We both cleared our throats awkwardly. I smiled at him and teased, "What are we going to do first?"

He smiled back at me, but his eyes were narrowed in concentration. "I don't know, I guess we could wander around the woods looking for clues."

"Clues? What do you mean, clues?" I questioned nervously. I had no time to go on an epic quest. Exams were just around the corner.

Ebony only replied vaguely, "Sometimes, ghosts leave clues behind so that men can follow them to their demise. It's a way of increasing our ranks."

Nodding, I gestured toward the forest. "Ladies first," I politely suggested.

Chuckling, Ebony grabbed my hand and dragged me into the forest. "You will be able to sense the fragment before even I can sense it."

We agreed to split up once we were safely inside the forest's gloomy center. I scoured the ground, searching for a piece of paper. All I had found after an hour was a plastic water bottle, a can of soda, a random gum wrapper, and some weird blue parchment.

I tossed them all behind me. An explosion cracked through the air. I slowly turned around, to find the blue parchment rolling itself up and unrolling over and over again. I shrieked nervously, "Ebony..."

At once, Ebony was by my side. His presence helped ease my mind. But rather than being frightened, Ebony appeared to be exuberant. He whispered, "Well, go ahead and grab it. You found it, so it will only open when you grab it. Go on."

Shaking with anxiety, I stretched my hand out and wrapped my hands around the paper. At once it unraveled, revealing a foot of the paper. I started to read it, occasionally mumbling to myself, but I soon got confused and quickly started reading it aloud. The note read:

Where all hopes and dreams die

Where all buried will soon lie

Where ghosts are born

Where two worlds are torn

There, you will find

Something that will ease your mind

For the greatest clue of all

Is beckoning with its call

It seemed as if Ebony was as confused as I was. He kept muttering to himself. I noticed that the note was not done, so I skimmed down the page to the signature.

I poked Ebony in the shoulder and asked, "Who's Leon De Chance?"

He gruffly asked, "Why?"

"Because he's the one who wrote the letter," I stated plainly.

His eyes widened in surprise and he snatched the letter away from me. "That means it's real. That means it's real" he kept muttering to himself. Finally, he made up his mind and tucked the letter in his shirt.

He glanced at me and shook his head slightly. "What happened? Wha--"

"Leon De Chance is an infamous ghost. His clues always are truthful, but to use blue parchment is a symbol of something urgent. The only problem is that he has been Banished for seventeen years," Ebony stared at me with his stormy eyes ablaze.

I shot him a quizzical look and looked down at the ground. Ebony seemed to realize that I was lost because he started to explain, "A shade, ghost, or wraith does not last long. That is, he doesn't last forever. At some point, we expire and are thereafter called one of the Banished. It doesn't necessarily mean that you were bad, but your soul is Banished to a realm known as Lithaniel. From what I've read, Lithaniel is a dark and dreary place with no light. It is stripped of life and stripped of water. It clearly states in the only book on the subject, Banished and Forgotten, that you just float around without living a real life. Even in the Vengeful world, shades enjoy life. They laugh, they learn," he paused and continued in a quieter voice, "they love. Basically, anything a normal human can do."

Before I could reply, he held his hand up and firmly stated, "I have to follow this clue. Who knows what the answer will be? I believe that the message states the fate of the world is at stake. I have to at least try."

I interrupted, "You mean 'we have to at least try.'"

He shook his head and started to argue, but I just pressed on, "I am part of the Vengeful world too. I have a right to try to solve this mystery. Plus, you need an extra set of eyes." I started to mimic Ebony's first breath in his new body, and mocked, "'You looked so much blurrier.' Heaven knows if you even realize that I am a girl!"

He sighed, finally giving in. "All right, all right. C'mon, let's go." He stretched an arm around me and again, I felt a sensation like I was being squeezed into a ball. However, the pressure, this time, was much worse. I felt sick. When the pressure lessened, I opened my eyes to a whole different world. It appeared that we had arrived at a small wooden cottage. Books lined the shelves and furniture dotted the desolate room. Sunlight beamed through the window, and the furniture had a welcoming air to it. Fresh bread was being baked somewhere, my mouth watered with the temptation.

