The Grande Funeral Home’s southern district cemetery was located on the southwest side of its office and was separated by woods from the surrounding area. Normally, few people would come here. After all, few people were willing to come to sweep the graves of criminals and nameless people. The whole cemetery was divided into four areas, east, west, south, and north, and each area was separated by a fence. Although the iron fence was used, for reasons of respect or fear of the deceased, even if the people of Grande Funeral Home rarely looked after it, those iron bars were still intact, they were just slightly rusty.
Mrs. Quinn’s car was driving on the road in the middle of the north area and the south area of the cemetery. Continuing to the west, on the west side of the north area of the cemetery, was the destination of this trip, a church.
It was indeed a great car. The bumps in Benjamin’s car became tiny floats in Mrs. Quinn’s limousine, and there was no discomfort except for causing lethargy.
Mrs. Quinns leaned her head and looked at the south area outside the car window.
Zach sat in the car, feeling a little awkward.
The reason was also very simple. In the north area of the cemetery, stood many ‘ugly rocks’ and in the south area of the cemetery, it was covered with weeds.
According to the customs of the Federation, criminals were generally buried in the north. It was said that burying closer to the church could atone for the sins in their previous lives. The main clients of [Grande Funeral Home] were the criminals who died in prison. As for the ugly rocks, it was actually the tombstone that Benjamin personally ‘carved’. It was precisely because they were criminals, the prison officials never cared about what those prisoners’ tombstones look like, if it were not for the cost of cremation to be higher than the most ‘low-spec’ burial, they wished to burn those criminals to ashes.
Because no one was looking after the cemetery, the rest of the areas, where ordinary people were buried, were covered with all kinds of weeds. In recent years, Zach could count the number of ordinary customers that came to the southern district ceremony of Grande Funeral Home with just one hand.
“Very good, very good.” Mrs. Quinn’s wrinkled face actually appeared to have a smile.
Zach didn’t know whether he should feel fortunate, or speechless that he had encountered a strange old lady. Actually, Mrs. Quinn’s great image was completely broken when she said that to Zach. Her smile was probably because she was happy that the funeral time would definitely exceed her remaining life, so before she closed her eyes, she would not see her grandson Pooky’s despicable face!
Between those two people, the grandson hoped the grandmother would die earlier, and the grandmother wanted the grandson to have a miserable life. Zach didn’t know which one of them had a more distorted view.
In order to find a trace of the cause of this twisted relationship, Zach brought Alice.
The vampire looked at the banshee, who has curled up since the moment she saw Mrs. Quinn, and signaled her with his eyes, ‘Have you seen it?’
Alice was sitting in a large, soft seat. Even though the car was very warm, she still held her shoulders tightly, and her white bony shoulders were trembling non-stop.
Mrs. Quinn turned her head and noticed Alice’s trembling, the strange smile disappeared from her wrinkled face. She lifted her finger, pointed the blanket next to her, and then pointed to Alice again. The female caregiver understood the meaning, picked up the blanket, folded it, and covered Alice with it.
“I have seen too many children like you.” Mrs. Quinn looked at Alice with tenderness, and then looked at Zach, “You look like a reliable person, but you are not a good brother.”
Zach did not expect that Mrs. Quinn would suddenly talk about him, a little puzzled, he slightly bowed to her, and asked respectfully, “Why would Madam say this?”
“Because of your sister, Alice, she is in fear!” Mrs. Quinn reached out her hand and seemed to want to hold Alice.
Alice looked at Zach at a loss for what to do. After Zach nodded slightly, Alice moved her body and leaned towards Mrs. Quinn. Then a pair of withered arms wrapped around Alice, slowly stroking her back.
Zach still had a puzzled expression, looking at Mrs. Quinn, he was waiting for an explanation.
“Zachary, your name stands for honesty.” Mrs. Quinn looked back at Zach, “So tell me, have you seen the eyes of those children, who have seen too many deaths?”
