novelraw Chapter 595: Disagreements
Chapter 595: Disagreements
"Perhaps Adam was wrong."
Inside the rocking carriage, Anna's indignation for the protagonist was plain to see. "Sarah did so much for him," she argued, "she even sacrificed herself."
"That was a twisted, ugly kind of love," Lu Li said, tearing the note and throwing it from the carriage, where it was instantly left behind by the swift coach.
Both visually and psychologically.
But Anna, her perception clouded by the rush of emotions from her newfound body, couldn't see the rational underpinnings—a good story could indeed mask the darkness behind it.
Just as no one ever spares a thought for the spirits whose treasures are stolen by fairy-tale heroes.
"If Adam had been resolute enough, he could have refused to be resurrected by Sarah right away, instead of suddenly growing tired of his other half a hundred years later."
Her gaze, fixed on Lu Li, was like that of a wounded doe—helpless and with a shadow of a plea. "Time erases everything... doesn't it?"
Even the most loving couples, willing to give up everything for each other, eventually grow cold.
"Perhaps," Lu Li replied. He realized that gaining a body had caused Anna to swing from one extreme to another. He tried a different approach: "A touching love story doesn't justify the suffering of others. There were lovers and married couples among the people they killed."Anna fell silent, lost in thought.
Lu Li considered inventing a story about a victimized couple to steer Anna's thoughts away from Sarah and Adam.
They were almost at the Echo Cathedral when a warm, soft hand suddenly pressed against Lu Li's stomach and traced a line across it.
Even through his shirt, she could feel the raised, uneven line of a scar.
"You're right... They must pay for what they've done," she whispered.
Anna still felt no empathy for the victims, but the goal had been reached: because of the pain Lu Li had suffered, she now hated Adam and Sarah.
...
The Shupskin District.
The street was thronged with people, forcing the carriage to a crawl.
The faint smell of blood lingered in the air. Some of the passersby had bloodstains on their clothes and scraps of flesh clinging to their faces.
Lu Li stopped one of them, but the man just smirked and told him he was too late—the gathering was already over.
The crowd gradually dispersed, and the carriage proceeded down the street, stopping at the cemetery beside the Echo Cathedral.
The statue on the spire still gazed down with compassion. Anna, following Lu Li out of the carriage, glanced back at the street. Scores of restless anomalies were still milling about, waiting.
Upon entering the empty church, Lu Li found no survivors, nor any hint of them. The long-robed figures that had recently filled the pews seemed to have vanished like a mirage. Behind the church, however, all the grave pits had been filled in, and in their place stood two rows of simple headstones made of roughly-hewn planks.
[Greg Taratino]
[Heisha Arukald]
[Josef Yanes]
[Emma Keelan]
These martyrs had known what awaited them, yet they had gone to their fate without hesitation.
Lu Li returned to the church, set a vase with an artificial sunflower by Emma Keelan's headstone, and left with Anna.
Just before they left, a few hungry shadows were already stirring in the cemetery, digging up the fresh graves. They would likely disturb the new headstones, but Lu Li knew there was nothing buried underneath.
They wouldn't have cared about their graves being desecrated. After all, they hadn't cared about their own lives.
"Where to next?" Anna asked. "Should we keep looking for other survivors?"
Lu Li grew thoughtful.
...
"That bread is mine!" York exclaimed indignantly, speaking to Webb across the table.
The two had become fast friends after meeting.
"But I'm the one who found it," Webb retorted, spreading some nearly-expired jam on his slice of bread. Fear and grief had temporarily dulled his hunger, but now, in safety, it returned with a vengeance.
"And I'm the one who got the jam," York shot back, reaching across the table to snatch the remaining jar.
Webb just shrugged and took a large bite of his jam-covered bread.
The other survivors on the ground floor of the clothing store—all except for two mother-daughter pairs who had gone upstairs to rest—watched with smiles as York and Webb bickered like a couple of rowdy teenagers.
The sight really helped them to unwind after all the tension—until a knock echoed from the shop's wooden door.
Knock—knock—knock—
The slow, deliberate knocks were like an icy wind, freezing every sound and expression in the shop.
Webb, by the window, gestured to Gemini Reid at the fireplace—a signal that meant a stranger was at the door.
"No papers—upstairs!" Gemini Reid shouted in a hushed voice, urging everyone to the second floor.
Knock—knock—knock—
The mechanical knock came again.
Gemini Reid snatched a bucket of wet earth and dumped its contents into the fireplace. The fire died with a hiss beneath the layer of mud. Without a second thought, Webb threw his precious bread into the trash and moved to a clothes rack, pretending to browse.
The thudding of feet on the second floor finally ceased. Gemini Reid ducked behind the counter, clipped a bowtie to his collar, and nodded to the "salesman," York, signaling him to open the door.
Knock—
Just as the third knock sounded, York flung the door open. He tried to imitate a welcoming attendant he'd once seen. "Welcome! What do you need?"
It wasn't very convincing—the tension made his facial muscles cramp into a grimace. But that actually worked in his favor: he looked like an "anomaly doing a poor imitation of a human," which might be enough to fool a less-than-observant creature.
But this time, the visitor was different.
Drip—drip—drip—
A tall figure stood in the doorway, head bowed low. The wide brim of its hat concealed its face in shadow. It wasn't raining, yet for some reason, water dripped incessantly from the figure, forming a small puddle around its boots.
York felt an indescribable pressure radiating from the eerie giant. It became hard to breathe, let alone speak.
A sinister silence fell.
Behind the counter, Gemini Reid grew anxious. He shot a look at the other "salesman," Ivan, signaling for him to help.
Ivan had just started to rise when a familiar, calm voice spoke from behind the giant.
"You again? Come in and get warm."
York suddenly relaxed and stepped aside to let them pass.
The figure, which seemed to be cast from shadow, turned silently and walked away.
From the doorway, Lu Li and Anna watched as it left a wet trail behind, dissolving into the distance.
"Is that an anomaly, too?" York asked, venturing a peek outside.
"An Evil Spirit," Lu Li said as he stepped into the shop. "The Uninvited Guest."
"I remember now," Gemini Reid realized with a start. "Could that really have been him...?"
He hadn't immediately made the connection to the Uninvited Guest—there were simply too many anomalies here.