Darren scowled down at the Ouija board, as the planchette glided over its surface of its own accord.

"Y...O...okay, yeah, I get it. Very funny. You're hilarious." he said, drily. Given that the previous four letters indicated by the polished wooden arrow had been c, f, k, and u -- though not in that order -- he felt confident that he understood the message.

Despite this, the spirit controlling the planchette felt the need to make it stand on edge, and then bob up and down.

"And now you're flipping me off with the planchette. Nice." Darren said, rolling his eyes. He threw up his hands in consternation. "You know what? Fine. Have fun haunting a parking lot in six months, asshole."

Darren began to stand up from the table where the Ouija board sat, but was startled by the planchette suddenly clattering back down onto the board. It then began rapidly circling the question mark printed just below the array of letters.

Darren smirked. That had finally gotten his spectral roommate's attention, it seemed. He settled back into his seat.

"Oh so now you give a shit, huh?" he quipped.

The planchette slid over to "YES".

"Well it's true: see, the previous owner of our building was very community-minded. His will included all kinds of stipulations his heirs had to abide by to inherit it." Darren explained. "They weren't allowed to sell the building as long as there were renters living here, and they weren't allowed to raise the rent more than the rate of inflation."

He sighed. "But the place is still a dump, even if it's cheap, since the new owners aren't exactly incentivized to invest in it. I'm the last one here, and as it stands I can't afford to pay rent anymore. If I go, this place will be sold to some developer and torn down inside a week." Darren gestured to the table. "That's why I decided to talk to you. I figured if you're gonna make footstep sounds at night, stack up my chairs, and slam my cupboards, maybe you could at least use your spooky ghost powers to help me with my cash flow problem, while you're at it. Otherwise, we're both homeless."

Darren followed the planchette with his eyes, as it began to move again. "H...O....W...how? I don't know how! You're the ghost, you know what you can do better than I do. Is there like...some buried treasure you know about? A bank account in your name, that maybe no one ever claimed?"

"NO," came the reply, via planchette.

"Well then, I don't know, what would you suggest? Any ideas? G...E...T...A...J...O...B--pff, yeah, okay boomer, like I haven't tried that already! It's a tough economy right now, for people in my line of work. L...E...A...R...N...T...O...C--I know how to code, alright? It's not that simple!"

An awkward silence hung in the room for a moment. And then, the planchette began to move again.

"W...E...S...H...." Darren began reading, then frowned as he finished. "We should talk? We're already talking."

"I...N...in person? Uh, how would that work? You're a ghost."

Darren frowned, as the planchette slid over to rest under the word "NO." It rose into the air as it did before, and Darren scowled again, taking it as another phantom middle finger. Then he jumped out of his chair in surprise as a small man appeared standing on the chair opposite him, holding the planchette between a stubby thumb and forefinger.

The man looked old and ragged, with a long red beard streaked with white, that hung all the way down to the knees of his patched and stained green trousers.

"Truth be told, boyo," the old man said, in a high-pitched lilting accent. "I've been having me own 'cash flow problems' of a sort, for nigh on a century now."

As Darren gaped at the little old man in amazement, a sly grin spread across the strange creature's wrinkled face, "Mayhaps I can be after helpin' ye with your problem..."

The strange little man paused and waved his hand mystically. A miniature rainbow suddenly arched over the table where the Ouija board lay, and a little black cauldron appeared at its end -- empty, except for some dust and cobwebs.

"...if ye can be helping me with mine, in turn." the old man finished.

Melody crossed her arms as she watched the spirit spell out fuck. She wasn’t going to let it slide again. Now Melody knew that asking for rent wasn’t going to be an easy task. She was sure there would be some pushback from whatever spirit was in her shitty haunted apartment. It was just time to wait now.

Melody looked over at her filthy floor length mirror. At first she looked past her reflection, getting caught up on how messy her room was. Once her own reflection caught her attention she stared at it. Melody had struggled often with her body. Hating it some days. Enjoying it others. Today was a day she was happy to have it. Her soft brown hair was placed in a messy bun.

As she began to look at her pear shaped body she noticed a figure out of the corner of her eye in the mirror. It had quickly ran out of her room. This caused Melody to blink in surprise as she had never experienced seeing a figure in her mirror before. Honestly she thought ghosts didn’t have reflections.

