Where Spirits Dwell

Jiordano stepped out of his room quietly, lightly shutting the door behind him. As he went to take a step forward, Skylar phased through the wall beside him. He started, inwardly, then shook his head; he had to stop being surprised by things like this. He would be seeing a lot more of spirits now, whether he liked it or not.

He soon found himself downstairs in the busy midday throng of customers and employees alike. He kept glancing to the side at Skylar, it was disorienting having people not notice her, and even walk right through her. He soon learned to ignore her when people began to look at him strangely when he looked questioningly at an empty space before replying. It was such a simple thing, but a real hindrance to looking sane.

Soon Mrs. Tanner caught up with him, a mild concern on her face. But when she saw that he was doing his work normally and without any significant problem she returned to her regular, blustering attitude.

“Jordan? Jordan! I need you to go order some things for me. Apparently our last message didn’t get received so I’m sending you, no chance of a mistake being made there,”
Jiordano looked at her with mild surprise, such a simple job; she must be really worried for him. He turned to leave but was stopped by a shout from behind him.

“Jordan? Make sure you’re back in time for dinner, you hear?”

With her nurturing instincts satisfied she returned to yelling at another worker. Soon, even her voice was swallowed by the general din of the inn and even that was soon lost to the noise of the city.

He smiled, he was happy. That was the first time that she had ever acknowledged him as anything more than another boy who worked at her inn. It almost broke through the loneliness in his heart, the lost feeling of never having a mother. He shook the feeling, he never had to feel alone again; he now had a guardian spirit who wouldn’t abandon him to the chaotic rigors of the world.

He twirled and skipped down the street, his joy uncontainable. However, he swiftly decided to go down less busy roads when passerby’s began to give him strange looks.

Soon he and Skylar were the sole wanderers of a deserted road. They walked in silence.

Breaking the silence, Skylar spoke, “It’s strange, isn’t it? How such a large city, so occupied by people, only go along such set paths. How can a road such as this be empty and unused?”

He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, then replied, “It’s due, in part, to the people’s fear of the necromancers that rule this place. It’s said that their abominations walk these streets occasionally. Of course that doesn’t stop too many people; after all, it’s just an old wives tale. But it’s also due to how set people are in their lives. They fear stepping outside what they know their routines and patterns. It’s that way for all of us.”

“I will never understand that about you humans, no matter how much time I spend with you. I am glad that it isn’t all people who do it, just the majority.”

He looked sideways at her, “How long have you been around anyways? You always see…”

He trailed off at the sight of a person wandering up the street towards them, then while pointing at the person, he said, “Well, it seems there’s hope for people yet. Someone else decided to try something new.”

Skylar glanced at him and gave him a strange look then turned her attention down the road, where he was pointing. She stopped right in her tracks. He almost didn’t notice at first and walked a few steps ahead of her.

He turned around and raised a brow at her, “Hey, what’s the hold up? We are on a job you know.”

Then he stopped sensing something was wrong, that’s when the stench washed over him. It was foul and putrid, a smell so wretched it caused his stomach to churn violently within him. Gagging violently, he stumbled back to Skylar.

“What the hell is that?” he asked.

“Hell’s where that smell should be. This is the work of an abomination the robed ones rose up,” she replied, her lip curling in anger.

He swallowed down bile, “Necromancers? What do they have to do with this? Unless…”

Jiordano turned his attention back down the street to see the person was now fully visible. He now realized it wasn’t a person at all, just the carcass of a formerly living one. It looked as if it used to be a man and walked as easily as it had in life. Its face was mangled with rips and whatever work nature had begun on it. It was dirty, as if it had just crawled out of its grave. His clothes were the shambles that remained of its funeral attire.

As the creature got closer, he noticed something else. Its face, as disgusting and vile as it was with maggots emerging from it, seemed to be shifting. It didn’t happen often, but if he focused and didn’t look away, he could almost see a second face, masked beneath it. It seemed to be crying, calling for help.

Entranced, he took a step closer but a cold hand on his arm held him back.

“You see it, don’t you?” Skylar asked, searching his face for some unknown truth.

Shaking her head, as if to clear it, she continued, “It doesn’t matter. Now, you need to listen to me. This thing is here to kill you. What I need you to do is listen to your instincts. What you need to do is hidden in your blood, find it and use it. I can’t help you, you need to do this for yourself, or this thing will tear you to pieces,” With those last few words, she vanished.

He could still feel her presence, swirling around him, an atmosphere of calm and encouragement. Then he looked at the creature, ignoring its hidden face, focusing on its physical appearance.

Jiordano fell backwards, chocking. The stench of it had hit him like a brick wall. He struggled to stand up again. Finding his footing once again he noticed that the thing was just a few meters away from him. Staring at him, a vacant, empty, look.

That’s when he knew what to do. He shut out all the physical features of the creature and instead looked only at that second face, masked in the flesh. He focused until all he could see was that tormented face, yearning for help. Then he reached out and touched the creature’s chest.

Something inside of him felt as if it was turned on and he felt as if he was pulling something out of the thing, like it was only a temporary vessel. Then it was free.

A pale, incorporeal man seemed to emerge from the corpse. He nodded at Jiordano and disappeared. When he was gone, the empty flesh fell in a misshapen heap.