Chapter 2: Zombie

Zombie explains what happened after the departure of Moonlight Jade and digs up some unpleasant memories.

“I left the cult about a month after you left to go adventuring with Hawk or whatever the hell it is that you two decided to go do,” Zombie started, “You were really the only friend I had there and once you were gone, I barely had a reason to stay.”

I sensed the light malice in his voice and it made me uneasy.

            “However, that’s not it. If that were my whole story, it wouldn’t even be a story.” He paused for a second to lick his lips, and then continued, saying, “Some of the members of this group of individuals that I left weren’t exactly thrilled with me leaving, either missing me or believing my departure to be an insult to the group. One member in particular was so aggravated by it that she decided to burn down my house one night while I was sleeping. Luckily, I smelled the smoke and I woke. However, my house was in ruins. I spent three years after that rebuilding it. It didn’t stop after that, though. My best friend since you had been killed by another member of the cult. I believe it was someone you knew, as well. Her name was Ice.”

            My horror at his story turned into bitter hatred. Ice was one of my most faithful friends. She wasn’t in the cult, but I knew her since I was in school. 

            “She was first shot in the heart with an arrow, stabbed, and then slashed. Then, they decided to behead her and stick her head on one of my fence stakes, hanging her headless corpse upside-down from the roof.” His soft voice turned into harsh disgust as he spoke the words.    

            I imagined the scene, her blue eyes now dead and clouded, platinum blonde hair reddened and matted by blood, her mutilated, slashed body, and the blood-spattered ground.

            “Even the windows were covered in blood.” He finished at last. His eyes started to water and it seemed as if he were about to cry.

            “Why would someone do that to her?” I asked, horrified.

            “Someone wanted to get back at me. Ice was my closest friend at the time, and I suppose they decided that this was the perfect way for me to taste blood.”

            “Do you know who did it?” I then asked, the idea of vengeance imbedded in my mind.

            “No. All I know is that it was the type of person who was very theatrical. She stuffed a diary page into Ice’s pocket. The diary page was…..disturbing. It’s not something you would want to hear, but I know that if we rejoin the cult, there’s a great possibility of finding out who did this and taking revenge. All we would need to do is find out who keeps a journal or a diary and finding the most theatrical of the bunch.” One of the reasons why I always liked Zombie is that we were always on the same page. I thought revenge and he thought revenge.

            “It sounds like a plan.” I stated simply.

Zombie then nodded. I saw the color start to refill his face. He said, in a much lighter mood, “Nonetheless, there’s lunch on the stove and I believe that somebody is hungry.”

I smiled, then told him, “Thanks, but I’m not actually all that hungry.”

He returned the smile as he replied, “I said somebody is hungry. Maybe you aren’t, but I happen to be starving.”

I think that we both suddenly realized how far we had walked. We were already halfway across town, in the market district.

            Zombie stopped for a moment in front of a fruit stand. He turned to me while pulling out some money, “Would you like an apple? I’m going to get one.”

            “Yes, I suppose I do seem to have a bit of an appetite growing.” I replied, extremely relieved that the subject had changed from the tragedies that occurred after I left.

            Zombie paid for the apples and handed one to me. I looked at it for a moment. It was a happy green and it shined in the sunlight. I took a bite out of it, savoring both the taste and the delicious crunch sound it made.

            “So,” I started, still chewing on a chunk of apple, “Has anything good occurred since I left?”

            Zombie chuckled, “That was about five years ago, Jade. So, some good things are bound to have occurred.”

            “Those good things being….?” I prodded, my mouth still full, as I had just taken another bite of an apple.

            “Well, I was accepted into the guild of magic.”

            “Really? What branch?”

            “Destructive magic,” He replied simply.

            “Huh. Destructive magic? So, you wouldn’t mind showing me some tricks, right?” I said, honestly wanting to see what he could do.

            “I don’t think so…” He said slowly, “Guild rules, you know….”

            “Right…..damn guild rules.”

            We continued chatting happily until we wandered our way back into Zombie’s house.

            “Would you like to come in, then?” Zombie asked in a mock polite manner.

            I smiled and walked through the door. When I went into his house, I looked around and saw very little. There were absolutely no decorative items, just a kitchen table, a fireplace, a few chairs, a cupboard, one shelf, and a coat rack.

            “I haven’t really bothered to make the place look nice since the fire, so sorry about that,” Zombie apologized, then said, “Why don’t you go sit down at the table. I’ll bring the soup.”

            He lifted the soup onto the table, set down two bowls and spoons, and served a simple-looking soup. It seemingly consisted of broth, carrots, celery, and chicken.

            I lifted a spoon up to my mouth and took my first slurp of soup. It was extremely hot. I spit it out, causing spittle and soup to cover the front of my vest.

            “Oh dear,” Zombie joked, “it can’t really be that bad.”

            He got up to fruitlessly attempt to dry my vest with a towel that was on table.

            “You probably don’t want to stay in that vest. I have a dress that you can change into. It’ll probably fit you.”

            Curiosity overwhelmed me and I found myself sputtering, “Why do you have a dress?”

            Zombie replied with a disturbing lack of emotion, “It was my wife’s.”

            “You were married?” I inquired

            “Yes.”

            “Where’s your wife?” I asked

            “She died in the fire.”

            I was speechless, but Zombie saved me from not knowing what to say by quickly saying, “Let me get the dress.”

            He started towards the closet and pulled out a magnificent floor-length green dress with lace on the edges. “Here. You can try it on upstairs.”

            I hadn’t noticed the upper level. I started up the stairs and I noticed that Zombie’s house was so vapid and lacking of decoration that it was depressing. I took off my rough clothes and replaced them with the elegant dress that Zombie handed me.

            When I walked downstairs, I saw that Zombie looked rather sad, but he smiled when he saw me. I couldn’t tell whether it was a fake smile or not.

            I sat back down at the table and ate the soup that Zombie had made, making sure to cool each bite before putting it in my mouth.

            “So, do you think the cult will accept us again?” I asked as I poured a spoonful of soup into my mouth.

            “Well, they seemed to be so distraught after I left that I don’t see how they couldn’t.”

            “Well, I think it’s very possible that, rather than missing you, they saw your leave as an insult and, due to that, they would be reluctant to let you back in.” I countered

            Zombie pondered that for a moment, and then parted his lips to say, “You have a point. And, even if they did let me in, it would be unlikely that they would let me into their lives enough for me to have a chance of finding out who the theatrical diary-keeper is.”

            “Maybe you should use a disguise and an alternate persona,” I suggested simply

            “That’s a good idea, but I’m sure they’ll see through it,” Zombie responded

            I then said, “Nonsense, that was five years ago. I’m sure they wouldn’t even remember you.”

            “Well, I suppose we could give it a shot. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?”

            I replied, smiling darkly, “You’d be killed, slashed, beheaded, and hung from someone’s roof.”

            “Well, it’s worth a shot, regardless.” Zombie concluded.

            We continued eating the soup in silence. When I was done, I set my bowl near Zombie’s sink.
            “By the way, I hear you’ve become a bit of a celebrity over in that one town, whatever its name is. Murder, was it?” Zombie said

            The fact that Zombie brought this up sent my eyes rolling. “It was self-defense, Zombie.”

            “Oh, I know.” Zombie replied happily, “It’s just funny is all.”

            “Do you know what else is funny?” I asked with a cruel grin

            “What?” Zombie replied nervously

            “The look of your new identity,” I replied happily, grabbing a knife from his kitchen.