Chapter 4: The Cemetery

Beast Boy stood outside the dimly lit gate of the city's main cemetery freaking out. He could make out the pale gravestones in the faint moonlight. Raven looked over slightly amused at her colleagues's unfounded fear.

"Do we have to go in there?" he asked Raven knowing what her answer would be.

"Come on it's just an old grave yard. This is where people try and lay to rest all their sorrows. I've been here lots of times. There's nothing to be afraid of; everyone's dead," Raven calmly explained to her frightened partner knowing it would only add to his anxiety.

Beast Boy shuddered. "You mean you've been here before, at night?!?"

"Maybe."

"You're weird."

"Thanks, I try to be; it keeps the riff-raff away," she casually replied. "Come on let's go."

"Wait, shouldn't we get the others?" Beast Boy countered trying any excuse to delay them.

"No, let'em sleep," she quickly replied. "Besides we can handle this little trickster." Beast Boy immediately shot her a hurt look. "Come on it's this way."

Raven led them through the gate and up a path that had a slight incline to it. Beast Boy looked anxiously to either side. The rows of grave stones glowed ominously. He froze as the large trees creaked and groaned in the soft night wind. Beast Boy jumped as he felt Raven's hand rest lightly on his shoulder. He looked over and could see her smiling in the faint moonlight. He shot her an angry look then trudged forward on the small trail they were following.

Beast Boy saw a pale figure perched on the end of a wide crypt. His pounding heart and frayed nerves began to settle as he made his way towards him. "There he is," Beast Boy pointed to the solitary figure.

Gregory sat on the edge of the crypt. His one leg dangled loosely over the edge. His arms were wrapped around his drawn up knee and his head rested lightly on the side of it. The wind lightly rustled his dark hair around his pale face.

Beast Boy walked towards him, reached up and lightly shook him from his sleep. His dark bloodshot eyes slowly opened and his mouth pulled up into a soft smile. "Beast Boy, you came. Thank you," he said in relief.

Gregory slowly lowered his knee but remained perched on the edge of the crypt. His eyes sunk back in his face and he looked much more gaunt and skeletal than Beast Boy remembered him back at the row house.

"D-D-Did you bring the book," he slowly asked.

Beast Boy looked down then turned his head and looked at Raven who remained a safe distance from the pair. She casually lifted the book into the air.

"Is this what you're looking for?" she coldly asked.

Gregory slide off the side of the crypt and took several tentative steps towards Raven.

"Y-Y-Yes, may I have it p-p-please."

"You've got a lot of nerve you sick little brat," Raven said harshly. "Nosing around in other peoples business. Conjuring up false visions to play on people's emotions so that they'd steal something for your selfish little desires. This is why there are no necromancers; they were banished long ago. They were evil people playing on other people's sorrow for their own profit and entertainment."

Gregory froze pained by Raven's stinging criticism. "N-N-No, it's not l-l-like t-t-that at all." His face contorted heavily as he stumbled through his words. "I-I-I only w-w-want t-t-to c-c-contact B-B-Beast Boy's p-p-parents."

"You're lying you stuttering little freak," Raven quickly countered. "If you wanted this book why didn't you just come and ask me for it instead of playing with Beast Boy's mind and trying to get him to take it from me," she shot back angrily.

Gregory turned to Beast Boy. "Y-Y-You d-d-don't b-b-believe her, do y-you?" Beast Boy looked down suddenly consumed with doubt. Gregory turned and walked back to the crypt. "I-I-I thought you would help me," he said to him in a soft wounded voice.

"Gregory, wait," Beast Boy walked towards the necromancer.

Gregory reached up grabbed something off of the top of the crypt and turned around. His eyes were pinched shut. In his hands he held a short wooden staff made of gnarled wood and topped with a human skull.

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry I-I h-have to d-d-do this to you Beast Boy," he said apologetically. "I have to h-h-have t-t-the book. Y-Y-You understand."

Gregory's eyes suddenly shot open full of anger and rage. "Behold Beast Boy. I summon your parents from beyond!" he announced in a startlingly clear and booming voice.

From the cemetery grass white wisps of smoke slowly rose in front of Beast Boy. He stood riveted in his place as the mists took the form of the figures he had seen in the dead lights. Beast Boy's face contorted in unexpected horror as the ghosts of his parents floated towards him. Their bodies became consumed in decay as low wails filled the air. Beast Boy staggered backwards then took off down the path towards the cemetery gates. The apparitions glided through the night air in pursuit.

