The Unusual Case of the Zombie and Magus

Today’s weather is plain and overcast, appropriate for the rainy spring season. As soon as Taelyn and I leave the cafe, however, dark clouds approach the area directly above us en masse in a motion similar to those “personal rain clouds” in newspaper comics. The girl beside me looked up and frowned.

“That sure doesn't look like a good sign.” She hugged her books close to her as if she were in danger of being mugged. By who, I couldn't tell you.

“You heading back to your dorm now?” I inquired as our footsteps became more hurried in response to the darkening of the sky.

The lavender-haired girl stopped short for a moment, apparently in deep thought.

“I was, but..”

“But?”

She clapped her hands together and looked pleadingly at me.

“It’s a little too far to walk, and it’s gonna rain any second now. I don’t wanna get myself or my notes wet, and your loft is just up ahead, right? Soo…”

“Oh?”

This girl had guts. That, and some nerve.

“I don’t mind,” I said in an offhandedly, “but the landlorder banned bringing girlfriends into the complex a week ago, for your information.”

“Is that so?” she remarked haughtily as our paces grew quicker, "well tell him to stuff it next time you see him, or better yet, stuff it for him."

I sighed.

“And it’s landlord, not landlorder!”

Why are you correcting me there, but not the part where I implied we were a couple?

“Jeez, how many times do I have to remind you?”

It takes us only another minute or so of power walking to reach the apartment complex where I live. It’s situated conveniently adjacent to the campus and nearer to the community building than the dorms. By that point, the rain was coming down in torrents, in amounts I could hardly believe the sky could have been withholding just moments prior.

“Phew!”

We both entered my apartment on the third landing with our clothes only slightly damp, which was quite a feat considering the weather's sudden turn for the worse.

And so we'd arrived at my base of operations, the place in which my grand schemes as an undercover zombie were carefully crafted and refined to perfection. Letting Taelyn into this place was a gesture that held dire, dire consequences...

Haha, of course not. It's a normal apartment. There’s a single common room, split by a counter that divides a moderately sized living space and a kitchen. Off to the side, three doors - one that leads to utility, the other to a bathroom, and the last to my bedroom. Overall, it wasn’t fancy living, but it was good enough for me. A sliding door off to the side of the common room, leading out to a small landing, provided a decent view of the great lake that the university was so proud of. On drier days than this, I let my laundry dry on a clothesline from the fresh breeze that wafted from the impressive body of water.

Not her first time visiting, Taelyn dropped her things off at the front door and plopped herself right down on one of the bean bags in the common room, exhausted from our rush from the community building to here. I wasn’t really tired at all, to be honest. Then again, there was no way for me to feel fatigue, so I suppose that’s a moot point.

"Come on honor student, don't be lazy in another person's home." I bent down to pick up some of her things and to hang up her coat, which she hurriedly tossed aside upon entering. Really, she was so uptight about a lot of things but seemed to instantly let her guard down whenever she reached a safe haven. I guess I should have felt something like happiness that she was willing to act as she pleased around me, but that was just something that came naturally as childhood friends. I had mixed feelings on her treating my apartment as her den.

We just came from a cafe, but neither of us had ordered anything with caffeine in it (with the exception of Taelyn's tea) and as such, I called out to the back of her head which poked out from the bean bag in the other room,

"Should I brew some coffee?"

Taelyn herself simply made a noise with her mouth into a pillow that she held over her face. It sounded like, “Ungh.”

I think it was approval, or something. I set to work with the coffee.

Minutes later, Taelyn recovered enough strength to reach for the remote and turn on my television, which was wired for the local news first and foremost.

Measuring a few cups of ground beans, I perceived the voice of a familiar area broadcaster delivering a news report from across the room. It seemed Taelyn had picked up at a good point.

“... These series of murders, called by police and public as the Traceless Killings, are exactly what they sounds like.

The scene of the crime is identifiable in every instance, confirmed not only by witness testimonies and blood evidence, but also clear markings of a physical struggle in each location where the victim was last seen. However, not a single body has been recovered from any of the sites in which the homicide took place. It's been reported by forensics that the amount of blood at the crime scenes are significant enough for us to assume that the victims are most likely dead.

However, there is reportedly no sign of the body being dragged away or taken elsewhere by any means at all in any of these Traceless Killings."

The camera cut to footage of a press conference being held inside a stuffy-looking meeting room. A thoroughly distraught chief of police stood before the microphone.

"Investigations are ongoing and we have every available officer on the case, we ask that you all remain calm during these turbulent times—"

A torrent of camera flashes floods the screen and a handful of reporters struggle to speak over each other.

"Sir, we've heard reports that it’s almost as if the victims of this murderer simply vanish after death. Do you have anything to say in response to this? Is there a possibility of the FBI getting involved?"

The hectic footage cut back to the reporter, who took a brief moment to return to her tele-prompt, "A through and through puzzle to the public and authorities, it is strongly suggested that civilians do not wander anywhere alone nor into any area where there are no other people, as these conditions seem to fit the modus operandi of the Traceless Killer—”

Click.

