As evening fell over the island, the sense of revelry kicked into high gear. All of the celebration up until this point paled in comparison.

Huge tables, overladen with food, stretched along the exterior of the cemetery. The event coordinators began serving food at exactly six in the evening. The feast wouldn’t stop until midnight, when the ghosts returned to their graves.

Thousands of people, residents and tourists alike, cycled through the graveyard to take part in the feasting. Few people hung around after getting their food. Many were enticed back to La Bonita by performances and events that were being staged.

Fire eaters, dancing troupes, and musicians provided entertainment across the island. Poker tournaments were held at many of the local bars, while some of the clubs were hosting dance contests. There was much to do and see in the remaining six hours.

For Dominic and Miguel, however, the celebration at the graveyard was more than enough.

Nearly everyone present had taken up an instrument of some sort. Even those who didn’t know how to play were encouraged to try and follow along with the sounds of the March. Some just added to the percussion by banging on tables, or their knees.

A candle sat on every headstone, and after sundown, they were lit to act as a beacon to the souls of the dead. The flickering glow of hundreds of candles, as well as the twinkle of the strings of lights that bordered the graveyard, made the entire place feel almost otherworldly.

Their little group had grown over the course of the day.

María and Pablo sat near a small fire that had been erected near the table where they’d eaten lunch. Frederico sat at the table with Peter. Guillermo had stopped by briefly but had had to return to the bar since this was easily one of his busiest nights of the year.

Esteban strummed along to the March of the Dead on his guitar while Blanca sat next to María and painted her nails to look like little ghosts.

Even Matías had joined them and was sitting a little to the side drinking spiked punch and speaking to no one.

“So then, it was clear by the expression on his face that he wasn’t going to put up with it any more.” Pablo was deep into a story from his childhood. “Señor Lupo looked down at the three of us and said, ‘if I catch any of you doing anything like this ever again, you’re going to get detention for a month.’ To which Isaac replies...” Pablo gestured to Frederico to deliver the finishing line.

“’It’s not like you ever caught us before,’” said Frederico with a laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone turn red more quickly than Señor Lupo did that day.”

“And you all three got detention anyway,” chuckled María as she poked at the fire with a long stick.

“Sounds like you three were quite the troublemakers,” said Peter. “I’m sorry that I never got to meet your brother, Pablo.”

“He would’ve liked you,” Frederico assured him. “Then again, Isaac liked pretty much everyone he met. He got along with everyone. No one disliked Isaac.”

“Well, no one except Señor Lupo,” laughed Pablo.

“It’s true. After that day, Lupo had it out for him. Sent him to the principal more than any other student.” Frederico seemed amused by the memory.

The stories continued as the evening wore on. Most of them revolved around Isaac and his exploits. Some of them were broadly related tales about other people they had known in the past.

It was nearly eleven when Miguel rose from the spot where he’d been sitting and stretched. There was something about the way the fire light reflected off of him that made those simple movements mesmerizing to Dominic. He caught himself staring at his lover’s slender frame, and his thoughts wandered towards scenes of pressing him against a tree as he kissed his exposed neck and shoulder.

“I’m going to take a bit of a walk and stretch my legs. I think I’m getting a little cramped,” explained Miguel.

“I’ll come with you,” Dominic offered a bit too quickly.

His statement drew a few stares from the others, but no one said anything. He silently kicked himself as he stood.

“Just be back before the music stops,” instructed María, “so we can walk back to town together.”

“Of course, we’re just going for a walk. There’s still plenty of time,” Miguel reassured her as he picked up the blanket he’d been sitting on and wrapped it around his shoulders. Despite the slight chill in the air Dominic didn’t think it was quite cold enough for that sort of thing.

Dominic and Miguel drifted through the cemetery and back onto the trails they’d visited earlier. The darkness was much thicker out here. There were no lights to show the way, and underneath the trees not even the moonlight offered any help.

The flashlight Dominic had brought along offered a thin beam of light that illuminated their path, but it was barely enough to keep them from tripping. Miguel seemed to be walking with purpose. He caught hold of Dominic’s free hand and locked fingers with him.

After a few minutes of walking, they’d turned down so many winding trails through the darkness that Dominic wasn’t entirely sure where they were any more.

“I think this is far enough,” said Miguel, stopping short beneath a gap in the canopy overhead. Moonlight streamed down onto the forest floor below. The pale moonlight made it almost unnecessary to use the flashlight anymore. The sounds of the celebration still drifted through the trees, but now the sound of the ocean was louder.

“What did you have in mind, dragging me all the way out here away from everyone else?” asked Dominic as Miguel pulled the blanket from his shoulders and proceeded to spread it across the ground.

“You offered to join me,” Miguel reminded him. “I just wanted to take a nap.” He grinned at Dominic before sitting down on the blanket.

“Well, then,” said Dominic, eagerly moving to sit beside him, “I suppose I’ll just take a nap with you.” He stretched and lay back on the blanket and stared up at the moon above.

A moment later, his vision was blocked as Miguel dropped a warm cloth over his face.

“What is this?” Dominic frowned as he pulled it away. It was the same color as Miguel’s shirt. Beside him, his omega sat with his bare skin exposed to the night air. Goosebumps prickled across his flesh as the silver light of the moon highlighted the contours of his body.

