Disclaimer: Only thing in this story that's mine is the plot.
I haven't been to St. Johannis cemetery so please forgive me if there are flaws in its description.
Spikes of the Sun
Night had fallen on the silent cemetery of St. Johannis and not a sound could be heard. Slowly the beams of light traveled the paths between the graves and every now and then stopped. Across the street stood a car and if one had looked at it one might've thought it was only parked there and the owner was long gone. In that case one was wrong. Away from the sight of passers-by lurked two humans - a male and a female. For over an hour they had kept the cemetery under their watchful eyes and been making a plan.
"I still don't think this might be considered as a plan", the woman hissed to the man looking disgusted.
"What is the difference really?", he whispered back.
"The difference?"
"Between this and your job or hobby or whatever you call it"
"There's nothing same in it and this", she was beginning to be terribly annoyed.
"Ain't? How does it make it different if they've been buried a couple of months or thousands of years?"
She opened her mouth but shut it without saying a word. What could she really say? She hated to admit that he was right but she wasn't going to let him away with it so simply. There was a difference. If she saw it why couldn't he? The matter wasn't all black and white, nothing was, and she thought there shouldn't be such a way to look at it. In every matter there were shades of gray.
"There's a difference but you're too blind to see one" she snapped at him.
"I see no difference! They're both about disturbing someone's grave!"
"At least my 'hobby' doesn't include digging up someone's freshly buried corpse!"
He couldn't stand it anymore. She had gone on and on about how this what they were doing wasn't right. He knew it wasn't but at the moment their consciences were the least of their problems. He could name a few of them - Karel for starters and then those four guards on the cemetery. They had been watching the movements of the four people inside the walls of the graveyard and come to the conclusion that each of them had an area of their own to guard. As a last option Lara had suggested going for their weapons and sending the poor souls to the ones whose earthly remains they were watching over. Konstantin had been shocked of her suggestion but had realized soon that she'd been joking.
He didn't want to cause bodily harm to the guardians but was ready for it if the need came. In that case he'd refrain from killing them. Being a Lux Veritatis he had seen enough death to last him for a small eternity. He had heard the screams and last words filled with fear begging for mercy from someone who didn't have the ability to feel it. Their prayers were directed to something with a soul as cold as ice, something that couldn't care less. He released his safety belt and turned to look at the backseat on which laid a large black bag. They, Lara and Konstantin, were the only ones who knew what it contained. He hung his head for a short moment. This was something he had never done before and it certainly couldn't be put up on a recommendation of any kind. Mentioning it wouldn't bring him friends either. The thought made him chuckle and before Lara could ask what he found so funny in the situation he had opened the car door as quietly as he could and stepped outside. He took the bag from the backseat and opened the trunk taking out two shovels. Without a noise and a look he handed the other to Lara who took it reluctantly staring at it as though it were an enemy.
To her it nearly was. She couldn't believe she had agreed to something like this. Digging someone from their grave was against her principles. She hadn't told Konstantin that the difference in this and tomb raiding was that from this she could gain no glory or artifacts. This couldn't even be qualified as tomb raiding - this was simply disgracing someone's grave.
Konstantin opened the bag and took out two ski masks pulling one of them over his face and handing the other to Lara.
"Hide your braid", he said and the coldness in his voice startled Lara. During the few days she had known about the man's continuing existence there had always lurked something kind in his voice that had made her trust him but now all of it had disappeared. She pulled the mask over her face and turned to look at him. In front of her stood a puzzle with too many missing pieces and too many broken ones. She had always thought she was a good judge of character but Konstantin was surrounded by an ice wall. Guess it is better than one of fire, she thought and tucked her braid under her top.
Together they crossed the street and Konstantin was constantly looking around glad that he saw not a soul. As inhuman as this what they were about to do was he loved being back in action. He had missed the tingling feeling that caused the hair on the back of his neck rise up.
The wall around the cemetery wasn't very high and probably just a mark from where the graveyard began. On the other hand it was high enough to hide behind if one crouched. Very slowly Konstantin peeked over the wall only to be almost hit by a light beam from flashlight. He ducked quickly to avoid risking their mission and getting caught. He opened the bag and pulled out two cans of chloroform again passing the one to Lara while keeping the other himself. He handed her also a pile of rags and after doing so peeked again over the wall.
