(((hey guys! I'm back again with another chapter! I really hope you guys will get into this story because I have alot of plans for it and can't wait to get started on the more intense plot line!. So please leave constructive criticism, or just a heads up that you like the story ^_^ of if you hat it thats totally fine to, I wont get upset. I love getting reviews on my work, So please leave one for me after you read this chapter?)))
CHAPTER THREE:
I awoke with the same blinding light piercing my eyes as the first time, but what did it matter? I was already dead and nothing mattered anymore. As I grew adjusted I felt my body loose control as I sense the presence of three souls in the room I was parked in.
Two face I have never seen before loomed over my open coffin, they were a man and a woman probably around the age of fifty. Kind eyes that seemed to be deeply moved to see me, but backed away a little worried as my body lurched and tried to attack them. I had bigger restraints on this time to hold me down.
I couldn't make out any words, the voices just buzzed in my ears like annoying wasps. I could see their souls perfectly though, both orange and yellow mixed as if a candle was dwelling in their chests. My body craved it, wanted nothing more than to rip into them and steal what made them different than I.
"Oh she's just as beautiful as ever!" Their voices started to make sense, but were mumbled. "except for those ghastly scars all over" the woman continued and grimaced at the sight of my body.
"surely you could have done a better job of putting her back together?" The man said a little disgusted.
"Hey, I made her look beautiful" I recognized the third voice as Undertaker (A.K.A Adrian) "I take pride in my work, her stitches are perfectly spaced and a soft gray. you couldn't ask for a better outcome" he protested, you could hear the pride in his voice.
I regret to say the rest of the "visit" went much like that, discussing me and my body and when "I'd be ready". I honestly didn't care, I couldn't even leave this coffin let alone control my body around people.
Some time passed but I don't recall how much, before the couple finally left me in peace. Their words lost my interest and I kept getting distracted by the flame like souls dancing around and vibrating in my vision. Adrian came to my side and spoke in a soft tone. "Well now, your parents seemed nice?"
Wait.. . . .What?! Did I just hear him right? "miggn. . . .prets?" I heard my rasp of a voice ask, he nodded to me as if understanding.
"yes that was them, but I doubt you remember them just yet" He nodded to me, then moved behind me to where I couldn't see and I felt movement as my death bed on wheels moved out the door and down the hall. I glanced as far back as I could and just saw the top half of his face, he smiled down at me and stated.
"We are off to run tests today, check your reflexes, verbal capability and mental processing. if there is something human left in you than we must dig it out!" he seemed quite excited.
Our journey took a while, he chatted to me and talked to keep me calm. for some reason my body didn't thrash around like it had the first time. I thought it over and spoke out loud seeing if it would help my speech.(but for the sake of understanding, I will just write her translated words)
"were they really my parents? I didn't recognize them at all though? maybe they aren't and he is just lying to me to try to ship me off to some family, or worse a science laboratory. Wait. . Was it all a Lie?"
All these questions and many more swam through my mind, haunting me and driving me to the brink of insanity for a nice road trip. He seemed to sense my pain and spoke again in a soothing tone as he opened a door and pushed my cart in.
"It's alright, you'll be just fine. No one is going to hurt you here, I want to help you miss" He carefully slide my death box from the cart to a high table, the difference in high made my body jump. "Ahh that's a good sign, it means your body is becoming more sensitive to it's surroundings." He assured me, bumming around the high rafted room, that was all I could see from my chained position.
"Ah I hear you rustle, don't worry my dear we will have you up and walking in not time!" He chimed in as he set several vials filled with strange colored liquids and boxes with the labels smudged or torn off. He came back and saw I had settled down, I hadn't even moved. "Alright, I'm going to unhook you now" I tried to scream "NO! YOU IDIOT! I'LL LOOSE CONTROL, keep me tied up, I don't wish to hurt anyone, I never want to kill another living thing". . . another living thing, hmm the Irony.
"If I need to I will do the same as I did last time, I'll knock you unconscious" He reassured my thrashing body as if knowing exactly ,my worries and fears.
