“You know,” complained Yoongi as he ducked under the chainlink fence, nearly snagging the hood of his jacket on the rusty metal, “you guys have had a lot of stupid ideas over the years, but I really think this one takes the cake.”

“Well, why are you here, then?” shot back Jimin with a playful smirk.

The slightly shorter man shoved his backpack through the hole in the fence before squeezing through himself. He stood next to Yoongi with his hands on his hips, waiting for the rest of their friends to join them on the other side of the barrier.

“Because I don’t want you all to kill yourselves like the stupid kids you are,” sighed Yoongi, shaking his head.

Not bothering to wait for the others, Yoongi started the light trek up the hill toward the worn, weathered house that stood in front of him. Its shutters were painted a hideous purple, probably in an attempt to brighten the property, but it was made obvious by the peeling exterior that no one had lived in the house in quite a long time.

“You’re curious, too; just admit it, Yoongi,” teased Taehyung as he slipped through the fence.

Yoongi turned around to see his friends - five of them not including himself - standing in a rough semi-circle on the dying grass. There was a nip in the air, and Yoongi could see slight wisps of his breath trailing off as he breathed heavily through his nose, making his way back down the incline to stand with the others.

“I am absolutely not curious,” he addressed the snickering, orange-haired man. “I just… feel a certain sense of responsibility for all of you.”

Yoongi was the eldest in their little group of six, and it was true that he thought of himself as a sort of protector for the other boys. He could accept that they wanted to come to some old, creepy house to have their fun, but he still didn’t like the thought of them going without his level headedness to keep them out of trouble. The house was ancient-looking, and Yoongi feared that there would be loose planks or rats or who-knows-what-else waiting inside to snag at the younger men’s ankles. So, when Jimin had suggested they check out the “super awesome and totally haunted house” when it had become obvious that there was nothing more exciting to do that particular Saturday night, he had begrudgingly agreed to go along with his friends.

Now, it was nearly 2AM, Yoongi was shivering under his light sweatshirt, and he was beginning to find the attitudes of his companions increasingly annoying as they walked up to the house, pausing momentarily at the dusty front door.

“Remind me why exactly we’re here again?” Yoongi mumbled as Jimin pushed through the door, which let out a mighty creak as it opened.

“To see if this place is really haunted!” Jungkook exclaimed from behind them all.

The youngest had been in an extremely hyper mood ever since they had left Yoongi’s apartment earlier that night, and the air around him was envigorated with a mixture of excitement and fear. He obviously wanted to act brave in front of the older boys, but at the same time Yoongi could sense that Jungkook’s jitteriness was a result of more than just his seemingly eager exterior.

“To have a look around,” added Jimin. “Maybe take a few pictures or something. , I dunno; this place just seemed cool, okay?”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” laughed Namjoon as he pushed past the younger man. “This was your idea, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah…” muttered Jimin as he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “But, like, why do we even need a reason, anyway?”

“Because you could get hurt or arrested just for being here,” interjected Yoongi.

“That’s not gonna happen,” dismissed Jimin with a wave of his hand.

None of the boys had ventured very far into the house, but it was at this point that Jimin put on a brave face, shrugged under the weight of his pack, and took a few steps inside. He stopped short, nearly causing Taehyung to crash into him from behind, when he saw the message written on the wall just inside the foyer.

“‘Turn back now,’” Taehyung read aloud.

The ink was dark and viscous-looking, but it was hard to make out what material the words were actually written in by the dim light of the moon alone. Namjoon pulled out a flashlight and flicked it on, moving forward to take a closer look at the warning.

“Ooh, ominous!” tittered Jimin.

“But apparently not convincing enough to stop you morons.” Yoongi muttered as he watched the other men creep farther into the house, giggling as they went.

❧

For the next half hour, the six friends explored the house, and Yoongi stuck close mainly to Hoseok, who obviously didn’t want to be there either. In Hoseok’s case it was intense fear - rather than general worry - that prevented him from enjoying the trip. Where Yoongi was concerned only that the younger men would get hurt or in trouble with the law, Hoseok jumped at every brush of a draft or squeak of a wooden plank as it were a spirit ready to accost him and drag him off to Hell.

“I can’t stop thinking about that message in the front hall,” he admitted quietly to Yoongi while the group was exploring the kitchen.

