Fericul's Board

I'd like to start by giving you some background information.

I'm 20, I live in Childwall, Liverpool-I have spent my entire life here and have never left England. One day last July I decided to enter a competition I saw in a magazine to win a trip to America, I never expected to win, neither did I expect that winning would lead me to a wonderful country with hellish consequences. I got to choose which state I wanted to stay in for two weeks, I chose New York as my best friend lives there.

I met up with him and he showed me around where he lives, Forestport. We had met three years ago when he was on holiday and had visited Liverpool, we bumped into each other and just clicked. Since he had gone home we talked online all the time, and were so glad of another chance to spend some time together. After doing the typical American things I wanted to do, go to a Baseball game, ride on the Subway, Visit the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty, we were on the way home, back out of the city and we saw a yard sale. Still having a few bucks in my pocket I dragged Tommy over and we started browsing. I saw an Ouija Board, it was fabulous! Let me explain, in America you can go into a WalMart or Toys R Us and pick up a Board, in England you CANNOT buy them ANYWHERE! They are like gold dust or something! I saw the Board, it was hand made, a thin piece of wood painted an off white/cream color with black symbols around the edges, and signed in the bottom left corner was Fericul, something about it seems familiar to me. I loved it as soon as I saw it.

Tommy wasn't as thrilled. He is a Wiccan and picks up vibes about things, his vibes for this Board were bad bad bad! He practically recoiled as I showed it to him, I just thought he was being melodramatic! I do believe in ghosts and Magick but having never encountered anything I was never very scared. Horrid terrifying hauntings didn't happen where I live, little old Childwall was as safe from ghosts and ghouls as could be. I was wrong. I bought it for $50, I asked the lady who was selling it who Fericul was, she told me she didn't know him, that the Board had been her mother's and then had been handed down to her (she wouldn't go into anymore detail, seemed glad to be getting rid of it.) I could see that it was quite old, at least 50 years, it was faded, chipped and the planchette was missing, but that I though gave it character.

Tommy was reluctant to have it in his house, but since I was leaving the next day it didn't bother him as long as I kept is locked in my case. I had no trouble until I got settles back in my place, I missed Tommy and America but was glad to be back home. After sleeping for an entire day due to jet lag! I invited my other best friend Mark over to have a look at the Board and maybe try it out.

He loved it as much as I did, we both enjoy reading ghosts stories, horror movies and all things paranormal. We decided to use a little glass as a pointer and cleared our minds ready to use the Board. After asking "Is there anybody there?" a few times we got an answer, a rather unceremonious jerk toward YES. I asked what the spirit's name was, FERICUL. We were excited as we seemed to contact the Board's maker. All of a sudden Mark's face dropped. "Fericul" he whispered, I asked him what was wrong and he pointed at the name on the board, "Concentrate on it" he said. Oh Crud (I cleaned up the phrase I actually said!) Why didn't I see it before?! Stupid Buffy! I'm usually so good at word jumbles. Fericul - Lucifer. I thought 'Great, a spook with an ego!' I didn't believe it was The Devil, even if he did exists, he would have more important things to do then channel through my board!. The glass started moving again, YOU HAVE SET ME FREE. "What do you mean?" I asked it. The glass flew out of our hands, smashing against the wall. We just sat there for a long time, staring at the wall where the glass had hit. After about ten minutes we came to our senses. Mark told me it wasn't a good idea to keep the board. I was a little spooked but decided I wasn't about to let some spirit with a swelled head get to me, so it could smash a glass, Patrick Swayze did more then that in Ghost! For me jokes have always been a kind of defence mechanism when I'm scared, jokes make me feel at ease, even if no one else finds them funny! Mark left soon after the glass smashed, he helped me sweep it up though.

