Chaos Lives in Everything - 20. Chapter 20

"How is it that you're not dead?" Rebecca said. "I saw Skold run you through with his sword."

"By all rights I should be dead," said Candestine. She wiped the black gore off of her blade and slid it back into her belt. "If he hadn't missed just a fraction of an inch then I would be. I suppose he did not have the heart to kill me."

"You know her?" Melanie asked. "What's going on? What the hell was that thing?"

"The abomination before you was once a man, girl," said Candestine, nudging it with her foot to make sure that it was truly dead. "Today they are called zombies. Humans that have been raised from the dead through death magic. One has not been seen for many centuries. Not since the Paladin Wars, and even then seeing one was a rare occurance. But I have not seen one like this."

"Hang on," Rebecca said. "What the hell did you want? How did you find me?"

"I was walking when I saw you and your friend in the window of that coffee shop. I decided to follow you. I would say it is a good thing that I did too. If I had not the two of you would most likely be dead."

"So what, you're my friend now? Because just the other day you tried to kill me."

"Kill you?" Eyes widening, Melanie looked back at Rebecca. "Kill you? She tried to kill you? Please, tell me what is going on here."

"This conversation is not meant for your ears," Candestine said to Melanie. "It is between Rebecca and I. Go away."

Melanie's eyes narrowed and she stepped in front of Rebecca defensively. "No fucking way."

Rebecca touched her shoulder gently. "Melanie it's okay. I'll be fine." When Melanie opened her mouth to protest Rebecca kissed her on the lips and said, "Really. I'll be okay. I'll come over later tonight and explain everything. I promise."

Melanie nodded shakily. "Okay." She walked away reluctantly, glancing back at Rebecca several times before disappearing around the corner.

"We must hide the body," Candestine said. She lifted the remains of the body and threw it into the large dumpster. "As I said before I have never seen a revenant such as this. You must come call Skold right away and tell him to come to this location immediately. He must see the body."

"I'm not going any favors for you."

Candestine hissed, annoyed. "Girl if I wanted to kill you as of now I would have killed the thing and then you. I mean you no harm."

Rebecca could not believe her ears. "So you're saying that you're on our side now?"

"My king exiled me because I refused to finish the job of killing my brother. I could not kill Skold after he spared me. But now I have nowhere else to go. I have no purpose. Now I am nothing." Candestine was looking down at her feet, too embarrassed to look Rebecca in the eye. She looked so sad that Rebecca almost felt sorry for her. Almost but not quite.

"Alright I will call him for you." Rebecca pulled out her cell phone and speed dialed him number. This is going to turn out to be another interesting night, she thought.

When Skold pulled up he could not believe his eyes. There his sister stood unwounded, completely healed. Rebecca had not explained the situation to him right away; the only thing that she had told him was that Dom and he needed to come right away.

"Damn bitch," Dom growled. "I thought you killed her."

"I guess I didn't," Skold said. He did not tell Dom that he had only wounded her.

"I'll rip her head off with my bare hands and make sure that she stays dead this time," Dom said, shoving open the door.

Skold grabbed his arm firmly. "Don't do anything just yet. Rebecca doesn't appear to be in any danger. Let us at least see what she wants. If she tries anything then you can kill her. Understood?"

"Whatever you wish," Dom said. "But if she so much as looks at me funny I'm going for her throat."

"Brother," Candestine said. "I am very glad to see that our standoff the other day did not cripple you."

"I wish that I could say I am just as pleased," said Skold.

"Come now. It is only because of you that I am alive."

"Cross me again and next time I can assure you, I won't miss."

"I did not come here to fight you," Candestine said, her voice dropping to her a whisper. "I came to stand by your side. The seer came to me. She helped heal me. She showed me the error of my ways. The king has exiled me."

"Not punishment enough for what you did," Dom rumbled.

Skold shot him a warning look and then looked back at his sister. "What do you want? Why did you call me down here?"

