Halloween Night

It wasn't his idea. It was hers. She had wanted to do something "Different" this halloween. They had spent every halloween together, without fail-for six years straight. 

Well, they definitely were "chilling" to the bone.

"Hey-Kara. I think we've been here long enough." 

Kara ran her hand through her hair, puffing out her cheeks as if the thought of leaving never occurred to her. Well, maybe that was why he had fallen in love with her.

"Are you kidding? This is the perfect place to spend halloween! You know, the ambiance."

"The only ambiance I feel is fear, you know how graveyards scare me-"

Kara scoffed, resting her arm on a tombstone lodged in dirt. "Don't be a baby Mal. We're much safer here than at home."

At home. Right. Kara's parents must be passed out on one of their plush couches, mouths drooling as they slept in drunken ignorance. 

That was probably why they didn't care the two were out this late. 

Yet She said those words so carefree, she was brave for a middle schooler. 

She always was. And he was the opposite. Thats why they were drawn together. 

He let his eyes wonder the graveyard, tombstones as far as his eyes could see. Kara had started humming to herself, and he shivered-knowing there was a dead body underneath her-cremated or not; made his skin crawl. 

"Ow!" She cries out suddenly, and his attention darts back up. Kara winces as she shows him her hand, opening her palm. A nail was lodged into the delicate skin-and he covered his mouth to hold back his nausea. "W-we need to get you to the hospital! Seriously, we should leave-"

Kara doesn't say anything for a moment. She wasn't screaming in pain, and her eyes weren't watering. Did she really not feel anything?

"It was a prank Mal." She laughs, plucking the nail out to reveal it was just a toy. 

"That wasn't funny! I was worried!"

She giggles, placing the nail in his hand, and closing his palm over it. "Its halloween Kara, not April fools. Seriously.." 

She'd almost given him a heart attack, he had almost passed out from pure anxiety. 

"What if it was real? What would you have done?" 

Kara purses her lips teasingly, looking at her friend expectantly. "Would you have pulled it out yourself? I doubt you have the balls."

He stood up, offended. "I do too!"

"Okay tough guy, go touch the tombstone at the far end of the cemetery." 

"What?"

"Its a test of courage, ever heard of it? Besides, you looked bored."

"Being bored doesn't mean I'd want to-"

"But you're not afraid right?" 

"I-am."

He watched as her eyebrow creased, she had not expected that answer. She stood up, dusting off her overalls. 

"I'm not." 

He tried to grab onto her sleeve, missing miserably and left only with the option to plead with his eyes. 

"But-what if something grabs you? Something not human? I wouldn't be able to save you you know?"

Kara's serious expression lightened. "Yeah well, I can take care of myself. I always have."

And with that, she was gone. He watched as her back disappeared into the mist of an already dreary night. 

All he could do was follow. 

Kara's footprints were small and barely visable. She wasn't exactly the heaviest person in their class, in fact-she was lighter than most people. The footprints started from a small path in between tombstones, traveling to the small mounds of dirt that covered the various unknown bodies. Just at a glance, he knew there were no names on these graves. 

"These are-"

War graves. The graves of the men and women who died in the heat of battle, their bodies too mangled to recover. He reached out instinctively, touching the rough surface of the words "anonymous" with trembling fingers. 

"I never realized..how many there were." 

Kara had, unknowingly, walked on the graves of the dead. 

Mal could feel his hair stand on end. He could imagine their faces, contorted in pain as they let out their last breath. Reaching out to the sky as they grew cold, and their faces pale of that of the dead. 

"It was too soon"

He walked back onto the path, his expression unreadable. He felt numb, from the cold of the wind making his hair flutter to the side. "Kara!" He calls, taking step by painful step. "I want to go home. Let's just stop this." 

Finally, he made out her figure. She was kneeling next to a grave. She seemed distracted, her face pale as she stared ahead. 

"Mal"

"Yeah?" He stood beside her, reaching out to touch her shoulder. 

"Are you dead?"

"You're crazy. Im right here, aren't I?"

"The nail, Mal. It went through your hand."

Ah, it had didn't it. He hadn't even noticed. Or, more like he didn't want to notice. 

Hands reached out to hold his. Instead of feeling the warmth of another person's skin, there was nothing. 

"You're dead."

"There has to be another explanation! I've been alive this whole time, I-"

"You kept complaining you were cold."

"I did-but its cold tonight right?"

"It's not." 

Kara smiled softly, standing up from her crouched spot. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, Mal. I wanted to see you again. It was selfish." 

Kara dug into her backpack, pulling out a black board. 

"Thats-a Ouiji board."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted things to be like they used to be." 

Her smile was melancholic. 

He held his hands up to his face. 

Running his hand to his neck, a deep gash met his fingers. A bullet wound. 

He was dead. 

"Thank you for spending halloween with me."

The memories flooded him, and he knew what he needed to do. 

"Don't do that again dummy."

"I won't. Just this once."

Kara avoided his gaze, her fingers trailing, reluctantly, to the Goodbye on the board. His form started to fade. Tears formed in her eyes; as she held a blade to her throat. 

"Bye Mal, see you at the other side."