> People have reported the sensation of being watched, followed, or a dip in temperature. Sometimes, people claim to have seen ghosts, or moving shadows. These events are often attributed to jaan, though no sighting has ever been confirmed.

>

> - Of Myth and Legend, El Viajar and the Deuda

Elena awoke in the tower, surrounded by wrappers, and wrapped in a salvaged blanket. She yawned, stretched, and then stood, peering out over the twinkling city far beyond the black hill the university stood on. She turned, inspecting the room she now called home. Cleaner now than when she found it, it still held signs of disuse and decay that eventually started to bring comfort to her. It was quiet. No yelling, no fighting, just her and the night air. She pulled on her shoes, then brushed the wrappers aside with her foot, and headed for the door.

Outside, down beside the fountain, Elena found William, staring at the moon and the church as he tended to do. “How’d you sleep?” He asked her.

“Like the dead,” she replied with a smile. However, the truth of it was that she had awoken a few times, the light beams creeping in hurting her eyes. She stood beside William, eyes to the sky where the moon hung, and Rykard stood, a stark figure against the light. Before long, she turned to William again, and asked, “ready to go?”

They started walking through the university, like the time before, and like tomorrow, she was sure. While it hadn’t been long since she came here, it already felt like home. As they walked, Elena pointed out some of the burned-out areas, noting how interesting some of them looked. Some areas had plants growing into the gaps, and others showed scorch marks extending beyond. She wondered what had caused the fire.

William gave a weak smile, as if he wanted to answer the questions, but didn’t feel like he should. That was fine, she liked a bit of mystery, and the history of the school was one she thought warranted investigation.

“So,” Elena started, turning the conversation to William, who walked beside her as a complacent guardian, “how old are you anyway?” She didn’t expect him to answer, but he had an answer ready.

“I should be about twenty. What about you? You can’t be older than me.” He nudged her slightly with his hip, catching her off guard.

“I turned nineteen a few months ago, thank you very much.” He laughed at that, a sound that echoed through the night air between them, and into the dead neighborhood around them. They had wandered into another neighborhood, and like the rest, the roads and sidewalk were cracked and uncarred.

“I assume you’re from here, too? What did you do for fun when you were alive?”

William tilted his head side to side, as it considering his answer carefully. “I’m from the other side,” he pointed in the direction the wall of glass and steel would be if they could see it. From their vantage, low into a dip in the road, only the top gleaming portion could be seen jutting against the sky. “I didn’t really like going out too much. Reading is pretty fun, I had a friend who got me into it.”

“Me too!” Elena says, unable to contain herself. “I like reading old stories, some myths, some histories. I think it’s pretty cool how things used to be. Have you read the ‘Of Myth and Legend’ series? It has little excerpts that are really cool, and -”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

He looked down at her and smiled. Elena realized that she had started talking too much. She was about to apologize, but William spoke first.

“Nah, I haven’t read that book, but I know a bit of history. I tend to read whatever I can. If we could find a decent book we could read it together, but we don’t.” He sighed as if imagining the chance to read together was an impossibility.

Elena, not one to drop the conversation, continued. She asked him, “what did you want to do in life? I mean, now we can’t exactly do what we wanted, but what did you want?”

He seemed startled for a moment, before asking her, “I’m not too sure. What did you want to do?”

“I’ve always liked stories and history. I hoped to someday write historical stories, or maybe just write or learn history. Aside from that, I’ve always wanted to meet the Necromancer. Even before all of this, I wanted to just talk to him, and understand what he went through.”

“Why do you want to meet him so bad, anyway? It’s pretty odd for someone in this day and age.”

They rounded a corner to a shopping center. Each business was closed or in the process of closing. Some cars dotted the lot, but no more than a handful. It took a minute for Elena to respond to the question because she wasn’t exactly sure either.

“When I was little, I remember the first thing I heard about him was that he killed his only friend. My church said it was because he was a monster, but why would he hurt someone close to him? I guess, I assumed it was an accident.” She frowned, not quite pleased with her answer. “If that’s not it, then it was because of what the church preached caring for other people, and why not care for someone who was being used by Sin?”

Elena frowned again and stopped where she stood on the sidewalk. To her left the road continued on into the distance, to her right the plaza curved around. She looked to William again, not exactly sure how to explain that she just does care, and there’s no real reason for it other than she simply did. He looked at her confused, unsure of what was happening.

“I think I just do. I mean, I think, even if my church didn’t do anything, or I didn’t learn to be nice to people, I’d still feel bad for him. Yeah.” The revelation stuck out to her, as a point of interest in her heart. The realization fit as if a piece of her that wasn’t aware of itself, suddenly became that much more aware of what it meant to be Elena.

William started walking again, and Elena started following. As they made their way down, a few steps from where they had stopped, William spoke up. “You’re a rare kind of person, Elena. You’re the kind of person that can care, even when it doesn’t make sense.” He wrapped one arm around her and held her tight. “Thank you.” Then he released her.

Elena smiles outwardly, but inside a piece of her believes that it’s wrong to care, that it’s wrong somehow. William, seeming to sense her distress, continued to talk.

“I knew someone like you a long time ago. She was great. People loved to be around her, they depended on her. She taught people to care. She was always curious and kind. She’s the one who got me to start reading more.” He paused to laugh and again looked to the sky. “I was at a dark point in my life, Elena, but she gave me a reason to keep going.”

Elena, feeling relieved that there are others out there like her, visibly relaxed. “She sounds great, I wish I could be like her. I’m sorta just me.”

“But you’re great. You went out, and you’re now going to find the Necromancer, to live your dream. If that’s not enough, I can tell you about her over time. The most important thing about her was her kindness. Believe me, I understand not liking yourself. In my case, I try to be like her, too, but I’m so different that it’s hard sometimes.”

William shook his head and hung it low. He took a deep breath, and they crossed another street and found another empty plaza.

“I’d love to meet her someday.” Elena tries to smile, but William holds a pained expression, one of regret and sadness. He looked into the distance, unable to look Elena in the eye.

“She died some time ago now. Honestly, I wasn’t supposed to know her, and some people really didn’t like me or the fact that I was around her. They found out, and they killed her. I couldn’t save her, even though she saved me.” He looked as though he struggled to hold back tears, his breathing shaky.

“It sounds sort of like a gang attack.”

“You could say that,” William replied.

They stopped just outside of a building, nestled past several plazas and parking lots. The sign read, “The Hungry Ghost.”