Before she could get too caught up in her thoughts everything went completely silent. This caused her to intently listen because it was too quiet. The only sound she could hear was her own heartbeat. It stayed like this for several moments before a loud clang came from the living room. When things had crashed in the apartment before Melody would get startled but this time was different. Melody simply raised an eyebrow before she quickly headed to the living room, starting to rant as she walked.

“You can’t scare me, mister or miss ghost. I need rent money otherwise I’ll be getting evicted and unless you want a new-“

Melody seemed to freeze when she saw the clang had been the ghost dropping something on her coffee table. It was a large sterling silver platter with intricate details. Hesitating, Melody moved towards it, holding her hand out above it. There was noticeable heat coming off of the silver platter. Upon placing her hand on the platter not caring if she got burnt, she felt the words engraved into it, ‘See you in hell’.

“Is this some kind of a sick joke?” Melody asked, not expecting an answer really.

Though Melody heard what sounded like footsteps shuffling from her bedroom, she didn’t immediately think much of it. Still she decided to turn around to look at the doorway. In the doorway she saw the Ouija board floating towards her. It was facing her so she could read it. As the triangle piece moved she turned pale.

The triangle spelt out. “It was a stupid gift.”

“This was a gift? From who?”

The board spelt out another answer. “A Vampiress.”

“A Vampiress? You expect me to believe in vampires, now?”

The board shook aggressively, spelling out. “You’re talking to a ghost!”

“Okay! Okay. I know I believe in ghosts but vampires? Why weren’t you immortal then?” Melody scoffed at first before rubbing the back of her neck as she asked her questions.

The board’s triangle pieced moved again slowly. “She couldn’t bite me, I was a werewolf it would have been illegal.”

“Hold on. You mean to tell me. You’re a werewolf’s spirit, it’s illegal to turn a werewolf into a vampire, and you were given this gift at your funeral?”

The triangle simply moved to the word “yes.”

“A silver plater? Isn’t that like a mean spiteful gift?”

The triangle stayed on the word “yes.”

“Did you die by like a silver bullet?”

The triangle still remained on “yes.”

“Wait so you’ve lived here before?”

The triangle moved to “no.”

“WHAT? Wait are you haunting me!?”

The triangle stayed on “no.”

“So are you haunting an item?” Melody seemed perplexed with this new found knowledge.

The triangle moved to spell out the word “Technically.”

“Technically?” Melody rubbed her face softly, still extremely confused. “Okay technically haunting an item. What item is it?”

“Your mothers necklace.” The triangle spelt out.

“Why?”

The board simply fell to the floor with a clatter.

“Oh come on! I still don’t know your name ghost. Why are you haunting my mothers necklace? Also how much is this platter worth?”

Melody waited for a response but didn’t receive one. Taking a deep breath in, she stood tall and put the platter under her arm. It had stopped radiating as much heat at least. She knew she would have to go to an antique shop to get the value appraised. That and she needed to call her mother, which could wait till a bit later.

(Part 1, might add a part 2 later.)

“Are there any spirits with me in this room right now?”

The wooden planchette shook slightly underneath Cade’s fingers, slowly moved across the alphabet carved on the Ouija board, pointing at three letters which spelled “YES”.

“Okay, good… It’s nearing the end of the month, and you know what that means.”

The planchette sit still.

“You need to hand over your share. You’re dead, but that doesn’t mean you can be a freeloader.”

The planchette on the Ouija board spells out again, a clearly panic “FUCK”.

Cade gave out an audible sigh, “No, the landlord do not accept any payment other than cash. Raiden may be into shady sex, but he isn't,” they stopped for a second, giggled a bit, “Heh, shady sex.”

Another message is given to Cade, “GIVE THREE DAYS.”

“Three days? You said the same thing three days ago”, Cade frowned in dismay, “Did you forget again?”

“NO CASH NOW.”

“No cash? The heck are you doing now?”

“SHHH.”

Cade rolled their eyes, “Well, wish I could ‘shhh’ my landlord as well when he’s pestering at the door, but I’m in no position to do that.”

“WILL PAY.”

“… Alright, but you gotta bring me the real money.”

“REAL MONEY?”

“Yes. Real human’s cash, as in the Euro bills, not the paper money you guys use down there.”

“RIGHT.”

Cade rubbed their eyes with the fabric on their shoulder, both hands not letting go of the planchette, “I will be waiting, but hurry up. I’m afraid if we're late again the old man is gonna kick us out for real.”

