No More Dreaming of the Dead, It Becomes Undone


Screaming. Shrill, horrified screaming came from the streets outside. Such a contrast to the usual sounds of rail cars or street shop owners. Black market dealers or lost tourists. Though she was on the top floor of a large building, the screams still reached her open window. She pushed away from her desk and computer. The small little space in her room where she both lived and work. Right from home. Because how could she leave the house when her family couldn’t quite function without her?

It was them she was thinking about when she stepped down the hall. A tight churning coiled in her chest. An odd sensation of cold, chilling fear. Because of the screams? Because of a bad feeling? She wasn’t sure. But it seemed to be trying to wrap it’s way around her head in such a dizzying way, that she almost missed the sound of the door slamming and her mother running screaming her name shrilly. The woman was covered in blood, her slinky tight dress ripped and torn. A wild look across her face. Her mother had never quite been all there in her head, but this new expression was startling.

“What happe-” she was cut off.

“IT’S YOURS. Zeren, it’s yours! Take it!” her mother screamed as she crossed the room. She snatched an amulet on a chain off from around her head and grabbed Zeren’s arm. “Do you accept it?”

Zeren nodded. “Yes, but what’s-”

Her mother quickly draped the amulet around Zeren’s neck. “It’s yours. This is yours. Your inheritance. You are the one, not me. Not me.” she rambled on. The door opened again, but this time closing with a soft click. Zeren’s Uncle stood there. An equally unexplained look on his face, as he eyed his sister who was quickly shoving Zeren to the side and pointing at her. “It’s HERS! She accepted it!”

“What is going [i]on[/i]?” Zeren asked again. Her hands picking up the amulet and taking a better looked at it. She could feel a shiver down her spine. A strange mix of revulsion and curiosity. Her mother had always wore it, but Zeren had never thought to ask what it was.

Uncle crossed the room, taking Zeren by the shoulders. He smiled, but it was such a twisted look it left her feeling a little off kilter. “He’s coming. Coming now for us. We’ll all be together…!”

The door crashed open, wood splintering in every direction and taking out part of the wall with it. Misshapen bodies poured in as Zeren’s mother continued screaming, almost laughing hysterically. “IT’S HER! HER! I AM NOT THE ONE! N-NO…! IT’S NOT ME~!” Blood splattered everywhere when she was lept on, still screaming her strangled cries as they ravished and ripped her body.

Zeren’s uncle had released her, laughing himself. “Come for us! Take us to him. Take us!” He too was lept on, without even the sense to be afraid when his arm was tore right out of his shoulder. At sight of Zeren their movements slowed. Heads tilting as the inched forward. She backed away, nearly stumbling over the furniture. Heart pounding in her chest.

On impulse and running on pure auto-pilot, Zeren ran. The door was blocked, so she hit the window at full speed. The glass cracked and shattered, leaving her falling several feet before she hit the ground with a roll and kept rolling until she was out in the middle of the road. Covered in cuts and broken glass, Zeren pushed herself up on her elbows only to find the streets riddled with those monsters. People running and screaming in terror in every direction.

Zeren climbed to her feet and ran towards the sea, instinct hissing that it would be the only safe place.


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