Ella and the book

“I am really not sure if we should do such a thing,” Ella said as she walked from the kitchen into the living room of her friend Mia's house.

“Come on, Ella,” Annalise, another member of their small clique, responded from the couch. “It is just a fun thing. You don't believe there is actually something gonna happen. It is just a old book Jen found at the antique store.”

“I not even knew the mall had an antique store,” Mia said as she also came into the living room, carrying some candles and placing them next to an old looking book on the table next to the couch.

“I don't,” Ella said and looked a bit around, her friends clearly not worried. “I am just thinking, you never know,” she said and sat down on the couch. The four girls knew each other since childhood and Mia had been the last of them who turned 18 recently, therefore inviting her friends to a sleepover.

Annalise and Jen meanwhile had arranged the candles and Jen opened the book, which, the girls guessed, was written in Latin. Some illustrations showed how to set up the candles. Outside it had got really dark by this time and when Mia flipped off the lights, only the candles illuminated the girls' faces.

“Last time to leave, Ella,” Jen said and kneed down next to the book. “If you are too worried.”