Matter Of Life And Death ~ Chapter 1 ~ And The Run Begins

Chapter  1:  And  the  run  begins

Author's Note: This story is a little bit different from everything else I've written so far... A little darker, a little faster... I really think the plot is flowing out of my head, the story's constantly moving on... I believe there's going to be a lot of action for ya guys! The chapters are somewhat faster, but I couldn't have seen Matter Of Life And Death written in any other way! I also know you're not used to reading stories of mine that are in a guy's POV, but the whole story's going to be 100% through Brian's eyes. Things might get a little confusing at first, but worry not, I'm trying really hard to make everything clear as quickly! *smiles* 

Enjoy and leave some love!

Nessie 

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Sitting there, hiding in the cupboard with my little sister trembling like a leaf in the wind next to me, I knew my life would never be easy or the same again. My mom was gone, I’d heard her screams. My dad… Yeah, not much to tell about him. He was gone years ago. He had told mom he hated us all; he hated what she was and he hated what me and my sister were and just like that, he left us. Of course, it wasn’t easy to keep him safe, especially after he found out about us and was away. A few months later, they found him. I didn’t know how exactly we managed to be saved; how they didn’t sense us… but somehow, it happened.

In the darkness, I motioned for Silvia to keep quiet and she threw her arms around me. When I was sure she was clutching me hard enough, I pushed the cupboard door open and rushed out. There was no one else here; I could feel it.

“Now, you need to keep really quiet, Silvia, is that clear?”

She nodded, scared, and we rushed upstairs; we needed some supplies. I went through the hall; I knew what I’d face if I reached the staircase through the living room. My mom’s corpse. It wasn’t an image I wanted to be imprinted in the memory of my five-year-old sister.

I’d seen dead bodies before. My cat had died on my sixth birthday. My two hamsters died on Christmas Eve when I was ten. My dad died when I was thirteen. I had killed many people in between. I knew how it was. Seeing my mother there wouldn’t be painful. The sight was nothing compared to what I’d feel. That was the problem with us necromancers. They could tell when death was there, but it affected them greatly. I was glad Silvia didn’t know what the feeling was yet.

I placed her on the floor silently and pushed her towards her room. “Go and take any clothes you want, but not more than what can fit inside your backpack,” I warned.

She gave me a shaky nod and slipped into the dark room. I had barely snuck a pair of jeans and two shirts when I heard her shriek. I threw the bag over my shoulder and rushed in her room.

“Leave,” I commanded the ghost in my steadiest voice. I knew I shouldn’t impose my power on the other world, it was extremely energy consuming and as my mother had taught me, it was considered dark and it was only the worst of our kind who did it, but I had no choice.

The ghostly figure’s face had an expression of pure pain, distorted by the hatred it directed straight towards me.

“Leave,” I repeated. The silver smoke leapt for me, but dissolved completely as it made contact with my body. I felt some of my power leaving me, slipping away, but I shook away the fatigue, taking Silvia and whatever she had packed with me. I looked at my mother’s room for the last time, engraining it in my memory as if it were a photograph I’d always have with me. Pictures of the three of us were everywhere; looking almost haunting now that I knew where she was. Without thinking about it further, I snatched any drawers in the bedroom open until I found what I was looking for. No matter what we were, with no money we couldn’t do anything.

“Look, Silvia, I know it’s not easy, but I really need to ask you be brave. Be a nice girl and listen to anything I say. If I say run, you run. If I say hide, you hide. If I say leave me… you leave me.”

“But…”

“No but’s. Do you promise?”

“I promise.” A cloud of dark smoke rose as she breathed out; her promise was now sealed with something stronger than a human promise would. She’d had to hold on to it. It was a rule of our world. She did not know or understand it, but she was now bound by the promise as was I.

“Good,” I said, nodding. “Now come.”

We hurried back in the kitchen, still avoiding the gruesome scene in the living room. We should be gone before the police came, or I’d have to take the blame. And if I did, Silvia would be left alone. And alone for a five-year-old, meant unprotected; vulnerable and that was entirely unacceptable.

“Whewe’s momma?” she asked, turning her head around frantically looking for her.

“No need for that, Silvia.”

