In a dark space of pure nothingness, a cave formed itself from the void. It's walls were blacker than onyx and its depth was immeasurable by any human standard. Candles ; long , short and of medium height burnt everywhere across the cave walls. There were hundreds of thousands of them, all across the cave but for all their light , very few of them could chase away the darkness inside the cave.
A hooded figure , wearing a dark veil was moving across the cave , an hourglass infront of her , floating in a semicircular swirl. The veiled figure moved with grace , so light that it was as if the veil was moving itself.
After a time , even though time did not exist in that place , the veiled figure reached where she has been going. On a cave wall was a small, flickering candle with the wick barely alight. As she reached there, the hourglass rose up and shook it's black sand, showing a face in the glass.
Narrowed pale blue eyes gazed at the face in the hourglass before a bony hand reached out and took the hourglass. Death moved closer and looked upon the flickering candle from different angles. After a moment, her thin mouth broke into what was a bone chilling smile.
" Now it's time. " She said and the candles across the whole cave quivered at her voice.
A black hole opened up behind her , a floating pit of blackness. From inside it , a person fell out like a discarded sack of garbage. His head hit the cave floor hard but it didn't hurt, the cave was a place beyond pain.
" Nuis, I thought I warned you to leave him alone. " Death said to the small blonde boy , " Yet you disobey. Why ? "
The blonde child got up and looked at the specter of death and this time his blue eyes were gone. In his eye sockets , orange blazing ireses looked out into the mysterious cave and its owner.
" He was lonely Mother. I only wanted to keep him company. " Nuis said to his mother , " He has no one now. Mel is gone."
" Yes , he is alone and he is lonely. " Death said moving close , " But that is the point. I did not keep him trapped without reason. "
" What is the reason? " Nuis asked his mother and she placed a bony hand on his hair .
" Oh , my sweet child , because that is how I'm going to break him and fix him. " She said and Nuis gave a frown of confusion.
" I don't understand Mother." He said and she removed her hand from his head .
" You will, you will . " She said and in a swirl of darkness, she vanished from the cave.
" Do not leave until I call you." Her voice said as if she was still there.
" Yes , Mother. " Nuis said and he sat down on the cave floor, his vision gazing around at the candles, each burning with the same color as his eyes.
........
Lesley ran down the street with little care for the undead around him. They left him alone after all and did not even give him a glance.
It had been a few minutes after the child zombie had been eaten, a still confusing event , that something strange happened; the zombies left. All of them raced away from the apartment, heading to the same place.
At first Lesley had been sceptical about them going, thinking it was a trick but if it was , then he'd risk it. He'd gone through the corridors, finding no zombie stopping him , even the one at the reception area had just groaned at his passing but didn't do anything.
The relief he'd felt had been second to the joy of being outside once more. He'd almost wanted to go for a jog like he did in the safe zone. But then it had happened again, a loud explosion rang through the air and then a cloud of black smoke rose up to the sky.
That's was when he noticed a few zombies around the bend running towards the explosion. Lesley did not know why but he felt like something bad was coming. So he'd thought about what he could do ;
Go back to the safe zone and try to get home or go back into the apartment and wait out whatever was coming or , finally , go towards the explosion and find its source.
The first one was not worth considering after what had happened and the second option was not an option. That meant one thing ; Lesley was heading towards the explosion.
Of course he knew it could be something very dangerous, maybe even an upper rank zombie causing havoc. But after so many days doing nothing, Lesley needed motion and to feel alive again.
That's just who he was , he wanted to live.
As he ran through the street , a veiled figure watched him from the top of a building. Her dark visage was not penetrated by the solar light , as if the darkness was her veil itself.
She raised her hand and a small green flame moved on her bony palm. It danced and swirled like a living thing and for Death that was a very sharp contrast with herself. She shut her hand and the green flame vanished.
" Soon , you will be ready. " She said looking ahead at a tall building where gunfire rang out loud and clear , " I will help you...as I always did."
........
In a vacant three roomed apartment, a pile of bones moved out from under a bed. As they did, a swirl of darkness rose from the floor , lapping with green fire . Instantly Death stood in the bedroom, looking down at the skull on top of the pile of bones. Her own bony hand reached out and lifted it , so as to look into its vacant sockets.
" This is your chance at redemption. " She said her hand ebbing with green fire , " Do not fail again...or else you will forever regret it. "
She dropped the skull and before it could even touch the floor , a pillar of green fire rose up around the pile of bones and the skull. Death lifted her hands and the mystical flames consumed the leftover remains of Mel. The flames were bright and seemed to have a swirl of darkness in them , but it was consumed by the greenest part of the fire.
" Return dead one ! " Death shouted and the flames exploded throughout the apartment as if a bomb had gone off.
When the fire receded, the pile of bones was gone and in its place was a nude young looking boy . Blue eyes gazed around as if unsure of where they were and afraid of knowing.
" What is your name ? " Death asked the boy , she paid no heed to his nakedness.
" Who ? " The boy asked her , his voice was deep but mellow like a stagnant lagoon.
" You , what is your name ? " Death asked him again and the boy looked around the room as if looking for a clue for himself.
Then he saw the brown book.
His hand reached out and he took it , as if knowing it was important. He started flipping through the pages and Death did not stop him , only watching his movements. Finally, the boy reached the end of the book , at a mostly blank page .
Atleast it seamed somewhat blank , except for three doty shapes.
To an average person it would have looked like doodles but to the boy , they appeared to be more. His hand caressed the shapes slowly and it seemed as if visions appeared in his eyes.
" What is your name ? " Death asked once more .
" I am...Mel. " The boy said softly.
" Do you know why you are here ? " She asked him .
" I...don't know. Why am I here ? " Mel asked her.
" You are here because you have a purpose. That purpose is to die. " She said with such softness it was like a kiss from a sharp knife .
" I have to die ? " Mel asked but he did not have any fear in his voice.
" No , you are still dead. You can't kill what's been killed. I mean you're purpose is to live as you are dead , die for someone important. " She said moving close and looking into his eyes .
" Who will I die for ? " Mel asked her.
" I'll show you , since your mind is still incomplete. " She knelt down and raised her hand , then she gazed at him meaningfully.
" This is going to hurt." She said and then her hand reached into his skull and tore his mind apart .
Mel gritted his teeth as he felt like his skull was being broken in two but then it all vanished as quick as it came. Memories started flowing through his mind and he remembered things .
He remembered his faces on the wall , the mirror in his room , the people he feasted on , the skulls...but there was something else... something important. Before it took shape , a pair of green eyes flashed before his mind and his face drew into a smile.
The human.
Now Mel remembered. He turned to Death who was looking down at him patiently.
" The human...I must die for him ? " He asked her. He sounded almost excited for it.
" Yes , until he is strong enough...you must die for him." She said and then pointed at the wall. A mirror of darkness and onyx appeared , inside it Lesley could be seen running towards the tall building.
" He is in danger and does not know it. You must go and save him. " Death said and the mirror faded out of existence.
" I don't know if I can." He said softly, Mel had not been the strongest zombie and he knew that he would not be able to protect the human from others.
" You can't or you can ,does not matter . " Death said coldly, " You will. Now get dressed , leave this place and go. And should you fail again...your punishment will be worse than death."
In a swirl of black and green , Death vanished from the room , leaving the zombie alone again. Mel got up from the floor and looked around his room, his nose picked up a familiar smell.
He smiled.