Where am I?

Those were my first thoughts as someone prodded my forehead. Curious, and a little annoyed, I opened my eyes to see a young man in a blue cloak kneeling beside me. He froze, fingers still touching my forehead as I raised my eyebrows. "What...are you doing?" I whispered, my voice weak. Instead of answering he just kept staring. "Could you...actually answer a question?"

"You're...able to speak?" He asked, finally removing his fingers and I sighed.

"Of course I can speak. I have a mouth and...wait aren't I supposed to be dead?" I told him, sitting and he nodded. Now close enough to see his face I grinned. "You're Jace, right? The one who talked to me in my head?" I asked, tapping my forehead and he gave me a tiny smile.

"Yes that would be me. But I don't understand...most undead cannot speak." Jace replied and I frowned, eyes on his. It wasn't until I looked down at myself that I realized just why he had called me that. My skin had changed in the time since I'd been impaled, dried blood coating my green dress the only bright thing against the sickly green of my skin. "You're a zombie not a human now." He added, jarring me out of my dark thoughts.

"Don't call me that! I'm Ailis, a human not a zombie." I snapped, arms crossed against my chest and he sighed. Rising to his feet he dusted off his cloak, not meeting my eyes. "Look this is all pretty scary and I didn't mean to snap. Just tell me what happened."

"You were dead in a pool of your own blood. I brought you back as a zombie." Lilliana answered for Jace, walking towards me and I growled. "Did you brain rot like your body?"

"Stop calling me that!" I shouted, leaping to my feet with my teeth bared. I was all set to advance towards Lilliana when she raised a hand and I screamed as black tendils of energy threw me hard into the wall. I ended up sprawled on the floor, whimpering at the pain radiating from my legs.

"You were obey me or I will tear you limb from limb, servant." Lilliana ordered, raising her hand towards me as I whimpered. Seeing my shoulders shake, Jace turned to Lilliana.

"Ailis has been through enough. Leave her be, Lilliana." Jace asked and Lilliana turned her attention to the young man standing between me and the necromancer. After a long pause her hands stopped glowing and with a brief glance at me, her lips curled into a smirk, Lilliana left the room. Moving to my side, Jace offered his hand only to have it knocked away.

"Don't touch me! She's the one who changed me into this...freak! And you helped her." I hissed, clutching a bloody right hand against my chest. Jace barely even looked at me before he left the room in the same direction as Lilliana, leaving me alone to try and understand if dying would have been better than being turned into one of the living dead. Stumbling into a corner I started to cry, frightened by the sudden realization that I was no longer part of the living world.

I stayed there for what seemed like an eternity until I heard footsteps and I looked up to see Jace again, his eyes looking directly at my face. "You are shaking." He pointed out and I growled as he moved closer, something drapped over his arm.

"Leave me alone. Or better yet...kill me. Finish what that sword started." I whispered but he ignored me, instead before something soft landed on my shoulders. "What are you doing?" I asked, slightly confused as he wrapped a cloak around my shoulders.

"Keeping you warm. You're not a zombie, they don't feel pain or cold. So what exactly are you?" Jace asked as I adjusted the cloak until it covered me completely. I didn't move as he studied me, unable to believe what his friend had done to me. "Ailis?"

"I...don't want to stay like this. I wanted to live but this...this isn't life. I'm trapped between death and life." I whispered and he stared at me, dark eyes locked onto mine. Unable to bear his gaze I turned my head, tears already welling. "I hate being a freak."

"That's what they called me, a long time ago." Jace whispered and I looked back at him, my eyes wet with tears. "You are not a freak just...unusual."

"I...guess I am." I whispered, leaning against the wall behind me. I closed my eyes, not even sure if I could sleep but as it turns out I could.

By the time I stirred Jace had already left and I sniffed, feeling very much alone.

I don't care what he thinks I am a freak, an abomination that shouldn't even exist...I do care what he thinks but I hate that Lilliana. She turned me into this...thing. Maybe she can fix what she did.

I struggled to my feet, feeling a little better before I headed towards the doorway. I had just moved through it when I saw someone with their back towards me and I smiled, hurrying towards them.

Maybe they know where Lilliana is.

"Excuse me could you tell me where Lilliana is?" I called out but they didn't respond and I sighed, reaching up to tap their shoulder. "Hello?"

I almost leapt out of my skin as a zombie turned its head, half its face rotted and the other with the bone exposed. I cried out as what used to be a young man took a stambling step towards me, one arm dangling at its side while the other reached for me just as someone giggled. To my disbelief, Lilliana appeared arms crossed and with a tiny smile on her lips as the zombie took another step. "Looks like you've made a new friend. It's nice to meet another of your own kind isn't it?" She commented as the zombie let out a mournful wail, stopping once it noticed I wasn't a living person.

"Stop calling me that word!" I roared, shocking myself and the zombie who tilted its head to one side. "I'm a freak because you made me this way! You're going to fix this!"

"And why should I do that?" Lilliana asked, staring directly into my eyes. "Besides you wanted to live. I gave you your wish."

"Not to live like this, a monster that feels like a human but isn't." I snapped and her eyes narrowed, the markings on her body glowing with a faint light. Afraid I took a step back as she advanced on me and just as she reached a hand out, her power making it glow, someone yelled.

"Stop!" Jace shouted and she sighed, still looking at me. "Lilliana, why torment her further? Ailis, come with me." He added, not even reacting when Lilliana glared at him. He reached my side and without flinching too my hand in his, not caring about the dried blood still staining it.

Lightly tugging on my hand he led me into a room far from Lilliana and that zombie. Releasing my hand he gently closed the door. Jace then motioned me towards a pair of oak chairs and I headed over to them. I sat in the one facing the doorway as Jace took the other, sitting before he took my hand again.

"She won't fix this, will she?" I whispered and he blinked, taking his eyes from my bloodied hand. "Lilliana can't can she?"

"Lilliana is powerful if a little...misguided. She made you one of the undead to act as her servant not knowing this would happen. Instead of changing you into a mindless servant you regained your mind at the cost of becoming something...different." Jace explained, his eyes still on my hand.

"So what you're staying is...I'm stuck like this forever?" I asked and he paused, turning my hand over for a moment. "I can't believe she made me like this on purpose."

"She didn't. Raising the dead takes a powerful necromancer and even then most undead are mindless only obeying their master. But before she became a necromancer, Lilliana was a powerful healer. Maybe that has something to do with why you're this way." Jace finished, giving me a faint smile when I grinned. "It's never happened before so there might not be a cure for this."

"If there's a chance I'll take it. I...never got to thank you for saving my life. Sort of anyway." I told him, wondering if I could blush when his smile grew. It didn't help that he still had his hand on mine.

Wonder if he realizes it?

Of course then he placed my hand on my lap and I sighed at the loss of warm. Immediately I shivered and he reached over my shoulder, pulling the cloak over my pale form. "You are welcome. We should start looking for an answer soon." Jace suggested and I nodded.

We went for a walk through the hallway and once we happened open a large door, twice the size of the previous ones, Jace opened it. That's when I knew just what Jace's plan was and I sighed, knowing I was in for a long wait for a cure.