"Well, I'll be damned," Finn laughed."Literally, in fact.Someone's buried alive and having a grand time of it!"
They began digging with ghostly enthusiasm, moving earth surprisingly fast.Soon they had uncovered the peacefully sleeping form of Butcher, who was snoring so deeply that he might as well have been hibernating.
"Poor fellow looks exhausted," Beau observed as they carefully reburied the zombie caretaker."Probably worked himself to the bone preparing for all of us."
"Literally," Chet snickered.
As they finished topping off Butcher’s grave, a strange light caught their attention near the great stone Devil Oak Tree that dominated the center of the cemetery.
"What's that?"Finn asked, pointing toward a small point of light that seemed to pulse with its own rhythm near the base of the massive sculpture.
The light sputtered and sparked, growing brighter with each pulse until it began to emit a low, harmonious humming that sounded almost like distant voices.
"Now that's more like it!"Chet exclaimed, rubbing his ghostly hands together."Finally, something interesting!"
"Much better than listening to lectures about proper floating techniques," Beau agreed, practically bouncing with excitement.
The trio eagerly drifted closer to investigate.The light continued to intensify, and the humming grew more distinct until they could almost make out words within the shadowy vibration that had become a small circle.
"Can you hear that?"Beau asked, leaning closer with delight rather than fear.
The humming suddenly crystallized into words that seemed to come from the center of the circle of light itself: "One for one...an eye for an eye...what was done will be done..."
"Ooh, mysterious!"Finn said, grinning widely."I love a good mystical pronouncement.Very dramatic!"
"Think it's some kind of portal?"Chet asked hopefully."We're dead—what's the worst that could happen?Another afterlife?"
The circle of light began to spin rapidly, creating a swirling vortex of energy that seemed to widen and open.The humming grew louder, more insistent, and rather than being frightened, the trio found themselves absolutely delighted by this unexpected distraction.
"Now this is what I call a party favor!”Beau declared, leaning even closer to get a better look at the swirling phenomenon.
Without warning, Finn cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted into the spinning light, "HELLO!"
The word echoed back strangely: "Hello...one for one...an eye for an eye...what was done will be done..."
"Did you hear that?"Finn grinned, turning to his friends."It's talking back!"
"You're an idiot," Chet laughed, and before Finn could react, he gave his friend a solid kick to the rear.
Finn tumbled forward with a surprised yelp, disappearing completely into the swirling vortex.
For a moment, there was silence.Then Chet and Beau looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"Well," Beau said, wiping tears of hilarity from his eyes, "we've gotta go get him!"
"Absolutely!"Chet agreed."Can't let Finn have all the fun!"
Without hesitation, the two remaining ghosts jumped into the circle together, their laughter echoing behind them as they vanished into the unknown.
The cemetery fell silent except for the continued snoring of the buried Butcher, while in the sacred grove, Madame Theodora Grimm droned on about the forty-seventh acceptable circumstance for ectoplasmic discharge.In the darkness, the hole re-sealed itself with a sound like cosmic laughter, leaving only the faintest echo of "what was done will be done" hanging in the autumn air.
Chapter 6
Portal Pranks
The trio tumbled out of the vortex and landed in a heap in the middle of Cauldron Falls town square, their ghostly forms tangled together like pretzels.For a moment, they lay there in shock, staring up at the ginkgo trees whose golden leaves waved overhead.
The ancient trees seemed to welcome them back to the world of the living, their branches swaying gently as fallen leaves drifted down around the confused spirits.The cobblestone pathways stretched out in circles, illuminated by the warm glow of street lanterns.
