Everett could never imagine a world without magic.

Moonlight guided him down a cobblestone path to some wrought iron gates that girdled Briarwood's cemetery. Owls hooted to the night sky, blanketed in stars. Beside him, Kieran followed closely, surveying the area with keen eyes. Everett tugged his robe's hood over his freezing ears, wishing he had the powers of a fire wizard to unthaw his shivering soul.

A wizard's magic derived from the elements, always passed down from their mother. Everett's specialty was wind magic. However, there were certain spells a wizard could perform, regardless of where their magic originated. Many death curses and forms of black magic could be wielded by anyone, which was partially why Everett had dragged his new vampire partner out in the cemetery in the middle of the night.

Since the gates were sealed with a magically imbued lock, there was only one way inside. They had to climb over the fence. Unfortunately, the enchanted wards around the cemetery had been constructed to detect their brooms as well, so he couldn't attempt that either. Instead, Everett produced his wand from his robe's pocket and swirled it around as he chanted a spell of whirlwind magic.

Silvery embers glistened in the wind that rippled around the ground, stirring up any little pebbles and debris it could collect. Everett stepped into the mini funnel one boot at a time, allowing it to levitate him high enough to avoid touching the magically sparked gates. The whirlwind descended his body onto the other side with care before evaporating.

"You really know how to fascinate a man," Kieran remarked.

Everett did a dramatic little bow for him with a grin. "It's the only way in without being zapped by Monarch Elaine's magic." He shuddered to imagine such force ripping into his body. "Be sure not to touch the tips of the gate."

"Thanks for the advice." Kieran gave him a salute.

"We take precautions to make sure the zombies never escape again."

Memories of last year's Harvest Fest from hell tainted his mind with bloodshed, and he shook such horrific thoughts aside. Nothing like that would ever happen to them again.

When Kieran shifted into bat form, that uncanny sound of bones breaking ripped through Everett's ears. It sounded painful. Everett couldn't imagine the contorting of bones, flesh, and other vital organs was a pleasant feeling. Yet Kieran emerged in his human form within seconds, seeming unbothered by the transformation.

"So, why are we trespassing tonight?" Kieran asked. He brushed up against his side. No breath tickled his ear when Kieran leaned down and whispered, "Are we stealing a corpse?"

"Heavens, no!" Everett all but shrieked. "What sort of wizard do you take me for?"

"How should I know?" Kieran spread his hands. "Honest mistake, but pray tell, what are your intentions?"

"We're going to speak with Richard's ghost," Everett said matter-of-factly.

Kieran raised a brow. "What makes you think he'll be around tonight?"

"We're going to summon him." Everett plucked out a small bag filled with summoning supplies from his robe's pocket. Sometimes he understood why his mother carried such a huge purse around with her.

"You can summon ghosts?" Kieran asked with a frown. "I thought wizards could only do that with demons."

"Only some wizards possess such abilities. It taps into a special kind of necromancy black magic, so don't tell anyone." Everett winked.

From his pocket of wonders, Everett plucked out a few tealight candles and centered them around Richard's grave. He used his lighter to ignite flickering flames. Little shadows danced around them as he used his salt to encircle the grave, connecting to each lit candle. He ensured not to leave any gaps in the summoning circle, but it was a lot easier to contain a deceased spirit compared to a demoness from hell.

He used his wand to summon a sharp gust of wind to slice a small cut in his index finger and dribbled enough of his own blood onto the ground. The summoning spell ripped through his body like a tornado. Everett made a gesture for Kieran to stand back, allowing his mind to open a soulful channel between the living and the dead.

Necromancy was a form of magic he'd inherited from his great grandmother and his mother hated it when he tapped into such wicked magic. The ground he stood on shook beneath his feet as if hell below would erupt, but it subsided as Richard's spirit was pried out from wherever it rested.

Curly locks of brown hair swept over his pale face. Multiple pinpricks marred his neck, trailing down to the ripped collar of his bloodstained silver robe.

"Greetings, Richard. Sorry for disturbing your rest," Everett apologized.

"Are you my grandson?" Richard tilted his head, examining Everett in confusion. "Weren't you taller?"

"Uh, no. I'm Everett Pepperheart."

"Ah, you're Rosa's youngest child." Richard nodded. "Why have you summoned me?"

"Someone left your head in my library."

Richard blinked. "Pardon?"

"Yes, it's quite a peculiar incident. Your wife, Rowena, haunts my library. She knew it was your head right away," Everett explained.

"Wizards are wild creatures," Kieran muttered.