The light beams had ventured further this time and the climbed over the wall as silently as possible.
"You know what to do" Konstantin snapped at Lara not looking at her.
She hesitated for a moment and then nodded. She knew alright. They had even agreed which guards she would take out and which ones Konstantin would. They grabbed the shovels and began to creep toward the guards, Konstantin toward the left side of the cemetery and Lara toward the right.
Lara had to duck when she suddenly found herself in a beam of light but when no orders or yelling ensued she kept on going hoping that the guard hadn't noticed her. He was to be her first target. Carefully she peeked out to see if she' soon get her chance. The guard was standing there lighting a cigarette and soon the foul smell filled the air. She had to cover her mouth with her hand not to cough as the stench surrounded her. Still holding her hand in front of her nose she peeked again only to see the guard still standing there. This was her change. She opened the bottle of chloroform Konstantin had bought and soaked a rag with it not minding if she spent too much. After closing the bottle she rounded the tomb she was hiding behind trying not to make a voice. The guard seemed to be enjoying himself. He was humming and had no idea what was going to happen. She stood up from her crouching position behind him and didn't care if she made a small noise. Quickly she slammed the chloroform-soaked rag on his face covering his mouth and nose forcing him to breathe in. Soon his body changed to a rag doll and sagged against Lara's who laid the now unmoving man on the ground and continued on her way.
Konstantin's first target was on the move. The guard walked peacefully making sure the light beam of his flash light reached every darkened spot in his area. It was obvious Konstantin needed to create a distraction He looked around only to spot graves after graves slowly disappearing to the surrounding darkness. No...not total darkness. There was a small source of light a little way away from him. Not quite sure what it was Konstantin concentrated all of his thoughts toward it, willing it to fall. To his bad luck it appeared to be a small lantern made of glass hanging on a hook outside a crypt. n front of the crypt was a large piece of stone put there as a ladder. The lantern came crushing down on the stone and the part made of glass broke to thousands of small shards. The noise ended the serenity on the graveyard alerting all of the guards and making them notice they were missing one of theirs. He had to act quickly so he opened the bottle of chloroform and let it flow freely on the piece of cloth he held in his hand. He picked up his shovel and left the black bag there rising as a shadow from behind the gravestone he had used as a hiding place. The guard never suspected a thing and before he could protest a rag was stuffed on his face covering his mouth and nose soon sending him to the oblivion.
He had laid the unconscious form on the ground when he heard silent footsteps behind him. In one fast movement he grabbed his shovel and turned around putting everything he got into this one swing. The shovel contacted the right side of the guards head sending the dark figure to the ground. Glad over the fact that his part was complete he returned to the black bag, rummaged through it and discovered two flashlights. After all they needed to know that they had the right grave.
Lara was in trouble with the last guard. She was crouching behind a tomb while she saw the figure standing almost in front of her was pulling something out of his pocket. She heard a beeping sound. No...not a phone, she thought. She had to act now. Not giving it a greater thought she stood up to meet him. The guard heard her steps and turned around only to see a bottom of her boot aiming to his face before darkness claimed him. Lara crouched beside the now fallen man to check whether or not he still breathed. He did and his pulse was strong and it seemed to her that nothing else was wrong with him than his broken nose. She glanced around to see a blinking beam of light pointed almost directly at her and started jogging toward it. It was their sign when the 'job' was complete but during all the fuss Konstantin had not given her a flashlight and she had forgotten to ask for one.
He was still standing there where he had defeated the last of the guards when he heard her approaching footsteps. He smiled and raised his eyes to meet hers offering her a flashlight. Her foot met something soft lying on the ground and she took the offered item eagerly wanting to see what was the thing her boot had made a contact with. On the ground laid a young brunette woman and Lara could see blood caking on the right side of her head. She shot an accusing glare to Konstantin only to see a shrug of shoulders and a look that told her he had not checked whether she was alive or not. Lara crouched to test her breathing an pulse not finding either one. She heard Konstantin swallowing hard.
