image [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPAi1TzfVSq4q8KLKOLCK5rzFi8Qw3r-lXlXe2uIIoiZLwFtR6sfcREbe0H4tVctMGqP9cGvcuTRna1ocok8L3HCAEnuWKYjEzELCK9Rm-XjYmJAkS8Qbjchp0WHivmbwPayRJ43DCIJVTt8ZW5lw1ynrAXapVsruBq7mo_Wuk4oQ6NtrFcM0R35jXorn5tF2i8AFRFzA9biHd4JwUB8XkW8t4I0A75UGOBpWtuKJiM3PRazGF2yUSYNseaP9RU9nncfcmPUMC8PDoqLGw9M4KHly_8PSOJrKWdApLfXQMq1uj2ucNjePCDFR-NvYJKocyoC5QcFOxQ34YXNfBDD_XkoSgxqh2mCZ6u1PUhytnDy1jkt3ldRc7vw2g0eR14g70xlEKDeA0gFQj06yei9q5-PKR9mgGhVxsuANnt8_ri6qc-cr5nXfe_q_z_CuWt-jC9kfIIYQ1EixEqKAzJbjwr2q57H2Idu0uh8BLV8Bz3mFIN6umMyvGHQauJEUBnTr57BxOzn3f7qmti6Y-unirmRk_JzfDv94hpxrt3zWawk5KkYrD9GEXhqeIis7n4B1U7uIwz6WAJh2pH1iC_ZBcu51KB5HtB9kyn4XRn0SvYmAre0YkNigrVT8EmBsbtt5IS9DEyGQhGmwU2QzSprBnHvEywSeEhx7YYIfP-go84d3DZbljIUqQv3nSiT7kmSOcR67r2--8_bcKs2J9KiiTLbRjLW3FexGtfjeGbUWkvM0Xbe6RS-hMGcuOQAdRJCgzMMMH5Rkq_nKvX7wnVjuApfMVnPxpy5YhOThORv2yfqn75OXi6kAMvsj03nMs779EdlE671_NEzDm7iPMmuQ30XN2uo6eVHXalMAsbf6s_wZHHldUm8WrIj4lq8JTDFoN0zkTENuqHRJsZS7ZR4i-M9zqAGhAPMpHOuRkcZba1k4nfotphQDADgG2GVg=w866-h866-s-no-gm?authuser=1](Concept of Rinoa on her balcony)
Alex Winter
7:30 pm, Sunday, July 9th, 2023
Usually when a man is invited to stay with a beautiful woman, you'd presume, no shit, that he'd jump at the opportunity. Alex wasn't different from most of those men. What sped up his decision to memorize Rinoa's address was the constant presence of being followed throughout town. He was practically skipping up to the building when he spotted her on the railing above him.
"Alex? Bit late for an evening jog, don't you think?" Rinoa teased, placing her book on the small table in front of her. Her hair was down and she wore a long black, fur robe. She looked like she just got out of the shower. Sadly, constant mortal peril tends to kill a man's arousal.
"What can I say? Nothing makes me want to go on a jog like a busted le-" the second he stopped moving, he fell to a knee. He almost had to bite back a sob. The pain that had been gone the entire time came back like a tidal wave.
She jumped to her feet and came down as quickly as she could. The moments he spent waiting sent him on a five minute paranoia trip, looking around every corner. For the most part, the streets were empty. It was at the opposite end of town from the house. Most buildings around were spaced out, some painted in a light blue and white, others in an ugly yellow. The image of that woman at the lighthouse never left his mind. He hated it.
Rinoa burst out to the front, helping him to his feet. She didn't say a word. The lack of questions as she helped him through the lobby made him curious, but he was thankful for it. A quiet ride up the gated elevator, and through the green and purple carpeted halls.
Moving through the gray door to her room, she asked, "What can I do to help, Alex?"
"...You wouldn't happen to have bandages in the bathroom, would you?"
She nodded, helping him reach it in the hall to the right. Alex looked at her and whispered, "Thank you." With that, he closed the door and got to work.
He half expected something to be waiting inside when he turned on the lights. The chills never left, but for once he was left in peace. Alex took off his clothes and examined his wounds, holding himself up with the walls and sink. The cuts in his hand and back had reopened. The bandages were drenched too.
It was a wonder he didn't leave a long trail all the way from the lighthouse. Getting to his hand was easy enough. He sat along the edge of the bathtub, grimacing as he rubbed alcohol to clean it before rinsing the blood off. Despite his fear, he was careful not to make a mess. What was impossibly annoying was getting to his back. From his shoulder down across his spine to his hip.
