Een kort verhaal van Dominique Aberkrom

He was right, it was cold. But that wasn’t the reason why Lauren shuddered. Her mind kept wandering off towards what would happen once they came ashore, and tried to enter the city.
“You know you didn’t have to come, Brett,” Lauren sighed.
Brett answered with no hesitation: “I know. But you need me. I won’t let you do this alone, Lau.’’
Lauren looked in his eyes, thankful for his company. It was reassuring to have Brett around. He always pretended Lauren needed his protection, while in reality it was more the other way around. She couldn’t count all the times she had to save Brett from angry neighbours or fights with people from the village Shadia. However, today she could definitely use the protection he offered.
The plan was easy, really. Enter the City of the Dead, steal the sacred chalice, then find a way out.
“And most importantly: don’t get killed,” she reminded Brett.
“Yeah, yeah. You keep saying that, as if I try to get myself killed every day,” Brett answered, rolling his eyes.
Lauren immediately thought of the all the times she did think he was trying to get himself killed: performing dangerous stunts on his horse was one of Brett’s favourite hobbies.
She ignored his comment, but continued her warning: “You know what I mean. Dying in the city is different than regular dying. Your body won’t decay completely, your mind won’t find peace. You’ve seen the skeletons yourself, Brett. Promise me not to become one,” Lauren said seriously.
Brett didn’t answer, because a sound distracted him: the gates were slowly opening, creaking every second. “It has begun,” he said, not taking his eyes off of the gate. The first skeletons were already leaving the City of the Dead. Lauren tried not to think of where they would go: what if they went to Shadia tonight? They weren’t there to protect the villagers anymore. Nor was her father. She pushed the thought away: she wasn’t ready to think about her dead father yet.
“Are you ready?” Brett asked her, interrupting her train of thoughts.
She nodded. Brett skilfully brought the boat closer to shore, making sure not to be spotted by any of the skeletons. The closer they got, the colder the air seemed: as if all life was sucked from it. She supposed it was.
“Here, hold this,” Brett said, handing her a rope. It only took him only a few minutes and the boat was securely attached to one of the bigger rocks in the bay.
“So this is it, huh?” Brett asked again, he was never very comfortable with silence.
For his sake, she answered: “Let’s do this. For dad.”
Brett looked at her meaningfully, but she was already climbing out of the boat. She tried to get her landing right, but the loose ends of her pants got dragged in the water.
‘’Great. While we are invading the City of the Dead, which is probably a bad idea already, I will now leave a trace of water drippings. As if I am asking the skeletons to please come and kill me.’’
Brett followed her out of the boat and motioned her to be silent. They were closer to the gate now, and making noise was just as dangerous as leaving a trail of water.
The huge golden City gloomed over them, the gates protected by huge, intimidating golden statues of hooded figures. The gate was still open, and since there weren’t any skeletons in sight, Brett whisper-shouted, ‘’Now!’’
They shot through the darkness into the gates. Lauren held her breath, waiting for some kind of siren to go off that would alarm everyone of their arrival. But nothing came.
Lauren was amazed by the sight in front of her: inside the city there were enormous buildings, decorated with amazing detail. Creepy details, she thought to herself, looking at all kinds of bones and animals in intriguing patterns.
“No time to go sight-seeing Lauren, come on,” Brett said, while he grabbed her wrist. He dragged her farther into the city, stopping in a smaller alleyway to catch his breath.
“Is it just me, or was this a little too easy?” Lauren asked him.
Brett laughed. “We’re still in mortal danger every second that we’re here, Lau. I’m sure it’s exciting enough already.”
They followed the cobble road of the alley for a few minutes, when Lauren let out a relieved sigh. “There, do you see the temple? I think I have seen it in one of my father’s maps. We have to see the front, then I can be sure,” Lauren said, already walking further.
The City of the Dead was truly all around them. It looked like a regular city, except it didn’t. Sure, there were a lot of old, tall buildings, with light shining at all the decorations on the outside, Lauren even saw some buildings that she thought were stores. But it missed something. The streets were almost completely empty, all skeletons leaving into the night now.
“It honestly feels more like a graveyard, than a city,” Brett said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. “Are you sure that the chalice is even here?”
Lauren stopped at the corner and slowly turned her head around the corner. She let out another sigh, still no skeletons in sight. “It has to be. I was right, by the way. Do you see the apple core shapes at the top? It’s the northern temple, which means that the tombs are…” Lauren followed the skyline of the city with her index finger, until she found what she was looking for. “There! The smaller building with a huge bone on top of it. Let’s go quickly, I don’t want to be here when the gates close again in the morning.”
