Matter of Life and Death (New Version) ~ Chapter 01

Chapter 1:

~ Lillian ~

The night was peaceful. She could hear crickets singing on the bushes of the lonely garden. All the lights were out in the tall house.

That is a good sign, she thought.

She was going to make it quick and painless. For her at least. The other guy would die. No, it didn’t hurt her to think or say that, not anymore. She had come to terms with her job as it was and all she could do now, was to deal with it.

She opened the fence door with her gloved hand and with shift, quiet moves she reached the building’s wall. Her tight, black clothes helped her blend into the night; there would be hardly any sign that she was ever here. Except the body of course.

Surprisingly, she didn’t even have to pick on the lock; the door was left ajar. She walked in without making a sound, and the wind made it creak. Perhaps her target was awake. That was hardly a problem. She could hide until he went to bed again. Searching for better cover inside the rooms, she left the corridor, and realized she was standing inside his kitchen. A pile of unwashed dishes was high enough to reach the ceiling and she wondered what would happen to it after she killed the man. There would be no one to take care of it, would there?

With a roll of her eyes and a mental slap she shook herself back into reality. She was in a stranger’s house, with the full intention to kill him, and she was feeling sorry for his kitchen. Really professional, Lillian, she thought to herself.

She took in a deep breath, and kept searching. She came across a small storage room, a dining room and a little hole still stinking like cigarette smoke, with the green tablecloth on the polygonal table. Well, this guy is a pokerface!

And many other things…she whispered inside her head.

Whatever. Keep searching, this was supposed to be quick! she reminded herself.

The next room was his bedroom. He was soundly asleep. She couldn’t make out characteristics, but she knew he was staying alone. He couldn’t be the wrong person! His shaved head seemed to glow as the faint moonlight hit it. He wouldn’t even spend a hundred bucks to get shutters!

She reached down to her leg, and felt the cold handle against her palm. She knew exactly how to hold it, how to make the perfect hit. She simply lifted the knife, and then plunged it into his chest. His eyes flew open for just a second. He saw the girl’s face, and as soon as the knife was out, he was gone.

Lillian wiped the blood off it using the cheap, linen sheets. Nobody would be sad they got stained, she was sure of that. With the knife strapped back against her ankle, she walked out. Nobody would ever know who she was, or that she was even here.

She felt a chill at the back of her neck. It spread across her spine, even though the night was warm. Her ears caught a shrieking sound, sort of like whispering, a slithery voice she wanted to get rid of. It took her a while to register the fact, that it was someone talking to her indeed.

“Youuuu are the one I ssssspoke with on the phhhhone?” he asked. Or at least she thought it was a he. Definitely didn’t sound like a woman. But then again, it would be more appropriate.

“Depends,” she said confidently, and kept walking. The shady figure was creeping through the grass behind her. “What did you talk to me about?”

“The murderrrrr,” it said slowly, in a way that made the words feel as if they were sinking into her skin, and washing over her bones.

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow for effect, but it probably wouldn’t see it, as it were behind her. “Interesting.”

“We spoke about money tooooo, rememberrrr?”

“Now you’re talking.” She nodded, and stopped. They were approaching town dangerously. It would be best if nobody saw them talking about business. “Yes, I am her. The one and only.”

“You’re notttt what I expectttted…” the slithery voice stated.

“Does that mean the deal is off?”

“No.” The voice wasn’t as creepy anymore. Just cold and soulless. Lillian was sure she liked the mysterious, creepy version a bit more than that.

“So who is it?”

The figure turned her around. It also had gloved hands. The fingers seemed long, and thin, and she imagined the thin wrist hidden underneath it’s dark sleeves. The garment it was wearing was rather unspecified, black and loose, like a lunatic’s dirty nightgown. Lillian decided she didn’t want to think of it like that.

It crooked its head and observed her, head to toe. “A boyyy. You will kill him. Him and whoever else is with him. He will have a child too. Keep the child alive. We want herrrr.”

“We?”

“Don’t ask many questions.” The voice was cold, and steady again. “Or the deal is off.”

Lillian lifted her shoulders. “I don’t care anyway. Here, give me my money, and I’ll take care of it.”

It pulled a pouch out of its garment. Lillian couldn’t help another lift of her eyebrows, but as she met her ‘employer’s’ cold, bottomless stare, she got serious. She even stopped thinking inside her head, A pouch? Seriously?

