Kent Juniper

It was Halloween night, and I was dressed in my armor, ready for battle. It was our yearly tradition: my friends and I would dress up in our favorite LARPing costumes and hold games, costume competitions, and even melee fights. It was my turn to host the party, and I’d spent the whole week cleaning out the garage and stocking up on soda and Halloween candy. I couldn’t believe my mom was cool with it. But then again, she and I had always been close.

Unlike my brother Felix. He wasn’t close with anyone. Especially not me. He was 15, only a year younger than me, but we had nothing in common. While I was always out hanging with my friends, he would be locked up in his room, doing who knows what. And even though we went to the same school, I never saw him because he was always suspended.

There was something inside Felix. Something…dark. He never wanted to spend time with me. Just talking to him would cause him to give me the evil eye. Which was why I was so surprised when he showed up at the party. He was dressed in a purple wizard’s costume with a black crystal staff. It looked professional; far more intricate than anything he could have made himself. At first, no one else seemed to notice he was there. That was, until he started to speak.

“Ambrose!” His voice reverberated off the walls, shaking my armor. He didn’t sound like himself. It was as if someone…or something…were speaking through him. “I challenge you to a duel!”

The room fell silent, and while a few of them started to whisper under their breath, or even chuckle at his proposition, no one moved. They all looked to me, waiting for my reaction.

I shook my head, “No. I’m not going to fight you, Felix. But you are welcome to join our party. Maybe I could teach you some of our board games or…”

“I’m not here to play,” he boomed in an almost otherworldly voice, “Your honor is challenged. You must fight me!”

“Felix, I’m serious. I can’t fight you. My sword isn’t sharpened, but it’s real. You see this?” I beat my chest plate, “It’s padded like a football uniform. But even with that, these weapons leave bruises. It’s dangerous. I could kill you.”

He broke out in hysterical laughter, “Kill me? Well, what about your stupid chivalric code? You can’t run from a fight, Ambrose.”

“I’m only required to fight if I’m challenged by an equal.”

“You always think you’re so much better than me, don’t you? Prove it,” he hissed.

Just looking at him made my stomach hurt. I thought about going to get mom, but doing that in front of my friends would be so embarrassing.

The room started to chant, “Ambrose! Ambrose!” With a sigh, I picked up my helmet and pulled it on, drawing my broadsword.

“You first,” he sneered, holding his arms out, exposing his entire body to my blow.

At first, I couldn’t even decide where to strike him that wouldn’t land him in the hospital. The guard on my helmet didn’t help. It narrowed my vision, making precision difficult.

As I raised my sword, the room cheered. But I didn’t feel the excitement. I was pissed.

“This is so fucking stupid,” I grumbled. I swung my sword down, hoping I’d miss him altogether. But it didn’t fall. My hands slipped from the hilt, and the sword just stayed there, floating above my head. “What the hell?”

Felix was laughing. The black staff he held was glowing purple, “What? I thought you liked magic, bro. Oh, well. I guess it’s my turn.”

My sword turned and pointed inches from the eye slits in my helmet. Unsure of what to do next, I lunged for his staff, but the weight of my armor threw me forward harder than I wanted to, and I toppled into his legs, knocking him over.

His staff fell to the ground and smashed, filling the air with thick black smoke. It burned my eyes, but I could hear everyone else coughing, screaming, and running out the door. I gasped for air, and as the smoke cleared, the room came back into view. There, beside me, I saw my brother lying on his back with my sword in his chest. His clothes were soaked with blood.

“Oh, God! No! No! Felix, I’m so sorry!”

He was still alive, but only barely. With a shaking hand, he reached into his cloak and pulled out a small but thick notebook, bound in leather.

“The…Reaper…find the…” he inhaled sharply, tears dripping down his face. His gaze softened, then he was gone.

“I’m so sorry,” I sobbed, taking the journal and flipping wildly through it in search of the word “reaper.” The notebook was filled with dark charcoal sketches and messy cursive notes.

Towards the back of the book, I saw it:

The Reaper’s Candle

A dark, magical item capable of bringing a soul back from the dead. The Candle is found only after defeating Erebus, the guardian of the gates to the underworld. He can be found once a year, on Halloween night, walking among the dead between 11:11 and midnight.