"She saved my life," Rebecca said. "A friend of mine and I were walking this way when we were attacked by a...a revenant. It's in the dumpster."

Skold walked over to the dumpster and lifted the lid. He studied the corpse frowning. He immediately felt uneasy. "It is unlike any revenant that I have seen. What is this black matter?"

"I do not know," said Candestine. "It must be something new. But a revenant can only be one thing..."

"Someone is using death magic," Skold finished for her. "A necromancer."

"Yes."

"And the practitioner used the revenant to attack Rebecca. This is no coincidence. We must be onto something. We can't just leave the body here. It needs to be examined. This black substance needs to be tested." Skold looked at the others. "Where could we examine it without anyone knowing?"

"The asylum," Rebecca said. "No one would bother us there."

The corpse was laid out on a dusty gurney. The corpse had been carefully wrapped into a large plastic to avoid any chance of contact with the black substance. Skold and Dom watched as Candestine drew the blade of the scalpel from the edge of the man's throat to his groan. She wore fresh plastic gloves. She worked with the grace and diligence of an accomplished surgeon.

Rebecca could not bring herself to look. She didn't know which was worse, the sight or the smell. It was everything she could do not to vomit.

Candestine carefully pried the wound apart. Black fluid seeped over the edges of the table, splattering the floor. The group of four backed fearfully away from the table.

Dom cursed. "What is this stuff?"

Rigid shapes that could only be bone poked out of the black liquid. But the bone was no longer white but covered in a black crystaline that glimmered under the pale light. Rebecca looked long enough to snap several pictures with her phone.

"It appears that the substance has somehow melded with the bones," Candestine observed. "And the smell of it...is distinctly familiar."

"Of course it is," said Skold. "You and I encountered a long time ago. It's Paladin's plague."

Stunned silence hung over the room.

"Are you sure?" Dom asked.

Skold nodded gravely.

"But that's not possible," said Candestine. "All signs of the plague and Paladin's work disappeared along with Paladin."

"Someone must have found a way to create a modified version of it. Someone who worked closely with Paladin."

"And who could that be?"

Skold and Dom exchanged looks. Skold said: "Samhein."

"Samhein? Paladin's advisor? You know of him?"

"He owns a night club here in town. We spoke with him yesterday. He claimed he was not involved with the troll attack. I can't think of anyone else who would be capable of something like this."

"Here's our proof," said Dom.

"Not proof enough," said Skold. "It's a lead but it's not proof. Whoever did this used a revenant to carry the plague without fatally infecting it. I doubt that Samhein can harness death magic."

"But someone can," said Candestine. "A necromancer."

Skold turned to Rebecca. "I want you to text these pictures to my phone. I will take them to Reynolds tomorrow along with a sample of the plague. Perhaps he can send it to someone who can test it and tell us more about it. He will be either very pleased that we have found a new lead or very frustrated. Once we get the sample we need to destroy the body."

Rebecca raised her fist to Melanie's door, about to knock, and hesitated. She pursed her lips and rapped lightly on the door three times. A moment later she heard Melanie's footsteps behind the door, deliberately slow, reluctant footsteps. The cracked open and she peeked at Rebecca through the chain. Relief flooded over her face which in turn relieved Rebecca. Melanie pushed the door open the rest of the way and pulled Rebecca into your kiss.

"I was worried about you," Melanie whispered. "I was worried that you weren't going to call."

Rebecca gulped. It took her a second to find her words; no one had said anything like that to her, not even Twig. "Well I'm here. Sorry I didn't get here sooner."

"No, no. Don't be sorry. I'm just glad to know that you're okay...that you're not hurt." Melanie shook her head. “That thing that attacked us...that man...only he wasn’t man...I’ve never seen anything like that. I mean I know that these things exist and they always have but...I’ve never been so scared in my life. Something’s happening isn’t it? The troll attack last week and now this. Something is happening in Roc City.”

