He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to such a stupid dare.  JR stifled a groan and gripped the strap of his backpack tight with both hands as he continued to trudge up the hill towards the large cemetery where Aron had dared him to spend the night.  A glance over his shoulder showed the smug bastard leaning on the safety of his red car with a cheesy grin and wave.  “’It’s just a cemetery,’ he said,” JR muttered to himself as he waved dismissively at his friend and turned back around, torn between staring at his feet as he followed the well worn dirt path or focusing on the fence around the graveyard.

                Of course, he could have said no.  But… that would have resulted in him being ragged on for weeks about being scared of monsters in the dark.  He wasn’t scared!  He just didn’t like cemeteries at night.  Why would anybody anyway?  They were filled with dead people.  And headstones.  And weird, creepy statues.  It just wasn’t a good idea!  Which was how he’d ended up there in the first place.

                Why did he have to say he wasn’t afraid of anything?!  It might not have been so bad if they’d had something planned for Halloween night but as luck would have it, most of their friends had already been busy or were going out of town to celebrate and that left them to their own devices.  Drinking and bluffing weren’t exactly the best of combinations in JR’s opinion.

                “Man,” JR groaned again, chafing the arms of his varsity jacket from high school to ward off the chill.  It wasn’t even that cold out, but something about the night was just plain daunting.

                With the last rays of daylight still clinging to the hill, JR could take at least a little solace in his position.  The graveyard was fenced off with dark, iron wrought fencing that extended to his waist so even if the gate was locked – it wasn’t – he would still be able to clamber over without too much difficulty.  Row upon row upon row of grave plots and headstones greeted him.  And everything was wreathed in green grass.  He never thought it made much sense for a place of death to be so… lively in that sense.  Granted, the grass could just be eating really well off of decaying bodies.

                The thought made JR shudder and he pushed it away determinedly as he took a deep breath and nodded to himself.  “I’m not backing out.  And I’m not scared,” he reaffirmed for the umpteenth time.  Yes, he’d been telling himself that since he was in Aron’s car on the way here.  At least he didn’t have work tomorrow.  Or school.  College was a pain in the but it was better than his job as a cashier at the local grocery store.  God what a bore.

                Gathering his courage, JR moved to inspect the first row of graves with only stone plates set into the ground to tell who was buried beneath.  Most didn’t have any sort of flowers next to them like some of the larger tombstones a bit further in, but the plaques were easy enough to read.

                “Choi Minho,” he mused to himself, toeing at the grass that was attempting to grow over the edge of the stone.  And beside it was another grave with a Choi Jinri.  “Husband and wife?” he wondered, seeing only the born and death dates and the names.  “Whatever,” JR added when it got darker as the sun disappeared behind the trees on the hill, casting strange shadows over the scenery.  “Creepy,” he muttered to himself, scratching the back of his head and fluffing his dark brown hair in every direction.

                A glance at his phone showed that it was barely just past seven and he was supposed to be there until morning.  That was such a long time.  And he wasn’t even remotely tired yet.  He didn’t exactly relish the idea of sleeping in a cemetery but it was the easiest way to pass the time so he wouldn’t be stuck wandering for hours on end.  Maybe he could just investigate for a bit and see if he could find a good place to hole up in for the night?

                With that mentality in mind, JR started shuffling around the area, shoulders hunched and his hands stuffed in his jean pockets.  The usually bushy trees had lost most of their leaves, giving them a spooky effect.  All the branches looked like weird, clawing fingers in the lingering light and JR flinched when one of the shadows fells across his face in a rapidly flickering change of lighting.  He was annoyed for all of two seconds before he realized it was the last of the sun and he stopped entirely as the hill went dark.  There were no lamps or lights in the cemetery; no one needed them there.

                “At least I have the flashlight on my phone,” JR spoke consolingly, pulling out the half-charged device and pointing it around his general vicinity.  “See?  Nothing there,” he nodded and shrugged, laughing at himself.  The moon was coming out with a thumbnail of light but it didn’t help that the area was ridiculously silent.  Weren’t there supposed to be like bugs or something making noise?

                The darkness and the silence were okay for the most part.  They just took some getting used to. Not surprisingly, the very lack of sound allowed his mind to play plenty of tricks on him.  As JR wandered and investigated, he thought he heard wings flapping in the distance.  But when he paused to listen, nothing happened.  A couple times, he imagined whispers dancing on the edge of his hearing and he stopped for a long moment to try and make sense of them, but as before, they fell silent when he was focusing.

