Short Stories

necromancy in the modern age

it all started with a bug. a fucking bug.

the memory was so minuet yet so vivid in my brain. the first couple times i remembered it, the memory felt... fake.

at least it was an interesting bug. i mean thats why i was staring at it so hard in the first place. the body of this bug was red, bright red. not like any other red i had seen before. not that i could see much of it's body due to the fact that it was laying on it's back with it's legs up in the air. i was almost certain it was dead. imagine my surprise when it made a loud hissing sound and flew off. nearly made me jump out of my skin. i brushed it off. until a whole week passed a similar event happened twice more.

"what the hell?" i muttered under my breath as it happened for a fourth time getting into my car. this time, it was the iridescent June beetle that had been sitting dead near my back windshield for months. i lovingly named him James.

unlike the other bugs that had mysteriously came back from the dead under my gaze, James flew towards me and landed on my stirring wheel. his little head lifted and we made brief eye contact. he then flew out of my open window. the other three had scared the ever loving shit out if me. but it was almost as if James and i had a connection.

"oh my god you're finally loosing it Reid. not only do you think you brought a bug back to life, you think you had a connection with it!?" i said to myself as i hit my forehead with the heel of my hand. "get a grip." i finally started my car and headed home. the sun was just barely setting but by the time i was half way through my hour long journey back home it was pitch dark. even with my brights on i had to lean forward in order to see on the twisty back roads.

why did i decide to take diamond hill road again?

in an instance, the breif question to myself distracted me just enough. i slammed into a deer.

"oh fuck me." i say pulling off the road slightly and turning in what was left of my hazards.
as i go out of my Honda, my eyes darted to the deer. it was at least an eight point buck. it wasn't moving so i assumed the worst. i shook the idea of death from my head and knelt down to look at the damages. they weren't as bad as they could be, but i would be with out transportation for a day or two while they were getting fixed. i took a slight glance at the deer, but nothing was there but a pool of blood. with in a split second i realized how similar this situation was and suddenly a busted headlight and a few dents were the least of my problems.

oh god oh god oh god

I stayed deathly still as warm breath hit my right cheek. i closed my eyes tightly and prayed this wasn't real. i was obviously dreaming. i mean how often in real life do people bring a deer back from the dead? (how often to people question weather or not they have brought a deer back from the dead?)

after about thirty seconds of breathing on me, the deer ran off into the woods. i blinked a few times before releasing the breath i had held. my heart was still pounding.

i could no longer ignore this new power. but i could be deathly terrified of it (pun not intended).