Chapter 1: Take Me From the Hospital Bed
Beep...beep...beep...beeeeeeep...
'Wha?' I opened my eyes, feeling groggy, touching my hand to my head. My head spun, sending the world around me in circles. Where the hell was I? This certainly wasn't my hospital room... I sat up, still holding my head, to get a better look around me. What the...?
A series of demolished and dilapidated skyscrapers and apartments surrounded me. Everything was clouded as a heavy snow fell, obscuring my vision. Wait...was it snow? I reached out and let my hand take some of this weird stuff. After a minute, I brought my hand in and stared, rubbing my fingers together. It wasn't snow... This was ash. Alarm began to set in as I looked around. Was I near some gigantic fire? And if so, was it coming near me?
The ash continued as I rose to my feet, brushing myself off. Oddly enough, I was still in my hospital gown. Just what the hell was going on here and where was I?
"So, we've got a newbie... Great, just what we need. Another no-know-it-all."
I spun, sending my head spinning again. There was no one there... Was I dreaming? Or worse yet, had I finally gone crazy?
"Hey, dipshit. Over here." I spun again, my head finally clearing. A boy no older than me stood a few feet away. I stared, a bit shocked. The kid's face was totally white, with black smudges around his eyes. He wore an all-black suit with silver lining. But it looked as though he'd walked through a war zone. His suit was ripped and tattered, only adding on to the haunted look of his eyes.
"Who are you?" I asked, out of curiosity and worry. Maybe I could help him, whatever his problem. Or maybe he could help me.
"Name's not important. What's important is that you get away from here real quick. Otherwise, she will come for you. And if that happens, you won't have a chance."
"Um...okay..." I eyed him up, more than a little worried now. Maybe I wasn't the one who was crazy; maybe this kid was. "Who's she?"
"No one dares say her name. But for now, I guess you can call me Dante." He stuck out his hand and I shook it. He was cold as death. "C'mon, let's get out of here. It'll be dark soon."
I mentally tried pinching myself. I tried mentally kicking myself when that didn't work. Still nothing. My head was starting to hurt again, but oddly enough, I only felt as though it was there. I felt...detached from the pain, I guess is the right word.
"Dante?" I asked as we walked down the street.
"Hm?"
"Um...where am I? And why can't I remember anything before I woke up?" Dante stopped so suddenly I ran into him. He stepped back and peered at me, an odd look in those dark eyes.
"You haven't figured it out yet?"
I stayed silent, thinking it over. I remembered laying in the hospital bed, the dying flowers on the stand next to me. I remembered the nurses looking me over, their faces pulled into tight-lipped masks of sorrow and pity. And I remembered the doctor coming in, talking to them. But I'd been silent during that time. I had been so weak... I wasn't able to speak; I barely had any strength left... And then I was here.
"Oh my God... I'm...?" Dante nodded, looking at me as though I was the stupidest person he'd ever met.
"That's right. You're dead." He crossed his arms, glancing around as he did so.
"I'm... I'm..." The words just wouldn't sink in. I couldn't be dead... could I? No! Impossible! I'd been lying in bed not too long ago. I had just shut my eyes and...and... Your heart stopped, stupid. You shut your eyes and you died. "But...what–?"
"No more questions. We need to move. Now." Dante grabbed my hand and started running. I followed him, glancing at the sky as he raced down the street. The ash continued to fall and I could smell something...burning, I guess was right. It was an odd smell. At that moment, I realized I didn't have any shoes on. Great! Just great! I'm stuck...dead...somewhere and I didn't even get to wear my favorite Nikes?
Dante led me farther and farther into the wreckage. Some of it was so bad he had to slow down and wait for me to climb over or under and a piece of debris. Some of the metal was so tangled, I got stuck countless times. Somehow Dante made it through without so much as a scratch. I heard a far-off whistling sound and Dante appeared to grow impatient.
"Move your ass!! Now!!" he practically screamed at me. I managed to crawl out from under a bent bar of metal just as an impact thudded and shook the earth around us. A cloud of dust and fire appeared about a mile down the road.
"What the hell was that!" I yelled at his back as he led me down an alley. The impact died away and silence reigned once more. As we raced down the street (just how far did this street stretch?) I caught sight of scared, deathly-white faces in windows and doorways.
