The Most Magical Halloween

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Kellan placed his right palm over his nose and mouth as he looked around the cemetery. He didn’t remember the cemetery ever smelling in such a way in the past. Not that he made it a habit to visit the cemetery for fun or even out of sheer boredom, but he had been there a few times when someone close and dear to him passed away. Those people weren’t blood relatives, but he had gone anyway for sentimental reasons, and also out of respect for the deceased. He had grown up in the foster system. He couldn’t remember his parents’ faces. He had no idea where they were, nor did he ever care enough to find out. If they didn’t want him in their lives, he couldn’t care less to search for them.

He couldn’t remember why he was in the cemetery in the first place. He halted in his path and glanced around for a while before noticing the bright, blue sky was gradually darkening. He suppressed his irritation. It was going to rain, and judging by the strength of the wind blowing all around him, it would no doubt be a horrible thunderstorm. He sighed and continued walking. All of a sudden, he couldn’t move. Chills ran down his spine. Something cold was slithering across the back of his neck. He resisted his instinctive reaction to shut his eyes, which was a carryover of his childhood defense mechanism. Whenever he had encountered something frightening in the past, he would close his eyes. He stopped doing that when he met Darwin.

Darwin was a blessing to him in more ways than one. Not only did Darwin become the best friend he never had, his partner had the natural ability to ward off every evil, supernatural entity around them. The two of them were the perfect match. Kellan could see, hear, touch, smell, and converse with anything beyond the mortal realm, but he wished he could get rid of them, especially when they had nasty intentions toward him. He shivered as he recalled some of the scratches he had endured from them as a child. The only silver lining was they didn’t murder him. He still had zero idea how he survived, but he was thankful.

Meanwhile, Darwin might not have the ability to communicate or see the things on the spiritual realm, but his partner seemed to have some kind of shield all over him, which prevented those evil entities from approaching him. The two of them simply needed skin contact to extend the shield onto him, as well. Unfortunately, Darwin wasn’t there with him at the moment. Kellan jumped on the spot, and he could feel his heart beating erratically when something drifted closer to his left ear.

“Mm, you can feel and hear me, can’t you? I wonder if you can see me, too.”

Kellan almost screamed in shock when a woman appeared in front of him in the next second. It wasn’t the same spirit in Lucinda’s house, but her eye sockets were also empty. She was sneering at him, displaying rows of razor-sharp fangs. He could smell her rotting stench, and it made him want to vomit. He watched as she lifted her clawed fingers toward his cheeks. Her claws weren’t scratching him, but he wanted to shift his face away from them. He was frozen on the spot, though. He attempted to glare at the woman, but he discovered he couldn’t even control his facial muscles. He tried to exert his will on himself, but to no avail. The female spirit cackled maniacally at him. That pissed him off. Big time. He did his best to move his body. He struggled over and over again, but he failed.

Just when he was about to give up, his entire body lurched forward. The woman disappeared immediately, and he found himself toppling downward. It was only his quick reflex that saved him from bumping his face against the dirt. He managed to place his palms out in the nick of time. His face was mere inches off the ground, and his palms and wrists ached from the resulting impact of blocking his fall, but he heaved out a sigh of relief. It could be worse. He considered himself lucky. He inhaled and exhaled a few times before getting up on his feet once again. He swiveled his body around the whole cemetery, but there was nothing frightening, except for the rows of tombstones and the spine-tingling sensation he got whenever he was there. It always felt as if he was being observed.

He was about to continue walking around the cemetery in spite of having zero clue about his purpose of being there when he detected something being wrapped around his ankles. He turned his head and looked downward. He shouted out in shock. The ground behind him had disappeared. Instead, there was a massive abyss of darkness with what seemed to be thousands of spirits clamoring to escape from it. They were clawing at one another as they attempted to climb out from the abyss. However, something appeared to be pulling them downward. Those spirits were in rags. The spirits didn’t have the same coloring as a living, breathing mortal. They were blue like the fire on a gas stove. Their faces were terrifyingly flat. They had no eyes, nose, and mouth. He also didn’t notice any ears on either side of their heads. However, he could hear them screeching and wailing as if they were being tortured and were experiencing the most severe pain imaginable.

“Let me go, you motherfuckers!” Kellan shouted at the spirits tugging at his ankles and calves, dragging him backward.

Seconds later, he fell face down. He yelped when his nose and lips hit the ground hard. He could taste the blood in his mouth and smell it from his nose. He had no idea how much blood, but he couldn’t be bothered by that at the moment. He tried to hold on to anything at all. However, there was nothing but muddy soil under his hand. The rain had started pouring down hard and heavy without him realizing it. He noticed he was losing his grip. He was beginning to move backward. He screamed for help, but there was nobody around. He was desperate, and he was starting to lose all hope. He was about to die. He made one final ditch to save himself as he kept on yelling for someone to rescue him.

Then a miracle occurred. There was a flash of bright light from right above him. It was so brilliant, it blinded him for a few seconds. Simultaneously, he sensed a comforting warmth coursing through his entire being as he was moved forward by somebody or something invisible, getting farther away from the abyss. He was so exhausted from his exertion earlier, he found himself drifting away, and his eyesight gradually turned blurry. However, he managed to catch a glimpse of the most gorgeous face right before a pair of soft wings enveloped him. The wings reminded him of cotton candy. Or maybe the fluffy clouds in the sky above. They caressed him tenderly. He felt as if he was floating. Most importantly, he somehow knew he would be all right.