Stepping carefully around a headstone, Hailey sighs and flicks the corner of her skirt. “It’s getting colder out and we still haven’t found this dumb statue. Are you sure we aren’t lost?”

“We’ve only been searching for like five minutes! Stop complaining and help me climb this thing,” Missy replies as she tries to hoist her leg over one of the more elaborate statues’ shoulders. “If I can get high enough, I’ll be able to see out over the whole graveyard and locate our missing lady!”

“This is such a bad idea,” Hailey murmurs as she walks over and puts her hands on Missy’s bottom.

“Oh!” Missy exclaims, startled. “Well hell-o Hailey! I didn’t know you were interested in me that way,” she says.

Rolling her eyes, Hailey whispers a quick spell and shoves.

“Whoa!” Missy exclaims as she finds herself suddenly supported with far more force than she’d expected from her diminutive friend. “You’ve gotten really strong. Jake you might have some competition.”

Ducking around another headstone at the sound of his name, the vampire Jake walks back over to the group and asks in his overdone accent, “Vhat?”

“Nothi- HEY, I see her!” Missy points excited out, almost unbalancing herself before swinging down from the statue in a smooth motion.

“Vee vho?” Jake asks.

“The Madonna,” she answers smoothly before setting off toward her objective.

Following her closely, Hailey pulls her scarce clothing tight around her body and complains, “God, why is it so cold!”

“You should have drank,” Missy replies, “alcohol keeps you warm.”

“I’ve never done that,” Hailey replies red-faced.

“Really?” Missy asks, curiously. “I guess I just kinda assumed since, you know, Amanda was a bit of a drunk and all.”

Shaking her head, Hailey casts her eyes to the floor and looks away mumbling, “No, she was planning on introducing me to underage drinking at the birthday party. She told me while we were shopping, before…” Hailey swallows uncomfortably.

“Oh,” Missy replies in a sad voice. “God that’s terrible. I’m such a jerk I shouldn’t be talking about this stuff.”

“No it’s okay,” Hailey hastily replies. “It’s alright. Amanda’s dead.” She glances around sadly before adding, “She’s buried on the far side of the cemetery.”

Missy walks close to her and pulls her in for a hug, burying her face in her shoulder. Pulling away and wiping away the edges of her tears, Hailey says with faux brightness, “Hey! You know what. Amanda and I have the same middle name, Juniper. It’s why we became friends in the first place. So we can go there for our next photo.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Missy asks quietly.

“Yeah,” Hailey smiles, “it would be kinda fun, almost like she’s part of our group you know?”

“Vell vhen!” Jake interjects loudly, “Ve have our vext vhoto!”

As the trio enters an open space, Missy says, “There she is! And nobody else is around. Get out your phone Jake. I want you to watch me closely.”

Then she strides forward confidently and throws her arms around the Virgin Mary’s neck and her legs around the statues waist before giving it a long kiss. Leaning in and pressing herself against the rock, she throws a wink at the camera and Jake before deepening the kiss for a few more seconds before untangling her legs and jumping off the statue.

“I think you left some lipstick on her, poor woman,” Hailey says sarcastically.

Grinning ear to ear, Jake adds, “Vell, vhat vas very nice!”

Clapping in unison, three girls walk out from the side of the clearing.

“Very nice,” Ally says with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Trisha simpers.

“Of course,” Maggie adds in a sweet voice, “some girls will do anything for attention.”

Grinding her teeth, Missy snaps back, “Oh please, I heard all about your little four-way with Trevor at last year’s party. I guess what they say is true, you girls do everyone together.”

Glowering, Ally looks around with a haughty expression. “Oh, where’s Theo? Did you lose him, Hailey?”

Trisha smiles and adds, “Don’t worry, it’s a scavenger hunt after all. I’m sure someone will find him.”

Maggie turns to her friends and says with fake concern, “Well considering this is our second photo, I think we’re in first place. So if anyone is going to find anything, it’ll probably be us, right ladies?”