Rebecca nodded.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“No. But me and the others are trying to figure it out. We’re trying to stop it.”

“You didn’t tell me that your job was dangerous. Now I know where all of those bruises I saw on your back the other night came from.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you that. I was scared of what you might think. I was scared that you wouldn’t want to see me anymore.”

Melanie smiled. “You being a bad ass doesn’t make you any less sexy. But I can’t stand the idea of you being in danger. What if something happened to you?”

“Someone has to keep the bad guys from destroying the world,” Rebecca murmered. “Might as well be me.”

“Well since you’re a heroine why don’t you sleep with me tonight and keep me safe.”

“I may seem like a strong ass bitch on the outside but believe me I’m not. What happened to me really scared me. It would have been a lot scarier if I had to go through it on my own. But you were right beside me, holding my hand. You make me feel safe. Will you please stay over tonight?”

“Of course.”

They went into Melanie’s bedroom. The bedroom was dark, silent, and safe. Rebecca felt no sense of danger here. It was strange how she felt more at home and more safe than she did in her own apartment. She watched Melanie’s outline undress as she did. There was just enough moonlight coming through the window that she could see the curve of Melanie’s hips, the inky shapes of her tattoos.

Rebecca crawled into the bed, sliding underneath of the sheets. Melanie scooted up against her, her breathing soft and relaxed. It would become softer and more relaxed once she fell asleep. Melanie was the first to fall asleep.

Rebecca could not sleep. Not yet. Her head was full of thoughts. There was so many things that Melanie still did not know about her. Like the fact that she had a debt to pay with Bajork, the fact that there was a bullseye right on her head. Rebecca told herself that everyone had secrets but she knew that her reason was much more selfish than that: because she was afraid of Melanie’s absence as opposed to keeping Melanie alive.

I’m no fucking heroine, she thought. She closed her eyes, listened to Melanie’s breathing and eventually fell asleep.

Skold, Dom, and Candestine were still at the asylum. The night was approaching midnight and the body had been completely disposed of. No one would know of the work that had been done here; there was no evidence to be found except for the vial containing the sample of the plague kept safely in Skold’s pocket.

Dom watched Skold and Candestine work side by side from a distance, clearing away the surgical utensils that had been used in the autopsy. Mainly he watched Candestine. He did not trust her and furthermore he did not like her. He did not understand why Skold had forgiven her so easily. Dom understood that Candestine was his sister, the last remaining family he had left, but Candestine was dangerous. She could not be trusted. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Dom to keep his mouth shut on the matter. After all it was none of his business.

Once everything was packed they left the rotting interior of the asylum and threw the two duffel bags into the back of Skold’s Mustang. Skold slammed the trunk shut and turned to his sister. “Do you want me to take you home?”

“No. I will walk home.”

Dom breathed a sigh of relief, turning his head so that the others would not hear it.

“I am sure. After a night like this I could use a walk. I am still adjusting to my surroundings.”

“I can imagine so.”

Skold and Candestine made their goodbyes. It wasn’t until Dom and Skold were away from the pr operty that Dom spoke up.

“I don’t trust her,” he said.

“You’re smart not to,” Skold replied. “She is callous and manipulative.”

“Then why has she regained yours so easily?”

“I do not trust anyone least of all her. I also do not judge her.”

“She deserves to be judged,” Dom rumbled stubbornly.

“And I do not? I have done more wicked things than she.”

“So you now feel remorse for the things that you have done?”

Skold flicked a quick glance in Dom’s direction. “No. Regardless of how Vervolechent might have awakened my ability to feel I am still a warrior, a killer. That is something that cannot be changed. I have killed thousands of souls, both the guilty and the innocent. I kill because I take joy in it. However with this newfound sense of emotion I feel that everyone deserves a second chance. My sister is no different.”

“I will watch her very closely all of the same,” Dom said.

“I would expect nothing less,” was Skold’s reply.