The Deck

It was another beautiful day in Willowbrook Falls. The sun was just creeping up the edge of the horizon, casting long shadows though Harmony Memorial Park. Despite the early hour the park was filled with life and noise. The squirrels chased each other around the trees. Birds called out to each out in song. Bunnies chewed on the dewy grass.

The cemetery was always a peaceful place, belonging more to those animals than to the humans that occasionally stopped by to visit the dead. Certainly more than the dead themselves, who never moved or made a sound.

Well, almost never.

If one listened closely, very closely, they would hear the faint scraping of earth. It had been going on for a while now. Since midnight in fact. Scrape...scrape...scrape...

Near the back of the property, amongst the oldest graves there, there was one in particular that stood out. These ancient graves would have long been reclaimed by nature if not for the diligent work of the staff, but still time has stolen the names from the stones that mark them. Except for one.

The only grave with a legible tombstone stood out not because one could make out faint letters and guess at the occupant of the grave, but because it appeared to be brand new.

Elias Lewis
1843-Unknown
Bested the Devil and Lost

It was at this grave that the scraping sound was best heard. Then suddenly a bony hand shot through the soil, reaching for the sky. The hand snapped and the noise seemed to echo around the graveyard and in the aftermath a deafening silence fell. The squirrels hid, the birds flew away and the bunnies ran for their lives.

The dirt started to move on its own and a figure, the rest of the skeleton, rose from the depths of the grave and stepped out to stand tall beside the tombstone. The skeleton was dressed in a rather dapper suit. Or rather, it would have been, if it weren't covered in dirt and riddled with holes.

The figure snapped it's fingers again, turning back the clock. In seconds the grave appeared as if it had never been disturbed and the suit just as it was the day it was purchased. The skeleton, however, remained a skeleton.

It grinned, if skeleton's really could grin, then reached into it's pocket and pulled out an unusual deck of cards.

A voice, deep and gravelly, filled the silence without any apparent movement from the skeleton, "Cards? I always liked cards. How many years has it been since I had a good game? Let's go find someone to play with."

The skeleton put the cards back into it's pocket and slowly walked away.

Each chapter will feature a different card from the deck. The deck is based on The Deck of Many Things from D&D, with the effects modified to suit this story. The effects of the card will be shown at the beginning of each chapter to give the reader an idea of the direction of that chapter, but the character that draws the card only sees the title.