                Pushing the strange sounds to the back of his mind, JR continued on his way and discovered more of the cemetery than he had ever realized was there.  The front part was full of your regular old graves and tombstones with the occasional, weird angel perched on top of some of the larger ones.  He figured the cherubs were supposed to be cute or something in the day, but at night they were just faceless blobs of stone covered in darkness and potentially the stuff of nightmare.  Bravely, he went up to one and touched it with his index finger, jerking his hand back like the statue might bite, just to make sure it was made of stone.

                It was.

                The little ones weren’t too bad, all things considered.  But JR stopped outright when he came face to face with one of the full sized angels, complete with massive wings and a face that was supposed to be wreathed with flowing hair; in the dark it looked like a cowl.  “Don’t be a weeping angel.  Don’t be a weeping angel,” JR whispered under his breath, trying very hard not to blink and cursing Aron for telling him those stories at all.  Whining to himself and making a pitiful face, JR turned in a circle and tensed, waiting for something to attack him.  When nothing happened, he relaxed slightly and then breathed a sigh of relief as his turn showed the angel was still there.  Still cloaked in darkness but it hadn’t moved.  Had it?

                Truth be told, he wasn’t brave enough to stick around and investigate further so he side stepped out of the way without taking his eyes off the angel.  Just to make sure it didn’t move in the meantime.  Yeah…

                Further in was where JR discovered what looked to be ornate tombs of much better design and quality.  They looked kind of like small houses with the doors and additional fences around them.  Oh what were those things called?  They had a name.  Mauso- mausa- something or other.  Not that it mattered just then.  Maybe one of them would be a good place to hide, er, rest for the night.

                The unexpected sound of what he thought were wings overhead made JR turn around, whipping his phone out to check for himself.  “What was that?” he asked in a whisper, wielding the light as if it was some kind of weapon.  Silence continued to reign and JR felt a bit foolish for his reaction after a moment.  He took a shallow breath and returned his attention to the building at his back.  “Huh?” he blinked, tilting his head to the side when he noticed a statue perched on top of it.  He could have sworn that hadn’t been there before.

                Details were hard to make out but he was sure it had large wings and it was squatting at the edge over the door.  That was strange.  It didn’t look an angel’s wings.  And the color was darker than the other statues.  Tip toeing closer, he carefully raised his phone up to try and cast the flashlight on the statue.  Dimly, the illumination showed a hand that looked strangely flesh colored holding onto the edge with long fingers anchored in place.  JR gulped and continued moving the light upwards.  Dark fabric covered the bent legs and the arm like well fitting clothing.  Higher still, the light extended out to the wings he was sure were quivering; they were definitely not angel wings with their dragon-like appearance.

                And then he got to the face.  To the pale, sharp featured, narrow eyed, slightly ethereal looking face framed with short, black hair.  As soon as the light hit the otherwise brown eyes, they flashed silver, like the color of the moon, and the damned statue spoke.

                “Leave.”

                JR screamed.  He dropped his phone, turned around, and ran away as fast as he could.  Wings seemed to follow him, the sound loud and frightening overhead.  Tombstones rose up in the moonlight and he had to jump over them or move around the stone structures to keep going.  His legs churned rapidly and his feet devoured the grassy ground below, sneakered feet squeaking on the dew covered growth.  Disoriented and lost, JR finally came to a sliding stop when he had no idea where to go and he had a stitch in his side from running too long.

                “Holy crap!” he panted, resting his palms on his knees and dragging in great lungfuls of air.  “It was alive!  It was alive,” he reiterated with an emphatic nod.  “It was a weeping angel!” he yelped, standing upright to stare in wide-eyed horror for the statue-come-to-life and on its way to get him.

                “Hardly,” someone laughed nearby, the sound light and smiling.

                “Oh good,” JR laughed in relief before he squeaked at the fact that someone else was talking to him in the cemetery.  “Eh…” he grimaced while turning to look up again.

                Another statue stood on top of a large tombstone this time.  It had the same wings as the first one, similar fabric covering it, but it was broader in the shoulders.  The arms were crossed over the chest, but the statue moved to wave at JR with a smile breaching the slightly fuller face.  It was framed by short, light colored hair, offsetting all the darkness around them, but he – it was definitely a guy – had the same flashing eyes.  “He’s right though.  You really shouldn’t be here tonight,” the man, person, thing spoke, pointing off in a different direction than JR had been heading.