The moment the words were out of my mouth, I knew I couldn’t have made a worse selection of words. She started struggling and pulling away from my grip, trying to rush in the living room. I sighed and knowing I had no other choice, I lifted her again in my arms and kicked the wooden boards in the kitchen. We had picked a nice small town, a small old house and luckily, it had a hidden basement. With a little work, it turned into the perfect runaway tunnel. The floor gave way and I sprinted down the small cement steps, trying to keep my balance with Silvia still fighting me off. She knew it was no use, but she never gave up. She was stubborn like mom. I accepted facts more easily. I was the cold, calculating type. My mom was the person who fought with her heart, a burning heart of a fighter, even when she knew she had no chances. That was what got her killed in the end. Fighting, and eventually dying, to protect us.

“Silvia, stop!” At my command, she instantly froze and just held on tighter. The promise she made kept her bound to any order I gave her. I hated that I did it, but it was necessary or neither of us would survive. “Can you do me a favor?”

“What?” she whispered softly.

“I want you to memorize what the note in my jeans pocket has written on it. Can you?”

She nodded and her hand slipped in my jeans, finding the note with mom’s bank account and password. I wasn’t sure if this piece of paper would stay in my possession for much longer; we needed to learn it by heart. If we didn’t get to a bank soon, the account would be locked and we’d be on the run without any money; it would be useless. The task I gave to Silvia kept her busy while I ran. I had to stop a couple of times to untangle my backpack from obstacles in which it was snagged, and a few more times to take a breath. The way was exhausting, I could barely see with the oil lamps being the only source of light. It couldn’t be much further though. I remembered the exit was close. It had to be close!

Soon enough, we were in the old warehouse. For the past few years, my Aunt Kellah, had turned it into a non-profit kennel and spent most of her time there; even at night. Without looking, she quickly closed the cage of the dog she was feeding and turned to face us, the sweet smile that was usually plastered on her face replaced with a mask of horror at the sight of our bloody faces. 

“We’re okay,” I assured her.

“What about…”

I shook my head. She brought one hand to her mouth as she gasped and tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Composing herself as quickly as she could, she nodded. “You need to get out of here.”

“I’m on it, Aunt Kellah. Do you happen to have any snacks? Silvia may get hungry soon. You know I’m not good with that kind of stuff.”

“Sorry, the last things I had, I finished this morning. Just buy her a package of biscuits and she’ll be alright.”

“Hope we get the chance to stop by a grocery shop to get her some.”

“Here, get those,” she pulled some money from her pocket and put them in my palm, pushing my fingers around it. “Where do you want me to drive you?” she asked.

“You?! No, you can’t! You’re human! It’s too dangerous!” 

“I need to do something! My sister’s life won’t go to waste just because her son thinks I’m weak!” Aunt Kellah was mom’s younger – much younger – sister, but she wasn’t a necromancer herself. It appeared that the gene had skipped her. We weren’t a family of pure blooded necromancers, just like my father was a simple human, so was Aunt Kellah and mom’s mother as well. But with them after us, I couldn’t let her jeopardize her life like this.

“If you give me the keys, we’ll be fine,” I insisted.

“Have you seen your face? There’s b-b-b…”

“Blood. Yes, I know.”

“If they see it, they’ll stop you. Who knows what anyone would think. They may even think you kidnapped her,” she pointed at Silvia. “Wash your faces, both of you.”

“We don’t have time!” I exclaimed.

She brought some wet napkins and wiped our faces before I could protest again. “There. See? It didn’t take that long now, did it?”

“We need to get some money, and then find a motel for the night. We should drive as far as we can tonight, but I doubt we’ll make it past the next town. I’m a wreck.”

“Have you looked at your leg?” she asked, her eyes growing huge.

“No, why?” I followed her gaze and realized. My jeans were soaked with red, and suddenly I was aware of how wet my shoe and leg felt. I had a deep cut. So much for thinking I got away with no serious damage from the fight.

“You can’t go anywhere tonight.”

“You’re not my mom!” I snapped.

“No. Maybe I’m not.” Her eyes glowed with something… Hurt. Hurt because I rejected her. Doesn’t she get it? I don’t have time to be nice at such times! Or when it came to me… at no times. “And you may be eighteen, but I’m Silvia’s legal guardian. And I say she’s not going anywhere tonight. You may go if you wish.” She knew that if she played that card, she had me. The point was to get Silvia away, not me. It would take them weeks to spot me. But so much fresh and uncontrollable power like Silvia’s was easy to be sensed from miles away.

