Undead Weekend

“In the shadow’s embrace, where stone meets bone, we resurrect the forgotten, the lost, the unknown. Through moonlit incantations, we call back the departed, breathing life into their slumber, with power uncharted,” the five girls chanted in the middle of a moonlit cemetery.

Their spell was soon interrupted when a symphonic beat emanated from one’s pocket. Leena scrambled into her jeans’ back pocket and fished out her cell phone. She glanced apologetically at the other girls as she checked the message she had received.

Kacey scoffed and said, “Seriously? We were almost complete with the ritual.”

Leena shrugged as she put her phone away, “I’m sorry, but I promised my family I’d spend time with them before I have to head back to the campus.”

“We said we would actually do it this time,” Nova lamented.

Jaine interjected, “Yeah, I barely got the time off of work. It’s not going to work anyway. We’ve been at this since we were teens.”

Kacey folded her arms across her chest and looked at the other four women in the circle. They all appeared a bit older than they did on the night of their high school graduation three years ago. “Have you all forgotten how much this meant to us?”

Brianna sighed, “We were thirteen. Of course, it meant a lot to us. Who doesn’t want to have some sort of power at that age?”

“Maybe this coven should disband,” Kacey glared at her friends. “Clearly we are no longer on the same page.”

Leena’s shoulders sagged, and she said, “Don’t be like that, Kacey. We still care. We love witchcraft and our group. We’ve done so much together. But maybe it is time to think realistically here and start living our lives.”

“I agree with Leena,” Brianna said. “We’re all adults now and have to think about our futures, not witchcraft that’ll never amount to anything, except the same judgmental looks from our community and disappointed nights when our spells don’t work.”

Nova nodded. “I’m sure in the future, we can still revisit this and try again. We’ll always have each other and these fun experiences together.”

Kacey frowned. “Fine. Maybe you all are right, but since we are here, this will probably be our last chance for a while to ever do a spell together. Why don’t we finish this night with a bang, and then we can go home?”

The other four girls nodded with small smiles gracing their faces. Kacey reached out her hands, Nova taking her right hand and Brianna taking her left. Once all their hands were connected, they began chanting the spell once again. The wind started to pick up as the moon became ensnared behind dark clouds. A storm was slowly brewing, and they had only minutes before a downpour could ruin their final night of witchery. When the last sentence was spoken, Kacey broke the handholding circle, throwing ingredients they had scrounged up over the years into a clay bowl in the center of their circle. Jaine lit a match before tossing it into the bowl. The ingredients didn’t take long to spark, and a large blaze lit up the dark space.

As soon as the fire started, so did the rain. It was extinguished in mere seconds, and everyone was now soaked as the sky drenched them with its tears. Jaine frowned as her wet curls hung loosely against her face. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Kacey looked up to the sky, unfazed by the torrential downpour in the middle of the cemetery. She smiled brightly, closing her eyes and feeling the heavy drops battering her pale skin as she bellowed, “I think we finally did it!”

Nova huffed as she flipped the hood of her black sweater over her head. “Yeah, we made it rain...”

Brianna hugged herself as the air grew colder. “We didn’t do anything. The forecast called for rain all night, and possibly until tomorrow afternoon.”

Kacey quickly looked back down at her friends. “Why do you all have to be so pessimistic? You have to believe that we were the ones to do this. And it’s probably why we’ve never been capable of casting any of the spells that we’ve tried because you all never believed.”

Leena quickly gathered her things and said, “I’m sorry, Kacey. But it’s hard to have a heart in this when we know that magic isn’t real. Witchcraft isn’t real.”

“Is that how you always felt?”

“Maybe not always, but over the last few years, I have,” Leena nodded as she threw her damp backpack over her shoulder.

“Is that how you all feel?” Kacey looked at her other friends one by one.

The others looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact, and nodded solemnly in response. Kacey scoffed, shaking her head in disdain. “Wow! All right, go ahead and leave.”

