Chapter Three
M athias found himself in a dark, cavernous room. With arms stretched out, he walked, hoping to find a door or a light switch. Something to help him navigate the ebon oppressiveness that weighted down the atmosphere.
A light flared on, except it wasn’t yellow or bright.
A purple haze caught his attention, and he walked toward it.
The closer he got, the brighter it became.
Finally, he stopped at a precipice. The purple flare coalesced into a woman.
Her clothes reminded him of Puritan fashion.
She wore a dark-toned woolen gown, long petticoats, a white linen apron, and a coif around her head.
The gown covered her from neck to wrist.
“Do you know who I am?” she asked. A hint of an accent hung on her words.
“No,” he replied. “Is this a dream?”
“’Tis purgatory, ye’re in.”
“Purgatory? As in the path to death?”
“Aye.”
“I’m ... dead?”
The only thing going through his head was Nova. He didn’t want to leave her, and his heart broke at the thought. They never got a chance to live their future.
“Aye. But ye don’t have to stay dead.”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Ye’re my descendant, and therefore have my magic in yer blood.”
“Magic?”
“Aye. I’m a witch, young Mathias. And ye’ll have a decision to make. Agree, and ye’ll be reunited with Nova.”
He blinked, and she was gone. So was the purple haze, leaving him in darkness once more. He really didn’t like being there.
“Did you mean it?”
Mathias’s eyes shot open, and he panted, trying to figure out where the hell he was. Back in the dark room? Had that been a dream? The last thing he remembered was planning his romantic dinner. Wait. No, it was champagne. He ran to the corner liquor store. Then...
“I asked if you meant it.”
He tried to sit up, but only banged his head against the roof ... of...
Where the hell was he? He felt around and discovered he was in some type of box. He’d been shot. Hadn’t he? Touching his head, he checked to determine if the bullet had hit him. No hole. No blood. He could’ve sworn the robber pulled his trigger. At least he wasn’t dead.
“Are you deaf? Wait, if you are, why am I asking?”
“I, uh, I can hear you, wherever you are.”
The door opened, shedding light into the room, and the platform he was on slid out, allowing him to finally see where he was. Horror hit him as he realized he lay on a metal table located in his own autopsy room. The box had been a morgue cooler, and a tag on his toe caught his attention.
“What the fuck?” he muttered.
“Hello, Dr. Lang.”
His head snapped up, and he saw a young man watching him. He wore a flowing black robe with stars decorated on it. The kind of one he’d have expected to see in a Dungeons and Dragons movie. All that was missing was a tall, pointy hat.
“Where am I?” he asked. “And who’re you?”
“You are in the morgue, and my name is Vinris. If you’d like to keep living, I can take you to the necromancer sepulcher.”
Mathias blinked. “Necromancer? Sepulcher?”
Vinris tilted his head. “Are those questions?”
“Um, yes. Among many others.”
“Okay, we’ll start at the beginning. Right before you were shot and killed, you made a deal to live. Do you remember?”
Whoever is up there listening, I’ll do anything.
“I see that you do,” Vinris continued, pointing. “Because of that plea, we were listening.”
“We?” Mathias rasped.
“The Brotherhood. Technically, it’s the Order of the Necromancer Brotherhood, but that’s very cumbersome to say.”
“You keep using that word.”
“Which word? I used a lot of words.”
“Necromancer.”
“Oh. Do you not know what it means?”
“Of course I do! But that’s just fantasy. They aren’t real people.”
“That’s rude,” Vinris sniffed like he was offended. “Do you call warlocks fantasy? Aliens? Vampires?”
“Oh my God.”
“Do you call Him fantasy?”
Mathias pushed out an irritated breath. “Listen, I’m a doctor. I use scientific facts, and right now, the fact is I have to get home because I’m proposing to my girlfriend tonight.”
“That’s beautiful, but no. Remember, you’re dead.”
Mathias shook his head. “Stop it! If I were dead, I wouldn’t be able to talk to you.”
“You don’t believe in the afterlife?”
“It’s like talking to a brick wall,” he muttered.
“Mathias, I can assure you, I’m not a wall. This isn’t a game or pretend. I am here to seal the deal you asked for before you were shot in the head. So, you have two choices. Complete the deal and join the Brotherhood or fade away into the abyss of souls.”
Mathias studied Vinris’s eyes and saw no deception. No evasiveness. There wasn’t any humor or farce. Now, he was petrified, because he remembered all of it. He remembered the sound of the gun as it fired. He even remembered the briefest fraction of a second as the bullet broke through his skull.