“WILL PAY”, the Ouija board repeated to assure them, “WILL PAY.”

“I will take your words, for now.”

I've been stuck here, wherever that is,for literally months. I'm pretty sure I'm in a coma in a hospital somewhere because, occasionally, I'll hear faint beeping and phantom touches on my arms and hands. Obviously, I'm not astral projecting on purpose. One minute I'm driving to work, the next, I'm in this condo. At least the view is nice. It just sucks that I effing CAN'T LEAVE!

When I first arrived, no one was home. For weeks. It was nicely furnished and there was still laundry in the hamper and dishes in the sink. After trying what felt like a million escape attempts (which ended with me being thrown back into the livingroom) the guy who lived here returned with suitcases and a gnarly sunburn. Looked like he'd been on vacation. 'Cuz there's no way to get that burnt in winter here. It's been a depressing grey, cloudy sky since I've arrived 3 weeks ago.

For days after his arrival i tried half a dozen attempts to get him to notice me. And another 2 dozen attempts trying to exit his front door when he did. Nothing. I don't know where I am. Both spiritually or physically. And the guy who lived here is about as open spiritually as a rock, so he's paid me no mind.

A month of fiddling with my body? Non body? Astral form? Spirit? After he returned, I figured out that I could touch things. Nothing electronic, though. I just phased right through it. Which is a huge bummer, since that means I couldn't use the internet to figure out how to return to my body. Nor can I watch TV, listen to music, or read a book on my own. Dude is super into the tech and doesnt even own a physical book, just a tablet. Also, minimalist type of guy. Zero decor. Or just standard bachelorhood. I'm not sure. Never saw any friends or lovers visit.

Anyway. Once i figured out I could touch things not electronic, I tried getting condo dude's attention again. When he cooked i moved the spices. When he threw laundry in the hamper, I smacked it on the floor. One day i got frustrated and smacked his face. It felt so weird as it passed through him and it DID make him pause. But only long enough to turn up the thermostat. So I think it just made him cold. I didn't want to try that again.

For a while, I even tried writing messages on his steamed up bathroom mirror. But go figure, the guy had a smart electronic one that gave weather info and lights inside, so I couldn't touch that either. Until one day it broke and was just a regular mirror again. Right after his nightly shower I rushed into the bathroom and quickly wrote "HELP ME" on the fogged glass.

In hindsight, that wasn't a smart idea. He freaked out. And ran right through me. Which freaked us both out. Me cuz it felt so weird and gross and him because I imagine it was cold as heck. He squealed and ran to his room in only a towel. It must've frazzled him because suddenly he was walking around with a rosary after that. The situation just continued to escalate.

It was like being 2 magnets after he ran through me that day. Every where he went in the condo, even if i tried to sidestep him, he'd stumble and walked through me anyway. It was like living with a drunk noisy cat. Rinse and repeat. I tried a few more times to write on his mirror my name and my parent's phone number to call. But he would run out as soon as he saw the first letter. A week of this had turned him into a nervous wreck. He actually brought home a crucifix and carried that around with him. He even started sleeping with it. So i gave up on the mirror trick. Especially when he stopped showering for a few days. I may not be physical, but even I could smell the guy, and he was starting to stink!

After a particularly bad day of him running through me repeatedly he held up his tablet and turned to face me! I was stoked! Did he figure it out? Then he started reading aloud from the tablet and my excitement grew. Then turned to confusion. What was he saying? What language was that? Then i became enraged. He had shoved that damnable crucifix in my face! He was trying to exorcise me! ME! like I was some damned ghost or something ! Pissed off, I smacked my hand at his and the crucifix flew across the room and into the TV, breaking it. Oops... and there he went. Like a bat outta hell, he took off. And never returned.

Movers came in a few weeks later and took everything. Well... shit. I sat in front of the window for weeks, just looking outside. I couldn't leave. I couldn't do anything. Not even sleep. Just stared at the world below. Hearing those phantom beeps in the quiet.

Then, one day, a woman walked in. She'd just rented the place and was moving in. I liked her. Opposite the original owner, she was very much a cozy type of person. The condo was soon filled with warm fuzzy colors, knick knacks, plants, decor, and books. Lots and lots of books on hundreds of subjects. And almost no electronics! She even had a cat! He was such a cute, fluffy, black void.

