The Seance

Everything was ready for the ritual. It was Halloween night and a thunderstorm raged outside. The wind was howling and the chill in the air provided the perfect ambiance for such a night, as though it was conjured. As Victoria Randolph got ready to cast the large circle of salt she took a deep breath and contemplated what she was about to do.

Just eight months ago Victoria would have said she was as happy as she could be, but that had changed literally overnight. At twenty-five, she had been dating the love of her life for nine years. She and Benjamin had been high-school sweethearts and knew at sixteen that they would be together for life. They moved in together and planned on getting married after college. Life was hectic, but enjoyable. She had a bartending job and Benjamin worked part-time at a bank that  was waiting for him to complete his accounting degree. Victoria had one semester left and then she would be a physical therapist. 

They had made several close friends since their move and this presented a lot of opportunities for socializing, but there wasn’t a lot of time for that. Even though they were busy they made as much time as they could for their friends. She had every other Saturday night off, so they designated this night for their closest friends, Brian and Whitney. They had all four met at college and quickly fell into a comfortable relationship. Victoria knew that Whitney liked Brian in a romantic way, but he showed no interest. The three years they had known each other, Brian had only dated a couple girls and Whitney was in an off and on relationship with a guy from work.  She assumed he didn’t want to ruin their friendship, which Victoria could understand. 

It was an unseasonably warm evening in early March when Victoria’s life changed forever. It was a Saturday night and she had the windows open in the apartment. The warm breeze blew the curtains and let in the fresh smell of spring. Victoria had cleaned the apartment that day, getting ready for their night with Brian and Whitney. It was now dusk and she was lighting candles around the apartment while Benjamin had gone out to grab a pizza. Whitney came in with her obligatory bottle of wine she brought every time. Her parents owned a vineyard, so she was never without it. Turning her favorite playlist on, which was various hits from the seventies, she went to greet Whitney.

“Hi Babe, thought I would mix it up a bit and bring a blush,” Whitney said, putting the wine in the fridge. 

“Sounds good. Benji went to grab pizza, and Brian called and said he’s running a little late,” Victoria said, pouring herself and Whitney a mug of hot tea. They took their mugs and went to sit on the sofa by the window. The sun was setting and the sky was a dazzling mix of pinks and oranges. A few minutes later Brian arrived. Victoria looked at the clock and saw that Benjamin had been gone nearly an hour. By now he was running a bit late, but she wasn’t too concerned with it being Saturday. The restaurant would be packed and traffic a nightmare, but still he was usually back by now. The three of them sat talking twenty more minutes when there was a knock at the door. Victoria would later remember the moment in a surreal, dreamlike feeling, only recalling a few pieces. Her playlist was near the end and she remembered Summer Breeze playing, which was one of her favorite songs, but now she can no longer stand to hear it. She assumed it was Benjamin with his hands full and jumped up to get the door thinking “finally.” Brian and Whitney were laughing at a joke that he was telling, one that Victoria would never be able to recall again. Grabbing the door and about to start in on how slow he was, she looked up to see two cops standing there and suddenly her heart rate shot up. As the one started to say, “Ma’am we’re sorry to tell you this, but,” her pulse started beating in her head so loudly she could no longer hear. She swayed on her feet and felt Whitney behind her supporting her. She led her to the sofa, and could hear Brian talking to one of the cops, but not any actual words. 

Later on she learned that when Benjamin was coming out of the restaurant someone came up behind him and stabbed him. His wallet was taken and a single slice of pizza. Hearing about the slice taken made Victoria sick thinking that someone was so evil as to take someone’s life this callously then eat. It was just another foul piece that made up the evil soul of this worthless mutant. The front parking lot was packed so Benjamin had parked in the back alley where no one had witnessed anything. It was chalked up to a robbery since the wallet was gone. No fingerprints were lifted from the scene and the case had pretty much went cold. She took a month off work, but realized after a while she had to have money to live. It wasn’t really the money though, she had a purpose, and that was to find Benjamin’s killer. Whitney had called Victoria everyday and stopped by every couple of days, but she knew that Whitney thought she was becoming obsessed and that it wasn’t healthy. It was all she talked about, and she was forever reading psychology books and true crime books and listen to crime podcasts.  It was as though she thought she could figure out who it was if she could profile him. Victoria hadn’t spoken to Whitney in a few weeks now, as she had been avoiding her calls. Whitney didn’t understand the grief and misery she was going through, so Victoria thought the best thing for them was some distance.

Brian, on the other hand, let Victoria talk non-stop about the murder. He would patiently listen and give her ideas about what kind of psychologically disturbed person would commit such an act. 

For the past couple months Victoria had been going to mediums. So far she had found a couple of legitimate ones that told her some things about Benjamin that only she and Benjamin would know, but they hadn’t been able to give many details about the murder. She decided to take matters into her own hands and try to contact him herself. A couple of aquaintances from work who dabbled in the occult told her that she was didn’t know enough to try necromancy, but she didn’t care. Her life wasn’t about her anymore, she know longer had a life. Her life was about Benjamin and finding his killer. She did some research and decided she would use a ouija board. She knew with Halloween coming up that the veil would be thin and she would have more luck. 