Richard whipped his head in Kieran's direction, eyes slanting with suspicion. "Is that a bloodsucker?"

"Uh, yes." Everett awkwardly fiddled with his wand and mentally cursed himself for not considering bringing a vampire to visit him being traumatizing. "But that's not important."

"It's not?" Richard frowned.

"I summoned you tonight to ask about your death and your stolen head." Everett stomped one foot on the ground, curiously digging his heel into the mud. "Despite the grass that's sprouted, I can sense your grave's been disturbed recently."

"How can you tell?" Kieran asked as he lowered him down to inspect the ground. "It looks normal to me. Nobody's dug him up recently."

"I can sense the lingering magic residue beneath my feet. And the grass around his grave is fresher than the strands around the graves near his. Many folks use their magic to sprout flowers or weeds if you're disliked, but nobody cares enough to replace the grass. Someone did that here to cover their tracks, so nobody noticed his grave was disturbed."

"Your magic element derives from Earth, doesn't it?" Richard asked. "You can feel things around you more strongly, right?"

Everett clicked his tongue. "Wind, actually."

It was a magic element that many wielders tended to overlook. While it wasn't praised as much as Earth or feared like Fire, it could easily be considered one of the most powerful among the four.

Richard rubbed his chin. "I've not noticed anyone visiting me, but I don't pay much attention. As for my death, it's likely in the Council's records. Vampire attack. Tragic, but it happens." He cast a worrisome glance at Kieran. "He's not the one who killed me, is he?"

That was fascinating news to Everett. "You don't know who drained your blood?"

"No, how would I?" Richard asked. "I was downtown, walking home from work."

"Richard, our death records claim it was suicide. That you sought a vampire out to turn you," Everett replied.

"Hell no," Richard spat. Rage mounted in his rigid face. "I'd never want to become a bloodsucker. How dare they even suggest that! I was a reputable member of the Supernatural Council." He dramatically touched his chest, straightening his posture as he told tales of all his arrests. "I even caught a rogue wolf walker once. All on my own, with no backup."

"That's wonderful," Everett muttered. "Did you happen to arrest any vampires before you died?"

Richard took a moment to contemplate. "Ah, there was this case with illegal blood donor forms. The vampire forged documents for some wizards and witches so they could reside in our country. They were quite realistic-looking, but my trained eyes caught the little differences. None of the papers had the proper magical stamp."

"Could be a motive to want you dead. You took some of his blood sources, so he decided to take yours," Everett said.

"Perhaps. Do you think a vampire killed my wife as well?" Richard asked, eyes widening. "What if it's revenge against our family? Should we alert our sons and their kids?"

"Not yet. Not until we know what's going on. I don't want to frighten anyone for no good reason," Everett replied. "The Council would surely find charges to stick me with for causing such mayhem."

"Mmh." Richard's gaze narrowed to Everett, at his neck. "Where did you get that amulet?"

Everett looked down, surprised to find it glowing again. He lifted the gem up, examining it with intrigue. "An heirloom my mother gave me. It's been passed down through our generations."

"It looks familiar." Richard scrutinized it.

"Rowena wears a similar one," Everett said. "Yet she doesn't remember where she got it from."

"Ah, yes. Rowena had all kinds of fancy jewelry she wore, so it's no surprise. Perhaps they were crafted by the same maker?" Richard suggested.

Everett nodded. "Perhaps they were." He tucked the gem beneath his shirt. "It rarely glows so much."

"I can't recall Rowena's amulet ever glowing like that," Richard said. "Strange. Is it imbued with magic?"

"I believe so. Anyway, as to the real reason why we've summoned you," Everett cleared his voice. "With your permission, I'd like to dig up your body."

"I thought we weren't stealing a corpse," Kieran pointed out.

Everett pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're not. I want to see the condition of his body. You know, how they severed his head. I doubt the Supernatural Council has checked yet, as the magic residue here is faint. I would've detected their own necromancy spells."

Richard just shrugged. "If you want to."

"Dead bodies aren't a sightly thing to look at," Kieran said, voice hushed as he gently touched Everett's shoulder. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's not the first time I've raised the dead." Everett took a step back and channeled his magic through his wand. Patches of dirty rustled. Using his wind magic, he swept the chunks of dirt to the side as if digging into the grave with an invisible shovel. He stopped when the casket was revealed.

Everett crouched down on the ground, examining the tampered lock. Just as he expected. With a flick of his wand, he levitated the lid open, revealing Richard's headless body.