“I will call you in the morningggg…for the resssst. I’ll tell you wherrrrre to go. For now…head southhh. I need you assss closssse assss posssssible.”

The added “S” made Lillian’s ears buzz, but she kept on her serious face and gave a short nod, before heading to her car. It wasn’t hers really. It was…borrowed. At least it felt to Lillian like borrowing. She didn’t ask the owner first…but he probably knew it by now…

~ Brian ~

Earlier that day…

“Mom? I’m home!” Brian announced, and kicked the door open.

He hurried to put all the shopping bags in the kitchen, and get down to work. For the past week, he’d been trying to fix everything around the house. He’d put lights on the outside, he’d straightened the soil in the backyard, he’d replaced their old mailbox. Today, he was intending to put some grass. Fake grass, but grass nonetheless. Brian believed that fake was even better; they wouldn’t need a gardener, and they would never get weeds or unwanted bugs.

“Mom?”

“I’m upstairs!” she called down at him. He could make out his baby sister’s giggles echoing through the empty house.

Of course his mother would be with Sylva. She hadn’t left her out of her sight since…the accident. They both did their best to make sure the child would be safe. They had managed to stay in this house for a surprisingly long time. They expected trouble to show up on their front porch any day now.

“Alright!” he yelled back at her. “I’ll be in the garden if you need anything!” All he got for an answer was loud laughter.

The day passed uneventfully, and by noon he had finished covering half of their backyard with the fake green material. His five-year-old sister, Sylva, showed up, and began asking her big brother all sorts of questions. She played in the sandbox, and rolled across the grass, then she brought her toys out, and sat near Brian as she came up with bizarre childish stories. She loved Brian and would do anything to stay with him. But Brian loved Sylva as well. He was always very protective of her…she was worth of his protection as well. He liked to look at himself as a highly logical person, someone who would keep his feelings locked away in a tiny drawer in the back of his mind. The truth was though, that he was emotional. Not over everything, definitely not. His little sister was his big red button though. He would tense even at the idea of anyone hurting her.

“Come on, Sylva. Let’s go eat lunch,” he told her, and picked her up.

Luisa was placing their dishes on the table at the time they walked in the house. “I will go meet up with Marta,” she told her son. Marta was Luisa’s sister. They had a big age difference, but were close nonetheless.

“Oh. Fine. So seeing Marta means more than having lunch with your children, eh?” Brian said, lifting an eyebrow. Sylva always felt fascinated by her brother’s eyebrow-lifting skills. She couldn’t move her own separately, even though they were so tiny!

Their mother shook her head. “I’ll be back really soon.”

And she came back quickly, just like she said she would. She didn’t explain the purpose of her visit to her sister in the middle of the day; instead, she took her lunch, and joined her children in the living room. Sylva had decided to watch her favorite movie, Rapunzel, for the millionth time. Brian wasn’t into the whole princess finds her true love sort of thing, but he was to look after Sylva while they were home alone. He believed she was safer with him sitting right next to her instead of being all the way across the house fixing the garden. He could do that tomorrow as well anyway; it was getting dark.

“Any plans for tonight?” Luisa asked her son. He was a big boy, really. If he wanted he could even move out, he would turn nineteen in a couple of weeks. She had even suggested it to him, but Brian had refused. It was a long time ago that he had sworn to stick with Sylva to the end.

“Didn’t have something in mind.”

“Marta will be hanging around Joe’s. Maybe you’d like to go?”

Brian snorted. Marta? Seriously, mom? he thought. Marta would be the person he’d least want to be with. Marta was six years older than him, but since he was a child, there was some sort of competition between them. “I don’t need babysitting anymore, remember?” he asked, and laughed.

“Shhhhhh!” Sylva said out of the blue. She placed a finger over her lips and glared at her mom and brother. “Wapunzel is going to heal him now!”

Brian shrugged, and fell silent. Sylva was an adorable little girl, but when it came to this movie…you had to be quiet as a fish.

“I just meant, honey,” Luisa whispered, and Brian rolled his eyes at the ‘honey’ part, “that you could use some time out. Talk to people.”

“I talked to the salesgirl where I bought the grass from just today,” Brian defended himself.

“Is that the best you can do?”

“What? Do you want me to ask her out too?”

Luisa shook her head. “I don’t want you do anything. I just want you to be happy. I didn’t mean you kiddo to have this sort of life.”

“I’m fine, ’kay? You don’t have to get all momsy. What demon’s gotten into you?”