I stayed up a little longer watching TV and then decided to go to bed. When I go to sleep I have to have a CD playing as silence bugs me, so I pressed play and repeat and sunk into bed. I woke up at exactly midnight, strange as I usually sleep right through til morning, I'm a heavy sleeper and am usually only woken by the phone or my alarm. I was evidently woken by what can only be described as a whooshing noise, like great wings fluttering. I flicked on my lamp and the noise stopped instantly. I was left in silence for about a minute before I realised that my music had stopped. I thought first of all that I must have forgotten to press repeat so I threw the covers off and crawled to the end of my bed, I froze when I saw the CD lid open. I have only a snake as a pet, so no cat to jump on the player, and I like alone so no one to open it. I felt a shiver run down my spine. I brushed it off, closed the lid and pressed play and repeat again. I lay awake for a long time, I know the CD repeated a few times, I was just thinking about taking something to help me get back to sleep when the CD cut out and I heard a click. My hand went to me lamp in a flash, so fast that I saw the lid of the player swing the last half way open.

I can honestly say that I'd had all the sleep I would be getting that night! I got up and decided to see if I could contact Fericul and see if it was him doing this. I barely had my fingers on a new glass when it started to make loops on the board. "Did you open my CD player?" YES "Why?" TO GET YOUR ATTENTION "Why do you want my attention?" TO SCARE YOU "Why do you want to scare me?" SO I CAN BE FREE "You are only free when you are scaring someone?" YES "Are you attached to this Board, where ever the Board goes, you go?" YES "I am getting rid of the board tomorrow, you will go too." NO "But you have to." NOT IF I SPILL "Spill what?" YOUR BLOOD WILL SET ME FREE "If you hurt me I will get a Priest to send you out of this house and banish you to hell." YOUR BLOOD WILL BE SPILLED BY MORNING THEN YOU ARE MINE "What do you mean?" AFTER I HAVE TASTED YOUR BLOOD I SHALL KILL YOU AND TAKE YOUR SOUL TO HELL. With that I shoved the glass to Goodbye and locked it in a cabinet that I keep figurines I collect. I ran up to bed and sat shaking with nerves.

After maybe an hour I heard scraping coming from downstairs, like the sound of the glass moving across the Board, only amplified. I grabbed a crucifix I have hanging on the wall and slowly crept downstairs. The noise was coming from my living room and stopped as soon as I set foot on the last step. I eased into the room. At first glance nothing seemed wrong, however when I went to check the board I saw a sight that terrified me, all the little figures of animals ans children on the shelf with the Board were all turned so that they faced away from the Board, as though they were scared of looking at it. My blood ran cold, I started backing away from it but tripped on something. I stumbled backward until I hit the wall, something piercing my side causing me to scream out. I moved from the wall and fell to the floor. I tugged my t- shirt up and looked at my left side, there was a piece of blue glass sticking in my side, I pulled it out and realised that it was a piece of the glass me and Mark had been using on the board, but we had cleaned it all up and would have seen a piece sticking in the wall. All of a sudden something struck me it the back, like a kick, I screamed out but a rain of blows fell all over me, I screamed and cried, trying to grab onto my invisible attacker but found no purchase. I soon fell unconscious with the furious pain of the attack.

I woke up in hospital three days later. Mark was sitting by my bed with my mum and brother. I told them to go and get something to eat. When they had gone I told Mark what had happened, it was all clear in my mind. Mark informed me that he had heard my screams through the wall (he lives next door) and had used his spare key to get in, he found me bloody and bruised and phoned an ambulance and the police. I asked him to go and get rid of the Board, burn it for all I cared, he left.

I felt like I had been reborn into a body made up entirely of pain, everywhere was on fire and I could barely move. A nurse came with an injection to help with the pain and I fell asleep. When I awoke a doctor was talking to my family, he told me that I had a broken collar bone and wrists, several cracked and bruised ribs and what appeared to be whip marks on my back. He asked me if it was OK if the police asked me a few questions. Two officers came in, they asked me if I knew what had happened? If someone had broken in? Or if I had opened the door to a stranger? I said I didn't remember anything. They left a card and told me to phone if I remembered anything.

Mark came back later that night and told me the board had been burned. I was in hospital for another week before I could get about on my own, I got a lot of help from friends and family and I am fully recovered now.

You'd think that experience would have put me off the paranormal for life, but it hasn't! Mark and I go off to cemeteries at night and visit haunted castles, and love it! But no more Ouija Boards for me! Also Tommy did tell me, though rather half-heartedly "I told you so!"