Hysteric

“He’s still an arrogant a jerk,” Kira spat, “moving from squalor to mansion has only made him more of a jerk.”

Noia grimaced, “It’s because he has to maintain cretins like you.”

The priest interjected, “No, I quiet agree with Zach. He’s just a bigger douche. He’s simply locked himself in that room while you do all the work for him Noia. He’s finally become an entitled brat rather than a proactive leader. An entitled brat with a gift none of us received. If it wasn’t for Zagura checking out she’d still be in control.”

Noia turned around and slapped the Priest across his face, “Don’t you talk about our leader like that!”
The Priest smiled politely then shrugged before moving away from Noia and grabbing Teric’s wrist, “We’ll be off soon Noia,” he pulled the girl down forcing her to walk besides him, “don’t you want to say goodbye to your little baby doll?”

He paused only to raise the Teric’s arm and wave it like a ridiculous object. Teric retrieved her appendage from the priest and glared at him. She resisted the urge to hit him only because the control the King had over body was still fresh in her memory.

Father Joseph said, “Go, pack some nice things and a lot of practical things. Noia can help you. Then I shall come to find you once the hour is up.”

With that the second largest egotistical Necrolord walked away. Zach too slunk off into the distance without so much as a passing word. He had nothing to say or a reason to speak with any of the others.

Noia groaned, “all the men get extra pissy after talking to our King…”

Teric agreed as two walked back to her apartment she looked back up to Noia. Noia, so beautifully dressed, the elegant woman who stands steadfast by her king.

Teric spoke, “he has a power over us? He could control my body.”

Noia explained, “I think that is why Joseph hates him so much. Our men try so hard to learn how he can control the top of the food chain and none of them have figured it out. Our lord has told me that only great pain can lead to great power. He had much to suffer through to achieve that power. More than just the madness from awakening as a conscious undead as you and I have done. Regardless of his gifts, I shall loyally stand by his side until this attempt at a kingdom comes crashing down. You be careful of that priest though… he’s a snake.”

Teric shuddered. The idea of having to work next to the man who tried to kill her utterly repulsed her, but not as much as the idea of having that ‘King’ come after her. Is this how the zombies felt? Like they were being lead in harm’s way without any ability to control the situation? Were they helpless to the wills of the Necrolords?

Again she shuddered in disgust, “I don’t think I like either of them. One scares me, and the other…”

“Infuriates,” Noia finished the sentence thinking of the priest, “Anderton is an obnoxious man. I fear nothing can be done about that, only patience shall aid you.”

The two of them reached the room and Noia proceeded inward. Teric lay down on the canopy bed and groaned while Noia proceed to pull out a few garments.

“You’re not going to want to go outside in that… it’s a gorgeous dress I had been saving for the day you met our king and now it’s purpose has expired.”

She pulled out a long blue baby doll tank top t-shirt and then some dark blue jean shorts. “You’re going to start living outside therefore you might as well fit the part.”

Teric leaned forward all too excited to wear something that wasn’t another dress. Noia found a simple blue backpack crammed up in the corner of the closet and began to pack it. Tall thigh high and knee high socks went in. Black or white were the only available colors. Two powder blue baby doll dresses found their way into backpack but that was all, and even they were much more simplistic than what Teric had become accustomed to wearing at the mansion. Lastly was a toss of undergarments and what Noia like to call commoners clothes. Unfortunately every piece of clothing was a shade of blue, the monotonous color Teric could not escape.

Teric slide on the lengthy tank top and daisy-duke blue jeans before pulling up a pair of white thigh high socks.

“I need shoes…” Teric said looking at Noia.

“I know, your room doesn’t have what you’ll need… hold on a moment.” Noia moved out into the hall then out of sight. Teric sat on her bed contemplating what would happen in her near future when Noia returned.

“Not an exact fit… but, I think these will work.” She sat down a pair of steel toed brown workers shoes before Teric. It was a pair of shoes that would survive almost anything, durable and unlikely to break… although heavy.

