The Guilty Grave

After about 10 more minutes of driving, (and listening to Linkin Park), we arrive at the mortuary Dr. Moordoor had paid a visit to.

"We're here," I say, parking my confiscated Cooper.

The mortuary itself seemed to be a one-story building. The building was grey with some doctor-office style double-door at the front. The building's entrance was surrounded by police tape. No officers or detectives, though.

Be on your guard, Aster, Victor says. No telling what the deranged doctor did.

"You don't need to tell me twice," I reply as I wipe my sweaty hands on my jeans.

The lock on the door must have been broken when Dr. Moordoor first broke in, so I'm able to push the door open. The interior is dark, so I take out my phone to use the flashlight. I locate the nearest light-switch and flip it. Nothing happens.

"Dang. No power," say to myself.

No, duh, Victor retorts.

I seem to be in some sort of check-in room for employees. Everything in this room is untouched.

"Doesn't look like he was after any sort of employee," I whisper.

I proceed toward the back of the room. It looks like they were once automatic doors. I put my phone in my mouth and try to wedge my fingers into the crack of door. I pull with all my strength. No budge.

"It's stuck. What now?" I ask.

Hmm, Victor says. We might have to break it.

I look around me. The linoleum tile floor is practically spotless.

"Oh, yeah? Break it with what?"

A tad of magic.

"I don't think I can do magic, man."

Victor chuckles. You can't, but I can. So, listen up. The quickest way to bust this door open would be blood magic. So, you're going to have to cut yourself.

"Did you say, blood magic?" I ask.

Yep. Get to bleedin'.

I let out a low moan. I personally have a small fear of blood, but I grab a pen off a nearby desk anyway. I click the pen so that the point is out and hold it over my left pointer finger.

I swallow hard. "Are you sure about this?"

Yes, Victor says.

I place my hand on the desk and clench my eyes shut. I raise the pen, then drive into my pointer finger. The pain is quick. I open my eyes and see I sizeable stream of blood running down my hand.

"Okay," I say, starting to feel a little woozy. "N-now what?"

Good, Victor says. Walk back to the door and follow my directions.

I comply.

Using your blood, trace the top of the doorframe. Good, now repeat after me. Sanguis Perdet.

After I repeat the phrase Victor had said something bizarre happens. I smell smoke… and it's coming from where I smeared my blood. The smell is promptly followed by a sizzling noise. This continues on for about 8 seconds, then the door falls inward with a loud CRASH!

"Whoa," I say, sucking my wounded finger.

Congrats! Victor said. You successfully cast a grade 5 blood spell. How do you feel?

"I-I don't know," I say. And I actually don't have an answer. I don't feel any different.

Ok cool. Looks like you didn't get any of the side effects.

"Side effects? You mean I could have been injured?"

Injury is the best-case scenario.

I let out a low groan. I guess this risk is something that I need to be accustomed to.

I step over the shattered glass and broken (and smoking) doorframe. I'm now in the room where they keep the bodies. And this is where things start to get freaky. There is a massive black burn-spot in the center of the room. I walk over to it.

"What happened here?" I ask, crouching down and running my fingers over the blackened area. My fingers come up clean.

This seems like the aftermath of some powerful dark magic, Victor analyses. But what was he targeting? Nothing has been upset in this room either…

"Beats me," I reply. Victor was right, the room is untouched aside from the spot on the floor.

I stand up.

Aster… Do you hear that?

I listen closely. "No… I don't hear anyth-"

I begin to hear it. Thumping. Coming from the body drawers…

Thmp… thmp… thmp…

The sound begins to start coming from some of the other drawers, too.

"V-Victor…" I stammer. "I think I know what Moordoor was targeting."

Oh no, oh no. He knows… he KNEW. Run, Aster, RUN!

I turn to bolt, but at that moment the body drawers burst open one by one.

The dead bodies begin pulling themselves from their metal coffins. They're eyes are closed, but they still turn their heads in my direction. Then, all of their eyes open… at once. Cold lightning shoots down my spine and to my fingertips.

"Oh gosh, no," I whimper. I dash to the wall to arm myself with a broom that was left out. "This is so bad. I had no idea something like this could happen."

This only scratches the surface. Moordoor is only testing the waters for the time being. Which is why we have to get out of here alive.

One of the creatures lunges for me. I side-step his attack and knock him aside with my broom.

"Getting out of here sounds good," I say.

The entrance I broke down is now completely barricaded by the reanimated bodies.

"Shoot," I say and turn to run.

I sprint down a back hallway, passing multiple offices on the way down. The hall ends in a dead end. I curse and whip around. The bodies are fast, but not anything crazy. I'm able to dash back to the last office I passed and lock the door behind me.

"Okay, now what?" I ask.

There's a window in front of us, and it's the only way out. We have to jump.

"Are you insane?" I exclaim. "Asking me to commit self-harm was nuts, but now you want me to commit suicide? No freaking way."

Victor clicks his tongue and then sighs. Sorry about this, chief. I'm going to have to break a rule real quick.

"Huh?"

The room begins to spin and accelerates rapidly. Everything goes black. I open my eyes, and I'm in the suspended conscious that I was in when Moordoor was controlling my body. I could still see what's going on, but I wasn't the one in control.

My body turns around. The bodies are about to break the door down. Victor throws the window open and sticks his head out. This window faces a back street, and the ground is 2 stories down.

Victor takes two steps back and performs a perfect dive right through the open window. Just in time, too. It was at the moment of our jump that the door finally gives out. That was way too close. But now we're falling.

Victor bites my wrist (his wrist? our wrist?) just hard enough to draw blood. Victor flips over so that he down facing the side of the building. He points his wrist at the wall and says, "Sanguis Suspendat." A stream of blood shoots from the wound like a string and sticks to the wall. We swing towards the building like Spider-Man and rappel perfectly to the sidewalk below.

I honestly had no clue that Victor had this kind of skill. I'm not even mad at him for taking control over my body at this point. The swirling sensation returns, and when I open my eyes, I'm the one standing on sidewalk… with blood dripping from my wrist. And it hurts! I draw a sharp breath through my teeth and grab my wounded wrist.

Sorry about that, Aster, Victor apologizes. That was the only way I could protect us from splattering on the sidewalk.

"Nah, you're fine," I say through clenched teeth. "Your quick thinking is appreciated."

I take my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It is currently 1:23 in the afternoon. I also have a message. Strange…

I open it. It has no number. The message reads

Dear Mr. Umera:

I know what you're doing, and you will not succeed. My plan is already coming to fruition. You possess the soul of that blasted Weiss brat, no? I don't care how much blood magic you learn; you will never have enough power to stop the coming storm.

Best Wishes,

Vincent Moordoor

That old fart, Victor says. He thinks he's all that. But he's an absolute fool.

"Yeah," I chime in. "You're the one possessing me anyway."

Not what I meant. He just sent us his exact location.