Amaranthine

20: Gravity

"Stay back from her," I warned Beatrice. "She's not human anymore. Zombies eat people."

"Chelsea wouldn't hurt me. No matter what," Beatrice said. "I have faith in her. Even though she's different now. Just like you have faith in Dio."

"Well Dio's not a zombie! He doesn't eat people's flesh, he drinks blood! There's a difference." I exclaimed. "So you really shouldn't be so close to Chelsea . . ."

Beatrice's head was turned away from her sister to look at me, so I was the only one who noticed when the eyes of the zombie she cradled began to glow red with murderous intent. "MOVE!" I exclaimed, rushing forward to shove the zombie away from the woman.

Instinctively, Beatrice swung at me with her knife and I hissed as the blade nicked my forearm. "STOP IT!" She cried. Her words melted into a scream as her zombified sister bit down on her outstretched arm.

The knife in her hand clattered to the ground. I lunged for it right away, but my quick movements caught the attention of the zombie, who switched targets and tackled me with a howl.

This zombie was slower than the one who confronted me in the hallway on my first day in the castle. Her movements were a blur, but at least I could see when she moved. Still, I had no time to dodge or even prepare for a blow before I found myself slammed against the wall. I felt something break as pain shot up my right side. Thankfully, I was able to keep my hold on the knife.

Beatrice screamed at the zombie to stop but it had no effect as I struggled. And of course that woman did absolutely nothing to actually help me. Chelsea lowered her head to devour me, sharp nails raking into my skin and tearing fresh wounds into my body. I grit my teeth, determined not to cry out as I yanked the zombie's head back by the hair and plunged the knife upwards into her jaw as hard as possible. The blade went straight through her tongue and the roof of her mouth forcing her jaw shut. The zombie still struggled, but weakly. It seemed like attacking the head was a good way to stop her. I pushed her away from me and then pulled the blade from her head, stabbing her straight through the eye several times before she fell limp. I released the knife and took a few steps away just for safety.

Laughter suddenly rang from outside the cell, breaking the sudden silence that had fallen. "Wow! How entertaining!" The zombie on the other side of the cell exclaimed in delight. "You heartlessly killed that woman's sister without any mercy."

"She attacked us," I said. I looked at Beatrice. "And she was already dead. You know that, right?"

The woman's eyes were wide. "Ch-Chelsea. My sister . . ."

The zombie on the other side of the cell laughed. "This was a great idea," he grinned, seeming quite proud of himself. "Leave her alone for now. Aren't you going to go check out your own gift, Freya?"

"No," I rejected immediately.

"Aw, really? You're not even a tiny bit curious? I thought you'll be happy to see an old friend again. But I guess if you don't want to see him, that's okay. I don't think he's too happy to see you, either."

I frowned. "'Old friend'?"

"Go look," the zombie urged.

Although I really didn't want to, my gaze drifted towards the bed. The creature was harmless, right? It ran away the second it was thrown into the cell; it hardly seemed dangerous. And if this really was an old friend of mine . . . well there was no reason for it to hurt me, right? I couldn't see in the shadows, but I could make out the outline of an animal in the darkness.

"Hey, come out from there," I said. When nothing happened, I approached carefully. The pain in my side worsened as I knelt to check under the bed. I'm pretty sure I broke some ribs . . . Then I froze when I made eye contact with the creature.