Dominic immediately reached out and tugged Miguel down to the blanket beside him. Their mouths found one another and they shared a deep, hungry kiss. Miguel’s hands slipped up beneath Dominic’s shirt, playing across his skin and exploring his body eagerly.

“Do you realize that this is the second time we’ve done something like this?” breathed Dominic as Miguel began to tug at his pants.

“Do you realize that you’re still fully clothed?” asked Miguel.

With a grin on his face, Dominic began to strip away the layers of his clothing. The night air was cool against his naked skin, and he found himself craving the warmth of the smaller body beside him. Without further prompting, he moved to help his lover with the last of his clothes.

They were naked beneath the moonlight and surrounded by nature. The distant beating of steel pan drums and the shouts of celebration drifted through the trees, but out here they were completely alone with one another.

“Miguel...” Dominic slid his arms around him. “I love you.” Their lips met in a single warm kiss.

“And I love you,” Miguel replied as their lips parted. Miguel’s slender fingers caressed Dominic’s thigh before slipping gently around his growing erection.

Dominic shuddered in pleasure as he lay back against the blanket. Miguel took over completely. He slid down the length of Dominic’s body and eagerly took his erection in his mouth. He coaxed and suckled while Dominic twitched and moaned in pleasure. The feeling of his lover’s warm mouth against him only made him that much more eager.

He reached down and caught hold of Miguel’s shoulders, gingerly guiding him upwards so that their lips met once more. Miguel straddled Dominic, his enticing little hindquarters hovered mere inches above his lover’s eager body.

As they kissed, Dominic’s hands slid down Miguel’s body. Skillful fingers gently caressed and prodded, eliciting slight gasps of pleasure from Miguel as they pressed into the warmth of his body.

They stayed like this for a moment. Kissing and preparing one another for what was to come next. They needed no words because in this moment their instinct ruled and guided their actions.

They exchanged a knowing look, and one final kiss, before Miguel sat up and lowered himself onto Dominic’s erection. That moment of connection, their bodies entwining with one another, was one that took Dominic’s breath away. This was more than just a lust-filled fling on the beach. It was more than just two lonely people seeking comfort in one another’s arms.

They were lovers, and more than that, they were soul mates. The baby growing inside of Miguel’s belly was a part of each of them. They were family.

Clinging eagerly to one another, their pleasured moans drifted through the trees. Any passerby could have seen them, illuminated beneath the moonlight, but they didn’t care. So wrapped up in one another were they that the entire island around them had cease to exist. The only thing that mattered now was each other and the mutual climax towards which they were building.

As Miguel’s legs tired of the motion, Dominic took over. He gently pulled his lover towards him and rolled over so that their positions were reversed. There was only a moment’s pause before Miguel was settled comfortably on the blanket.

“Are you ready?” asked Dominic as he peered down at his lover. “I’m going to finish this.”

Miguel smiled up at him and traced his hands along Dominic’s chest. “I thought you’d never ask.”

That was all the signal Dominic needed. He clutched firmly to Miguel’s hips as he pressed them both towards the pinnacle of ecstasy. He hardly noticed the chill in the air now as heat emanated from his skin and sweat dripped down his back. This was it.

Mere moments passed between their climaxes. Miguel’s pleasured gasps and moans were the final push that Dominic needed. His entire body, which had felt like a coiled spring, released in a blinding instant that left him quivering in pleasure.

His body spent, Dominic collapsed onto the blanket beside his lover.

“So...” began Miguel between exhausted breaths. “Now what?”

They were a mess. Sticky from sweat and other bodily fluids, they clearly hadn’t thought this through all the way. All that had mattered was one another. The blanket they were lying on had also become an unfortunate casualty of their romp.

“I guess we clean up, head back, and hope no one says anything,” chuckled Dominic. “I mean, you weren’t exactly subtle about your intentions.”

“Uh-huh, I was the one that lacked subtlety. Definitely,” Miguel teased as he retrieved his clothing.

The blanket sacrificed itself yet again. This time for the sake of cleanup. Once they were dressed, Miguel carefully folded it up so that the mess was contained.

They found their way back to the cemetery by following the sound of the music, which had grown much louder in the time that they were gone. It must have been nearly time for the end of the celebration.

“Geez, I didn’t think you were going to make it,” María chastised them as they returned to the fire.

“Enjoy your ‘walk?’” Esteban teased Miguel, giving him a friendly punch in the shoulder.

The graveyard was more crowded now. A lot of people had returned for the final event of the night.

It was exactly eleven-thirty when all of the music stopped. Everywhere across Catalejo Island, all music ceased. The summoning song that called the dead to dance with the living would not be played again for an entire year.

Now, however, those gathered turned towards the main road leading from the town. All of the children that had dressed as ghosts throughout the day, walked up the road in a single file line. They symbolized the spirits returning the graveyard. Nearly every single child on the island filed into the graveyard.

In the final ten minutes before, the children scurried across the graveyard and blew out the candles perched atop the headstones. Every blown out candle was a spirit that had safely returned to rest.

The bell hanging in the church tower only rang a few times a year. One of them was tonight. The twelve strikes of midnight echoed across the island. The March of the Dead had ended. The souls had returned to their graves, and the celebration was over.