The four girls sighed before heading off to the parking lot of the cemetery. Kacey stayed behind, letting the rain wash away her angry tears. With a huff, she overturned the bowl they used for the séance, knocking it to the muddy ground below. She turned on her heel and stomped off to her car to head back to her apartment.

***

The storm continued to rage outside throughout the night. Thunder boomed, and lightning flashed brightly. Kacey tossed and turned; her head filled with nightmares. She woke up startled, her covers halfway off her body. Turning over and trying to go back to sleep, she noticed a glimmer on the floor after a bright flash of lightning lit up her room. Confused, Kacey attempted to turn on her bedside lamp, but after clicking the button on and off two times, she realized that the power was out. With a groan, she leaned over to dig through the nightstand drawer, fishing out her flashlight. She shined the yellow light on her hardwood floor, noticing that what she saw earlier was worse than she suspected. It turned out to be muddy shoeprints surrounded by water droplets.

Kacey was slightly panicked since she lived alone and knew those prints were too big to be hers or a friend’s. Slowly, she got out of her bed, looking around her room as her empty hand scoured the top of the nightstand for her phone. She turned the flashlight towards one corner of her room and found a figure standing there, looking at his hands in wonder. He looked up at her, and she realized this man was far from normal, his skin a grayish tone, parts of him flaking off, and strange colored bruises on his skin. Shaking, she cleared her throat and asked, “Who are you?”

He peered at her, tilting his head to the side as his eyebrows knitted together. “I’m Oliver Westford the second, darling.”

“Are you dead?”

“Dead?” He looked surprised but then seemed to go into thought. “I don’t think so. I couldn’t be.”

Against her better judgment, she walked closer to him, looking at his body more closely. His tattered wet suit was covered in moss, dirt, and other grime. There was a bone peeking out of one of his busted knuckles. And she may have been tired, but there was no denying that the little white item squirming in a hole in his head was a maggot. She sighed and said, “I hate to break it to you, Oliver. But I’m pretty sure you’re dead.”

“Preposterous! I can’t be…” He turned, looking at himself in the full-length mirror that covered Kacey’s closet. His eyes widened as he peered at himself and let out a startled, “Gah!”

His crooked fingers reached up to touch the wounds on his face. He seemed disheartened and confused as he whispered, “What happened to me?”

“Not a clue, but…” Kacey thought about the spell she and her friends performed only hours ago. “My gosh, it worked.”

He turned to look at her, his eyes squinting from the flashlight shone on his face. “What worked?”

Her shoulders sagged as she looked up at the dead man, “My friends and I created this little coven when we were young. We made up spells in hopes of becoming witches. Nothing we tried ever worked, but tonight, we’ve actually raised the dead.”

“You brought me back to life, but why?”

“It was a generic spell, so we had no intent on bringing back a specific person.”

He nodded in thought, “Well, there must be a reason, right?”

“I guess so,” she sighed. She checked the time on her phone and said, “Unfortunately, it’s three-thirty in the morning. So, we’ll have to wait until later to figure out why you were the one to come back to life.”

He raised a brow as he peeked at the device in her hand, “What is that contraption in your hand? How did it tell you the time?”

“It’s a cellphone.” Kacey tilted her head as she looked at Oliver. “What year are you from?”

“1923.”

“Oh, the prohibition era.”

“Yes, I presume so.” He crossed his arms in front of him. “What year is it now?”

“It’s 2023.”

“A hundred years,” he stammered out. “I’ve been gone for a whole century.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out like this, Oliver. Do you remember anything?”

He shook his head with a sharp frown. “My mind is a fog. I can pick out certain things, small things, like my name, age, and the year, but other than that, I can’t remember a thing.”

“I have to get some rest, but maybe you can piece things together as we try to get you back where you belong.” Kacey looked around her room, which was barely illuminated by her flashlight. “Do you sleep?”

“I’d say I’ve had enough sleep, darling.”

“Fair enough.” She nodded in agreement. “And please stop calling me darling; my name is Kacey.”

“Sorry, force of habit. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Kacey.”

“Just Kacey will suffice.”

