Disclaimer: see previous chapters. You know the routine…Back to the Future has to be the best, no matter what some of my friends might think at college – you know who you are!

Chapter 7

August 3rd 1989
10:59 p.m.
Oak Park Cemetery, Hill Valley, California

"Jules, slow down! What's the hurry?"

"Oh, quit whining, will ya?!?"

Jules had heard enough of his brother's high-pitched, droning voice tonight to last him a lifetime. All the way from home, down the road, through Lone Pine Mall down to the cemetery gates Verne had done nothing but complain about how late it was, how tired he was from the long bike ride to the cemetery and how daft he thought Jules' plan was.

Jules thought then for a brief moment how ironic it was he wanted to kill his brother if he didn't shut up, and that he was already in the cemetery to bury him. Nobody would know…

"Are we nearly there yet?"

Jules' thoughts were interrupted, however, before they could be completed. "Verne, will you do me a favour and shut up for more than two seconds already? Jeez, I wish I hadn't told you about this now."

Prior to their engagement at the cemetery Jules had met up with his brother in his younger brother's bedroom in the early evening. He had shown Verne the book he had borrowed from the library, and had discussed further the 'plan' he had been conceiving for the past few months.

Jules wanted to be sure that Verne wasn't going to betray him to mum or dad, and to be sure he had made him pledge an oath that if he did spiders would appear in the bathtub, and his bed and his…

"OK! OK! I promise! I promise I won't tell mom or dad about your little plan!" Verne had finally screamed out. "Just, please, no more spiders!" He hated spiders, and Jules knew it from the small feeling of satisfaction he had received from seeing his brother cower at the oath.

Jules had decided to go late at night – to sneak out when their parents were sleeping to avoid any suspicion. If their father, especially, knew what the boys were planning he would surely kill them…

Jules used his torch to search the marble headstones that littered the dark, abandoned graveyard. The place reminded Verne of a film he'd watched recently – Night of the Living Dead – although he had to watch that late at night as Clara and Emmett felt he was too young to be watching such a film. The light of the torch flashed as it skipped from one headstone to another, to another…until Jules found the headstone belonging to Martin Seamus McFly.

"Found it!" he whispered to Verne, who he assumed had followed behind. Verne peered over his shoulder to confirm Jules had indeed found what they wanted.

"Are you sure about this Jules? I mean – have you ever done anything like this before?" Verne questioned his elder sibling. A nervous edge to his voice had begun to creep in; a fact Jules had obviously noticed.

"No, but how hard can it be?" Jules shrugged his shoulders calmly, while inside his stomach was churning with fright. "All we have to do is follow what the book says, right?" He didn't receive a reply. Nervously Jules glanced behind him to Verne. Verne's mind appeared to be all over the place, staring at the many shadows cast upon the graves under the moonlight.

"I've learned everything I need to know about how to do this kind of thing. I've been building myself up for this for the past three years. I know what I'm doing," Jules said calmly to his brother. He didn't think he was listening anyway.

Jules rolled his eyes. Slowly he knelt beside the grave and placed his rucksack on the ground beside him. He removed the contents one by one – the book, containing the recipe needed to complete the task; a small ivory-handled dagger for protection; a bottle of rainwater; some fresh pig's blood; dry timber and matches to light a fire; four white candles; salt and a cross – the 'symbol of life' according to the book. Verne knelt by the other side of the headstone, looking on nervously as Jules prepared his equipment.

"What if this doesn't work, Jules? I mean, how do we even know it's gonna work?"

"Just have a little faith, Verne. God, it's not like the whole universe is gonna end, is it?" Jules looked up to see the response on Verne's face. Verne looked afraid at what they were about to do; Jules knew deep down inside he felt the same way. However, he wasn't the type to show his real feelings.

Swiftly Jules stood, and taking the salt he proceeded to draw out a salt trail in the shape of a circle, surrounding the grave, himself and Verne. Once the circle was complete Jules cast the excess salt away, dusting himself down as he knelt once more by the grave.

"That's for protection, in case any bad spirits try to harm us," Jules answered Verne before he had the chance to ask. Verne's expression showed he didn't look very reassured.

Jules placed the candles at each of the four corners of the grave, forming a square inside the circle of salt. Carefully he lit each one in turn, ensuring they would remain standing throughout the ritual upon the uneven earth. He then propped the book up against the headstone and opened the book to a page he had already marked using a piece of paper. He quickly glanced over the page's contents to be sure he knew exactly what to do, then stretched out his arms in front of him in a meditative posture and took in a deep breath as he steadied his nerves. He almost jumped out of his skin when Verne touched his arm.

"Whoa, take it easy! What are you doing?" Verne asked shakily.

Jules took another deep breath – to keep himself from choking Verne. "Don't do that Verne! Don't you realise how dangerous it is to interrupt someone who's trying to cast a spell? God knows what could've happened then if I'd started!"

"Sorry! How am I supposed to know?"

"You only know what you need to know, so be quiet." Verne pulled a face at him. "I'm casting the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram to protect us, alright?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I s'pose," was Verne's response. He didn't look very comfortable with the arrangements.

