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On Halloween night, Farah had invited Saul and Ben to her office to have a good time together. They had ordered a special meal, with red wine, which allowed them to relax a little more.
Sitting in his armchair, Saul observed the office decoration with great attention, until his eyes fell on a Ouija board hanging on the wall.
"Farah, have you ever used this board?" he questioned, getting closer, curious.
She shook her head:
"No, but my grandma, who was a mind fairy and medium, used to use it to communicate with the dead," she explained after taking a sip of wine.
Her friend unhooked the board to get a closer look.
"We could give it a try, couldn't we?" he suggested, enthusiastically.
Farah stiffened and wrestled the board from his hands before placing it on the coffee table.
"Are you insane?" she replied, very angry. "The Ouija board is not a toy, it can be dangerous and even fatal for those who don't know how to use it. Moreover, the consumption of alcohol increases the risks."
"Come on, Farah, please, I've already read about it," he insisted, impatient.
"Saul, this is not reasonable, listen to her," his friend kindly rebuked him.
The headmistress placed her hand on his shoulder and the Specialist couldn't help but blush, confused. Farah had an effect on him and they had become accustomed to flirting, always on the boundaries of friendship.
"Reading books is not enough, if you make a mistake, it can cost you your life," she said sternly, putting the board away in a drawer.
He sighed and sat back down to continue the evening, but when it was time to go back to his suite, he took advantage of a moment of inattention from his friend, who was talking to Ben, to open the drawer and steal the board. He needed to know for sure.
******
He came back to his suite and lit a candle, before placing the board on the table and sitting down. Even though he was rather bold, his heart was pounding in his chest. He was afraid of the truth, and also felt terrible about betraying the woman he loved. But curiosity was stronger than anything else, and he decided to start his experiment. He hoped he would not regret it. He had taken all this lightly, but what if Farah was right after all?
He avoided thinking the worst and took the planchette and put it on the board.
He thought for a moment before asking his questions.
"Is there a spirit in this room?" he questioned, trembling.
Quickly, the planchette moved to three letters: yes.
Saul's heart quickened, and he began to sweat. He was not alone, and his mind was becoming increasingly blurred. What to do? Now there was no turning back.
"D-did you live in Alfea?" he stammered.
Again the planchette went to the same letters. He huffed, trying to keep his composure, which was becoming increasingly difficult.
"How did you die?"
At that moment an incredible force directed the planchette to one word: murdered. Saul felt dizzy, so strong was his emotion. He was talking to a murdered person after all.
Still, he allowed himself to ask a critical question:
"Can you tell me...your name?"
Suddenly a cold chill came over the suite and the candle flame was blown out.
Panicking, Saul ran to the light switch, but the lamp wasn't working. The wood of the furniture began to creak, and a picture frame fell off the shelf.
Shocked, the Specialist stood trembling, his body refusing to make any movement. He wanted only one thing: to run away.
Eventually a white figure appeared in front of the window. He could make out a young brunette lady in a white dress, her stomach bloodied. She was smiling innocently at him. She remained in the same position for several minutes before disappearing. The lamp lit up and Saul saw the damage she had done. Some objects had fallen off the furniture.
He caught his breath, shaking like a leaf, afraid. After what had happened, he didn't really want to stay here, but he didn't want Farah and Ben to know about this.
Without even locking the door, he hurried out and ran towards his office, where he locked himself in, before lying down on the sofa and sinking into a deep torpor.
He was awakened in the middle of the night by a strong pressure on his chest, which was suffocating him. He opened his eyes, struggling, but he was alone in his office. Yet the pressure on his rib cage had not reduced. He coughed several times before he noticed drops of blood on his sleeve. And then he regretted not listening to Farah. In his panic he had forgotten to say goodbye to the spirit, preventing her from sending her back to where she came from. Now the young lady in the white dress was haunting him.
*******
Farah woke up in bed with a start. It was still dark out there, but she knew she couldn't go back to sleep. Her bond with Saul had activated, something was wrong, but she didn't know what.
In a few seconds she got up and put on a dressing gown before knocking on his door. When he didn't answer the door, she tried to open it, worried. Her fear increased when it opened by itself. She turned on the light and saw that the living room was a mess, a lot of papers and knick-knacks littering the floor.
"Saul?" she called as she made her way to his room.
The room was empty, and anguish overwhelmed her. Where had he gone?
Before leaving, her eyes fell on the table. The Ouija board hadn't moved, and she knew immediately that something bad had happened. Saul was in mortal danger. He was inexperienced and had done the Ouija alone, slightly drunk, without taking the time to purify the room.
She ran out to check on her friend's office, praying that he was still alive.
She knocked sharply on the door with her fist and he opened it after several seconds, struggling to stand.