He was shocked to see who was in Lara's flashlight's light beam - a woman in her late twenties. In the dim glow he could see her almost childlike features, her soft peachy skin and her lovely green eyes staring somewhere where only darkness could be seen. It could be seen that he had used all his strength to swing the shovel. The right side of her skull was now re-shaped not remaining human head anymore. He crouched beside the dead woman and slowly removed the hair from her forehead. Outside he showed no emotions but inside he cried for the lost life that had just began to blossom and stared at her still form for awhile seeing life escaping her still so very lifelike body and death tightening its hold. He hadn't killed an innocent person before. He knew she was innocent of the crimes he had the power to punish for. He grabbed his shovel which's blade was now partly dark red in the dim light.
"We have better things to do than sit here and mourn something we have no power over" he said and stood up not able to look at her corpse anymore.
Lara couldn't believe what she was hearing. Konstantin acted like none of this could touch him, like he didn't care about what he had done. Gently she closed the dead woman's eyelids hoping that she would find the light in the end of the tunnel. She grabbed her flashlight and shovel and stood up. She pointed the light to Konstantin.
"So mister 'lets not kill anyone'" Lara waited for a moment just to let the words sink in to his mind and was rewarded with a slightly angry glare. "What shall we do next?"
Although he didn't show it most of his thoughts were about the woman laying on the ground, him hearing her last steps and the sound what was heard when the shovel contacted her skull. He thought of her getting to work today and changing on the uniform not knowing that the night would be her last. Not knowing it all would end so abruptly. He thought of the few seconds that had caused the dead woman's world to stop for eternity.
"Searching the grave would be essential", he answered her question and made Lara feel herself stupid.
"What was his surname?"
"Kaufmann", was the short reply.
She nodded and they began their search. Lara jogged pointing her flashlight to the names on the gravestones while Konstantin walked like there was no worry in the world. He studied each of the stones for a moment before continuing his journey. All he could see here was the cruel fact of life: everyone was going to die and there was no stopping it. He was brought back from his thoughts about ten minutes later when Lara informed him that she had found the grave by blinking her flashlight at him.
She had stopped in front of a grave staring at the stone that told that Konstantin's friend indeed rested there. It didn't take long for Konstantin to be there since he hadn't ventured that far. He looked at stone and the little epitaph written on it. When there was no one to remember you all that is left are the word written in granite, he thought. A few nice words perhaps to let the ones who visit the cemetery in future know what kind of personality and human being was called by the name on the stone. In the end they were just empty words for no one could capture the essence of one's spirit.
"Well..." Lara started. "What are we waiting for". Although she tried to sound excited none of it could be heard in her voice. Konstantin just took his shovel numbly and started to remove the sand that rested above his friends coffin.
It took them several hours until their shovels hit something else than dirt and a little while longer to uncover the coffin that had already began to decompose. Lara stopped and moved a way from the coffin.
"Your friend. You can have the honor", she said almost silently not wanting to disturb the peace of the grave any more than she had to.
She could see that Konstantin hesitated. He stood there like a statue not wanting to move toward the casket that held his friend's earthly remains. He closed he eyes like trying to force the idea of what he was doing out of his head and simply gain the control of his body again. He stepped toward the coffin and without looking opened the lid. He wrinkled his nose as the smell attacked his nostrils and he could feel the bile rising in his throat.
Lara didn't want to watch and turned away. She had started to feel nauseous because of the smell and really didn't need to see the body.
Konstantin stared at the sight before him. If he looked really carefully he could just and just identify the corpse as Nikolas although the body had decomposed some. Under the corpses fingers laid a book with worn black leather covers. To Konstantin's surprise it wasn't in the same state as the body. Not looking he reached down to grab the book as if he was afraid the corpse might grab his hand. Feeling the rotting flesh under his fingers he opened his eyes and pulled the book out. Under it was a round metallic object. Careful not to touch the body's flesh again he removed the article from the coffin and closed the lid. He looked at the object in his hand and to him it reminded the kind of sun children usually draw.
"Come on. Lets get out of here" he said as he put the objects in the black bag.
