Wayne was nervous. He was never good at talking to new people, but he wouldn't let that stop him from trying. Three whole weeks he had gone without talking to a single person, and tonight was the night. At midnight, specifically, when the Day of Undeath was supposed to start, he would try to manifest in front of Beth. He wasn't sure if the holiday would help, but he figured it couldn't hurt. He was currently floating over the unconscious form of the girl. This made him feel... wrong. He felt like a stalker, watching someone sleep. It was an hour until midnight, and he was trying to save as much of his energy as he could. He should come up with a name for it, instead of just calling it energy... Ghost energy? Spiritual energy? It might be mana, but Wayne didn't think so. He had developed an extremely weak sense of mana in the year before he died as a requirement to enter the academy, and it had carried over to now. Mana felt more like a liquid, while this energy was... strange. He didn't know how to describe it. It was permeating thw world around him. He could sense it outside himself in the atmosphere, though he had much more of it inside his incorporeal body than out. Whenever he used it, he could feel it dissipate into the ambient energy around him. He also seemed to absorb it into himself whenever he could store more. Now that he thought about it, this was probably how he was able to improve his telekinesis. His ability to store the energy inside himself increased as he used it, allowing him to control more. He still didn't know what to call it. For now, he'd just refer to it as energy. At least until he discovered more about it.
Beth's tent was a dark mottled green and dome shaped. It was about six feet across and five feet up. Inside, she had a single backpack, a sleeping back, and a small portable stove. This led Wayne to believe the group were all nobles, or at least Beth was. Commoners rarely had anything that ran on magic. They could probably afford it if they saved up, but for the most part they just went without the luxury provided, As far as Wayne knew. Wayne's inner monologue lasted for an entire thirty minutes, before he got bored. He wasn't really sure what to do. He supposed he could start his plan now, but he wanted every advantage he could get, and he had no ideas how much energy it would take. He assumed the Day of Undeath would temporarily increase his energy reserves, as that would be the only way Wayne could think of to really empower a ghost. He could also try to possess one of them, but not only did that seemed like an extremely invasive thing to do and could almost definitely be taken as an attack, he also didn't know how that might affect him. Taking over someone's body just seemed like it would come with a lot of risks. He had a possible alternative, and if it didn't work, he could always try possession after.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity staring at the grandfather clock outside the tent, Wayne finally saw it reach twelve. He rushed into Beth's tent. Floating over her, he waited a few seconds and... nothing. He couldn't really feel much-
"AAAaaGGhh" Wayne let out a gasp as ethereal power washed through his very being. He felt amazing, euphoric, like he could do anything, invincible. He could feel the energy, what he now decided to call ethereal energy on account of his description, permeating every millimeter of his form. Beth opened her eyes, startled by the sudden noise, a yelped. Before Wayne could react, the others ripped open her tent flap.
"What's wrong!?" Terrance exclaimed in surprise as he threw open the flap, Horace and Sharie right behind him.
"I don't know! I heard a sound, and then it woke me up, and I just feel really worried for some reason!" Beth yelled in hysterics.
"I have a really bad feeling too..." Horace voiced the instinctual fear he felt.
From the way Terrance and Sharie looked, it seemed they felt the same thing.
"What... What time is it?" Sharie asked nervously.
Terrance looked confused at her question for a second, before realization dawned on his face and he turned to look at the clock. Seeing the time, Terrance muttered out "Uh-oh..." as his face grew pale.
Wayne, on the other hand, suddenly had a very different attitude about the people in front of him. Looking at the group of kids, Wayne only felt malicious intent. He thought about how unfair it was that they were sitting there, right in front of him, living and breathing and having lives and going wherever they pleased, while he was stuck here. Why couldn't he do that? What gave them the right to have such luxury when his life ended like it did? He felt so angry at them, misplacing his animosity onto the teens. His ethereal energy, many times stronger than just a minute ago, began gathering, solidifying within him on instinct. Finally, something clicked, and his body started to glow a ghastly blue. The four teens snapped their heads in his direction, and each of them was overcome with fear.
"HooWWww DDdaaarrrEEEE YYYooooooouuuuu" Wayne screamed irrationally as he pointed at the group.
The children screamed and ran in different directions, terrified at the unholy image in front of them. This did not sate Wayne's anger, however. No, Wayne hated them with a passion, a deep loathing for their very beings. And so, Wayne reached across the entire house, slammed the exits shut and locked them, barred the windows, and gave chase.
