Memories
~Prologue~
There were screams of horror, agony, and fear. Gunshots filled the air, along with the thud of a new dead body. Finally, the world was coming to an end. And it was all caused by anarchy and a plague. The plague of insanity and paranoia. It started out small. No one took notice of it. But soon, the odd sickness was being spread around to certain people, until it all came down to this. No one was seeking help anymore. No one wanted to be near anyone else. The one who weren't infected with this tried to even stay away from each other, finding that they couldn't trust anyone either. In some way, everyone was infected. Except for four people.
The minutes turned into hours, and those hours turned into days. The gunshots soon died down, and now the remaining survivors fought in hand to hand combat. Echo sat in his tattered office, staring out the window. The once bright blue sky was now dead, only showing off a sickly red. The sun was no longer a bright star. It too was slowly dying.
"Such a shame," he sighed, his silver eyes casting over to look at three sleeping forms in his office. "I know they're not saints, but hell, they don't deserve this. Especially Risky. He's only a kid."
Slowly, Echo rose from his chair, walking over to the three who were huddled together. He bent down, shaking the oldest awake.
"Azrael. Please, wake from you slumber," he spoke softly, watching as said male started to slowly stir. "I must speak with you."
"Mmmm, what?" he groaned, now opening his red eyes. He allowed the soft words to sink in, before shot up. "What happened? Is everyone alright?!"
"Everyone is fine, Azrael," he assured the undead, who only sighed.
"Then what's the problem? Intruder?" he asked, only seeing the man shake his head.
"Come with me. I would rather speak without waking the others," With a nod, Azrael slowly got up, following Echo out of his office and into the hall.
"So, what's wrong?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Someone try to come in again? You're dying? What?"
"Truth be told, I'm not too fond of doing this," he started, sounding rather guilty and sad. "But it'll be the best for you guys. I have to leave for a while. At least-"
"Are you kidding me?!" Azrael seem to burn with hate and anger as he heard that Echo was planning on leaving. "You can't leave us! What if something happens to you?"
"Please, don't shout, Azrael," he replied calmly, looking back towards the office, seeing that the two remaining people weren't awaken by the man's sudden outburst. "It won't be bad. I'm going out the find a new place for us to take shelter. Maybe there we'll find more food and peace."
"Echo, it's insane out there!" Azrael hissed, his voice still seeping venom. "Those people will kill anything they see move! You wouldn't last out there! They have guns! What do you have? A sword! That's it!"
"Azrael, be quiet!" Echo warned, now glaring at the taller being, who towered over him. "Remember what I promised when I first met you guys, and you took me in?"
"No... I don't. In fact, I don't remember anything from that day..." he confessed, a bit sadden.
~Three Years Ago~
Echo sighed as he walked down the snowy street, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets. He felt so weak, but he had to keep moving. If not, he would freeze to death. Then again, wasn't that what was going to happen?
He whimpered slightly, finally deciding to take a brake and sit down, leaning against a tree. He felt himself slowly freeze, starting at his feet. He trembled, shivering violently as he sat there. He wrapped his arms around his body, breathing his hot breath onto his sleeves, trying anything to get some type of warmth.
"God, please hear me," he begged silently, looking up towards the gray sky. "Please, send an angel my way! I'm not ready to die tonight! Please! After all the years I went through in pain, please help me now!"
He prayed for so long. Minutes that faded into freezing hours. He just sat there, too weak to move. He continued to pray, hoping it would help. But as the seconds slowly ticked by, Echo found himself growing tired. His eyes dipped closed for a second, but he quickly reopened them, not wanting to fall into that dreadful slumber. He sighed, looking around himself. Well, this was it. He was going to die. And as he started to accept his fate, he allowed his silver eyes to slip close.
"Hey! Person! Wake up!" Echo groaned, slowly waking up. He was surprised to see himself now laying on a soft black couch, at least three or four blankets covering his body. He looked over at the owner of the voice, finding a woman standing there, looking at him with concerned eyes. "How ya feelin'? Warm enough?"