"Never mind for now!" Dante suddenly veered into another street towards a building. I slid to a stop, a bit surprised.
An ancient, ash-dusted tavern loomed ahead of me, an old sign creaking on a broken chain from its pole. I saw several faces appear in the windows as Dante rushed to the door, but they disappeared as he turned to look back at me.
"Get over here, dumb ass! God, do I have to lead you everywhere like a puppy?" he barked at me.
I felt a numbness start to spread over me and I started shivering. I saw Dante's eyes grow larger as he raced towards me, cutting through the icy feeling spreading through me. I couldn't speak as he tugged me free of the icy hold and hauled me towards the building. As he pulled me along, I could've sworn I heard distant music.
Dante flung open the door and yanked me in, slamming it shut behind him. He looked at me oddly as I looked around.
The building was bigger than I'd first taken it to be. We were standing on a little platform with a few stairs that led to a wide floor filled with tables. Half-melted candles rested on the tables, one for each. They made the room look morbid, like something you'd see at a funeral home. Dark red curtains hung from the windows. They also hung in a semicircle around a large stage near the back. The lights above the stage were off, but the stage still seemed to be lit by some other means. Several people hung about the tables, heads bent low over their drinks, or if they didn't have one, they just sat there, as though expecting something to happen.
"Dante? Where are we?" I stepped down the stairs, looking around closely. One man, this one's eyes sunk deep into his skull, checked me out, but looked away. It was very creepy.
Dante eyed the door before turning back to me. "Wolf's Head Tavern." He stepped down by me and peered at me. "You thirsty?"
As he said it, I suddenly felt as though I'd gone days without water. I nodded, my mouth dry. He walked away without another word. I glanced around and sat down at the nearest table, putting my head in my hands.
Being dead was going to take some getting used to. But I thought you went to Heaven or Hell when you died? If I really was dead, where was I, then? This certainly couldn't be Heaven, but it didn't look like Hell either. Frustrated, I thumped my head off the polished wood. I felt like screaming. I wanted to know where I was, I wanted to know how this had happened, and I wanted to know what was going on.
"Hey, chief." My head still on the edge of the wood, I felt rather than saw Dante put my glass down in front of me. "Hey, man, you okay? It's not so bad once you're here for a while." I tried to tune him out. Distantly, I heard the band strike up a song and lifted my head to see. The lighting made it hard when you first looked, but once you got over the first shock...well...
The band was made up of five members, all dressed in black suits lined with old-looking...silver? Gold? I looked at Dante's suit, then to the rest of the men in the tavern. They all wore the same thing, but the band members' suits looked new compared to the torn, ragged ones the quiet ones wore.
"Who's that?" I asked. Dante looked up towards the stage, then looked back at me. A smile flickered at the edge of his lips.
"The most popular band this tavern knows. They play for free, but it's good listening. As a matter of fact..." He grabbed my hand again and pulled me towards the stage, the music steadily growing louder in my ears. He abruptly gave me a good shove and I crashed into a table, taking whatever had been on top with me. Stars blinked into view as my head connected with the polished wooden floor and darkness engulfed me.
I I I
"...Dante?" I groaned, slowly sitting up, holding my head once again. This was getting old real fast... I blinked, clearing my head. I was sitting in an empty hall. Had I died...again, somehow? The only light source seemed to come from an old oil lamp set into the wall, creating distorted shadows down the long hallway.
At first I'd felt nothing, but as I peered down the dark hallway, fear stabbed at my heart. I knew there was something down there... I could sense something moving down there, a presence that defied death in every way. In a sense, it felt like the thing down the hall was death. ...Was that even possible? To give death a solid form rather than make it a presence? I didn't know and I didn't want to find out.
A faint sound came from down the hall and I could control my fear no longer. I turned and charged in the opposite direction, away from that malevolent presence.
My thoughts were jumbled as I fled down the narrow hallway, and it took me a few seconds to realize I wasn't moving. I was running, but I wasn't going anywhere. That, or this hallway never ended. But that was crazy! Every hallway had an ending.
In the other direction, I could hear that thing moving. And now I knew it'd seen me, had smelled me, was now after me! And that set my heart racing even harder. I wanted away from this thing NOW, whatever it was.