“Or when the skeletons come back,” Brett added.
They started walking towards the direction that Lauren pointed, bringing them closer and closer to the entrance of the tombs.
“Can you explain to me why you need the chalice so badly? I still think there are better ways to deal with your father. Talking to me, for instance. You know I’m here for you, right?” Brett said, looking at how Lauren walked in front of him.
She halted for a second. “It’s just not right. He was found dead in the living room. No bruises, no slitted throat, it didn’t look like murder at all. That’s how I know something is up: everyone dies from murder in Shadia.”
She continued following the cobble road, waiting for Brett to catch up with her.
It was true: most people in Shadia were murdered by the skeletons. The night brought out their horrors. Every night, the skeletons waded through cities, slowly. They creeped through the night, looking, searching. What for, Lauren didn’t know. She just knew that if you happened to be outside at night and a skeleton saw you, you would not live to tell the story.
‘’It just doesn’t make sense. My dad was outside most nights, he knew how to walk through darkness and how to talk like stars. He knew the risks, but he also knew the skeletons. He’s the one person who knew best how to survive the skeletons, and now he’s dead? I don’t believe it.” A tear fell down her face, she wiped it away quickly. “That’s why we need the chalice. We can bring him back to life, set things right.”
Brett noticed how her eyes were suddenly filled with a passion he hadn’t seen before her father died. A determination.
Suddenly, they heard something clacking the ground behind them. They hadn’t been paying enough attention to the City anymore. When they turned their heads around to search for what was making the sound, they were face to face with a skeleton. The skeleton was only a few meters away from them and looked at them with his hollow head. His clothes dragged on the floor, and they could clearly tell there wasn’t much more than bones left of it. The skeleton kept walking their way, slowly. As if it wasn’t in a rush at all. His bones dragged along the cobble road, while Lauren and Brett stood frozen in place for a second.
“Let’s GO, Lauren,” Brett shouted, grabbing Lauren’s wrist once again. Together, they ran to the corner of the street, unsure what to do. The skeleton wasn’t fast, but it kept following them anyway. To their horror, another skeleton was standing just around the corner of the street they just crossed.
“This way, quick!” Brett shouted again.
They ran as fast as they could, and quickly the skeletons were out of sight.
“Thank god,” Lauren said, stopping to catch her breath.
Brett did the same, but while they were catching their breath, they still heard the sound of bone scraping stone. “Crap. They are still following us. We have to keep moving.”
Lauren agreed. “We’re almost here anyway. The tomb is 2 blocks from here. Let’s continue quietly, I don’t want to attract any more attention.”
They walked further, their pace a bit faster than before. Their footsteps sounded very loud in the empty streets; the only other sound was the eerie sound of scraping bone. The bones seemed to get louder, closer. When Lauren looked behind her, she saw not two but five skeletons making their way to them. She gasped and looked to her sides, to her shock there were more skeletons gathering there. Brett noticed them to, without saying anything they started running. The skeletons followed, seeming to multiply by the second.
“Is it just me or are the skeletons faster now?” Brett shouted between gasps of breath. The running tired them out quickly, but there were still more skeletons on their sides and behind them. Stopping was no option.
“There! The tomb. If can just get to the tomb…” Lauren gasped, her breath running out.
The skeletons were so close, too close now. Only a few meters separated them, and they did indeed seem to go faster now. The streets were swarming with skeletons, it was only a matter of time before they could grab Brett and Lauren. As the skeletons came closer, so did the tomb. Lauren and Brett gave it their all, running as fast as their legs could handle. Then suddenly, the skeletons stopped. Brett and Lauren had reached the tomb, the skeletons swarmed the streets around it. They didn’t come closer. They didn’t move at all anymore. They just stood and stared, in a big circle around the tomb.
“Now what’s this?” Brett asked, trying to catch his breath again.
Lauren was laying on the floor, clutching her stomach and sucking in breath. After a few minutes, both Brett and Lauren felt better and looked at the skeletons again. They didn’t move, didn’t swerve, but didn’t get closer either.
“Maybe they can’t,” Lauren wondered. “Maybe they can’t come near the tomb at all?”
Brett turned his back to the skeletons, taking in the tomb before them. It was only one story high, which made it stand out between the high buildings in the rest of the street. “Well, I’m thankful for it. But I don’t know how we can get back to out boat if these skeletons stay here though.”
Lauren stood up and walked towards the entrance of the tomb. “First things first, we have to go in. Here, help me,” she said, trying to open the heave stone door with her hands.
Brett was still looking at the decorations on the tomb. There was a big rock on top of the building, carved in the shape of a bone. “Good to know that even skeletons enjoy art. And I always thought you need a soul for that!” he said.
