Chapter Three

The darkness itself knew no bounds… Further onwards, deeper into the planet—the long and twisted path snaked its way through the void surrounding Eve as Hortus led her further. Eve had no idea of the place where she was going, other than that Hortus called it Limbo—whatever he meant by that. Eve had only played limbo a few times with friends at a party whenever there was a big get-together or a party. She wasn't really good at it—she'd often slip and fall once the bar was lowered anywhere beyond the third level. But she doubted that he was taking her to a limbo game…

The walls, if they were to even be called walls, were rounded much like a worm's tunnel. The light being given off by some foreign source illuminated the curves and edges, creating a sort of eerie glow to them, while shadows danced and reflected off the symmetrical walls. It only seemed to go on further and further… Eve began to wonder to herself how long it was that she had been in here. An hour...? Two hours…? Three hours…? Four…? Time seemed to sit still in the land of the dead, and while clocks ticked in the real world, there was no sun or stars to mark the passing of time… Just darkness, worm tunnels, and an awful ghastly glow leading her on further…

It was at one point that Eve stopped in her tracks completely, not moving another inch. Hortus, noticing her pause in step, also stopped to glance behind at her.

"Come along, girl… Limbo is waiting…"

"How much further?" She asked, a bit of dead added to her tone.

"Time does not pass when you are between worlds… It's only been about two hours since you died, and you've only been here for a while…"

"How long, may I ask?" She felt hopeless.

"Hmm…" Hortus scratched his chin. "Well, for mortals and those doomed to die, maybe only I'd say, hmmmmm… Ten or twelve minutes."

"Ten or twelve minutes!?" Eve exclaimed. "No way—there is no way that I've been down here for only ten or twelve minutes!"

"There is no time here with us between the realms… You need to pass from one world to the next to feel the passing of time again. Life is on pause and changes need mending… For you, it would be the transition of the empty void to the land down below."

"But… Time DID pass in the void…! I felt it, I—"

"—That was because you were alive at the time. Now that you are dead, time refuses to pass at the rate it did in the world above."

"…But, time is still passing, right? You just said we were here for maybe ten or twelve minutes."

Hortus gave a sigh, "It only SEEMS like ten or twelve minutes, because you ASKED me how long it's been. Trust me—we have only been down here for ten or twelve minutes. I can give you my word…"

"Huh… Yeah, right… Last time you gave me your word, you killed me and brought me here instead of letting me speak to my mother… I'm still pissed at you for that…"

"It was your fault for trusting the words of a demon… I only do what I am supposed to do."

"…And that is?"

"Deceive the innocent and lead them straight to hell."

"You are one sick sonnavabitch…"

"Quite the contrary—I have no mother."

"Ugh…! Go fuck yourself." Eve growled. He was starting to get on her nerves again.

Hortus waited a while, then began to proceed onwards. "…Right. Well, we best be moving on, then. If I let you wander about for too long, you'll have a devil of a time finding your way down to Limbo… You should be grateful I'm even taking the time to tell you any of this and for showing you the way…"

There was that stupid elegance to his voice… It made her sick. She growled and grumbled for a bit before taking off to follow him again… Since the change from her normal state into this darkened form, she had started to notice that the rings around her body did not heal up the way scars normally did. Nor did her skin vary much from its original state, but rather became a subtle brown tint, much like a Native American. Still, her eyes remained slate, although she couldn't even see them. They could be black, for all she knew. But, with nothing to use to examine her face, she was, alas, at a loss.

The endlessness of the tunnels seemed to continue, and Eve started to grow impatient again. Rather than bother asking him again, she posed a different question.

"Hortus…?"

"Yes, my uncouth youth?"

She felt herself steam at those words…

"What… what are… I mean… What… What exactly are these tunnels for? Or, who made them, I guess is what I mean…"

"These tunnels lead straight to Limbo, and onward to Hell, my dear…"

"But… who made them?"

"Why, no one did. They've always been here."

"Really…?" Eve blinked and frowned.

"…Well, saying that would only piss you further, so what I should be saying is that they have been here long since before I came around."

"…When did you come about, Hortus?"

"That is not for you to know…" Hortus growled. Eve took the hint and shrugged to herself.

"Okay, then… touchy-touchy… Never knew a demon could be so fussy…"
The two continued down the tunnel for a time further, until finally arriving at a dead end. Hortus sighed and proclaimed proudly.

"Well, here you are my dear… This is it—the gateway to Limbo…"

"…A rock wall?" Eve was not at all impressed.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you really knew what lies beyond that wall…" He warned.

Eve snorted, "Another trap to another one of your damn blasted plans…! I hate it here, Hortus—I hate it. Why don't you just get it over with and—"

"Don't say it—don't say it…" Hortus stopped her. "By saying such things, you would agree to the terms in which you say. Here in the afterlife, there is no forgiveness by saying simple things. You cannot lie to trick the Almighty—he is listening to every word that you are saying."

Eve stood, dumbfounded and staring at him. She blinked a few times in consideration of what he said, repeating it over to herself. She cleared her throat and spoke again, "So… … … what you're saying is, if I were to ask you to—"

"Taking your soul is one of my missions. However, since you can't belong to Satan until you submit yourself to him, you do not belong to him. The same goes with the Almighty Father Himself. He has cast you out of the Heavenly realm, and sent you away from the world above to live a life below the Heavenly surface."

Eve blushed, feeling herself start to burn up inside with guilt. The thought of dying was bad enough. Being sent out and away from Heaven because she displeased the Holy Father was even worse. She began to look a little worried… Hortus showed no compassion.

"You belong to no one… You are now one of the Lost Souls—realm-less entities who embody the world beneath the earth's surface… Neither Heaven nor Hell has accepted you, but you have no choice but to remain in Limbo or descend further into the world below… There is no hope for you now…"

Hortus pressed his hand against the rock wall, a mysterious energy flowing from inside of him. The energy caused the wall to twist and melt—like hot syrup in a mixing bowl, and morphed into shape. Before him stood a mysterious portal where a vast space of infinite did lay, or lie… The sounds of a thousand winds echoing through the hollow chambers of a darkened cave resounded in her ears, and a certain chill was felt, giving her goose bumps. She felt sick to her stomach, like the thrill of going over a hill on a rollercoaster… Hortus motioned her in.

"Go now… Into the world of your future…"
Eve hesitated, not wanting to move for fear had frozen her in her tracks. The portal, like a vacuum, had started to pull on her, dragging her in inch by inch… She tried to resist, but the strength of the portal was more than a fight for her… She gasped, trying to pull back, only to find her feet slipping… Her feet were slipping…! No matter what she tried, the force of the portal's pull remained too strong for her to resist and avoid. Her fate into the portal was inevitable…

Hortus's shades flickered a ghastly glow… His hollow, lifeless, soul-less shell cast a luminous shadow over her as she passed by him towards the portal. His empty words echoed in the tunnel, "Go…"

"Hortus…! Hortus!!" Eve yelled, reaching out to grab him. He withdrew, stepping back only far enough to be out of her reach. His cold, lifeless stare watched her pass on by—now only moments before the portal engulfed her…

"Your fate, it is… inevitable…!" He spoke with a sense of satisfaction, "Soon one day, your soul will belong to me…!"

Panic, rage, sorrow, and fear coursed through her veins as she screamed, "HORTUS!! Please Hortus—help me, please…!"

Eve reached out a desperate hand in a last plea for help, reaching for Hortus.
Hortus's hand shot out, a sudden feel of deathly cold rooting through her arteries, and into the depths of her soul, binding her for only a moment in his lifeless grip. "…But for now—it is you that your soul belongs to! Let now be the time that the portal engulfs you!!"

His foot rose out, slowly rising to knee level as he made his aim… Eve's eyes shot wide with terror as the moments' events passed by her in slow-motion… His hideous face formed the frightening form of the soul-stealer, and cackled maniacally... The heel of his foot crushed her abdomen, thrusting her backwards while his hand let go… Eve felt the wind knocked out of her as she saw him slowly drawing backwards into the distance… The portal took her in, surrounding her in a nebula of swirling dark matter…

The door to the tunnel remained open—the light shining on that damned demon as his laughter echoed throughout time and space… She could hear him laughing… She could hear him shrieking… She could feel her soul shred into a thousand shards, like a bed sheet through a propeller… Farther and farther… further and further… distance by distance… emptiness, and then…

Void…

***

Silence…

It

was ut—

Utterly silent

Silent…

it was like—

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF—"

—being asleep again… only now…

"AAACK!!!"

it's just that it's like being asleep again… only this time, you can't wake up—

"WHERE DID TH—"

"I DON'T KNOW—WHY ARE YOU AS—"

Aaah…!! It hurts…!