The body of Alice, who snuggled in the skinny arms of Mrs. Quinn, suddenly shook.
“Oh, poor child. Don’t be afraid…” Mrs. Quinn gently patted Alice’s back, comforting the frightened banshee.
Of course, Mrs. Quinn did not know that the person in her arms was a banshee! A creature that could see death. So, Zach was not less surprised than Alice!
“Your little sister has such a pair of eyes! She is scared!” Mrs. Quinn stared at Zach’s light green eyes. “And you, and you ignored your little sister’s fear! She is only sixteen! She should discuss the stars in the magazine and the clothes on Liszt Street with girls of the same age in school instead of staying in this lifeless cemetery!”
Zach frowned, he didn’t know what Mrs. Quinn was talking about.
“Mrs. Quinn, I don’t understand. Why did you say that Alice has seen too many deaths?” This was his concern.
“Because I spent more than ten years helping such children!” Mrs. Quinn sighed. At this time, she seemed to be separated from her inner distorted mind and became an ordinary old lady, “The initial death came from the children’s relatives, grandfather, grandmother, parents, brothers, and sisters, and then those around them, maybe neighbors, maybe teachers…”
Zach listened quietly, he had realized that Mrs. Quinn’s narrative had returned to the war era, she was describing the changes experienced by the children of that era.
“Then it was on a street corner, the people who they had never talked to, a stranger on the street… Adults would become numb, but children would not. Everyone that was buried in the ground was a shadow. These shadows were like a net, covering the children’s eyes.”
Mrs. Quinn held Alice in her arms and continued.
“And this net reminded these children, every one they saw today, every body temperature they felt, would disappear on a certain day, maybe tomorrow, or even tonight, it would become cold and marked as dead…”
Zach’s eyes widened, his expression looked a little distracted. And Alice always hunched shoulders suddenly stretched out, then her skinny arms hugged Mrs. Quinn from behind.
Alice has never taken the initiative to hug anyone other than Zach.
“Although the war was over, ordinary children have got rid of this fear. But your little sister is still shrouded in death!”
Mrs. Quinn looked at the whole deserted cemetery.
“Your little sister is being tortured by this net! Being isolated from the outside world by this net. Fearing to have contact with anyone, she closed her heart completely! This is her fear!” Mrs. Quinn felt Alice’s hug, stroking Alice’s back, still staring at Zach, “and you ignored it. So you may be a good person, but you are not a good brother! What kind of brother will raise up his little sister in a cemetery?”
Zach looked down, he was thinking.
The reason why the vampire would take in the banshee was that he, who was also a non-human, felt sympathetic for her. The reason why Alice would stay with the vampire was also very simple. The vampire was a person, who has died once. The death that Alice “saw” in him was actually a rebirth. This little solace made the banshee follow Zach.
Before Mrs. Quinn said these words, Zach had never thought about what was behind Alice’s anxiety.
“We’re here, madam.” The car was stopped. Mrs. Quinn patted Alice on the shoulder and looked out at the church outside the window. A priest wearing an old robe was waiting outside.
After getting off the car, Zach gave an excuse not to disturb the conversation between Mrs. Quinn and the priest and walked to the woods with Alice.
“Alice, is what Mrs. Quinn said true?” Zach asked Alice by holding her shoulders.
Alice hesitated but still nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zach frowned.
The vampire was not referring to “stars in magazines” and “clothes on Liszt Street”, but the fear of interacting with other people caused by the deaths she saw.
Alice hugged Zach and shook her head in his arms.
Even if it was said, it could not change the fact that Alice could see death. Mrs. Quinn’s keen observations had a very good start, but then it deviated, and eventually she made a conclusion that the vampire thought it was very funny.
“I just want a home where I can live a stable life,” Alice said in Zach’s arms.
However, Zach has already made a decision. He would read the information about Mr. Quinn and his wife in helping war orphans in the future. Mrs. Quinn was quite right. Alice was only sixteen and should not live in fear (and a cemetery).
