Chapter 10 - An Old Friend: Part 3

October 18^th - 29^th, 6:32 PM


Dictated by Fable, written by Alameda:


I have fallen and twisted my ankle and sprained my wrist. Because of this, Ally Kat has prepared the next chapter for you herself as a favor to me. I hope you enjoy it and hopefully it wont be too wretched I know that she will do a better job than me.

~*AK+F*~

It began when Konrad and I had gone to the graveyard to meet up with Ven and Carumati after visiting that... grim reaper kid. When Kon and I arrived on the scene, Ven came running up to us, his face pale.

“Ven! What’s wrong? You seem like you’ve seen a ghost,” Konrad spoke.

“Carumati is missing! I turned my back for one minute and she was gone.”

“What?” I exclaimed. It was at this moment that we heard a yell and a thunk from the other side of the graveyard. When we investigated, we saw Fable, who had tripped over a log, with a sprained wrist and a twisted ankle.

“I’m sorry! I meant to be quiet! Don’t kill me!” Fable spoke.

Konrad sighed. “Come on. There’s a witch doctor a little ways from here who’s pretty good. She’ll fix you up smart.”

“Witch doctor?” Ven asked, unnerved.

“What else would you expect in a place like this?” I inquired. By this time, I had gotten used to the strangeness of the town.

Ven thought for a moment and then nodded. “True.”

“But, if I’m at the doctor’s, who’s going to write about what you do?” Fable asked sadly.

“I’ll write it for you,” I offered.

“You will?” Konrad asked.

“Don’t sound so doubtful. I’ve written a few things before. Don’t worry, Fable. It’ll get done.”

“I don’t know if I should be happy or terrified,” Fable commented.

“Well, I wouldn’t push your luck, if I were you,” I threatened.

After we got Fable settled in at the witch doctor’s, we returned to the graveyard and began looking around for Carumati. The little genius was nowhere in sight, and we began searching the rest of the town, asking passersby for her whereabouts. As the darkness nestled into the air and the fog became thick, Ven and Konrad and I returned to the graveyard.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to go rent a hotel room for now,” Konrad announced.

“What are you saying? We can’t just leave Carumati by herself,” Ven exclaimed.

“Look, I want to find her as much as you do. But if we don’t get any sleep, we wont be in any shape to look for her in the morning. Besides, none of us can even see in this kind of darkness. She could be right in front of us, and we wouldn’t even know.”

“Maybe to you....” I spoke, barely above a whisper.

“Ally?”

I had been looking away from them, towards the forest by the graveyard, but now I turned to face them. “You seem to have forgotten my name. I’m called Ally Kat for a reason.” At this I switched from my golden “day eyes” to my blue and green “night eyes” which could see in the dark and ran off in the night, leaving those two behind. I knew it was reckless to leave my comrades and go off on my own, but it seemed something had suddenly come over me. Perhaps it was due to the thick fog, mixed with night air and a soft moonlight, but all my instincts had arisen to their peak. Right at that moment, I was a true hunter.

The woods were the only things that we hadn’t searched because they were so thick. I ran through the forest, always on the tips of my toes, sometimes in the trees searching high, and sometimes on the ground, sneaking low. I saw only more trees. I heard only the rustling of trees. I smelled only the dead leaves of the trees. I touched only the bark of trees. I tasted only the night air. I met no one. But still, I kept onward. Though all my senses seemed at a loss, I did not stop, until suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a white piece of paper flutter in the light breeze and float down to the ground at my feet. Picking it up, I read, “One goes missing and so will another. The other’s heart is all a flutter. Return once more to the place of the dead. Before I take the other’s head.” I stared in horror at this little note, not daring to think what it might mean. I was brought back to my senses by the howling of a wolf, and hurried, faster than before, back to the graveyard where I prayed that Ven and Konrad were waiting. With all my might, I sped through the woods, but no matter how fast I went, I could feel that time was creeping upon me, and I knew that I had lost myself in my desperate search. However frantic I became, running forward was all I could do. I only hoped that the trees would end soon.

How long this lasted, I had no idea. According to my pocket watch, I had been running nearly all night, though the trees and fog were so thick that it was the same, day or night. I soon found that one could not run forever, and I found myself falling unconscious out of exhaustion. Just before I lost it completely, I felt a strong arm grab me about the waist.

I awoke. A crackling sound filled my ears and the smell of fresh meat filled my nostrils. Sitting up, I found Konrad roasting a rabbit over a fire.

“Kon....”

“Never run off like that again, Ally.”

“Did those really have to be the first words out of your mouth, Kon?” I asked, slightly annoyed. I looked up at him and was taken aback when I saw the hurt and worry written all over Konrad’s face. I had never seen him look so scared before. “Sorry. It was just instinct for me to run off like that. I’m not used to having people who worry about me when I go by myself....” Konrad didn’t say anything. It didn’t seem like he was ignoring me. It was more that he was lost in thought. “Where’s Ven?” I asked, suddenly realizing he wasn’t there.

“I told him to wait at the graveyard in case you managed to find your way back,” Konrad answered.

“Then shouldn’t we be heading back over there?”

“And waste this perfectly good food?” Kon asked, looking up in shock.

I narrowed my eyes. “You... are truly evil, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know,” Konrad smiled up at her and gave a wink. “But I guess I get that date after all.”

At this I simply slapped him and stomped off in the direction I thought the graveyard was in. “Ah! I didn’t mean it Ally, come back! You don’t know if that’s the right way or not.” Konrad leaped up and grabbed my arm.

