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Rafa stared at her friend, Sophie, dumbfounded. How in the heck did she manage to read the sign? It obviously wasn't in English, and Rafa was not stupid; she knew a lot of other languages and this sign showed none she had ever seen before. Her weariness was growing larger by the minute, and despite herself, it was beginning to become evident on her careful expression. Her eyebrows furrowed, signaling her confusion. Her breathing quickened, displaying her fear. She hated feeling vulnerable, and this place gave her no sort of comfort. "Then I think we should-" She was about to say, before abruptly being cut off.

As Sophie opened the door, Rafa prepared to shout 'No, don't!', but was too late. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it was nothing compared to what actually happened. A force of wind swept across the trio, knocking them over - Rafa fell onto her back. She winced in discomfort, but she was lucky because she didn't break or injure anything. A bruise would probably appear tomorrow. Rafa scrambled to get up, suddenly hearing a voice right next to her. Thinking it was Jason, since the voice was male, she turned towards the source. There was nothing there.

A chill ran up her spine as she realized the voice had sounded nothing like Jason's. It was medieval and dark... and it had an accent that wouldn't have fit Jason at all. Dragomir grinned in the darkness of the mine, overjoyed with a tainted happiness that he was finally free. All the other spirits were too, and since at least half were malevolent, like him, it would be easy to take over this world... or at least exact some revenge. His dark black hair whipped around as he sensed a strange aura. 'No...' he thought. Something powerful was in this shaft, and it wasn't a spirit. Though, he wasn't sure what or who it could be, so he fled the tunnels in a new, violent gust of wind.

With the rest of them, Ashton was sucked out. His ice blue eyes stared at the humans in awe. He wished he could be that way again... He shook his head furiously a few seconds later. What in the world was going on? Why were all of them suddenly being released? Ashton marveled as he felt that familiar aura. It seemed somewhat the same as the one that had trapped them in the mine in the first place. Now that someone had opened the door, they were all free. He turned back to see the open door, full of broken cobwebs and angry spirits flooding from it. Ashton's eyes widened noticeably as he realized that not only were the good ghosts being brought out but the evil ones as well.

It wouldn't take long for them to get a body and try to take over or get their final revenge. Ashton could remember that the one who locked them up was a witch. That was all he recalled. He had been stuffed in here with almost no clue, and he had been desperately awaiting the day he could pass on... or at least find some peace of mind and be free to roam without violence. He had had enough of that in his actual life. Remembering these things, he turned to the ones who had opened the door. There was one male and two females. Human, obviously. Something triggered in him that caused Ashton to realize one of them must have had some talent in the magic department. Otherwise, he wouldn't feel so strange. The air was thick with that familiar sensation of witchcraft. And whether or not there was a witch among them, he knew that these three were his best hope of putting the spirits back where they belonged.

Ashton flew as best he could out of the mine, trying his best not to distance too much from the entrance. He found a beautiful black raven, picking at its feathers on one of the trees outside. Ashton's expression lit up, and he sped through the wind to reach it before it flew off. Feeling the cold seep in, the bird opened its wings to take off, but before it could get its feet off the branch, Ashton impacted into it. The raven cawed in surprise, suddenly and easily being overtaken by Ashton's spirit. Ice blue eyes replaced the raven's black ones, and Ashton soon found himself soaring through the beautiful night sky.

It wasn't long at all before he came back to where the three humans were. They seemed scared and surprised. Ashton didn't know exactly what to do other than warn them, but would they take a caw from a raven? It was worth a shot. He sucked in a deep breath, trying to get his new vocal cords ready. A soon as he thought he had worked up a sound loud enough, he let it all out in a burst. The sound was almost piercing; surely it would get through to the trio of teenagers. His wings stayed dully to his sides as his eyes sent an urgent message: 'RUN!'

The sound echoed throughout the shaft, waking many other spirits and ghosts. Phil lifted his dog head, and began trotting to the door, to see a sparrow and three kids. No, why were they hear?! Get out! He thought urgently, barking at them softly. He snickered to himself, before snarling, hopin to maybe chase them out.

