Sam placed the book face open on Danny's grave.

For the last few weeks, she'd heard the book whispering to her, guiding her. It taught her how to hear the words of the grass and trees. But her most recent lesson had been the most important; the book had taught how to contact the afterlife.

She used a stick to dig a circle in the dirt around the book, filling it with the rock salt she'd taken from the garage. She placed four candles around the circle, grasping the fifth within her hand.

She decided to wait a few minutes to see if Tucker would show up. He did.

Tucker hopped off his bike when he reached the graveyard gates. He locked his bike to fence, not wanting it to be stolen. Slipping through the opening in between the gates, he made his way to Danny's grave.

He shot a glance at the display Sam had set up. A spike of irritation went through him.

"You really are going through with this, are you?"

"Of course Tucker, I'm not one to do things halfway," snipped Sam.

Tucker didn't know why her sharp words made him flinched at her words.

Sam pulled out piece of crumpled folded paper from her pocket and unfolded was a drawing, one from Danny's sketchbook. The drawing was a plain unshaded pencil sketch of one of Danny's characters, flying up into the air.

Danny had loved superheroes growing up. When the three of them were kids they would draw themselves as characters, creating heroes and monsters for their own little world. Tucker drew himself as a pharaoh, Sam drew herself as a plant monster, and Danny drew himself as a superhero.

He'd called himself Danny Payback. He had his own logo and costume. As Payback, Danny could manipulate icehad ice powers, could fly, and was incredibly strong. As they grew up, they'd put their secret identities behind, but Danny always had a lingering connection to Payback, doodling the logo on his notebooks absentmindedly.

The three of them each had a bit of skill when it came to art. None of them were even close to professional level artists, but it was a hobby they shared.

Sam held the drawing over the book and hummed. The paper turned into dirt.

Tucker's eyes widened, gasping sharply, shocked at what he saw. he didn't understand what Sam was doing, what she had gotten into.

"Sam, what are you doing?"

"I told you, Tucker, I'm bring Danny back, and I will succeed."

Sam put her hands together above the dirt, then pulled them apart, more dirt falling through her fingers and onto the pages. Sam mixed the dirt around with her fingers, then sat back, kneeling. She began to whisper quietly, chanting in a language neither of them knew. She brought her thumb up to her lips then bit hard, blood welling up around the broken skin.

Tucker sucked air through his teeth sharply, cringing at the thought of how much it must have hurt. Sam didn't seem to notice any pain she would reasonably be feeling.

Sam licked the blood on her lips, them raised her thumb over the dirt. The blood dripped twice on to the dirt before Sam stuck her thumb back into her mouth,sucking on the cut.

From the dirt sprouted a tiny leaf. Tucker's eyes went wide, but Sam didn't seem to react. The leaf then grew into a plant before their eyes, then from the plant grew a tiny red blossom. The petals were an unnatural red, one that reminded Tucker of blood. A coppery sent filled the air.

Sam smiled.

Suddenly, Sam bent over unnaturally, her hands clutching her throat. Sam's body shook as a dry hacking cough wracked through her, over and over again. Tucker found himself frozen, unable to do anything but stare in horror as Sam continued to cough violently, spitting up bright red petals. Blood dripped from her lips as petals continued to fall from her mouth. Sam had fallen on hands and knees, bent over in pain.

Then the petals stopped coming. Sam calm, spitting out the last few petals and returned to kneeling.

Tucker was frozen, unable to say or do anything. What Sam was doing, it was real. Sam was determined to get Danny back, but what if she lost herself in the process? Was that a price she was willing to pay?

yes.

Sam wiped the blood from her lips. The wind began to pick up, blowing the petals from their pile on the book as they began to circle around Sam. The flower that had grown from the book caught fire. The temperature dropped. The smoke from the fire and the candles became thicker and thicker as the graveyard grew darker. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Then, as if it had a mind of its own, the sickly yellow-green smoke began to take shape. The smoke was a sickly yellow-green. The smoke bagan to take shape. It was Danny, hovering above the burning blossom, his eyes closed, face expressionless.

Then Danny opened his eyes, eyes that were now pure white and glowing. The inky blackness of Danny's hair seemed to bleed away till it was white. Danny closed his eyes again for just a second, then when they opened they were an acid green. As his body became more solid, Sam and Tucker could see that he wore a hazmat suit with the very same symbol Danny always doodled on his tests and notebooks, now an emblem on his chest.

Sam smiled. "Danny?" She breathed, voice soft and wispy.

Danny looked down at Sam, eyes glassy like he was having trouble focusing on her. His mouth opened slightly as if he were about to speak.

Lightning cracked and struck down on the grave, illuminating the area for a split second. Then the lightning was gone. As Sam and Tucker rubbed the spots out of their eyes, they looked at the grave to see unlit candles, a closed, unburnt book, no flowers, and no Danny.

The air felt felt warm and still. The sky was clear and the moon shone brightly.

Sam jumped up, face twisted in anguish. "Danny! Danny no, please come back!" Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as a sob rose in her throat.

Tucker, now free of whatever was keeping him in place before, ran over to Sam, wrapping his arms around her and tucking her head into his shoulder. Sam's heavy sobs shook her entire body. Tucker was terrified by what he had 'd been terrified for Sam, puking petals and making flowers grow from a drop of blood. He'd wished for Danny's return so many times since his unexplainable death, and for a moment, it was within reach, but more than anything, Tucker wanted for Danny to just come back make things right again. But his friend was gone. Sam had failed after all.

Sam's sobs echoed throughout the graveyard, but neither of them spoke. Then, an all too familiar voice cut through the air.

"Aw geez, what did you guys fight about this time?