Solhara

Dead

Skylar POV

I woke abruptly to a distressed, shouting voice; a cold sweat fell down my forehead as I sat bolt upright. It took me a while to realise the piercing screams were in fact my own, and yet even when I was aware of this, it didn't stop.

Tears cascaded down my cheeks, each one landing with a muffled thud on the dirty bedsheets leaving tinted stains on the fabric, dyed mauve and amber from the sunlight filtering through one of the windows. This house was deserted so I had assumed that I could sleep here without any disturbance (even if the disturbance was from myself), I was surprised to discover the bed was still in tact to be honest, let alone the duvet.

After what seemed like hours of breathless sobbing, although in actual fact it had only been a few minutes, I hauled myself out from the sea of blankets I had been hiding under and convinced myself to get up and take a walk.

The streets were tinted with shades of purple and gold from the Autumn sunrise, burgundy trees lined the pavements with tower blocks behind them stretching up to the stars, or so it seemed. Only the shy whispers of the wind could be heard but even this was deafeningly quiet, as if it had a secret that everyone was to know apart from me.

All around me, I could see city spirits, bounding across power lines or searching through dustbins. They had a very feline-like aura about them and I often stopped to feed them or just observe their mannerisms. I'd always loved the city spirits, they're known more commonly as Eeta and only exist in the spirit world, a parallel world to the one you probably reside in where ghosts and demons live. It's not quite heaven but it's not quite earth either, more like a purgatory in between the two.

The sky was clear that day, an endless sheet of azure streaked with thin wisps of the occasional cloud. It had been a long time since I'd felt the sun on my skin, the warm glow illuminated my faded blue curls turning them a violet hue. All these simple yet beautiful things seem to have made me value life just a little bit more,  I felt like a person again, I felt like things were almost back to normal, but I know they never could be.

It's strange being dead. You feel the same. Look the same. The only difference is, you might as well be the invisible man; people walk past you like you're not even there, although I guess when you look at things from their perspective, you're not.

It gets lonely at times, in fact it gets lonely most of the time. Yet, this feeling of seclusion can occasionally give me a sense of freedom; I can do what I want essentially, as long as I watch out for demons.

I've never actually encountered a demon before, as a young child they had always been described to me as nightmarish creatures with scarlet eyes, thirsty for blood and with claws as long as your fingers, but this of course just made me more curious to find one. I never did though, even now as a ghost I've never been up close with a demon, although from what the necromancer says, I don't think I want to. 

That's where I'm going, to visit the necromancer. He's always been there for as long as I can remember, quite literally. When I died, I lost most of my memories with only long term ones of friends, family and personal details remaining. This of course was quite irritating; I don't know how I died, I don't know where to find my friends or family and I barely knew my way around the place I had lived for most of my life.

That's where the necromancer comes in, he's a bit of an asshole really but he tells me what I want to know, as long as I pay him with odd bits and bobs such as old bottle caps or colourful, misshapen cloth of course.

He lives in the dark, dusty alleyways surrounding the abandoned dockyard; 'the corner witch', they call him. Probably as a result of his matted, silver hair that reaches his waist and the ill-fitting, torn cloak he wears, clad with various jewels, either given to him as payment or stolen most likely.

As I approached the mouth of the alley I spotted his familiar shape, hunched over and crouching behind a dumped skip. I was anxious to approach him but before I could retreat I hear a weak voice.

"Well 'ello again, boy", the necromancer croaked with a sigh, the same way he always did, his voice, breathy and flat with a hoarseness that always made him appear to be on the verge of coughing.

I slowly approached him, reaching in my left jean pocket and stretching out a hand to reveal an assortment of small objects.

"I bought you some more buttons!", my voice sounded so full of life compared to his, which is ironic considering I'm the dead one.

"Ah great! Just what I wan'ed! Thanks kid. Y'know, I've missed ya visiting me, how long's it been?"

I shrugged my shoulders, he's right, I haven't seen him in a while, my sudden awakening that morning convinced me it was time to pay him a visit.

"So Sky, what d'ya wanna know?"

Feeling now, quite embarrassed for what he might say in response to my question, I shuffled my feet awkwardly and twiddled my fingers behind my back.

"Necromancer", I paused briefly and took a deep breath, "h...how did I die?"

"I can tell you've been puttin' that one off for a while kid"

He was right, I'd been putting this off for weeks, months even. Knowing where your friends are is one thing but being told how you died is on a totally different level. My palms were shaking and I bit my lip, a habit I've always had when I can't make up my mind.

"Yeah, but I think I'm ready" i assured him, relieved that he didn't tell me to 'bugger off' or whatever it was he said when I asked if he could make me alive again. I know now not to ask 'stupid questions'.

"Well", he declared, "if ya really wanna know then I can 'ave a look for ya"

I nodded solemnly to let him know that I wanted to continue. There was no going back now.

This next part was always a little strange, although I never questioned it, the necromancer had always been correct before. He rubbed his temples with a clockwise circling motion and hummed a tune I'd certainly never heard before, all of sudden his eyelids sprung open, revealing the whites of eyes.

This was it. I finally got to know why I'm in this mess.