Lauren couldn’t help but laugh at that. It did seem ridiculous, skeletons that murdered hundreds of men and women every night, that enjoyed a good sculpture. Brett walked towards the door and helped Lauren with opening it. They put in all of their weight.
“Just a bit… a bit more,” Lauren said between heave sighs. “Almost… there.”
Suddenly, the door caved with a thud, and the sudden impact made Brett and Lauren fall to the floor again. The inside of the tomb was pitch black, thankfully they brought flashlights. Slowly, they made their way into the tomb.
Their flashlights only lightened small pieces of the tomb at a time, but it was still obvious that the tomb was very old. Intricate designs painted and carved into the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. The designs looked like bones, monsters and other unknown creatures, all scattered in artsy ways around the room. At the outer edges of the room, there were 3 open doorways leading to even more blackness.
Slowly, Brett and Lauren made their way into the tomb, picking the doorway that had the most detailed art around it. While they were walking through the tomb, Brett was more quiet than usual.
“You know what else I don’t get?” Brett said suddenly. “If the skeletons have the chalice of life, why are they still skeletons? Can’t they just … undead themselves? It seems kind of ironic that these half-dead creatures have the chalice of life, doesn’t it?”
Lauren let out a snort. He was right, it was kind of weird. “I don’t know, really. I only know that the skeletons stole the chalice from the village of Wolin a very long time ago. And that it doesn’t work on the skeletons. Maybe they are too dead already?”
The question echoed through the cave-like halls they were walking.
“Wolin?” Brett asked. “Why was the chalice in Wolin?”
Wolin was a village not too far from Shadia. Brett sometimes visited it on his journeys with his horse. Lauren remembered the stories her father told her of the chalice very clearly, so she shared them with Brett.
“There are many stories about the origins of the chalice, but my father was a strong believer of this one: the chalice is sacred, and can give life back to people. It was made in Wolin, made by a mystical high priest. He was seen as a miracle in Wolin, because he could cure the sick and win even the worst of his enemies as friends. One day, he created the chalice, and the town of Wolin was in extasy: they would never have to lose a lost one ever again. This happiness only lasted a few short years, for one night, the skeletons, never seen before, entered the village. They wrecked every building, burned houses down and killed anyone that got in their way. It’s remembered as the black night of Wolin, due to how many people died that night. The skeletons stole the chalice that night, and it has never been seen since. My father found out it wasn’t destroyed but brought here: to the City of the Dead. He has been here a few times, you know. Studying the skeletons, finding their weaknesses. That is how I know the chalice is here, beneath the tomb.”
Lauren’s eyes were filled with tears, because for the first time of the night she allowed herself to think of her father. Of how much she missed him telling stories to her, of how much she wanted to go on one more nightly adventure with her father.
The cave-like hallway got narrower the longer they walked this way. There was no way to tell how long they had been walking. It could be minutes, it could be hours. Suddenly, they stopped dead in their tracks: a creepy, husky voice spoke to them.
“Who dares to disturb the disturbed? Who plays with life and death like it’s nothing?”
Brett and Lauren stayed silent, not knowing what to do or say. They couldn’t see anyone, no matter where they shone their flashlights, but the voice sounded even closer. Angrier.
“WELL? Who dares to enter my tombs? Evade the resting place of poor, old souls? WHO?????”
The voice was now screaming, it cut through their bones and made their knees weak.
“L..Lauren. I’m Lauren. I’m here for my father,” Lauren answered the voice.
“If your father is here, he will never return. Leave now, before you lose your life as well.”
Lauren debated telling the voice the truth or making something up. She figured she started with the truth, since an invisible cutting voice probably had more powers than she knew. Besides, her father always encouraged telling the truth.
“My father isn’t here, but the chalice is. I want to bring him back to me. He was never meant to die. It was a mistake. I have to get him back. I have to...’’ Lauren said, her voice quivering with both fear and sadness of thinking of her father.
Somehow, the voice sounded even angrier. “The chalice is not meant for mere humans. Leave. You cannot find what you’re looking for here. Humans have always been too small minded for it, and they always will be. Leave the dead to the dead.”
This made Lauren doubt for a minute.
“But the chalice is here, you say?’’ Brett chimed in, confident as ever.
Lauren looked at him gratefully.
“LEAVE THIS PLACE, NEVER RETURN. IF YOU DON’T, I WILL HUNT YOUR SOUL AND KEEP IT HERE FOREVER.”
There was a sudden, big blast of wind that crashed into them. After that, there was only silence. Lauren and Brett looked at each other.