“Understood.”

“Well, I hate to be rude, but I think you might have to change into some new clothes.”

He looked down at his distressed and filthy suit, “Very well. Do you have anything I may wear?”

She thought for a second before a bright smile formed on her lips. “My ex left a pair of sweatpants, and a t-shirt here and never picked them back up.”

Kacey tossed her phone onto the bed before digging in her closet for the items she was looking for. She pulled out the clothing, handing it over to Oliver. “You can change in my living room and hang out in there while I sleep.”

Oliver looked over the clothes skeptically but nodded his head in understanding. “Thank you for your hospitality, Kacey.”

“You’re welcome.” She gave him a polite smile. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

He gave her a tight nod before making his way toward her living room. Kacey shut the door behind him, still trying to process that she and her friends had brought back the dead. She went back to bed, hoping they’d be able to figure out how to get Oliver back to where he belongs.

***

The sun shone through the cracked curtain on Kacey’s window, awakening her from her slumber. She groaned as she rubbed a hand down her face, sitting up in her bed in the process. She almost thought last night had been a dream, but the blaring noise of her TV coming from the living room made her think differently. She placed her hands over her ears as she rushed out to her living room to turn off the noise. There, she found Oliver sitting on her couch, which was littered with food wrappers and soda cans, along with her coffee table. He was currently fiddling with her remote, his brows furrowed in concentration. Without hesitation, she swiped the remote from his hands and turned off her television.

Oliver looked up at her with a half-smile and said, “That moving picture box is amazing! And it’s in color.”

“Yeah, sure…” Kacey looked over her trash-ridden couch and coffee table. “Did you eat my whole pantry?”

“Sorry about that,” he said as he looked over the mess he had made. “But man, those little rectangles with the icing on top and filling in the middle were so delicious. Also, those puffs of cheese, wow! And I don’t remember pop being so darn good.”

“Great, I have an undead man hyped up on sugar.”

“I’m fine, but this new world is just exhilarating.” He let out a contented sigh. “So, what are our plans for the day, Kacey?”

“To figure out a way to get you back.”

“But I don’t want to go back.”

Kacey’s eyes widened, and she said, “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, but you don’t belong here, Oliver. So, soak in all the time you have left because you will be going back to being six feet under.”

He groaned, an annoyed look on his face. “If I must.”

“First, I have to convince my friends to help out with this. And this is the only weekend we’ll have to do this,” she huffed, thinking about the time crunch they were under. “But, before we head out to round up my friends, we should probably clean you up a bit. If it was closer to Halloween, you could pull this look off, but being the end of summer, we’ll get quite a few stares.”

“Fair enough.”

“I’ll get the shower started for you, and then I’ll try my best to use my makeup to make you look a bit more... alive.”

He nodded as he stood from the couch. “Okay. I do feel quite dirty.”

“Let’s get this over with and start our journey to find your way home.”

***

After getting Oliver cleaned and looking a bit more human to the untrained eye, Kacey decided to visit Nova at her work first. She led Oliver through the aisles of the ceramic shop where Nova worked. Finding Nova in the back, moving inventory, Kacey walked up to her friend. When Nova spotted her, she gave her a confused stare and asked, “What are you doing here? I’m trying to work.”

“It worked,” Kacey blurted out. “Our spell last night. It worked!”

Nova gave her a hearty laugh. “Sure it did.”

“Seriously, Nova. We brought back the dead.”

“You can’t pull us back in by making false claims that we performed magic last night.”

“I’m not lying.” Kacey pulled Oliver over and said, “This is Oliver West... something the second. And he’s from the 1920s.”

“It’s Oliver Westford the second,” he interjected.

Nova looked the man over and smirked, “Yeah, right. How much did she pay you to pull this off?”

“Nothing. She’s telling the truth, doll face.”

Nova made a face and looked over at her friend. “Did you pick up some random homeless man and ask him to do this?”

“No, this is real. He’s,” Kacey looked around and whispered, “dead.”

Nova crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, “Prove it.”