Rinoa must've heard him struggling, because a few minutes in and she walked in. He silently thanked God he hadn't taken his pants off yet or even the pain wouldn't have distracted how embarrassing that'd be. Not that she seemed to mind. Naturally he tried to protest, but she wasn't hearing it. He winced and bit into his palm to keep himself from screaming as she dabbed it up with cotton swabs. It hadn't seemed so bad until she'd cleaned into the deepest parts.
The parts he couldn't reach in the afternoon. It was a long and painful process, but she didn't breathe a word of complaint. He didn't resist either. Didn't have the energy to. For a few moments, his mind blanked out staring at the wall of the shower. Worst part of everything was finally being able to weigh everything he'd just learned.
"Rinoa..."
"Alex."
"You didn't visit this town recently before you came, did you?"
"Strange of you to ask, but actually no. I'd read about it in my travels, but this is my first time being here. Why?"
He sighed, turning to face her. "You haven't gone anywhere since we got here either, right?" Their eyes met, and he knew she understood these weren't just random questions.
"I've been in Diaedem all day. ...Does this have to do with the Undead and the disappearances?"
"Yes."
After she finished wrapping his back with fresh bandages, he helped her clean up the bathroom. They moved to the living room where he sat on a soft brown comforter, explaining the day he'd had since they departed. Rinoa remained quiet, making tea. Once she sat in front of him, she took a deep breath.
"So there are two Undead and if we try to leave this town, we'll die. Cherie Moussie is one of them. The one who tried to kill you last night is a police officer and the spirit she controls is following you everywhere... You were attacked by a different spirit, hence what brought you to me. Does that sum everything correctly?" Rinoa asked, jotting down notes in her journal.
Alex nodded. "I wish I could say April Fools, but as you're aware, it's July."
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"If your humor is intact, that's one less thing to worry about," Rinoa said, giving him a reassuring smile. "That leaves us with a lot of questions... but, at least it gives me a lead. I had no intention of going anywhere to begin with. The idea someone could be dying unknowingly every moment of every day is concerning..."
Her calmness was almost more unsettling than everything he encountered. "For a person receiving doom and gloom, you're awfully relaxed," Alex mentioned.
Rinoa raised an eyebrow, closing her journal. "If I was quaking in my robe and asking you to comfort me like a sweet little girl, would that make you feel any better?"
It was such an interesting question for a moment it did distract his fear. "I suppose the idea of you quaking isn't the most unpleasant thing I've imagined since I got here."
She leaned forward, taking his hand. "You don't say?"
What shifted in those moments was hard for Alex to put into words. To destroy the thoughts plaguing him. To satisfy a lustful urge that had been rippling through them since they'd met. A desire to feel anything good where he was surrounded by nothing but despair. None of it mattered.
The next several minutes was him pressing her against every inch of her apartment, repeatedly apologizing for whatever furniture he broke along the way as she told him not to worry about it. Whatever was left of them by the time they'd finished, his back and his head hurt worse than he'd started. Being completely drained had never felt better in his life.
As she lit a cigarette, smirking to herself like an idiot, Alex buried his head into the pillow beside her. "Did you have to pull my hair so hard?" he muffled, making her chuckle.
Blowing out smoke, Rinoa replied, "It's your fault for being a rough little brute! For someone limping half an hour ago, you sure found the pep in your step, champ." As she messed with his curls, his face burned.
"Shut up... You sound like a freaking hyena when you-" he ate a pillow as she pressed it into his face.
"I do not, shut your mouth!" It was her turn to blush, and in that moment they both laughed. Even if it was just a distraction. An excuse. He welcomed it wholeheartedly and slept with her blissfully until the next morning.
2:30 pm, Friday, July 14th, 2023
Almost an entire week without incident. The chaos of the first night and day compared to now almost seemed incomprehensible to Alex. He stayed with Rinoa, discussing what they should be researching to learn more of the Undead. No mentions of Cherie came from the townsfolk yet, and he saw no sign of Scarlett or Asmodeus. It had him constantly looking over his shoulder.
They were standing by the field of flowers, looking down at the beach. He was against coming here, but Rinoa insisted on seeing it. Kneeling to sniff the roses, she asked, "You don't suppose any of the corpses could've risen from here, do you?"
"With how many people Scarlett might've dug underneath this soil, who knows? I haven't exactly seen if there's a limitation in how the Undead have to die, or if it's just anyone in this particular time period," he responded, leaning against his motorcycle.