                “Sure,” JR laughed nervously, holding his hands up as if he could surrender or ward the thing off.  “I was just, um, going that way, you know?” he forced another laugh and edged away, feeling his heart trying to burst out of his ribs.  Another short sprint took him to more vaguely familiar territory but he was still lost and still losing his mind.  “I’m seeing things.  I have to be seeing things,” he told himself, patting down his person while looking for his phone.  “,” he exhaled, shoulders slumping while he made pitiful sounds in the back of his throat.

                “Okay JR.  Think,” he commanded himself, standing upright again and holding tight to the straps of his backpack.  It had water and some food for the evening but that was all he’d prepared for.  There wasn’t supposed to be something like this happening.  Cemeteries weren’t supposed to have living statues!  They were just filled with dead people who were rotting under the ground and completely harmless and not talking to him in the middle of the night.  “Phone.  You’ve gotta get your phone, call Aron, and just let him know that something happened and he needs to come pick you up.  That’s right,” he nodded quickly, glancing furtively from side to side.

                “You mean this thing?” a new voice asked, accompanied by the sound of wings flapping at his back.

                “This can’t be happening,” JR muttered dryly, rubbing his forehead with his fingers before he plastered a smile closer to a grimace on his face and turned around again.  Lo and behold, a new, flying statue greeted him.  This one was strangely pretty, but the physique was obviously masculine, as was the voice as the thing held out his phone to him.

                “I think it’s broken,” the stranger commented, frowning at the device.

                “What?!” JR yelped, snatching the phone from the surprisingly soft hand – he figured it would have felt more like stone – and frantically tried to turn it on.  “Oh ,” he groaned plaintively, watching the battery light blink at 1% while the time hovered very near midnight.  Even as he looked on, the screen dimmed and went black altogether.

                “Hmm.  You probably should have left when you had the chance,” the strange statue commented, drawing near and then stepping past JR as the human froze, realizing belatedly that the thing was taller than him.

                “Huh?” he voiced, trying to follow whatever the thing was looking at.  All he could see was some sort of flickering, misty looking patch of moving fog.  Rubbing his eyes hard, JR looked again, certain he was seeing something that shouldn’t be there.  It didn’t disappear.  Instead, it started moving towards them in a weaving, blinking pattern.  “What the hell?!” he gasped, stepping back when the apparition disappeared from one spot only to reappear in another closer to him.

                “The spirits are restless this night,” the stranger commented, hunching low while his wings spread out, obscuring the floating ball of mist from view.  JR grabbed his arms and jumped back when the stranger leaped forward, wings flapping once before he was on the creature.  The outline of claws appeared in the moonlight and sparks glinted in front of him in a rapid succession of tiny explosions.  When the creature stood upright and turned, JR could see that the mist ball was gone.  “Behind you,” the creature pointed, causing JR to look over his shoulder.

                “No!” he shrieked, jumping awkwardly away as a mist ball showed up right next to him.  A low, ghostly moan issued from it and he swore he could feel icy fingers reaching for him.  “Get away!” he yelled, slinging his backpack off to use it as an improvised weapon, but the bag went right through the spirit and JR shrieked again.

                He continued screaming when something swooped down and yanked him off the ground with a gut wrenching sensation.  Panicked, he clung to whoever was holding onto him and his scream tapered off when it didn’t drop him or try to kill him.  Risking a look up, he noticed the almost inhuman features of the first creature thing and he couldn’t decide if he should be more worried or just glad to be away from the mist balls that might have been spirits.  Looking down, he noticed even more of the glowing balls popping up over the cemetery, and they all sort of seemed to be heading his direction.

                “Um…”

                “We’re almost there,” the flying thing spoke, adjusting his grip slightly so that the fingers weren’t digging so much into JR’s arms.  It also meant he wasn’t holding on as tight and it made JR feel like he might fall so he scrambled to hold on himself, fingers crooking into the dark fabric whatever-it-was was wearing.

                Mutely, JR clung to his supposed savior and watched with wide eyes as another one of the flying creatures appeared to help clear the ground.  Great, black wings flapped in a curving arc so that he bounced above the ground, sparking his way through the orb things.  Claws flashed and tiny explosions seemed to ignite whenever the light haired one soared past, dissipating the mist balls in his wake.

                He wasn’t expecting it when the one carrying him suddenly pulled up with a hard flap, jerking JR forward from the shift.  He gasped and reactively snatched at anything he could hold onto at the upset, clinging tight even when he felt his feet touch the ground.