It didn't exactly calm me down, inside our out. He reached and slid me carefully so the coffin was upright, then worked on the restraints starting at my legs. Once I was free he took a step back, seeing what my next move would be.
I forced myself to concentrate "left,right Left,right" I repeated to myself gripping the sides of my coffin and steadying my feet on the cold stone floor.
I took my first step out, My body kept wanting to take control but movement wise i stayed dominant. I made Progress, he held out a dog bone biscuit again and I was half way to him. That when his soul came into focus. That slight glimmer of deadly purple made my stitches itch and skin crawl.
I could feel my body shudder as it lurched forward. I yelled "nooost! p-cnn. . . . .trl. . . aaaan lizzz" Which translated was "no! stop it! keep control of yourself Analiese!"
I was so focused on my movements it took me by such a surprise when I realized it. I had said my own name. Where on earth did that come from? how in the bloody earth did That name. . . my name. . . pop into my mind?
My body and mind stopped working as one and you could see it in my eyes. As soon as I lost focus my body lurched forward towards Adrian going straight for his chest. But he blocked with one swift movement of his hand, knocking me to the floor.
The body that was moments ago under my control was now slumped over and twitching, but it didn't give up and got back up to get another chance at his purple flame of life. I cursed myself in my mind, how could I of been so stupid?
In another fluent motion with his elbows this time I was down for the count, but it didn't keep the stitched up wreck from repeating it's past mistakes. Undertaker watched with calms eyes as he dodged attack after attack from my stitched corpse, not even batting an eye.
"stop! stop it Analiese I'm begging you! you don't want to do this! this isn't you!" I screamed at myself in my head, Screaming louder and louder till the body let out an ear shattering scream of defeat and collapsed to the ground. Sprawled out and twitching, It was out of energy to continue it's attacks.
"You were closer this time my dear" Undertaker said as he crouched down next to my body watching it shudder. It rasped out loud in response, I have never felt more disconnected to my body until that very moment. Nothing made sense, the room was spinning and my vision blurred. I could suddenly see between ten and twelve souls all around me.
They were all orange and Yellow, like flames of a candle. I still couldn't understand why I had this ability to see a person's soul, or why Adrian's was different. . . what made him different? why was I like this? Why couldn't I control myself? All these thoughts swarmed my already fatigued mind, that and the stress it was under from trying to control the body I was attached to, the outcome became the same as the time before.
I lost it, I started uncontrollable sobbing.
"Wh. . . . hyyy" my body let out and nothing else besides ear shattering sobs and moans. Undertaker took my up in his arms and carried me to my coffin, or as I suspected because I had enough in me to force me eyes shut so as not to see the look of disappointment I pictured to be on his face.
Why proving I could do this and his opinion mattered to me I couldn't say, but all I could say was that he was the only one who has treated me like a person. . .a human being. . .and not like a freak of nature or a science project. After he set me down I opened my eyes and realized he had laid me down on a couch with my head in his lap.
He sat there with me patiently letting my scream and thrash and bawl. It has been several moments before I heard it, his voice smooth and gentle but still had his deep seriousness like the fist time I heard it from the Dark of my Coffin.
He sang a lullaby to me and it went like this.
(Title: A Place Called Home)
Take my hand in yours, I'll hold you close
Let you know you're not alone
I'm here with you and that's all that matter's now
We'll hide away just you and I
I'll face the ones who made you cry
In our special place we go
That's where we'll call home
I'll hold you there till your heart's full
Even when the world we know falls around us like snow
You'll still be safe with me there
I'll surround you like the blackness we find in others
And the blackness that tares me away from you
In that place we call home
We share a warmth none but us know
A love, stronger than their lies
Their alibis's
The words we crave
Aren't the ones we need
As the place we called home crumbles.
(((this sing is mine, I wrote it myself. Just to let you know so please don't steal it _ I worked really hard on it)))
(((also, When the entire story is completely finished, then I will tell you how the entire stroystoryline is based off of this song 3 )))
His song finished, his voice caught and I looked up to see those glowing green eyes misting over and tear up.
