Urja C. 601
e
A piercing scream, laughter, and then everything was silent.
It was night, and the moon shone above, reflecting its crystal light onto the gently rippling waters of the ocean below. Trees hovered above the ocean like statues, stock-still and silent. The ground was carpeted in a flurry of fresh, white, powdery snow.
A mysterious figure crept out of an arched doorway. Her hair, a silvery blonde, glistened in the moonlight. Her pale skin stood out in the prominent darkness, yet she somehow managed to blend in perfectly with the shadows of the dark. She crept along, taking short, frightful breaths.
The strangest thing about her was her eyes. They were white, with no pupil or irises. She walked with a blurry and unfocused look, as if she were some kind of zombie. She turned right at a dark alleyway, and began holding up her hands, as if beginning the casting of some kind of spell.
"Ah kum ih xu nay."
She spoke those exact words with eerie calmness. Nothing seems to happen. She groaned, and delicately flipped her hair.
"AH KUM IH XU NAY!"
Two bright, glowing orbs positioned their selves in front of her. She seemed content, and reached towards them. She promptly vanished.
Thirteen miles away, a girl named Sarah woke up with a start.
"Kate. Wake up."
Sarah Allison positioned herself at the foot of Kate's bed, and tried again.
"KATHERINE DARKING SANDER. WAKE UP NOW."
Zzzzzzz….
Sarah huffed. "Fine then." She was just going to have to use the most convenient method.
"OH MY GOD, IS THAT JOANNE ROWLING?"
Kate bolted up with a start. "Say what?"
She raced over to the window. Sarah giggled. Kate was so gullible. She couldn't believe she had fallen for it, like really.
Kate slowly turned around.
"….Sarah."
Sarah gulped.
"Please don't kill me."
Katherine Sander had pale platinum blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and impeccably pale skin. She was tall and slender, and lots of people were jealous of her. Too bad that if anyone even tried to strike up a polite conversation, she would glare at them with all her might. She had a dark personality, and was obsessed with certain popular TV shows and movies.
Sarah Allison had chocolate brown hair, and mud brown eyes that were usually up in two side ponytails. She had tan skin, and light freckles dotted her cheek. She was the one who would usually strike up a conversation. She was light and peppy, and was obsessed with vampires. She was a school cheerleader.
They were both best friends.
Many a times, a conversation would strike up between them. This was how it usually went:
"Hey, Kate! Tomorrow's my birthday!"
"So?"
"Last time, you gave me a dead bird for my birthday."
"To remind you that we all end up dying and suffering beyond death so we all should enjoy our birthdays while we have them."
"…."
"What? I found it thoughtful."
The year was 2114 in London, England. It was Sarah's fourteenth birthday. Kate was eleven and a half months older than her. The day was March 7th. The only guests present were Kate, Sarah, and her parents.
The glorious party was interrupted by a scream. Sarah gasped and knocked over her candle, smashing Edward the vampire's eye on her cake. (Kate secretly though good riddance. She hated him.) Her mother and father rushed to the window, gasped, and promptly fainted.
Sarah and Kate exchanged looks. Uh oh, this couldn't be good. Kate ran to the window to see what was, and she froze. Her skin turned even paler than usual.
"What is it, Kate? You're blocking the view, so I can't…"
The next word Kate said made Sarah scream in terror and fall to the ground. This was not good. Not good at all.
Z-z-z-zombies.
"Sarah, are you mad? We have to run! Now!"
Sarah pushed herself up from the floor. "Yes, sir!"
When Kate meant run, she meant it. They both sprinted across the field surrounding Sarah's home. Kate leapt over every stone and rock with surprising ease, while Sarah huffed and puffed along behind her.
"I….can't….breathe!" Panted Sarah.
"You IDIOT!" Yelled Kate. "Do you want to get devoured by zombies?"
That promptly shut Sarah up, and she kept on running.
They reached a hill. There were no sign of zombies anywhere, so they stopped to take a short break. Or rather, Sarah collapsed on the ground and Kate started jogging in one spot, looking annoyed, and frightened at the same time...
"What in the name of Merlin's army was that?"
Sarah shook her head, frightened. "I don't know! Oh, I hope my parents are okay!" Tears started trickling down her cheeks. "I know they will be, but still…"
"We have to solve this. Zombies will literally eat our brains. I, for one..." Kate sighed and sat down, instead of pacing back and forth. "Do not want to have my brain eaten. Or any part of me eaten, now that I think about it."