Raven watched as Beast Boy beat a hasty retreat. She frowned and turned towards Gregory intending to teach him a lesson. The boy stood in front of the crypt, eye's tightly closed and arms held close to his sides as he struggled to hold back the dark tide that was now consuming him.

"P-P-Please Raven, just give me t-t-the book. I-I-I don't want any more hurt," he begged one last time.

"Listen good you little shit, there's no way you're getting this book," she replied.

Gregory's eyes shot back open as he cracked a satisfied smile. "Very well then, if it's a fight you want", he snarled, "then it's a fight you'll get."

"You're going to need more than gross illusions to scare me," Raven confidently countered.

Gregory held out his hands and smiled back at Raven. "Rise and serve me." The ground broke open in several places as bony hands clawed through it. Several skeletons slowly emerged from their open graves. Their bodies slumped forward slightly and their limbs hung loosely at their sides. They shuffled slowly towards their master.

Raven let out a short laugh at Gregory's pitiful creations. She would make quick work of them. "Azerack, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" Raven's dark powers shot towards Gregory and his squad of skeletons.

Raven screamed in agony and dropped to her knees as the book fell to the ground. She felt as if she had just closed her hand on a ten thousand volt power line. Her powers were being drained by Gregory's undead servants. Their bodies quickly perked up and their eyes glowed deep red filled with her power. Raven struggled to cut them from her.

Gregory looked at his creations and smiled. "Using black magic against my evil servants; what a great idea. And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one," he said mockingly. "SEIZE HER!"

The skeletons paused momentarily then began to stumble towards Raven. Raven took a couple of quick breaths then reached down and grabbed the book from the grass. She was beginning to think she had underestimated her opponent. She couldn't fly the skeletons were still connected to her and using her powers would only make them stronger.

Raven turned quickly and slammed her knee and hip into a large headstone. She spun around awkwardly and tumbled to the ground groaning in pain. The skeletons were nearly on her; their bones dully rattled in the cool night air. Raven stood up and limped back through the line of markers. In one of the rows of head stones she saw a dark sphere floating in the air. Beneath it lay a statue of a lamb with a small box of flowers nestled next to it. She spied something planted in the ground and raced towards it grimacing in pain. Her hand reached down and plucked a crucifix from the wet grass and quickly turned around and held it up to her pursuers.

The crucifix began to glow brightly in the dark illuminating the bleached bones of a half dozen skeletons that were closing in on her. There was a piercing shriek as they melted back into the earth under the crucifix's harsh light.

Raven rubbed her hip trying to relieve the pain. Gregory slowly walked towards her through the rows of markers. "Oh that was so close," he said in slight disappointment. Raven was panting as her hip and knee throbbed with pain.

Gregory halted several rows away from her and tilted his head downwards causing his hair to fall over his eyes. "Rise angry spirit and serve me," he growled.

From one of the grave stones a white apparition rose slowly into the night air. Raven could make out the white wedding dress of some long-ago bride as it approached her. The woman's face was gaunt, her skin drawn tightly across her skull, her eye sockets were empty and black, her mouth gaped open frozen in wailing agony.

Raven held up the crucifix for protection but its light quickly faded as the ghost drifted towards her. She stepped backwards but the apparition closed in and latched onto her arms. The ghost's grip was icy cold, sending waves of searing pain through her body. Raven shivered uncontrolably as her own heart beat pounded in her ears. The apparition's eyes began to glow red and a pink rhythmic light began to pulse in her chest.

Raven looked down at her hands. Her joints swelled and her fingernails turned yellow. She could see her skin wrinkle and her hair grow in length as it turned jet white. In moments she would collapse into a rotting corpse as the apparition drained the last remnants of her life force. Her only hope was to try and establish a link with this spirit and plead for mercy. Raven's mind reached out.

"I WAS CHEATED OF MY LIFE, NOW I SHALL TAKE YOURS!" the spirit cried angrily. It repeated these words over and over consumed by some maddening rage.

"No, life is loved! Taking mine will not return yours," Raven countered hoping she could trigger some memory of better times for this tormented soul. She reached out begging for mercy.

Slowly the spirit's tormented voice diminished in Raven's mind. Its harsh red eyes faded then became filled with a bright white light as the apparition slowly dissolved into the night air.

Raven collapsed to her knees drained by the confrontation but restored to her former self. Gregory stepped closer to her. He was mildly surprised by her tenacity. Raven fell forward panting heavily as she hung on by a thread. She raised her head as the young necromancer approached her.

"Man, you're good. Let's see how you do when you can't breath." Gregory bent over then pounded the head of his staff into the grass with a sick thud.