1
Alice moved away from Zach’s arms and lowered her head, her voice was trembling, “I saw Mrs. Quinn’s… her future.”
The future Alice talked about only represented death.
“What happened?” Zach asked softly, Alice did not like to describe the process of the death of others, and now, it could be seen that Alice genuinely liked to stay close to Mrs. Quinn. But because of this, if they wanted to change the ‘future’, they must know the process before this change!
Alice raised her head, and Zach saw the anger, “It’s Pooky!”
During the time Zach led Alice to the church, our vampire was thinking about how to save Mrs. Quinn’s life, and while the vampire was thinking, let me explain to everyone why Alice had a death-heralding title.
Because death is a continuous process. We may be bitten by a tiny insect, we may ignore the red lights at the crossroads, we may jump into the cold lake without warming up, or we may just get used to ordering a fried chicken every day, or maybe a cigarette was lit under the nicotine addiction…
For the banshee, death was never sudden. It started with a small event, so small that no one would notice, but only the banshee could ‘see’. Mrs. Quinn regarded Alice as a normal girl, so she made a wrong conclusion. For Alice, she knew when people around her would become cold and be buried in the ground because she could see the whole process of death!
So when the banshee told you ‘Pay attention to your right, don’t drink after the sun goes down…’, you’d better listen. But when people didn’t listen, the banshee’s reminder would turn into a prophecy.
“Don’t listen to them! She will curse you!…”
When people twisted the good intention of the Banshee’s reminder, the title of death-heralding was given to her.
Back to Mrs. Quinn.
Her death began half a year ago, a drop of liquid that Pooky put in her black tea. For half a year, the scenes, where Mrs. Quinn was in, constantly changed, and the people around her were constantly changed. The only thing that remained the same was that this drop of liquid was given to Mrs. Quinn in various ways. And the end of this death would happen at the next midnight, and the thing that grew in her heart would stop her heart from beating completely.
The Grande Funeral Home’s southern district cemetery was located on the southwest side of its office and was separated by woods from the surrounding area. Normally, few people would come here. After all, few people were willing to come to sweep the graves of criminals and nameless people. The whole cemetery was divided into four areas, east, west, south, and north, and each area was separated by a fence. Although the iron fence was used, for reasons of respect or fear of the deceased, even if the people of Grande Funeral Home rarely looked after it, those iron bars were still intact, they were just slightly rusty.
Mrs. Quinn’s car was driving on the road in the middle of the north area and the south area of the cemetery. Continuing to the west, on the west side of the north area of the cemetery, was the destination of this trip, a church.
It was indeed a great car. The bumps in Benjamin’s car became tiny floats in Mrs. Quinn’s limousine, and there was no discomfort except for causing lethargy.
Mrs. Quinns leaned her head and looked at the south area outside the car window.
Zach sat in the car, feeling a little awkward.
The reason was also very simple. In the north area of the cemetery, stood many ‘ugly rocks’ and in the south area of the cemetery, it was covered with weeds.
According to the customs of the Federation, criminals were generally buried in the north. It was said that burying closer to the church could atone for the sins in their previous lives. The main clients of [Grande Funeral Home] were the criminals who died in prison. As for the ugly rocks, it was actually the tombstone that Benjamin personally ‘carved’. It was precisely because they were criminals, the prison officials never cared about what those prisoners’ tombstones look like, if it were not for the cost of cremation to be higher than the most ‘low-spec’ burial, they wished to burn those criminals to ashes.
Because no one was looking after the cemetery, the rest of the areas, where ordinary people were buried, were covered with all kinds of weeds. In recent years, Zach could count the number of ordinary customers that came to the southern district ceremony of Grande Funeral Home with just one hand.
“Very good, very good.” Mrs. Quinn’s wrinkled face actually appeared to have a smile.
