The Bride with the Black Umbrella

Chapter 2

I walked all the way to the cemetary, not taking one look back to where the woman was standing.  I've made coming to my mother's grave a ritual ever since I remembered.  The cemetary was almost like my safe haven, where I could express myself, think, or do whatever I wished without being judged or ridiculed.

"Hi, mother."  I say while kneeling onto the ground, right between her headstone and other person's headstone.  "Today was the same as usual.  Got some coffee, looked around for a job, that sort of stuff.  However, I did meet someone quite peculiar today.  She's goes by the name Crimson Mercy!  I don't know why, but her name seems familiar to me, mother.  I'm planning to look her up a bit to see if I read about her somewhere, but I knew that I couldn't bail on you, now could I?"

Suddenly, I fell over, as if something-or someone- had pushed me down.  I fell right on my back, right in front of my mother's neighboring headstone.  As I looked at the stone, memories of the name had flooded back to me.  Ones that I didn't even know I had

Crimson Mercy

October 28, 1968-April 16, 1993

Will be remembered as an amazing sister, daughter, friend, and girlfriend.  May justice be served and she rest in peace

"Oh, god..."  I mumble while struggling to get away from the stone.  It's impossible, isn't it?  I mean, it's not uncommon for people to have the same first and last name.  Yes, that must be it, because there's no way I'm talking to dead people, right?  As I continued crawling away from the stone, I felt my body lock up and everything around me was turning black, then I saw myself in front of the chapel.  However, the chapel didn't look as old and worn down as I have known it as

"Oh, where is he!  We're going to be late, and we've been waiting for this for so long!"  The woman from earlier, Crimson, mumbles as she continues to pace back and forth in front of the chapel, her dress dragging against the ground behind her.  As she continued pacing, a dark figure emerged from behind her, holding a sharp object in it's hand

'Run!'  I tried to yell, but my voice was silent, and I could tell that the woman couldn't hear me.  She continued to pace, oblivious to the fact that someone was behind her.  However, when she had turned around, she yelled a name, but it seemed to be muted before everything turned black.

"Save her, and bring her the justice that no normal person could bring, Edgar!"  The mysterious voice repeated constantly

"But how?  I don't know her, and there's nothing I can do!"  I yelled into the pitch darkness.  Suddenly, I see the figure of a woman, but her face was covered with a shadow

"Oh, Edgar.  You're much more than you may think you are.  You are powerful, you're an Almar!  Don't let the power get to your head, dear..."  The figure, who's voice was mysterious and feminine, said while walking towards me.  She takes a hold of my hands and places a cold object into my right hand, clasping my fingers over it without letting my look at it.  I tried to speak, but she put her fingers over my lips, forcing me to not speak  She begins to mutter some incoherent words, and I feel myself being pulled away from her, screaming the whole way.

I found myself back in the cemetary screaming, and it was nearly dusk out when I came back to reality.  How long was I out?  From what I saw, it was only in just a few measly minutes, but it had seemed to have been many hours.

"What the hell was that?"  I mutter while holding my head, pulling myself off of the ground at the same time.  As I got up, I noticed that there was the small, metallic item in the palm of my hands.  When I looked at it, I realized that it was some sort of locket shaped as a sphere, with a large ruby in the center of it, shaped as an oval, almost reminding me of a drop of blood.  The locket itself was locked, to my displeasure, so I decided to get a better look at it.  Inspecting it, I noticed that on the back of the locket, it seemed to have some sort of writing on it.

"Damn..."  I mutter, realizing it's in some sort of foreign language.  Oh well, I'll research it later on a day when I'm feeling well.  Because right now, I feel like I'm going to be sick any second now.

I somehow manage to stumble back into my small apartment in one piece and place the locket on the kitchen counter as I begin to undress myself for a shower.  Once I get in and let the scalding water hit my skin, I feel my muscles instantly relax.  However, today's events are still leaving me to wonder what they have to do with Crimson, or how that darn locket got into my hands!  As I was trying to open it, it wasn't budging a single inch, but it didn't seem to have any sort of lock or adhesive connected to it at all.

"Come on, Edgar, think!"  I say while lightly banging my shampoo-covered head against the wall, making my light brown hair fall into my face.  What do all of these things have to do with Crimson?  Actually, what does all of this have to do with me?  I'm not sure, but I will find some answers!