“They don’t match anything you just packed…” Teric mumbled.

“Where feet are concerned with the outdoors, it doesn’t matter how cute you look. You’ll thank me the first time you have to wade through swamp conditions. Don’t lose your shoes.”

Teric slide them on and tied up the laces tightly so they wouldn’t budge. Even fastened to her feet Teric noted the boots were a bit large.

“Where did you find these?” she asked staring at the smaller than usual steal toed boot.

“Phran’s room. She dug those out after we assumed the power plant. She thought they’d look good on her.”

Teric groaned. Only a small worker who’d been given a voucher to special order these for factory work would have a shoe like this. Probably someone she might have known in her human life.

“Don’t let your past destroy who you are now…” Noia whispered to the forlorn Teric.

“We’ll see…” Teric muttered. A knock came to the door and there stood Anderton, somehow looking different.

“Are we already to go ladies?” he spoke in his usual condescending tone.

Teric could not help but stare at the priest. Something about him was different in his appearance but she could not figure what.

“Well now, here’s an image I doubt I’ve ever seen before,” Noia spoke.

The priest tilted his head and shrugged, “I’ll have to change my role for once. I can’t call myself a catholic priest and have a daughter.”

It was then that it struck Teric, he was dressed normally. Completely normally, a blue polo t-shirt and a pair of dark blue work jeans.

As she studied him another realization occurred to her, “how young do I look?”

Both the Priest and Noia turned to Teric.

“You look young,” the Priest spoke bluntly.

“And so do you…” Teric mused as she gazed at the priest. Without his robes his age dropped. He stood now a man anywhere from his mid-twenties to mid-thirties.

He smiled for the briefest of moments, “I suppose you could have been my sister… or cousin. An excuse to put the robes back on then?”

Noia scoffed, “No, I think you look better like that. In case you run into any atheists out there you at least stand a chance at talking to them now.”

He returned Noia’s comment with a devilish grin, “don’t you worry though, I’ve got the costume on the off chance I need it. Sometimes though it doesn’t hurt to play the role of a normal creature every now and then.”

Noia rolled her eyes then briefly rested her arms on Teric’s back as the girl edged herself to the end of the bed, “good luck Teric. Have patience and tolerance, you’ll need it.”

Noia departed leaving Teric alone with the priest.

“Are you planning to sit there for the remainder of the day? I doubt our good King would be enthused to learn that you have stayed behind?”

Teric grimaced. That thing they called a King was not someone she was ready to contend with, not yet. She hoped down casting weary glance at the man. A glimpse through the mirror told her more than she’d ever realized. She did look like the priest, horrifyingly so, and he didn’t look like her father. Only age kept them from being visual twins.

“Unless you conceived your illegitimate child at the age of ten you’re probably going to want to be my brother.” Teric noted pointing towards the bedroom mirror.

He scoffed, “it matters not how we are related. I don’t care one way or the other for such trivial matters, but I do have hopes of heading out today. There are a couple large colonies I’ve been wanting to infiltrate for awhile now. Larger than your precious power plant was.”

Teric shivered. The priest’s invasion and take over for the power plant was flawless. What horrible plans did he hold for these unsuspecting humans?

Teric grabbed her bag giving a heavy sigh. It hurt for her to acknowledge but that mirror had captured another image she didn’t want to have to admit to. Both of them looked good next to one another. No doubt just her sheer existence next to his side would aid him. A family man among the broken families, a true visionary others could look up to. Image means something to the hopeless.
Perhaps the outdoors would break them before he had a chance at the people. Both of them had grown rather accustomed to living in such fine conditions. Teric slung the pack around her arms before walking forward. The priest took the lead and in silence she just followed him not entirely sure where they were going.

Back to the front gates where she had assumed they would simply just walk out. As they stepped out Teric was surprised to see the same vehicle that had brought them to the mansion sitting outside waiting. The priest opened the car door to the Hum-V.