Weeks passed and she worked on an old type writer. Looks like she worked from home as some type of author. I don't know how much time had passed before she caught me with a book of hers hovering over her sofa. I wasn't bored or lonely anymore and i didn't want to repeat what happened with the tech guy so I had been making do with her books she left lying around when she wasn't home or while she slept. But today I hadn't heard her come in.

I dropped the book quickly, but she still rushed outside the condo.... shit. Hours passed with me looking back out the condo window. Wondering how long it'd be until she too moved out. I absently patted her black cat. (Which funnily enough is named The Void. ) when she returned, drenched head to toe, with a package under her arm. Curious, I look watched her as she cleared her coffee table and set about doing something on top of it with the package.

Then my astral heart skipped a beat. Was that a... Ouiji board? It was! With a squeal of joy, i rushed over to the couch and watched her read the instructions. Finally! I could figure out how to communicate! Maybe a way home!

Then, she placed the planchette on the board and placed her fingers on it. she spoke aloud into the quiet.

"Are there any spirits with me in this room right now?" I hurridley pushed the planchette to 'Yes.' I mean, am I wrong? An astral projection is still a type of spirit... right?

She continued, "Okay good, 'cause rent is due, and you need to fork over your share."

After pause I blanch and pushed back the word "F.U.C.K."

The tiny oculus stood still for a fraction of a second and then continued scraping along the surface of the board. "Y O U" laying still on the U, the ghost had finished its message.

"Oh you sonova... This isn't a joke you asshat, pay your share of the rent, spirit, or else".

A moment passed and the scraping on the board continued "O R E L S E W H" but before it could finish "you sassy spectre, I'll call ghostblasters to blast yo haunting ass, that's what". It was a bluff, of course, choosing violence wasn't an option, but getting rent was priority enough to warrant hardballing the freeloader. Only hope was that the spooky ghost didn't call the bluff.

As if pondering on the threat, the oculus stood still on the board for a minute, when suddenly the drawer with all the house documents burst open and a single sheet of paper flew next to the ouija board.

The oculus then enlivened and scraped along "L I N E 4 7" before again remaining still, taunting with its mere presence.

The paper was the rent agreement and reading out loud line 47: "of every month, the tenants living in the residence SPOOKSTREET 5 B3 must pay a sum of 669 shillings- Yeah, you've got to pay half, so uh 315". Immediately the oculus continued "R E A D I T A G A I N". Instead going for the immediate retort "No, this is pointless, you give me rent".

"N O" the ghost replied, "I D O N T L I V E H E R E" the oculus continued while the full realization kicked in.

"I A M D E A D Y O U I D I O T".

"This would be faster if you used the whiteboard, you know..." These arguments always take half a day on the Ouija board. But, some people (or ... you know... former people in this case) insist on the 'traditional method'. But it just winds up being more passive/aggressive than Post-It notes on the fridge.

The planchette did start to move with greater speed and purpose. 'Message received, at least...' I sighed and waited for my supernatural roommate to finish his reply.

"H...A...V...E...F...R...I-"

"You'll have it on Friday?! It was due LAST Friday! I can't keep fronting you! You still owe me for the electric bill!" We had a deal; all the bills are in my name, since I'm the alive one in this relationship. We split cost on everything except gas, water and trash. He doesn't need the heat, doesn't wash or shower, and really doesn't produce enough waste to make it worth arguing over.

But he just LOVES watching Netflix, day and night.

I sighed. The only reason he's still haunting this place is his 'unfinished business'. And really, that should have been a giant, neon-glowing red flag for me to translate that into 'unpaid debts'. But I was out of time, out of money, and out of options. So sharing an apartment with an apparition for 6 months would let me get myself in order and into my own place.

... it's been 2 years.

I'm cutting it fine this month on my own expenses, but I can make to Friday. I rubbed my temples to try and abate the tension building behind my eyes. "... Fine. But rent AND electric by Friday. Alright?"

"A...G...R...E-"

"Agreed, got it." I paused. I knew he was doing some side gig. His 'day job' was late-night security, but he admitted early on that it wasn't sufficient to cover his debts. "What's your side hustle now? I know that Uber banned you after they found out you were pretending to be a self-driving car."

"C...R...Y...P...T...O-"

"Oh for fuck's sake!!"

'T H A T.' I let out a short sigh. "That's what I thought you would say. Listen, I know that was you fucking with the lights last week, it blew out the breaker panel and the landlord made me pay for it, you owe me."