With a tired motion, Taelyn shut the television off. “First on the radio, then in the papers, then from Rosalyn, then again from the teachers, and now here too." She threw up her hands. "Nobody can keep their traps shut about the killings!"

Though she spoke like she was above it all, I couldn't glean any sarcasm or whining from her voice. Taelyn seemed genuinely distraught.

I set the heat to high under a pot of water and turned to dry my hands on a dish towel, carrying my voice over to her from the adjacent side of the kitchen,

“You have to expect at least this much. Nothing exciting has happened around these town for the past few years, and then, suddenly, we have half a dozen homicides in the area in just under a month..."

When my hands were dry, I leaned over the counter to directly address Taelyn herself.

“People might not stop talking about this for a long time,” I added.

The honor student sighed, letting herself slump into the beanbag chair even further.

“I mean, if so many people are already in on this, why hasn’t this guy been caught yet?” she whimpered, her eyes shut and her eyebrows scrunched up. “Six murders and not a single clue as to who this person is or what he thinks he’s doing? It just doesn't stand to reason! There has to be some evidence...”

I turned back to the pot of water on the stove, which was now boiling intensely. Slipping on a kitchen glove, I lifted the pot by the handles and slowly poured it over a filter into two mugs.

“No kidding,” I replied lamely as an ink black liquid slowly started to accumulate at the bottom of the cups.

Taelyn turned to look at me, clearly annoyed. “Is that all you have to add, Mr. Grumpyface?”

I regarded her blankly. “Who’s got a grumpy face? Is there a ghost standing behind me?” I pretended to check too.

I thought she’d get mad, but all she did was exhale loudly out her nose and settle deeper into the beanbag. As Taelyn got comfortable, I brought over two mugs of steaming liquid and placed one on the table in front of her before taking a seat myself on the opposite end.

“Anyways, just relax.” I calmly spoke in between a few tentative sips of my medium roast, “Like they said, the killer only targets people who travel alone. And you stick to me like glue, don’t you?”

I snapped my fingers. “You could market yourself, you know. The best adhesive in the world, as long as your name is Allen Hunter.”

Taelyn closed her eyes and tried not to smile, but I could tell.

"Of course," she whined, “out of all the bodyguards in the world, I had to end up with a guy who loves to joke but can’t make any good ones!”

Taelyn sat up to take a sip of my brew, and promptly smacked her lips once or twice.

"Makes some pretty good coffee though."

"You know what your issue is, Al?"

It had been roughly two days since our study session. While I fully intended to lounge around my room and enjoy the remainder of my spring break in languid peace (and perhaps sneak a visit to Echo Ridge), Taelyn urged me to stroll around with her around the campus from time to time for no real reason other than to simply walk and talk. Again, if it wasn't her, I'd definitely turn the offer down.

Luckily, though, the weather had definitely improved. The cherry blossoms were starting to bloom all along the sidewalk as we took our time making our way across a large stretch of road.

I sighed, bracing myself for another one of Taelyn's "I know it all" life lessons.

"You're too uptight! I mean seriously!" She bumped into me pointedly while locking arms. "All we're doing is walking and yet your head is totally in the clouds! Are you sure you're ready for the next semester?"

"I won't forgive you if your let your grades slip down just because you can't be bothered to try, mister!" She poked my cheek, staring daggers at me. "Even if you've totally got the whole manual labor job shtick down, you can't be doing that for the rest of your life. You have to look up and forwards!"

I made a face at her. "Well aren't you wise? You sure you don't wanna just make all my life choices for me?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I know people say that a bossy wife is a responsible one, but I personally am not one for matriarchs in the family..."

She jabbed me in the ribs. I reacted appropriately with a small flinch and an "ow."

"You're so dense, you know that?" Taelyn teased, but she smiled with a faint pink tinting the edge of her cheeks. "How do you expect me to decide anything for you, you big lump?"

"Yeah, yeah, degrade me all you like while clinging to me like food wrap," I spoke out loud with the intent to embarrass her. "By the way, could you let go of me now? It's kinda hard to walk."

She giggled and squeezed me tighter. Even though I lacked the ability to process physical sensations, I could somehow understand that something soft at chest-height was squished right up against me. "Nooo can do. Like you said, I'm the world's number one adhesive. Also, it got warm out and you're basically a walking ice pack!"

That I couldn't argue with.

As we continued our walk, I found myself mellowing out. Peaceful days like this were really what I lived for— in a manner of speaking, of course.

Seeing Taelyn smile and laugh like she did filled me with a familiar happiness, and being able to talk to her as an equal and a friend was something I didn't even need to be human to know was a privilege. I'm sure if my heart were still capable of beating, it would be pulsing with joy right about now.

Yes, days like these...

Thinking back on it, this was really my last chance to save her before it all went to hell.

My lack of apprehension dulled my senses, caused me to lose sight of who I truly was. A zombie, not a human. There was no way I could ever hope to live as one of them. Not when the truth faced me so directly, in the form of the Traceless Killings.

And this mistake would cost me dearly.