Stepping forward with a glint in her eye, Hailey asks, “I love your costumes! Where did you get the idea to come as the three stooges?”

“Oh we aren’t stooges,” Ally replies.

“We’re the three blind mice,” Trisha adds.

“Can’t you see our sunglasses and ears?” Maggie asks. Then she smirks at the other girls and in unison, they turn around and stick out their scantily clad butts. “What about our tails? Can you see them Jakey?”

Ally asks in a cute voice, “Do you like our tails Jakey?”

As if totally oblivious to the tension between the girls, Jake replies honestly. “Vhey are a vlittle svort to ve mice vails.”

“Do you think you could help us find something a little… longer?” Ally asks innocently.

“I bet you know just where we could find something long to stick back there,” Trisha adds.

“Or maybe we can ask Theo, once we find him,” Maggie finishes.

Seeing red, Missy hisses at the girls and snarls, “Good luck kissing the Virgin Mary, pretty sure she burns devils like you three.”

Ally titters before correcting her. “We’re mice, weren’t you listening?”

Grabbing ahold of her friend Hailey says quickly, “Well! If you don’t want to get cat-scratched then you’d better scram!”

“Oh is that what she’s supposed to be?” Maggie asks.

Trisha smiles condescendingly. “Well it’s a nice try…”

“… but it’s a real shame you didn’t do a couples costume with Jake. Should we be worried about your relationship you two?” Ally asks in mock concern.

Without waiting for an answer, she walks over to Jake and shoves her phone into his hands, her fingers lingering on his arm as she leans over and asks, “Will you take our photo Jakey?”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Vure,” Jake replies with a shrug.

“Oh Jake,” Maggie adds as the girls all pose provocatively around the statue.

“If you ever want girls who kiss more than stone,” Trisha continues, snaking her arm around Maggie’s waist.

“Just let us know!” Ally finishes as the three lean toward one another and start kissing each other and the statue.

Seeing the expression on his girlfriend’s face, Jake quickly takes a picture and sets the phone down before following Hailey, who bodily drags Missy away from the trio.

“Vhey are pvobably vust vrunk,” Jake says apologetically, “Vhey are vuch vnicer in cvlass.”

Missy lets out a strangled noise before trying to throw Hailey to the ground again. Her eyes shimmering, Hailey huffs and exclaims, “Calm down Missy! God you’re like a wildcat. Jake can’t you do something?”

Jake walks over and calmly pulls her in, crushing her against his body. Then he hugs her and says, “Dvavlinv, ve vill ve lavst vif ve vo nvot vo now.”

Missy stamps her foot on top of his. Wincing, Jake shifts uncomfortably but does not let go of her. Realizing her mistake, Missy seems to come to her senses and gasps, then apologetically asks, “Are you okay? I’m so sorry!”

Jake’s only reply is to grin. Then he lets her go and says, “I’m fvine! Vet’s gvo!”

“On to Amanda,” Hailey whispers before shaking her head glancing around to figure out where she needs to go. Then she strides confidently forth, beckoning her group on behind her.

Sobering up at the prospect of seeing her friend’s grave, Missy grabs tight to Jake’s hand and starts walking after her friend. Then she bumps into his shoulder and whispers, “Sorry, I’m still a little tipsy. Thanks for putting up with me.”

Jake bumps her back and shrugs, “Vit’s vnuvving,” he says, “I vlike vou, a vlittle fvoot vain is vnuvving.”

“We gotta be careful,” Missy adds quietly as the pair falls back from Hailey slightly. “I don’t know how she’s going to react. She was a wreck at the funeral, and I don’t know if she’s been back since. We might need to derail this scavenger hunt. You’ll text Theo if that happens?”

“I vill.”

“You’re the best,” Missy says as she drags him back forward.

Suddenly, Hailey stops cold. Whispering, she says, “There she is.”