Jules began to chant as he placed his hand back into his rucksack to find the final item he would need for the ritual – a photograph of Marty, taken a few days before he died. He carefully placed the picture on the centre of the grave.

Swiftly and accurately Jules picked up the jar of pig's blood and started to poor the contents onto the soil around where Marty's picture lay, chanting from the book of spells and chants propped up against the headstone. Verne watched anxiously as he did so, slowly beginning to wish that he hadn't opted to help Jules.

Jules then reached by his side and began to sprinkle the rainwater over the grave, repeating his chants and holding the cross in his right hand close to his chest. His eyes remained closed throughout all.

He then placed the dry timber upon Marty's picture, and removed one of the matches. Striking hard against the matchbox, the match came to life, illuminating Jules and Verne's faces with its flickering fire. Shadows cast upon the headstone wavered in the flame's presence as Jules stared into the heart of the fire, chanting in Latin:

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­"­Spirits of the Afterlife awaken,

Hear my wishes to you and answer them in good faith,

Please help to return the friend we have lost,

Allow his spirit to reawaken.

I beg of your judgement and respect your views,

I plea to you to show your judgement through the extinguishing of the flames and through the binding of the blood, water and soil with the given fire to bring to life the body we kneel before.

I speak only of the truth, and demand of you only this."

He carefully lowered the flame into the dry timber. The wood caught fire almost instantly. Jules completed his chants while the fire continued to grow, and then all that could be heard was the crackling of the burning wood.

Verne was sure he could hear whispers in the trees surrounding him, and that a cold wind had suddenly appeared. He could feel the presence of someone – or something – circle their location, speaking to him, calling out to him and Jules. He wanted to believe he was only being paranoid, but then he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them…

Verne looked to Jules for a sign that he had finished and that everything was okay. Jules caught his nervous look, and endeavoured to calm his mind.

"The chant is complete," he explained to Verne as he returned his attention to the fire. "It shouldn't be long now. All I have to do is repeat the Lesser Banishing Ritual, just to be sure that any evil spirits don't remain with us."

Slowly he raised the dagger into the air, and while again chanting outlined the shape of a pentagram before him with an outstretched arm. Verne looked about him, paranoid and afraid that Jules' spell of protection hadn't worked. He started to sweat with fear, and his eyes widened at every little sound he heard or movement he saw. Yet Jules seemed as calm as always.

"Jules, how long will we have to wait?" Verne asked shakily. The sooner they were home the better.

"Not long. We should know whether the spell has worked or not when the candles blow out," Jules replied. He began to pack away his equipment – the spell book, the matches, the bottle and jar that the rainwater and blood had been in respectively, and the cross.

"Jules! It hasn't worked! The candles are still lit!" Verne remarked after nearly twenty minutes of waiting. He gestured to the still glowing flames on each of the four candles to emphasise his point. "Let's just forget about this whole thing and go home. I really don't like it around here.

"What's there to be frightened of? It just takes time, that's all. Besides, you're just scared that mom and dad will find out about us sneaking off to the cemetery in the middle of the night, that's all!" Jules retorted.

"Am not!" Verne snapped back, although the strength in his reply was missing. He was still frightened.

"Scared of the ghosts, Verne?" Jules taunted. He loved every minute of it.

Jules glanced up at his brother to find him looking round nervously about the burial ground. He shook his head at his brother's apparent paranoia, and wondered whether to wind him up even further with a trick or two.

However, he didn't need to. Verne heard the snapping of a twig behind him, which was enough to send him over the edge. His eyes – now wide with terror – could not detect the reason for the branch snapping. He began to breathe heavily in panic - even more so when he thought he heard his name being spoken to him…

"Verne? Hey, snap out of it, dork! VERNE!"

Verne jumped as his name was shouted at him. He quickly scrambled to his feet, and within a matter of seconds was running down the path in the direction of the entrance to the cemetery. Jules jumped back himself at the response he received when attempting to snap Verne out of his paranoia. He watched helplessly as Verne ran from the site of the ritual, reluctant to leave the grave. He desperately shoved the rest of his belongings into his rucksack and headed in the direction his brother had gone, leaving the dying embers behind him.

What he had failed to notice in his rush, however, were the dying flames on the candles surrounding the grave. The fire died as the wood turned to ashes, and silence momentarily filled the air.

The crackling of the flames, present only a moment ago, was soon replaced by a very mysterious and very quiet banging, muted by the thick layers of soil covering the source of the sound. A desperate knocking on wood and cries for help, made by someone frantically trying to escape the coffin prison they had become trapped in deep below the surface of the earth, where no one knew where they lay…

Thanks for all the reviews!

Hey Linkavitch Chomofsky! The SPE of the timeline - interesting theory. I suppose there has to be something to preserve the timeline, but then again you could say this is similar to fate in a way...

I don't know whether to believe it or not, but it does (kinda) tie in with the end of this story. You'll see what I mean when we get there - if we ever get there! ;-)