Blinking she wondered why her face was wet, shakily she brushed the water away.

He was a liar...he...he lied about everything...no, why, was it raining?

Why was it so quiet? Why were they here? Why. Why. Why.

Someone was yelling at her, Sarah? What did she want?

'Well shit. Tough luck lover-boy. Least he got some before he died, right?' HE dared speak NOW.

"SHUT UP!" Jessica screamed.

It was quiet again, Jessica blinked and realized Sarah was staring at her.

Did she notice something? If they knew he spoke to her, they'd ask questions. Right?

Why didn't she care right now? She should be afraid, scared, confused, sad~.

'WEAK.' HE added.

"JUST SHUT UP!" Jessica yelled.

Soft words brought her to reality, so low they were merely a whisper.

"....he's...he's dead." Sarah croaked out.

"NO!" Jessica screamed at her, why was she screaming?

"..." Sarah stared off into space.

Sarah began muttering under her breathe, flailing her arms and walking in circles, belatedly Jess realized there was something wrong with that.

What happened? Why was he sleeping? Sleep. That word, they hadn't slept since they got here. Why was he sleeping?

"JUST A BIT! PLEASE!" Sarah yelled at no-one.

Jessica looked around, there was a dried out and broken carcass, so..nothing new, those things were more and more common to her as she lived in this world.

The stench of the dead littered the ground, she'd even put some there, broken down carcasses moving, that was unnatural, so she fixed them...with her spear, she remember that.

What happened? Her thoughts were unorganized, she wasn't focusing and here, that was dangerous, she had to focus.

'Yeah, lover-boy's dead, focus on that.' He spoke again.

"....no." Jessica stumbled backwards, landing flat on her backside.

'YES!' HE SPOKE.

"NO!" Jessica pulled at her hair.

'Oh, YES! Here it comes!' He sounded as if he was seeing the favorite part of a hit-show.

"NO! He can't die!" A hollow void stabbed at her gut as reality settled upon her.

Black splotches marked decaying skin, several blackened veins were visible, notably in the neck area, but they spread throughout what she could see.

His eyes were closed, he looked unpained, almost happy, which contrasted with the morbid image, it fit Alex was always smiling and trying to be optimistic.

His chest didn't contract for air and it hadn't for quite some time, there was no denying he was dead.

'Real smooth. Try crying over his rotting corpse. Oh, don't forget to wail helplessly till your hoarse.' He suggested.

"SHUT UP!" The taunting was getting to her, Jessica wiped her eyes.

"You shut up! I'm not talking to you! At least I'm doing something you bitch!" Sarah screamed at her.

"I'm not talking to you either!" Spittle flew out her mouth as she gashed her teeth at Sarah.

"Jessica, Shut up!" Sarah went back to her quiet muttering and erratic flailing.

A thought blossomed in her head, Jessica felt her hollow void fill with rage.

"This is all your fault!" Jessica tackled Sarah to the ground.

Sarah went stumbling to the floor, she landed on a knee and Jessica pressed forward.

"The fuck is wrong with you!" Sarah scrambled backwards, her brief look of surprised fear turned to anger.

"This was all your idea!" Jessica yelled.

"...."Sarah opened her mouth to defend herself, but her tongue froze.

"He came back here for you! He's dead because of you!" Jessica jabbed her finger at Sarah aggressively.

Sarah sat there fear, guilt, confusion, and shock flitted through her expressions in a flash, she looked on the verge of tears.

"Try healing him!" Sarah yelled.

"What?" Jessica blinked, confused at the sudden attitude change.

"You're mind is strong! Use the conversion method! Maybe you can bring him back!" Desperate remorse radiated from Sarah.

"I...I DON'T KNOW HOW! YOU TRY! BRING HIM BACK!" Jessica kicked at Sarah's thigh, whom scrambled backwards.

"FOR FUCKS SAKE, JUST TRY!" Sarah's eyes watered and she rubbed her thigh.

With Sarah's guidance and desperation, she managed to convert her energy to water after half an hour, apparently she couldn't convert death energy directly to life. She tried, and tried, and again, failing each time for an hour, it was futile she almost gave up.