I had almost forgotten that Ebony was there. I snapped back to my senses when he impatiently said, "Ahem. Are we done sightseeing?" It seemed as if he was ashamed that this was where he had taken me. I dragged Ebony with me as I examined the one-room house. It was a quaint little house and I  was curious to who the owner was.

I turned toward Ebony and stammered, "Who--Wha--Where--?"

He seemed to understand my question and began fidgeting with his shoes. He whispered, "This is my house. I sometimes come here to read up on the flora and fauna that thrive in this world. This is kind of like my escape from the Vengeful world." He began to blush. "On--Once I had gotten my assignment for you, I began to read up on humans. I searched for your file a--and began to read up on--on you. Mind you, you really didn't seem that bad, and I just didn't understand why I was supposed to kill you. I mean, surely, you couldn't have the cold-blood to kill others, right? So, then I started to search and educate myself on the Vengeful world. The secrets I know," he chuckled darkly, "would blow most shade's minds. So, I began to plot against the Vengeful world. It wasn't anything drastic, just silly dreams. But when I met you, I knew that maybe, if you were willing, we could try to strike against the monsters. Now, look at us, trying to figure out a whole entire mystery. It's more than I could have hoped for!"

While he was talking, I skimmed the shelves for anything that might prove of use. I was able to skim the shelves, not once, but three times during Ebony's chat. He became lost in memories, so he talked on and on till finally, he ran out of breath. He glanced up at me and his face turned a light pink. He exhaled and tried to look through the books I had plucked off of the shelf. I flipped open a book called Shades Don't Just Belong in the Shadows and started to read it. It seemed as if Ebony had written this book because I recognized his handwriting at once. One portion read:

Shades are superior to wraiths. Wraiths may make humans feel deadly cold, but shades can kill them with just one glance. According to Shades and Wraiths: Which is Better?, shades were sentenced to exile if they ever used their unique powers. This was later commented on by Sky Chavis, who said, "Wraiths wanted to shut shades down. Thought if the public saw what powers they had, then wraiths wouldn't be royalty anymore." It is apparent that this method worked, as shades are now the lowest rank in the Vengeful world. Shades have been shunned...

Ebony slammed the book closed. He chuckled nervously and explained, "That was just a draft. I mean, I would never publish it. It was just some random ideas that I jotted down." Smiling, I reached for the other books and saw something glimmering in the corner of my eye. I glanced in the direction of the shine, but all I saw were rows of books. Maybe the glimmer came from one of the book's covers. Scanning each and every cover, I scoured the shelves until a dark green book caught my eye. It was titled, Cemeteries and How Humans and the Vengeful world interact. I shook Ebony and he furrowed his brow at me. I gestured to his pockets and understanding dawned on his face. He reached inside his pockets and extracted a small silver envelope that contained the blue parchment. Reading it over, I realized that one section read: Where ghosts are born, Where two worlds are torn. I glanced back at the title. Cemeteries. Of course!

I poked Ebony in his side and shouted, "I figured out part of the clue! See here," I jabbed my finger into the letter, "Where ghosts are born, which is a cemetery because at death you are chosen to be either a shade, ghost, or wraith. Where two worlds are torn, which is also a cemetery because families visit their loved ones and ghosts, wraiths, and shades are born here, so the answer is a cemetery!" I smiled triumphantly and waited for Ebony to congratulate me, but all I got was: "Hmm...but which one?"

I glared at him in annoyance. Really? This was the thanks I get for solving the mystery? Then, inspiration struck me. I tapped his shoulder and quickly rushed, "Have you heard of the disappearances at the Winston cemetery in Oklahoma? Maybe that's where 'all hopes and dreams die'!"

He snapped his fingers. "But, of course! Tons and tons of shades have been entering our ranks from the Winston cemetery! Shades are the lowest of the low! So, all their hopes and dreams die!" He seemed mighty happy to proclaim this last sentence. He turned toward me and said, "Come on. We have to go to the Winston cemetery!"

And so, I grabbed his arm. He smiled at me, and I felt like I was being squeezed into a tight ball. When the tight, constricted feeling ceased. I looked around me in amazement.

We were here. I slowly turned, and then I saw thousands of shades streaking in the dark towards me. I had one last thought before they closed in on me:

Why me?

And then the darkness overcame my senses and I fell, limp, to the ground. I heard Ebony fall right beside me.

It was over.