“Don’t worry,” the older man reassured him. “Some stupid punks probably snuck in here and left that to scare other stupid punks. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimin came here earlier and wrote it himself.”

Just then, the aforementioned younger man let out a shill cry of terror, and Yoongi and Hoseok spun around to see Jimin next to the sink, jumping backwards as a rat came scurrying out from the space between the faucet and the wall.

“On second thought, I take that back,” chuckled Yoongi.

“Jiminnie hyung’s secretly a bigger scaredy-cat than Hoseok,” taunted Jungkook.

Jimin ignored them all, and huffed loudly as he pushed past the others to head toward the rickety staircase, which would take them to the second floor. The rest of the group followed him up, and quickly discovered that the rooms there were all horribly uninteresting; most of them having already been stripped of any furniture so that the only items of note were the broken, dusty lighting fixtures. After a few minutes of looking around, Jimin stood proudly in front of a door that opened to reveal a second set of stairs, this one apparently leading to the house’s attic.

“Okay, guys - now the real fun begins,” announced Jimin as he ascended the stairs two at a time.

Namjoon was the next to follow him, and the older man gazed up at the tall wooden ceiling as the others filed quickly behind him.

“I thought you said we were just looking around?” Yoongi protested with crossed arms.

Jimin was kneeling in the center of the small space, using his flashlight to root around in his backpack. The other men circled around him, continuing to gaze at the cobwebbed room that was again void of any furniture save for an old trunk in one dimly-lit corner.

“Yeah, and we did,” scoffed Jimin. “But now it’s time to do something that’s actually interesting.”

The young man pulled a rectangular box out of his backpack, and set it on the worn floorboards in front of him. Yoongi stepped forward to get a better look at it, but the symbols on the box were in a writing he didn’t recognize - if they were even meant to be a language at all.

“You sure seemed interested in that rat downstairs,” teased Taehyung as he sat cross-legged on the floor beside Jimin.

Hoseok tentatively took a seat next to Jungkook, who was practically vibrating with anticipation. Namjoon plopped down at Yoongi’s feet, and motioned for the older man to join him, but Yoongi stayed stubborn and refused to sit.

“We shouldn’t be here,” he protested. “This attic is probably crawling with asbestos or mold or ing fiberglass or something, and you wanna play some dumb board game with everyone.”

“It’s not that lame.” Jimin pouted as he removed the lid from the box, uncovering a board that folded out to reveal the complete alphabet spread out in individual letters, along with a small wooden triangle with a glass marble in its middle. “It’s a ouija board.”

“I retract my earlier statement,” said Yoongi gruffly. “This is the stupidest idea you’ve ever had.”

❧

“How does it work?” asked Jungkook, scooting closer.

“Everyone puts their hands on it like this-” Jimin paused to move his and Jungkook’s fingers to the triangular planchette, and Taehyung followed of his own accord. “And then we ask it a question and it answers.”

“Cool,” marveled Jungkook, though the board had not yet done anything.

Yoongi eventually caved and took his seat next to Namjoon, completing the circle of six around the board. The three youngest giggled and kept their hands on the planchette, but the elder half of the group all hesitated for a moment. Yoongi turned to Namjoon.

“You’re okay with this?” he asked the other man.

Namjoon wasn’t even the next oldest - that was Hoseok - but Yoongi felt that the former had a certain air of intelligence and leadership that was unmatched by any of his other friends. Besides, Hoseok was currently having what appeared to be a small mental breakdown as he stared at the board with what could only be described as a mixture of pure horror and absolute contempt. Namjoon pondered the question for a moment before dragging himself forward and putting his hands on the planchette.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” he replied. “You and I both know it’s all fake anyway; let the kids have their fun.”

“Ouija boards aren’t ‘fun,’” piped up Hoseok from where he was sitting curled into a ball. “They’re terrifying.”

“Yeah; Hoseok’s right,” agreed Taehyung, looking more ecstatic than scared. “This is serious stuff.”

He wiggled his long fingers as he said this, making Jungkook giggle nervously as he shined his flashlight at Taehyung’s face, casting it in eerie shadows. Jimin wasn’t nearly as amused, and he glared at the younger two.

“Are we doing this or not?” he asked impatiently.

“Yeah, yeah; don’t get your in a knot,” joked Taehyung as he replaced his hands. “Yoongi, Hoseok: you in?”

Hoseok silently but adamantly shook his head “no,” and Yoongi reclined on the musty wooden planks as he gave his answer.