"For three days, her soul has been—"

Hor—

"…to the Wake with your father… I've heard enough of your angst already!!"

Hortu—

"You killed me, you mother fucker!!"

Hortus… Hortus… Hortus…

I can see him… Business suit and… tie…

"Eve, my powers are far more powerful than any material force… It is beyond anything that this world has known… Past the knowledge that is E.S.P… With it, I can talk with the dead… bring back forgotten memories…change the way things were meant to be… "

Rage... Raging…! Kill… Want to… kill him…! That… damn… mother fu—

"AAUUUGHHHHH!!!"

—cker! I hate him! I hate it! I hate it!!

…With a thousand droplets of blood so red… crimson… scarlet… like a hot death… penetration through the skin with a clean scalpel…

"HOLY SHI—!!!!!"

She died without a trace… No evidence leaving behind her desecrated remains…To be doomed before she even started…

"I WAS JUST…?!"

Robust and sturdy! Life will treat you good… Broken charms and mixed memories… the

CHAIN

is unlinking…

Tzjuk… Tzjuk…

"BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?! THAT WORD—"

Death! Suddenly, grim reaper appearing! His bony fingers and hand—HE'S COMING!!

Fear…

A black and brown shanty wall…

Why not yellow?

… … … …

… …

…

A ringing… bells…

"Phone~!!! Come on—won't somebody answer it…?!"

…Would anyone ever answer it…?

-----------------------------

For you, I would give everything…

In you, I want to become your anything…

Your hopes…

Your dreams…

Your wanted desires…

Your heart…

Your love…

I want to become anything and everything you ever knew…

Anything that you ever thought…

Nothing of which you have ever heard of…

These are my thoughts…

These are my hopes…

My dreams…

Scattered memories of a time forgotten,

To become so forlorn without means of eminence…

I am You…

I am anything…

I am that with which has been forgotten…

I am…

You…

***

He was a sad boy, one without much more than to call himself what he was: a lad of perhaps seventeen years of age. One without a name to be called by… Others named him Marcum—a boy with hound ears and tail, both of which were black as soot… His eyes were a pale green in color—a dark steel grey rim around the edges where his irises met the whites of his eyes. He had a strong chin, and a good, lean build to him. There had been a time when he was meant to be the son of a great warrior… but that was all before it had happened… It didn't matter to him now—those days were far gone and off into times he didn't even care about. Where he was and how he got there—he did not know for sure… Only time would tell when and if he would ever be leaving here…

The queer lad had built himself a shack towards the edge of a small forest. From here, the endless prairie of the underworld expanded itself far beyond the line of vision, to where it seemed to go on endlessly into the horizon… The grasses hissed with each passing breeze of the late summer sun, with a glow to it that echoed eerily memories of a time that had long since been forgotten… Seasons would come and go, but life was always the same—plants would grow in places they had been, clouds would still bring rain and thunderstorms, and a hot August would bring with it the dry dust gathered from the loose earth to create dust devils and wind storms. The world was much like it was while he had still been living, save for a few minor exceptions… One of which, he knew, dealt with his body. His arm, he knew, had always had terrible luck—scratches and cuts numbered themselves well into the dozens as they crawled up his arm, from wrist to shoulder. Here, those sorts of things handled themselves in a completely unique and odd way. A scratch would scab and heal, but the recovery rate was remarkable. The wound would close up in minutes, scabbing and sealing up the gash where the wound infested itself, and quickly return itself into living, breathing flesh, leaving no trace behind of its existence. How and why it could happen was unexplainable. Only the mystery of the wound's incredible disappearance was what ever remained of any of the scar…

For years he lived here, or for what had seemed like years… He never really knew, nor did he keep track. For him, the seasons here seemed to move too fast… Days changed into weeks on a regular basis, but why it would get colder quicker, change into Winter, then back into Spring—he did not know… Hunters and explorers back in the realm of the living would tell of shorter days and longer nights as they would return from their voyages from up north, telling their stories around the campfire late at night while helping themselves to their fair share of the kill… But regardless of that, why such things would be happening in this world was a completely different matter. But he didn't care—those days were gone now, and these days had just begun…

All alone in his hut, needing nothing more than the sustenance which would keep him going—a bit of meat, water, and the plants that grew around here. The vegetation was mostly grasses and herbs, resembling the sorts of things the hunters spoke of, but they lacked life as this place lacked the will to live… It was a large waiting room, waiting for something to happen that never did happen or, if it would happen, hadn't happened yet… It was frustrating to live in a world with no end… That seemed that it had no end…

At least in such a place, a day without eating wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be. He could remember how his stomach used to ache, how his mind used to drift, how his senses began to lose all feeling… It was a strange thing, but he knew it was only his body beckoning for the sustenance which gave him life—it was a natural thing for one's body to want and desire nourishment. Now, that feeling was gone, and he was left with only the desire to want to eat. He was left with the want to eat, but his stomach wasn't. His stomach had no care in the world if it should have food to digest or not. The stomach would only resume its usual functions when there was food, and the body would continuously survive on a mysterious life force that kept it from dying. But, try as he may, he still kept a regular basis of caring for his body, regardless of how it regenerated itself and self-nourished itself. It was a seemingly outré place—this… land beneath the surface…

It was a sunny afternoon; the clouds were graying and starting to show signs of dark as they normally did when day would turn to night. The skies were of a marmalade orange, with white streaks of clouds touching the otherwise perfect canvass. The air was still warm and dry, bringing with it the comfort of a natural evening sun. The day had been hot, and the steaming heat still found itself waving off of the prairie land like that of a ghostly phantom. Off in the distance, a crow cawed, but only for a time. It seemed that this day would surely end, as did all other days. Today, as it had been for all other times in infinity, was just another day.

He sat casually on his makeshift chair of bent yews and tied pieces of wood. It appeared as though he was going to have to get himself something to eat this evening. The fire had burned itself low—the remaining ashes had turned grey like pastels and left an undesirable odor. His feet were propped up on that of a stump, one of which he had found in the woods during one of his travels. Often times, he used it to eat off of, while others he cut wood for the fire, thus becoming his cutting stump. On other days, it served as his miniature table to eat off of, although mostly he used his hands. He needed no surface to eat off of—the spit that would harness his kill was more than sufficient for its purpose. The table would only serve as a surface only if the food should be too hot—rarely an occurrence as it never really ever happened. Arms bent behind him and his eyes closed close to slits, he relaxed himself. No shirt did he wear, as he was not accustomed to such fabrication of his body. Only a pair of shorts, which came to just above his ankles. Capris, they were sometimes called in the world above him, or "tzjuk," "coverings" in his native tongue. The shorts were designed only to protect the genital area while out in the hunt. Branches, trees, or even beasts posed a threat, thus the reason for their importance. He was fast—the tribesmen all knew that. That was the main reason he was sent out to take down the kill when the hunters were in pursuit. The tribe otherwise had no reason for clothing, so nudity was a commonplace.

His cheeks were detailed with a series of tattoos, flowing in various intricately curling patterns. They resembled the movement of smoke, or a twisting vine of some sort. The tattoos curled down the sides of his face, sometimes breaking off into smaller flame-like spreads off the ends of the curls. They continued onwards further to the start of his chest, detailing his masculine chest and good muscle tone, while the rest ended at his forearms. They were the markings of a warrior—ones of which he earned for his dedication to the tribe he once belonged to. One marking belonged to that of his father—it was the symbol of his family, while another belonged to his tribe. Together, they formed his identity, to which they called him Hyzak, or "Crowned Slaying Stone." …But that was back while he was still living. For now, these tattoos served as nothing more but of details of his skin, as other creatures around him had.