“Oh? So which is the right way, then?” I asked.

“Well, you see, Ally, due to the fact that I only found you because of pure instinct and because I actually have no sense of direction, I-”

“We’re lost.”

“Well... yeah.”

I sighed and sat back down at the campfire. “Guess it’s better than being lost all by yourself.”

Konrad laughed. “Yeah, that’s true. So, I guess this means that we get to have a date. A really long date, too!”

“You’re way too happy about this. I bet you’re not really lost. For all I know, you just planned this whole thing to get me here.”

“Why in the world would I do that?” Kon asked with a boyish grin.

“Whatever.”

The meal followed and we wandered around the rest of the day, stopping whenever we got hungry. I realized there was another way to tell when it was night and day in that forest without the use of a watch. As the day wore on and the night came upon us, it began to get cold. Konrad built a giant fire and we slept with our backs to each other for warmth and security. We went on like this, walking, eating, walking, eating, walking, sleeping, until several days had passed. Konrad constantly told jokes and funny stories to keep our spirits up, but after a while, it got old, and we only walked on in silence.

One night, as I was just about to drift off to sleep, I spotted in the distance, a black cat with glowing, electric blue eyes. A light breeze ruffled my hair, and I sat up straight, causing Konrad to fall back and wake up.

“Ally, what’s wrong?” he asked sleepily.

But I was frozen, unable to move a muscle. It was that cat. The same cat. I felt I knew that cat from somewhere. Somewhere deep in my memories. Unconsciously, I moved my hand forward towards it, but it turned around and began walking slowly forward. Almost unknowingly, I stood up and followed. I payed little attention to Konrad who was completely alarmed by the fact that I was following this strange feline.

We both ended up following the cat until it lead us right out of the woods and into the graveyard which had only been a couple of miles away from where we were camping. As we came out, the cat disappeared, and I spotted something laying on top of the grave where the girl and boy in the story had supposedly been buried.

“Wow. We actually got out. Ah, don’t worry about Ven. I told him that if I wasn’t back in a couple days, to go on back to the hotel and contact the authorities. He should be fine.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” I spoke, handing him the new note I had found on top of the grave.

“Huh?” Konrad read the note. It said, “The other’s been taken as well. Into the hole, the both of them fell. In the end, I will have all four. The ones who came upon my door.” Kon crumpled the note in his hand, and then suddenly grabbed my arm and half lead, half dragged me away from the graveyard. “You mustn’t be in a place like this,” he said. His face was filled with such fear that I didn’t even consider not going with him.

He lead me to the grim reaper’s house and knocked. “Death!” he called.

“Yes, Konrad?”

“Death. My friends. Please, tell me, are they still living?”

“I have not met with them. Their time has not yet come.”

“Then, could you take care of Alameda until I return?”

“Huh?” I spoke in surprise.

“Ally, you must stay here with him until I get back. This is an order. You must not leave this house.”

“Konrad, what are you thinking?”

“I’m going to get back Carumati and Ven.”

“No! I’m not going to let you go alone. I refuse to lose you, too.”

“Both of them are still alive. Death has confirmed that. Death will tell you if any one of us dies, so unless that happens, there’s no need to worry, right?”

“But Kon-!”

But my comrade had already gone out the door and left me behind with the grim reaper gripping my arm very tightly so that I couldn’t run after him.

“Come, Miss Kathrine. There is no need to worry. He will return. He is not one to take so lightly. You must trust him.”

“Konrad.... Fine. But if he doesn’t come back alive, I’ll kill him.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible. All beings only get one life on this earth.”

“Including a grim reaper?”

“Including a grim reaper. I live longer than humans, but one day I will die, and another will be created as a replacement.”

“So... when someone dies.... You escort their souls to Heaven or Hell, right? But don’t people die all the time? Shouldn’t you be going all over the place right now?”

“Ah, there are more than just me. I am in charge of this area here. There are others spread out all over the place. But most of them keep themselves invisible so as not to disturb anyone. But a grim reaper fits in well here. I can freely walk around without any worries.”

“I see. I don’t suppose you were the one to escort my mother and brother then, were you?”

The grim reaper looked at me with sad, understanding eyes. “I’m sorry. I cannot tell you anything of your mother or brother. Perhaps I can ask the other grim reapers about them....”

“No. It’s okay. I’m supposed to be figuring this out on my own anyway.” The two of us stood, looking out of the window together at the empty, foggy street.

Over the next several days, I obediently stayed inside the house. There was something about that cat that made me so afraid, I was almost glad that I didn’t have to go back to the graveyard. But as more days passed with no word from Konrad, I continued to get more and more anxious and worried. The pounding in my heart grew louder and harder, until I felt it would burst. Finally, on October 29^th I couldn’t take it any longer, and I reached for the door.

“Wait.”

“Death, I’m sorry, but I can’t just sit around anymore while my friends are in danger. Listen to my heart pounding. I shall die of worry if this goes on any longer. I was created a woman of action.”

“But my friend would not want you to go against his wishes, no matter what.”

“But!”

“But, if you come with me, tomorrow evening, to the Autumn Festival, we can check the graveyard together, with little risk of any harm befalling you.”

“Ah!”

“The festival begins at ten o’clock. Can you wait until then?”

I smiled. He truly was a very kind person, just as Konrad said. “I will wait until then.”