DARK SECRET OF THE OUIJA
CHAPTER 8
Jenny stared at the kitchen phone. She thought, Carol wouldn't hang up on me. Not Carol. I'm sure she's dialing back right now. I'm sure that phone's going to ring any second.
But the phone remained silent.
Jenny sat down at the table and laid her arms on its cold surface. A frightening sense of aloneness welled up through her like a deep, drowning sea.
"Carol," Jenny screamed. The sound echoed off the walls. "What's happened to our friendship?" She laid her head on her arms. "This is all your fault, Dad."
Jenny scraped her chair across the floor tiles as she pushed away from the table. "Dear Jesus, I'm so alone. I know You're here, but I can't feel Your presence any more. Won't You please bring this loneliness to an end? I don't know how to get Carol back. I don't know how to undo what Phoenix and the Ouija board have done."
Who could she call? Who would help her? Alan came to mind. Yes, he understood her! He understood about Ouija boards, too. She looked up his number in the address book and prayed he would be home. He was probably at work and she'd be embarrassed about calling, but at least it gave her something to try.
His deep voice answered after a few rings.
"You're home!" she blurted.
"I took the day off to fix my wife's car. What can I do for you?"
Jenny prayed silently, Thank you, Jesus! She told Alan, "You were right about the Ouija board, and now it's stealing my best friend from me. I don't know what to do."
"Let's talk about it at church. Do you have a way to get there?"
"No. My mom's at work."
"Then I'll pick you up."
As they entered the church together and sat down on the front pew, Jenny sensed a peacefulness she hadn't felt at home. In a quiet tone, she finished describing her problem to Alan. "I can't believe Carol's treating me like this. Sometimes I think it's Phoenix's fault, but I can't figure out why Phoenix is interested in Carol. The only thing they have in common is the Ouija board."
"Would you say the Ouija board has a power over Carol?" Alan asked.
Jenny frowned. "Phoenix keeps saying it has powers."
"And where do its powers come from?"
"At first I thought from our minds. But some of its answers have been supernatural."
"There's only two sources of supernatural power," Alan said. "One is God, but we know the Ouija board's answers didn't come from Him, since He tells us not to use divination. So what's left?"
Jenny didn't know.
Alan answered, "What evil supernatural forces are there except demons?"
Jenny gasped. "I didn't know demons were real."
"Jesus did. He spoke to them and cast them out of people."
A horrifying thought hit Jenny. "You don't think Carol's possessed, do you?"
"Not at all," Alan assured her. "But whenever we open ourselves to the demons of the occult, we open ourselves to their influence. You see, Jenny, every occult power comes from Satan. He uses the occult to keep people from knowing the love of Jesus and His greater supernatural power. But he hides that from people like a dark secret."
"So how do I convince Carol she's playing with demons?" Jenny asked. Should I, with Jesus' help, ask the Ouija board to tell Carol the truth?"
"No," Alan said. "Stay away from it. The evil spirit behind it hates you because you belong to Jesus. Don't give it a chance to do something to you."
"You mean it could kill me, the way it said?" Jenny asked, her eyes widening with fear.
"No, Jesus is protecting you. But it could look for some way to destroy your relationship with God. Don't give it that opportunity."
Jenny nodded. "So how do I get Carol away from it?"
Alan stroked his face thoughtfully. "The power of Jesus is stronger than the power of the Ouija. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then conquered death on Easter morning, he conquered all of Satan's powers."
Jenny looked up at the large crucifix hanging on the wall behind the altar. Light from the setting sun was passing through a stained-glass window, illuminating the cross with a rainbow of colors. "And Jesus can conquer the demon that Carol and Phoenix are playing with?"
"Definitely," Alan said, "if we ask God to bless Carol's occult activities."
"Bless them?" Jenny gave Alan a startled glance. "Why would God bless something that's evil?"
"For the same reason Jesus told us to pray for our enemies. The cure for evil is goodness. In first Peter three, verse nine, the Bible says that instead of returning evil for evil, we should give a blessing. What do you think happens when God blesses something?"
Jenny let the possibilities roll through her mind. "He makes it holy. So if I ask Him to bless Carol's Ouija board, He'd make it holy?"
"Not exactly." Alan shifted his long legs. "The powers behind the occult can never be made holy, since they're demonic. But if we ask God to bless Carol's Ouija board the next time she plays with it, He will surround it with His holiness. Any demons connected to it will flee."
"Then let's pray now!" Jenny insisted.
Alan took Jenny's hands and bowed his head. "Holy Father in Heaven, in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, we ask you to bless Carol's Ouija board when Carol and Phoenix use it. We ask you to fill the room with Your holy presence so that no demons can remain near Carol and Phoenix. We thank You for Your help, dear God."
"Why isn't it moving?" Carol asked.
Phoenix swore.
"It's like the Ouija's power suddenly left," Carol said.
"It did." Phoenix closed her eyes again. "Come back, o great powers of the Ouija!"
They waited. The planchette remained motionless.
Phoenix jumped up. "It's Jenny's doing."
"What? How could that be?"
"I don't know how she's doing it, but I can feel it," Phoenix said. "There's a different presence here. I don't like it." Phoenix grabbed her coat from the bed and backed toward the door.
"Wait!" Carol pleaded. "Why don't we try to communicate with that presence?"
"No. I have to go." Phoenix scooted down the stairs.
Carol ran after her. "Don't leave yet, Phoenix! Why can't we call the Ouija's powers back?"
Phoenix threw on her jacket. "Jenny's done something to block it. Find out what she's doing. Then make her stop."
"Before you go home," Alan said to Jenny, "I think there's something else you need to do."
"Sure, what?"
"Forgive your father."
"How do you know he did something that needs forgiveness?" she replied. She didn't remember telling him about that part of her problem.
Alan looked at her squarely in the eyes. "I don't know what he did, or what you think he did, but when we were praying, I sensed God saying you need to forgive him."
Jenny jumped from the pew. "My mother told you, didn't she? She doesn't understand why I can never forgive him. So she asked you to talk to me about it, didn't she?"
"No, she didn't."
"Cover for her, if you like, but what my father did was unforgivable." She stalked down the darkening aisle.