“Fine. If you get killed, it won’t be my fault.” She gasped and gave me a strict look. “I had to give you fair warning. Don’t hold me responsible for what you caused yourself.”

“I don’t know where you got all that insensibility from.”

“Maybe my dad. You know, the guy mom was married to and gave us up as soon as he realized what we were?”

Kellah liked dad. She thought he was the right guy for mom. She held on to her belief until he freaked and ran off. As a matter of fact, I was pretty sure it was Kellah’s idea that mom told dad about us. My aunt’s lips became a thin straight line and she gave me a cold look. Under normal circumstances, I was slightlynicer and she was more tolerant. Aware of the pain in my leg now, I wasn’t really in the mood to be nice and keep my manners in check.

“Silvia, can you bring me some towels and a bowl with warm water?” Kellah asked eventually, and reluctantly, I let go of my sister. She nodded and ran to the small kitchen, still trembling badly. “And you, sit!”

I groaned and limped to the closest chair. “Don’t boss me around!”

“Why? Are you going to leave? Because I know you won’t, so don’t threaten me.”

Now that I was sitting and the exhaustion and the pain were taking over, I felt what energy was left in me slipping away and wondered how much longer I could keep my consciousness. The silver smoky figures danced before my eyes, glowing blue, green and brown like precious gems staring right into me. They all wanted the same. To touch some life. Some of the real world. I couldn’t give it to them though. The matters of the dead were none of my business. What I had to do was hold on to my life; to keep my sister alive. In the shadows, I knew that mom and dad must have been somewhere; maybe they had something to say, maybe not. I had been seeing dad a lot since they killed him. I never let him tell me whatever it was he wanted. I still didn’t. As I said, the matters of the dead were none of my business. Just like I wouldn’t get involved with mom now that she was gone as well. She was free to enjoy afterlife, she had to leave me struggle here alone. It was our way.  We had no choice about it.

“Brian. Brian, can you hear me?” Kellah’s voice brought me back and I tried to focus. I lifted my head and looked at her. “You need to lie down.”

“I’m fine. We need to leave,” I insisted.

“We went over this already. You spend the night here. Come.” She tried to help me stand up but I moved away. She looked at me, but took a few steps back, giving me space to try and stand on my own. To my disappointment, I couldn’t. I leaned on her and she helped me walk to the bed. “That leg wouldn’t even get you out the door,” she said.

I opened my mouth to tell her something, but that something never came.

“Shhh. I’ll be here if you need anything.”

I sunk into unconsciousness soon. In my sleep, I felt Silvia crawling under the covers with me and curling under my arm. The warmth pulsating from her body was comforting. She was lucky. So much energy, uncontrollable and unfocused, didn’t attract the dead… yet. She could sleep quietly. As soon as she learned how to focus and concentrate her power, she’d have the same problem as me.

I hated when I had to sleep. For a period of time, I consumed excessive amounts of caffeine in hopes I wouldn’t need sleep at all, but in week number two, I hit my breaking point. For necromancers sleep wasn’t like it was for humans. Honestly, for me, nothing was easy. The only time I’d feel no pain would probably be when I’d die. But of course, I couldn’t die yet; I had to keep Silvia safe. The ghosts didn’t leave me when I slept, they kept showing up, pushing themselves into my dreams, trying to trick me in disguises of people I knew, trying to touch my heart for a few seconds, to feel the warmth of life. The dead were such a pain sometimes. Today, even more had gathered, thinking that catching me at a moment of vulnerability would give them a better chance. I dismissed them one by one until the time came that I had to wake up again and face the cruel world of the living. Honestly, why wasn’t there a separate world for the necromancers? It would have made my life so much easier!

The morning light hit my eyes causing me to squeeze them tightly together and press the pillow over my head. As I began remembering everything that took place last night, an ever growing need to get up overtook me. When the thought of the real reason everything had happened last night hit me, I threw myself off the bed, only to find myself off balance due to my stupid, injured leg and ended up with my cheek against the floor.