I haven't been to St. Johannis cemetery so please forgive me if there are flaws in its description.
Spikes of the Sun
Night had fallen on the silent cemetery of St. Johannis and not a sound could be heard. Slowly the beams of light traveled the paths between the graves and every now and then stopped. Across the street stood a car and if one had looked at it one might've thought it was only parked there and the owner was long gone. In that case one was wrong. Away from the sight of passers-by lurked two humans - a male and a female. For over an hour they had kept the cemetery under their watchful eyes and been making a plan.
"I still don't think this might be considered as a plan", the woman hissed to the man looking disgusted.
"What is the difference really?", he whispered back.
"The difference?"
"Between this and your job or hobby or whatever you call it"
"There's nothing same in it and this", she was beginning to be terribly annoyed.
"Ain't? How does it make it different if they've been buried a couple of months or thousands of years?"
She opened her mouth but shut it without saying a word. What could she really say? She hated to admit that he was right but she wasn't going to let him away with it so simply. There was a difference. If she saw it why couldn't he? The matter wasn't all black and white, nothing was, and she thought there shouldn't be such a way to look at it. In every matter there were shades of gray.
"There's a difference but you're too blind to see one" she snapped at him.
"I see no difference! They're both about disturbing someone's grave!"
"At least my 'hobby' doesn't include digging up someone's freshly buried corpse!"
He couldn't stand it anymore. She had gone on and on about how this what they were doing wasn't right. He knew it wasn't but at the moment their consciences were the least of their problems. He could name a few of them - Karel for starters and then those four guards on the cemetery. They had been watching the movements of the four people inside the walls of the graveyard and come to the conclusion that each of them had an area of their own to guard. As a last option Lara had suggested going for their weapons and sending the poor souls to the ones whose earthly remains they were watching over. Konstantin had been shocked of her suggestion but had realized soon that she'd been joking.
He didn't want to cause bodily harm to the guardians but was ready for it if the need came. In that case he'd refrain from killing them. Being a Lux Veritatis he had seen enough death to last him for a small eternity. He had heard the screams and last words filled with fear begging for mercy from someone who didn't have the ability to feel it. Their prayers were directed to something with a soul as cold as ice, something that couldn't care less. He released his safety belt and turned to look at the backseat on which laid a large black bag. They, Lara and Konstantin, were the only ones who knew what it contained. He hung his head for a short moment. This was something he had never done before and it certainly couldn't be put up on a recommendation of any kind. Mentioning it wouldn't bring him friends either. The thought made him chuckle and before Lara could ask what he found so funny in the situation he had opened the car door as quietly as he could and stepped outside. He took the bag from the backseat and opened the trunk taking out two shovels. Without a noise and a look he handed the other to Lara who took it reluctantly staring at it as though it were an enemy.
To her it nearly was. She couldn't believe she had agreed to something like this. Digging someone from their grave was against her principles. She hadn't told Konstantin that the difference in this and tomb raiding was that from this she could gain no glory or artifacts. This couldn't even be qualified as tomb raiding - this was simply disgracing someone's grave.
Konstantin opened the bag and took out two ski masks pulling one of them over his face and handing the other to Lara.
"Hide your braid", he said and the coldness in his voice startled Lara. During the few days she had known about the man's continuing existence there had always lurked something kind in his voice that had made her trust him but now all of it had disappeared. She pulled the mask over her face and turned to look at him. In front of her stood a puzzle with too many missing pieces and too many broken ones. She had always thought she was a good judge of character but Konstantin was surrounded by an ice wall. Guess it is better than one of fire, she thought and tucked her braid under her top.
Together they crossed the street and Konstantin was constantly looking around glad that he saw not a soul. As inhuman as this what they were about to do was he loved being back in action. He had missed the tingling feeling that caused the hair on the back of his neck rise up.
The wall around the cemetery wasn't very high and probably just a mark from where the graveyard began. On the other hand it was high enough to hide behind if one crouched. Very slowly Konstantin peeked over the wall only to be almost hit by a light beam from flashlight. He ducked quickly to avoid risking their mission and getting caught. He opened the bag and pulled out two cans of chloroform again passing the one to Lara while keeping the other himself. He handed her also a pile of rags and after doing so peeked again over the wall.