He sat thinking of nothing, and keeping his thoughts open. To keep one's mind open was to allow things around them drift in and out, like water through an underground tunnel. Thoughts of dinner had long since escaped his mind—he was now in a world of complete and utter silence… He was listening to the earth; listening to the trees and the wind, listening to the world around him… The air was warm and dry, crying for the summer's rain… The crow had stopped its cawing—something had gone amiss… The deep feeling of a storm was in the air… Further still—the grasses lay about idly, doing nothing except hissing in the late summer breeze… There was a feeling of something anew… There was a feeling off in the distance… Something… was coming…

His eyes shot open, and he leapt to his feet, drawing his wooden staff from beside him as he went. Off we went, dashing into the prairie in search of his target. The grasses hissed loudly as he ran through—rippling behind him before slowly wisping back into their original state. His great chest heaved inwards and out, taking in great breathes to sustain its host as he ran, with the physique of a wolf. He was running—quickly moving towards his destination. The wind blew into his face, urging him to hold back from running so fast. He knew why he was running—he knew where he was running to… But what was he running to…? He briefly halted his search, stopping to look around him. Far as the eye could see, the prairie seemed to run endlessly; for miles, it stretched until it was halted by the forest covering the horizon. To the north, the great stretch of mountains went on for miles and miles. Everything in between was prairie—nothing more than prairie land, and nothing out of the ordinary…

A flash!

An instant!

He saw it—there! From the sky—it was coming!

Above him could be made the distinct figure of something humanoid like himself, falling, falling, falling…

He dashed forth with his staff, rushing to greet the figure as it made its fall from the sky. From out of its "body," a gleam of light escaped before trickling off upwards towards the heavens to become lost from sight. It was a race against time—would he make it…?

Low, pressing, least air resistance stance—dash!

He grazed the tips of the prairie—the tall grasses hardly having any time to bow down before he raced by them. The figure was falling lower now—lower and lower, closer and closer. He could almost make it, if he were just a bit faster… He applied himself, pressing all his might into speed that he might reach his target. The figure was above him now… He held out his arms, tripping over his other foot…

The figure fell into his arms, halted by the fall… Having caught what he had been running for, he proceeded to crash onto the ground with his fallen catch. Atop of the other he lay only momentarily, before slowly pulling himself up. He panted as he elevated himself off of the ground to see what it was he had caught, the wind brushing through his black spiked hair… A girl… A female of some sort—with long, round and cupped ears, a black-tipped nose, and a bushy tail following behind her… She looked as though she had been wearing a dress at some point, although that would have been long ago… Tattered and torn, the dress only came down to about mid-thigh length, the rest having been torn off by something. Her outfit was in tatters, her left breast looking as though it had been sliced through with a knife… Blood soaked her clothes, and she smelled fresh—a newly-dead… She couldn't have died any more than a couple of hours ago... Yet, how long would it take for her to come through…?

He stared at her for a while… Her skin was once brown—from that, he could tell. Under the black tone, the fur beneath held a bit of brown. Large cinnabar and yellow rings scarred her forehead and ears, two alongside her forearm, one about the midsection of her tail, and one on either side of her thighs. She must have been a knife and burn victim, from what he figured… although; there was no smell of smoke… So then, what was she…? Most beautiful, from what he could tell… He wondered how long it would be before her skin recovered back to its normal state…?

He patted her face in an effort to revive her. No response… It didn't even appear as though she was even breathing… He blinked, and then patted her face again. Nothing… Still panting, he lay there clueless as to what to do next… He slumped back to his seat, and recovered from his mad dash. She had to be okay—he had caught her while she was falling. He didn't understand why she wasn't awakening... It then came to mind—an idea that brought hope. Ripping through her dress, he removed the article of clothing from around her breasts to allow a clear place his head could rest upon, and listened intently. No sound… No heartbeat… He frowned, and sighed… He hoped she wasn't another one of the Still victims… The Stills were those who hadn't given up on life yet, but whose bodies had accepted death and had descended into the world below. They would always remain that way, until their other soul-half had come to be with their soul bodies.

He lay there for a time, and then shook his head. Gathering his staff, he knew that there was nothing he could do. Nothing could be done to reanimate a Still—they would always remain that way, as long as their soul-half was absent… Always… Gathering his things, he gave the body one last glance before packing up to return back to his camp. He then turned and began his trek back to his hut. There was no doubt about it—regardless of what had happened to her, she was indeed very beautiful, and had captured his heart. She appeared as though she took very good care of herself, with smooth facial features, well-kept hair, and an otherwise pleasing aroma despite her bloody appearance. His only wish was that he would have gotten to meet her… Chances were that Stills like her were vain, only caring about their outward appearances and not wanting to leave them behind. He knew what vain was, and what vain meant… It just pitied him to see such a thing happen…

His ears were erect… A sound…

A

Sound…?

Quickly, he turned back towards the body… From the heavens, a small twinkling light came down from above. It was that sparkle, which disappeared shortly after she had arrived. The gleam was consumed by the body, and the corpse seemingly emanated for only a moment before the glowing light faded back into nothing... That gleam meant… …

He dashed back to the body, down on his hands and knees again, drawing close to the face. He paused, and then listened for a heartbeat… There came a faint murmur, which drew out his excitement. She was alive—she was alive…! Or, rather—she could be. He still had to find out whether or not her soul had returned to its soul body. He waited with baited breath, waiting to see if this victim would arise again as so many others had in this world… There came a groan from her lips, followed by a cough. He crawled over her body, patting her face a few times with his bandaged hand, whispering coarsely,

"You… Are you alright…?"

The body groaned again, and the girl lay there. She gave a deep gasp—her jaw dropped down to engulf the healthy air of the world around her. He watched intently. The large, over-exaggerated gasp was always the first part of the resurrection process. That first breath was what permanently linked the soul to the afterlife. Without it, the body would remain motionless without its first breath of life…

Her eyes flickered before slowly opening… Slate-like eyes, clouded over at first, slowly began to take into shape and focus on the world around her as she slowly came back into consciousness… The figure of the boy over top of her frightened her, and she gasped, crawling backwards to try and escape from his clutches.

"No… No—please…! Don't run…" He winced, trying to reassure her of her safety with him.

Reassurance…?! Most definitely not! What was this guy?! He had the picture of a human-like demon—err, no… a demon-like human with… with… What were those—those wolf ears…? She grasped her chest to hold herself from fright, whimpering as she realized her futile position… But… when she did… …

She felt her chest again, her hand sliding across where the fabric once covered her body. She looked down and, seeing her naked breast, screamed before covering herself with what remained of her dress. The boy, discouraged, offered a hand to calm her down. He did not understand the reason for her fright, or why she was so concerned about her tzjuk. She turned her eyes venomously to him and snarled.

"Get away from me, you creep! What do I look like to you, a harlot!?"

His ears bent back and he winced, backing away from her. He held his rod down low, placing his other hand on the earth in a respectable manner, "I am sorry, I… I didn't mean to frighten or offend you."

"Frighten me?! What! So you… you…?" She glanced at the rest of her dress, and gave a cry before falling into a pitiful crying slump.

"My dress!! You ripped apart my dress…!"

"I could help you… Maybe there's a chance I could assist you in making another…?"

"This dress I got from my mother…! She's gone now—It's the only thing left of her I have! How could you do such a thing?"

She was obviously distressed. There was little he could do to an overly distressed woman, let alone her clothes… After all, his father did tell him he wasn't as courteous with women as he could or should be…

"I'm sorry… Please accept my apologies—I was only trying to save your life."

"What…?" She looked at him. She was confused, angered, and distressed—could her day get any worse…?

"You were lying there, and you weren't breathing… I did my best to try and wake you, but to no result… You were not breathing, and your heart wasn't beating. I pat your face a few times before listening for your heart. Your dress was soaked in blood, so I had to remove it to see if I could hear your heart beating."

"Blood…? Wait, what…?" She felt her dress, and noticed it was damp. Her fingers were red, and smelled of iron. Her dress was indeed wet with blood. How it got there was yet another mystery.

"Oh my goh…!" Her whimpering voice quivered in utmost fear.

"It's alright—it's not what you think… I've got a lot to explain here, and it's important that you listen."