Zach didn’t know whether he should feel fortunate, or speechless that he had encountered a strange old lady. Actually, Mrs. Quinn’s great image was completely broken when she said that to Zach. Her smile was probably because she was happy that the funeral time would definitely exceed her remaining life, so before she closed her eyes, she would not see her grandson Pooky’s despicable face!
Between those two people, the grandson hoped the grandmother would die earlier, and the grandmother wanted the grandson to have a miserable life. Zach didn’t know which one of them had a more distorted view.
In order to find a trace of the cause of this twisted relationship, Zach brought Alice.
The vampire looked at the banshee, who has curled up since the moment she saw Mrs. Quinn, and signaled her with his eyes, ‘Have you seen it?’
Alice was sitting in a large, soft seat. Even though the car was very warm, she still held her shoulders tightly, and her white bony shoulders were trembling non-stop.
Mrs. Quinn turned her head and noticed Alice’s trembling, the strange smile disappeared from her wrinkled face. She lifted her finger, pointed the blanket next to her, and then pointed to Alice again. The female caregiver understood the meaning, picked up the blanket, folded it, and covered Alice with it.
“I have seen too many children like you.” Mrs. Quinn looked at Alice with tenderness, and then looked at Zach, “You look like a reliable person, but you are not a good brother.”
Zach did not expect that Mrs. Quinn would suddenly talk about him, a little puzzled, he slightly bowed to her, and asked respectfully, “Why would Madam say this?”
“Because of your sister, Alice, she is in fear!” Mrs. Quinn reached out her hand and seemed to want to hold Alice.
Alice looked at Zach at a loss for what to do. After Zach nodded slightly, Alice moved her body and leaned towards Mrs. Quinn. Then a pair of withered arms wrapped around Alice, slowly stroking her back.
Zach still had a puzzled expression, looking at Mrs. Quinn, he was waiting for an explanation.
“Zachary, your name stands for honesty.” Mrs. Quinn looked back at Zach, “So tell me, have you seen the eyes of those children, who have seen too many deaths?”
The body of Alice, who snuggled in the skinny arms of Mrs. Quinn, suddenly shook.
“Oh, poor child. Don’t be afraid…” Mrs. Quinn gently patted Alice’s back, comforting the frightened banshee.
Of course, Mrs. Quinn did not know that the person in her arms was a banshee! A creature that could see death. So, Zach was not less surprised than Alice!
“Your little sister has such a pair of eyes! She is scared!” Mrs. Quinn stared at Zach’s light green eyes. “And you, and you ignored your little sister’s fear! She is only sixteen! She should discuss the stars in the magazine and the clothes on Liszt Street with girls of the same age in school instead of staying in this lifeless cemetery!”
Zach frowned, he didn’t know what Mrs. Quinn was talking about.
“Mrs. Quinn, I don’t understand. Why did you say that Alice has seen too many deaths?” This was his concern.
“Because I spent more than ten years helping such children!” Mrs. Quinn sighed. At this time, she seemed to be separated from her inner distorted mind and became an ordinary old lady, “The initial death came from the children’s relatives, grandfather, grandmother, parents, brothers, and sisters, and then those around them, maybe neighbors, maybe teachers…”
Zach listened quietly, he had realized that Mrs. Quinn’s narrative had returned to the war era, she was describing the changes experienced by the children of that era.
“Then it was on a street corner, the people who they had never talked to, a stranger on the street… Adults would become numb, but children would not. Everyone that was buried in the ground was a shadow. These shadows were like a net, covering the children’s eyes.”
Mrs. Quinn held Alice in her arms and continued.
“And this net reminded these children, every one they saw today, every body temperature they felt, would disappear on a certain day, maybe tomorrow, or even tonight, it would become cold and marked as dead…”
Zach’s eyes widened, his expression looked a little distracted. And Alice always hunched shoulders suddenly stretched out, then her skinny arms hugged Mrs. Quinn from behind.
Alice has never taken the initiative to hug anyone other than Zach.
