Room 224

The planchette moves to 'No.'

"You're saying your name isn't Frank?" Jessica asks.

The planchette moves to Yes.'

"Now you're saying your name is Frank?" Jessica asks.

"Are you messing with us?" Rebecca asks.

"Shh, don't antagonize the spirit," Jessica says.

To me, she says, "Okay, Frank? With your permission, I would like to ask you more questions. Do you consent to this?"

Though I am still not sure how or why, the planchette moves to 'Yes.'

"Are you responsible for making Rebecca—?"

She glances uneasily at her friend.

"For making Rebecca the way she's been since she got here?"

There is so much I want to say other than 'yes' or 'no.' Unfortunately, the planchette will only spell my response one slow letter at a time.

"Do you bear us ill will, Frank?" Jessica asks.

I notice that shift in the air again. It's right beside me. Now I am sure I don't like it.

Something is not right.

I return my attention to the board. The planchette remains still.

"Frank? Are you there?"

The planchette moves again—but not to yes or no.

"'A,' Jessica calls out. 'Q.'"

It keeps moving.

"'U.' 'A.'"

"What does 'Aqua' mean?" Rebecca asks.

"Something to do with water?" Jessica replies.

That wasn't me. I've no clue what water has to do with anything.

But now the planchette moves again.

"B. U. M. B. L. E," Jessica reads.

I erupt in panic.

"B.E.E. Bumblebee?" Jessica says.

"Bees and water?" Rebecca says.

That's not me, you two! It's not me!

"It's moving again," Rebecca says.

The room around me changes color—not to green, but to a dull red.

The planchette spells out 'seven.' Then 'ice cream,' then 'monkeys,' then 'clouds.' The two women gape at each other, puzzled.

A mild wind blows through their hair.

"Is Frank mad?" Rebecca asks.

Jessica shakes her head. "I don't know. But we'd better shut this thing down."

A plume of red smoke rises from the board's center. Jessica tries to move the planchette toward 'Good Bye.'

The board rockets across the room, crashing into the refrigerator. The salt circle scatters.

"Crap pellets," Jessica says.

"Let's destroy the board!" Rebecca cries, as the wind gets faster, louder, and meaner.

"No, you never destroy the board!" Jessica yells over the wind.

"Then what'll we do? There's wind in here!" Rebecca says.

Jessica takes a deep breath. "Frank? We apologize if we have upset you. Please understand that we bear you no ill will or discontent."

Drawers pop open. Rebecca's clothes jump out like splashing water.

The sink turns itself on. The fridge bangs open and shut. The balcony door slides open and closed, slow at first, then faster and faster.

Jessica and Rebecca huddle together. "Frank, please," Jessica says.

The shimmer in the reddened air beside me takes shape. It becomes something unspeakable, with yellow, almost almond shapes for eyes. It opens a mouth that reveals a void of black.

A thought occurs to me then, with a core of panic inside of it, but also determination.

Alright, you piece of shit.

The red demon-thing turns its attention to me.

This is my room. This is my home. There's only one spirit allowed in here.

The thing roars a hideous, supernatural obscenity at me.

Well. Fuck you too, then.

Rebecca and Jessica back against a wall as objects fly, drawers slam, and appliances turn themselves on and off.

Now that I have the thing's attention, I wonder how to deal with it. I have never had to 'deal' with anything as a ghost, especially this.

The thing glares at me with something beyond pure hatred. There is a possibility, I realize, that it could hurt me just as much as the women.

I have to make a decision. It has to be soon.

I charge the thing, flying fast. The thing gets larger and larger from my point of view until all I see is red.

An aura of lime green spreads from us at intense speed. The room turns from red to yellow, shifting to green at uneven intervals. It's as if the colors are battling for dominance over the room.

Objects continue to move, and fly around, and bang. All the chaos spins in a cyclone. Whether it's just me that's doing the spinning, or the wind in the room has turned into a hurricane, I can't say for certain.

The demon thing roars its abysmal curse again, though I detect less bravado from the lower layers of Hell and more—fear?

I don't know what it is, where it came from, or how Jessica called it.

But if it takes everything left of me to do it, I will destroy it.

The thing hisses.

Oh, yes. You heard what I said.

Meanwhile, as the colors struggle between red, green, and yellow, Jessica and Rebecca gaze into one another's eyes instead. Against a backdrop of colors cycling through one another at a faster and faster pace, their mouths swallow one another as their tongues wrestle.

Rebecca's shirt and bra fly away. She pulls on Jessica's top with such force she rips it open, spilling out freckled tits into the chaos.