She could only imagine what Whitney would think about this as she made her way back to her apartment on this blustery day, with her shopping bags containing salt, candles, flowers and a ouija board. She let herself in, turned on a couple lights and changed into her yoga pants and favorite sweatshirt that was Benjamin’s. By now the storm was raging and she almost dropped the bag of salt because the thunder was so loud. She was just getting ready to pour the salt circle when there was suddenly there was a knock at the door. She had gotten so caught up in the buying all the supplies that she forgot Brian was going to help her with the seance tonight. She opened the door to find him drenched, but smiling. She had to admit that he was the one person that had helped her get through this horrible time. His patience and understanding was all she needed.

“Oh Brian, you’re soaked, come on in and I’ll grab you some dry clothes,” she told him. He muttered something she didn’t catch. She just realized that this meant she would have to give him something of Benjamin’s, which she hated to do. On the other hand, maybe having all his possessions around would help bring him closer. She had no idea what she was doing, but hopefully the intention would help.

“Here you go, you can change in the bathroom,” she said. He grabbed the clothes almost reverently.

“You sure you’re okay with me wearing these?”

“Of course, you’re soaking wet. I think Benji would agree.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” While he was changing, Victoria made herself and Brian a cup of instant coffee. Alcohol sounded much better, but she wanted to keep her wits about her during this. She heard Brian walk up behind her and she hadn’t expected it to bother her to see him in Benjamin’s clothes this much. Her breathing sped up, but she tried to ignore it and quickly started talking about what they were about to do and handed him his cup of coffee.

“Listen Vic, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, I’ve been reading up on some of this stuff the last couple days and you could be getting in way over your head.” She instantly felt the anger rise up in her. How dare he try to change her mind when he’s been so supportive. She actually felt she might contact him tonight, and he was not going to try to talk her out of it.

“You know what, if this it too much for you, then leave now,” she said. She was sick and tired of people always thinking they knew what was best for her.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Forget I said anything.” Victoria felt herself loosen up a little bit and grabbed her supplies.

“Sorry I snapped at you like that, I just really need to do this.” She grabbed a bag of salt and started making a circle around herself and Brian. She had pushed the sofa back earlier in the day to make plenty of room. She put the candles all around them and instructed Brian to start lighting them. She set Benjamin’s picture and the flowers she had bought him in the circle as well. She finally placed the ouija board between them. They meditated for a few minutes then she asked that Benjamin join them. She held her breath and waited while the candle flames flickered and the rain beat down steadily. She looked to see Brian starting into her eyes and she got the strangest feeling. Having kept their hands on the planchette the entire time, she suddenly felt a tiny movement. She looked down and saw it slowly making its way around the board. V I X was spelled out, which was what Benjamin called Victoria. One look at Brian’s face and Victoria knew that he was not pushing the planchette. The room suddenly felt warm and Victoria could feel that Benjamin was there. The relief was instant. She had finally made contact with him and would find out who was responsible. What scum was responsible for ruining their life.

“Brian, baby, I love you. I have to know, who did this to you?” she whispered, barely able to get the words out. She looked up to see Brian starting at her, his face pale. This was too much for him, she thought, too late now though. She patiently sat there, with her hand on the planchette and saw that Brian was moving his hand away.

“No! It’s better with two people. Stay where you are,” she told him. He obeyed, but it was as though she could feel him pushing the planchette against the direction it was trying to go. It didn’t matter though, the energy had a strength all its own. It started spelling B R I A, and suddenly Brian threw the ouija board across the room and jumped up. Victoria couldn’t move she was trembling so violently.

“You,” was all she could get out.

“Why the hell couldn’t you just leave it alone! Everything was going fine. We were spending all our time together and we were happy. But no, you had to just keep on and keep on,” he said, wringing his hands. He started crying which frightened Victoria more than the yelling. 

“Why the hell did you do this! You were our friend.”

“I did it for you Victoria, I did it for you! I loved you, but as long as he was around you would never look at me that way.” He stood up, walking around the room, pacing. Victoria frantically looked around the room for her cell phone, then she remembered she had left it in the car because she read that phones could interfere with the seance. She had to get past the door, then surely someone would be at home on this floor. Suddenly he stopped crying and shook his head, as though just coming to his senses. He came toward her, and dropped to his knees in front of her.

“This was all for nothing, you know that?” He gently pushed her hair back and wiped the tears from her eyes. Slowly but firmly he wrapped both hands around her neck and began squeezing. She knew the end was near. Benjamin’s smiling face staring up at her from the frame in the floor would be the last thing she saw and the last thought she had was that Brian had separated them here on Earth, but would reunite them in death.