A Crumbling Society

Part 2-21

Apparently, its Dusk's first time here as well which led me to ask the question about how vampires can walk here freely. The truth about her and all creatures from Valsyri is that because there's no magic, they will transition to their true forms within nature. So, she told me that we sort of have a time frame until she becomes a mutated version of a vampire with wings since she's not a pureblood. In actuality it could expose me too because she won't be able to control her cravings and if I'm the only human here then it could get messy. Laughing a little and saying, "gotcha", to understand what she said I scratched the back of my head hoping it would never get to that. I've had too many close calls lately and way too much back and forth with imminent danger. Passing a bench there was a couple talking, they were the first ghosts I had seen up close and they looked alive. The blush in their complexion gave them a life-like sense of being, they were making jokes and holding hands. One of them looked at us and nodded to acknowledge we were passing by; I did the same in hopes he couldn't tell I was alive. Buildings here looked misplaced since some looked out of date, but others matched those like the one I work in. I pointed out that this place overall gave me the feeling I was in a dream almost. The light around us shining bright and if everyone here looked normal to living standards then I'd call it peaceful. "Oh shit!", I yelled out, not realizing how loud but nobody heard me. Dusk gave me those eyes of disapproval but asked me what the matter was. "You", I told her, "You haven't burnt up from the sunlight" expressing much concern. Standing there continuing to give the same look she told me with no magic and creature rules, the sunlight doesn't work here. "The properties of this place contradict the means of my damnation, or curse, therefore this is why I'll turn into my true self instead of bursting into flames". I let out an "oh" and she told me to keep walking with an implied exhale of annoyance. "Sorry", I expressed, and Dusk told me it was fine but that we really should be careful next time we have random realizations. "My bad", was my response and we kept on walking looking around at everything.

After getting to the city square you could see the gamut of things going on. Countless groups were corralled together, some were listening to someone talking, others were boarding the tube system, and another was just relaxing. The area resembled a quad but extremely bigger, and it had thousands of ghosts. Dusk told me to abide by the rules she gave, and we should get passed unnoticed. Pointing across the way at two buildings shaped weirdly there was a cut through, and she said this would help cut our time in half. I liked this idea, but we just had to make our way over there and it looked a bit far. Not the biggest deal but I wasn't sure how much time we had exactly before she turns into a rabid vampire. I'm not sure if she knows either, that might be why she's pointing out the fastest way. "Umm", I attempted, and she interrupted with an "I don't really know, but I'm starting to feel weird", and I told her I understood. Continuing the walk, busses passed us like everyone had things to do here, there wasn't a single place to indicate anyone had a job. It was as if all you did as a ghost was visit people and talk to them all day or something close to it. What does anyone do when they're dead and stuck in a place between places is really picking at my brain. Hoping to never find out I put my mind on watching the bus ride down the road out of sight and then to a fountain. It had two angels atop holding gourdes or urns where the water started pouring out of traveling downward. The base had flowers and more angels; their wings were stretched out to form the trim. Out of place was an understatement but something about it caught my eye, I may have seen it before on a job, or saw it in a book for research. "Hey Dusk, are there artifacts here from the living world or is that fountain customary to what this place is or made of?", curiously asking. She looked to where I was facing and asked me, "what fountain?".

"You don't see the fountain right there in the corner against that building? It's got bushes around it too!"

"Sorry, I see nothing!", she said with the same tone asking what I was talking about originally.