"Evenin’ Jim… Spock. Didja wonder if I remembered what night it was?" McCoy greeted his friends with his familiar easygoing style.

Kirk pretended surprise. "What night is it, Bones?"

McCoy aimed a good-natured punch at his friend’s shoulder. "As if you didn’t know. Hey, wait’ll you see what I’ve got!" He whipped the box from beneath his arm. "Ta-da! A genuine, honest-to-goodness Ouija board! This’ll be just the thing…. " He broke off at the expression on Kirk’s face. "What’s the matter, Jim?"

"Don’t bring that thing in here, Bones. If you do, I’ll leave," Kirk warned.

"You’re kidding, right?" McCoy asked, his exuberant grin fading fast when he saw the look on Kirk’s face.

"No, I’m not kidding," Kirk returned firmly.

"But why, Jim?" McCoy persisted. Even Spock looked concerned, rising from his seat and setting aside his glass of iced fruit juice to get a better look at the box.

Kirk looked a bit embarrassed at his violent reaction, but held firm. "I’m sorry, Bones, but that thing just…. just brings back bad memories. If you and Spock want to use it, fine. Just take it somewhere else and do it."

McCoy laid the box down hastily in an unobtrusive place. "Gee, Jim, I had no idea you’d even seen a Ouija Board before."

Kirk remained ominously still.

Spock was lifting the lid with all the inquisitiveness of an eight year old, poking at the simple board inside with its numbers and letters. "It is constructed of simple Terran wood and plastic," Spock observed. "It seems harmless, Captain," he concluded.

"Don’t say that. That’s what we thought," Kirk replied sharply.

McCoy fixed Kirk with a piercing stare. "All right, Jim, we won’t even get it out of the box. But in return, as soon as I get me a drink, you’re gonna tell us what’s going on… what’s caused this reaction in you."

Kirk pressed his lips together in obstinate silence.

McCoy recognized the look. "Oh, no, you don’t. You’re gonna tell us… you know I won’t let it rest." He crossed over to the bar and began rattling glasses and ice. After he had concocted one of his special mixtures which Spock eyed doubtfully, he settled himself in a corner of the cozy sofa. "Okay, let’s have it."

"It’s nothing, Bones. I over-reacted, I guess," Kirk made a lame attempt to soften his reaction, but McCoy would have none of it.

"Jim, that crap might work with Spock, but it’s never worked with me. So cut to the chase and let’s have it," he ordered.

Kirk sighed. There was no evading the thing. Maybe it would be good to tell somebody what happened that night…. after all these years. "It happened the summer Gary Mitchell stayed with us. Gary’s parents and mine knew each other before Gary and I ever went to Starfleet Academy. It’s probably why we were drawn together as cadets. That, and our shared experience that one summer. We were only eleven or twelve... Hell, I don’t remember exactly. Old enough to have known better, maybe." Kirk paused for a sip of his drink.

"We had a great time that summer, Gary, Sam, Petey and I. Petey Greer was a neighborhood kid. A little on the small side, and maybe a little timid, but Sam and I thought he was okay. All red hair and freckles, that Petey. Yeah, he was an all right kid. Now Gary was a different story. He was visiting us from whatever colony he was from. He seemed to take an instant dislike to Petey. I think Petey brought out the bully in Gary. Gary was like that. You never could show him a weakness…he’d zero in on it and attack relentlessly."

Spock shifted in his seat. "So I noticed," he commented dryly.

Kirk shot a look at his first officer. "Well, you had to know Gary. He did have some good traits, too. Anyway, we had a lot of time on our hands that summer. Dad was home for a change, and it was great. Mom and Dad had their hands full just keeping us occupied and out of trouble. We had the run of the place, and run we did, all over our property, the neighboring farms… till one day we found this house in the woods. It was only a shell by then, a brick shell of what was once a grand, two story house. Most of the top story had crumbled away, but the walls and ceilings of the lower floor were pretty much intact.

"We spent all day exploring it, poking through the rubble, unearthing old plumbing, ancient wiring, rusty nails, chunks of plaster. We found an old crystal chandalier, much the worse for wear after its fall from the rotting ceiling and God knows how many years on the floor. We rooted through everything, and speculated about who might have lived there. Petey was as nervous as a tribble in a room full of Klingons while we were exploring. Gary didn’t help the matter … he kept jumping out at Petey from behind corners… Petey was so relieved when we left… " Kirk smiled at the memory.

"That night at the supper table, the four of us – Petey stayed for supper that night – were all relating the adventure to Mom and Dad.

Kirk chuckled. "Then this nervous laugh went around the table."

"We all exchanged looks… Sam’s and mine full of curiosity, Gary’s pure mischief, and Petey’s was dread with a dash of fear mixed in. I knew it wouldn’t be long before we returned to the house."

Kirk paused, gazing across the room as though looking back in time. Then he continued.

"Gary brought it up the very next day. He wanted to go back that night, but Sam firmly nixed that idea. He had promised a neighbor he’d help him with his field fertilization program. So it was two days later when Gary brought the subject up again. He was determined to go that night. He even checked... there was going to be a full moon.

"I wondered if I was the only one who could hear the false note of bravado in his voice.

"But just a visit to the local haunted house wasn’t all Gary had planned. He showed up late that evening, with a flat box tucked under his arm."

