Thunderland by Brandon Massey Read Free Book Online Page A

movies that he loved to watch. He wanted to douse his face in cold water to convince himself that this was actually happening, but he didn’t dare leave the Ouija. They teetered on the brink of a breakthrough. He could feel it.
    “Okay, you say he’s coming,” Jason said. “Tell us: when?”
    SOON.
    “Can you give us a time, a day?” Brains said.
    SOON.
    “All right, I guess you won’t tell us,” Brains said. “But why is he coming?”
    FOR JASON.
    “He’s coming to do something to me?” Jason said.
    YES.
    “What?” Jason’s heart throbbed.
    WILL SEE.
    “Can you tell us his plans?” Brains said.
    CANNOT.
    “Is he going to ... hurt me?” Jason said.
    WILL SEE.
    Jason half wished that they had not begun this line of questioning. The Ouija’s cryptic responses, far from relaxing him, put him more on edge than ever.
    “Is the stranger good or evil?” Brains said.
    WILL SEE.
    “Come on, can’t you tell us anything?” Jason said. “Stop with all these dumb clues. What should we do?”
    REMEMBER
    “But I can’t remember!” Jason said. “I don’t know a thing about him. Why won’t you give us some real answers?”
    CANNOT.
    “You keep repeating that as if he’s right there beside you,” Brains said. “Is the stranger there, wherever you are?”
    No reply.
    Brains leaned closer to the board.
    “Is he there?” Brains said. “Can we speak to him?”
    “Don’t ask that!” Jason said. Fresh sweat popped out on his face.
    Across the room, Shorty stood.
    After a long pause, the planchette moved to answer.
    YES.
    ‘We can speak to the stranger?” Brains said. His eyes shone. “Great, let us talk to him. Let us talk to him now. I want to—”
    Jason tore his fingers off the pointer. It slid to a halt.
    “Are you crazy?” Jason said. “I don’t want to speak to him!”
    “Why not?” Brains kept his fingertips balanced on the motionless tripod. “You wanted answers. We should go directly to the source. Jimmy couldn’t tell us much.”
    “But I don’t want to talk to the stranger. What if he’s a ghost or a demon, something like that?”
    “Jason, you aren’t making any sense,” Brains said. “You’re beginning to sound like Mike. It’s not as though he’ll jump out of the Ouija and attack us.”
    “Hey!” Shorty said. “What the hell have you guys done?”
    Jason and Brains turned to look at Shorty.
    ‘What are you talking about?” Brains said.
    “Can you feel it?” Shorty said. He hugged himself. “The temperature in here’s dropped at least twenty degrees.”
    Jason suddenly felt it, too. He felt not only a significant temperature plunge, but also an inexplicable change in the air. The air seemed thicker, more liquid, charged with a mysterious force. His breathing grew labored. The hair at the nape of his neck lifted and stood as stiff as cold wire.
    The candle flames flickered, sputtered, blew out. Dense shadows sprang up, crowded the room.
    “Oh, no. I think I might have made a big mistake,” Brains said. He drew back in his seat, his eyes appearing anxious for the first time in Jason’s memory. Slowly he took his fingers off the planchette.
    It jumped.
    Jason’s mouth dropped open. Brains and Shorty gasped.
    The planchette bucked again, and then it spun furiously in the center of the board, like a wild top. He and Brains leaped out of their chairs. The Ouija board and tripod flipped and landed on the floor, the pointer still spinning, spinning, spinning, grinding a smoking hole in the carpet.
    “A demon. I knew it was a demon!” Shorty cowered in the corner.
    Jason backpedaled to the wall. He did not know who the stranger was, or how any of this was happening, but he wanted to get out of here. He looked to the door.
    Moved by an invisible power, the bureau jerked from its position along the wall and slid in front of the door, trapping them inside.

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    Linda had been distraught ever since her fight with Thomas that morning, so later in the