The trio looks forward. It isn’t difficult to tell which stone belongs to Amanda, it’s the newest one.

Walking forward slowly, Hailey drops to her knees and traces her fingers across the writing. “Amanda Juniper Glomann.”

Turning around she says in a bright tone that doesn’t match her face, “Well, there we go! Same middle name! Let’s take the photo!”

Without comment, Jake snaps the photo. Then he and Missy walk away a bit to give Hailey a minute of peace.

Leaning in to the stone, Hailey whispers conspiratorially, “They think I’m gonna cry A.J.”

She leans back and looks up to the sky. Morosely, she adds, “I think I’m gonna cry too, Amanda.”

A breeze runs along the nape of her neck, causing her to sit up in shock. “Brr!” she exclaims, her near-tears forgotten.

Then she stands up quickly as the breeze gets under her skirt. Face flaming, she smooths it down against her legs and laughs nervously. “Goodness it’s cold out!” she exclaims, getting the attention of her friends. Walking forward uncertainly, she gives a quick smile and says, “Thanks for bringing me out here. I think we can go now though.”

“Vell vhen, I knvow vhere vo gvo nvext!” Jake says, playing up the accent.

As the three start to walk away, Hailey turns back for a second, letting her eyes linger on the stone as a playful breeze flits by, stirring up the fallen leaves almost as if waving goodbye.

Waving back, Hailey smiles and turns back to her friends asking, “So! Are we sure it’s a good idea to let Jake lead the way?”

Offended, Jake retorts, “Vell! Ve have veen fvolloving vou tvo gvirls all vnight, vit’s my turn!”

Shaking her head, Hailey says, “Can’t argue with that logic! Lead on Dracula.”

“Blackula!”

“Whatever.”

After a few minutes of walking, the trio enters a row of tombs.

“Hmmm, which one are we looking for?” Missy asks her boyfriend.

“Vhichever vone vou vhink is vest Vailey,” Jake answers with a grin and a look at her best friend.

“Me?” Hailey asks, slightly nervous. “Why me?”

“Vecause vit’s vour tvrn. I vhink vhat vone is good vif vou need any velp.”

Jake gestures toward the only tomb with a door that lies slightly open. Stepping forward carefully, Hailey inspects the opening warily. The tomb descends into the ground, sitting barely a few feet above the surface. Cobwebs and dust hang from the metal door hanging off the hinges. Across the front of the door is a name, but age and wear obscure it from view. The insides are simply dark, a black pit that Hailey’s eyes cannot penetrate.

Steeling herself, she steps into the tomb. Once inside, her eyes slowly adjust to the darkness revealing the contents of the space. The simple room has nothing but dust in it except for at the center, where a half-open sarcophagus on a raised dais sits too high for Hailey to see the contents.

Warily she walks forward as her friends make their way inside. Slowly, she reaches out toward the open sarcophagus. Senses on high alert, she curls her fingers around the carved edge and hoists herself up too see the contents.

A second later, she lets out a light giggle. “Hey Prince Charming, aren’t you supposed to wake me up?” she asks. She waits for a response for a few seconds before saying, “Oh duh.” Leaning over she puts one hand on her witch hat to hold it in place and teeters precariously on her tippy toes as she plants a kiss on the corpse lying in the sarcophagus!

Sitting upright, Theo wraps his arms around her and kisses her back for a breathless minute before pulling back just enough for them both to have room to breathe and says, “Thanks. For a second I was afraid you were going to just leave me there…”

“Never,” Hailey replies, “there are three wicked witches out there searching for you. I’m not that heartless.”

“Good to know I have a good witch looking after me,” Theo jokes back as he pulls her back in again. “Well I hope I’m good enough for her Highness.”

“That’s my line, you’re Prince Charming,” corrects Hailey.

Theo shakes his head and responds, “Nope. Now that you woke me up we have to get married, it’s the law.”

“Oh is it?” Hailey asks.