An hour later she managed to turn it to life, the energy pricked inside, a sort of annoying itch, she ignored it in favor of the relief which flooded her for but an instant.

'Too late, you know it.' His smug voice radiated contempt.

Chest tightening she poured the energy unto 'the body' desperate for a miracle.

The energy seeped into the body and the dark spots receded only slightly, as soon as she stopped the black rot returned.

He lay there stiffly, a relaxed smile on his face, Jessica tried again, sweating and straining her spirit until she could go on no more.

He was gone, there was nothing she could do, hysterically she felt her tears streaming down her eyes.

Sarah had gone quiet, once her spirit recovered somewhat she tried healing Alex too and it had failed also.

Then the first tear on Sarah broke free and an slow stream trickled down her face, she sat down.

'Whelp, there goes that. Show over?' He kept speaking this whole time, it drove her insane.

His voice reminded her of something, he had skeletons serving him, could he bring back Alex with death magic?

Hope sprung up into her heart, fear instantly stabbed her again, that might work but...but she'd have to go back to him, she stared at the glowing tattoo's on her arm.

Slowly she moved her index finger until it hovered over the blue word: spirit.

'Scream!' He laughed.

Time froze.

*****

Tears streamed down her eyes, on the left she cried normal watery tears, the other cried blood.

She shuddered against two sets skeletal arms, she choked as she tried to scream, the maniac was chuckling as though this was his favorite game.

In his hand he held mushy remains.

"Well. Time to move on, lots to do." He smiled.

He flicked the remains of her ruined eye and stretched his hand forward to the next one.

She couldn't breathe, trapped within the confines of her mind, she sobbed, begged and wailed helplessly.

Pain. Endless and unabated.

****

She froze, she couldn't do that...not again...there was no guarantee he could help bring back Alex after-all, she'd suffer for nothing, he would probably not even teach her just to make things worse, then he'd torture her again..

In a dark corner of her mind, a piece of her was on it's last legs and withering, she knew she was making excuses, but she couldn't do it...mutilation was too high a price.

Once she admitted it to herself the revolting truth sat there judging her, trembling she pictured the maniac's smile as he laughed at her.

She clutched her hands to her chest and sobbed helplessly.

'I can't, I can't! I can't do this! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! SORRYSORRYSORRY!' She screamed in her head as she cried.

'Course not. This is you we're talking about.' He mocked her, deep inside she knew he was right and she sobbed harder.

"...He deserves to be buried, or else animals might...." Sarah trailed off, voice raw and thick with emotion.

Jessica sobbed to herself.

'This can't be happening, can't, can't, can't.' Her mind in a loop, Jessica stared at Alex.

'Get over it already.' He sounded bored again.

"Eian'll want to say good bye also. We should find him." Sarah sniffed as she cleaned her face, her eyes had dried somewhat.

"...I...I'm not leaving him." The words spilled out without her control.

"...I've recovered a bit, we can get Eian and he can bury him." Sarah reasoned.

Absently Jessica looked at Alex, an image of a wolf or bear eating Alex spilled into her mind.

He didn't deserve that, she couldn't let him be taken as a snack for a wild animal.

A brief moment of clarity emerged, for once it wasn't the maniac whom spoke to her.

'First rule of business: Always keep your word.' Her father's voice resonated within her.

Apprehensive, she closed her eyes and quickly selected spirit, before she could think on it much further.

The ambient slowly changed, she could feel it happening, she couldn't breathe for fear.

*****

She kept her eyes firmly shut.

"Back so soon? I'd hoped you'd stay away." He spoke now, more vivid and frightening than ever.

She could not speak, the words didn't come out, though no magic held her down this time.

Strangely the psychopath sounded mildly intrigued.

"Interesting, not talking? How rude. Not many come back a second time you know? I wonder why? Power maybe?" His voice was more animated.

"What?" Jessica blurted then stared at him, eyes wide.

He knew Alex was dead, what was he talking about?