She sucks hard on Jessica's neck as she squeezes her tits. Jessica moans, reaching down to fumble with Rebecca's pants. After a few seconds of failure there, they kiss with renewed passion, holding onto one another as they half-walk, half-stumble over to the bed.

They change places several times during this dance. Rebecca is in front, and then Jessica. When they reach the bed, Jessica shoves her onto it and jumps on her.

A tortured banshee noise draws my attention from the show.

Somehow, I forgot about him.

He's not so much a demonic face now as a cloud of crimson smoke with an abstract face in the middle. I sense that he is still dangerous, though.

I charge at him again. There's another terrible sound as the smoke scatters in all directions.

The world goes dark for a few seconds. In the blackness, I hear a wail that's not quite as awful as the monster-demon-thing's noises.

My vision returns. Rebecca and Jessica have lost all their clothing. A writhing, gasping Rebecca hangs halfway off the bed, two speckled legs on either side of her head, with Jessica's red hair bunched in her hand.

The redness in the room gives way to green as Rebecca growls, stomach quivering from an intense orgasm.

My vision fades. When it returns, Jessica's back is against a wall of throw pillows. Rebecca slides her index and middle fingers in and out of the redhead's pussy.

"Mm, fuck," Jessica says.

"Yeah?" Rebecca says. "Yeah, you like that?"

"Faster. Harder," Jessica says.

The room disappears a third time.

Jessica and Rebecca lie on top of one another, facing opposite directions. They let out little moans and slurps, their mouths filled with soaked pussy.

The room leaves me a fourth time.

They are no longer on the bed—which is in bad shape, I should add. I hear a pleasured yelp behind the bathroom door.

"Yeah, you can't get enough, can you?" Rebecca says from behind the door.

Another yelp.

"I'm just gonna have to bring it all out of you, huh?"

"Oh yeah, well what about you?" Jessica says. "Yeah, that's right."

"Oh. Ohh, Jessica, mm."

"Maybe it's your turn to get it, you slut," Jessica says.

Maybe I ought to take a look. After all, I did save them from a fowl creature they brought here by themselves, didn't I?

I move toward the bathroom door.

The room fades in and out.

I'm almost there. A few more feet and I will be able to pass through.

The room fades out, longer.

Closing in...

THURSDAY.

Blackness.

The blackness rolls away, revealing the room. It's the same room I've called mine for so long, albeit in total disarray.

Memories come back to me: the board, the red demon-thing, and the shifting colors.

Two naked bodies clutch one another in the bed. The sheets are wadded up and twisted on the level of a natural disaster.

I decide I ought to move to get a better look, and not just to have a curious glance at the evening's aftermath either. I'd like to find out if the demon is still here.

I can't move.

Figuring it's just a fluke, I try again.

There's no result.

Jessica stirs awake. She looks at the ceiling, looks at the bed, then turns toward the person she's still holding onto. She gasps a little. Then her look of shock becomes a faint smile.

She works herself free of Rebecca, putting her legs on the side of the bed, and then standing up to expose her naked body to the world.

While I struggle to move, and wonder why I can't move, Jessica gathers her clothes. She searches for her bra first and puts it back on. She has trouble finding her panties before retrieving them from the catastrophe of sheets. From this angle I am trapped in, I can barely see her orange-maned pussy vanish.

She picks up the rags that used to be her shirt and stares at them with confusion. Then she turns toward Rebecca, still comatose in the bed. Jessica shakes her awake.

"Eh? Wha, whas goin on," Rebecca says.

"Time to wake up," Jessica whispers.

"Who, where?"

Rebecca gasps at her nudity. Turning toward Jessica, she asks, "Did we...?"

"I'm pretty sure," Jessica says.

"Ghost?"

Jessica shakes her head. "I don't know."

"Still here?"

"Not sure. I'll make us coffee."

"Coffee. Okay. Coffee. Alright," Rebecca says.

They disappear from my sight.

Why can't I move?

"This has been one hell of a vacation, you know," I hear Rebecca say.

"For better or worse?" Jessica asks.

"Not sure yet."

"Because of what happened with us?"

A pause, then, "No. I didn't mean it like that at all, Jessica. I meant with this ghost. Ouija boards, things flying around. Me masturbating like crazy all night, fucking a cock dry."

"Doing what?"

"I didn't tell you that part?"

"You sure didn't."

"Well, God knows where he went," Rebecca says. "Thanks, though. For not taking off, after—you know."

"You know I wouldn't. Why don't we sit at the table over there?"