The light beams had ventured further this time and the climbed over the wall as silently as possible.
"You know what to do" Konstantin snapped at Lara not looking at her.
She hesitated for a moment and then nodded. She knew alright. They had even agreed which guards she would take out and which ones Konstantin would. They grabbed the shovels and began to creep toward the guards, Konstantin toward the left side of the cemetery and Lara toward the right.
Lara had to duck when she suddenly found herself in a beam of light but when no orders or yelling ensued she kept on going hoping that the guard hadn't noticed her. He was to be her first target. Carefully she peeked out to see if she' soon get her chance. The guard was standing there lighting a cigarette and soon the foul smell filled the air. She had to cover her mouth with her hand not to cough as the stench surrounded her. Still holding her hand in front of her nose she peeked again only to see the guard still standing there. This was her change. She opened the bottle of chloroform Konstantin had bought and soaked a rag with it not minding if she spent too much. After closing the bottle she rounded the tomb she was hiding behind trying not to make a voice. The guard seemed to be enjoying himself. He was humming and had no idea what was going to happen. She stood up from her crouching position behind him and didn't care if she made a small noise. Quickly she slammed the chloroform-soaked rag on his face covering his mouth and nose forcing him to breathe in. Soon his body changed to a rag doll and sagged against Lara's who laid the now unmoving man on the ground and continued on her way.
Konstantin's first target was on the move. The guard walked peacefully making sure the light beam of his flash light reached every darkened spot in his area. It was obvious Konstantin needed to create a distraction He looked around only to spot graves after graves slowly disappearing to the surrounding darkness. No...not total darkness. There was a small source of light a little way away from him. Not quite sure what it was Konstantin concentrated all of his thoughts toward it, willing it to fall. To his bad luck it appeared to be a small lantern made of glass hanging on a hook outside a crypt. n front of the crypt was a large piece of stone put there as a ladder. The lantern came crushing down on the stone and the part made of glass broke to thousands of small shards. The noise ended the serenity on the graveyard alerting all of the guards and making them notice they were missing one of theirs. He had to act quickly so he opened the bottle of chloroform and let it flow freely on the piece of cloth he held in his hand. He picked up his shovel and left the black bag there rising as a shadow from behind the gravestone he had used as a hiding place. The guard never suspected a thing and before he could protest a rag was stuffed on his face covering his mouth and nose soon sending him to the oblivion.
He had laid the unconscious form on the ground when he heard silent footsteps behind him. In one fast movement he grabbed his shovel and turned around putting everything he got into this one swing. The shovel contacted the right side of the guards head sending the dark figure to the ground. Glad over the fact that his part was complete he returned to the black bag, rummaged through it and discovered two flashlights. After all they needed to know that they had the right grave.
Lara was in trouble with the last guard. She was crouching behind a tomb while she saw the figure standing almost in front of her was pulling something out of his pocket. She heard a beeping sound. No...not a phone, she thought. She had to act now. Not giving it a greater thought she stood up to meet him. The guard heard her steps and turned around only to see a bottom of her boot aiming to his face before darkness claimed him. Lara crouched beside the now fallen man to check whether or not he still breathed. He did and his pulse was strong and it seemed to her that nothing else was wrong with him than his broken nose. She glanced around to see a blinking beam of light pointed almost directly at her and started jogging toward it. It was their sign when the 'job' was complete but during all the fuss Konstantin had not given her a flashlight and she had forgotten to ask for one.
He was still standing there where he had defeated the last of the guards when he heard her approaching footsteps. He smiled and raised his eyes to meet hers offering her a flashlight. Her foot met something soft lying on the ground and she took the offered item eagerly wanting to see what was the thing her boot had made a contact with. On the ground laid a young brunette woman and Lara could see blood caking on the right side of her head. She shot an accusing glare to Konstantin only to see a shrug of shoulders and a look that told her he had not checked whether she was alive or not. Lara crouched to test her breathing an pulse not finding either one. She heard Konstantin swallowing hard.