“Although the war was over, ordinary children have got rid of this fear. But your little sister is still shrouded in death!”
Mrs. Quinn looked at the whole deserted cemetery.
“Your little sister is being tortured by this net! Being isolated from the outside world by this net. Fearing to have contact with anyone, she closed her heart completely! This is her fear!” Mrs. Quinn felt Alice’s hug, stroking Alice’s back, still staring at Zach, “and you ignored it. So you may be a good person, but you are not a good brother! What kind of brother will raise up his little sister in a cemetery?”
Zach looked down, he was thinking.
The reason why the vampire would take in the banshee was that he, who was also a non-human, felt sympathetic for her. The reason why Alice would stay with the vampire was also very simple. The vampire was a person, who has died once. The death that Alice “saw” in him was actually a rebirth. This little solace made the banshee follow Zach.
Before Mrs. Quinn said these words, Zach had never thought about what was behind Alice’s anxiety.
“We’re here, madam.” The car was stopped. Mrs. Quinn patted Alice on the shoulder and looked out at the church outside the window. A priest wearing an old robe was waiting outside.
After getting off the car, Zach gave an excuse not to disturb the conversation between Mrs. Quinn and the priest and walked to the woods with Alice.
“Alice, is what Mrs. Quinn said true?” Zach asked Alice by holding her shoulders.
Alice hesitated but still nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zach frowned.
The vampire was not referring to “stars in magazines” and “clothes on Liszt Street”, but the fear of interacting with other people caused by the deaths she saw.
Alice hugged Zach and shook her head in his arms.
Even if it was said, it could not change the fact that Alice could see death. Mrs. Quinn’s keen observations had a very good start, but then it deviated, and eventually she made a conclusion that the vampire thought it was very funny.
“I just want a home where I can live a stable life,” Alice said in Zach’s arms.
However, Zach has already made a decision. He would read the information about Mr. Quinn and his wife in helping war orphans in the future. Mrs. Quinn was quite right. Alice was only sixteen and should not live in fear (and a cemetery).
1
Alice moved away from Zach’s arms and lowered her head, her voice was trembling, “I saw Mrs. Quinn’s… her future.”
The future Alice talked about only represented death.
“What happened?” Zach asked softly, Alice did not like to describe the process of the death of others, and now, it could be seen that Alice genuinely liked to stay close to Mrs. Quinn. But because of this, if they wanted to change the ‘future’, they must know the process before this change!
Alice raised her head, and Zach saw the anger, “It’s Pooky!”
During the time Zach led Alice to the church, our vampire was thinking about how to save Mrs. Quinn’s life, and while the vampire was thinking, let me explain to everyone why Alice had a death-heralding title.
Because death is a continuous process. We may be bitten by a tiny insect, we may ignore the red lights at the crossroads, we may jump into the cold lake without warming up, or we may just get used to ordering a fried chicken every day, or maybe a cigarette was lit under the nicotine addiction…
For the banshee, death was never sudden. It started with a small event, so small that no one would notice, but only the banshee could ‘see’. Mrs. Quinn regarded Alice as a normal girl, so she made a wrong conclusion. For Alice, she knew when people around her would become cold and be buried in the ground because she could see the whole process of death!
So when the banshee told you ‘Pay attention to your right, don’t drink after the sun goes down…’, you’d better listen. But when people didn’t listen, the banshee’s reminder would turn into a prophecy.
“Don’t listen to them! She will curse you!…”
When people twisted the good intention of the Banshee’s reminder, the title of death-heralding was given to her.
Back to Mrs. Quinn.
Her death began half a year ago, a drop of liquid that Pooky put in her black tea. For half a year, the scenes, where Mrs. Quinn was in, constantly changed, and the people around her were constantly changed. The only thing that remained the same was that this drop of liquid was given to Mrs. Quinn in various ways. And the end of this death would happen at the next midnight, and the thing that grew in her heart would stop her heart from beating completely.