She looked at him in fright… What was he going to do—kill her…?! The look on his face was quite desperate, and for some reason she felt as though she couldn't trust him…

Boom…

There came a loud, thunderous noise, like a peal of thunder… Its tremendous force caused the earth and air around the two to shake, sending its waves of sonic boom off into the distance. The tall heads of the grasses in the prairie bent down low to the ground, hugging the earth for what it was worth. There came no noise whatsoever, no wind or breeze, or bird or tree, just unearthly silence…

Eve gasped, looking up at the sky and around her bewilderedly, searching for the source of the noise. The vacancy of the evening air meant nothing in comparison to the sound that she heard. She quickly turned her attention back to the boy, her voice shaking as she spoke, "What the hell was that…?!"

The boy held a look of mystification in his eyes, equally as dumbfounded and frightened. He kept his voice down, crouching low to whisper to her, "Stay here, and lay close to the ground…"

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this…?!" Eve whimpered. The boy closed his eyes and gave a sigh, moving slowly through the tall grass. He crawled along the ground on all fours, his small stub of a tail sticking out from the edge of his capris. His ears were fully erect, and his eyes and ears open for sound as he moved along and away from Eve. With the rod in his hand, he focused his mind ahead and slowly rose to his feet. Eve blushed--she hated the fact that she was doing it under such frightening circumstances, but she couldn't help noticing that the boy had a cute butt.

The boy stood, eyes watching ahead of him very carefully. There was something in the air that he did not like—something he knew that did indeed intend them harm… He curled his lip, and his fangs glistened, while slits covered much of his eyes. He stood completely still--his body stiff and petrified, tense and unmoving like a statue… There was a heavy feeling in the air, like something was smothering both of them… Eve felt it… She had never felt so scared in her life…

It all happened way too quickly!!

"GET DOWN!!"

CRASH!!!

Eve felt herself thrown from her position to be tossed up into the air for a few seconds. She became weightless, and felt the sickening feeling of butterflies in her stomach as the earth spun and whirled about her madly. She hit the ground, smashing her right elbow hard against the firm and dry earth, and rolled in pain. She screamed, clutching her arm after having heard a snap upon impact. Her eyes opened slowly, and gazed upon the horrific glory of a monster greater than anything she had ever seen in her life…

The monster appeared ten times the size of an elephant, the colossal being towered over her and the boy, dwarfing them in size comparison. Much like a bug, the creature possessed twelve legs, branching from an abdomen at least the size of a coach bus… Its legs and joints were plated with what appeared to be a thick and heavy shell, and its back was covered in thousands of deadly looking spines… Two large pincher-like pedipalps assisted the monster in its torrential destruction as it sliced at the earth before it, giving an immortal roar, shattering the hearing space with the depth of a sonic boom… Marcum braced himself, drawing his rod in hand before confronting the foe. Three large compound eyes, comprising of thousands of yellow, red, and black simpler eyes gazed about the prairie landscape, seeking out more things to wreck destruction upon.

Marcum took a chance, and advanced quickly towards the raging beast. The monster swung one of its giant claws at him, but found only the dirt to greet its claws upon impact. Marcum took advantage of the situation to leap onto one of the larger claws. The rough and grasping texture of the claws made it easy to keep a hold onto, and Marcum was able to keep his footing. Securing his rod in a sheath on his back, he dropped on to all fours, clinging on to the claw and slowly advancing his way upwards. The creature, having taken little next to no attention of him, only continued to roar, smashing the ground with his claws and uprooting much of the earth.

Eve backed away in horror as she watched the oversized arthropod make short use of a tree not too far away. The mantis-like insectoid used its claws to grip the tree, crushing it under heavy pressure. The tree cracked and splintered under the force, shedding its bark and leaves as a reaction to the power of its might. The tree, not used to having ever undergo this much stress, held tightly to the earth with the refusal not to let go. However, the might of the creature was phenomenal—thoroughly pulling the tree out of the ground like a weed from a garden. The insect gave another roar before throwing the tree in Eve's direction. She gave a horrified scream, turning over to jump up on her feet and make a mad dash in the opposite direction.

"No!! I told you not to move!!" Marcum hollered in her direction, but to no avail—she could not hear him above the noise and the wreckage. From his vantage point up high on the creature's shoulder, he could see a long ways down the figure of the girl running off in the opposite direction. The creature cocked its head in her direction and gave another roar—its voice somewhere between that of a horrendous nocturnal insect and a dying dragon. He winced—the alien creature had spotted her, and was now going to be off to finish the kill.

"Dammit girl… Can't stand still, can you?" He muttered under his breath before taking action. Quickly, he hoisted himself up upon the back of the towering monster, landing at the connecting joint between one of the claws and the body. The top of the beast was just as disgusting as it was hairy. Like a porcupine, long, quill-like spines jutted out a good six feet out from its back, and were littered with thousands of furry hairs in between. What truly made the creature a horrid sight were the parasites growing on the back of the monster. Large, overgrown mite-like insectoids infested themselves everywhere, devouring the larger beast while it was destroying and devouring the landscape. The creature was turning its body now, and shifting its attention to the young girl who lay on the earth, stumbling after another fall. Marcum held on to one of the needles in order to keep his balance—the shift of the monster almost knocking him over. Eve screamed, and backed away on her back in an attempt to run from the thing.

Marcum shouted, "Hold on! I'll take care of you!!" Reaching towards the spine he used to gain himself balance, Marcum attempted to snap off a piece to use as a weapon. No matter how hard he bent the spine would not move, bend, or break. Suddenly, the spines started to shake and rattle rapidly, the individual spines and hairs alive and ready with motion. The overgrown mites clung on to their host for safety while Marcum found himself caught in a wily state of affairs. He quickly released the spine, only to find himself losing balance and falling forward. He gave a yell, trying to break his fall by latching on to one of the spines again. Bad idea! The spines shook his hands, breaking his hold and causing him to fall down into the spiky shambles. The spines jabbed at him, gouging holes in his flesh with their long, needle-like projections. His anguished yells did nothing to halt the beast or its shaking, and he was left for nothing. Gouge after gouge, rip after slice, Marcum felt his flesh ripping open, the seams of skin and fur that held his body together coming apart at the molecular level, and blood permeating his skin, and drenching the spikes with the blood of his youth. Stained with blood all over his chest, Marcum began to look like a pincushion punctured with all the holes all over his body.

Eve watched in horror as her attacker came closer, her breathing rapidly intensifying to a staggering rate. From above, she could see her rescuer attempting to hold himself up, while the blood seemed to drip from around him. A puncture—a slice!! His head shot straight up, while a long needle impaled his shoulder, only to come out his backside. She screamed and quivered in fright—the tears falling rapidly as she witnessed these frightful events happen before her eyes. It was a nightmare… It was happening all so fast—wasn't there anything that was going to be done…?!

Then, it

Happened…

It Came

From

OUT

Of his

Chest…

Eve felt sick, the oncoming of vomit in her mouth after witnessing another needle jutting itself through him and out through his chest… The boy was suffering—screaming in pain and torture… It was a terrible dream, right? She would wake up in a few moments, realizing it was all just a bad dream, right…? Right…?

The creature roared again, taking a slice at Eve with the razor sharp tips of its claws. The attack narrowly missed Eve, but trimmed the grasses around her. Eve's instincts told her to run, and run she did. Up on to her feet, she fought back tears as blood and tears soaked themselves in the torn bits of her dress—what was left of it at any rate… She felt the vomit coming on, but dared not to let it come for fear of losing her life. She ran—she ran harder and faster than she had ever known. The creature gave another roar, and began to take off after her, its large feet penetrating the ground and shaking it with seismic quakes.

The boy managed to pull himself free of the ruckus, the needle snapping after he fell forward. The needle still in his chest, he began to cough up blood, feeling the mortality of this world starting to set in again… Would it happen, though…? Like all the other times it did…? He doubted it—the needle was far too deep within him—a simple cut or scratch would heal, but gouges were of another—

!!!

"It… hurts…!"

He coughed… … … He coughed again… He attempted a gag, and then—

…

… …

The form of the young warrior slumped slowly down to the back of the monster, the look of death clearly in his eyes… It was obvious that it was over now—his mind could not think or possess any thought of its own… He was gone now, and he was dead…

The beast gave another shot at Eve, swooping down to decapitate her with a fell swoop. The swipe missed her fortunately, but not before knocking her clear over on to her front side. Her ankle twisted, and Eve felt a sharp pain stinging throughout her body. She screamed, and held on to her leg at the impact site of the accident. The pain numbed her entire body, and she felt as though she couldn't move. The mantis roared again, its thousands of eyes attempting to make a clear mental picture of the world around it. Where did its prey go? How could it have escaped its line of sight…?