Kacey sighed and tried to think about how to convince Nova. Suddenly, she thought of something that might convince her. She took out her phone and typed the man’s name into a search engine, hoping it’d pull up an obituary. Thankfully, it pulled up quite a few results, including articles on Oliver’s murder. She pulled up one of the articles, not just to show her friend that this was true, but curious about his death. A grainy black and white photo of a man that looked spot-on to Oliver was the first thing showcased in the article, along with his name, date of birth, and death. She showed it to Nova and said, “See, it’s him.”

She looked back and forth between Oliver and the photo on the phone. “That’s pretty uncanny. They do look eerily similar.”

Oliver looked over at the phone and said, “I remember that photo. It was taken after my father founded the library.”

Kacey looked back at Oliver. “Wait... The Westford library? Your father is the founder?”

“Yes, he wanted to give back to the community after his hat business took off.”

Nova looked between them and asked, “Are you saying this is real? He’s back from the dead?”

“Yep, it’s true,” Kacey said with a nod. She turned to Oliver as she skimmed through the article, “It says you were murdered. Do you remember that?”

Oliver frowned. “No, but I’m not surprised. I did not make the best choices, and I ran with people who were not so good.”

“Like the mob?”

“Indeed.”

Nova tried to brace herself on one of the large boxes behind her and stuttered, “This is impossible. We couldn’t have.”

“Oh, but we did,” Kacey confirmed. “Now we have to figure out how to fix this.”

“I guess so,” Nova mumbled as she pulled out her phone. “Who else have you contacted?”

“You’re the first. I thought you’d be the easiest to convince.”

“I guess you’re right.” Nova started texting on her phone and said, “I’m telling the girls to meet up with us at the park where we used to meet after school.”

“Sounds good.” Kacey nodded in agreement. “I’ll meet you there?”

“Yeah, I’m going to call my boss and let him know that I need to leave early.”

“Okay, see you there.”

***

The five girls gathered at the park, surrounding Oliver, who was sitting on a wooden bench in front of them. Kacey and Nova briefed the other three girls on the situation they had found themselves in. Most of the girls were skeptical as they continued to eye Oliver on the bench. Leena was the first to speak up after hearing the story, “This is impossible.”

Brianna shrugged as she looked over at Leena, “Not anymore, apparently.”

“How are we supposed to get him back?” Jaine asked as she looked over at Kacey.

“I guess we’ll come up with another spell and perform it tonight,” Kacey replied.

Nova nodded in agreement. “That seems like a good idea.”

“What time should we meet up? I promised my family I’ll have dinner with them, and I can’t blow off my plans with them again,” Leena explained.

“Midnight seems like our best bet.” Kacey looked at all her friends. “So, are you all in?”

They all agreed to meet up at the cemetery around midnight. Before they parted ways, Nova suggested what they should do in the meantime. “Kacey and I will work on the spell. Brianna and Jaine will get some supplies from the witchcraft store we used to frequent.”

Brianna nodded as she took out her phone and asked, “Is there anything in particular that we need?”

“Just grab what you can. We could use everything they have to offer—herbs, crystals, and maybe some incense.”

“We’ll see what we can do.”

Brianna and Jaine went off to the witchcraft store, and Leena went to meet up with her family. Kacey turned to Oliver and said, “Are you ready to head back tonight?”

“Of course not,” Oliver shook his head as he stood from the park bench. “Sleeping for another hundred years, maybe even longer, decomposing underground. I never got to live the life I wanted, but I presume I’ll never will.”

It was quiet between the three, Oliver’s words weighing heavy on them all. They left the park, heading back to Kacey’s apartment to work on the new spell.

***

Everyone gathered in the cemetery exactly at midnight. It was foggy, and they had found their way to Oliver’s open grave. Oliver reluctantly descended back into the grave as the girls set up a new bowl, crystals, herbs, and incense to start their new spell. The five girls held each other’s hands and began chanting the new spell that Kacey and Nova had come up with.