“Pass.”

“Suit yourself,” shrugged Taehyung as he shifted his attention back to the board.

❧

The four men around the board sat in silence for several seconds as each one waited for the others to start.

“Are we doing this or not?” prodded Jungkook.

“Someone has to ask a question first,” explained Namjoon. “You know; to get the ghosts going.”

“Fine then. Ask something,” encouraged Jungkook, his eyes open wide to observe.

“I’ll do it!” volunteered Taehyung. “Oh, Mighty Ghost Overlords, is Taehyung the handsomest man among this group of ‘visually-challenged’ peons?”

The planchette moved so that the window was over the word “YES” that was written at the bottom of the board. Beside this was printed “NO,” and underneath were the words “HELLO” and “GOODBYE.”

“Shut up, Tae; that was totally you moving it,” laughed Jungkook.

“It wasn’t! I swear. The ghosts just think I’m incredibly good-looking.”

Yoongi rolled his eyes as he moved to be closer to Hoseok, who by this point had virtually squeezed himself into the farthest corner of the room. The younger man was holding onto a flashlight and the beam of light trembled in his shaking hands as Yoongi settled against the creaking wall next to him.

“You okay, Hobi?”

Hoseok shook his head weakly in reply.

“I don’t like those things one bit,” he whimpered, referring to the ouija board. “My sister said she and her friends used one once, and one of them ended up possessed by some weird old man spirit who wouldn’t leave them alone for the rest of the night.”

“That’s just normal teenage girl group hysteria,” Yoongi assured him. “Trust me, the only thing we have to worry about up here is the toxic mold that’s probably in all the air vents.”

Hoseok had been almost on the verge of hyperventilating, but now he stopped and held his breath in shock. Yoongi sighed heavily as he shifted his position.

“Forget I said anything, okay?” he grunted, trying to find a pose he could at least sleep in for a bit until the other boys were done with their silly game.

“Hey! Who did that?”

Yoongi’s eyes shot back open at the sound of Jimin’s voice, and the older man moved to hover over the board, watching it as the four boys knelt with their fingers still on the planchette. Nothing looked out of the ordinary to him, and the wooden piece was motionless on the board, resting over nothing in particular as Jimin shot an accusatory glance at Taehyung.

Before the orange-haired man had a chance to defend himself, the planchette suddenly jerked, pulling all four sets of hands with it as it moved to yet another blank space on the board.

“Tae, quit it,” whined Jungkook, an hint of alarm in his voice.

“Yeah; you’ve been moving that thing all night,” chuckled Namjoon.

“No! I moved it once; the last few minutes have been all Jimin,” insisted Taehyung.

“If it’s not you, then prove it.” Jungkook looked over at the older man with confidence as a small smirk spread itself across his lips.

“Fine,” yelled Taehyung.

He took his hands off the planchette and held them in the air to prove his innocence. Several seconds passed without incident, and the other boys all stayed in a tense silence as they waited for another sign from their supposed ghost. Even Hoseok had crept over to stand slightly behind Yoongi, who was still peering curiously over at the board. Jungkook laughed, breaking the silence, before he spoke.

“See? I knew it was you, Taehy-”

He was cut off as the planchette moved sharply, finally coming to rest on a word.

❧

Yoongi leaned forward to peek over Namjoon’s shoulder, trying to get a better look at the letters. The glass marble had in fact come to rest over an actual word this time, and Yoongi saw with some surprise that it was the small “GOODBYE” printed at the bottom of the board.

“‘Goodbye?’” read Jimin, confusion showing on his round face. “Silly ghost; we haven’t even talked to you yet. How can it already be time to say goodbye?”

There was a huge smile spread across the young man’s face, yet his voice wavered ever so slightly as he looked up into the empty air above the board. The room was dimly lit, but Jimin had placed several tall candles around the board while Yoongi was busy talking with Hoseok, giving the whole place an antique - and slightly gloomy - atmosphere. The tiny flames flickered to illuminate the slight glimmers of fear behind the four men’s eyes as Taehyung put his hands back on the planchette.

“I told you it wasn’t me,” he whispered, although no one really listened.

The six friends were all far too concentrated on the wooden plank, which had started to move slowly across the board once more. This time the glass window stopped to reveal the word “HELLO,” which brought a more genuine eye smile to Jimin’s mouth.

“That’s better,” he laughed.