Eve cried, and gagged. She caught her face falling earthward, and suspended her chest with her other hand. Then it came—OUT!!! A cough, a thrust—a depletion of the contents of her stomach. She gasped, trying to hold back the awful feeling, but…

—!!! Again!! It happened, again?! Out on to the grass—dripping, stinking, acidic and gross… Orange and yellows—hints of dark brown and red… She coughed and gagged again—AND AGAIN!! Ruthlessly, the stomach muscles churned and thrusted, forcing her into a position where she could no longer breathe, should she want to. She needed it. NEED IT!! She fought the tightening feeling of the acids closing her throat, and managed a gasping breath of life. Her stomach had settled, and her breathing had regulated itself again. Tears fell from her eyes, mixed with mucus from her nose and the phlegm from her throat. She sniffed, clearing her face as she attempted to make a recovery. The monster above her was still clueless as to where she went—roaring on a rampage was about all the primitive-minded destructive machine could do.

The pain in her foot did not seem to go away, but only heighten. She moaned and held her ankle—wishing that this could all be over now. She had thrown up. Wasn't this the ultimate punishment for her wrongs, and forgiveness to be given…? Hadn't she paid enough for her wrongs…? Was this all that there was left…?

The mantis, finally catching whiff of her scent, attempted a clumsy backing up in order to see the girl at its feet. Its mandibles brushed its jaws, cleaning them as it prepared for the kill… It reached out with both of its claws, encircling Eve in a deadly trap that would cleave her in half…

Eve cried, and gave a mournful sob, covering her eyes… Now she knew, for a fact, that this would be the end… That this would be where her troubles would finally stop bothering her anymore… Death, again, would be her "savior…" She wept, and held her face in both hands—the smell of vomit causing her face to wrench in disgust…

He coughed, then coughed again… A groan… … and…

He opened his eyes, squinting about him… Beside him lay the spike, which had driven itself into his chest, now beside him and out from him. He blinked, then gazed at his chest. Blood saturated his chest, but no wound was to be found…! He grabbed himself in several places, assuring that he was not hurt, then sprang to his feet. The mystery of this healing world had brought life back to him again, and had given him another chance. He glared at the mantis, and then reached down to pick up the spiky spine that lay at his feet. Quickly, he dashed, making his way up the side of the mantis's neck, and to the top of its skull. The exoskeleton of the beast made it very convenient to spot the weaker and flesher parts of the animal, and he knew just where to strike it… Giving a yell, he came down upon the first compound eye he encountered, driving the spine deep into the eye of the perpetrator responsible for his previous "death..."

Blood squirted from the giant's head, spurting out like a gashing throat wound. The insect's insidious grey/green blood oozed from the impact site, and drenched him down from head to toe in its hot, vile green liquid substance. The monster screeched and screamed loudly, flailing its pincers about wildly in pain and surprise. Marcum squeezed the spine, reinforcing his grip with the strength in the muscles of his arms and hands. He twisted the spine, the spine burrowing in deeper to the beast's skull, scratching and ripping its insides with unrivaled ruthlessness. Something cracked inside the skull, and he could only guess what it could have been. He forced the spike back up through the hole, attempting to wriggle free the weapon which could cleave flesh and bone of even its own creator. The spike was reluctant to be set free, but came out eventually with a few catches on the creature's interior. In a mad rage, he struck again, forcing the spike down into another compound eye several times in rapid succession, his yells angry and filled with hate. The monster's anguished cries echoed far across the horizon, pleading in fear of an inevitable death.

…But did he see it? No!

Crack!!

Marcum felt himself struck with Herculean strength, cracked hard across the backside before flying down off the mantis's head. It was a horrific fall, landing in a way he smashed at least two ribs, his left arm and shoulder. He could scarcely do more than gag, wincing in deep pain as he lay there. The mantis gave frightful sounding noises, slashing in front of its face to protect itself, should there be any more attacks upon it. Retreating back on its twelve legs, the mantis pulled away from both Eve and Marcum, and fled to the north, its great booming footsteps quaking underneath each step that the beast took. The silence began to return as the creature's sounding noises faded quietly into nothing in the now-late evening sun. The silence reigned as the grasses resumed their hissing, the now-late evening encompassing the quiet realm of the nonliving.

The two lay there, unmoving or doing much more than breathing. The hot summer day was now cooling down to what would be a cold and chilling night, the breeze gently blowing over the grassy heads. Eve shook, feeling cold as the breeze passed her by; her half-naked body in tatters of what it had been when she got there… The pain in her ankle prevented her from moving too much, and the broken bone in her arm kept her from reaching out any farther than beyond half an outstretched arm. The tears were gone—no more would she cry today… Not anymore did she want to live this day… She just wished that she could die—close her eyes and just… never wake up again… But she knew that she couldn't—her eyes would open up again, and she would awaken, just as she always did, just as she always had… But the boy, she wondered—was he alright…? It was amazing what all she had seen him do; what she had witnessed before her seemed to be like an extraordinary feat… She had to see if he was okay… Crawling and shuffling, she moved herself along pathetically, her ankle screaming with pain, and her arm's bone seemingly dislocated in its location, already swelling to be something much larger.

She arrived at his body, and pulled herself on top of his, panting after her painstaking efforts to reach him. She gazed at him with ardent affection, noticing every detail of his handsome face. His square jaw, strong and proud, delicately shaped to support a masculine structure, curved up to his nose—broad and straight, with intricate curvatures. His hair was wild and free, flowing like the wind, through a recondite series of branches and leaves of a tree to entangle themselves before being set free… appearing wispy and light, but feeling coarse and strong… He was very beautiful… She wondered if he would still be alive… That fall would have killed anyone, from the height he had taken… She could see his dislodged shoulder, how it had come out of its place and wrecked his collar bone, and took careful heed not to bump it or press into it. She gazed at him again momentarily, noticing the places where his body had taken the impact from the spines.

She wanted to cry, although she knew that she couldn't—the tears were all gone, and the pain of her own body outweighed any tears that would have wanted to have fallen regardless… She just wanted to touch him—to touch that beautiful face; to have at least known what he felt like—the one who had saved her life… Reaching out with a quivering bloody hand, she brushed the tips of her fingers under his chin, her gaze unchanging and unmoving from her undying affection… She pressed aside the hair covering his eyes to reveal strong, prominent eyebrows, which would have been very deep but animated had he been alive… She gave a sigh and felt her face wrinkle… No tears would come, but the emotion she felt was still there…

She didn't know how long she laid there—she didn't care, and would have laid there with him forever… Even if she had thought he was trying to do something to her, those thoughts were now long gone and nonexistent to her… He had proven that he meant her no harm—he had given his life to ensure her safety, and all she had ever done was fear and despise him… But now—she would lay here with him, and for eternity just lie here in his arms, in an unknown world, in an unknown place… She… would be with him…

***

It was early morning when she awoke. Skies were lightly cloudy, seemingly covering patches of the earth while the morning sun would filter on down through. A truly beautiful morning, it was—golden hued sun beams tickling the land below, and adding the value that only a precious metal would have otherwise held. Where she was, she did not know, aside from the fact she was… somewhere…

"Limbo…?" she whispered to herself as the events from the previous day began to recollect themselves inside her mind. She gasped and pulled herself to her knees, looking around her in a bewildered state. The pain in her arm increased dramatically, and caused her to cry out—clutching the broken bone that swelled itself inside of her arm. She whimpered, and glanced around at her surroundings. Surprisingly, the world appeared much different than it did the other day… She was no longer in that field where she had found herself… and where that hideous thing came crashing from out of nowhere to attack her… What was that thing, anyways? Where there was one, there was bound to be more, after all… The area around her seemed to hug the edge of a small but densely populated forest, where various coniferous pines and evergreens stood cluttered together amidst small branching trees of birch and an occasional elm. It seemed very much like a school trip she had gone on when she was younger, with her rat friend Katie. The two had gone camping just on the outskirts of town towards the edge of the forest. It wasn't a spectacular place, but it did offer a break away from the bustling city life they were used to. The thoughts of marshmallows, mosquitoes, and the onset of the incoming storm that happened the last day they were out there… They did indeed have so many adventures together that it was no wonder the two went out to do it again, only in more closed quarters and closer to home from then on out.