“By the veil between life and death, let the threads of existence weave and wane. In this unholy hour, we plead thee, O spirits of the night, release the captive soul, shrouded in undead dread.” They added the herbs one by one to the dish as they continued reciting the spell, before burning them all together. “Return him to the silent sanctuary of his grave, where peace and rest await his weary spirit, forevermore.”

It was calm and silent after they finished. There was no wind, no rain, and no excess fog. It just seemed like an ordinary summer night in the Boston cemetery. Oliver popped back up, his head just above the grave entrance, and said, “I don’t think it worked.”

“I can see that,” Kacey sighed as she looked down at him.

Jaine crossed her arms in front of her. “Maybe last time was just a fluke.”

Nova sighed and replied, “Possibly, but bringing back the dead can’t just be a random fluke. I mean, we have to put him back. He can’t stay with us forever.”

“Nova is right,” Leena agreed. “He can’t stay here. We can’t just care for a dead guy for the rest of our lives like he’s some stray puppy.”

Jaine huffed, “What else are we supposed to do?”

“Maybe we should recite the spell again,” Kacey suggested. “Give it a little more power and emphasis in our words.”

“I don’t think performing the same spell over and over again will do us much good. I’m sure it’ll just give us the same result and be a waste of our time.”

“Well, do you have a better idea?”

“No. But I’m tired, and this is out of my wheelhouse.”

Brianna chimed in with her thoughts, “What if he can’t go back yet?”

The four girls turned to her and quirked a brow in confusion. Nova was the one to ask her opinion, “What do you mean?”

Brianna adjusted her glasses and shrugged, “You know how they talk about unfinished business? Maybe that’s why he came back. He might be here to resolve something from his past.”

“His murder,” Kacey mumbled. “They said they never found the culprit. His father even offered a hefty reward to the public if they knew who did it.”

Oliver spoke up as he clambered out of his grave, “I wouldn’t mind knowing how I died and who stole my life from me.”

“I guess that’s what we’ll do tomorrow before we try again.”

Leena nodded, “I can postpone my trip back until Monday morning.”

“Me too,” Jaine interjected. “I only live two hours away, and I’m sure I can make it to work on time.”

Kacey nodded her head and said, “Okay. We’ll meet up at his father’s library and see if they have any old newspaper clippings about his death.”

The girls and Oliver dispersed, heading to their respective homes to get ready for a long and eventful Sunday.

***

The next day, they gathered around a long wooden table at the back of the library. Piles of newspapers were stacked high and everyone took a few to skim through. Hours passed as they scoured every paper from the year of Oliver’s passing in 1923 until 1925. Oliver was the first to speak up as he read an article, “Golly, I had almost forgotten about Victor and Ada. I wish I could have been there to witness their wedding.”

Jaine peeked over to see what he was looking at, “Was that your friend?”

“Yes, we all grew up together and were very close. They always said they’d wed, well Victor did. It took forever for Ada to come around, but we knew it was to be.”

Kacey looked over as well, noticing the man in the picture, “Is that Victor and Ada Belinsky?”

Oliver nodded and said, “Yes, do you know them?”

“They are my great-grandparents.”

“You are the descendant of my friends? That’s certainly interesting.”

Leena chimed in, “Maybe that’s why he came back?”

Brianna shook her head, “It can’t be. There has to be more to the story.”

“Agreed,” Kacey nodded. “Being related to his best friends isn’t much of an unfinished business. But maybe they knew who murdered him.”

Jaine huffed, “We can’t exactly ask them. So, what do we do?”

“I mean, we could, if we conducted a séance, but I think I have my great-grandfather’s journal. That could lead us to more information.”

Oliver nodded in agreement, “I think that’s a start.”

***

Back at Kacey’s apartment, they rummaged through several boxes in her back closet, hoping to find her great-grandfather’s journal. Nova pulled out a few stacks of photos, placed them on Kacey’s bed, and said excitedly, “Hey! I think I found it.”

The rest of the girls and Oliver surrounded her, and Brianna picked up one of the sepia-toned photographs. “Isn’t this you, Oliver?”