I nearly fell as I suddenly raced down the hall, now seeing the old wallpaper racing by me. I was finally moving; maybe the thing behind me had released me from its hold, realizing I was more troublesome than it'd expected.
Insanely, blood started running from the ceiling cracks to the floor as I raced away from that presence. My mind couldn't accept it; it was like some cheap stunt from a horror movie. But I heard some distinct line in my head, faint music behind it: And as the blood runs down the walls, you see me creeping up these halls. I've been a bad motherfucker... And just when my heart couldn't take anymore, I heard a bone-chilling snarl from somewhere behind me.
"Get away from me! I've done nothing!!" I screamed back at the thing. It snarled again and this time I heard a galloping noise. Whatever was behind me had finally given chase! My mind told me not to, due to watching too many horror movies myself, but I glanced back over my shoulder.
A massive shaggy black wolf was right behind me, foam coating its muzzle as it thundered after me. As close as it was, it never overtook me, but it did reach out with a massive forepaw and tripped me.
I went flying and skidded across the wood, coming to rest against an old-fashioned door, an old-fashioned doorknob without a lock. I clonked my head against it, rubbing the sore spot and looked up. The wolf towered over me, its fur rippling. What I took to be shaggy fur now turned out to be another head as it rose up from deep in the fur. This one didn't look nearly as mean. Instead, it almost looked sweet compared to its twin. But its brother's head was a different story.
As the double-headed wolf stepped over me, I covered my head with my arms. Yeah, like a lot of good that'd do me... I felt spittle run over my arms and I screamed, closing my eyes...
"Hey! Hey, chief!!" I opened my eyes, my cheeks raging hot. Dante was slapping my cheeks, trying to wake me up.
"Stop, stop, I'm awake. Where the hell am I?" I rubbed my aching cheeks, grimacing in pain. He must've been slapping me for some time.
"Wolf's Head Tavern, remember?" Dante's eyes flickered towards the stage. It was empty.
"Where'd the band go?"
"They left an hour ago. You hit your head off the floor when you fell and you were yelling something about a giant wolf."
The wolf! It'd been a massive, terrifying thing! But now that I was awake, it just felt like a dream... Had the wolf really been in front of me? Couldn't have. I was already dead.
"Okay, now, Dante, please tell me. What the hell is going on?" I demanded, growing angry. I was dead, but I didn't have a clue what was happening to me. I wanted answers and I wanted them now!
Dante gave me a sad look. "Look, mate, your dead. It doesn't matter what happens to you here now." He started to turn away but I grabbed him by the black collar.
"Dante. What the fuck is going on?" I pulled him close, meaning business. The candles flickered violently and suddenly as another earth-shattering thump came from somewhere outside the building. This one sounded closer. Customers glanced up, but didn't look interested. It was as though they were used to these thuds.
"I...I can only tell you so much. The rest you have to find out on your own."
"That's fine with me, as long as I have an idea of what's going on." I slowly let go of him and he back away, trying to straighten his tattered jacket.
Another thump shook the whole building this time and dust sifted down from the ceiling. The dust snuffed out the candles and I heard people shouting in the dark. I ran blindly into things as a window shattered somewhere near me. I didn't bother trying to move. The window didn't let any light in; it must've been dark out.
"Watch where you're going, dumbass!"
"Hey, same to you, jerkwad!!"
More calls rang out through the tavern as I ran into a chair. I tripped over it and went down, once again hitting my head off of something hard. Luckily, this time, I didn't get knocked out. A loud crash came from beside me and I felt a candle roll by.
"Someone get the fucking lights!"
"What lights!"
"The spotlights, shithead!"
I stayed quiet, afraid I would alert the others with my presence. A few seconds later and the spotlights from on stage flashed around, lighting up the room. I looked around and thumped my fists on the floor, furious. Dante was gone.
Sighing in anger, I got to my feet. People were milling around, looking confused as they set the tables and chairs back up. As I'd thought, the window nearest the door had been shattered. Dante must've broken out when the dark had taken over. I huffed. Well, who needed him. I'd just find the answers myself. I took one last look at the crowd, picked up the rest of the chairs on my way out, and flung the door open. Ash continued to fall as I stepped out into the dreary gloom.