Jason stepped back to allow Sophie a closer inspection of the markings on the door while his eyes wandered to observe the rest of the strange mineshaft. The whole place was covered in a layer of dust that lay on top of the layer of cobwebs. Jason's eyes could barely penetrate through all of this, but he thought he noticed similar carvings on one of the walls. Before he could take a single step to investigate, Sophie's soft voice broke through the silence.

Jason turned around, his mouth open to ask how Sophie had understand those symbols, but Sophie suddenly had her hand on the handle of the door. "Sophie, wa-!" he shouted, but his voice was lost in the strong wind that knocked all three of them to the ground. He grunted loudly as he landed on his back, probably causing a rather ugly bruise there, but that wasn't the most important thing at the moment. A laugh that can only be described as evil shook the wallls of the mine shaft, causing yet another layer of dirt to fall about the already filthy cave.

Felicity's bell-like giggle could barely be heard behind the loud laugh, fading into the background much the same as she quickly drifted through the mine shaft and out into the world within seconds. She smiled and laughed the whole way through the woods, knocking a wulnut from a tree to land on a happily kissing couple as she went. Her shrill chuckled grew louder as she heard the scream from the female.

Hearing strange noises from the center of the woods, Felicity made her way to the party, gasping at the oddly dressed humans. Returning to her michievous attitude, Felicity entered the crowd of dancing bodies, tripping up feet and spilling drinks all over the floor. One drink fell directly on the sound system, stopping the music with a staticy hiss. The chorus of skrieks and boos filled Felicity with joy as she flitted away from the teens, heading towards town.

The sudden cut-off from the music startled Emma as she went to answer Kaden's question with a shrug. "Home, I guess," she said as the party began to clear out at record speed. Since Sophie had no ride home of her own, Emma seated herself in the center of the grassy clearing that no longer resembled a dance floor and decided she would wait for her sister. She would have to find Emma sooner or later, or else she would be forced to walk home.

Emma patted the ground beside her, motioning for Kaden and Dezz to join her. "It shouldn't be long now," she added with a smirk, the first not-frown to grace her face the entire night. Dezzera quickly took the invitation and sat cross-legged on the ground. "Good things. I don't think I could have taken more of that rap and pop sh*t. Who decided that was music?" she asked with disgust as she gazed out into the woods, as if expecting Sophie and her friends to emerge from the trees at any moment.



Coughing from the dust in the air, Jason finally picked himself up, wipping the grim from his hands on his jeans as he walked over to Sophie. He held a hand out to her to help her up as he noticed Rafa's rigid state and said to her, "Something wrong? Other than the obvious creepiness of this place," he added, knowing there really wasn't anything right about this situation.

Before he heard Rafa's answer, a shrill shriek of a crow sounded from outside, causing Jason to spin around towards the entrance of the shaft in fright. As soon as he realized it had only been a bird, his nerves immediately settled only to spike up again as he heard a growl. Turning around slowly this time, he spotted the dog in the doorway. Jason started at it for a for seconds until it barked loudly at them. Jason slowly stepped in front of his two friends, separating them from the dog with his own body as he muttered, "I think it's time to go," which the dogs seemed to answer with a menacing snarl.

Sophie, using Jason's warm hand for leverage, stood up, wiping the loose dirt off her pale blue dress. She eyed the dog and the bird warily, and nodded. "I agree," she said, her voice raspy with surprise and a bit of fear. Slowly and cautiously, she edged past the two dangerous looking animals, hoping they wouldn't lunge. They actually appeared to relax a bit once she had left the creepy mineshaft, which was weird.

Shrugging it off as her imagination, Sophie waited for her friends under a gently swaying tree, praying nothing else would happen. Even for Halloween, she had had enough creepiness for one night. The sound of the sinister laughter rang through her head, and she shivered at the memory.

Phil sighed in relief , thinking they were gone (hence his bad eyesight) and he switched back to his human-ghost form. He stretched an glanced back up at the crow wearily, before looking back over to where the kids stood and seeing they were still there. Sh**!! why do I have to be a half blin dog!? he thought angrily to himselfz

Kaden watched as the party began to get out of control. People were tripping on their own feet, falling to the floor. Drinks were spilling everywhere, staining various people's costumes and causing widespread groans through the crowd. Kaden's eyes narrowed as he began to wonder how in the world these things were happening. It was like a chain of sudden bad luck. Soon enough, his attention was brought back to his two friends, Emma and Dezz, as Emma finally answered his question.

