All Hallow's Eve

"Alright, yeah. Let's do it!" Hey Kid says, putting on a brave face. "I wonder what the ghosts are going to say. Are they... are they friendly ghosts, like Casper? I hope so..."

They glance nervously at the deck of cards in Gertrude's hands.

Gertrude also wonders what kind of ghosts they were going to talk to, but it wouldn't be cool to admit it. "Yeah sure, kid. Just like Casper." She says, rolling here eyes at the three ghouls.

"Here, help me light these candles." She hands them to Hey Kid one by one to light them.

Roy wags his hanging eyeball in Hey Kid's direction. "Guess they could be friendly. But I wouldn't invite any of them over for dinner," he says, flashing a wide grin at Gertrude.

Jax grabs a piece of chalk and tosses it to Liz. "I'll stand in the middle and you circumscribe - that means walk around," they say, the remains of the skin on their face pulled into a rictus grin.

In response, Liz raises her middle finger and glares at Jax. Then she leans down and begins to drag the chalk across the floor, drawing the summoning circle.

Gertrude looks at the card. "Hmm.." She searches for an interpretation. What were the spirits trying to tell her? But it soon becomes clear to her. "Oooh, they're telling me that I shouldn't worry. Magic is something that comes from within." Then instantly she second-guesses herself. "It does, right? Or maybe not. I wish they could answer more clearly." She sighs.

But this was exactly what the spirits were here for. Asking questions. She had to take advantage of that while it lasted. "Oh spirits of old." He recites. "Will I become a powerful witch like Yazeba?"

Hey Kid turns their card upside down. "Um, well... It looks like I'm ready to go on an exciting adventure! There's gonna be danger and peril, but I've got my friends with me. So I'm sure I'll be okay! You're my friend, Gertrude." They look at the Ghoul Gang apprehensively. "Um, do you guys wanna be my friends, too?"

"Aw yeah, G! We are here for you as you start learning all that cool magic stuff! But...uh... its probably going to be hard. And probably long. But don't worry, we'll be there to make sure you still have fun sometimes. All work and no play makes G double cringe," Roy says.

At Hey Kid's question, Liz shrugs at them. "We do a lot that ain't kid-friendly. Know what I mean?"

"We gotta see if you're a good hang first and then maybe you can be a junior member of the gang," Jax says, adjusting the frame of their glasses.

Hey Kid squares their shoulders and flashes the Ghoul Gang a toothy grin. "Don't worry, guys. I'm not just a kid. I'm a cool dude, you feel me? I'm down to hang, or chill, or whatever. Yeah..." They lean back against the nearest gravestone, tail wagging behind them."Hey, ghouls, I think it's your turn to ask the cards a question," Hey Kid says, glancing at Gertrude to see if she wants to interpret the card she drew.

"I think the spirits are telling me that it won't be easy, but I'm going to become a witch." Gertrude says quite excitedly. "Wow, so cool that these spirits already know this!"

"Say, Jax, how many questions can we ask?" She asks the ghoul. "If it's limited, I'm gonna need to think them through much better." Anxiety builds up inside here again. "What if I ask the wrong questions? Maybe the spirits will get mad at me. I don't want that to happen!"

"As long as no one pisses off any noncorporeal entities," Jax replies with a sideways look at Roy (who only winks back at them). "We can each ask the Grim Oracle 3 questions before we need to close the circle. The door between worlds shouldn't stay open for too long."

Roy switches his severed head to his other arm and says "Don't worry G, you gotta let your questions flow from the heart. You connect better with the spirits that way too!"

Then Liz shifts her head, so that it is underlit by a candle, dark shadows cast upward across her face and torn scalp. "But with some things that get summoned by the circle, making a connection is a bad idea."

The Ghoul Gang draws the 2 of Clubs and pulls it out of the summoning circle. Somewhere in the distance, a raven caws, its cry answered by a second raven, echoing from a place nearby!

Hey Kid yelps and takes a step back. "Hey! I thought you're not supposed to take the cards out of the circle! Y-you should be careful when messing with spirits," they say, sticking their hands in their pockets to hide how they have begun to tremble.

But now it's Hey Kid's turn to draw a card. They take a deep breath and step forward. "I know I'm not gonna be a kid forever. I'm gonna have to grow up some day. What's it gonna be like to become a... a teenager?"

They draw their card: the 5 of Spades. Hardship, trials, enemies. Inversion or denial. Hey Kid's eyes widen. "Oh, no. It's going to be bad! I knew it!" they wail. They drop the card in the circle and begin wringing their tail. "Gertrude, I don't think the spirits you called are nice ones. Can we go home?"

Even though the gang has tried to put Gertrude at east... for the most part... she's still quite anxious about the whole thing. Especially when Hey Kid gets freaked out and asks to return home. Not so long ago, Yazeba had warned her about these kinds of magic. They can be either a party trick or a dangerous link between worlds that you don't want to mess with. It was starting to look like this may be the latter.

But the spirits had told her that she was going to be a witch. What kind of witch would Gertrude be if she gets scared by a simple card circle? No, she decided, she had to stay and see what else they knew.

"It's just three questions, Hey Kid. It's gonna be over before you know it." She tells the little demon. "Jax, Roy and Liz know what they're doing." She tries to sound confident, though some hesitance is noticeable. She takes a minute to think of another question to ask, then says "Oh spirits, here is my second question. How can I find who I really am?" and draws another card.