“I—I’m dead,” he whispered. A shiver worked its way up his spine. His heart ached, but not for himself. For Nova.
“Yes,” Vinris affirmed. “But you don’t have to stay dead.”
“Does every dead person get an invite to this Brotherhood?”
Bitterness was slowly overtaking his fear.
“No. There are two factors needed for getting an invite. First, being a doctor of the dead determined who you met. Second, you have to have had a magical legacy yourself. Are you agreeing to the deal?”
For a moment, the dream he’d had of the woman who said she was his ancestor rolled through his mind.
She called herself a witch. That couldn’t have been real.
Could it? Almost immediately, he dismissed what had happened.
It was easier to believe he’d been kidnapped by a crazy person.
Maybe he wasn’t dead. He’d never considered the possibility he’d been hypnotized.
Or brainwashed? Could be hallucinogenic drugs, although he didn’t remember taking any.
Not since college. Reaction to anesthesia? Did he cater to the crazy?
“Hello?” Vinris waved a hand in front of his face.
Mathias slapped the hand away. “A magical legacy?”
Vinris frowned. “You don’t know your genealogical background?”
“No, of course I don’t. I’d say about ninety-nine percent of people don’t.”
“Well, that’s sad,” Vinris sniffed, as if insulted. “Your great-many-times-back grandmother was a witch.”
Mathias’s body went cold.
“And I know what you’re thinki—”
“Probably not,” he muttered.
“She did not burn at the stake because she was smart enough to hide her powers.”
“I wasn’t thinking that at all.”
“You are a very powerful fledgling who could become a very powerful necromancer,” Vinris said. “So, what do you choose? Are you going to live or are you going to fade away?”
He either ceased to be, or he had a chance to be with Nova again. With that logic, it wasn’t hard to answer. Might as well go along with the madness until he woke up.
“I’m going to live.”
****
N ova lay on her couch , staring at the wall.
Her mind was a million miles away, glued to the last memory she’d ever have of Mathias.
Lost in the purest form of agony, from a broken heart that would never mend.
He’d been her rock. Her best friend. Her everything.
She’d found out through friends that he was planning to propose the night he was killed.
She should’ve been looking at wedding websites to pick out the beautiful gown she wanted to wear.
The venue. The guest list. Food, bar, flowers.
Instead, the only plan now was a funeral.
She couldn’t even move from the stupid couch.
All she could remember was his smile. How he’d wink at her when he caught her staring.
How he blew her kisses from across the room.
How he’d kiss her in that spot between her neck and shoulder that always drove her wild.
How they’d laugh at the same stupid movies.
How he thought his jokes were hilarious.
Tears flooded her eyes again, then slowly rolled down her cheeks. There was no end to them.
Food wasn’t important. Dehydration threatened daily. Even the idea of taking a shower exhausted her.
What was the point? Nothing mattered. Why did the world continue to spin? Why did awful people, like the man who killed Mathias, get away with everything? Why did he live while good people died? It wasn’t fair.
A sob broke through, and once more tears flowed down her face.
Her head pounded, which only added to her misery.
She didn’t hear the knock on her door. She didn’t hear someone using their spare key to open the door.
It wasn’t until Clement’s arms came around her, holding her tight to give her a safe space to completely break apart, that she realized she wasn’t alone.
“Shhh,” Clement said soothingly, rocking her.
“I miss him!” Nova sobbed. “I miss him so much!”
“I know.”
“I want to die,” Nova whispered.
“No, don’t say that.”
She didn’t say anything more because there was no way that Clement could understand what she was feeling. How devastated she was. How her world now resided in darkness. No light. No hope. Just ... a future of endless regret.
“Come on,” Clement said resolutely. “Let’s get you packed up.”
Nova blinked up at her. “What?”
“You’re coming to live with me.”
“No, I’m not.”
Clement placed her hands on her hips. “Yes, you are. You say you want to die, so that means you are now my roommate.”
“No,” Nova said, shaking her head. “This is Mathias’s home. I can’t lose it.”
“You don’t have to give it up,” Clement told her softly. “Not until you’re ready, but you’re not ready to face all of this alone, so you’re living with me.”
Nova thought about it for a moment. Her gaze touched on each item in her home, and each thing made the pain of his loss flare bright. Maybe Clement was right. If she stayed here, she would drown in the pain of Mathias’s death.
“Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll go with you.”
Clement nodded and held out her hand. “Come. Let’s pack your stuff.”
Nova wiped her cheeks.
Seems like she would survive Mathias’s death after all.