She took a glance around her, observing what she could of the mysterious settings. Below her, the earth seemed quite most, and her clothes were wet as if she had slept there all night… She checked her dress, and groaned in dismay—her dress still lay in tatters, ripped to shreds by that damned demon… Where in the world was he, anyways…? Would she ever see him again?

"If I did, then there would be hell to pay for it…" she grumbled to herself as she attempted to stand. She stood, and held on to a nearby tree for balance, her ankle giving out as she tried to regain her ability to walk. She moaned, and shook her head—things weren't going very well for her already… With this wound, this strange new world, and that damned giant insect flying about, she doubted if she would even make it through Limbo… and what a treat that would end up being…

…Speaking of which, where was that boy…? She saw him fall, and that fall would have easily killed anyone. …Well, dead, she knew of that. She knew he wouldn't be alive, but she at least wanted to know where he was so that she could thank him… Well, thank his corpse, if that didn't sound too macabre or anything… He was really cute too, and he seemed really nice from what she had met of him… It made her feel terrible, that she acted the way she did around him when he was only trying to help… He didn't mean her any harm—he was only trying to help her… and there she was, thinking he was trying to grope or molest her… She watched him fall—she watched him die, plummeting to his death with a gigantic hole in his shoulder, and it was all her fault… It was all… her… fault… She didn't want to let him go the night before—she held on to him… She held on—not ever wanting to let go… She fell asleep by his side, wanting to be there with him… but now, he was gone… Gone…

A small tear slid down her face. She gave another sigh, and wiped it clean off of her face. What a great way to be brought into the afterlife… First, she awakens and finds this guy looking like he's about to rape her, and then she finds out that he really isn't such a bad guy and ends up getting killed trying to save her from this giant praying mantis thing… She hated bugs… All of them—it didn't matter what the size or how pretty they were either. Well, just the big ones, anyways… And butterflies… That giant mantis thing was the nastiest piece of shit ever—she didn't ever want to see another one of those things again… They scared the shit right out of her, anyways. Anyways!? More like "Holy fuck—that thing is going to rip me in half!" …No wait—there wouldn't even be a half, because he'd turn her into macaroni! Fettuccini… Egg noodles or whatever… She hated rambling on to herself inside her mind… She often found that when she did that she failed to notice things going on around her.

She tried to set herself with her back against the tree, and sighed again, looking around her. The chirping of curiously sounding Northern birds tweeting in the trees did add to the atmosphere, and made the place seemingly more lively. She could make out the scent of all the pine needles and the sap that dripped from places on the trees where animals or other creatures had damaged its outer shell. The fragrance was quite lovely. She was a bio-nerd, as her friends called her—obsessed with her biology class, and always wanting to talk about it. She tried to recite the different types of kingdoms and classifications for things, trying to find at least one of each type before she would call herself "good."

Her eyes glanced about, and she spoke to herself, "Animalia… Plantae… Haha—there sure are a lot of those around here… Hmm…"

Fungiiiiiiiii—I… don't see any of those anywhere… Come on now… Fungi, fungi, fungi, fungi…… Oh—there's one. They can grow on the roots of some plants, right…? Hmm… The Prokaryotas arrrrrre… probably in the soil, and Monera… Hmm…"

"Hi~!"

"Aaaaack!!" Eve screamed, only to fall on her bottom. A strange individual dressed in a Catholic school girl outfit, wearing large, round glasses smiled down at her. The girl appeared to be somewhere around her age, and appeared to be fairly friendly at that.

She knelt down next to Eve, and readjusted her large black-rimmed glasses, "How're you? You just get here or something…?"

"I… um… Yyyyyeah, you could say that…" Eve replied, eying the individual suspiciously. The individual's black hair was done up in pigtails in the back, and she had a fairly Welsh-like appearance to her. One could only tell that her species would have been considered a Misdreavus, with their large dramatic eyes, rounded faces, and flowing wavy hair.

The Misdreavus girl giggled, extending a hand in her direction while resuming in her Welsh-accent, "My name is Myra, and you are…?"

"Umm… Eve, and… thanks…" Eve said, reaching for her hand. Myra helped pull her up, and patted her on the back. The two appeared to be somewhere around the same height, although it was plain to see Myra was considerably thinner, and had much more beautiful blue eyes compared to her slate-like… bore…

"Well, Eve…! It's a most great pleasure to meet you…! Looks as though you've gotten into a sprawl with something of the sort…"

"What do you mean…?" Eve blinked.

"I see that your breasts are showing… Quite unusual for one to be walking around like that, you know…?"

Eve blushed, and covered herself, "I… didn't do this on purpose… I found myself like that when I came here, and have since had no recollection of where I am or how I got here…!"

Myra laughed, "Well, you're in Limbo, in case you haven't figured it out already… I got sent here while playing on top of the roof at the school. The headmaster shouted me to come down, but I just continued to play. Then there came this terrible wind, and I don't know why I didn't try to sit down, but staying still didn't work at all. I slipped and fell, and cracked me head against the pavement when I'd fallen. I don't remember anything after that, but soon as I awoken, I found meself here, and have since just been wandering around…!"

"Ah…" Eve said, unsure of the strange girl in front of her. She pointed her eyes, and questioned, "What's with the big glasses?"

"Huh…? Ohhhhh, these! Oh, I can't see very well, so the eye doctor made me a pair after my mum paid him. They're awfully nice, but I still find them a bit too big…"

"And your clothes… What's with that get-up?"

"What…? Oh, you mean my clothes probably, don't you? I go to a Catholic school, so it's required that we wear this kind of garb…"

"I… didn't think that they'd have their skirts down that far… Wait a minute—what year did you die?" Eve blinked.

"Well, it was probably around 1933 when I died, so… I'm guessing it's been a while?"

Eve shook her head, "Try 75 years…!"

"Oh my… I'm a granny already…" Myra laughed.

Eve smiled, though a bit confused, "You sound… British… Are you from Britain?"

"Nay, rather from Wales, I am. And you! Why, you must be from the Americas, if I'm not mistaken?"

"I'm from Minnesota, and thanks…!" Eve smiled.

"Oh, why you're welcome! But, whatever for, Eve?"

It felt so strange to have her calling her "Eve" already, especially since they just met… The school girl had hardly known her for more than a few moments, and already she was talking to her as though they were good friends… Still, a friend at hand was better than being alone here… in the insanity of it all, anyways…

"Oh I, um… well… Never mind, I guess!" Eve giggled, feeling embarrassed.

"…But, your dress though… I'd think it would be atrocious to others to see you like this… What plans have you to do about it?"

"I… don't have any at the moment, really… I don't know how I'd fix it, or if I should even fix it… It would be great if I could get some new clothes though—at least something else to wear…"

"At least a pair of clean underwear, hm?" Myra giggled.

Eve sighed, "You'd have no idea… I feel sick already, there's… … …blood on my dress, I think, and I've got this greasy, ratty hair, and… my dress is all gone to hell, and, um… Yeah! I'd definitely go for a new pair of underwear sometime right about now." Eve nodded sarcastically.

"They do have shops, you know…" Myra added.

"Shops…? As in… here? In the underworld?"

"Well, not everyone could expect to keep their clothes forever…! Even in the underworld, things still get worn out time to time…"

"No, but seriously! Is there a place I could get some new clothes around here? Somewhere?"

Myra sighed, "There are, but they aren't quite as common as you'd think…"

"Please…! Where might I find one, Myra?"

"Oh, I don't ever keep track of places I've been… It had to have been at least four or five years ago…?"

"Ohhhhhhhhhh…!! Damn…!" Eve shouted, frustrated. "Well, why the hell are you so far out here then, Myra? I would have though you would have wanted to stay closer to civilization than to come somewhere out here…!"

Myra laughed lightly, "One would think, but I love wandering! I do it all the time! …Or, "did," anyways… But now—I can stay out as long as I'd like…! I can be free and do what I will, and not have to worry about going to class, or chores, or going to the store for me mum…"

Eve felt frustrated and upset, but still managed a small laugh, "I guess so… I sure wish I was as good off as you are… I think my arm is broken, and my ankle might be sprained…"

"Oh, it'll all heal eventually." Myra said as though it were only of minor importance.

