Carolyn and I went out again tonight, and when I took her home, she seemed frightened and asked me to come in. She mentioned that the house is so gloomy… and “that poor girl at the Blue Whale.” That was my cue to leave before we got too deep into that subject. I told her I should really be getting back to town, but she wanted me to stay until someone else came home.
She told me she was sure the animal that killed the girl was the same one that attacked her mother. (I didn’t attack her mother; the sight of Amy had stopped me.) I stopped paying attention, looking out the window, and she caught me. She said I was difficult to figure out and I replied, “Don’t even try.” She asked if I was challenging her, then said something about being both rude and mysterious.
Carolyn accused me of not wanting anyone to know me and asked me why. Saved again, this time by Mrs. Stoddard, who entered and asked if Julia Hoffman was there. Then a robust man entered and introduced himself to me as Timothy Stokes. He said he needed my help… that it was important another man was present in case the spirit wished to speak through him. What was he talking about?!?
Stokes continued as if this was a normal, everyday conversation and he was explaining something to me that I should already know. He told me a spirit often prefers to speak through one of its own sex when it requires a voice. He asked me if I minded and I replied that if I knew what was going on, I might not mind.
He said he intended to hold a séance. I froze. Carolyn spoke my name. I emphatically said, “No,” and she asked if I was afraid. I told her, no. I just don’t believe in all that stuff. As Carolyn has a disturbing knack for doing, she persisted, saying that I must stay and learn just as they all have. Stokes elaborated that I was needed to help stop Miss Winters from killing herself… that she would try again unless Jeff Clark forbade it.
Carolyn insisted I stay and said she was afraid the first time she participated in a séance, too. I told her I was not afraid, but she asked why I was so nervous then. I replied that I didn’t know. There’s just something about the whole business I didn’t like. I didn’t fully understand the implications, but I felt like my secret might be threatened.
Before I knew it, I was whisked into the drawing room and was apparently participating in a séance! Stokes asked me to make sure the windows were securely closed. If one was loose and blew open, it might be mistaken for a psychic manifestation. He then sat us around the table and instructed us to place our hands on the table, fingers touching. He emphasized the importance that contact not be broken no matter what happened.
Soon, he was summoning Jeff Clark. Then, before long, he said there was a presence in the room. Mrs. Stoddard jumped and said she felt a woman’s hand turn her head. Then a voice spoke from Carolyn. “You must stop him. He must not come back. He must stay where he is.” This voice identified itself as coming from a woman named Magda.
This was all too much for me. I stood up and grabbed Carolyn, holding her close. The room returned to normal, and Vicki ran out, followed by Mrs. Stoddard. Stokes said he would very much like to find out what I did that.
After everyone left, Caroline confronted me, asking why I stopped the séance. I told her I was afraid for her and didn’t like what was happening to her. She acknowledged that I was frightened but insisted it was because of something else, and she was trying to find out what.
When I told her I’d level with her and that I didn’t know why I stopped the séance… that something came over me and I felt I had to do it… she said she didn’t understand. This woman just will not stop! I didn’t understand, either… at least, that’s what I told her.
Carolyn then switched topics to the woman we supposedly contacted and who she could have been. She asked if I’d ever heard of anyone called Magda. Why would she think I had? I asked if we had to talk about it and suggested we talk about something else.
Then she jerked. “She’s still here. The woman. The one who contacted us during the séance. She’s still in this room.” Good grief! She said not to tell her it was her imagination. I asked how she knew, and she said she could sense it. When I told her to stop it, she accused me of being frightened.
As I must have done at least twice before, I told her I wasn’t frightened; I just didn’t like all this nonsense. Carolyn then asked me what she was saying during the séance. I told her it was some ridiculous something about a curse. Now she was getting too close. “Why would that have upset you so?” I told her… again… I was not upset. She asked if it could possibly have anything to do with me.
I told her I didn’t believe this and that now she was really going overboard. “Am I?” she asked. At wit’s end I asked her to please stop talking about all this insanity. It doesn’t mean anything… anything at all. As she was finally saying good night, I told her I’d come by tomorrow to see Amy. I passed Roger Collins on my way out the door.
Classic Horrors Club 
Leave a comment