Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 16

The man named Joseph led Benjamin to an off-white, shabby house deep in the woods. It was small and the windows were boarded up. He stepped up to the front door and turned to face Benjamin.

"You're gonna love it here, Benji," he said. "You'll feel right at home."

Benjamin wasn't sure what waited for him behind the wooden door, but he wasn't convinced by Joseph's words. At all. Joseph opened the door and led him into a big living room where eight eyes immediately landed on him. Four people were in the room--one of them a human girl. Her scent immediately captivated Benjamin. Their eyes instantly met and averted each other just as quickly. Two of the undead were sitting on a long sofa. One sitting in an armchair and the human girl in a rocking chair. The four of them formed a small circle in the center of the living room.

The guy in the armchair quickly got to his feet. He was slim with slick, curly black hair pulled into a ponytail.

"Who is this?" he sharply asked Joseph.

"Relax, Antonio," Joseph said. "This is Benjamin. He's with us now."

"You can't keep inviting people here whenever you get bored, Joseph."

"He's one of us!" Joseph snapped back, stepping to Antonio. "I suggest you quickly get used to it because he isn't going anywhere."

Antonio leered at Joseph with severe contempt in his eyes.

"You pretend like you're the leader of this group when all you're doing is putting us in danger."

"The only thing putting us in danger is your attitude," Joseph retorted.

"You've got to be screwing with me," said the undead woman sitting on the long sofa. She was a short and skinny woman with short, black hair. She stared intently at Benjamin. "Is he who I think he is?" She stood and made her way over to Benjamin. "Yes. Yes, I'm sure of it." She looked at Joseph. "You know who this i--"

"Yes, Elsie. I know," Joseph said, turning to the rest of the room. "Everyone, meet Benjamin Crawford."

As if the stares weren't uncomfortable enough, they somehow managed to become more piercing. Antonio, in particular, looked livid. His arms folded, he approached Benjamin.

"You should get out of here, friend. If you know what's good for you."

"Antonio!" Joseph bellowed, approaching him. "You don't want to do this!"

Antonio turned to Joseph.

"You're going to get us all killed! The Death Sigil is being spotted now more than ever. The Immortal Order is stronger than ever."

A moment of silence followed.

"Wait, wh-what is he talking about?" asked the human girl, looking from one person to the next, visibly confused and frightened.

Antonio turned to the girl.

"Benjamin Crawford is known to humans as the poor orphan kid who recently lost his family to a brutal murder. But to our species . . . he's known as the most-wanted undead boy in the world."

"I-I don't understand," said the human girl.

"I'll explain to the best of my knowledge," Antonio said, now leering at Benjamin. "Word travels fast amongst our species. Most of us had barely caught wind that Benjamin Crawford had been adopted by the Primitive Family when news surfaced that he had run away. For some reason, this angered Ulysses Morrison because he then commissioned his small following to seize the boy, the only reason given was that he needed to die and that only he could do it." Antonio began moving toward Benjamin. "Ulysses, being rich and powerful beyond human measures, the reward possibilities for his followers were endless. Dead walkers everywhere ran over each other, coveting to be he who delivered Benjamin to the Undead Lord.