Unfortunately for Gertrude, the spirits don't answer her question at all. In fact they just amplify her uncertainty. "Really?" She says sounding quite annoyed. "That's the best you got?" She puts the card down. "I thought these spirits were going to be helpful." She complains to the gang.

"We can just close the circle and leave," Hey Kid hopefully. "There's still time to go trick-or-treating like we did last year!"

"The spirits are fickle. Some are helpful and some are just trolls - kinda like Jax here," Roy says sympathetically to Gertrude.

Jax glares back at him. "I'm just honest."

""But there is truth in what the spirits say," Roy continues, the nearest candle flames glowing in a flickering reflection on his glasses. "And big things don't have easy answers."

"Lost your nerve already, Kid?" Liz says with a smug grin at kid's suggestion to quit.

"Okay, enough screwing around! Let's ask our question." The gang look at each other and nod. "Our bodies are dead, but our minds go on. Are we gonna be stuck as teenagers, like, forever?

The Ghoul Gang look at each other as the spirits speak of the trickery of friends and family.

"Wait... was that spaghetti truck accident even really an accident? You said we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, Rory!" says Liz suspiciously.

"Chill, Liz. I don't think that's what it means. The question was about our future, not our past. But we are all the family we have any more. So... is one of you lying about something?!" Jax says, scowling at the others.

"Hold up," Rory cuts in. "Maybe the spirit means family isn't what we think it is. Or maybe it means we have to watch out for bull-shitters - oops, sorry Kid - while we are trying to figure this all out and find a new home."

The Gang grow despondent at the ill omen prefigured by the spirits of the circle.

"Anyways, whose turn is it now? Hey Kid? You want to dance with the devil in pale moon light?" Jax says with a forced grin, trying to move on from the question of betrayal.

"Um..." Hey Kid says, wavering with uncertainty. They take a deep breath and square their shoulders. "Yeah, okay. I'll ask a question."

If only to get out of this spooky place faster!

"Will Yazeba ever come out of her office again? It feels like she's shut herself in for, like, months now!" Hey Kid draws a card: the 9 of Hearts. Mist begins to flow between the nearby graves as the card speaks of friendship and family, a plentiful amount to fill one's dreams.

"Ah... I think it's saying that she can't break out of her funk by herself. She's going to need the help of all of her friends and family. We can help her, Gertrude, I know we can!" The devilish child manages a smile for the first time tonight.

"Yeah!" Gertrude says, shaking off the feeling that the previous card draw gave her. "We have to help her. After all, she saved me from Monday." Her eyes glaze over as she remembers the darkness that used to be her heart not so long ago.

"Spirits? You still there?" She asks, looking at the deck of cards. "Wait! That wasn't my question!" She quickly corrects herself before continuing. "How do we help Yazeba? Like, what's step one?" She waits as she hopes for a useful answer.

"Hey Kid." Gertrude says, putting down the card. "I don't know why, but I think the spirits are saying we need to talk to Mr. Boggs." She looks puzzled, yet feels happy that they got a useful sense of direction. "Looks like he can help us with Yazeba!" She beams. This was an amazing piece of knowledge!

"Thank you, spirits! I'll never doubt you again." She promises. "Hey, I think that was my last question. Who's next?"

"Guess it's our turn to ask one last question. Spirits! Guide us! Our bodies have been changing a lot since the accident and... uh... we've been having strange desires. How do we control them? It's annoying to hang with friends and all you can think about is what their brains might taste like," Roy says, lifting their decapitated head up and toward the center of the circle while Liz looks hungrily at Hey Kid.

Jax leans forward, listening to the slight wind blowing the mists around the outside of the circle. "Whats that, spirits? They.... yeah, I think they want us to crash at your crib, G!" Roy and Liz fist bump each other enthusiastically.

Gertrude looks up with a worried expression when the gang mention the taste of brains. She pulls on Hey Kid's sleeve, who is standing closer to the three than she is. Urging him to come closer. Better to have some distance between them and the ghouls just in case!

"Oh look, it's my turn, let me ask this question real quick and draw a card!" Hey Kid says at a rapid pace, eager to be done and away from the creepy ghouls! "Sh-should I open my own pancake stand and sell pancakes based on my tasty Hey Kid Hotel pancake recipe?"

They draw a card: the Ace of Diamonds. The start of a new venture related to finance, stability, home. "I'll take that as a yes!" Hey Kid says, looking to Gertrude pleadingly to wrap things up!

Roy, Jax, and Liz solemnly intone the closing phrase along with Hey Kid and Gertrude.

"Oh ghosts of ancient times, thou have spoken thy wisdom this Hallow's Eve and may now slumber."

Gertrude is about to voice her excitement about pancakes when everyone starts to say the final phrase. She joins in.
"Oh ghosts of ancient times, thou have spoken thy wisdom this Hallow's Eve and may now slumber."

"So, that's it? We did... magic?" She beams as the realization sinks in. She will become the best witch ever!
"I think we should head home before anyone gets worried about us."

"Oh ghosts of ancient times, thou have spoken thy wisdom this Hallow's Eve and may now slumber," Hey Kid says. They sigh with relief as the cold, eerie presence that has been hovering over them fades away. They smile and take Gertrude's hand as they all head back home...

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And that is the story of this particular All Hallow's Eve!