He was shocked to see who was in Lara's flashlight's light beam - a woman in her late twenties. In the dim glow he could see her almost childlike features, her soft peachy skin and her lovely green eyes staring somewhere where only darkness could be seen. It could be seen that he had used all his strength to swing the shovel. The right side of her skull was now re-shaped not remaining human head anymore. He crouched beside the dead woman and slowly removed the hair from her forehead. Outside he showed no emotions but inside he cried for the lost life that had just began to blossom and stared at her still form for awhile seeing life escaping her still so very lifelike body and death tightening its hold. He hadn't killed an innocent person before. He knew she was innocent of the crimes he had the power to punish for. He grabbed his shovel which's blade was now partly dark red in the dim light.
"We have better things to do than sit here and mourn something we have no power over" he said and stood up not able to look at her corpse anymore.
Lara couldn't believe what she was hearing. Konstantin acted like none of this could touch him, like he didn't care about what he had done. Gently she closed the dead woman's eyelids hoping that she would find the light in the end of the tunnel. She grabbed her flashlight and shovel and stood up. She pointed the light to Konstantin.
"So mister 'lets not kill anyone'" Lara waited for a moment just to let the words sink in to his mind and was rewarded with a slightly angry glare. "What shall we do next?"
Although he didn't show it most of his thoughts were about the woman laying on the ground, him hearing her last steps and the sound what was heard when the shovel contacted her skull. He thought of her getting to work today and changing on the uniform not knowing that the night would be her last. Not knowing it all would end so abruptly. He thought of the few seconds that had caused the dead woman's world to stop for eternity.
"Searching the grave would be essential", he answered her question and made Lara feel herself stupid.
"What was his surname?"
"Kaufmann", was the short reply.
She nodded and they began their search. Lara jogged pointing her flashlight to the names on the gravestones while Konstantin walked like there was no worry in the world. He studied each of the stones for a moment before continuing his journey. All he could see here was the cruel fact of life: everyone was going to die and there was no stopping it. He was brought back from his thoughts about ten minutes later when Lara informed him that she had found the grave by blinking her flashlight at him.
She had stopped in front of a grave staring at the stone that told that Konstantin's friend indeed rested there. It didn't take long for Konstantin to be there since he hadn't ventured that far. He looked at stone and the little epitaph written on it. When there was no one to remember you all that is left are the word written in granite, he thought. A few nice words perhaps to let the ones who visit the cemetery in future know what kind of personality and human being was called by the name on the stone. In the end they were just empty words for no one could capture the essence of one's spirit.
"Well..." Lara started. "What are we waiting for". Although she tried to sound excited none of it could be heard in her voice. Konstantin just took his shovel numbly and started to remove the sand that rested above his friends coffin.
It took them several hours until their shovels hit something else than dirt and a little while longer to uncover the coffin that had already began to decompose. Lara stopped and moved a way from the coffin.
"Your friend. You can have the honor", she said almost silently not wanting to disturb the peace of the grave any more than she had to.
She could see that Konstantin hesitated. He stood there like a statue not wanting to move toward the casket that held his friend's earthly remains. He closed he eyes like trying to force the idea of what he was doing out of his head and simply gain the control of his body again. He stepped toward the coffin and without looking opened the lid. He wrinkled his nose as the smell attacked his nostrils and he could feel the bile rising in his throat.
Lara didn't want to watch and turned away. She had started to feel nauseous because of the smell and really didn't need to see the body.
Konstantin stared at the sight before him. If he looked really carefully he could just and just identify the corpse as Nikolas although the body had decomposed some. Under the corpses fingers laid a book with worn black leather covers. To Konstantin's surprise it wasn't in the same state as the body. Not looking he reached down to grab the book as if he was afraid the corpse might grab his hand. Feeling the rotting flesh under his fingers he opened his eyes and pulled the book out. Under it was a round metallic object. Careful not to touch the body's flesh again he removed the article from the coffin and closed the lid. He looked at the object in his hand and to him it reminded the kind of sun children usually draw.
"Come on. Lets get out of here" he said as he put the objects in the black bag.