"I used to sing that to my Wife when she had trouble sleeping, See she had Insomnia so I had to help her sleep most nights" His face was sad and broken as he spoke. I looked up at him, his appearance made me want to cry all over again.
He noticed me "Would you like me to tell you more? It's seems you've calmed down but a story shouldn't hurt." He said and adjusted himself so he could continue.
"Well my dear, I'm guessing I should tell you how I first meet Rosalyn. Rosalyn being my wife."
He took a deep breath, brushing the hair from his eyes. "It was winter when we first meet, twenty three years ago now. . ."
(((the rest of the story will be in Undertaker's (a.k.a Adrian's) point of view, since He is reliving a memory Unless I say otherwise )))
It was late November, only a light snow covered let us know cold dreary months were ahead. I at the time was an A-Class Shinigami, top of my class even said to be "Legendary". I was quite famous within the Reaper Society, I could get crying babies to give me their soul's willingly if I needed to.
But that's besides the point. My list of names for that day was nearly complete, only two left and relatively close together. I signed and read the name over in my mind again as I searched the streets for my next targeted soul. I usually had the souls not on the "To-Die" list that got mixed into the one's scheduled for that day or week, this case had such an occurrence.
The streets weren't to crowded so I found the address relatively quick, I walked up the side walk then people watched a while to get a grasp on the event at hand. But I didn't see my designated targeted soul.
You see the place and time can change at any moment, usually it doesn't but each case is different. This time it changed to a street corner, I shrugged it off a retrieved my Shinigami issued trench coat and returned my scythe to my pocket, in travel form.
I exited just as quickly as I had arrived the previous "Death Appontment" and escaped to an ally way to scale the wall and run across roof tops like I had done hundred times before. I ran not even a little out of breath, approaching the street corner.
I watched, The paper's reason of death also changed "Carriage accident" I waited till the appropriate time and with a swift movement I leaped gracefully(And Quietly) onto the roof of my targets carriage.
I stayed on top ready to rescue the family inside at any cost, I waited patiently until the time would come to take the horses reins and steer this thing out of the way of what ever it planned to hit. I waited, The time was coming, exactly on the dot i heard the team of horses whinny and heard the coachmen yell
"out of the waaay! move miss!" I turned and looked sharply and bit my tongue as I realized my grave mistake. The time went in slow motion as I saw the face of the young woman who's face was the one of whom I had to postpone her death.
I leaped from the carriage full force, grabbing her waist and pulling her to the side walk as far away from the carriage as possible, her life was my responsibility now. We crashed to the ground and I shielded her body with my own from the huge tidal wave of slush and mud that came crashing over head.
She stared up at me terrified, shocked, and the look of complete anger on her face. "what on earth were you thinking?" she yelled at me, but I ignored her and stood up offering my hand (because I was a gentleman as much as a Shinigami) she reluctantly took it and stood, flattening her dress down.
Behind us the carriage swerved and hit a gas street lamp causing an explosion. I covered her from falling carriage parts and debri.
"A simple "Thank-you kind stranger" would suffice" I said, a little annoyed by her attitude.
"Well if I was thankful I would would say those words" She glared at me and I returned it with the signature Shinigami cold glance.
"My dear!. . ." and older, thicker man waddled over and clasped the young woman's shoulder. "are you Alright my dear girl? not hurt? nothing broken?" He didn't even give her time to answer before he turned to me.
"My fine man, I thank you with everything in me. you saved my darling daughter's life I don't know what I would've done if I had lost her" He shook my hand vigorously in appreciation.
"surely, I need no reward" I said calmly as I saw one of my fellow Shinigami leap from the roof and land near the carriage,death scythe in hand. The way he held it showed he was a newbie in training.
Dark hair, tall and thin. A more flamboyant reaper landed by his side. Red hair and some sort of military uniform on, papers littered the snow around them as the dark haired one collected the soul of whom ever the carriage hit before crashing.
