh looked surprised, but still raised a skeptical eyebrow. Simon merely scoffed, giving JJ what could only be summarized as a 'are you serious' look. "Seriously? You think that we can make a last minute about a fake Ouija board??? The fans won't believe it for a second after the 'ghost Harambe' incident..."

"Oh come on Simon!" JJ said in a frustrated tone. "Do you have any better ideas? It'll be fun!"

JJ looked to Josh for support, Simon giving him a small frown. He shrugged. "I don't think we should make a video, but, I mean, it's is nearly midnight, and it's not like we're doing anything anyways."

JJ pumped his fists while Simon sighed. "Well," Simon said with a small smile, "I don't see why not then." He then turned to Vikk, who looked concerned. "You in too, Vikk?"

"What?! Absolutely not!" He replied, and after hearing JJ stifle a laugh, he added, "I don't care whether it's real or not, but there's no way I'm having any nightmares tonight."

Josh snorted a laugh, and Vikk glared at him before he just let out a loud sigh, flinging up his arms before turning around and walking out of the kitchen. "That's it! I'm out! I'mma just going to go play some Fortnite and pretend that my friends aren't trying to commune with the dead."

The door slammed shut behind him, and there was a few moments of silence. Once they heard the sound of a door closing upstairs, the three of them burst into laughter. It took them a few moments to recover, and JJ was the first to speak up, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye before unlocking a clasp in the center of the box and opening it up, revealing the interior, and earning synchronized "Oooh"s from Josh and Simon.

The inside was simple, a large, black crystal covering the center of the board, with each corner of the board painted a dark red. There were two pieces of folded, yellowing paper shoved to the side, which Simon grabbed gingerly.

He opened the first one up, reading it out loud. "Let's see, 'What to do if a spirit escapes its realm'. Well, we won't need that one," he said with a laugh of disbelief, folding it back up and putting it back onto the table before opening the other. "Okay, here we go, 'How to commune with the spirits of the departed. First, each of the hosts, no more than four, need to place one hand on each corner of the board..."

Simon looked up and put on hand on the corner closest to him, looking at Josh and JJ to do the same. Josh grabbed a corner of his own, while JJ covered the two others. Once all corners were covered, the crystal seemed to spark to life, a purple glow spreading from its center to cast a pale light on the three's faces. ("This is so sick!" Josh heard JJ mumble.)

"Okay, 'It is imperative that at no costs' ooh, that part's in bold, 'that any hands leave the board before the spirit is dismissed with the word 'vale'. Once the spirit says goodbye. It is okay to remove your hands. It is also important to know the two types of spirits. The crystal's words will be blue if the spirit is friendly. Red words will appear if it is violent. Violent spirits can also appear blue, so it is important to dismiss it before taking your hands off of the board. Under no circumstances do you ask if the spirit is evil. When you are ready to summon the spirit, say the words 'Qui vocat te-'"

Simon stopped mid-sentence as the crystal began to swirl with white light, Simon gasping as Josh watched with wide eyes. A moment later, the glow subsided and was replaced with a moody purple, blue words appearing on its surface, reading "Hello."

Simon whistled, impressed. "Well, this is bare weird. I think we're supposed to ask questions now?"

Josh opened his mouth to ask a question, but was interrupted by JJ, who busted out with "Hey ghost man, or chick," he emphasized, "Do you think I'm hot?"

Josh rolled his eyes as Simon giggled, because of course that would be what else would he ask? That's JJ philosophy for you. When faced with an impossible phenomenon, the only question you should have is whether not you're hot.

The only only laughed harder when the words "No. Sorry." appeared on the crystal.

JJ huffed, before practically shouting, "All right, all right, vale, vale!"

Josh and Simon's laughter finally began to subside by the time the words "Goodbye." disappeared from the crystal. "Come on, man!" Simon wheezed, still breathless from laughter, "It's not fair that you're the only one who gets to ask a question!"

"Just summon another one!" JJ retorted, moving to move his arms before remembering that they were on the board.