Kate continued talking. "Now, let's see. Who on this world would benefit from having an army of zombies?"
"Dartald Truder." Sarah muttered very, very quietly.
Kate turned around. "What was that?"
"Nothing."
She shrugged. "Anyway. We need to figure out who did this, and stop it. Any ideas, Allison? I have NO IDEA AND I AM FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW WE ARE ABOUT TO GET DEVOURED BY ZOMBIES HELP!"
Sarah had never seen Kate call her by her last name, or go into a panic attack. Kate was more of the relaxed, cool type. She didn't care about anything and took control of the situation.
Suddenly, there was a bash of footsteps behind them. Kate sprang out, alert, and picked up a branch from a tree, and wielded it as a sword.
"You! Come out! I can hear you!"
A teenage boy rose from the bush. Sarah slightly relaxed but Kate didn't. Instead, she looked even more infuriated.
"Were you spying on us?"
The boy rose his hand in mock surrender. He had messy black hair, olive skin, and wore rectangular glasses. His violet eyes were the most distinct thing about his appearance. He had a friendly, jokester look. He looked familiar, although Sarah couldn't quite place it. "Have I met you before?" Sarah asked, curiously.
"One, yes you have. I'm not telling you where. Two, oh blonde one, put down the stick. I'm not here to hurt you. In fact, I am here to help you. Three, my name's Ernie, nice to meet you."
"Sarah!" Sarah said. She pointed to Kate. "And that's Katherine."
"It's Kate."
"Drop the stick."
Kate grumbled but obliged, though she still looked rather wary of Ernie and was watching his every movement. "What do you mean, you can help us?" She asked, glaring at him.
"I know how we can vaporize the zombies."
Instant silence.
"Wait—what?" Sarah asked, unable to believe her luck.
Ernie nodded, smiling.
Kate however, wasn't smiling. "SARAH. Wake up into reality, woman. A boy who we've just met comes up to us, and conveniently says he has the one thing that makes our plot go along…That only happens in the movies, hon. In real life, we don't have plot devices, and you cannot trust anybody."
Ernie ignored Kate and went on. "You know the mystic arches over there? There's a secret pathway that leads down to the organization of the U.N.D.E.A.D, or Unfinished Note of the Deceased and Everlasting, and the A D is just there to make it sound and look cool. But there are tricks. Only people with a heart as pure as snow can open the door that leads to the room."
Kate watched the boy's eye movement. He didn't seem to be looking at Sarah like she instinctively did. Instead, he was looking at….
Her?
"Oh no, my heart isn't pure at all. In fact, it's as black as coal. Sarah's the one that's pure." She looked at Sarah. "Right?"
"R – Right."
The boy smiled. "Sure." And then his smile evaporated. "But here's the hard part. The only way both the zombies and the leader can be vanished is by a human sacrifice."
Kate went silent. After a while, she spoke up.
"Well, we know which option's out. Thanks for your help, go way now. Bye!"
"Kate!" Sarah scolded. "Don't be so rude!" She turned and smiled at Ernie. "Is there any other way?" Sarah knew there wasn't. But still…
He shook his head sadly.
"Why don't we just go there, and then we'll figure out what to do?"
He eagerly nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He turned to Kate. "You ready?"
"For death? Boy, I sure am."
The mystic arches were located on the base of the misty mountains that surrounded London in that day. They were beautiful. Tall and grey, but when the might came, it appeared violet. It always had a bit of mist hanging around on the top, so you couldn't see its peak. The arch was a cave that looked golden. It was located on the base of the mountain.
After reaching there, Kate examined the land and smirked. "Where's your precious secret entrance, huh boy?"
Ernie smiled. He stepped on a patch of grass, and muttered a few words. They sounded like Ah kum- something zu day.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them slid open, revealing a vast set of tunnels. The boy spoke a few more of the same words, and one of the tunnels lit up in pale pink light.
"Seriously? Seriously? Is this some kind of cliché book series or something?" Kate complained.
Ernie only smiled mysteriously, and led them through.
"So Mr. Dude, you can do magic?" Kate asked.
Behind her, Sarah froze. No, it couldn't be.