Embers of black magic swarmed around the jagged pieces of his neck, where the head had been severed. It wasn't a clean cut, he noticed. No blood could be found in the casket, but that was normal. They didn't bury their dead with blood, and he assumed the vampire who had killed him had drained him of every ounce like a human-sized juice pouch.

Everett waved his wand over the body, stirring up more black embers as the body shifted up in the grave. It climbed out unsteadily, stumbling neck first onto the ground.

"What the hell?" Kieran muttered.

The body clambered to his feet, hands reaching out for something as the barrier halted it from stepping out of bounds. Everett examined it curiously. Nothing malevolent had appeared yet, and he wondered if the entire body wasn't cursed. Only the head, perhaps?

"This is rather freaky," Richard remarked. "How is it doing that?"

"Common reflexes," Everett replied. "I needed to see if your body was imbued with black magic. Like your head was."

"Wait, what?" Richard's ghost bristled. "I didn't realize that was possible."

"I was surprised as well," Everett said.

When the force fields containing the body zapped the zombie, it staggered around in the circle. Everett assumed it was merely reflexes like most undead bodies did when risen without clear instructions from their summoner. As the zombified body of Richard threw himself in his direction, Everett jolted back with a startled gasp.

A tingling against his chest had Everett peering down at his glowing amulet, and Richard's body violently flung itself against the barrier in a hopeless attempt to break free. He clawed at the air, as if he could tear through it. Fear nestled deep in Everett's pounding heart. Glowing red embers embraced his neck, as if wrapping protective chains around him.

Mustering the courage he desperately needed, Everett cast the spell to send the zombie back into his coffin. Thankfully, the body staggered back into the box. It was difficult using the power of the wind to force its outstretched arms down, and a sickening crackle of the bones made him flinch before sealing it back. Everett sent a soft prayer as he reburied the zombified body, hoping it wouldn't try to return.

Once it was contained, Everett released a pent up breath and reeled back into the vampire, who was prepared to catch him in those rugged arms. Exhaustion weighed heavily in his body. Everett couldn't even be bothered to pull himself back to his own feet. He savored the embrace of the other man, relying on his strength to keep him from falling over.

"That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" Kieran asked as his icy fingers steadied him from falling over.

Everett shook his head, groaning as he gently eased away from the vampire. "Gods, summoning the bodies of my dead bunnies was more fun than this. At least they didn't try to murder me."

Kieran wore a perplexed frown while Richard's ghost remained in a perpetual state of utter shock. Everett wondered if he'd broken the poor ghost or scarred him for his remaining undead lifetime.

"For clarification, I struggled to accept death as a child. So, when I lost two pet bunnies, my folks buried them in our backyard and I brought their bodies back out to play," Everett explained. "They loved running around our backyard, so carefree."

"I can't imagine that ended well," Kieran said.

"No, it did not. Mother forbid me from ever doing that again and properly cremated their bodies in our firepit." Everett glared at the grave, as if expecting the body of Richard to reemerge and snatch him.

"You can't burn my body!" Richard wailed. "That's disgraceful."

"Guess you're lucky I'm not a fire wizard." Everett stuffed his shaky hands into his robe's pockets. "Pardon the intrusion tonight. The black magic will fade away from your body within the next day or so. I had to trigger it so it didn't remain dormant forever. As for your head, I'm sorry to say, the Council probably already burned it to ash."

Richard's pupils dilated, blackness filling the white irises as he lunged forward, blocked by the same barrier as his body. Demonic snarls ripped from the ghost's lungs. It was worse than Everett expected. Someone imbued a curse into his spirit. Only a skilled wizard of the dark arts could do such a thing, however, Everett prepared for the worst.

With the flick of his wand, he chanted a spell to send Richard back to the damned hells where he belonged. Thank the heavens for summoning circles and banishment spells. The soul of the man he once was had been tainted by ancient black magic.

"You seem quite calm, given the hellfest that just happened here." Everett tucked his wand back into his pocket. Sweat glistened on his forehead, even in spite of the chilly fall night winds.

Kieran shrugged. "I had faith in your abilities. If you did release Richard into your cozy little town, I would have taken you to safety over the fence, then flew us into the night sky. Vampires travel at the speed of lightning, you know."

"How would you carry my body in bat form?" Everett asked, head tilted with a frown.

"Ah, I can transform halfway. Surely you've seen that transition when I've turned," Kieran replied.

Everett nodded, a sly smile gracing his weary face. "Why don't you show me? Carry me over the fence."