Other Fan Fiction ❯ So Close ❯ So Close ( Chapter 1 )

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The darkness blanketed the oblivious mind in a comfortable numbness. There was no sensation, no thoughts, no memory. Suddenly, with a flash of light, awareness started trickling to the oblivious creature. It took a couple of moments for the creature to realize that she is a female human, and somewhere the faint strings of a song was playing. Before she could puzzle out the questions that came with the awareness, two voices intruded into her puzzled mind. One was distinctively male, the other the soft, lilting tones of a female. Something, instinct maybe, told her that these two voices belonged to something far superior to a human such as herself.

'Well, my little pet,' the male voice drawled with a voice that was deep and smooth, but had the sound of a death rattle as he breathed, 'it appears you are getting a chance no other mortal has ever received. You must thank your Queen for that.'

'Oh, hush Husband.' the Queen admonished, 'Dearest one, your own husband has been so overcome by grief of your death that he has fought his way to our throne and begged for the chance to take you home.'

Somehow the news that she was dead did not surprise her. It certainly explained the scent of decay anyways. A the thought of her death, memory sparked and she saw a flash of the scales and fangs and remembered the feel of a sharp jab in her foot before a quick paralysis slowed the functions of her body. Another thing she remembered was a man crying over her slowly dying body.

'I have agreed...' the Queen started.

'But I do not take lightly the thought of someone stealing away my subjects. Besides, if I let you go easily, other mortals will come for their loved ones. I will NOT stand for it.' The King quickly interrupted. 'This is what you are to do. When you open your eyes, a man will be there. You must put your hand into his and follow him. He is not to look at you and you are not allowed to speak to him until you are both fully underneath the sun, out of my kingdom. If either of you break the rules, you will be brought back to my kingdom and he will be expelled until his death brings him here. If that happens, I will make sure even in his afterlife here, he will never find you again.'

The voices left her suddenly and awareness flooded her senses. Her eyes flashed open.

For a minute all she was noticed was a handsome man that kept his eyes averted from her and was reaching for her hand. She placed her cold, rotting hand daintily into his much warmer flesh. She watched him carefully, but she saw no signs of disgust from him. For some reason, that made her happy. She did not know what she would do if this man did not like her for any reason.

He gripped her hand with a firm, yet gentle grip. She was unsure about whether the gentleness was because he cared about her or if it was because it was a natural grip for the musician. That is surely what he is because in his other hand, he clutched a golden lyre. Her memory flashed again and she could have sworn that she heard the faint sound of the instrument. She shook her head slowly and stood up. They both took a step, and as her foot fell on the ground, the injury flashed fiery pain through her leg, causing her to stumble and fall. She expected to hit the ground and was surprised when an arm wrapped itself around her waist and kept her from falling. She glanced up from the place against his chest that she was nestled against. He was not even looking at her. She righted herself awkwardly and tested putting weight on her foot. It still hurt, but now that she was expecting the pain, she ignored it.


After gently squeezing the man's hand he start walking for a steep incline. It was littered with jagged rocks and lose gravel that would make them slip and stumble, and if they weren't careful, fall back to where they're starting from. After stumbling up to the top, she nearly groaned at seeing the path continuing forward. As they walked, she became aware of the sound of flowing water steadily becoming louder.

Walking a few more steps, she became aware of the fact the the rocks that were tearing the soles of her feet to shreds were being replaced with the sturdy feel of wooden planks as a misty fog swirled from her waist down. Up ahead she saw a small boat swaying to the current. The small boat was manned by a man covered in robes that blended him into the shadows and gloom of this place. After a couple seconds of careful scrutiny, she saw the skeletal hands gripping the oar and realized that the ferryman was as dead as she is.

After a while with only the sounds of the flowing river and the soft splash as the oar was dipped into the current, they pulled up to another dock with lines of many people waiting to cross. The man got out of the boat first and had started to turn to face her before he froze and instead walked to the side of the line of people with their bodies show many different ways to die. She climbed carefully out of the boat and made her way behind him. She reached for his hand when the ferryman croaked “No! The rest of your journey is to be without holding hands.” Both the man and the woman paused briefly, before the man started walking.

She hurriedly fell into step behind him. Walking past the hordes of the dead people was a challenge in and of itself. The ones with hands pulled at her hair, arms, and skirts claiming that she was going the wrong way. The dead are not allowed on the surface world they called when she wrenched herself free of them. Every time this happened, the man ahead of her froze and made the motions of starting to turn, but every time he froze, facing away and only walking when she gently touched his shoulder.

At last, they came to the last bit of their journey. They both eyed the steep hill of soft earth that tore free in their grasp. Using the roots of the trees that riddled through the earth from the cavern, they pulled themselves up the hill. Just a few feet from them lay one of the many exits of the Underworld. This exit led to a meadow of flowers surrounded by a grove of trees. The man dashed for the exit. She was hot on his heels. He made it out into the sunlight and closed his eyes and spun around in the glorious warmth after being in the frigid realm of the dead for so long. She slowed to a walk to admire this man. As she stood halfway out of the cave, she noticed something miraculous happening. As the sunlight touched her skin, the parts it touched were turning from the rotting flesh of a corpse to the warm, healthy flesh of a young maiden. As she turned slowly back to life, memories swept through her mind. Her heart thumped wildly with her love of him and the gratitude of this second chance they've received. She started walking into the sun again.

Suddenly, she stumbled. She turned and noticed her skirt was caught on a branch just inside the cave mouth. She walked back into the cave and with a grunt of effort she tried to pull herself free. As soon as the sound issued from her, she froze. She heard a gasp as he, she assumed, turned to look at her but noticed that she was still within the boundaries of the Underworld. Her eyes turned to look at her beloved and widened as he appeared to be moving away from her. She stretched her arms out to reach for him even though she believed it to be an exercise in futility. He managed grasp her hand however with a yank that jarred her arm. Tears started streaming out of both their eyes. Figuring she would be dragged back to the emptiness of death regardless, she opened her mouth.


“I love you my beloved... I am so sorry. This is my fault.” she called over the quiet roar of the vacuum pulling her back to the depths of the Underworld.
“NO!” he screamed “I will not lose you again! Not when we were so close...”

The rotting flesh of her arm seemed to give out and he lost his grip on her. As she was sucked back into the realm of the dead, a mournful cry accompanied her decent. The further down she went, the more she seemed to forget, the more her awareness died. Eventually she was back where she started from.

The darkness blanketed the oblivious mind in a comfortable numbness. There was no sensation, no thoughts. But there was a memory. The faint remembered strings of music created a cocoon of comfort and sadness. The memory of loss, of what was unclear, but it stung bitterly. If the creature could, it would have cried. But it had no thoughts, no idea of what tears are, and no idea how to cry. So it was just music and numb sadness.