Rebecca, dressed now, sits at the little dining table. Jessica puts a steaming mug in front of her.

"Coffee," Jessica says. "Want some cream? Sugar?"

"Always black," Rebecca says. "Besides, I think I ate plenty of sugar and cream last night."

"Ooh, that sounded kinda nasty," Jessica says.

"Maybe I wanted it to," Rebecca says, smiling.

"Alright. Well, I like cream and sugar. In coffee I mean," Jessica says.

Rebecca stands up and stretches.

"Oh, by the way, do you have a shirt I can borrow?" Jessica asks. "You kinda tore mine apart last night."

Where am I? What's going on?

Rebecca spins one-hundred eighty degrees. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Jessica asks.

Why can't I move? I don't like it.

"There's a voice," Rebecca says. She grabs both sides of her head. "I thought this was over. Am I going crazy, Jessica?"

"I heard it too," Jessica says.

Why are they hearing voices, I wonder? More importantly, why can't I hear them? Most importantly, why can't I move?

Rebecca shakes her head. "I should have—"

"Shh. Listen," Jessica says.

This is not what I am used to.

"It's coming from over here," Jessica says.

She puts out a hand for Rebecca to stay put.

She walks toward...me?

The strange voice is near me, then? Again, why can't I hear it?

Jessica stands right over me. She looks down at me. She reaches for me.

I am moving—but not under my own power. Jessica is picking me up!

How is Jessica able to pick me up? Is this because of what happened with the board? The red demon-thing?

Jessica's eyes widen with fright. "Um, Rebecca?"

Her grip on me loosens. I plummet down, watching Jessica get smaller from my point of view.

"Think you better come here and take a look at this, Rebecca."

Rebecca runs over.

What does she want Rebecca to look at?

"Did you, um, bring something in here yesterday?" Jessica asks, pointing toward me.

Rebecca blushes a little. "Yeah?"

"Well, it's talking," Jessica says.

"What!"

Rebecca brings me to eye level. "What do you mean 'it's talking?'"

Yes, what is talking? Who is?

Rebecca drops me with the same lack of care as her friend.

"Whoever programmed it to do that, that's not funny," Jessica says.

Programmed what to do what?

"Are there batteries? Maybe you ought to take them out if there are," Rebecca says. "Seriously, this is freaking me out. Please make that stop."

I'm on my side now, facing the corner.

Landing on the carpet from such a height...hurts. How long has it been, I wonder now, since I have felt pain?

Footsteps move away from me. I wish I could see what was happening. Wish I could still move. What happened to me? Just when I thought this curse of mine was bad enough...

"It doesn't say anything on the box about batteries," Rebecca says. "It's not supposed to...move."

Move?

Box?

Wait.

Wait a minute.

I fly up in the air, still facing the wall.

"Well, regardless of whatever that box says, it sure is talking now," Jessica says.

She turns me until my line of sight aligns with hers. I sense her grip loosening.

I hope she doesn't drop me again.

"Stop that," Jessica says.

Stop what?

"That," Jessica snaps.

What?

"You know what!"

No, I don't!

"You don't?"

A realization dawns on me then: Rebecca and Jessica are hearing my thoughts. My thoughts are audible words. When I think, I speak aloud to them.

"Are you...him? It?" Jessica asks.

Alright. I've spent years accepting much that should not be. I pause to gather my wits before I think—say:

Yes.

Rebecca approaches us. "What do you mean by 'him' and 'it,' Jessica?"

"Frank, I think," Jessica says. To me—whatever form I'm in now—she asks:

"Is that right?"

Sure.

"Okay," Jessica says, trying to suppress a smirk, "How did you end up in there?"

I don't know what you mean by 'there.' Whatever 'there' is, I wasn't like this yesterday. I was able to move around the room. Now I can't.

"So, you, uh..."

Jessica clears her throat. There's that smirk again.

"You don't know what we're talking to, then?"

I have one idea.

"Do you want me to show you, so you'll know for sure?"

Rebecca, face as white as a, well, ghost, buries it in her hands. "This is so ridiculous. This is beyond ridiculous, Jessica. Please tell me I'm gonna wake up soon."

I can tell you what I do know.

"Okay, shoot," Jessica says.

I summarize everything so far. How, yesterday, they used the Ouija board to contact me. How, at first, I moved the planchette, until something sinister spoke for me instead.

And now I'm here. Wherever 'here' is. I can't move anymore. You're holding me, whatever 'me' is now.

"Well, like I said, I can show you what 'you' are now," Jessica says.