This was like something straight out of one of my games. But it wasn’t a game. With a sickening sound, I pulled my bloody sword from his body. Felix had been right: my honor was being challenged. And this time, I wouldn’t fail.

I locked the garage door from the inside so no one would stumble upon his body. Luckily, my mother was already asleep. I ran outside and pushed through the few friends that were still on my lawn, coughing up smoke. Without a word, I jumped behind the wheel of my car, armor and all, and sped towards Hilgard Hill Cemetery.

I arrived just after 11, with just a few minutes to spare. I killed the engine and stepped out into the darkness among the rows of graves. The only light was the moon, and it wasn’t nearly bright enough to ease my anxiety as I scanned the darkness for any sign of the guardian.

For a moment, the cliche of it all brought a smile to my face, and I started to laugh. A graveyard on Halloween? This had to be a joke. Felix must have been pulling some elaborate practical joke for attention. Maybe he was just mad I didn’t invite him to the party.

“Felix, you asshole,” I sighed, getting back into the car. He was okay. He was probably just waiting for me to get home so he could tease me when I returned.

I put the key in the ignition, but…it didn’t start. I tried again, but all I got was a click…click…click.

BANG! I jumped out of my skin as something hit the top of my car. I snatched my sword from the passenger seat and stepped out to investigate it, but there was nothing there.

“Okay, Felix. You win. Come on out.” I tried to sound confident, but my voice was shaking badly.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the graveyard, and he appeared before me out of thin air: Erebus, guardian of the underworld.

His body and limbs were long and thin, covered in tattered clothes and rotting flesh. His head was a menacing jack-o’-lantern, and inside it glowed a shimmering black candle. My skin grew clammy beneath my armor, and I felt dizzy as I watched him approach me with long, silent strides. He didn’t have a weapon, but after seeing Felix’s magic, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

He stopped just inches from me, dwarfing me with his height. He didn’t move or speak. He just stared down at me. My limbs grew weak. I was no knight. I wasn’t brave. I was just terrified. I didn’t want to fight, and the gravity of the situation brought me to my knees.

“Please, Erebus,” I sobbed, “I need the Candle to save my brother. I just want to save him.”

Erebus reached down, wrapped his grimy, bony fingers around my neck, lifted me from the earth, and held me in front of his blazing orange face. He threw his head back in a piercing cry like the wail of someone who had just lost everything. He locked eyes with me, and his expression morphed into something menacing as his grip tightened, strangling me.

I tried to pry his hands from my throat, but he was too strong. As I started to see stars and my face became hot and swollen, I remembered the sword in my hand. I brought it up and swung it down with all the might I had left. This time I didn’t miss. The blade sliced through his pumpkin head with a loud crack, and he released me. I hit the ground with a thud and looked toward where he had fallen. There, covered in blood and pumpkin goo, was the Reaper’s Candle.

I sped home with the treasure, running through the kitchen and quickly picking the lock to the garage. I held my breath as the door swung open. There was still a part of me that hoped Felix would jump out and yell, “Surprise,” and we could go back to normal. But of course, he didn’t. His body was still there, dead and lifeless, in a puddle of blood.

I rushed to his side, pouring the gooey black wax into his chest. As the wax dried, he began to cough, and jerk, and cry. He suddenly shot up with a shout, and then, with a deep breath, he smiled.

“You saved me?”

I threw my arms around him, “Of course I saved you! Felix, what the hell have you gotten yourself into? What’s all this black magic about?”

He shrugged, “I guess you’re just a better person than me. And I think the better question is what have I gotten us into?”

He pointed down to my hand, and I followed his gaze. The Candle was still in my hand. It was stuck, melted into my skin. And it was starting to burn.

“Felix, help me get this off. How do I get this off?” I pulled at it, but it started to spread up my arm, burning and melding to my skin.

“A life for a life,” he explained, “Didn’t you read the page? It requires sacrifice. The one who uses the Candle becomes its guardian. Have a good night, Ambrose. Or should I say, Erebus?”

He stood, walking out the door as the clock in the kitchen chimed midnight.

“Ah, perfect timing. See you next year, brother. Maybe we can battle again. Oh, and you can keep your honor, I’d rather keep my life.”

With a wink, he locked me in, writhing in burning pain as the Candle overtook me and I faded away from this world and into my new life as Erebus, guardian of the underworld.