The glass of the planchette almost seemed to twinkle in the soft candlelight.

“We should leave.”

Hoseok spoke suddenly from behind Yoongi’s shoulder, and the unexpected noise almost caused the older man to tumble forward into the board, which had stopped moving for the time being.

“Whoa! Give a guy some warning; would ya, Hoseok?” grumbled Yoongi, finding his footing on the dark floor.

“Sorry,” he apologized quickly. “But we really should get out of here - soon. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“You have a bad feeling about anything that’s cool,” complained Jimin from his place on the floor. “Let’s ask it a question.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s not just an ‘it,’” mused Namjoon - intrigued despite his earlier dismissal of the board as nothing more than a cheap party trick. “Let’s ask if it’s a guy or a girl.”

Without any further prompting, the playing piece moved to hover over the “M” on the board, where it stopped abruptly.

“‘M,’ huh?” chuckled Taehyung. “Guess that stands for “Male.’”

“Great; so now I have a gender to give to the thing in my nightmares tonight,” continued Hoseok. “Can we please all leave?”

The nervous man was already moving toward the attic door, and by the time he had his hand on the knob, Namjoon had stood up and agreed that maybe it was time to go before the police showed up - or worse, Jungkook’s parents came looking for them. Hoseok breathed a sigh of relief as he twisted the knob, but quickly found that it wouldn’t budge.

“Hoseok? What gives?” asked Yoongi as he approached the younger man.

“It’s stuck,” grumbled Hoseok, his voice surprisingly clear despite the terror written all over his face. “It won’t open.”

Jimin, for one, didn’t seem to be at all phased by this, and smiled again as he took his seat back by the board. He put his fingers gingerly on the edges of the planchette, and looked up expectantly at the other men as he spoke.

“I guess we’ll have to keep playing, then.”

❧

The boys’ second attempt at contacting the ghost was much more formal in atmosphere. The original four players sat solemnly around the board, and Hoseok flitted about nearby - closer than he had been, yet still apart from the others. Again, Taehyung asked if Yoongi wanted to join, and although he was more tempted than he would have like to admit, the older man again refused, opting instead to sit to the side and observe.

“Fine,” Taehyung shrugged. “But you could miss out on something really cool!”

Jungkook was practically bouncing with excitement as he kept his fingers firmly pressed to the planchette, looking from face to face around the little circle.

“What do we ask him?” wondered the youngest as he continued to vibrate.

“Well, first thing’s first: we should make sure he’s still here,” Namjoon replied.

The board made no indication that the question had been received, so Jimin decided to ask it more directly.

“Mr. Ghost, are you still with us?”

Quickly, the planchette shot to the word “YES.”

“Good.” Jimin paused for several seconds. “Then I guess what we should ask next is… what’s your name?”

The planchette moved again, this time stopping at several letters as it spelled out its message. The boys all leaned a little closer in, and collectively held their breath as the piece moved. Jungkook read out the letters as the planchette made its brief stop at each.

“J… I… N… Jin.” The youngest man’s eyes grew wide as he raised them to look at the others in the room, who were all in a similar state of shock. “We’re talking to Jin?” he whispered.

The glass marble stayed poised over the “N” as Yoongi swallowed heavily. Jin had been a year older than him, and was the eldest member of their little group of friends until last year, when he had been tragically hit and killed by a bus. Yoongi and the other boys had mourned for weeks after his death; Jungkook the most devastated among them, although the kid would never admit to that fact for fear of being seen as weak. In reality, though, Jin’s death had affected all of the boys in profound ways, and none of them blamed Jungkook for being upset over it.

❧

Jimin his lips, clearly uncertain about what to do next. Not only had they actually managed to contact a ghost through the ouija board, but now it appeared to be the spirit of their departed friend. The attic had grown considerably cooler since they had first arrived, and the flickering light provided by the candles was less of a comfort and more of a sort of ominous foreboding. Yoongi saw that Hoseok had a hand pressed to his mouth, and was staring at the board with tears in the corners of his eyes.

“I-I… don’t want to play anymore,” sniveled Jungkook.

“It’s okay; we can stop,” Namjoon assured the boy, trying to keep his own voice calm.

Jungkook attempted to pull his hands off the planchette, but quickly found that they wouldn’t budge. It was as if his fingers were glued to the small triangle of wood, and no matter how he twisted or turned, they wouldn’t release from the motionless planchette. The other three men with their hands on the piece were all in similar situations, and a small panic started to rise as they discovered that they were all trapped on the board.

