"Dad, please! Don't leave me!" Daniel grabbed for his father's sleeve, but his father pulled away. "I'm sorry Daniel. You know where this world's fate leads. Good will never prevail anymore. Evil has the upper hand. I choose Evil." Daniel's father turned and walked into the shadow.
The image of his mother's smile flashed and was then replaced by her body burning in a jungle of flames.
Daniel woke up from the oh-so familiar dream. He used to scream when he woke from it, but he was so used to it by now that he didn't anymore.
Peculiar sounds that sounded like growling, but also like screams, made Daniel jump up from where he lied under a dead tree. The smell of burning garbage was something he knew - after eight years of experience – it indicated that a Corpse was very near to his location.
"Seriously guys? Can't a guy get some eye-shut?" Daniel raised his silver pistol and turned to face the reeking being. "I had just enough of you all disturbing my privacy. A man can't even crap in peace." He pulled the trigger and a burning bullet pierced the skull of the Corpse. Its body fell to the ground.
Daniel sighed, and put his gun back in its holder on the right side of his belt. "I guess I should get going." He made his way toward the nearby ruined town. He had to stock up with some ammo and maybe get some food. As he made his way to the marketplace, he felt an uneasiness.
A girl was being pinned to a wall by a Vampire. Daniel's heart made a strange flip. He felt the need to help the girl. He never preferred to help people that way. He felt that the best way to help them was to put a bullet through their head and end their misery. But what was different now? Was it hormones? He pulled out his gun and aimed for the Vampire's head. And then something unexpected happened.
Before Daniel pulled the trigger, the girl hit the Vampire with her head. The gesture stunned it so much it gave her the chance to grab its knife and impale its chest. Exactly where his heart was. Daniel was actually impressed, though he wouldn't admit it out loud. And he wasn't impressed easily. How could a girl - and one so delicate and small at that - have such skill? Daniel thought.
The knife fell from her hand and she shook, looking horrified. Daniel had to hold himself back from going to her and ask her why she was so upset because what she did moments ago was super awesome.
Another noise came. A half gurgling, half screeching noise. It came from a Corpse which came running toward her. The girl screamed and curled in a ball on the ground, "Please! No more d-don't hurt me!"
Daniel wondered why she was suddenly so terrified, but shot the Corpse without letting a second tick by. Hesitantly, the girl looked up at the Corpse.
The Corpse fell to the ground with a thud. The girl looked in the direction of Daniel. She was wearing a thin white dress that was filthy because of blood and dirt. Her feet were bare. She was scrawny and had brown hair and fire-brown eyes. She had normal features, but she stood out in an otherworldly way.
The girl curled in on herself again, "Please. I had enough. D-don't hurt me. Please."
Daniel sheathed his gun and walked to her. She slowly glanced up, as he knelt before her, and said, "If I meant to kill you, I would've killed you and the Corpse together, with one bullet. Lucky for you, I don't kill the living." She visibly relaxed. Daniel felt something strange in his chest. Like a small light being turned on. It was confusing. He didn't like the feeling of his guard being shattered so he put it back up. He wasn't going to let a girl distract him.
Daniel stood up and turned to walk away, but the girl caught at the bottom of his coat. He looked at her from over his shoulder, "What?"
"What's y-your name?"
"Daniel."
She smiled, and it reminded him of his mother's smile, "Thank you, Daniel. I'm eternally grateful." He felt like someone squeezed his heart.
He plucked his coat from her hand, "I don't need your thanks. I didn't save you. The only way to be saved in this damn world was to die. Now it's not even that anymore. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be on my way."
He started walking away, but the girl bolted upright, cringing slightly, "Wait. Please."
Daniel groaned and turned around, "What the hell is your problem, chick? I've got places to be and people - well, Corpses - to see." She gazed around her, "I have no idea where I am. Where I came from. All I know is my name. And that I woke up in a grass covered graveyard in the middle of a deserted village in a desert. Can you give me any answers?"
Daniel shrugged, "Nope, sorry. Best of luck." He started to turn when she stopped him again, "Wait, please. At least take me with you." She tightened her arms around herself, "Please, I don't want to be alone. I'm scared."
The girl's words stabbed him and reminded him of when his father left him. But he quickly covered it up with a blank expression. He wasn't his dad. And he never will be. "Fine, you can follow me. That's it. No chatting. No gossiping. No drooling over past crushes. No jokes. No giggling. No nothing. You keep quiet and follow me. That's that."
The girl's face brightened then she suddenly threw her arms around Daniel, "Thank you, thank you." Daniel felt his cheeks heat up and pushed her away, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." She stood still for a moment, then asked him, "Uh, pardon me asking, but what is a 'crush'?" Daniel felt his left eye twitch, "You don't know what a cru-- arggg whatever. Silence or I leave you here."
