It was a dark December night when Melchior was walking through the graveyard. He silently walked past rows upon rows of graves, but not stopping to look at any of them. He already knew where he was going.

Melchior felt a tear slip down his cheek, then another as he stopped and kneeled down in front of two graves. His hand was shaking as he reached forward and brushed some sand off of the graves, revealing the names of the people who were buried there.

Moritz Stiefel and Wendla Bergmann, two of his closest friends. Maybe he and Moritz could have been something more if he hadn't shot himself. Wendla was always such a sweet innocent girl, which makes it even sadder that she died. Two of the people who deserved death the least.

Melchior held his head in his hands as he sobbed. He flinched away when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Go away," he muttered, hastily brushing the tears away.

The pressure on his shoulder disappeared, but Melchior couldn't help but feel like he still wasn't alone.

"Melchi?" a quiet voice said. Melchior's eyes widened and he gasped. Only Moritz ever called him that.

"M-Moritz?" he stuttered, slowly standing back up and turning around. He almost couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his best friend standing there, looking at him.

Melchior closed his eyes and shook his head violently. "No, you're dead. You aren't really here."

When he opened his eyes, Moritz was still there, just watching him with a sad expression on his face. "I'm not really here Melchi," he said gently.

"I'm confused," Melchior said slowly, still unable to believe what he was seeing.

"You need to move on Melchior. You can't be hung up on Wendla and me forever."

Melchior shook his head again. "Moritz, I'm so sorry." Now it was Moritz's turn to shake his head.

"It wasn't your fault Melchi."

"No! If only I had paid more attention to what was going on. At school, with your father. Maybe I could have done something," he protested.

Moritz gave him a sad smile. "It was my choice, Melchior. What's done is done. I just don't want you to end up like me."

Melchior felt himself starting to cry again, but he tried to stay calm for Moritz's sake. "Okay," he whispered.

Moritz walked forward and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you again one day," he said quietly before he slowly began to fade away.

Melchior choked out another sob as he watched Moritz disappear until he was completely gone.

"I hope I see you one day too," he whispered to the darkness.