"Qui vocat te!" Josh repeated excitedly, the three huddling closer to the board as the crystal glowed again, but they frowned when no words appeared on the crystal. Simon reached his free hand forward and tapped on the crystal, flinching back when a red spark jumped off of the board.

Josh and Simon shared uneasy glances, but it went unnoticed by JJ, who asked the new spirit "Is anyone there?"

The crystal took a few moments to respond, but the words (a gentle blue) appeared on the surface, saying "Release me." After the words appeared, a strange shadow began to bubble from inside of the crystal, sending shivers of dread down Josh's back.

"Umm..." Josh hummed uneasily, Simon and JJ wearing scared looks on their faces. "How about no?"

Whatever spirit was communing with them was seeming to get angry, the words "RELEASE ME" flickering on and off of the board, the blue words occasionally appearing as red amongst the madness.

Josh was about to open his mouth when the lights in the room suddenly went dark, and he heard a loud scream from JJ in front of him. Not even a second later, the kitchen was washed in an ominous red light emitted from the crystal, highlighting each Sideman's scared face.

Simon and JJ's phones, which had been lying on the table, turned themselves on and flashed a series of strange red symbols that none of them recognized, matching the frenzied words of the spirit in the crystal. The board was shaking and quaking on the table, and they struggled to keep their hands on their corners.

A wind, from where they didn't know, began to gust around them, Josh having to squint against the strong buffeting on his face.

That's when it all went to shit.

The sudden wind had blown the two instructions into the air, and Simon yelled in surprise, and without thinking, took his hand off of the board to catch the papers before they flew away, his fist clenching around them with a victorious smirk, before devolving into a look of shocked realization at what he had done.

"Simon!" Josh screamed, the board quaking even harder as the crystal glowed to an almost blinding intensity. "No!"

Simon went to slap his hand back on his corner, but it was too late, and the wind hit them hard in their chests, sending all of them toppling to the floor, JJ and Josh's hands torn forcefully from the board, the red light disappearing from the board as the kitchen lights flickered on and off with an almost seizure inducing frequency.

Josh quickly pushed himself to his feet and whipped around just to see what appeared to be... something made out of darkness pull itself from out of the board, the flickering lights off-set by the ominous red glow from what he assumed was its eyes, as he heard a rasping voice seemingly echoing in his head.

"I. AM. FREE!"

Faster than Josh could see, the figure launched itself from the board and into the main hall, the flickering lights following it out there as the kitchen lights settled to remain on, the three Sidemen gasping on the floor with horrified looks on their faces.

Josh didn't hesitate to pull the others from the floor and look at Simon desperately. He didn't know where the demon went, but based on the flickering lights outside (from upstairs, he reckoned), it was still in the house. "Simon! The second set of instructions! We need them! NOW!"

Simon, looking mortified to what he had done, nodded and unfolded the crinkled paper in his hand, talking at a speed that was just barely comprehensible, while JJ pulled nervously at his own hair next to them.

"What to do if a spirit escapes from its realm: In the case that a violent spirit escapes from the crystal and the board, remain calm. The spirit cannot cause any harm to the hosts that welcomed it, and it will eventually be pulled back into the realm of the deceased by natural forces. However, if there are other non-host humans in the close vicinity, they are at extreme risk of being possessed by the spirit, and will become its vessel into the realm of the living-"

"Oh my fucking god!" Josh screamed, cutting Simon off, a look of horrible realization on his face. "Vessels?! Non-hosts?! Vikk is still in the fucking house!!!"

Simon gasped loudly, eyes shooting wide open as JJ's mouth hung open.

"You don't think that thing could've gotten him, do you?!" JJ said nervously, a panicked look on his face.

As if on cue, they heard a loud scream.

"Vikk!" Josh cried, and they ran out of the kitchen, making for the stairs and running up it as fast as they could (in a hall once again fully lit). They stopped in front of Vikk's room, and Josh gulped when he saw the flickering lights underneath the door, followed by a loud crash heard from inside, before the lights from inside went out completely. He felt two pairs of hands push him towards the door, and Josh turned his head to see Simon and JJ backing up slowly toward the stairs, giving him thumbs-up as an exasperated sigh escaped his lips.

