The Betrayal

Lily bustled around her bedroom, arranging snacks on her desk and fluffing pillows on the sleeping bags she'd laid out on the floor. The doorbell rang, and soon her room filled with the excited chatter of her friends arriving one by one. Mina swept in first, her blonde hair bouncing as she hugged Lily. "Cute pajamas! I brought face masks for everyone," she announced, dropping her overnight bag. Alex arrived next, immediately sprawling across a sleeping bag. "Parents gone for real? Sweet freedom!" she grinned, fist-bumping Lily. Violet slipped in last, quieter than the others, her purple-streaked hair partially hiding her face. "Thanks for inviting me," she murmured, eyes darting around the room before settling on Lily's closet with an odd intensity. "Who wants to watch a horror movie?" Alex suggested after they'd demolished pizza and gossiped about classmates. Violet, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly pointed toward Lily's closet. "What's that glow?" she asked, moving toward it before anyone could answer. She reached into the closet and pulled out an ancient-looking Ouija board, its wooden surface emitting a faint, pulsing light that quickly faded. "Whoa, is this real?" Mina leaned forward, eyes wide. Alex snorted but looked uneasy. "Those things are total bullshit… right?" Lily's expression flickered between surprise and something darker as Violet placed the board in the center of their circle. "Let's use it," Violet suggested, her voice taking on an eager edge. "I've always wanted to contact the other side." The girls gathered around, unaware of how the shadows in the room's corners seemed to deepen and shift, as if something was watching, waiting for them to begin.