Story cover:

This is based on the prompt: Wondrous Dinner of the Halloween Vault 2 contest on generalfiction profile.

Heavy eyelids fluttered open hesitantly. Am I dead? Her eyes darted around. However, the soreness of her body, tension in her muscles and the drool dripping down her chin to the hard surface beneath brought a sense of confusion.

Her neck popped when lifting her head off the table, slow blinks as eyes took in her surroundings. The gravestones glowered at her hunched form, the chair squeaking under her fidgeting body.

The lack of light made it hard to see. The need to investigate the place arose as she did but an invisible force pushed her back down prompting a groan at the hard contact with her bottom. "Easy," she grunted, regretting the words as soon as they came out.

A fire appeared to her left, before it split to tiny flames adorning multiple candles scattered everywhere. "You're in no position to order anyone, witch." The hard voice made her gulp loudly. The table was covered in all kinds of weird food. Am I the main course or a side dish? Her heart clenched.

"What's your name?" Another squeaky voice asked.

"It's Aradia, sir." Her lips quivered.

"Ah, protector." A third silvery voice joined.

"Please, show yourselves. Am I dead? Where are my friends? Please..." Tears flowed down flushed cheeks as she attempted to stand again but was pulled back down.

"Aradia," her name reverberated around the chilly graveyard. "It's her." A guy, translucent in his form, appeared in a sudden pouf of white mist as did two others. He sat right in front of her, an old lady to her right and a boy to her left, outfits older than her existence covering their see-through figures.

Aradia gaped at them, jolting slightly when an icy hand followed the curve of her neck. "Aradia." Their fascination with her name was bizarre. Yet, she was too afraid of what was to follow when they snapped out of their haze. "The last Evanorian."

The young woman's empty eyes stared deep into her soul, sucking it out of her. "Drop it." The little kid rolled his eyes. "You're scaring her."

Unable to break off the contact, Aradia inhaled sharply. "She is the one, indeed. I was unable to feed off of her soul."

"What are you?" Aradia breathed out, regaining her composure.

"Alma. Humans call us ghosts. However, we're neither Keres nor ghosts." The old man spoke. "Fear us not. We saved you all. Keres are evil spirits possessing humans to feed off of their souls and your companions were victims to them."

"I would like to apologize for scaring you, dearest. My warning was supposed to keep you away from here. The Keres sensed the powers dormant deep within you and sought your death to gain it." The old woman smiled apologetically.

"Almas are guardian spirits for portals between the realms separating the dead and the living. The prophecy was fulfilled. So, now, fill your belly as much as you can; we've got so much to explain, Queen of the lost Evanora."

Word count: 500.

MEANING OF THE NAMES USED:

Alma is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "soul", it can also be derived from the Latin word almus, which means "kind". In this context, they're good spirits.

Aradia (means protector as said above) Keres (means evil spirits) and Evanora (means light) were explained before in the previous stories. (more detailed)

Again, this is related to The Whisperer Of The Dead and Haunted Or Hunted? However, they can be read as stand-alones for the sake of the contests. (:

I'm not satisfied with how this turned out. Maybe I'll fix it, maybe not. Depends on how free I am cause I'm hardly making time to write and I wanna participate in as many contests as I can. :c

Hope y'all enjoyed reading this. 💜

Dreams. Xx