Josh went to open the door, only for the door to slowly creep open before he could grab the doorknob. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as the light from the hallway leaked into the dark room, the only other source of light coming from what he assumed was Vikk's phone, thrown in one corner of the room and flashing with the same red symbols.

There was someone hunched over on the floor, his back arched and his chest heaving in and out as he drew long, ragged breaths, their hands digging into the floor.

"Vikk?" Josh asked, worry evident in his voice.

The figure froze, and his head whipped towards Josh, revealing a pair of manic, seemingly glowing, crimson eyes, the slitted pupils staring Josh down as their head cocked to the side, turning themselves towards the door.

"Oh, shit-!" Josh yelled, before the figure leaped at him from the door, and before Josh could even react, he was knocked outside of the room and pinned to the floor, his eyes screwing shut as his head hit hard against the floor, and he heard screams from Simon and JJ behind him.

He felt hot breath on his face, and when he opened his eyes, he was met with Vikk looming over him on all fours, his friend letting out an inhuman roar right in his face, revealing sharp fangs in his mouth as his blood red eyes burned unlike anything Josh has ever seen before. He felt pricks of pain in his shoulders where Vikk had him pinned down, feeling like claws curling into his skin.

He screams, loud enough so that the demon-possessed Vikk lets out a shriek of his own, leaping off of him and clapping his hands (oh shit those were claws) over his ears. Josh takes the opportunity to scramble to his feet and pelt towards the stairs, grabbing the wrists of his horrified friends and yanking them down the stairs. He could hear Vikk running after them, but they had enough space between them to run into the kitchen and slam the door shut behind them, leaning against the door to keep it closed as Vikk rammed into the door, letting out furious roars as he rammed again and again.

It was a few attempts before the demon stopped trying to break in. The Sidemen stood still for moment, the only sounds being their hard breathing and the beast running back up the stairs.

"Vikk..." Simon whimpered weakly. "I can't believe this happened because of me."

"Because of you?" JJ said with a grim laugh. "Playing with the Ouija board was my fucking idea."

Simon was about to retort when he was cut off by a glare from Josh. "Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere. Simon, do you still have the instructions?"

Simon nodded, pulling the instructions out and continuing to read, Josh listening intently while JJ cracked the kitchen door slightly open, keeping a look out.

"'If a spirit finds a vessel, you must act quickly. The form of the vessel will slowly begin to shift to fit the needs of its spirit, until they lose all of their self completely.'"

Josh nodded, "That makes sense. Vikk had claws, and his eyes had changed colors, too."

"'It is up to the hosts to return the spirit back to its realm. It is best to do this as fast as possible. You must draw it to where it is in close proximity of the board, and chant the words 'ad quos eieci spiritus est' when it is close to return it to its realm. This will require help from the vessel. Despite being possessed, the vessel is still very much aware of what is going on around them.' Oh, I'm so sorry Vikk, 'You need to call out the vessel's spirit through its possessor, enough to make the violent spirit lose enough control for you to effectively execute the spell. Good luck.' That's all that it says..."

"So, we need to lure Vikk out and knock some sense into him?" JJ asked, giving them a side glance. "Sounds easy enough. But how will we- VIKK, NO!"

There was a loud crashing sound from the hall, and Simon and Josh joined JJ at peering outside of the door. They saw a gaming chair in the middle of the floor, broken into bits, presumably thrown from the top floor... from JJ's room.

"OI!" JJ screamed, hearing a deep, echoing laugh from upstairs. "LEAVE MY FUCKING STUFF ALONE!"

There were a few moments of silence.

A white Xbox crashed into the floor with a loud crack, splintering into pieces that slid pathetically on the floor.

"OKAY," JJ seethed, backing away from the door, his face so red that Josh half-expected steam to start bellowing out of his ears. "IT'S TIME TO SEND THIS THING BACK TO THE HELL IT CAME FROM!"

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A few minutes later, they were in position to attack, lying in wait for the creature to wander into the kitchen, the three of them crouched behind the kitchen counter, JJ clutching the board to his chest.