                “Let go, human,” the same, vaguely disappointed voice spoke over his head.

                JR shook his head and despite the fact that he didn’t know what the hell he was holding onto, it was safer than the things he had been told were spirits and apparently didn’t want to hurt him.

                “You are only going to be in my way if you continue to cling to me,” he went on, prying at JR’s hands with sharp fingers and impossible strength.

                “Don’t leave me!” he half-begged, more than able to admit to himself that he was scared.

                “We’re going inside,” his rescuer sighed, still holding onto JR’s wrist.  Firmly, the strange creature pulled him along and jammed his claws into the edge of the stone doorway, dragging the heavy door open with the sound of grating rock.  JR was certain he never would have been able to move it on his own.  “Come on,” the stranger spoke, pulling him into darkness that became absolute when he drew the door shut behind them.

                “I can’t see!” JR panted, holding onto the hand holding his wrist with an iron-like grip.  A sigh greeted his outburst and he flinched away from the sudden spark of light.  But when he looked again, he noticed an ember of flame floating harmlessly in the stranger’s hand.  “How are you doing that?” he whispered with wide-eyed awe, leaning close to the warm light.

                “Magic,” the stranger answered quickly, as if it should be obvious.

                “What are you?” JR whispered next when he was stunned enough to allow the creature to pull away without trying to follow suit.  He was lighting a lamp inside anyway.

                “A gargoyle,” he replied without looking back.  “I would have thought you realized by now,” he chuckled, the sound both slightly haughty and amused.

                Dumbfounded, JR just looked at him, blinking slowly as he tried to wrap his head around what the creature – gargoyle – had just said.  “A gargoyle.”

                “Yes.”  Naturally narrow eyes turned to regard him with amusement dancing in them.

                “I’m dreaming, right?” JR asked, waving his hand around to find a wall to lean against or something to sit on but then he had a chance to look at the interior of the building he was in.  It was made of stone and was generally not the warmest place, but it was clean, albeit dusty, and there was a giant coffin thing situated in the middle back; it wasn’t against the wall and looked more like an island instead.  Many stone shelves lined the interior and they were decorated with various urns and items of debatably high worth.  JR’s eyes widened just looking at them and he very nearly forgot about the gargoyle standing next to him, just watching as he took everything in.

                “You may wish you were dreaming but you have certainly picked one of the worst nights to linger in this cemetery, human,” the gargoyle gestured towards the outside world.

                “JR,” he responded almost automatically.  It felt too weird to be called human.

                “JR?” his companion blinked, one slender brow raised as if it was odd.

                “Yeah,” he nodded, drawing the backpack close against his chest as he realized he was stuck inside a building with a gargoyle, a creature straight from myth, and there were spirits outside trying to get to him.  Or something like that.  “And why?”

                “Hm?” the gargoyle chirped curiously, not sure about the question.

                “Why is tonight bad?”

                “All Hallow’s Eve,” the gargoyle grinned in response, waving his hand between them fluidly.  “The night when the veil between your world and the spirit world is at its weakest,” he explained.  “And this graveyard is filled with spiritual energy.  Why else would we be playing sentry to it lest foolish humans such as yourself wander through at inopportune times?”

                “I didn’t wander, okay!” JR grumbled back, glaring over the backpack and feeling foolish.  At the gargoyle’s expectant look, he felt obligated to add, “I was dared.”

                “Ah.  The brave boy unafraid of the real mysteries of the world,” the creature chuckled, moving quietly to the doorway with his wings folded neatly on his back.  He appeared to be listening to the happenings beyond the door.  “Hmm.  It seems as if we have more company than usual.”

                “What does that mean?” JR perked up, letting the insult slide versus the possible greater danger beyond the door.

                “You are a tempting morsel for those who have long since lost the breath of life, JR,” the gargoyle explained solemnly, one hand resting on the door.  “And these walls can deter them but for only so long until the danger has past.”  Before JR could ask what that meant or what he was going to do, the gargoyle opened the door and whistled sharply, the sound foreign but pleasing.  Glinting lights in the cemetery blinked as spirits continued to float towards the building, but they were obscured as the other two gargoyles flapped into view.  Large wings folded easily and the pair ducked into the safety of the room.

                “I never thought we’d seek shelter in the mausoleums again,” the light haired one laughed, giving a surprisingly bright smile and wave at JR again.

                “If not for the boy, we wouldn’t have to,” the pretty, masculine one stated with a glance at the human in their midst.