Everyone from the party was promptly making their way out, and before long the trio was left with nothing but a messy part of the forest. Cups and napkins were all over the place. If you stayed extremely quiet, you could even hear the soda still dripping from the stereo system. It had shut up completely, but the noises around were becoming more evident. "Was that a crow?" He asked randomly. He thought he had heard some type of bird caw nearby, and crows were definitely a creepy type of bird. Ironic it would show itself on Halloween.

He took his seat next to Dezz and Emma and pretty much forgot he had asked a question at all. Maybe it was just his imagination. He was probably making things up by this point. All the weirdness from minutes before was probably causing him to hear things that weren't necessarily there. So, with that, he stayed quiet. He crossed his legs slowly, watching the stars above them with a brief and curious interest. He began by outlining the big dipper with his eyes, and then he moved on to the others.



Rafa didn't know what to do. She was shaking out of her skin and she hated feeling so vulnerable. The raven and the dog had scared her to the marrow of her bones, and she never would have admitted that to herself on normal circumstances. Once they ran outside, she started to feel a little better, because they were finally alone... somewhat. The raven... or crow? Which was it? She could never tell the difference. It sounded like a crow, but it's feathers were a lot sleeker and soft. Whichever it was, it and the dog seemed to disappear into the darkness of the tunnels again once they had burst out.

Ashton looked down at Phil, nodding silently to signal his thanks. They most likely would have ignored his appearance considering it was a bird, but it was the first body he could get and it was easy to manipulate. As soon as he finished with Phil, he spread his dark yet shiny wings and began to float off into the air. The strokes of his feathers maneuvered perfectly with the chilly night air, and suddenly Ashton was reminded of his time being human; except then, he could never fly like this.

He silently landed on a tree right behind the trio, careful not to make any sudden noises. Perhaps he could scare them off further... who knew what they would do next. But he sensed they weren't that stupid. They knew not to mess with the unknown. For now, at least. His piercing blue eyes continued to gaze at them for a long while before they finally seemed ready to get a move on. Once their feet began pedaling through the rough dirt, he quickly followed.

They would need as much help as they could get to defeat the evil spirits, and he needed to see if there were any other forms he could take. Surely one of them had a pet. It would be odd if they didn't. Any form was better than a raven, because most birds didn't have teeth. And of course, his new body was no exception. They may have had claws as their weapons, but those surely weren't big enough to do damage to anything. Whatever the case, he needed a better form to work with. Dogs and cats were common. Perhaps one of them owned one. And he needed a better warning system. Something better than just a caw; a simple sound that could easily be ignored.



Meanwhile, Dragomir was having his own fun. He had watched the destruction Felicity caused and smirked a wide grin. It was hard to wash the evil look of his face, and he much rather preferred to show his joy at other people's disappointment. He had to soar at an amazing speed to catch up to the female entity responsible, and flashed his ghostly white grin at her. "Hey, Felicity. Mind if I join you?" He had gotten to know her quite a bit back in that cave. After all, a hundred years cramped in a mine shaft can tend to be quite boring. He also knew she was perfect to work with. After all, they were after the same goal. Right?

Jenna was the last to exit. Cautious and uncertain of what the world would now hold - it hadn't been to great when she was around...and probably had only gotten worse - she wasn't as willing to explore or wreak havoc on the world outside. Slowly, her curiousity beginning to spark, she edged her way out of the dark mineshaft that had previously imprisoned her.

Brown eyes inquisitive yet hesitant, she noticed two other ghosts leaving the forms of a raven and a dog, seemingly unnoticed by a trio of humans that were undoubtedly alive. A wistful feeling grew inside of Jenna - though her life had been miserable, she still wished she were alive at times. A small fox, almost obscured behind a thin layer of twigs and leaves, caught her attention. If the other ghosts took control of animals, there was no reason she couldn't too.

