They picked up the time capsule dated 1975, but knew the items inside were from 2025.

‘Do you think he did it?’ Darien asked.

‘Shall we check?’ Sawyer asked.

‘No, not yet. We should wait for a message,’ Darien said. They sat staring at the time capsule before them, both wondering what lie inside this time. Both hoping it would be enough. Then the clock started ticking, both turning their heads to look at it.

The tick tock of the clock masked the sound of the boy arriving in the room, he walked towards the Ouija board.

‘Did you, do it?’ Darien asked, his finger on the pointer, moving it to the letters.

The pointer on the Ouija board before them then began to move towards the word yes. Sawyer looked up at Darien and smiled.

'Is it full?’ Darien asked, carefully spelling out the words.

Again, the pointer went to the yes. They smiled at one another and watched the other boy move from the Ouija to the window, he stood for while looking at the setting sun. The bruise on his face didn’t go unnoticed by either of them.

The tick tock of the clock continued through the night, as time moved on Darien kept his eye on the capsule. The dirt and mud covering the outside looked sticky and wet it had been freshly dug up.

When the sun came through the window and the boy left the room, the tick tock of the clock stopped. Both Sawyer and Darien relaxed. 

‘We should open it,’ Sawyer said.

Darien smiled. He twisted the lid of the capsule and as he removed it some small things fell out. They rolled across the floor. Sawyer scrabbled to rescue them.

‘What are they?’ Darien asked.

‘Don’t know, what else is inside?’ Sawyer asked. Darien began to pull out things from inside, he placed them on the floor between them. They stared at the things and both smiled.

Tick Tock

There was no time to put the things back, Darien looked to Sawyer and then at the floor, panic on his face. He quickly scooped the things to the side and hoped the boy didn’t see, they weren’t supposed to open it.

Tick Tock

When the door opened, they both looked startled like kids caught with their hand in the sweet jar. The boy stopped and looked at the floor, his eyes taking in all the things lying there.

Tick Tock.

Darien and Sawyer stay still, to afraid to move.

‘Right, where is it, I warned you?’ the man said seconds before he barged into the room, giving Sawyer and Darien only a second to hide. The man looked around the room, before his eyes lifted to see the Ouija board on the other side of the room.

Tick Tock

The boy stood still by the window, fear on his face. The ticking clock was now the only sound in the room.

‘Bloody hell, I warned you about using this,’ the man said, he snatched up the board and turned. He paid it no attention to anything else in the room and left. The boy by the window left moments later, taking care to not disturb the items on the floor.

The tick tock of the clock stopped. Darien and Sawyer relaxed. They heard a door bang and other loud noises but paid them no mind.

‘What do we do now, we can’t talk to him anymore,’ Sawyer said.

Darien shrugged, he picked up some of the items, turning them over in his hands.

‘What do we do with them?’ Sawyer asked.

Darien looked at him and wondered if his brother had forgotten the deal they had made.

‘You know what?’ Darien said.

‘But’ Sawyer started to say, Darien held his hand up.

‘There is no but, we have to do what he says,’ Darien said.

‘Why? Can’t we just keep one thing,’ Sawyer said, his eyes drawn to the things on the floor before him.

‘We can’t,’Darien said, although the thought and temptation was there. His fingers brushed over the items although he was barely touching them, he smiled.

Sawyer sighed, ‘how long do we have to wait?’

Darien shrugged. The day moved on slowly and as the sun began to set the clock began to tick.

Tick Tock.

The boy came in the room, moved to the window and turned. His eyes moved to where the Ouiji board once stood, he sighed. His face was red and his eyes puffy, something about him had changed.

Tick Tock.

Sawyer poked Darien.

‘What do we do?’ he asked. When the boy turned to face them, his eyes searching and his head cocked to the side, Darien smiled.

‘Can you hear us?’ Darien asked.

The boy turned around full circle, he looked up and down and towards the window.

‘We are in the middle of the room,’ Darien said. The boy turned slowly and looked.

Tick Tock.

‘He can see us,’ Sawyer said.

‘No, I don’t think so, but he can hear us,’ Darien said. The boy stared.

Tick Tock

The boy nodded, he put his hand to his mouth and shook his head.

‘He can’t speak,’ Darien said.

‘Write,’ Darien said. They watched the boy leave the room, the tick tock of the clock stopped. The silence that followed was heavy.

Darien felt deflated, he looked to the stuff on the floor, then to Sawyer.

‘What if he doesn’t come back?’ Sawyer said.

Darien was about to answer when the sound of the clock came back, but this time it was different.

Tock Tick

They both stopped, neither wanting to take a breath.

Tock tick

Heaviness and cold filled the room as he walked in. His presence filling the space before them. Darien and Sawyer both looked up into the eyes of the being before them. Eyes they had seen before.

Tock Tick

He looked down at the things on the floor, a wicked smile came to his face.

‘My two boys, you did good. Where is the boy?’ the man asked.

Darien looked at Sawyer who looked as if he was about to cry.

‘He left,’ Darien said.

‘Did he now, then I will wait for him,’ the man said.

Tock Tick

Tick Tock

Tock Tick

The boy walked in, he stopped his eyes fixed on the being, the clock just went tick and tock and tock and tick all the while they stood facing one another.

‘You two,’ the man said, he turned to look down at Sawyer and Darien.

They both looked up at him, at his red glowing eyes and pointed teeth. Neither were afraid now, they knew what was going to come next.

Tock Tick

‘You are both wicked children, but you are now free. You have paid your dues, and you will not see me again. He, however, still has a penance to pay.’

They looked at one another and smiled. For the first time in many years, they were now free to leave. Their penance paid in full.

Both knew it was all they deserved for what they did, even though it wasn’t truly their fault. Well, not all of it. Their father died because they were stupid and careless. The hole didn’t need to be that big, or that deep for such a tiny capsule, did it? It wasn’t their fault he was drunk and fell in. But they were punished all the same.

The boy hadn’t moved an inch all the while the man was talking. As the boys were about to leave, they saw the man reach down with a long-pointed finger, he touched the boy on the forehead.

A sigh escaped the boy's lips and as he fell to the floor stone cold dead, the man scooped up his treasure.

‘I will return for you soon, Oliver. You have a penance to pay.’ The being then left.

The sound of the ticking clock had stopped.

Sawyer and Darien watched the boy rise from his body, his ghostly form strong and as he turned, he smiled.

‘I knew this place was haunted,’ he said, then realised he had spoken for the first time ever in his life, he smiled.

‘What did you do?’ Darien asked.

‘My father used to beat me, so I pushed him into the hole I dug to find the capsule. It was buried deep,’ Oliver said.

Sawyer and Darien laughed.

 ‘Were you the ones who buried the capsule?’ Oliver asked.

‘Yes,’ said Darien, ‘in 1975.’