I'm not sure I'd like that. But at this point, it's better to get it over with, right?

I travel, through no will of my own, to the bathroom.

Jessica stops in front of the mirror and holds 'me' up.

I stare at 'my' reflection.

Oh. Oh, no.

#

Jessica has propped me up on the writing desk, my rubber balls keeping me 'upright.'

So to speak.

The roles have reversed. Now it's Rebecca's turn to ask questions. Jessica has retreated to a corner to drag on one of those electronic cigarette things.

"You said your name was Frank, right?" Rebecca asks.

She sighs. "I'm talking to a fake dick, Jessica."

I'm not sure. I think my name is Frank. It might not be. That's the only one I could think of when you asked yesterday.

"And you're a ghost?"

Yeah, I'm pretty sure.

"How long have you been here?"

I can't give you an exact number, but if I had to give an answer, I'd say over a decade.

"How did you die, Frank?"

Shot. Maybe.

"Shot? Here, in this room?"

That's right.

"Who shot you?"

I don't see a face, just a flash.

"Why were you shot?"

I don't remember that either.

Jessica clears her throat and puts the smoking thing aside. Approaching us, she says, "I think, while we've got an open line of communication with him, there's some more pressing stuff to ask."

Rebecca looks at Jessica, and then back at me. "Oh, I agree. Let's talk about that first."

Talk about what?

"Ever since I checked in," Rebecca says, "some strange things have happened. I don't have to go into detail, do I?"

I suppose not.

"Saw me undressing? Showering? Masturbating? Fucking?"

Yes.

She scowls. "And you made me do those things, didn't you?"

Not on purpose.

"What do you mean 'not on purpose?'"

I may have to play these next few moments carefully. Otherwise, I might end up in the garbage chute.

"You're damned right you might!"

Shit. Okay. It's not in my power, Rebecca. All I have to do is look at a living person for a few seconds, and they lose control of themselves. It's always been that way, ever since I found myself trapped in here.

"You look at people, and it makes them horny?" Jessica asks.

To put it bluntly, yes.

"Did you ever think about looking the other way whenever somebody's in here?" Rebecca asks.

Have I 'thought' about it? Sure. But that's not within my power, either, to be honest.

"Oh? And why is that?" Rebecca asks.

Because I'm already bored enough being trapped in a room I can't leave for all eternity. If I stared at a corner the whole time someone was in here, I would go even crazier than I already am.

"You really are a dick," Rebecca says.

She folds her arms and looks away. "The things you made me do."

If it makes you feel any better, it would be nice to be able to turn it off for once. And for whatever it's worth, I am sorry.

"Alright, maybe he's telling the truth," Jessica says.

"Oh, you think he's telling the truth? Does it matter? I think he's a pervert demon," Rebecca says.

"Speaking of demons, though, he did save us from one," Jessica says.

"And how do you know he's not lying about that?" Rebecca asks.

"It's not here anymore, is it?" Jessica says. "And what's better or worse: being able to move around a room you can't leave, or being unable to move and stuck in one of those?"

Rebecca is silent a moment. Then, looking back at me, she asks, "You really couldn't control...what it is that you do?"

No. I look, and it pulls it right out of them.

"What a weird superpower," Jessica says.

Rebecca clears her throat. "Alright—"

"I have another question," Jessica interrupts.

What can I do but answer, right?

"Can you tell when this sudden sex thing is about to happen?" Jessica asks.

Yes.

"Okay. How?"

It's hard to describe. There's a light. Everyone has a green light. It gets brighter.

"And what do our green lights look like now?"

I haven't been paying attention since this 'transformation' happened. Now that Rebeca has brought it up, I look for the green lights between the women's breasts—remembering, of course, what they looked like without clothes.

I don't see them. They're gone.

"What's gone? The green lights?"

Yes.

"Is that unusual?" Jessica asks.

It's different, yes.

"Maybe that means you've lost your perv—sex—superpower, whatever it is," Rebecca says.

"And if that's true, how would that make you feel, Frank?" Jessica asks. "Happy? Sad?"

Maybe. I'm not happy about not being able to move anymore, though.

"That's the part you're not happy about?" Rebecca asks.

"The fact that you're trapped inside a fat, juicy, fake cock isn't the worst part?" Jessica says, grinning a little.

Uh...

"Course he's not unhappy about that," Rebecca says. "He used to be a man, right? Sometimes this is all they are, anyway. I would think it was a dream come true."

Well, if you want my real answer, it would have been nice to get trapped inside something more family-friendly, perhaps. Maybe the TV?