BONG!

BONG!

BONG!

The clock chime echoed through the empty apartment. A draft circled the rooms causing a chill. The other apartments were disturbingly quiet. The clock finally ended its hourly call casting the room into a deafening silence.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

The sound made me jump. I turned to the door; mist snuck in between the door and the frame.

CREEEEEK!

The third spirit arrived and it was the most terrifying of all. It wore a dark robe that seemed to meld into the mist. A long scythe was in Its left hand. At first Its face was blocked by the hood It wore; but as it approached, the face became clearer; it was all blue except for a white emoji sad face. Once It got a few inches from me, the sad face vanished and was replaced by a string of white text.

I spoke, my voice trembling. "Oh, Great Spirit, I fear you more than the others. But, I know that you are here for my good. Lead on, and I will follow."

The face of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come returned to the pure blue image before a spinning buffering circle appeared. The circle vanished and the ghost pointed.

My apartment faded into the mist and was replaced by a graveyard. Sally, Brain, and Bandit gathered around a tombstone.

"I fear to look," I said, "but I know to learn what it is I need to learn...I must."

I approached the tombstone, each step more agonizing than the last. Finally, I reached the tombstone.

"No," I gasped. "It can't be true."

The tombstone read: Here lies Danny Smith.

Lightning flashed and the three mourners sobbed louder.

"How is this possible?" I cried. "How could this happen?"

"It was just a joke," Brain sniffled. "Joe and I came up with the trapped gifts as a joke. It was only meant to be a fun way to get some Internet laughs." I looked down at my feet.

"Joe never peeked at his gifts," said Brain. "I came up with the traps, but he 'hid' the presents." A tear rolled down my cheek. "Though I did add the alligators." Brain shook his head. "It was all for fun. We should have told Danny. If he'd known, he would never have shoved Joe out of the way and gotten ran over by that steamroller."

I kept my eyes on my shoes. My eyes were overflowing with tears. "Danny, I'll..." I looked up at Brain. "Wait! You were going to run me over with a steamroller!? That's taking it too far, Pal!"

It then hit me. We had taken it too far. Even though I was nearly indestructible, in these kinds of pranks and challenges there are no winners. We'd never meant for anyone to be injured or upset, but we'd just done both to our best friend. He'd become upset over our goofing around and was killed.

I faced the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come; Its blank, blue face glowed underneath the hood and in the surrounding darkness. I dropped to my knees and grabbed his robe. "Please, Spirit, tell me that these are events of things that could happen." I stared up into his face. "Please tell me that they are not destined to be. I can change. Forget the followers and votes. They aren't worth it if I lose my friend. Please tell me, tell me there's still time!"

"Uh...guys," came Danny's voice. "Can I come up now? It's getting kind of hard to breathe."

I stood up with a sigh. I spun towards Brain. "Did you really bury Danny?"

Brain shrugged one shoulder. "What? He likes it."

"CUT!" yelled the director. Everyone sighed in frustration. Workers started moving into the scene. Some of them began setting props back into place. "OK, everyone let's take a lunch and come back ready to work; this PSA isn't going to film itself. And would someone, please, dig up Danny." The director leaned over to his assistant. "I'm never working with superheroes or ghosts again."

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come transformed into a mid-20s ghost-man with freckles and thick glasses. "I'll be in my trailer." He then vanished into a puff of ectoplasm.

Sally and Bandit headed for the catering table. I pulled Brain aside. "So, seriously, what did you get me for Christmas?"

"You'll just have to wait six more days. Heh-heh-heh."

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