"oh yes you do my lad, You saved my only daughter's life. surely you can take something as reward or payment for your noble deed?" The father was persistent but my mind was else where as I continued to watch the two shinigami in training struggle as the man who was dying was lashing out through his cinematic record.
It lashed out and started to bind it'self around the two newbies, I grew concerned. "No honestly it was nothing, now if you'll please excuse m-" I didn't get to finish.
"Now honestly!" the young woman spoke up. "You saved my life the least I can do is have you for dinner or something?" She protested but I was more concerned on getting to the two failing shinigami.
"Alright then, I shall come for dinner. but really I must be going, something urgent has come up" I agreed not even realizing it and made a break for a near by alley way to save the two failures. I leaped up a stair well and was nearly to the roof when a voice almost knocked me from my holding on the brick wall.
"Hey! I didn't te-. . . what on earth are you doing all the way up there?" I nearly slipped, but whipped around to see the young woman had followed me to give me her address. I attempted to hide my scythe but tried in vain as her next question came out.
"And what on earth is that in your hand?" I paused, not willing to explain who (or what) I really was.
Her eyes grew wide as I leaped down to meet her, she tried forming words but they stuck in her mouth unable to speak.
"I need you to back away, it's to dangerous for a mortal to be here" I looked at her, stone faced and ready to run up the wall to leave
. "y-you're not. . . n-not a . . . ."
"Shinigami? Yes, in fact I am and I'm in a bit of a rush if you would be so kind as to leave me to my work" I was hoping the shock would make her faint, but sadly she only grew pail.
"I-i knew it. . . . I knew they were real!" She stammered as I tilted my head surprised by her statement.
"You what?. . . how on earth could you know?" I paused and watched her a little more closely. "All persons who witness us are supposed to have their memories of the event erased. . . Like what I'll have done to you once I'm done".
She took a step back and started fidgeting. "w-well I. . . this isn't. . .the first time. . . I've actually meet a Grim Reaper"
I hated that word, I much rather prefer "Shinigami" to the dreaded name the English called us. I walked towards her until i was nearly stepping on her feet.
"What on earth do you mean? that's not possible." She blushed and took another step back. "Well. . .I'll tell you if you come to dinner tonight and I'm allowed to ask a few questions myself."
She was sly I'll give her that, But could I really trust she wasn't lying about it? I would have to ask the Society what I should do about her, personal affairs was going to have a riot with this if I was actually forced into dinner with mortals.
But oddly enough she had me intrigued. Thinking it over, I should probably just go to see what she knows, even if it's something small. I didn't have any other plans besides another soul later that night.
" As you wish. . ." I nodded my head to her "I shall accompany you for dinner tonight, but it's only tonight then I will be forced to leave you and your family be." I left out the part of stealing her memories. she nodded and failed to hide a smile.
"alright then, what time suits you?"
"Anytime, I don't have another reaping until late tonight so anytime would work" I couldn't believe that I was doing this, I was going to be the laughing stock of the Society.
"alright, Eight then." she told me her address and turned to leave.
"dinner with a legendary Shinigami"
She paused and turned back to me. "And here I haven't introduced myself, You probably already know since my name is on the "To-Die List" and all but I'll tell you anyways. It's Rosalyn, Rosalyn Carosella".
I didn't realize till later that she called me a "Legendary Reaper" nor that she knew about the "To-Die List" but as she walked away, Something about her made me curious to know more.
From that moment on, she'd have me guessing. I also forgot about the two Shinigami struggling on the roof, the noise died down so I assumed the best.
(((For those of you who saw the OVA of William and Grell as young reapers, Do you realize I added it in here :3 hehe, all the dots are connecting! but ANYWAYS! I'm about to start the fourth chapter, It will start out on the zombie girl's POV just as a head's up, then it will continue as Undertaker/Adrian telling her about his past. Buuuuut I don't want to give to much away XD so I'm gonna kindly stop my Authors Note and go write the next chapter ^_^)))
~Joker