“This day seven years ago your dad left us,” Luisa said, a little sad.

Brian knew that of course. He had saved that date right next to Sylva’s birthday. That was how deeply it had been carved in his brain. He had chosen to ignore it for this year though. His heart was filled with such bitterness this day every year…he didn’t know if it was worth it anymore. “And?” he demanded.

“It always makes me think how many things I’ve done wrong.”

“You didn’t do anything. I mean, well, you got married to a human. Could happen to anyone.”

“I meant about you and Sylva. It there was just a way to make things right for the two of you.”

“Well, can you keep them from coming after us? No. Then stop. We’ll just keep running for as long as possible.” Brian knew that this was all the future held for him. Hideout after hideout after hideout…his mother wasn’t a criminal. No. But she wasn’t normal. And that is the main ingredient for disaster. The rest just came on its own.

She was a Necromancer. Could see the dead, could talk to them. They floated around everywhere she went. Her children were unlucky enough to inherit her powers, or at least that was how she always saw it. It wasn’t a gift. It simply was problems. If they were normal, they would have never come after her family. She could have had a normal life and put away that part of her. It always came back chasing her though. Your own self is the only thing you can never get away from.

They both fell silent, and watched the rest of the movie. It was almost over, but Sylva was as absorbed as ever. The moment the titles showed on the screen, Luisa was on her feet and picked Sylva up. “Time to go to bed now,” she said.

The little girl complained for a while, but finally gave up. Luisa kept stroking her long blonde hair as she went up the stairs with the child. Brian kept staring blankly at the TV screen, thinking about nothing in particular. The old willow’s branches outside slammed against the windows, scratching the smooth transparent surface. This place had stopped giving the creeps to Brian a long time ago. There were far scarier things than a stupid tree in the backyard.

The boards of Sylva’s bed squealed as she bounced on top of it, and she laughed loudly. That was when Brian felt it. The shivering. It felt like a snake crawling up his skin, like icicles forming around his hands. He knew what the unpleasant feeling meant. They had arrived.

Without making a sound, he ran upstairs, and shut Sylva’s bedroom door behind him. “They came.”

Luisa’s eyes widened, but as fast as the shock came, it was gone. She picked Sylva up, blanket and everything, and handed her over to Brian, as if she were a bundle with clothes. “Take her, and hide.”

“They’re a lot. You’ll need help,” Brian objected.

“The best way you can help is to hide.” She pushed her son all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. She leaned down, searching in blind through the cupboards. “There, get in.”

“In? Are you serious? I’m not getting in a cupboard! There’s no way I’ll fit anyway!”

She gave him a wild glare, and pushed his head down and into the cupboard. “It fits you just fine. Don’t make a sound. And don’t get out, unless you’re absolutely sure they’re gone.”

Then everything turned black. Luisa left her children back in the cupboard the same moment the front door burst open. Wood splinters flew to every direction, and their figures stood out in the darkness. They were a formless mass of deadly violet eyes, and black cloaks. She knew she wouldn’t make it, but she was going to fight until she wouldn’t be able to get up anymore.

Brian felt like such an idiot. His sister was trembling uncontrollably in his arms; she was scared of the dark. He had to get out, to help his mom. She was going to get herself killed this time.

“No!” Sylva managed to whisper, and clutched her brother’s shirt tightly. “Stay with me, Bwian…”

More crashes came from the living room. What was going on? He had the feeling that this was the coffee table; which by the way had survived the past three attacks, and made it to their fourth house since his father had left. Apparently, it would never get into the fifth one.

“Sylva, you need to stay here. In. The. Cupboard. Do you understand?” He gripped her tiny shoulders, to make her realize the gravity of the situation. He searched blindly, and found a little, plastic cup. “There. It’s your favorite, remember? The one with Winnie the Pooh. Keep that until I get back there.”

She nodded silently, and Brian was out. He rushed into the living room before the creatures even realized where he came from.

“Brian, I told you to stay put!” Luisa yelled from the top of the stairs as she tried to fight off one of them. It was standing a few steps below the first floor, hindered by a bright shield of glowing silver. Ghosts.

Luisa never used her powers. Ever. Except very few situations. Like this one. She absolutely had to, because they were more than every other time, and there was no time to run. Brian wondered if any of them would make it out alive this time.

