The long hallway was dark and misty cold as they stepped inside. However, Niram didn''t mind, since he was already somewhat used to the unnatural freezing presence of the ghosts.


    "Ohhh, scary..." Kiesh visibly shivered, his ghostly white form rippling from head to toe.


    Niram glanced at him. "You''re a ghost, you''re not supposed to be scared of the dark."


    "Hey! Ghosts do get scared sometimes, we just don''t... Like showing it."


    Niram only grunted as he took in the long hallway. The walls were broken and had wickedly long marks that made Niram wish he didn''t encounter whatever did that. The candle holders which hung on both sides of the hall were mostly rusted and broken. Some had even fallen to the ground.


    The floorboards creaked loudly as Niram stepped further inside, and he froze in fear.


    "Why, wake the whole neighborhood, would you." Keish shot him a glare.


    "It''s not my fault these things haven''t seen any form of repair in like... a hundred years." Niram retorted, which made Kiesh turn back to him with an obvious comeback... A comeback which was halted as they were both jolted upwards by a loud, shrill laugh.


    Niram and Kiesh once again looked at each other, this time with a knowing look. "Myckie," They both echoed, and then quickly began making their way inwards, now ignoring the squeaking floorboards.


    "Myckie! You''d better come down here right now, or you''ll be in big trouble when I find you!" Niram shouted.


    "You can''t catch me!" Another voice replied, a shrill laugh coming out a second later.


    Niram stopped as an open door to their left slammed shut. He looked at Kiesh with a knowing look, getting a vehement head shake as reply.


    "Myckie! Can you hear me?! Myckie!! Come down, Maryhann is down here!" He gestured at Kiesh. "Look, she''s calling to you right now!"


    Kiesh Instantly turned with a wide, frightened look. He shook his head. "Please don''t make me do this, Nir."


    "You have too," Niram whispered back.


    "Please."


    Niram shot him a glare, which resulted in another back and forth until Keish, resigned, shot him one last glare before he raised his face to the ceiling.


    "Oh, dear Myckie! My sweet, sweet Myckie." His voice wasn''t the same male tone as before, instead, it came out as that of a young woman. "Oh, how the times have passed! But I''m here now, you hear me? I''m here for you! Please come down."


    There was a second of silence, and then a reply came down. "Is that you, my Maryhann?!"


    "Yes, it''s me, goddammit!"The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "What?!"


    Niram shot Kiesh a glare, to which the ghost ignored, coughing and then modulating his voice back into that of a woman. "Yes, it''s me, my sweet moon pie! I''ve returned back to you. Will you come down? For me?"


    Another brief silence. And then. "Okay."


    Instantly, an old, patchy-looking man materialized in front of them, phasing through the ceiling. Niram didn''t waste his chance, his hands stretched forth so fast it caught the man before he even thought of fleeing. But it didn''t matter, seeing as the man didn''t attempt to run. Instead, he began looking around, his head eagerly snapping from one location to another.


    "Where are you, Maryhann?!" He called. "Sweet Maryhann, where are you?! Are we playing hide and seek again?! You know I eventually always find you, right?"


    Niram grimaced. He hated having to do this, but sometimes it was easy to blame the man for always falling for the same tricks over and over again.


    "Maryhann isn''t here, Myckie," Niram said with a gentle voice. "She''s gone."


    "What? Why? Where?!" The man then became agitated, pushing against Niram''s grip until he was forced to manifest a glowing blue rope to tightly restrain him. After that, he tied it to himself, rolling it around his waist. "Where did my Maryhann go?!" Myckie cried.


    "She went far away to another graveyard, Myckie," Kiesh said.


    "What? Why?!" Myckie cried out, pushing against his restraint. "Why? Maryhann wouldn''t leave me!"


    Niram took his face away. He hated having to tell the man the bad news, that was why he always left the explanation to Kiesh. "She left to get away from you, Myckie." Niram flinched as Myckie snapped his head towards Kiesh with confused eyes.


    "Why?"


    Gently, Kiesh continued. "She couldn''t watch you suffer any longer, Myckie."


    A look of indignation crossed the man''s face. "I''m not suffering!"


    "Look at you, Myckie," Niram interrupted, despite the urging need to stay quiet. "You''re deteriorating... Faster than the other old ones at the graveyard. And soon," he took a deep breath; this wasn''t easy. "Soon you''ll vanish... forever... Into the underworld."


    Fear swept through the indignant look on the man''s face. "No!" He shook his head. "I don''t want to go to the underworld! Please don''t make me go, Niram! I promise I''ll be good from now on!"


    Niram sighed. "You promised me the same last time. You know you can''t keep coming back here, Myckie? Humans don''t like ghosts returning to where they died. And besides, the underworld is not so bad."


    The man continued shaking his head. "Please Niram! Please don''t make me go there! It''s all dark and gloomy and cold!"


    "You know you''ll eventually end up there when your time in the physical world runs out? Why don''t you make a headstart so you can build up a house for Maryhann."


    "Really?" The man looked up at him with hopeful eyes.


    Niram grimaced but pushed through it. This had to be done. "Yeah, Maryhann will soon be there with you, and you know she''ll need somewhere to live. What better place than in a mansion with her sweet, sweet Myckie?"


    Myckie nodded. "I understand." He looked up at Niram with ghostly tears streaming down his eyes. "I don''t want to go to the underworld, but for Maryhann? I''ll do it!" He finished with a look of resolve on his face.


    Niram placed a hand on the man''s shoulders. "I''m proud of you Myckie. Despite what everyone says, you''re still the best mischief in this graveyard. Don''t let some old woman steal your thunder."


    Myckie barked a huge laugh, the first genuine one Niram had seen from him in years. And then in a blink, he vanished.


    Niram stared at the spot Myckie had just occupied with sadness.


    "It had to be done," Keish said beside him.


    "I know," he replied. "Doesn''t mean I don''t like it though."


    They were just about to turn back to the door when another shrill laugh erupted, this one dark and deeply menacing.


    A shadow emerged from behind the staircase leading up. As it came fully into the passage and the moon-streaked light from a broken window shone down on it, Niram saw that this thing wasn''t just cloaked by the natural shadow; it was shadow made manifest.


    Its height was so tall it almost scrapped the eleven-foot tall ceiling. There was a shadowy hood covering its face and behind that were two dark red, glowing orbs. Its raspy voice came forth then, just as it raised its talon-like claws in a beckoning gesture.


    "I hunger." Its voice echoed deeply into the whole house. "Come to me, feast!"