Ernie nodded, and Sarah let out a very audible gasp. "YOU!" Sarah yelled, scrambling backwards. "You're…the…"
Kate looked perplexed. "Sarah, I thought you didn't know him?"
"Neither did I." Sarah muttered. She backed as far away from Ernie as possible. She noticed Kate staring at her, and then relaxed. "I don't know him." She lied.
"But I know what he is." She muttered, incredibly quietly so nobody would hear.
The only thing is, Kate did.
A light pink door stood in front of the trio, blocking their way to the supposedly 'secret' chamber Ernie had told them of. It was shimmering slightly, as if there were some kind of unseen force that they didn't know about.
"The Doorway of the Pure."
Kate looked at Sarah. "Go on, then!"
"Me?" Sarah looked nervous, and her eyes darted around. "I – I don't know. Maybe you should try it."
"Um, hello? Pure heart? I fantasize about gore every day. Yeah, not gonna happen." Kate said.
"Just try. PLEASE." Sarah was practically begging now. Kate sighed and went to the door, and stuck her hand out.
The door opened.
"Huh? What? How?" Kate looked scared and confused. "But Sarah's the pure one..."
Evil laughter echoed in the distance. Kate snapped up. "Let's not waste any time." She went into the room, and the other's followed suit.
It was fairly simply. It was circular and made out of wood, with a green button in the middle. The button that would wipe out the zombies.
Suddenly, Kate found a hand clamped on her mouth, and everything went black.
Kate woke up and saw brown.
She was still in that same wooden room. She blinked groggily, trying to remember why she was present here, and then she remembered.
"Sarah?" She called out hesitantly. "Sarah?"
"Hello, Kate."
"Oh, thank god. Everything went black for a second, and then I don't remember anything." Kate tried to get up, but she discovered that her hands and feet were tied. "Untie me, what are you waiting for, an invitation?"
"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Kate."
"What? Why not? Is this rope magic or something?"
"Because if you get out, then you'll ruin the secret." Sarah smiled mysteriously. "And that cannot happen."
Kate was getting annoyed. "Could you be any vaguer? What secret?"
Sarah let out a mirthless laugh.
"I was the one who started the zombies."
There was silence in the room. Suddenly, Sarah began to change. Her hair lengthened and became lighter, her skin turned paler, and she grew taller. She looked like a replica of Kate, except for…
The eyes.
They were blank.
Sarah opened her mouth but instead of her sweet voice, a man's voice echoed back.
"Dartald Truder, pleased to meet an acquaintance. Your friend has been temporarily possessed by a spirit. Side effects may include: the fact that Sarah wasn't really Sarah for the past couple of days, the fact your friend lied to you, and the fact that you must die now."
Kate froze. "Sarah. No. I – I refuse to believe this. This is NOT TRUE!"
Dartald watched with an amused smile. "Want proof?"
"N – No."
"Good." He spoke some weird words.
"Ah kum irk nix fah."
The room began to shake. Zombies appeared inside, and they walked straight over to Kate. She struggled, but no prevail. A particularly vicious looking zombie was only two feet away from her.
Dartald smirked. "Goodbye, Katherine."
Kate closed her eyes and waited for the impact.
It never came.
Shaking, she opened her eyes, only to find the room light up in a brilliant gold. Dartald was watching her mouth agape. She looked straight in front of her.
The zombies were dead. The undead were literally dead. No wait, they were moving. They were just unconscious.
"H – How – "Dartald began.
And then Kate understood.
"I've been pure all along."
"What-"
Kate calmly walked over, and reached Dartald's arm. She touched it. Dartald screamed, and his body enveloped into some pure white light. He vanished, and an unconscious form of Sarah took the place.
E
"So, it was all my fault."
Sarah stared bitterly at the ground. "The zombies are not dead. You almost died. And it was all my fault."
"Sarah, you were possessed." Ernie whispered.
"Kate, you were so brave." Sarah looked up, her eyes sparkling. "And I think I know how to get rid of the zombies."
"Sarah?" Kate asked uncertainly.
Sarah began to stride towards the big green button in the center. The one that would kill all the zombies, but required a human sacrifice.
And Kate understood.
"SARAH, IF YOU DARE – "
"I want to be as brave as you, Kate."
And she pressed the button.
T H E
E N D