The girl held her hand to her mouth and nodded quickly. She made him think of an angel, with the innocent look she wore on her face.
Suddenly, the girl's knees gave way from under her. Daniel caught her before she hit the ground, "Oh for the love of- what the heck?" He saw the bite mark on her shoulder, "How the hell did you get a rat bite? Now I'm burdened with caring for you too? As if your presence isn't a nuisance already. We have to find some herbs." He glanced around and saw the herbalist's office. Daniel picked the girl up and carried her to it. He was surprised at how light and small she was. It was like carrying a cherry blossom. He was so afraid she might whither or break.
When they arrived in the herbalist's office, he placed her on the counter and started searching among the few bottles of dried herbs that was left on a web-covered shelf. Daniel returned to her side, placing a bottle of dried herbs and bandages next to her on the counter. "Be glad. This is the last bottle of this herb left."
Daniel tended to her wound and bandaged it. Just like his mother taught him when he was a kid. "Can you stand?" Daniel asked the girl. He hoped she could because he was still scared to carry her. The only girl he ever carried before this girl was a woman's dead body so he could bury her. The girl climbed off the counter and stood up, even though she was a bit wobbly. "Yes, I'm alright. Thank you." For some reason Daniel wanted to take back what he'd hoped for earlier, and actually wanted to carry her now. He mentally slapped himself.
Daniel gestured for her to follow him, "Come on, let's search one of the houses. We need some supplies and you need better clothing. And shoes. Your feet won't last an hour if you continued walking barefoot." She nodded and followed him.
They walked and ended up between two houses. Daniel glanced at the one, and then the other. He then glanced at the girl, "Pick one." She glanced at the house on her left. Daniel followed her gaze. It seemed much more ruined then most of the houses in the village. She glanced at the other house. It looked perfectly unharmed. It seemed like it wasn't even part of the rest of the village. It had green grass and flowers growing in the garden. It was strange. Even the windows and door were still intact.
She pointed at the unharmed house. Daniel wondered why the house was unharmed but shrugged it off and led the way inside. Inside, the house had furnishings and rugs, and curtains happily hanging from the windows. For some reason, the fragrance inside the house reminded him of mother's rose garden. He remembered how long she worked to tend to it. Now it's all dead. Like her.
"I'm going to take a look around here. You go upstairs and get yourself some clothing. If you find anything useful, like weapons or whatever, bring it too." Daniel started opening drawers and cupboards. The girl went upstairs.
He found a backpack in a cabinet next to the sofa. It was empty. "Perfect, I really need one of these," he muttered to himself.
Finding nothing in the living room, he moved on to the kitchen, where he found some useful herbs and canned food. He packed it all in his backpack along with two spoons. He couldn't remember the last time he ate with a spoon and felt like the girl must have something to do with the streak of good luck he was getting.
Suddenly, just as he thought of her and the fact that he still didn't know her name, a thump came from upstairs. Panic rose in Daniel's chest. He knew the perfect house was too good to be true. An image of the girl he just met being set on fire made its way into his mind.
He took out his gun and sped upstairs and kicked open the only door there was.
He screamed an embarrassing scream that would've shamed all of the male population left in the world and turned the other way, cheeks flaming, "What the hell! You gave me a frickin' heart attack! I thought you were being ambushed, only to find you struggling to get dressed!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you alright? Is your heart still working?!" Her genuinely worried voice made Daniel want to face palm and wonder if this girl was supposed to be blonde, but her genetics screwed up.
A rustle. Another thump. An "ow".
Daniel sighed and thought how he should confront the situation. Should he consult her in his current position, or should he try to ignore the fact that she is of the opposite sex and just manually help her? Or should he tell her to turn around and make it a bit easier to help her manually? He raked a hand through his hair. What the heck should he do? How in the name of the seven - now mostly dried up - seas did she not know how to dress herself?!
A gentle hand touched his leg. He felt a wave of electricity go through his body. She spoke in a still worried voice, "Are you alright? Is your heart working properly again?"
Nope, Daniel almost said, but instead he replied, "Yes, it never stopped working. 'Being given a heart attack' can be used as a figure of speech. Seriously, were you born under a rock?"
"I actually considered that. I could have been born under a rock, I just cannot remember," she said as serious as serious could get.
This time Daniel did face palm. He couldn't help it. He just couldn't resist the urge anymore.
He sighed and said, "Do you need help getting dressed?" He mentally scolded himself. He felt like a pervert. That was the corniest statement he ever used. It felt like he said, "Do you need help getting undressed?"
