Jasper is running through a maze of tall bushes. He is wearing a slightly torn hospital gown, barefoot and has bandages wrapped around what should’ve been a broken arm, but was instead a stump.

The sound of loud stomping noises followed him while getting closer and closer each second. As he encountered a fork in the road and paused to consider his options, he could hear Dr.Frankenstein’s voice coming from one of the paths. “Please come back! I haven’t finished breaking you yet!”

Jasper heard the sound of thunder and flinched. He held his breath as silence filled the air for a moment. Dr. Frankenstein’s voice motivated him to keep moving. “My monster may find you before I do! He’s bored, so he might play with you!”

Jasper came across a dead end, jumped and grabbed onto the bush wall with his good hand. He winced in pain upon realizing that the bushes were covered in thorns. Jasper didn’t get far before a large hand belonging to a big shadowy figure grabbed his stumpy arm. Jasper let loose a scream. “Please no! Just let me live or die! No more torture!”.

A flash of purple lightning hit their shadows followed by loud pain filled screaming. The lightning died away and Dr. Frankenstein walked over to a now unconscious Jasper. “Looks like you tired him out again. We’ll have to do this once more later. I wonder if he’ll get farther?”. Their shadows walked off into the distance.

***

Night, October 4.

Morgan started regaining consciousness and heard a voice speaking to her. “Wake up sleepy head”. She was still a little dazed. “What?”. The voice spoke again, but this time more annoyed. “I said can you get your ass up now or not?”.

Morgan’s vision cleared and she saw Damian sitting in a chair backwards that said “Kup of Joe” in big letters on the back. She sat up in his bed and noticed the familiar surroundings of his bedroom. She pointed at the chair he was sitting in. “Did you steal that?”

Damian picked up a nearby book off of the floor, froze it and threw it past the witch. It missed her head by a few inches and shattered against the wall. He finally let out the rage he had been holding in while she slept. “Why the hell did you have to get her involved?!”

Morgan tried to speak, but her voice faltered. Damian stood up and began pacing. “Why the hell are you still even here?!“ Morgan's hair covered her eyes and she looked down at her lap. She said nothing.

Damian got more irritated and stopped pacing. “Well?!” Morgan took a moment to find her voice. It came out strained and sad. “Irene Heckathrine…”. Damian shifted from pure rage to confusion. “Who?”

Tears began dropping onto her lap. “Irene Heckathrine...My sister...She died in my arms during the end…”. She took a shaky breath before continuing. “Lord Death hired her to change everything and I thought that maybe...Maybe if I gathered tools she could use...If she was more prepared...She would live, but I’m here instead…”.

More tears began streaming down her face. “The damn witch that almost died after being left all alone! I can’t even save myself!” Damian let the information sink in and turned his gaze away from her. “...I didn’t ask for your life story…”.

Damian picked up Morgan’s hat which was on a nearby nightstand. He dropped it on top of her head then sat down in his chair and let out a sigh. “Seems like you got wrapped in someone else’s crap too. Just stop with the waterworks for a minute and maybe we can get something done”.

Morgan took a deep breath and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. She regained some of her composure before Damian spoke. “That weird Onna lady kidnapped someone I knew and put a ghost in her. She said that she would pop up again tomorrow night. Is there anything you can do to help get the victim out of there?”.

Morgan revealed her eyes and turned her attention to him. “...Witches don’t really participate in combat...Mostly just make potions...I can help you come up with a plan and get the ghost out of her body…But...”. Damian stood up. “Good enough.”

He put on sunglasses, another layer of clothing to cover up his bones and headed towards the door. Morgan gave him a confused look. “Y-You’re leaving?” Damian placed a hand on the doorknob and hesitated for a moment. “Just go to sleep or something”.

When Damian stepped outside he noticed many of the ghosts that he had encountered before were secretly roaming around the area. Some of them were hiding in plain sight and others were more well hidden. He discreetly made his way to the coffee shop and managed to avoid drawing any attention to himself.

Damian sat down at his usual table and focused his attention on the entrance. He let out a sigh. “She wasn’t here yesterday, or this morning and she won’t be here tonight”. The school nurse stopped by his table and gave him a curious look. “Are you waiting for someone?”

Damian continued staring at the entrance. “My business”. The nurse looked carefully at him as if she was trying to figure something out about him. “Wait...Aren’t you Damian?”. Damian shifted his gaze in her direction. “Do I know you?”,

The nurse smiled at him. “I decided to familiarize myself with some of the student’s files and yours stuck out to me...I’m Dr. Mera, by the way, the school nurse and Science/Mythology teacher”. Damian crossed his arms. “Great, now what do you want?”.

She sat down at his table. “I treated Jasper…”. Damian shuffled a little in his seat. She folded her hands in her lap. “Before I made any decisions I wanted to ask you myself.” She stared carefully into Damian’s sunglasses almost like she was trying to look into his soul. “Why did you hurt him?”

Damian remained silent. Dr. Mera waited a minute before continuing to press for information. “Depending on your answer I will involve the authorities”. Tension filled the air for what felt like hours until Damian finally spoke up. “...I messed up something small and made a big mistake...Go ahead and call whoever the hell you want”.

She relaxed herself and rested her arms on the table. “I’ll make you a deal, if you attend my classes then I will let you off with a slap on the wrist”. Damian uncrossed his arms and gave her a look of confusion. “Why do you want that?”.

She smiled at him. “Because I enjoy enlightening others. Don’t worry, my classes are anything, but boring”. Damian was not amused. “Is there a better option?”. She sighed. “No...Do we have a deal?”. She offered Damian a hand shake with her left hand. Damian sighed before answering. “Screw it”. He shook her hand and almost instantly yanked his arm away from her.

“Her hand is cold as hell”, he thought to himself. Dr. Mera stood up with a satisfied look on her face. “Look for my class schedule online. I look forward to seeing more of you, Damian”. He watched her walk out of the restaurant with a sense of annoyance and uneasiness.