Surviving the Undead

Chapter 2

I couldn't believe the human was keeping pace with me. Even though it was irrational, I was tempted to speed up. Realistically, it was a good thing the human was able to stick with me. I would have been much more irritated if we had to go at a snail's pace.

We turned a corner and I saw my house. I came to a swift halt, the human following my example. No matter how tempted I was to sprint inside and lock the doors, I couldn't do that. I had to make sure we were alone. Cautiously glancing around me, I started to move towards my house. Strands of my hair were blown across my face. A thread of faint moans drifted by on the wind. We had clearly outdistanced them. The knot in my eyebrows smoothed itself out as I was hit with a wave of relief. I began to walk forwards, but after going a few steps I realized something was off.

I threw out my arm to halt the human who was trailing warily behind me. Someone was standing beside the lamp post across the street. Their eyes were directed towards me, reflecting the last glow of sunset. A cold shock ran down my spine as I realized they were the dead eyes of a ghoul. I adjusted my grip on my crowbar and prepared to dash across the street as soon as I heard the familiar, bone-chilling moan. To my astonishment, the ghoul's mouth spread wide, but no sound came out. Was it... grinning? The ghoul raised a hand, almost as if it was acknowledging me. Then the ghoul began to amble down a side-street, at a greater speed than normal.

When the ghoul had almost disappeared from view I ran towards my house. I was freaked out. It took a lot to really get to me, and this had. A ghoul had grinned at me! Then it didn't even try to eat me! What the hell was going on?

We ran to the back door, and I unlocked it as quickly as my fumbling fingers would allow. Once we had made it inside and the door was securely locked behind us, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Did you see that?" I asked, desperate to believe I had been imagining things.

"The ghoul?" asked the human, sounding confused. "Well, yeah... I'm just glad it didn't see us."

I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or even more scared. Clearly I was seeing things. I wanted to laugh at myself. What had I been thinking? Ghouls can't grin. Pushing it out of my mind, I started to walk to the bottom of the useless staircase. When I saw the rope dangling, I felt like an idiot.

"I doubt you're going to be able to get up there," I said. "Wait here, I'll go get some things and we'll sleep in the basement tonight."

After getting everything we would need from upstairs, I returned to the foyer and noticed the dark form of the human leaning against the wall. I quickly lit one of the candles I had brought down. The windows and doors were all draped in black, so no light could be seen from the outside.

I stepped forward holding on to the candle and finally truly looked at the person I had saved. His hair was so fair that it was a buttery colour. It was long and shaggy, pieces of it were falling down into his eyes. I realized that his eyes were being squeezed shut in an expression of intense pain. His right hand was supporting his left arm, which was hanging limply by his side. It appeared to be dislocated.

Setting the softly flickering candle on the hall table, I walked towards him. "Let me see your arm," I said. His eyes flashed open, and I was stunned by what a pale green they were. He was looking at me warily. I rolled my eyes. "We're doing this again? I wouldn't have brought you here if I was going to hurt you. So let me see your arm," I insisted.

He stepped off of the wall, standing up straight. He was just a few inches taller than I was, probably over six feet. Hesitantly, he turned so that I was facing his damaged arm. When I felt around the shoulder joint he winced. "I thought you weren't going to hurt me," he said, making an effort at joking around.