"Are we ready?" Simon asked. They weren't exactly sure how to lure out the creature, but they had an idea of what they could do. They looked up on Josh's phone (the only one not flooded with symbols) the meaning of the foreign words in the instructions, and upon discovering that it was Latin, they devised a plan to get the demon's attention.

Once Josh nodded, Simon looked down at Josh's phone, and read in a dramatic voice as loud as he could muster, "Stultus daemonium! An ut tu quoque vix faciem nos?!"

There was instantly a response, and they heard a furious roar, followed by pounding steps descending the stairs.

"Here he comes!" Simon hissed, seconds before their possessed friend slunk into the kitchen, his head whipping around in search for who dared to taunt him.

Josh peeked out from the side of the counter, and caught a good look at Vikk. He felt a twisting feeling in his gut. He had changed more since he had attacked Josh. His claws were sharper, and the whites of his eyes had turned into a deep black. His ears were pointed some, and there were ridges visible from under his shirt that looked like they could be spines starting to grow out of his back. The skin past his elbows were turning a sickly, almost black gray, matching the dark markings under his eyes. As he turned his head, Josh could see a thin, forked tongue flicker out of his mouth.

Feeling sick to his stomach, he raised himself from the floor and walked out from his cover, the demon's head whipping towards him. A roar escaped their friend's mouth as JJ emerged too, holding the board open towards the demon, the crystal inside still glowing a faint red.

"Vikk," Josh said with a forced calm tone, "We need you right now. If you can hear us, we need you to fight back so we can free you."

The demon visibly flinched, and Josh realized that Vikk, in there somewhere, must've heard him, and was trying to fight back. Josh felt urged to grab some kind of weapon and attack him, to help knock the demon senseless, but he thought back to what Simon said about Vikk being able to feel everything, and he hesitated.

Vikk must've noticed the hesitation, and with a loud cry, he leapt at Josh, claws outstretched. Seeing it coming, Josh jumped away with a yelp, the demon crashing hard into the cabinet next to him. "Vikk!" Josh tried, returning to trying to bring him to his senses, "Come on! We really need you to not kill us right now!"

This time, the demon flinched harder; his eye's screwing shut for a moment, before leaping at him again. Josh stepped away a second too late, and the claws nicked his cheek, leaving thin trails of blood welling up on his face.

"Come on, man!" Simon yelled, jumping up from his hiding spot to help. "We know you're still in there! Don't let this thing control you!"

"Yeah! I bet we won't' taste too good either if you eat us!" JJ quipped, trying to contribute too.

The demon screamed, a hand coming up too its head. They were so close! Josh scowled, and swore silent apologies to Vikk before he ran forward with a cry and crashed into his friend, sending them both to the ground. Josh had Vikk pinned to the floor this time, wincing at the pain from his still recovering shoulders.

The demon squealed and hissed as he scrabbled uselessly at Josh's arms, and while Josh bit back whimpers of pain, he refused to let up. The demon's head was thrashing around, clearly struggling to keep its hold on Vikk's mind.

"Simon!" Josh screamed, "Now!"

Without hesitation, JJ tilted the board towards the demon as Simon chanted at the top of his lungs, "Ad quos eieci spiritus est!!!"

With one last cry from the demon, the crystal began to glow a blinding white, and Josh raised an arm to protect his arms from it. When it subsided, the board was once again dormant, the crystal devoid of any glow. Josh looked down to Vikk underneath him, and sighed in relief to see that he had returned to normal, looking as if nothing had ever happened to him.

Josh let himself fall sideways on the floor, taking deep, exhausted breaths. "Finally. It's over."

Simon laughed dryly, folding up the instructions and sticking them into his pocket. "You know, he's going to freaking kill us when he wakes up."

Josh winced, his wounds aching on his skin. "Yeah. Granted, we kind of deserve it-"

He was interrupted by a loud crash, and jumping at the sound, he and Simon looked to see the board thrown halfway across the room, broken and lying among the shattered shards of the crystal. They looked up at JJ with wide eyes, who only shrugged.

"Hey, I don't want to be the one who gets possessed by ghost Harambe."          

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