It arrived Monday at the house. They had gone together to get it, but he couldn't shake the eerie feeling despite not going inside for long. He went in quickly to grab his clothes and bathroom supplies. There was no sign of Asmodeus or even of the damn cat Squirrelclaw. It made him suspicious, but he didn't linger.
He didn't want Rinoa to come along at the time, but she had made a good point. "If what you're saying is true, it doesn't matter where I am. We're better off sticking together... Besides, I wouldn't want that white haired witch stealing you away.~"
For the most part spending his days with her were comfortable. His paranoia was still high, but it felt better than if he were dealing with this situation alone. They spent a lot of time reading, either in the University's library or in her apartment. Anything that would tell them more about what the Undead was or any rumors about how to deal with one.
The air between them was mostly the same. It was strange how close they felt naturally after only a few days. Given the circumstances, maybe it wasn't. He'd never admit it, but he'd hoped to meet someone like Rinoa during his stay. Small compensation for the chances he might never leave. One thing he noticed was she didn't talk about herself much.
She would talk a lot about what she was doing... but nothing about her personal life. Nothing about her past. It didn't strike Alex as all that odd as they were still getting to know each other, but part of him felt strange to even attempt to pry into that subject. Part of him was afraid of what that would do to their dynamic. Learning more about her just for her to die moments later?
Her eyes locked onto him across the long table, closing the book in front of her. She sighed. "I'm not going to just drop dead, you know? If you have questions, just spit them out," Rinoa said, grinning at the stunned look on his face.
"Did you just- What are you, psychic?"
"I suppose you could call it woman's intuition... Wait, that makes me a cliche. Let's call it Valentine's intuition!"
"Oh, you threw your last name in front of the word intuition. How original."
"Still original. Anyway, what's on your mind?"
Alex sighed. "It's strange. I've enjoyed these days with you, despite how strange it is being in this town and what we're doing. I just wish I knew more about you."
She smiled so warmly, he almost thought his face would blow up from burning. "Is the young, charming witch's spell finally working?" She let out such a convincing cackle, it actually sent a shiver down his spine.
For a second it reminded him of Scarlett. "You've certainly got the laugh of a witch down," he said, smiling weakly.
Rinoa puffed out her chest and looked to the ceiling in pride. "Why, thank you, good sir. Tell me what you'd like to know about moi."
He tilted his head curiously. "We're speaking French now?"
Feeling her lips, she winked and said, "You speak it well enough yourself... Quit dodging the subject!"
"I've never spoken French a day I've been h- Oh. That's what you meant."
Rinoa smirked.
"Anyway, I suppose we could start with the basics. Where are you from? How did you learn about Diaedem?" he asked, folding his arms.
"Hmm, strangely I was imagining more personal questions." She kicked her feet up, staring at the ceiling. "I was born in Hawaii. It was lovely. You should've seen me in a hula skirt," she added, checking his reaction.
"I've seen you wearing less..."
"Hoo, fair... It was ocean and sun every day, not unlike this town. Blissful paradise until my teenage years. Then my dad moved us to Washington... biggest downgrade of my life. Nothing but rain almost every blasted day. I try not to think about those times much." Rinoa took a deep breath. "I always loved the unknown, and I always loved solving mysteries. With that, I became a private investigator. When I'm not dismantling real people, I enjoy trying to reach out to the paranormal. I'd already planned on moving to Diaedem during my travels, yet the strange things I had heard were all the more reason to come."
Alex smiled. "Just to wake up the first person you see knocked out on the train... All these things to investigate and you're the biggest mystery."
"You really think so?"
"It's part of your charm... Smart, but goofy. You take thrill in what scares me. It's one of the first times I felt envious of someone else's courage."
In that, they shared a comfortable silence. The claustrophobic feeling of going anywhere was momentarily lifted. It was dangerous to grow comfortable. At that moment, a movement by the bookshelves caught Alex's eyes. A girl with puffy red hair wearing a sweater was watching them. His eyes widened as he rose to his feet. "Cherie?" he called before he could stop himself.
The same woman he'd seen on the missing posters. Same as the vision. Cherie raised an eyebrow. "You know my name? I didn't realize I was popular around here," she said, smiling.
He had to keep himself from mentioning that she'd been missing. Even something as simple as asking questions felt like it could be deadly in this town. Rinoa looked between them confused, but then relaxed as she understood. "You're Alex Winter, aren't you?" Cherie asked, walking toward them.