Eve snorted, "Yeah—in a couple of weeks… I can't imagine what it would be like having to see another one of those damn praying mantis things while I've got this sprain…"

"Oh, I'd actually like to think in a couple of hours, really… Your body heals faster here in the afterlife."

Eve blinked, "Really? So, you mean that it'll just heal up after a few hours…?"

"I watched someone get decapitated once… It was quite horrific, because his body fell to the ground in a bloody heap. Still, it was only a few minutes later that his head and body reconnected themselves, and he was fine and all better."

Eve curled her lip in disgust, and gave a shout, "Ewwwwww!! That's gross! I wouldn't want to see that…!"

"I don't think anyone would, but it is still fascinating to witness the process of regeneration."

"Let them keep it to themselves, then… I already hate rated-R movies, only this sounds much worse…"

"Rated-R…?" Myra blinked, "I'm afraid I haven't a clue as to what you mean…"

Eve sighed, "It's a little passed your time, Myra. A lot of things have happened since you died—World War II, the Korean War, the British Invasion, the Cold War, space ships and technology, Disco, and all that 80's junk, and… Lots of stuff…"

Myra giggled again, "I guess so…! I only see the occasional person now and then, but most of them are from years far before your time or mine. Once I met a Chinese lord from the Zhou Dynasty. He was actually a really clever fellow—quite a bit!"

"Well, that's all great to hear… My arm is killing me though—are you sure it will—"

Eve paused, glancing at her arm in confusion. A strange feeling, like time itself were being reversed, warped her sense of reality, and she stared. She could hear the insides of her arm crack and grind against each other, as if moving towards and away from each other in sickening unison. She gasped and shuddered, holding her upper arm as she witnessed her body moving in a creepy manner, sickening noises of bones snapping and muscle bending. It made her stomach churn, but she still watched on as her arm moved on and on… Soon, the movement stopped, and her arm lacked its swelling, and returned itself back to normal.

She blinked and stared in awe at her arm. She twisted it around, noticing the lack of pain present. She looked at Myra, then back at her arm again. "Myra… Did you just see that…?!"

Myra giggled, "Happened to me arm once… After that, it all becomes natural~… Your ankle should be fine by now too, since I saw it doing the same thing too…"

"It's so… incredible…! How does this happen, Myra? Why does it happen, I mean…?"

"If an answer there was that I would know about, I would have given it to you on the first comment." Myra bowed to her.

Eve continued to stare at her arm, completely mystified at its incredible change… It got her to thinking to herself… If her arm was able to do this, and if the man Myra mentioned was decapitated still lived, then could it be that the young boy could also be alive…?

"Myra?"

"Yes Miss Eve?"

"Did you happen to see a young boy anywhere around here? He… had wolf ears, no shirt, tattoos all over, and… something like a pair of shorts that went down to his ankles-ish…"

"Oh~! He sounds ravishing then, doesn't he?" Myra laughed, clapping her hands in delight. "I'm afraid I haven't seen him then, or I would have been to him and brought him with me. Believe me—I'm really quite social…!"

"You sound like it…" Eve smirked, upset that she hadn't been able to find the boy who had saved her life. She blew a sigh, rolling her eyes as she gazed about the early morning atmosphere, when a hand appeared in front of her. She returned her gaze to see that Myra was holding out her hand to her.

"Friends?" Myra smiled. "I wanted to know if we could be friends, since we know so much about each other…!"

"If you'd want to be my friend…" Eve grumbled, shaking her hand, "I sure don't have a lot of them, now that I'm stuck in this place…"

"Oh, trust me! Soon we'll know all about each other, and we'll be gossiping away just like any other girls our age…!"

"You sure are quite feminine… You definitely –do- sound like a granny, sorry to say…"

"Oh my… I guess the times really have changed then, haven't they…" Myra sighed sadly. "It's just that I could remember gossiping with my friends whenever we had a moment to share—I guess you don't do that as much anymore…?"

"Oh no—we do, it's just…" Eve shrugged unassumingly, "We just… have a lot of time on our hands anyways and just use cell phones."

"Cell… phones…?" Myra blinked.

Eve groaned, "It's something far ahead of your time…! If I could, I would show you what they look like, but I didn't bring it with me when I went to my mother's funeral!"

"Your mother died? You poor thing…"

Eve could feel her brain starting to tick… This girl was just too chatty and too energetic. She gave a sigh and whirled around to face her, "It's alright. Could you please not talk so much? It's giving me a headache and I can hardly think to myself…!"

Myra didn't say a word, but looked rather surprised. She watched as Eve looked about her and take off in another direction. Myra followed her, walking behind her carefully as not to upset or disturb her.

She cleared her throat, and excused herself, "Excuse me for asking you Eve, but… where are you going, by any chance…?"

Questions were fine. As long as she didn't ask a stream of them, Eve and her would be perfectly fine on the questions level. She replied, "I'm looking for that boy I was telling you about… The… one with the black hair and the blue-green eyes…"

"Oh, you never told me his hair and… eye… colour…" Myra halted herself from talking too much.

"It's okay. I know he's got to be around here somewhere… I just don't know where…"

"Try looking right beside you, Eve…" a voice came from her right.

Eve gave a scream and jumped, running backwards into Myra after hearing the sudden voice of the intruder. Myra supported Eve by her shoulders as she came tumbling back, and watched as out of the forest came a tall, wolf-like human wearing only a pair of shorts with no shirt. Myra stared, and gave a little laugh.

"Eve…! I think this is that boy you were looking for?"

"Oh, hi… Sorry I scared you, um… Eve…?" The lad held his hand out to take hers.

Eve glanced at his hand, then at him before accepting his hand with hers. She pulled herself up and breathed a sigh, feeling her lip scrunch itself up. Tears flooded her eyes, and she threw herself upon his shoulder, and cried. Myra blinked, watching her in confusion. This girl was so abrupt with her emotions…! Now she was crying…?

Marcum held her close to him in his arms, gently stroking the back of her head as he hushed her, "Shh, shh… Everything is going to be okay, Eve… You're safe now…"

"I thought you were dead…! I felt so scared when I saw you get hit—I thought you died when you hit the ground…!"

"So… did I, actually… But I'm safe now… See…? I'm alright…!" He held out his hand to her, offering it to her. She looked at him, and then at his hand. She reached out for it, holding his hand in hers softly. His hands were rough, built up over the years with hundreds of calices, aged and worn to form a leathery shell around his hands… His gently glowing blue-green eyes smiled at her softly, meaning and intending no harm at all.

She could only gaze at him—at his shoulder, at his arms; at his entire being…! This was the boy she saw die. This was the boy who risked saving her life over his own. This was the boy… with the blue-green eyes…

***

The place at which Marcum resided at was quite interesting in Eve's eyes. She had never expected the place he lived in to be so small and run-down looking. She had to take into account however, that one person didn't need a whole lot of room to begin with. The small shack was built out of the local woods and ferns, held together by a primitive mud and straw mix were about all of what held it together. Despite that, it was a cozy looking home that provided comfort from the outdoors, a place to keep all his things in, and overall—just a place of peace.

Marcum had taken Eve and Myra back to his place, assuring that these travelers both had a place to stay for the meanwhile and for some company while they were still around. As the sun reached a bit closer to mid-day, the two girls found themselves sitting around a small fire that Marcum had built earlier in the day, tending to it like two girls on a camping trip. Marcum had gone off into the forest for food, leaving the two girls back at the camp. The deal, he proposed, was that Myra and Eve keep a healthy flame going while he would go off in search of some wild game to bring back for them to eat. Of course, not being used to the "wild game" idea of things, Eve was taken aback by what he said, and a bit horrified by the thought of skinning and gutting out an animal.

She gave a sigh, and stoked the fire with a longer stick while Myra experimented with several different types of leaves—each one producing a different colored flame as it would burn into smoke. Myra was as chatty as ever, obviously having a love for conversation… and for being annoying.

"…So, what do girls your age do in the future? Do you still play games outside and do chores as often?"

Eve sighed, "I'm not really from the future—it's just that you've been down here so long that it only seems like I'd be from the future."

"Oh, but I know! But it still fascinates me to see what changes might have taken place since I croaked…!"

Eve couldn't help laughing at her blunt statement. She giggled and spurted into laughter, covering her mouth and shaking her head. Myra was so spontaneous! It humored her to think this girl was actually that random! …Or, was she just a little dense…?