Jenna slipped inside the young vixen, easily possessing the vibrant, energetic animal. A feeling of joy suffused her when she realized she could feel things again. The leaves under her paws crunched pleasantly, the rought texture bumpy and cracked. The musky forest scent of dirt and rain drifted through the air, carried by the soothing night breeze. Her tail swished in pleasure, brown eyes lighting up with a happiness that she had felt so little of during her life.

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Sophie shivered again, and grabbed Jason and Rafa's hands, determined to get as far away from the mineshaft as possible. She picked her way through the shadowy forest, jumpy and nervous after the almost paranormal experience. Her eyes flitted from side to side rapidly, trying to make out the shadows and shapes that set her nerves on edge and made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

In her haste to get out of there, she completely forgot about her desire to avoid her older half-sister, Emma. Noticing her and her friends sitting in the abandoned patch of grass where the party had been, Sophie jerked in surprise, halting at the edge of the battered clearing.

Emma's gaze barely drifted from the woods until a flash of blue entered her periphial (sp?) vision. Her head instantly turned towards Sohpie, emerging from the woods with her two friends beside her. Dezzera bit her lip in anticipation, waiting for Emma to scold the three of them, and Jason hunched his shoulder as if prepared to be physical affected by Emma's reaction. To the surprise of everyone, Emma merely stood up, brushing off the dirt from her jeans, and said cooly, "Are you ready to go now?"

Not even giving her half-sister a chance to agree, Emma briskly turned on her heels and headed off for her car. Dezzera, pleasantly surprise by the peaceful reunion, continued to sit on the ground for a few minutes as if her standing up would suddenly set off Emma. Finally, Dezz picked herself up and muttered to Sophie with a friendly smirk, "You got off easy kid." Dezz walked at a brisk pace in order to catch up to Emma, who was already sitting in the driver's seat of her beat up century buick. Dezz paused, waiting for Kaden, while a thought invaded her mind; Emma could be saving her anger for her parents. While Dezz tried not to get involved with the family life, she sent a pray to the Goddess that Emma wouldn't make a big, dramatic scene as she usually did.



Jason huffed out a breathe he hadn't realized he had been holding until Emma turned her back to them. He gently let go of Sophie's hand to pat her on the shoulder. "Now, we are completely safe," he said with a wide grin, trying to look into Sohpie's face to see if she was okay. After the freakiness they had just endured, including Emma's unusually casual receception of their return, Jason wasn't feeling to sure on his feet himself.



Felicity coyly glanced at Dragomir, considering the offer for a short while. Fee was one to work alone, but the euphoria of freedom had her in oddly high spirirts. "If you wish," she replied, a hint of a smile visible on the corners of her mouth. A moment later, she landed on top of a high building that gave her a great view of the silent town below. A few lone people hurried back to their homes, dressed in stange garments, some that resembled animals and medieval fashions while others were just plan odd. Fee remembered that the other humans gathered in the forest were dressed in much the same way. "This generation is very strange," she muttered to Dragomir. "They are all dressed as players. Perhaps its a new fashion of some sort." (note: players = actors) A soft mew caught her ear and her attention turned to a small, agile white cat grooming itself on a rug outside a house's door. "Though through the years, the pets of hardly change," she added with a grin. In a flash, she rushed towards the unexpected cat, taking over the young feline's body with ease. She blinked up at the rooftop with large blue eyes, waiting for her companion to catch up.

Sophie, surprised but not unhappy, about Emma's reaction, managed a small, hopefully reassuring smile in Jason's direction. She still felt a bit creeped out, and found herself glancing over her shoulder every so often as the unwelcome feeling of paranoia crept up on her. In case her weak smile wasn't enough reassurance (since it wasn't all the convincing) she added, "I'm fine." The sentence, while soft, was firm, underlining a stubborn note in Sophie's personality that didn't often have the chance to surface.

She slid into the beat up, old car, the battered interior familiar and welcome afr their almost paranormal experience in the abandoned mine shaft. Grateful to finally be going home and relieved Emma was acting much better than Sophie had hoped possible, she remained unusually quite throughout the brief car ride.