"Yes, please. But I guess you are not supposed to see me without any - um - clothing, since you screamed and turned your back when you came in... So, it's going to be hard for you," she said sincerely.
"Yep, definitely," Daniel replied.
"Uhm... Tell me what I should cover up or how I can make it easier for you."
Daniel felt so awkward that he felt like his cheeks might explode at any moment. Where the heck did this girl come from? Did she really just ask him how she could make it easier for him?
Okay Daniel, this is only awkward because you made it awkward. Calm down and think rationally, he told himself mentally. He took a deep breath and asked the girl, "Do you have underwear on?" Wow. Give the man a gold star. Two corny statements in one day! Well done.
"I don't think so... Or wait, is it this peculiar cloth I had on under my dress, that covers my behind?"
Daniel had to try hard to not laugh, "Yes. Exactly. Now, do you still have it on?"
"Yes..."
"Okay, great. Now, what else do you have on?" Oh for the love of... Why did I agree to let this girl destroy my dignity again? He thought.
"Uh... A brown cloth that I think is called a 'pants'. I am currently wearing it on my head," she replied, and her formal tone just pushed Daniel over the edge, and he couldn't hold back the chuckle that escaped.
"Can you turn around please?" Daniel asked the girl.
There was a shuffling, and then she said, "You may look now."
Daniel turned slowly after taking a deep breath. The girl sat with her back to him and had a pair of pants on her head. Daniel would've laughed at the sight. But he didn't. The two large vertical scars parallel to each other on her back made him frown. What had caused them? It looked like a large beast had raked its claws across her back. Vampires must have done this, he thought.
He wanted to ask her, but he stopped himself. He wasn't supposed to care why she had those scars or where they came from. She isn't supposed to matter to him.
He toughened himself and asked her to stand. She stood up; her arms crossed over her chest. He walked to her and took the pants from her head and put it on the bed. He also picked up the clothing lying on the ground and placed it on the bed. On the bed he saw a small blanket and got an idea.
"Hey, put this around you. That way I can help you better," Daniel told the girl. She obeyed and turned around. Now Daniel could see the bandages he put on her shoulder. They had a slight red tinge in the middle, where her wound was. "I am sorry that I am such a bother. Please forgive me." the girl said, her cheeks turning rosy. It was almost cute. "Whatever. Just don't let it happen again," he replied.
After demonstrating to her were all of the clothing items are supposed to go, Daniel gave her some privacy and closed the door behind him. He waited for her, leaning against the wall, next to the door with his arms crossed over his chest.
After a while, the girl opened the door and stepped out. She was wearing a white tank top, cream coloured cargo pants with a weapons belt, and a pair of black-coffee coloured combat boots. Around her neck hung two necklaces. One was a gold cross and the other a teardrop. Daniel pointed at the necklaces, "You like accessorizing?"
The girl touched them, "These are special." Daniel rolled his eyes, "Girls."
She frowned to herself, then took out a piece of paper from her pocket. She handed it to Daniel and quickly headed back to the room to retrieve something.
Daniel read the note. He didn't believe a word that this 'Danica Swiss' woman wrote on it. But he couldn't help but notice that there had to be some truth to it. Because, why else would the house they were currently standing in be in such perfect condition?
The girl emerged from the room and carried two beautiful kitana blades with roses carved into their sheaths and hilts, a leather-bound book and a dagger with a glass hilt. She handed the weapons to Daniel. "Woah, these are gorgeous! Where'd you find them?" Daniel asked the girl.
She smiled and replied, "Under the bed. The people - or rather person - that lived here must have been very skilled with weaponry and protecting themselves."
Daniel handed the dagger to the girl, "Here, you probably need something to protect yourself with. You can't rely on me because I'm not going out of my way to protect you. If you die and become a zombie, it's all on you." He thought a moment, and then said, "Well at least until you unlocked that Cross's power."
Her face brightened, "You believe what Danica said?"
"Nope, not at all."
"But-"
"We can still go see that Hector dude, nonetheless. He might have some important info."
The girl seemed to not know how to respond, but just nodded. And then seemed to remember something, "Oh, I never introduced myself. I am Ramielle."
Ramielle. Daniel heard somewhere that most angels' names end with an 'el'. Suddenly, like being slapped in the face, he remembered that it was his mother that told him that.
They started descending the stairs when Daniel halted, "Wait. You know how to read, but don't know how to dress?" Ramielle looked apologetically up at Daniel and said, "Do not be concerned, I am just as confused as you are."
Believe me, Daniel thought, no one can be as confused as I am right now.