“Woof!” One of Aunt Kellah’s dogs sniffed me and licked my nose. A growl escaped my throat and the puppy rushed away scared.

“Scaring puppies now, Brian? That’s not nice.” As I looked up and quickly lifted my body from the ground, I saw Kellah standing by the bed, arms crossed, and an unreadable expression on her face.

“Cut it out. You know that because of you, I never managed to get the money from the bank. And today it’s too late, they’ll have found her body and her account won’t be accessible!” I snapped at her.

Silvia stirred in the bed and looked at me sleepily with her big eyes. The color, this haunting silver, would remind me forever what I didn’t manage to do; keep mom alive. This silver would remind me every day why I had to keep myself alive. To keep Silvia alive. Because her life mattered more than anyone’s; even my own. And if I had to die defending her, so be it. “What body? Whewe’s momma?”

“She… Silvia, we’ll find mom later.” A lot later hopefully. “I’ll explain it all to you at some point, but for the time being, we need to get away from here. Mom will meet up with us later.”

Kellah gave me an accusing look. She hated dishonesty; she couldn’t understand how bad it would be if Silvia became even more upset. It was vital to keep her emotions at bay; I couldn’t have this gigantic ticking bomb roaming around along with me. She had to be kept stable. She had to be kept calm. For the time being, I had to shut up. I shrugged and as Silvia sank her little head in the pillow again, I placed a finger over my lips, motioning for Kellah to keep quiet. Relatives or not, humans had no clue what our lives were about.

“Just so you know, I visited the bank last night, while you were dead to the world. I got as much as I could. It’s in your bag already.”

“Oh. Thanks. I… appreciate it… thanks.”

“You may lack that same sensibility chip your dad did, but you’re my nephew. That’s the least I can do for you. It is what your mother would have expected me to do. How’s the leg?”

“I’m going to walk like I’m a wrecked fifty-year-old soldier who served in Vietnam for the next few weeks, but other than that… great! Thanks for reminding me.”

“Still a jerk.” She sighed, but I could see a faint smile on her face. Mom’s ghost was floating around her, piercing silver eyes looking at me over her shoulder.

For now and only now, I thought I could break my rules about not mixing the world of the dead and the living and mention mom. “She’s right behind you, you know. Better be nice to her son.”

Kellah snorted. “Cute necromancer humor.”

“Cute… Only to you. But… she’s really there.”

“Thought you weren’t allowed to talk about the… deceased. Isn’t it like medical confidentiality or something? What you learn stays between you and them…? That’s how Luisa used to tell it.” Mom used to simplify things and use human terms for her sister to understand her world. It was pretty hilarious actually.

“Yeah, sort of. Thought you may want to know though. I think I can overlook the rules for once. It’s not like I’m trying to talk to them or anything.”

She nodded in understanding. Mom appeared to make some motion, I was supposed to notice, but I averted my eyes, trying to focus on my aunt’s blond locks. She had fair skin like mom, which reminded me of porcelain dolls, and aqua blue eyes. Mine were silver, like moms and Silvia’s, but if you looked at them in the light they resembled Kellah’s a little. The similarities between us were obvious, same facial structure, the same straight nose and almond eyes. I was way more fit than anybody else in the family though; it was odd how I was the only one who had the brains to think that since we were on the run constantly we had to be in condition to run.

“Thank you,” she said after a long pause of silence. “So where are you going? Can you drive with that leg?”

“We can’t drive too far or they’ll notice the car. It would be better if you get us to the train station and we’ll use public transport from there.  Easier to blend in.”

“What? So being on a train that won’t reach its destination after six hours if notmore have passed is safer than a car? If they follow you in the train? Won’t you be trapped?”

I shook my head, a grim laughter escaping my chest. “They hate constant, long rides. They feel trapped. They won’t try using the train, even if it were to catch us. That is their disadvantage. They take care of themselves more than their plans. We’re using that for our own profit. How do you think mom escaped them for this long?”

“And yet, look where she ended up,” Kellah said gloomily.

“We all end up there eventually. Don’t forget that.”

“Alright, grams.” Kellah laughed. She always teased mom and me when we spoke like that. She thought we did it on purpose, trying to play it all wise and Zen, or something.

“We need to get going soon.”