“Yep,” Theo answers. Then he reaches behind him and pulls out a giant fake spider. “So what do you want for a wedding gift? Because I found this thing on my way to the party and figured it would be a good idea to hang onto it.”

Wrinkling her nose, Hailey replies, “That’s the best you can do? This is marriage is not going to last.”

Snapping a photo, Missy cackles in the corner as she gleefully swipes through her boyfriend’s phone. “We won! I hope you’re ready to lose your beerginity Hailey because we are going to grab as much alcohol as those little arms of yours can carry!”

Grumbling, Trevor slowly unlocks the liquor cabinet as the crowd chants in approval. “Remember,” he says with a glower, “you get a minute to grab everything you can and get out. If you aren’t out by the time the minute ends you get nothing.”

High fiving each other, Missy and Hailey trade serious nods and then turn toward the door.

“Ready when you are!” Missy shouts. Behind her the crowd roars. “Whoo!” she shouts, hyping up the drunken teens.

In the corner, Ally, Trisha, and Maggie trade irritated glances. “You were supposed to know where the spider was!” Ally hisses at Maggie.

“Yeah, wasn’t that the whole point of us making out with Trevor so you could get the location out of him?” Trisha grouses.

Maggie holds her hands wide and replies, “He lied! It wasn’t where he said it would be.”

Across the way, the two girls cross over the threshold of the liquor cabinet just as Trevor shouts, “Time! Just barely huh? Well enjoy whatever you got ladies.”

Missy hoists a bottle of fancy wine and says, “We will! Come on Jake let’s celebrate!”

Theo slides up next to Hailey and whispers in her ear, “So my beautiful witch, who do you want to share your first drink with?”

Glancing out over the sea of teens toward the backyard, Hailey smiles and says, “I think I know who. Do you mind if I slip away for this one?”

Sensing how important this is to Hailey, Theo nods and moves away to join Missy and Jake as they dance wildly.

A few minutes later, Hailey sits down at the edge of a too new tombstone.

“Okay, so I just twist the thing into the cork and then pull?” she asks, fiddling with it for a minute before rolling her eyes and flicking her fingers in a quick spell that sends the cork shooting out. “Much better,” she says as she settles in, crossing her legs over the grass.

Sniffing the top of the bottle, she cautiously takes a slow sip before spitting it back out saying, “Ewwww! You like this? A.J. you’re crazy.”

For a second, the wind picks up, tousling her hair playfully.

“Well it’s supposed to make you warm, or feel warm?” Hailey says before bracing herself for another drink. She takes a long pull from the bottle before nosily setting it back down and saying loudly, “Whew! That’s not getting any better Amanda!”

With a silly smile on her face, she turns back to the headstone and traces her fingers over the name. “Amanda Juniper Glomann, you totally lied to me about alcohol. This stuff tastes terrible!” Leaning over she pours a little out onto the grass next to the stone. “Here, see what I mean?”

As she continues to speak with the tombstone, the whimsical flurry of wind flits by her hair pushing back a stray lock before spinning around her body in a friendly motion. Then it passes on, twisting back into eddies created by the row of stones and crosses pausing only to tease a virgin statue and ease shut the door to an old tomb.  Snaking toward the edge of the graveyard, it rises high up in the sky once more rearing it's head and looking down on a tipsy girl talking to her friend's grave.  Then, almost as if it were a little drunk itself, it hiccups a few times rising higher each time.  Upon reaching the apex of the current, it lets out a curious little laugh before glancing back down once and bursting apart!

A moment later the night sky returns to it's placid self, as if nothing ever disturbed the chill, still of the night.

As the night began, Ardent Acolyte, I warned you that we followed the wind.  And as the wind leaves so too must I, for the sun creeps gently over the horizon bringing with it a return of the firmament and the barrier that separates your world and mine. Perhaps we shall speak again when the moon turns once more in the sky and the touch of ghosts can be felt by the living… when they care to notice, that is!