“You didn’t think we’d walk the whole way? The nearest human township is almost seven week’s walk away. I do take short cuts. Ladies first.”

Teric wasn’t sure how to proceed, other than to get into the car. Anderton closed the car door then ran off to open the gates. He looked exceedingly unusual in regular garments. A vision Teric couldn’t bring herself to move past. He looked normal… like a regular guy rather than a manipulative flesh eating monster. Once the gates were opened the Hummer pulled through and Anderton closed the gates. He worked his way back through the zombies to the car. He was just a regular guy keeping the zombies away.

He thrusted open the car door, “drive,” he commanded to the human and they were off.

Teric scooted over to the other side of the car door trying not to be near this man. She attempted to stare aimlessly out the window and ignore him but his gaze never left her. A stare so powerful she could feel a burning sensation upon her skin were his gaze met.

“You have something to say to me?” Teric turned and faced her maker.

His eyes unwavering as he continued to stare at her. “My my, don’t you look cute when you’re not all dressed up like a little glass doll.”

Teric’s fists clenched but her composure remained steady.

“It’s good to see that you’re not a complete ball of puddy. Something stubborn is left there.”
Teric glowered, this man… this man… her mind was trapped in a circle of hatred unable to move past it. She wanted to do to him the same he had done to her.

“Well, I couldn’t make the scene in this vehicle anymore tense if I put effort into it. Let’s start again, shall we? I am Father Anderton, though closer friends and associates call me Joseph. I started this life as a commonplace human desperate to find his footing in the world. After some suffering I eventually found God, and devoted myself entirely to religion, but suffering seems a fate we all have in common,” there was a pause before the priest spoke again, this time looking away from Teric and releasing her from his venomous grasp. “I know how you feel Teric… towards me…”

Teric recoiled back to the window itself, how dare he come up with such atrocious assumptions! What could this monster possibly know?

“Allow me to explain myself. I spent many years a homeless man on the streets of the city, then one day I find my life’s calling. I turn to God, and God becomes my entire world… but that is not how fate would have it. Your life prior… well from what I gather wasn’t so grand either, but passable one. I get wind of the final days to come, and I hold mass, of course, as my church was invaded by the multitude of rotting corpses come for their buffet of people. I fought as many as I could desperate to keep life in my veins, but one cannot take that many injuries from the undead without eventually being turned.

“It took a week for me to die. Slowly my body rotted away and nothing was left of me, but then I woke up. Like you I woke up amongst bodies of the dead, piled away with those who’d never wake up again. There was a man there, assigned the duty of ensuring the dead stay dead. When I cried out for help he shot me in an attempt to end me, but I healed as our kind does. I cried out again freeing myself of the dead. That man who had shot me was our king, trying his hardest to play a human. I was so excited to find a creature like me, someone with answers and the capability to explain what had happened.

“The man I met was a life line to me… even if he did shoot me. One day he brought back Noia, a new sister for us both. My how she worshiped him… and still does I suppose. We tried every day to blend in with the humans of the Cambrian Colony, but our hungers eventually got the best of us. We were found out… and by proxy sentenced to death. Our king would not die so easily. He would not allow death to come by the hands of these humans. At the time I had accepted it…death that is. I was ready to die, die for my Lord, God, and return to him to escape the grotesque existence given to me, but those hopes were all in vain.

“ Our king found a way to control both Noia and I. In a single night we had turned a quarter of the colony, and it began to eat itself apart. We lost our king for a little bit… he was off to experience home life once again. In that time he was gone I realized I would never be able to escape him… I could never be with the humans for what I am makes it impossible, but at the same time I could never follow a man who controls my body through his own will… a man who would dare imitate my God.”