He took it from her hands and looked it over, noticing himself between Victor and Ada. “Yes, this is me. We were at a local speakeasy, and we had a blast dancing all night to some fine jazz music.”

Jaine observed the photo and said, “Victor looks kind of irritated in this picture.”

“Hmm, I suppose he does. I don’t remember him being mad that day, we were all having fun, as far as I remember. Though my memory is fuzzy.”

Kacey noticed the date written on the bottom, “That was dated 2 days before your murder.”

Oliver sighed, “At least I got to have fun before my death.”

“Do you think my grandfather knew?”

“I think he more than knew,” Nova explained as she flipped through a worn, leather-bound brown journal. “He was the one who did it.”

Oliver snatched the bound book from her hands and said, “He couldn’t have. We have known each other since we were nine years old. He would have never betrayed me.”

“Unfortunately, he was blinded by love and jealousy.”

“He thought I was in love with Ada.” He skimmed over the journal entry, his brows furrowing in anger, “I never tried to steal his girl from him. I loved them both; they were my friends, but I’d never hurt him in that way.”

“What happened?” Kacey asked.

“He followed me home on the night of my death.” Oliver sighed. “I remember a presence with me, but honestly, it was dark, and I was tired. I felt a sharp pain in my back, and then I heard wet footsteps running away. I lay there for hours in the alley before succumbing to my wounds. How could he?”

Oliver threw the journal before storming out of Kacey’s bedroom and apartment. The girls chased after him, hoping not to lose him so they could return him to the grave. Kacey was the one to catch up to him and said, “Oliver, wait!”

“Leave me be,” he said with anger.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“I got what I came here for, right? Now I just have to go back to being dead, knowing that I was placed in an early grave because of broken trust.”

“I know it’s not fair, and it may not mean anything coming from me, but I’m sorry.” Kacey sighed as she tried to stop Oliver from walking any further. “I’m sorry my great-grandfather, the person you thought was your closest friend, stabbed you in the back. But we can’t change the past, but maybe I can make sure you’re not forgotten going forward.”

Oliver tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been having a hard time getting a foot in the door at my local paper, doing odd jobs to stay afloat, but maybe bringing you back wasn’t just to help you but me too. I can write a story about what happened, using my great-grandfather’s journal entries and pictures. I can tell your story and complete your journey.”

“I guess I wouldn’t mind my story being told.”

“I’ll do you justice, I promise.”

He gave her a kind smile and said, “I trust you.”

“So, will you let us send you back tonight?” Kacey asked.

“I think I’m ready.”

***

Everyone said their final goodbyes to Oliver as he prepared to return to his grave for an eternity of rest. The girls set up their spellcasting items once again, hoping this time it would work for them. As they chanted the spell they had used yesterday, the wind started to pick up. Leaves blew, trees swayed, and dirt stung their exposed skin. They had a hard time concentrating, but they knew they couldn’t stop. They burned the remaining herbs they had, and the flames that greeted them were quite unusual compared to their previous attempts. It was a bright blue and pink flame that rose from the dish. Once they recited their last word, everything stopped, as if nothing had ever happened.

Unsure if it had worked, Kacey peeked down into Oliver’s grave and said, “Oliver?”

He didn’t move; he looked like he was in a peaceful sleep and gone for good. Leena sighed and said, “I guess it worked this time.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Jaine grabbed a shovel that was lying near the grave. “We should fill his grave back in. It’s the least we can do for him.”

Brianna nodded in agreement, “Yeah. We should take turns.”

Nova wandered over to Kacey and sighed, “You’re actually going to write his story?”

“I think he deserves it,” Kacey sighed as she watched her friends shoveling the dark soil. “It may reflect poorly on my family, but it’s a fascinating story to tell.”

Nova patted her shoulder, “I’m sure it’ll be perfect.”

The girls finished up at the cemetery before going their separate ways one last time. They promised to keep in touch as they had for the last few years. But the next time they ever decide to dabble in magic, they’ll stick to more basic spells, leaving the undead alone.