                “Dongho.  Minki.  Enough,” the taller gargoyle gestured, motioning for them to move inside further.  “JR.  On top of the coffin.”

                “Eh?  Why?” he immediately balked. Something was inherently wrong with sitting on the grave of a dead person.  The gargoyle didn’t answer and took his hesitation for incompliance, apparently, for in the next moment, he simply picked JR up under the arms and deposited him on the stone structure in the back.

                “It will be safer there,” he stated at last, gesturing his hand in front of JR in what was supposed to be a calming gesture.  Personally, JR found it patronizing and he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the gargoyle from his perch.

                “Safer my .  You could have asked,” he muttered under his breath, realizing from the brief pause that the gargoyle had heard him.  He immediately moved to act busy and started going through his bag, pulling out the water inside so he could take a sip and wet his very dry throat.

                “Three-point star of protection,” the first gargoyle instructed, pointing at Dongho and Minki so that they moved into position on either side of the mausoleum.

                Their wings extended to reach out, touching and overlapping their partner’s to either side.  Looking back, JR could see both Minki and Dongho had wings similar to a bat or what he might imagine a dragon to have.  The outer bone that made up the frame of the wing had a small hook at the first juncture and then another at the end of the tip, curving inward.  Two smaller bones braced the wings so that they had more support overall.  And they radiated warmth; he wasn’t hot sitting so close to them, but he was sure they would be warm if he touched the membrane.

                His marveling was cut short when they started to speak in tandem in a language he had never heard before.  Their eyes glinted silver at first, sparks igniting in the depths before the ember came to life and burned brightly within.  Traces of energy danced over their skin and crawled along their wings, extending into the air and along the ground in a latticework of silver finery that etched symbols he did not know into existence.

                JR could feel power building and covered his ears, thinking there might be some sort of explosion like he’d been seeing when the banished the spirits before.  Something did blow up, but he didn’t hear it; rather JR felt it in his body as power thrummed and surged through the air, flowing into the center where he was surrounded and then swirling outward to ignite the protective weave around them.  The markings on the floor glowed brilliantly and the gargoyles folded their wings, apparently done for the moment.

                “That should hold for the night,” the first one nodded to himself, coming close to brush his fingers against Dongho and Minki gently.  It reminded JR of a friend checking to make sure his companions were okay.

                “Should we continue to patrol until the morning?” Minki asked, claws still flexed and ready, though Dongho seemed more at ease and willing to relax.

                “I don’t think we will have trouble but it wouldn’t hurt,” the first gargoyle nodded, giving Minki permission to head out.

                “Eh.  I suppose I can’t let you go alone,” Dongho laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as he stepped up closer to Minki and clapped him on the shoulder.  “You’ve got it under control here, right Minhyun?” he wondered, casting the taller gargoyle a curious look.

                “We’ll be fine,” the revealed Minhyun nodded reassuringly.  “I will maintain the star of protection.”

                “Call if you need us,” Minki saluted, yanking the stone door open so that he and Dongho could step outside without wasting time.  Immediately, light flickered on the other side and the sounds of combat drifted within, even after they closed the door.  It didn’t last long and before JR knew it, all fell silent once more, leaving him alone with the gargoyle Minhyun.

                “So…” he trailed off, feeling both wired and tired now that things had seemed to calm down and he wasn’t in imminent danger of dying or something equally horrid.

                “You should try to get some rest,” Minhyun urged, standing at the edge of the star with his back to JR.  He had his wings folded over his shoulders and hooked together like some sort of cloak, giving him a strange similarity to Dracula.

                “What about you?” JR couldn’t help but ask, folding his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.  It wasn’t everyday that he met a gargoyle or any monster for that matter.  And since this one didn’t seem to want to hurt or kill him, this was as good a time as any to be curious.

                “Gargoyles don’t sleep during the night.”

                “I know that,” JR muttered, continually feeling as if the gargoyle was treating him like a child.

                “So why did you ask?” Minhyun commented, looking over his shoulder curiously.

                “Because it’s polite,” he mumbled back, pressing his lips to his knees.  “And I don’t know what’s going on.  And because I’ve never met a gargoyle before,” JR added, zoning on the train of thought of just how much was wrong with his evening.

                Minhyun sighed and turned around, apparently unsure and hesitant.  “It has been a long time since I have interacted with another human,” he admitted, drifting closer so that he was standing in front of JR, peering slightly down at him since he was just taller while standing with JR seated.