"Myra…!" She laughed, "You're so priceless…!!"

"Priceless…? So, I am without worth…?"

"Noooo! No, no, no!!" Eve laughed, although she felt a little sorry for Myra, "I mean to say you are worth more than money itself!"

"Oh! Why, that's quite thoughtful of you to say so!" Myra laughed with her, "But, whatever are we laughing for!?

"Nevermind, eheheh…" Eve said with a relaxed smile, brushing a strand of hair from in front of her eyes.

It hadn't been too long since they came upon this camp, and already feelings were starting to grow between the two. Myra seemed like a nicer girl—even if she was quite talkative and annoying sometimes, she was at least someone Eve could relate to… well, at least an "older edition," anyways… Since seeing her mother was now impossible, Eve didn't have any other girls or women to relate her to, so having Myra around would be a big help. She couldn't imagine trying to tell some of the things she would only tell her close girl friends to Marcum—he'd probably not understand heads or tails as to what they were talking about! Plus, none of these things really concerned him, so they wouldn't be any of his business… Well, it was that, and also the fact that there are some things you can only talk to a girl about, and some things you can only talk to a guy about… which made things even more interesting, considering the fact she didn't feel as comfortable around guys as she did around girls…! They were so… confusing… and weird…! She couldn't understand why they did half the things that they did… So, Myra would be more than helpful—she would be a godsend… Well, she'd have to explain cell phones, TV, and the sort, but… at least she had something to start on, and something was better than nothing.

Marcum returned, bearing the body of a slain deer in both of his arms. The animal, as large as it was, appeared light and dwarfed in the arms and hands of Marcum as he carried it back to the camp. The deer, having died with its tongue sticking out, appeared to be a yearling—its small stubby horns only having just started to grow on top of its head before its untimely death. From its side could be seen the gaping wound where Marcum had slain it with his spear—a weapon used strictly for terms of hunting, and always kept at the camp. He laid the deer beside the tent, a ways away from where the two girls were sitting, and began strapping and tying up the deer for skinning.

"Oh! Well, lookie here, Eve—Marcum's been a good lad, he has! Brought you and me supper, he did!"

Eve couldn't help but to look. Fortunately, he had gutted the deer out before returning back to camp, as a long ventricle cut could be seen down the bottom side of the animal, reaching from the mid-section of the chest down to the anus. She could feel her eyes watering up, and nearly gagged when she saw the amount of blood dripping from the open gash on the side of the animal. She gulped, turning her attention back to the fire, and shivered.

"Do the deer also regenerate if they've been slain…?" Eve felt her voice tremble. She loved deer. Deer were some of her most favorite animals in the world—and not because she watched Bambi when she was younger, either. Aside from rabbits, deer were the only animals Eve really loved more than anything else in the world…

"Um, I… don't… believe they do…" Myra answered, thinking aloud unsurely, "…Do they, Marcum?"

"The deer breed and populate while they are still alive. They create young ones of their own, which in turn grow to be bucks and does, and have young of their own. The ones here in Limbo don't come back to life, because in the real world they didn't have a real life… They've always been here…"

"The animals don't possess a soul, therefore they cannot live on…" Myra thought aloud, "Hmm… Yes—I do believe the Bible said animals were there for us to use…"

That hurt Eve, right there and then—that statement right there… Animals don't possess a soul…? But, how could that be possible? The animals—they felt fear, they felt anger, they felt sorrow and happiness…? How could they not have a soul? A cat purred! A dog whined, with its tail between its legs…! A mother sparrow chirped quietly and sadly over the death of its young after a hawk stole it from the nest…! How could these animals not have souls…? Was the world of Limbo really this harsh…?

Eve squeezed her hand tightly, hunching her shoulders over as she stared at the flame. The hot, dry earth around her combined with the heated vapors from the flames quickly dried her eyes out, and made her rub them, causing salty, irritating tears to form in her eyes as she hid her face. Now was not the time to be crying—Marcum had done them a very big favor by getting them something to eat. Myra also told her the truth—she shouldn't be getting depressed and upset about something she asked about. Marcum was alive and well, and it was clear to see that he wasn't dead or hurting anymore… But the deer… …

"I wish the deer would live…" Her voice trembled softly…

"Hm…?" Myra turned towards Eve.

Eve continued to sniffle for a bit, wiping the tears away from her eyes as she struggled to keep a straight face, looking up to repeat her bit.

"…I said I just wished that the deer would live. That's all…"

"Oh, but the deer do live, Eve—there's deer all around us."

"I meant I wished they would come back and live…! Kinda like us…!" Eve felt her voice shake, "I just… … I mean… the animals have just as much right to live as we do, so what I'm saying is we shouldn't just kill them to eat them."

Myra blinked, "Oh, um… If you didn't want to eat any of the deer, you're more than welcome to have some of the mushrooms or other plants around here—you don't have to have any of the deer…"

Now Eve just felt bad. She felt like she was being whiny. And furthermore, she wasn't able to get her point across… but… Myra and Marcum would have different views… and telling them they were wrong—err, that they had a different opinion from hers—no, wait…! … … …

It was just... plain frustrating! Maybe she was thinking too much about it—maybe she should just let it go and find some of those plants they were talking about and eat some. Or just go to bed. …No—it was way too early for that, and she still wanted to get to know them better… but with her crying like this, and the deer, and what they might think because she thought differently and didn't want to eat the deer and all, and…

She scrunched up in a ball again and gritted her teeth, fighting back the tears again. By this time, Marcum had approached and placed his hands on her shoulders, his hands cleaned from the skinning, but still smelling of the flesh of the animal. It made her want to gag, but she didn't. Her face turned very red, and she could feel very embarrassed for having caused such a scene… She didn't want all this attention—why couldn't she just… rewind the clock and start the day over, start the day to just a few minutes ago to before they were talking about the deer…? Now it was just getting plain messy and stupid…! It just made her want to… … …!

"Eve…? You alright…?"

"Mmyeah…?" Eve whimpered—the sticky contents of her mouth slurring part of her speech. It was irritating—that… warm, slimy sticky stuff that tried to keep your lips shut, and yet made the really good stuff for spit bubbles…? She wished it wasn't there—and it kind of felt like she had crud around the corners of her lips… How utterly embarrassing…!

He knelt down beside her, and wrapped his arms around her, laying his head on her shoulder… and hugged her…

"…You'll be fine…" he whispered in her ear.

She blushed, her face turning quite red, and felt shivers race down her spine. She quickly turned back to face him, inquiring him, "W… what…? W-what do you mean…?"

"You're crying…" he replied softly.

She brushed him aside, taking a look off to the side where a few blades of grass were blowing softly in the wind, "Oh, I wasn't crying—it's just… smoke in my eyes, and the hot air from the fire—"

He held her tightly, pressing his face against the back of her head, nuzzling her gently…

"…It's alright…"

She felt herself shiver and shake, even though it was really warm out. Her tears were building up again, and she could feel her breathing intensify. Her mouth turned down into a frown, and she closed her eyes, pressing her face against his chest as she began crying again. Her sad whining filtered into her voice, to which all he did was stroke her hair and nuzzle her softly…

"You'll be okay, Eve… Everything's going to be alright, now…"

She clung to him, hearing those words… It seemed so awkward that she would have only met him yesterday, gone through so little, and yet… it seemed like she had done so much… She really liked him… She really, really did like him… And...

…She hugged him back.

Myra, watching from afar, couldn't help but to sniffle as well. Making the sign of the Holy Trinity, she smiled and held her hands together, her thick-heeled shoes resting on the edge of a stump while she watched the two embrace. She reached under her shirt to pull out a small, white kerchief, which she used to wipe her face down with before drying off her eyes.

"Oh my~…! This is all very lovely-like… I'm sorry to say, but it makes me quite envious…!"

Trying to turn her humor elsewhere, she spied the deer carcass, to which she commented, "Well, Eve, I don't think you'll have to worry about finding a shop anymore—I'd like to think you could use the deer skin here for something!"

Marcum and Eve couldn't help but to laugh. Eve glanced up at Myra with sparkling eyes, even if the idea sounded quite atrocious to her.

"Thanks, Myra…" she smiled. Something told her it was going to be a long life here in the afterlife, but with two friends—maybe things wouldn't quite be so bad after all…