The image that appeared in front of her was bloodcurdling: he was pale, too pale, and his jumper was dotted with drops of blood. And above all, his look was vacant.
He could hardly breathe and was coughing regularly.
"Oh, Saul," she mumbled, hugging him, fighting back tears.
There was nothing she could do to save him, she knew it, several of her classmates had died in mysterious circumstances following a Ouija board session when she was a teenager.
"I screwed up big time, Farah, I'm sorry," he replied, closing his arms around her.
He placed a kiss on her forehead, very sad. He was so angry at himself for stealing that board to satisfy his curiosity.
He took a tissue and coughed several times into it. A wet cough.
Farah saw the haemoglobin spreading on the paper and burst into tears, distraught.
"I should have explained all the dangers to you, but I didn't...," she sobbed, taking him by the arm.
She helped him to lie down on the sofa and added pillows to lift his head.
"I forgot to say goodbye to her," he admitted, on the verge of tears. "She was murdered and I didn't even say goodbye."
She put her hand on his cheek reassuringly and moved closer.
"I know, Saul, and it's all my fault," she whispered, bringing her face a little closer.
The fairy loved her Specialist, but it was too late for a life together. And yet she was clinging to that last hope. The hope of a bad dream, which would soon end.
"Farah, I'm suffocating," he grunted, squirming for air.
Her first reaction was to pull his jumper out of his trousers.
"Let's get your jumper off."
She helped him take it off and he found himself shirtless, his athletic body making her shiver.
"Stop drooling over my abs," he teased her with a smile.
Instead of answering him, she squatted down by the sofa and gently ran her hand over his torso.
He relaxed under this caress, but was wondering about their relationship.
"What are you doing?" he asked, confused.
"I just love you," she retorted, before placing her lips sensually on his. "I'm so mad at you for using that board, because I know I'm going to lose you."
He stopped her from saying more and kissed her back fiercely, his hands wrapping around her face until he stopped their kiss to spit blood into a handkerchief.
Farah leaned her head against his torso and heard the sound of death.
"I love you," he muttered so she would know.
A tear rolled down the fairy's cheek in despair. Soon there would be nothing left of their love.
********
A few hours later, she was awakened by loud gurgling noises. Saul started coughing unstoppably, gasping for air to breathe. He was suffocating, he was dying, and the fairy's crying intensified. She wanted to reassure him, but she knew how it would end.
"Hold on, love," she managed to say, grabbing his hand and kissing it to take his pain.
Immediately she felt a sharp burn in her airways, all the way to her lungs. Her Specialist was still staring at her, haggard, burning up inside, struggling to live, panicked. This simple contact with her soothed him somewhat.
All of a sudden a great deal of blood began to flow out of his nostrils and mouth, down his cheeks, his neck, his partner's hand and the sofa, as he coughed and coughed. Farah wanted to scream her helplessness at this unjust death that was taking place, but a dull moan drew her from her thoughts.
Saul was no longer coughing, he was no longer breathing.
Saul had passed away.
The fairy collapsed on the carpet, overcome by this grim reality. She would never live her love with him, because of a stupid Ouija board. He was dead because of her, because she had not provided him enough information.
The headmistress heard a scream, a woman's scream, and opened her eyes, prostrated, only to realise that she was the cause of the scream.
There was a knock at the door, but she was unable to get up to open it or to respond.
Eventually the door opened and Ben rushed towards them, completely panicked.
"Farah, my God, what happened?!" he cried as he saw her sitting on the floor, Saul lying on the sofa, strewn with bloody tissues.
"The Ouija, he tried it without my permission," she answered in an almost inaudible voice. "There was nothing I could do, he's..."
The botany professor hugged her affectionately, upset by what had just happened. He had just lost his best friend in horrific circumstances, and he couldn't find the words to console her.
"I love him so much," she murmured, inconsolable.
Her friend stroked her hair with compassion.
"I know, Farah, I know."
Alerted by the noise, several teaching staff members arrived in turn to find their colleague dead. Sky didn't know it yet, and they wanted to spare him for a few more moments. The police and paramedics arrived a few minutes later and Ben answered their questions while Farah was saying goodbye to the man she loved, giving him a final kiss on the lips.
They then took the body away, and Farah followed them, screaming in grief as Ben tried to hold her back.
She saw Sky, also crying, who had let his dad go on his last journey. The student came up to her to help Ben and to stop her from running after the body of her Specialist.
She could no longer understand the words he was saying to soothe her. Her vision was blurring, she was still screaming, and a crowd had formed around them.
She was no longer fully conscious, and her life was meaningless without him.
She slowly slipped into a coma, too shocked by the nightmare she was living.