                Intrigued by the mystery, JR asked, “When was the-?”

                “Sometime in the late nineteenth century, I think,” Minhyun responded, tapping his finger to his chin in a very human gesture.  “Most humans are easy enough to frighten away or smart enough to know not to wander the cemetery during certain times of the year,” he chided gently, though his tone wasn’t quite as patronizing as before.

                “I did try to get away,” JR pointed out, lips pulling up into a slight smile at the situation that landed him here.

                “Most were also better about not getting lost,” the gargoyle laughed lightly this time, nodding his head once towards the human.

                “It all looks the same!” JR complained, gesturing to either side in helpless frustration.

                “When you’ve lived here as long as I have, it does not,” Minhyun shrugged.  The conversation seemed over but then a crease marred his forehead and he looked at JR for a long moment.  Just before he was going to ask, the gargoyle beat him to it.  “What did you mean when you called us ‘weeping angels’?”  For a moment, the question did not make sense and then JR laughed out loud, further confusing the gargoyle.  “Why is that funny?” he prompted, obviously uncomfortable with his lack of understanding.

                “Sorry,” JR waved, collecting himself before he settled in to explain the story he’d heard from Aron with a big grin on his face.

                At some point after explaining the weeping angels, JR fell asleep and he had the distinct impression that Minhyun was watching over him as he slept.  His dreams were vivid and he thought the gargoyles were fighting more, keeping the spirits at bay while he slumbered, but when he was finally woken up by a gentle shake on his shoulder, he could not remember them.

                “The dawn is coming,” Minhyun murmured, kneeling in front of JR’s face so that he appeared to be sideways while lying down.

                “Morning?” JR murmured, rubbing at his sleepy eyes and groaning at having to get up.

                “We must get you back,” the gargoyle reminded him insistently.  “So that we may return before the sun rises.”

                “Right,” JR yawned, covering his mouth as he sat up.  Trying vainly to wet his dry mouth, he finally pulled the rest of his water out and downed it, lamenting how little he had left.  Talking tended to make him thirsty after all.

                “This way, JR,” Dongho urged, opening the door for him.  JR glanced at the gargoyle and saw that both he and Minki had returned.  Fortunately, neither looked the worse for wear.

                “Coming,” he yawned again, hauling the backpack onto his shoulder so he could trudge out into the predawn morning.  “So what happens now?” he blinked hard, turning to regard the three gargoyles he never would have imagined existed if not for the happenings of the evening.

                “We sleep during the day,” Minki explained with a gesture towards the cemetery.

                “He means now that he’s seen us,” Minhyun gave a half smile and regarded JR thoughtfully.  “I think we may have spent too much time cloistered here.  It may be time that we learn what civilization is like again,” he murmured, almost as if to himself.

                “Really?!” Dongho beamed, obviously excited by the idea.  He enthusiastically slung his arm over Minki’s shoulder and pulled him close in a brotherly fashion.

                “And that means…?” JR trailed off, not quite connecting the dots.

                “We will see you tonight,” Minhyun smiled with a confident nod.

                “Huh?  Wait, wait, wait!  Like, in the city?” he asked, glancing towards the town set a fair distance from the cemetery.

                “Yes,” Minhyun confirmed.

                “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he tried to explain.  There was no way people would be ready to see a gargoyle just out of the blue.

                “Tonight,” the gargoyle reiterated as he pressed his hand to JR’s shoulder.

                “But…  Ugh,” he sighed with a shake of his head as he looked down.  The hand pulled away and he heard wings flap before he started to offer, “It’s not as if I could stop… you.”  Looking around, he thought he saw the flicker of their shadows before they disappeared entirely from his sight, but JR couldn’t be sure.

                Scanning the cemetery, there was nothing to show that he’d almost been killed by spirits from the other side.  Or that he’d met and sort of befriended a trio of gargoyles.  And there was no way that Aron was going to believe him.  It was probably better not to mention them in general since his best friend really might think he was crazy or something.  JR could definitely see that happening.

                So when the car pulled up just after dawn to pick him up with a sleepy Aron inside, JR sauntered towards and it slouched into the front seat without a word.  Aron peered at him through narrowed eyes and finally asked, “Well.  How was it?”

                “Eh.  It was alright,” JR shrugged, hugging his backpack close and snuggling into the passenger seat.  He might have slept under the protection of a gargoyle, but he was still tired and Aron could ride in silence for a little longer.  It was least he could deal with after what JR had to go through last night.