"Sam didn’t like that much… Gary’s ‘friendly punches’ were never that friendly. Anyway, as we tramped through the fields and finally the woods that sheltered the house, Gary explained he’d found the board in an antique shop. He knew what he was looking for, because he’d done a lot of reading about the occult. Petey looked real uncomfortable when Gary mentioned that. But it was too late to back out… we had arrived at the house.

"Somehow it looked more forbidding than it had in the daytime, sitting there washed in the moonlight, as if it was silently waiting… for us. A cold shiver went up my spine. I glanced at the others. Even though we were all nervous, no one was going to be the first to voice any misgiving.

"We went inside and the first thing I noticed was this all-pervading chill… it was a hot August night, yet I swear it was cold in that house. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. "

"A shiver ran through me at his unfortunate choice of words. Petey was real quiet, a good indication of how scared he was. Gary was the only one who seemed unaffected by the atmosphere. Everything was quiet except for the chirp of crickets and the buzz of cicadas. Gary moved into the center of the biggest room on the main floor, set down the box with the Ouija board in it, and started dragging things out of a sack he’d brought.

"Making a circle of candles, he lit them efficiently with a porta-flame he whipped out of his pocket."

"Then almost reverently, he brought out the Ouija board and set it in the circle of candlelight. It didn’t look like anything special to me… just a board printed with numbers, letters and some mysterious symbols. But Gary acted like it was our ticket to adventure. Finally, he had everything ready to his satisfaction."

"Gary and Sam were sitting on one side of the board, Petey and I on the other. He showed us how to place our fingertips lightly on the pointer, and warned us all not to try to guide it in any way."

"I could see Petey’s fingers tremble as he tried to keep them resting lightly on the pointer."

Kirk paused, taking a long sip of his drink.

"What did you ask the board, Jim?" McCoy nudged, in spite of the increasing anxiety in Kirk’s voice as he told his tale.

Kirk shook his head ruefully. "At first, Gary asked all the questions. All the silly stuff you always ask…‘Will I get married… be wealthy…be powerful...’ He claimed he was just warming up. Then Gary asked it when he would die. I think I must have made some sound of protest. I didn’t want him asking things like that. But he silenced me with a look, and rather than spoil his fun, I shut up. At first I thought the board might not answer. Then it began to move… 2…..2….6…..5…. the year 2265. Our eyes met in shock. That wasn’t very far into the future. And as you know…it turned out to be correct."

Kirk’s eyes met Spock’s unblinking obsidian gaze for a long moment before continuing. "Anyway, Gary tried hard to be nonchalant about it… and he probably fooled Sam and Petey…but not me. I knew he was shook. But he plunged on, probably to hide his reaction."

"The blood drained from our faces, and our eyes locked across the board, horrified. Vainly, Petey and I peered into the darkness beyond Gary and Sam’s shoulders, but Sam’s quick, nearly soundless intake of breath captured my attention. His gaze was riveted on a point somewhere behind Petey and me, and it was with a sinking feeling that I knew whatever it was, it was behind us. Then I heard the faint sound of breathing, a hiss of air through a moist passageway.

"None of this was lost on Petey either. His eyes were as big as saucers. I was cautiously trying to roll my eyes backward without turning my head…But Petey showed no such restraint. In a flash, he whipped his head around, took one look at whatever was behind us and let out a yelp of fear. That cry seemed to release whatever force had been holding us in our seats. We scrambled to our feet, and the Ouija board went flying across the room. Since the thing was between us and the door, we made a concerted dive for the gaping window, and largely fell through it, landing in a tangled sprawl of arms and legs on the dusty ground. Nobody bothered to take inventory, though, and we were on our feet and running a split second later. We ran as if pursued by all the demons of hell… and as far as we were concerned, that was exactly the case. We tore through the woods, our faces and arms and legs scratched by branches, until we emerged into the cornfield on the other side.

"Gary dropped to his hands and knees, totally winded. Sam and I were pretty breathless by then, too, and sprawled on the ground next to Gary, gasping. Endless seconds went by as we lay there, until finally I could speak. I looked back the way we had come."

"I finally arrived at the clearing where the house sat, and paused at the edge. There was a faint glow from the window we’d so recently tumbled through. I approached with caution and looked through. The glow came from the few candles that were still lit and hadn’t been scattered in our mad dash. I scanned the dark depths of the room. Whatever had been there, wasn’t there any more. Petey was still sitting cross legged where he had been, his eyes wide with shock."

"And he….. he fell over, and that’s when I saw that the whole back of his head…"

McCoy made an involuntary sound of shock and put his hand on Kirk’s arm. After a long moment during which Kirk pulled his emotions together, he continued. "The authorities ruled the death ‘accidental’… they said he probably hit the back of his head trying to scramble out of the window." Kirk paused, looking earnestly at Spock and McCoy. "But I knew better. You see, he never moved… never even had a chance to break for the window. He was still sitting right where he had been when we’d been asking questions. Whatever it was that Gary called forth that night, it killed again. It killed Petey. And that’s why I don’t ever want anything to do with a Ouija board again," he finished quietly.

"Jim, did you see… what was behind you?" McCoy asked hesitantly.

Kirk shook his head. "No. I think Sam and Gary saw it. Whether or not Gary’s extraordinary powers of ESP were involved, we’ll never know. Petey saw it better than anyone… but he wasn’t able to tell us about it. We only talked about it once, later that night. It was almost as though we thought if we talked about it…" Kirk stopped, overcome with memories.

"It would come back," Spock finished.

McCoy looked at the Vulcan with surprise. "You buying into this without scientific proof, Spock?" he asked, amazed.