“They’ll ruin the house!” Brian yelled. “I didn’t finish painting everything for nothing.” He made a leap for the closest one, to find himself jumping through black smoke. He shuddered. The feeling of coming through one as it vanished was horrible, as if tons of needles were piercing his spine, and he breathed in very cold air. He felt paralyzed for a second, then he was back on his feet. If he wasn’t quick enough he’d be very dead, very soon.

“Watch out!” Luisa yelled again.

The dark figure took shape behind him, a black mass looming behind him. Only the eyes really stood out in the darkness. Silvery frames flowed all around the room, attracted by the mayhem. Brian always believed that just like people were unable to see what was going on in the other world even though it was so close to theirs, ghosts couldn’t see everything either. The surge of magick though, drew them close. They were ready to help. Not all of them liked necromancers, they loved to play tricks on their minds, but they hated these things more. They would help.

Brian focused his energy on the ghosts, creating a shield similar to his mother’s. It wasn’t as strong, but it would do. The creature stepped away, letting out a shriek of repulse, and placing a bony hand in front of its face, as if a blinding light glowed before it.

“Ah!” Brian growled, and cussed under his breath as a stabbing pain sliced through his leg. He looked down; his jeans were torn, blood was dripping. As his eyes rose, he saw another creature smiling, a blood-curdling, maleficent smile, completely disarming, in the worst way.

“Brian. Get. Out. Of. Here!” Luisa said again. The dark figure by the stairs screamed, and smoke rose, as it died away. If what happened to them was supposed to be dying. They didn’t appear to be alive at all. She ran downstairs, so furious that her aura was almost visible. The silver shield around her grew stronger, and bigger, pushed the monsters against the wall, made them scream in pain. They were turning to smoke, they were trying to escape, but they probably wouldn’t. Luisa was always so powerful, so good at what she did, even though she wanted to give it up, and get away from it all.

She got to her son so easily it almost seemed effortless for her. She put Brian behind the shield too.

“You got hurt,” she said, disapproving. “I told you I would handle it. Why did you get out?”

“You needed help!”

“I needed you to be with Sylva!”

“Sylva is safe. I made sure of that.”

“Go. I’ll finish them off. Go, go, go!”

She pushed his shoulder, but her will felt to be the thing pushing him harder into the kitchen, and back into the cupboard. He felt woozy, as if everything was happening in slow motion around him. Sylva flinging her hands around his neck, his own hands holding the little girl close, and Luisa screaming. Then it all came to focus.

She wasn’t doing well. Something was horribly wrong. Sylva wouldn’t let go of him this time though, and he wouldn’t be able to help her now, even if he wanted to. He felt drained, he had used too much magick for a day. If he got out there again, he would just be a chunk of skin, and bones standing between Luisa and the monsters. He pressed his hands against Sylva’s ears to keep her from realizing what was going on.

There were no more screams though. No more crashes, and bangs. Everything was silent. Dead silent.

No…he thought to himself.

With the little energy left in him, he pulled the veil separating the two worlds around them, to keep them from being obvious to the creatures. They had to remain hidden. Sylva looked up at him, big, almond-shaped, silver eyes digging into his own. He brought a finger over his lips, showing her she should still keep quiet.

With the veil, he couldn’t get a feel of what was happening in the house either. When would he know that they were gone? What if they just waited for him to check so that they would spot them? He decided he could at least remove the veil from himself. He was exhausted, drained, there was no magick for them to sniff. He was as good as a human. Invisible to them.

“The chhhhhhild isssssn’t here,” one of them hissed.

“Shhhhhe died for nothhhhhing,” the other one agreed. “Idiotttt…”

Brian’s breath caught in his throat. So she was dead. The realization sank in quickly. He had been preparing himself for this moment. With Luisa’s stubbornness, it was almost sure that she would be the first one to go. Brian was more cautious, calculating, cold, thinking things through. His mother on the other hand was the exact opposite. Hot-headed, ready to throw herself into the fight, an improvising, passionate person. He didn’t expect to feel so…it didn’t feel different. Things were exactly the same before she died. He didn’t feel the loss, not yet at least. It wasn’t the same like the first time, when they killed his dad. He couldn’t explain it. And he didn’t have time to think it through either.

The cut on his ankle was throbbing, it felt swollen, and the bleeding hadn’t stopped. Sylva clung to his legs as if they were a lifejacket, she would probably have blood all over.

“What a wassste of time. They ffffffled,” the monsters continued.

“Then we proccccceed as planned…”

He could feel the cold feeling creeping up his spine once again, but this time they were departing. As soon as they left, Brian moved.