Voifi led Enyd back through the forest, retracing their steps, though the path felt different now—less twisted, more familiar. Once ominous and looming, the trees seemed to part for them, the branches no longer grasping at her. Yet, despite the growing sense of relief that they were nearing the edge of the woods, Enyd couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her still. 

The Moore Ghosts were gone; the whispers had ceased, but an unsettling presence lingered.

It wasn't long before she found herself standing at the edge of the forest, where she had first encountered Voifi.

 The air was more apparent here, the oppressive atmosphere of Darkmoore Lake lifting as the last rays of twilight faded into night.

Voifi stopped shy of the treeline, its yellow eyes meeting hers one last time. For a moment, Enyd thought the creature might follow her out of the woods, but instead, it sat down, curling its tail around its body.

Enyd hesitated. "Are you… staying here?"

Voifi blinked slowly, its gaze unwavering. It tilted its head slightly as if amused by the question but did not answer. The jack-o'-lantern bucket, Mesmer, rolled gently to a stop at her feet, its grinning face now dim and lifeless.

Enyd picked it up, and the cool metal was smooth against her skin. "Thank you," she whispered, unsure if the creature even understood her. But Voifi only continued to watch her with those unreadable eyes, and when she turned to leave, it remained behind, a silent sentinel in the twilight.

Enyd found her bicycle where she left it, and as she cycled up the road back to town. The commute back to Bog Lane felt longer than it should have, and by the time Enyd reached her home, the night had fully settled over Raphael Town. The streets were empty, the houses quiet, save for the distant sound of her parents talking inside.

As she approached the bridge that connected the country lane to Bog Lane, Enyd noticed something unusual ahead of her. Where her house usually stood, dead and dark, it shone as brightly as every other house on Bog Lane.

Enyd pedalled faster, and sure enough. When she pulled up to her house, she saw all sorts of lanterns decorating the entire house. There were skeletons put up in the front yard, and inside, she could see her Dad stringing up electrical lights around the living room.

Enyd dumped her bicycle at its usual place and ran in excitedly.

"What all this? You guys usually don't do anything for Samhain," I said as Dad turned to smile down at me from the ladder.

"Well, look at you; it seems like this town-ordained mandate has at least made one person in this household chipper" Dad grinned and returned to fixing the lights to the ceiling " Once these go up, I'm not taking them down again, mark you, you'll be enjoying Samhain all year round from now on!"

Mom came out of the kitchen with mittens on, carrying a pumpkin pie " Well, there you are; we were all wondering where you went off to. Help me grab the potato salad, and we must be off for the town's Samhain potluck; we wouldn't want to be late now, would we?" Mom beamed and walked over to the coffee table in the living room, where a kitchen towel was already laid out to receive the piping hot casserole dish so that Mom could wrap it up and easily carry it to the town hall.

"B-But you both have work," Enyd said, shocked by her parent's sudden enthusiasm for the festivities.

The both of them looked at each other, and then Mom stood up from the coffee table and took off her mittens, walking over to Enyd with a smile on her face that was a touch sad.

"Well, no, not really. Both your Dad and I got laid off by the factory.

Enyd covered her head with her hands " I'm so sorry you lost your jobs."

Mom wrapped her arms around Enyd" Awe, baby, it's not all bad. Look, Dad and I are here with you on your favourite holiday of the year, aren't we? Mayor Angus says we can claim unemployment welfare, and he has already requested that your Dad be considered for the accountant position for the town council.

Things didn't go quite as planned, honey, but the kind people of this town gave us food and asked us to join in on the celebration, so how could we refuse?" Mom explained sadly but sincerely.

Mom pulls back and holds Enyd at arm's length, smiling " Who knows, as your Dad said, we might be celebrating Samhain all year round to make up for all those years that we couldn't celebrate with you."

Enyd burst into tears and flung her arms around her mom's neck.

"Awee, baby" Mom sighed and held Enyd close, patting her on the head.

"Come on, make some room for old Dad", Dad suddenly said as he came down from the ladder and proceeded to scoop up both his wife and daughter into a tight hug.

The girls squealed and laughed, and the tears of sadness faded into joy.