#smallandquiet

                                                ***

 I immediately ask Sleepy if she brought the ouija board inside, and she, confused, replies that she was in the house the whole time, and why am I asking? I tell her that the board is inside the house for some fucking reason, and I sure as hell didn't do it. Her eyes get big and I lead her into the living room, where the board lies on the table, plain as day. I'm freaking out inside, wondering how the fuck it happened. I didn't think Quiet would have done it, since she was with me when I stuck it under the bush, and we both agreed not to touch it until it was time for her to leave.  Quiet comes in and asks why the board is inside the house, and I say I have no fucking idea why. Quiet assures me she didn't bring the ouija board inside the house, but then Sleepy cuts her off. Sleepy tells her straight to her face that she remembers now, she saw her bring the ouija board in. Quiet's eyes go big, exclaiming she doesn't remember any of that. I watch her reaction, noticing that she seems much more alert and lively than when I saw her last. And I think I believe Sleepy.

I grab the board and go back outside with it, sticking it back under the bush. Regardless of whether Quiet was possessed and did bring it inside, we are not doing ouija today. I figure as long as I keep an eye on Quiet, we can keep from getting into a situation where she's possessed and wanders off to do god knows what. So we're all watching videos on youtube in the living room, and Quiet has made little trips to the kitchen and my room for her phone/charger, and comes back normal; things seem to be normal. Then she takes a bathroom break, and me and Sleepy nod and keep watching our videos. My Dad makes an unexpected entrance, dropping off soda for me and my brother and checking the mail before he heads off. We talk for a bit, when Sleepy notices that Quiet still hasn't come back from her bathroom break. After my Dad leaves, we search all of the rooms, and even go outside around the perimeter of the house, but she's nowhere to be found. The only place we didn't check were the closets, because why would she be in a closet? We weren't playing fucking hide-and-seek. We both go back inside, panicking a little. I wonder that maybe we could call her, see where she is. I go in my room for my cell, and suddenly, there she is. Sitting straight up on my bed, laptop closed on her lap, staring out into space and without any reaction to my presence.

I stop dead in the doorway, and Sleepy peers over my shoulder. She basically goes, "Oh fuck!" And runs away, into the kitchen. So it's pretty fucking obvious that Quiet is possessed, and I'm trying not to show how terrified I actually am. I try to get her attention, crying "Hey! Hey, Kara!' But she just ignores me, and I shut the door and walk out to the kitchen, mind whirling as to how the fuck I was supposed to deal with this mess. I order Sleepy to listen to me, that we have to figure out a way to get rid of Quiet's possession. The best idea I've got right now is salt water, since I'd rather not drive off to a church to grab holy water when it's only us two. I read that salt water can purify, so I figured it was our best shot, and explained as much to Sleepy. I've grabbed a salt shaker and have a glass of water on the counter when Quiet walks out of my room, robotically and staring straight ahead. She walks toward the kitchen, where we are, and Sleepy just takes off running further into the house. I shout and curse at her, but she doesn't come back. So now it's just me and Quiet on either side of the kitchen island, me staring at her, her regarding the empty space ahead of her, ignoring my presence.

I'm not really confident in my salt water plan now, especially considering that salt on the board, me and Quiet didn't seem to prevent the current situation I was in. And I had a pretty good idea of who was in Quiet's body. It's long seconds before I muster up the courage to say the words I've selected. "Why are you in Kara's body?" I ask. "What are you trying to do?" Quiet's face turned and she looked at me. It was one of the most terrifying experiences I've had. I'm not going to say anything cliche like her face morphed or her eyes changed color. It was the subtle, essential wrongness about seeing an intelligence in Quiet's eyes that didn't belong to her. Everything about her seemed slightly off. She stared at me, her expression turning slightly amused as my heart pounded in my chest and I made a conscious effort to stand still. Her eyes were entirely too intelligent, and I managed, "Who are you? You're not Kara. That's not how she looks at people. That's not how she walks. Why are you in Kara?"  Then what was in Quiet just made this cruel, amused smirk, and quickly stalked back into my room, closing the door behind her. It almost seemed like an invitation. I just stood where I was, and heart pounding, shouted, "BITCH!" at the closed door. I already knew who it was inside Quiet. I don't know why I asked. She probably just wanted to fuck with us again. Sleepy comes creeping back cautiously, from god knows where, and asks what happened. I tell her, and demand she come with me to my room. She nearly runs away again, but I grab her arm and threaten and curse at her, almost dragging her to my room. But before we even get to the doorway, the door opens and there's Quiet, holding her laptop and looking confusedI ask Quiet what she was doing in my room, and she replies that she was on the internet, sitting on my bed, but then she closed her laptop because she lost her connection. The next thing she knew, she was standing in the middle of my room. She looked genuinely confused, and Sleepy was no longer so apprehensive since Quiet was normal now. I was relieved I didn't have to perform some half-assed exorcism that more than likely wouldn't work. I explain to Quiet what had happened, and she protests not remembering a single thing. I tell her that I saw the way she looked at me, and I knew it wasn't her. So Quiet glumly accepts that she's been possessed, and I note that both possessions likely happened in my room. I tell her my room is off limits, to which she readily agrees. The rest of the day goes normally, and Quiet takes the ouija board back to her place when she leaves and put it in her backyard, out of sight.  So that concludes our first story!

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