"Y-yes, ma'am," he replied, watching as she smiled at him. "Um... may I ask where I am? And what your name is?"
"Yeah! My name's Jennifer! And well, you're in out home," she explained, standing to full height and looking around.
"What do you mean, our? Are there others?" he asked, slowly sitting up.
"Yep! Four others! Azrael, Risky, Broken, and Spitz!" she told him. He nodded, before trying to take the blanket off, only to have his hand smacked.
"Hey!" she spoke, pushing him back down and covering him up once more. "You almost died out there! I'm not gonna let you take these blankets off just yet! When the storm clears up, then you can go home, deal?"
"I..." He laid there for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. "To be honest, I don't have a home anymore. I've been walking the streets for about a week now."
"Are you serious?!" She shook her head, turning her heels to leave the room. "Nope! A homeless in Russia won't do! Nope, nope, nope!"
Echo figured she was leaving to get one of the people she had spoken of to throw him out, since she didn't look too strong. He squeaked a bit in fear when three men entered the room behind Jennifer.
"Guys, this is the person I found!" she started, pointing at Echo. "He's homeless, so I want to take him in!"
"You mean... like adopt him?" One of them asked. He had bright blue eyes that stood out to Echo.
"Yep! So, what do you guys say? Can I keep him?" Jennifer asked, a hopeful smile on her face. Glances were cast at one another, before the three nodded, making the girl jump with joy. "Yay! Oh, yeah! Dude, these are the people I was talking about! Azrael, Broken, Risky, and Spitz!"
She pointed to each one. Echo was great with remembering eye color, so he went by that. Azrael had pure red eyes, showing no sign of white or black. Broken had toxic green eyes that seemed to glow. Risky had a blue left eye, and a red right eye. And Spitz. Well, he was the one with the blue eyes.
"It's nice to meet you all," Echo said with a smile. "I'm Echo."
"Well, welcome home, Echo," Broken spoke, returning the smile. "We're glad to have you in our family."
"Family..." he repeated, allowing the word to sink in. "Thank you so much. I promise, I'll forever be in your debt! I owe you all my life!"
~Present~
"I promised to give you all my life, and that's what I'll do," Echo finished, looking up at Azrael, though his silver eyes filled with sadness. "Though, I didn't keep my promise to Broken and Spitz..."
"It's okay," Azrael put a hand on his friend's shoulder, giving him a soft smile. "It's not your fault. Snipers suck. Trust me. I should know. Jennifer used to hide in the trees before this all happened, and would shoot at me!"
Hearing this made him smile, though it soon faded and shook his head.
"It's nice to have memories," he started, slowly walking back into the office and grabbing his trusty sword. "Better to die with good ones, than to have only bad ones. I thank you and the rest of Deathly Nights for the blissful memories, Azrael."
"Wait wait wait... who's dying?" The two men looked over, finding that Jennifer and Risky had now began to wake.
"What's going on?" Risky asked, yawning as he rubbed his eyes to rid the tiredness, Jennifer doing the same.
"I'm going out to find new shelter," Echo told them. As they heard this news, both were fully awake, and latched onto Echo's legs.
"Don't leave us!" Risky whined.
"You can't go! They'll kill you!" Jennifer added, looking up at him with saddening hazel eyes. "You promised you wouldn't leave, and would protect us!"
"If I don't go, then those survivors will be back, and they'll make sure to get you guys," he explained, prying them off. "I'm doing it for your safety."
"Then take us with you!" Risky demanded, glaring up at the man. Echo only shook his head.
"I can't. It'll be safer if you all just stay here and hide," he replied, giving each of them a hug. "I'll be back before you know it!"
The three all decided to cling to Echo one last time, before he bid them a farewell, and left. The chilly wind nipped at his face, but it couldn't bother him. This wasn't about what he wanted. This was about protecting his friends; protecting his family.