Gas bubbles boiled out of the ground underneath Raven. She gasped as the poisonous vapors filled her lungs. The horrible stench of death consumed her. She fell backwards dropped the book and rolled on her side fighting for air. She raised herself on all fours coughing violently then vomited into the grass.

A light wind mercifully passed over Raven wafting the poisonous vapors away from her and replacing them with sweet smelling fresh air. Raven wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and tried to spit the bile from her mouth. She gasped for air as her head spun out of control. The spinning slowly stopped and she quickly glanced around looking for the book. It lay several yards from her. She could see Gregory slowly approaching her.

Raven willed her body forward on all fours coughing, gagging and drawing short gasps of air. The book must not fall into the necromancer's hands.

"Raven, meet my dear friend Dexter," Gregory sneered as he angrily kicked her in her gut.

The air rushed out of Raven's lungs as she cried in pain falling face first into the cold wet grass. She willed herself back up on all fours struggling to fill her lungs.

Gregory stood over her as she slowly resumed her struggle towards the book. Another wave of anger filled the young man as he remembered Raven's earlier harsh words. He took a deep breath and prepared to deliver another swift kick. "Take this you dirty CUNT!" His boot swung heavily into her stomach once again.

Raven moaned in agony as she fell flat. Her body was spent; her head spun wildly as the last bit of thought passed through her mind. The book became her single obsession. With her remaining strength she reached forward sliding her hand through the cold grass.

Gregory pressed his boot on Raven's elbow halting it short of the book. He looked down and smiled. Raven's eyes flickered back meeting his. He raised his staff over his head and brought it downwards snuffing out the last bit of consciousness she possessed.

Gregory smiled then reached down and clasped the book. How long had he waited for this moment? He stood up and looked at his fallen opponent; he had only delivered a knock-out blow not a lethal one. Necromancers never spilled precious blood needlessly.

"Rise and serve me." Gregory summoned one more spirit to assist him. The vaporous form rose from the ground as the spirit awaited its instructions.

"Take her," Gregory instructed. Raven's limp unconscious body rose from the ground carried by spirit Gregory had summoned. The trio proceeded slowly back up to his parents' crypt . Raven's body was laid across the cold stone slab. "Be gone," Gregory casually waved his hand and the spirit vanished into the night air.

Gregory's eyes filled with tears as he stooped in front of his parents' crypt gently tracing their engraved names. "I-I-I miss you," he whispered as he rubbed his eyes to flush the tears from them.

He quickly stood up and walked around to the side of the crypt. He reached into his rolled up sleeping bag and withdrew a knife. It was in the form of a snake with the tail making a wicked serpentine blade.

Gregory placed the book of the dead on the crypt's stone slab. He paged through it looking for the spell that would bring his parents back from the dead. The spell would require a massive blood sacrifice and now he had the means to do in Raven's unconscious body. He paused and watched Raven's chest rise slowly and exhale small misty clouds from her nose. She was still alive so he could proceed. He gently pushed her head to the side facing away from him then ran his fingers down the line of her jaw to her neck. Raven's aorta pulsed slowly marking the point where Gregory would have to drive his knife.

He slowly raised the wicked blade above his head and paused. Gregory drew short quick breaths. His eyes were wide open in perfect understanding of what he was about to do. Tears welled up in his eyes as his blade hand shook uncontrollably.

Gregory lowered his blade hand slightly and closed his eyes. "N-N-No." He was struggling, unsure if he had the heart to proceed. The book's pages flip softly in the night wind.

When he opened his eyes he thought he heard the fluttering of wings before a green blur crashed into him knocking him down and driving him hard into the grass. The blade fluttered out of his grasp and stuck in the ground several feet from him.

Beast Boy fell heavily onto Gregory pinning him to the ground. "NO, NO NO!' he shouted as he rained round houses onto his pinned opponent. Gregory raised his arms trying to deflect Beast Boy's blows.

Beast Boy grunted heavily as he continued to rain punches down on his prone opponent. He pinched his eyes tight letting his rage flow freely through him. Soon he felt his fists hitting the soggy ground as the cold wetness worked its way through his gloves. When he opened his eyes Gregory was no longer there.

Beast Boy gasped and looked around desperately seeking his opponent. There was nothing but small tendrils of mist floating over the many grave markers surrounding him. He stood up and listened but could only hear the sound of his short breaths filling the air.

"Gotta get out of here," Beast Boy said to himself. He bolted back to the crypt. Raven's unconscious body lay sprawled out on top of it. He grabbed the book then gently cradled her limp body to him and ran down the path to the cemetery gate.