“Jin, why are you doing this?!” shouted Jimin, almost in tears as he struggled to remove his hands even while he asked the question.

The planchette had drifted to a random spot on the board, but now it started moving rapidly - still with their fingers attached to it - as it spelled out another word.

“S-T-U-P-I-D; ‘stupid?’” said Yoongi as the board finished spelling the word. “Who’s stupid?”

“Us, obviously,” grumbled Taehyung, who had been surprisingly quiet up until now. “It was Jimin’s idiot idea to come here and play with this stupid board. But Hoseok was right; it’s not a ing toy.”

The playing piece was moving at a blinding speed, travelling between the same two letters again and again. “H-A-H-A-H-A-H-A-H-A” It was laughing at them. Obviously Taehyung had been correct in his assumption that the spirit was tormenting them because they themselves were the stupid ones.

“Don’t pin this all on me,” cried Jimin desperately. “You guys all went along with it.”

Suddenly the planchette stopped, and began spelling out another word.

“‘Angry,’ Namjoon read when it was finished. “Jin is angry.”

“But why? At us?” asked Jimin tearfully.

The planchette swirled as it kept the men glued to the board, aimlessly circling the jumble of letters.

❧

Yoongi stopped watching the board when he realized that Hoseok, who had been right beside him and practically clinging to his arm at one point, was now nowhere to be found. He wandered away from the others - still stuck at the rogue ouija board - to search for their missing friend.

“Jin, can you please let me go?” sobbed Jungkook from behind him.

Yoongi didn’t look at the board, but he didn’t have to turn around to know that the answer had been “NO.” Jungkook started breathing heavily, which did little to calm to older man’s nerves as he looked for Hoseok, peering into the shadows that were the only place to hide in the empty attic.

“Hoseok?” Yoongi called out.

His voice surprised him with the frightened quality it took on as the word left his mouth, and he could feel his throat hitch a little at the last syllable, making it crack. There was no answer, so Yoongi ventured a little deeper into the attic, abandoning the limited light afforded by the candles around the board and wishing he had thought to grab his flashlight before making it this far. It seemed foolish to turn back now, though, so he continued on into the dim corners of the room, and eventually found Hoseok huddled up beside the one embellishment present in the entire space: the old trunk.

“H-Hey, Hoseok.” Yoongi tried to keep his voice from shaking, but he couldn’t yet see his friend’s face, and that fact was extremely unnerving to him.

Hoseok made no response and continued to stare at the ground.

“What are you doing over here, Hobi?” he pressed, able to feel a heavy lump rising slowly in his chest. “We have to find a way out of here, remember?”

Hoseok hugged his knees closer to his chest as he let out a dark laugh that sent chills down Yoongi’s spine and straight into his ankles, which were planted firmly in place where he stood. He could barely see Hoseok’s face as the younger man looked up at him, but thought that he could detect a slight shimmer across his friend’s dark eyes.

“Don’t you see, Yoongi?” asked Hoseok in an uncharacteristically deep voice as he sobbed. “There is no way out!”

Without warning, Hoseok shot up and lunged at Yoongi, who barely managed to step out of the way before his friend came crashing down, sending up a plume of dust from the floorboards. The younger man wasn’t that easily discouraged, though, as he clawed his way up the front of Yoongi’s shirt, pressing their faces together until their noses touched and Yoongi could feel Hoseok’s hot breath on his own mouth.

“We. Are. TRAPPED!” yelled Hoseok.

Yoongi stumbled backwards, and looked behind him to see the other four still holding onto the planchette as it swirled frenziedly around the board. No one was even asking questions anymore, but that did little to stop the plank as it tore the four horrified men from one end of the ouija board to the other, jostling them against one another as they were kept powerless to remove their own hands.

“Uh, guys,” called Yoongi as he looked at Hoseok’s maniacally smiling face. “Little help here?”

“We could ask the same of you!” came Namjoon’s reply.

Left to fend for himself, Yoongi had little choice but to fall backwards onto the ground as he leaned farther and farther away from Hoseok, who was advancing steadily. On the floor, Yoongi used his feet to push himself to the other side of the small attic, toward where the ouija board and the door were positioned.

❧

Taehyung called out as Yoongi scooted past the board, keeping his eyes on the painfully slowly approaching Hoseok.

