Under the cover of darkness and hidden beneath a black cloak, Luke moves quietly. However, as expected, his surroundings are anything but quiet. The city of Sonar is alive with celebrations; its residents remain awake for the holiday despite the sun having set hours ago.
Luke doesn't care for the celebrations, though. In fact, they are a most inconvenient factor at the moment. The gloomy and haunted atmosphere all around only intensifies his terror, and the sounds of children running, laughing, and screaming frighten him. For someone who wants nothing but silence, they are too loud. Their celebrations seem to awaken the heavens, revealing to them the evil he is about to commit—or at least that's how he feels when lightning flashes in the sky, warning of rain, warning against his actions, telling him to turn back. He doesn't heed the warnings, though, as yearning—or perhaps an evil spirit he is unaware of—drives him forward.
Luke curses the holiday he once loved, more afraid of it now than he has ever been. As a child, he only pretended to be a necromancer, raising the dead and summoning fake ghosts and spirits. He had no idea that the real thing would be such a terrifying affair. And he would never have found out if he hadn't lost so many. But he has—too many to only keep pretending.
As he nears his destination, the city cemetery, he can no longer hear the voices that once surrounded him. The celebrations continue somewhere in the distance, but all he can hear now is his heartbeat, drumming against his rib cage. He knows it's wrong; he knows what he wants is wrong, but he wants it nonetheless. He doesn't care that he will be disturbing the dead, he doesn't care that it is an evil practice that could potentially harm him. He just wants to see his friend again. So, he moves forward. After all, it's Halloween. In a sense, he thinks he's doing nothing wrong—he's only celebrating the holiday.
Finally, Luke arrives at the cemetery, an open expanse of land as quiet as death. He walks in fearfully, past numerous gravestones covered in flowers, some fresh and some wilting, until he finally reaches a bare one. There lies his best friend.
"Hey, Phil," he says as he kneels before the gravestone. "I didn't bring any flowers today. I've been bringing a lot of them for you lately, but you haven't been able to give me anything in return. That's a bit unfair, don't you think?"
Luke pulls out a very suspicious-looking book from within his cloak and lays it before the grave.
"I met someone. He gave me something that's gonna give you the chance to be the good friend you used to be before you left me alone in this world."
With a deep breath, Luke pulls out a knife from within his cloak. He takes another breath to still his now-shaking hands, then slowly digs the blade into his flesh, deep enough for a substantial amount of blood to pour onto the book below. The brown book begins to glow a bright red, startling Luke. He stands up hurriedly and moves back, putting a good distance between himself and the book as it flips itself open, its turning pages ringing in his ears.
Suddenly, it stops, and after a few minutes of wary stares, Luke cautiously approaches the book again. He picks it up and begins the ritual he was taught, reading out the words on the page before him. With every word, the air grows heavier; with every sentence, the atmosphere thickens. But, having been warned against stopping once he starts reading, Luke continues. As the last word on the page leaves his lips, the ground begins to shake, like an earthquake affecting the entire cemetery. Luke shuts his eyes, afraid of what is going to happen next. He doesn't see the cracking gravestone before him or notice the shapeless form rising from its cracked gaps.
The thing takes on the form of the deceased teenage boy, and when Luke finally opens his eyes, he comes face to face with his dead friend.
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To be continued...