“Let her sleep a little longer. It’s been a long night,” she said gently. She looked at Silvia affectionately, the way mom used to. I know that she felt it was her duty to take care of my little sister, but I couldn’t let her come with us. She was human! She’d be dead before I could say necromancer.

“Don’t even think about asking.”

“Why?” she moaned.

How well did I know my aunt! “No. Just no. And you know very well why. It will be hard enough protecting Silvia, who can essentially protect herself, she just doesn’t know it yet.  But you, I can’t protect you both.”

“You’re such a buzz killer, Brian. You know, your father was left unprotected with full knowledge about your kind, and look where he is now.”

“We all go there eventually,” I said again.

“Is it that bad that I don’t want to go there this soon? I believe I still have plenty of years to live but have no fear of death either.”

She had a pretty strong point there. It would be mean if I left her here, in her fate, which was probably exactly that, her death, if they hadn’t left town yet. I buried my face in my hands. “I can’t believe I got myself into this. Why didn’t I just walk out the front door? I’d be miles away by now.”

“Is that a yes?” she asked, hands on her hips and leaning against the door frame smiling.

I clenched my teeth, not wanting to let the words escape that I had to yet. “Yes. You’re coming with us. For Silvia’s sake… but know this… you will learn to fight.”

“Going to get my stuff, be right back.”

“You got them ready already?”

“Always had a suitcase ready, just in case.”

“Hurry, we’re leaving right away. Silvia can sleep on the train; we’re getting a cabin with bunks.”

“Where exactly are we going?” she asked, struggling with her suitcase. I didn’t get up to help her. A: my leg hurt like hell and B: nobody told her to carry that much with her.

“Far. As far as the train goes, which is about twenty six hours.”

“Since when have you been planning this escape?” she asked, checking the bandages.

“Longer than you’d think. From the moment we set foot in this town, I was planning our escape to the next. I’m fine, let it go.”

“Sure, I’d better let it get infected. That way, you can get gangrene and I will have to cut it off, or maybe let it fall off on its own?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I am beginning to doubt the sensibility chip I don’t have is because of dad’s genes. You and I are alike in more ways than you think.”

“The only thing we two share is our last name and the undying love and need to protect that sleeping angel,” she said as she pointed to Silvia then stripped the bloody bandages from my ankle, and not gently by any means.

“Glad a knife did it. If their claws had gotten it, my leg would have been completely useless by now,” I commented. The fact that the blood oozing from the gash on my ankle was red and not black was a bit of a comfort.

“Why don’t you do that Abra Kadabra of yours and heal it?”

“Because I need my powers in case a real emergency arises. Besides, it is way more power consuming to heal myself than to heal others. Plus healing isn’t my specialty. And binding my own body for such minor reasons with that kind of magic is plain stupid,” I explained. It was annoying how I had to remind her about the rules of our world; why didn’t she get an instruction booklet or something? She could start with Necromancers 101. Gah!

“You know, sometimes I think that your magic is completely useless.”

“Hey!” I exclaimed.

“Seriously, what’s the use of being able to do all this cool stuff if you have so many restrictions?”

I sucked a deep breath and held back a hiss as she put Betadine on the wound and wrapped new bandages around my leg. The gash was deeper than I had realized, but I didn’t comment on it. “Really wanna know what’s the use? Well, I can just keep mentioning how cool the things I can do are, just to make simple humans like you miserable.”

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Random Info: Hehe, random info time! I started writing this on Christmas Eve, after I had watched "Tangled", Disney's version of Rapunzel, with my parents, little brother and my cousin. Excited after the ending of the movie, I rushed upstairs and having no internet at the moment, I decided I would start writing something! I didn't know quite what, so I randomly picked a boy, hiding with someone in a kitchen cupboard. After a while, my subconscious had settled on a plot and before I knew it, I had finished writing 3 chapters! 

Also, Brian is being a reflection of the cynicism that I have in me but rarely give an out to. Silvia feels a bit like the little sister that I always wanted to have. Her favorite princess is Rapunzel; my way of thanking "Tangled" for inspiring me. 

By the way, because I am sure you must have noticed as you read, I have not made a typo when Silvia is talking, she simply can't pronounce the letter "R" right. (Just like me :P)

That's all for now, chickens!

If you want to read the next chapter, click here.