“So you see Teric I understand your hatred. To be put next to someone you have no idea how to kill or run from. To be placed in an unfortunate situation with no escape. I hope to somehow start off on new footing with you. I do not desire any repeats of past events. When Noia created the doctor it was a complete cluster fuck. He was her dinner for a night, and she happily indulged the egotistical bastard sharing him with the local undead. When he came too… he was so completely and hideously deformed… the king hides him away in hospitals to conduct his atrocious experiments. I’m sure you know firsthand of his work. I am not Noia, I am not going to hide you away. Nor am I the doctor, hoping to inflict pain and torture upon you. I’d give you the chance to flee from me if I could, but the mind controller has given the order for you to stay. You were my dinner, but now you are my equal. I will not harm you ever again. Quite frankly there isn’t any reason to.”

Teric stared at the man in utter disbelief, “I think you’ve overlooked one major aspect in this equation. My hatred for you isn’t because you made me out to be food, it’s because you slaughtered my entire family. You destroyed my colony, killed my people… my sister…”

The priest scoffed, “to be fair Kira killed you sister. He thought he was doing you a favor after listening to you complain about her all the time. And yes, it is true I took down your colony but it was with purpose. Take a look at yourself now. Would you continue to exist as Phran does? Would you go out into the wild and act like a lion hoping to occasionally stumble upon prey? Or would you rather a stable flow of food. If we can get another ‘Cambrian Colony’ we’d be able to get enough volunteers to donate the supply we need to sustain ourselves. Zombies could finally be eliminated with our help and a peace between monster and human might actually be feasible. Don’t ever think for a second you aren’t the monster here. You are the monster.”

Teric shuddered thinking back on her first kill. How she stood side by side with her fellow Necrolords and ripped apart that helpless exile group.

“Won’t you miss it though,” Teric asked realizing a part of herself she didn’t want to admit to. It was a question that was a cruel reminder of the reality she was in.

Big blue sad eyes turned up and looked at the man who would destroy the world from the perspective of a human and Teric spoke again, “Or are you really trying to seek balance?”

The priest nodded, “What do you mean would I miss it?”

Teric shuddered knowing what the question meant for her, “the hunt… I know I’m the monster… and there is times… when I found joy…” she choked unable to continue the sentence. She didn’t want to cry before this man but her shame was overwhelming. Before her human memory returned to her she did enjoy the hunt. The joy she had gained from take down of weaker prey and the taste of game so fresh.
“Not so sweet and innocent…” he muttered under his breath. He sounded surprised by the statement. He wrapped his arm around her and brought her closer to him.

“I am a monster Teric… or Arisa, whatever name you prefer in the moment. I can never forget that I am a monster; I can only hope to achieve some sort of medium. But the answer is yes… yes I miss being stronger. I enjoy being the greater force, and at times a commander of hordes. How I enjoyed ripping apart the Cambrian colony, having zombies moving at my command to obliterate all structure and the feasts that followed… we are monsters but we can act civilized or at least pretend to.”

His hand unconsciously stroked the back of her head, “do not be ashamed of what you are…” The priest's gaze was kinder and Teric found herself in an in between state of confusion and frustration. She was wrapped in the arm of the man she vowed to hate and somehow there was comfort in it. She was allowing this fiend the opportunity to see her weakness. She wanted to fight, to conceal herself and control the improperly placed emotion but the scenario had changed.

The priest was working on gaining her trust, and his argument stating that he wasn’t what he seemed was a compelling one. But Teric was reminded of a memory of Noia.

‘He’s manipulative, very much so and very good at it! ‘

She threw his arm off of her and pushed herself away.

The priest looked sad, or maybe that was an act to cover his amusement at watching her squirm beneath him. The man was a façade of lies with no opening to the truth. Who even knew if what he had told of his past life was the truth? It was entirely possible that he wasn’t even a priest as a human.

“We will need to trust each other someday…” he noted.

She turned away from him bringing her knees up to her chest and setting her head against the window watching the road and remains of destruction pass her by. She just wanted to be out in the forest again, up in the trees far from any other sentient mind.