'I O W E U T H I S D I-' "GROSS dude, seriously. You're disgusting, I know you keeping doing something to the water pipes outside the bathroom to try to wash away the protection spell, that was another $2k for the plumber by the way."

'S H O W M E-' "Absolutely not. Look, I've had enough. I ran into the priest from the church I used to go to and I invited him over for coffee. Now, I didn't tell him about you, but if I don't see some cash by the time he get's here, I'm gonna have him excersize your bitch ass."

'B U L L S H I T' "Look out the window, he should be here any minute."

The ouija board is still for a minute and I know I got him on the ropes.

'H E L O O K L I K E A B I T C H I A I N T S C A R E D' "O really? Well did you know that he used to be an Arch Bishop and has been ordained by the pope?"

There was a brief pause and then 'I M A J U S T P O S S E S S T H E C A T A G A I N A N D C L A W H I-' "Apperantly you didn't notice, but I took the cat to the neighbors, this ain't my first day."

Another pause 'B I T C H I M D E A D Y O U K N O W I M B R O K E' "Bullshit, I know you got money somewhere, I found out about your little friend, Monica isn't it?"

'W H O D A T' "Don't play dumb, I know she's a stripper, and I know about the pizza guy that always show's up with a pizza at the same time. Just tell me where you've got the money stashed and Leonard and I will just have a nice chat about old times and the weather."

There was a knock on the door. The timing couldn't have been more perfect, but the Ouija board didn't move. "Alright, fine, enjoy hell dickhead." I got up and started towards the door when a book went sailing pass my head from behind. I looked back at the Ouija board and saw it shake a little. I walked back towards it while I heard another Knock at the door. "Just a minute," I called over my shoulder.

'F I N E L O O S E F L O O R B O A R D I N D I N I N G R O O M' "Thank you," I said with a devilish grin as I started towards the dining room. I heard a loud tearing noise, like wrapping paper behind me. I turned around to see the wallpaper had been tore in just such a way to spell out the word 'BITCH.' I just smiled again and collected what had to be at least $50k from under the dining room floor.

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Alex sat down in a folding chair near the steps that led to into the main house. The Ouja board in his lap.

When do you need it? The board quickly spelled out

"Today would be great."

How much?

"$100 bucks"

Really?

Yes please, the house gets a bit chilly even though I've tried my best to patch it up and insulate every room upstairs.

fine

Alex gazed in astonishment as a stack of of money appeared in a glowing ball of light infront of him.

"That was fast" Alex grabbed the warm stack of paper from midair.

We're dead not dumb.

I-I'm sorry I wasn't expecting you all to get it so quick.

Thank you Alex practically jumped to his feet and ran up the steps slamming the door behind him.

"No wonder this house was cheep!"

Lofe had always been a bit of a skeptic when it came to things like the paranormal and ghosts. But when a group of his friends insisted on doing a seance one night, he figured it couldn't hurt to go along with it.
They set up the Ouija board in the living room of their apartment and sat in a circle around it, with Lofe sitting opposite his friend, Emily. They placed their fingers on the planchette and asked if there were any spirits present in the room.
To their surprise, the planchette immediately began to move, spelling out the word "Yes."
Lofe couldn't believe it. He had always thought the Ouija board was just a silly game, but now he was starting to feel a bit uneasy.
"Okay good," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Because rent is due, and you need to fork over your share."
But as the planchette moved again, spelling out the words "F U C K," a strange feeling washed over Lofe. He could feel a presence in the room with them, something dark and malevolent.
Suddenly, the room grew colder and the lights began to flicker. The planchette was moving faster now, spelling out words that made no sense. Lofe's friends were screaming, but he couldn't hear them over the sound of his own racing heart.
In a moment of sheer panic, Lofe grabbed the planchette and threw it across the room. The room went silent, and Lofe and his friends fled the apartment, never looking back.
But the spirits they had disturbed that night did not let them go so easily. Lofe began to experience strange occurrences in his apartment – objects moving on their own, eerie whispers in the night, and a constant sense of being watched. He tried to ignore it, but the hauntings only seemed to get worse.
Finally, Lofe couldn't take it anymore. He packed up his things and moved out of the apartment, hoping to leave the spirits behind. But wherever he went, they seemed to follow him, haunting him for the rest of his days. Lofe lived the rest of his life in fear of the spirits that had attached themselves to him that fateful night.

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