A Twisted Halloween II: Spectral Soiree

Chapter 1: Ill-Mannered Ghost

In some Pocket dimension, called the Hollow Graveyard, a graveyard with tombstones, statues of gargoyles and spooky fog, and the place is in black and white. In the graveyard, Riddel, Ruggie, and Ortho are wondering what happened to the others.

Riddle calls out, "TREEEY! AAACE!"

So far, no one is here.

"It's no use. They're not answering," Riddle says. "We came here to rescue the abducted students and end this Halloween Night. All of the Hallowenders dove into the Dark Mirror as a group... So how come we became separated so swiftly?!" And becomes frustrated.

Dumbfounded, Ruggie asks, "Riddle, are you seriously using that Hallowenders name?"

"The headmage came up with it. I don't see the problem," Riddle replies.

"It's not really a PROBLEM, per se. It's just... bad. Cringe. Y'know? I guess that kind of stuff goes right over your head. If only Trey and Ace were here to make fun of it with me! But no, I got their housewarden instead," Ruggie says.

Then Ortho scans the area and says, "I don't detect anyone within 10,000 meters of us. Where could they be?"

Just then, Ruggie remembers, ""Ah, right, the Viewglass! Don't we have the communicator Sam gave us? We can't talk to the others since they have pendants too, but we can get through to the teachers, right? Let's try to get in touch with them. Maybe the others have already done the same."

However Riddle says, "About that..." Then brings out the pendant, "I've been trying to do just that, but the Viewglass has been silent this whole time."

"It's already busted?" Ruggie asks, shocked, "What kind of junk pendant is this?!"

Then says, "Remember, Trein used it when he was YOUNG - that tells you how old of an antique we're dealing with here. We were fools for expecting it to work. If we knew where we were, we could at least move to someplace with a better view."

Then turns to Ortho, "Ortho, can't you look it up real quick?"

Sadly, Ortho says, "I'm afraid not. There's no signal here either. That means no GPS and online image search. At the very least, it's somewhere that doesn't exist in my memory bank."

Then Riddle says, "I've never seen it before, either. Thick fog, a large, full moon, rows of graves stretching as far as the eye can see... No signs of people, no birds chirping or bugs buzzing, it's as though time has stopped."

"We're out in the open, yet there's no breeze. The silence is kinda bizarre," Ruggie adds, and begins to shiver, "I'm gettin' chills down my spine."

"You're shivering?" Ortho says, confused, "But there's only a 0.3 - degree difference between here and Night Raven College."

"It's not about the temperature. This place is just... I dunno, eerie?" Ruggie replies.

Ortho happily says, "Ah, I think I get it! You find the graves creepy, right? Some say graveyards aren't comfortable places for the living to visit."

"They also say graveyards are hotspots for ghosts. But most places have low magic density, so we can't make any out. We can't see them - we don't even know if they're there, at all. Fear of the unseen can create feelings of aversion. Essentially, you're imagining things," Riddle says.

Ruggie places his hands behind his back and says, "Hmm, I dunno..."

"Are you still feeling uneasy?" Riddle questions, "I didn't expect you to have a fear of graveyards."

Then says, "I mean, Night Raven College has plenty of ghost residents. You must be accustomed to them, right? Even if there was a ghost here... They could hardly surprise us, short of popping up in our facing and yelling -"

"BOO!" A ghost wearing rundown dressed clothes and gray hair appears in front of them.

"AHHH! Riddle screams in fright.

Then sternly says, "you ill-mannered ghost! You scared me!"

"Your screamin' is what scared me!" Ruggie says in fright.

"That ghost has an old-fashioned hairstyle. I don't think he's one of the school ghosts," Ortho says.

"Doesn't matter to me as long as we can get directions," Ruggie says.

He then says to the Ghost, "Hey there! Excuse me!"

The ghost remains silent at first.

Ruggie asks, "Is this, like, a regular haunt for you? Could you tell us where we are?"

"You're... alive, aren't you?" The ghost asks.

"Huh? Yeah, why?" Ruggie replies, confused.

The Ghost shouts, "I FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE LIVING!"

Just then, the ghost swift towards them.

Ruggie yelps, Whoa! He's attacking?!"

Riddle sternly says to the ghost, "Now, see here! First you startle us, then you attack us? What is the meaning of this?!"

"We ghosts are under orders... to bring every living person we found to the boss," The ghost says.

"Boss? What boss?" Ortho questions.

The ghost laughs, "Hoh hoh hoh! That's for me to know. Besides, it doesn't matter. You'll be coming with me whether you like it or not!"

"You go from aggression to outright mockery? You have some nerve," Riddle says. "You'll regret challenging me soon enough!"