“A plan would be really nice right about now, Yoongi!”

“I know; I’m trying to think of one!” he replied as he scrambled away.

Hoseok was now almost halfway across the attic, and had started crawling in a fashion that was really more akin to a slither, clawing his way forward on his stomach using only his hands and chin. Yoongi glanced over at the ouija board, which hadn’t calmed down one bit in the time it had taken him to cross the floor.

“I need to ask it a question,” he said as he continued to push himself farther away.

“Ask away, but I seriously doubt it’ll listen at this point!” yelled Jimin, who looked like he might be about to faint.

Yoongi felt his back hit the door, and he summoned all his courage as he looked directly at the board. The planchette was moving so rapidly that it was practically hovering, though the hands of the four unfortunate young men were still stubbornly attached to the thing as it made its repeated journey from one end of the board to the other. Yoongi took a deep breath.

“How many “N”s are in your name?” he asked as confidently and clearly as he could.

To everyone’s surprise, the planchette stopped where it was and moved very deliberately to a space on the board. Yoongi couldn’t see from his position by the door, so Taehyung read the response to him, shouting over Hoseok, who had started to wail at the top of his lungs as he made his way toward Yoongi.

“Two!” yelled the orange haired man, a look of pure terror on his face.

That was it. It was not Jin who they had been talking to, but a Jinn - and one that seemed none too happy to entertain them, at that. Yoongi glanced at Hoseok, who had now made up more than half the distance between them, and squeezed his eyes shut as the seemingly possessed man let out a cackle that shook the weak walls of the attic. He heard his friends at the board screaming as something collapsed behind him, and before Yoongi knew what was happening, the door had opened and he was tumbling down the stairs.

❧

The hallway below was dark, but Yoongi at least had the light of the moon to work by as he gazed up at the staircase, expecting some terrible apparition to appear at its landing and attack him before he could even think to beg for his life. Instead, it was Taehyung who he saw, followed closely by a very hysterical Jimin. The pair rushed down the stairs, dragged Yoongi to his feet, and were yelling at him to move his and get out of the house before he knew what was happening.

Back outside, Yoongi collapsed heavily onto the grass, and felt the wet dew of the early morning soak into his sweatshirt at the shoulders. He breathed heavily, relishing the crisp notes of the still-dark air that tickled his lungs as he inhaled. Taehyung and Jimin were on the ground beside him, and Yoongi looked up to see Namjoon bursting forth from the front door, carrying an unconscious Hoseok over his shoulder as Jungkook trailed the two of them. The six men took a moment to collect themselves and shout a few choice swears as loudly as they could before making a mad dash for the chainlink fence, passing Hoseok through the gap as he started to come around and mumble something about a headache.

They carried Hoseok - who was barely awake - taking turns in tandem, and not slowing down until they were back at Yoongi’s apartment, the door locked behind them and blankets thrown over their heads as the six of them sat shaking on the living room floor.

“The board - ing - burst into flames - after you left,” Taehyung informed Yoongi between breaths.

“And Hoseok fainted,” added Jungkook, slightly winded himself.

“We were just lucky the thing let us go after it caught fire,” said Namjoon.

He held up his fingers, which had a light coating of soot on them, and fell backwards into the pile of cushions on the floor behind him.

“I know one thing,” he continued, still lying down.

“What’s that?” asked Yoongi as he reclined on the pillows next to his friend.

It was Hoseok, however, who finished the statement; standing up to gaze out over the other assembled men with an almost threatening air of intimidation as he in a breath.

“We are never letting Jimin near a board game again.”

This story was a lot of fun to write! I’ve always been fascinated by ouija boards, though I’ve never used one; probably because I’m afraid of something like this happening if I do, haha.

I took the idea of the Jinn from Arabic mythology, where Jinn are creatures that - like humans - have free will, but can often act like tricksters/temptresses in an effort to get humans to do bad things. Since they have autonomy, Jinn can be good, evil, or neutral, and although they are generally unable to be seen by humans, the two groups can sometimes interact. I like to think that the Jinn in this story is more focused on playing a prank on the boys than on being truly malevolent; thus why it doesn’t actually harm any of them and in the end lets them all go.

Supposedly the Jinn are all around us, so it seemed plausible to me that one might try to communicate through something like a ouija board. Just something to think about ; )

Thanks for reading!