Brett looked in her eyes and said, “Whatever that voice was, it might be right. We don’t know the chalice, really. What if we make things worse by stealing it?”
“And what if we save my dad? I can’t quit now. We’re here already. And we can’t go back, because of the skeletons. I will wade through this darkness as long as it takes. Leave if you want, but I’m not coming,” Lauren answered surely.
Brett sighed. “I told you before, I’m not leaving you. You asked me to come, you need me, so stop pushing me away. I’m just saying, let’s think about this. The skeletons made us, humans, sound like the bad guys. And I kind of get him, like, bringing people back from the dead? That’s total supervillain stuff.” He looked at Lauren intently, which made Lauren doubt again.
“My father wasn’t supposed to die Brett, I know it. People only die by being taken by the skeletons. That’s how everyone dies. My mom, my aunt, your brother. My dad was fine the day before, and suddenly I find his dead body in my room? It has to be wrong. I…” Lauren was breathing very fast and ragged now. “I… I just miss him so much Brett. There has to be a way to bring him back. This has to be the solution.”
Brett gave her a big hug. “I know you miss him. I miss him too. And we will miss him for many, many years.”
Tears were falling down Lauren’s cheek freely now, finally giving into her pain.
They stayed like that for what felt like an hour, Lauren crying and Brett comforting her, until the voice from earlier was suddenly back. The voice was still eerie, but there was a new softness in it as well.
“I know how you feel. I wish I still felt it, but I know how it used to feel. When I was still human. I will not give you the chalice, it’s not what you need. Instead, I will tell you a story.
“Many, many years ago, I lived in a small village near the coast. Our shaman, Grunternay, saved our city from a thousand threads. He made potions for the sick, spells to evade bad weather. Wild beasts were roaming the lands, but thanks to Grunternay, they never bothered out village. His magic saved us in many ways, and we were thankful. One day, Grunternay gathered the entire village to the market square to give a speech. It was ‘a matter of life and death’ that everyone would attend, and so we did. That is when he first showed us the chalice. He claimed he had cured the final risk that endangered out village: death. For no matter how many spells, potions or rituals Grunternay did, he could never make the people escape sudden death.
‘’The day before, another the son of the baker in town had died. His mother was still weeping during the speech of Grunternay, but started screaming when the body of her son was dragged onto the stage. Grunternay showed us the chalice, put water in it and poured it over the dead body. For a few moments nothing happened, but then we saw it: the baker’s son suddenly started moving. He was brought back to life. After that, everyone that died was brought to our shaman. Everyone was resurrected, death had truly been invaded. But more problems arose: there were soon living too many people in our small village. Food ran short, there wasn’t enough water for everyone. Then, one night, it became worse: a group of skeletons came to our city. None of the shaman’s magic worked on them. In the end, we figured out why: when Grunternay resurrected people, their soul was ripped from a peaceful resting place, and put right back on earth in their old life. Only not all of their soul was transferred. Some part was stuck somewhere between heaven and earth. Not really human, not really dead, the shape of a skeleton. That was me.
“After dying, I was at peace. Then, through a painful split, I was left with only a skeleton and a small part of my soul. Enough to feel pain, not enough to feel love. We skeletons resurrected here and created our own place to live out our days. Our only goal was to ruin the man who ruined us: kill Grunternay. But he was too good, too protected, we could never really get him. Until we made a new plan: we would take his power away. We stole the chalice, so that no one else has to live our faith.
“We have never found Grunternay again, after he fled from us. Being in the world hurts us, so we have to return to our own city every night. But we are still looking for a cure. That is why we come to your cities. We are searching for the other half of our souls. If we can kill it, maybe we can be free. But we have forgotten what our souls used to look like, what they felt like. The only way to make peace, is if our other half dies. So, we have to kill whoever that is, no matter the costs. But we can never find them, no matter how many sacrifices we make.
“That is why the chalice is protected. You cannot take it, for it is not yours to take. You cannot reverse death, you can only make it worse. Real, actual death is peaceful. Your father is at peace, and I hope you see that that’s better than what I’m living. Love your father, but let him go. We will never experience real peace, so we will make sure no one else has to meet our faith. We are the skeletons, keepers of the chalice, guardians of the peace. This is as far as your journey here will go.”
Brett and Lauren stood next to each other, dumbfounded by the story they heard. Then suddenly, there was a big blast of wind, coldness and a flash, and they were outside of the City of the Dead, back in their boats.
The city looked peaceful, warm. And even though that was a lie, for the city was never truly peaceful, they now knew that the skeletons were keepers of the peace. Lauren took one long, last look at the city, and together with Brett, they started on their journey back home.