Wicked Hungry

“I guess I’m your protection. Your backup.”

“Protection from what?”

“Those zombies out there, for one. My jaguar here might come in handy.”

I nod. “So what are we doing here with the board?”

Enrique shrugs. “My grandfather showed me how to use it. In our culture we respect and welcome the dead; we do not fear them. Downstairs, my parents have put up an altar, for el día de los muertos. The Day of the Dead. That was yesterday and today. So there is no better time to contact my great grandmother. She is already moving about, visiting her descendants.”

There’s a knock at the door. “¿No necesitas nada, m’ijo?”

“No, mamá, todo está bien. Solo necesito un poco de tiempo en paz.”

“Les dejo, entonces.”

Enrique lowers his voice. “Now we have a little time. My mother will leave us alone. I don’t think she knows what I’m doing, but she trusts me.” He looks at the jaguar. “If only my jaguar wasn’t glowing, I wouldn’t worry about doing this.”

Jonathan pulls out a book. “Maybe we should do a circle of protection. I have two or three different ones we could try.”

“Circle of protection?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Enrique smiles. “I told you he was our expert.”

“This one is pretty easy,” Jonathan says, pointing into his book at a blue circle that seems to shimmer as we look at it. It gives me a headache, and I turn away.

Enrique shakes his head. “But I have to put my hand on the board. How can I touch the board and keep myself safe?”

“What about us?” Jonathan asks.

Enrique sighs. “Are you afraid?

We must all be touching hands to do this.”

“Didn’t you say something about the triangle?” I ask Jonathan.

He nods. “Dude, triangles and circles go together. There are lots of reasons you find triangles in every building you look at that have nothing to do with engineering and everything to do with the supernatural.”

“Like what?”

“Like for protection, or containment,” Jonathan says. “Or gathering strength. I’ve been reading for a while about this. But Enrique wants to get started.”

He’s right: Enrique has opened the box and unfolded the board, and he’s staring at us expectantly.

“Ready?” he asks.

We nod.

“Then join hands and put a hand on my knee while I convene with the board.”

Chapter 25: A MESSAGE FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

The candles around us make up the five points of a pentagram, five triangles locked together. They flicker as Enrique closes his eyes. Then he opens them again. “One last thing,” he says. He takes the glowing jaguar and puts it on top of the Ouija board.

The candles around us burn brighter as the black jaguar glows in the dim light, giving off heat that warms my face. Enrique sighs and closes his eyes, and then I feel it. Something cold that flits across my face, past my arm. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and Jonathan’s hand tightens on mine. I can feel the tension in Enrique, too, through his knee. I close my eyes for a moment, then open them. Something is happening on the board. The jaguar is ... moving.

Or at least it’s not where I remember it being when I closed my eyes. And isn’t it glowing more brightly?

“Bisabuela? Are you there? ¿Estás allí?” Enrique asks.