A strangled cry escaped Mae's lips as she slid down the wall nearest the door. He knew without a doubt she could guess who that dark soul had once been. He left her sitting where she was to further investigate their surroundings, a small kitchen area, narrow hallway that led directly into a tiny bathroom, leading to the entrance of an even smaller bedroom, only big enough to fit a single box spring bed along the far corner, and an antique hardwood dresser. As he evaluated their situation fragmented memories flashed in his mind of the few years prior to the attacks starting, and he had a feeling that Celest's kind were not to blame.
As night began to trickle into another day, he made his way out of the small bedroom, and down the narrow hallway toward the only room large enough to be called a room. That's when he heard it, quiet sobbing, and it came from where he had left Mae. He turned to find her hunched over the husk left behind when a human is forced to surrender into a dark soul. It looked completely identical to the one they had encountered last night; except it was split in half from the middle of the head down through the small intestine like a seam had been torn open. He had seen this happen one to many times but what he hadn't witnessed was someone recognizing them. He watched her lift a dirty calloused hand toward what used to be the husk's face before a hollow word, a single phrase, passed her lips, "Lillian." He knelt down beside her and as she turned into him he decided he needed to tell her everything.
Without thinking to question the repercussions of his actions, Lazarus, scooped her limp frame up into his arms, and sat them on an old dingy couch along the wall. He paused only for a moment to collect his thought before he said,
"There are a few things I believe you need to know. They don't make much sense and they probably never will but someone has to finish where I have failed." Mae casted a weary glance at him through tired eyes but said nothing as she allowed him to continue. His breath becomes shaky as he begins to speak again,
"I was just like you. Life was different back then. We didn't know about these creatures. We all thought they were just fairytales in story books." He looks up from studying her face to glance around the room as pale light begins to trickle farther in, "I lived in this complex during that time and things were a lot simpler until the attacks started happening. At first people tried to say some wild animal was on the loose, until my little brother and his friends went into the woods on a camping trip. They came across these three women all with unique eyes. They were supposedly barefoot and without heavy coats which was strange since it was the middle of winter. One of my brother's friends had made what he thought to be a harmless joke and the next thing they knew one of the women was said to have ripped his throat out with four large sharp teeth. Of course, nobody believed that story and for a few months things seemed to die down. Then I met her. I was walking back from a long night at work, it had recently rained, and that meant not many people would be out. I took the shortest route, down the back alley, and up through the end of town. She followed me and when I reached the front steps of this building is when she made her presence known. The air felt as if it was growing colder as I'd turned around to find her directly behind me. We made eye contact and the next thing I knew I was waking up in an old crypt with no memories."
He felt her shift beside him and took the distraction as a means to stop and collect his thoughts. He had no idea how to further explain what was going on without feeling some sort of guilt for his involvement. Lazarus let out a long sigh and tilted his head back to close his tired eyes. As he did this, Mae watched, puzzled, at how quickly his face seemed to be aging. It felt like only a few days ago they had met, and his eyes had been pitch black orbs, now they were a soft blueish grey. She reached out her hand and lightly ran it over the new addition of wrinkles running along his papering skin. She felt his tension ease a little at her touch but still his eyes remained closed as he continued,
"Those creatures with black eyes are what's known as a dark soul. They are all that is left after the human is forced to surrender into Celest's curse. They are inherently blind and can not speak or remember anything. She prefers it that way, they are easier to control. The remains on the ground after the dark soul rises is what's called a husk. I am called a keeper, a human eternally serving one master. That master being the hybrid Celest. She is the only one that is left just as I am the last of the keepers; what we are doing other humans have already risen up and done over the course of several years. Her hold on your kind is growing weaker and as long as she remains alive I can not die. The minute she is weak enough to kill, myself, and all the dark souls she has created, can finally be put to rest."
Mae stiffens at his words but he doesn't seem disturbed by any of it. In fact, he seems relieved. She moves as far away as the small couch allows and watches his chest rise and fall with each breath. He answered every question she asked of him three days prior, but it still leaves her wondering; is there another way?