Venturing further into the cemetery, every place became unbearable to look at. Yumiel could only lift her eyes to the sky and see a cloud of crows flying through the thick fog.
Yumiel sighed again… yet she did not give up, resuming her search. She got lost after barely ten minutes.
Reopening her senses, searching for the slightest vibration or sound, but it changed nothing—everywhere, the crows were there as well, causing noise and vibrations.
« Ah, I can't take it anymore, I've had enough, I've been running through this damn cemetery for over an hour, I can't take it anymore. »
Returning to the mausoleum, Yumiel noticed that it wasn't the same. Or rather, it wasn't a mausoleum but a funeral chapel. Opening her senses, she detected nothing.
« Great, now I can't sense anything. » Continuing to wander through this thick fog, littered with corpses, Yumiel reached a mausoleum. But to be more precise, it was the first mausoleum she had found.
« Okay, okay, fine, I'm settling here. » Yumiel searched for the exit but in vain. Wandering once again in this immense cemetery. Time passed and Yumiel began to go mad, often returning to her starting point, sometimes finding new chapels or mausoleums.
It was only while wandering near the first mausoleum that she heard a scream in the cemetery. She had given up on opening her senses—they were useless in the cemetery and drained her more than anything.
But this time, she opened them to the maximum and ran as fast as she could. She saw a ticket, a way out of this labyrinth. However, reality was different.
The scream came from a man who had died only moments ago. Yumiel leaned down, examining the corpse with great interest.
« Hmm, I'd say he died two or three minutes ago. » Yumiel rolled the body over, seeing traces of struggle. The man had died from several blows, then she lifted her eyes to notice the missing brain. « It's still just as strange, » sucking the man's blood and tearing out his heart.
Once finished, she did not take long to notice a severed leg. Not far from the dead man, crouching near the leg, she murmured, « This leg is strange, it looks like it was just cut off, but there's no trace of blood. »
Advancing cautiously, she found, not far away, a metal disc of considerable diameter embedded in a tombstone. It had sliced through several tombstones beforehand, and likely the leg of whoever it belonged to.
Yumiel kept her senses open and advanced cautiously along the path. She found a second leg, visibly cut in the same way as the first. « This one too, there's no trace of blood. »
Yumiel followed the path. A little farther, she heard a scratching sound as if someone was clawing at the dirt. Then, people were speaking. Yumiel approached as quickly and quietly as possible, hiding nearby.
She could see a man dressed in a long dark tunic belted at the waist, a coat worn from battle, and a wide-brimmed hat shading his eyes.
Behind him, a crowd of several people were greeting him and thanking him. She was too far to hear what he was saying, so she opened her senses to their maximum to try to understand their words.
« Thank you… thank you… You… save monster… this… What is… ? » the man in black spoke. « It was… if he comes back… »
Yumiel did not hear clearly but understood that this man had apparently just saved them from a monster in the cemetery. Yumiel wanted to get closer to hear more.
As she approached, the man in black sent a sharp metal disc toward Yumiel, slicing a tree like paper and exiting through the other side before finishing its course further away.
« Strange… I felt… over there? »
Yumiel was crouched down, a drop falling down her cheek. The disc ended its course not far from her initial position. She made no sound, remaining completely still, and only moved when the man in black spoke again, walking back down the path.
Glancing back from time to time, making sure no one was following her.
« Damn, and they say I'm the monster? What was that? That man is dangerous! »
Yet Yumiel thought about confronting him—she needed this to become even stronger and finally get her answers. Human hearts made her stronger, but she felt deep down that the people who had changed were on another level. A level that would allow her to rise even higher.
Returning to face the man, she heard a scratching sound, the same as the last time. This time, more intense than before, following the sound of the scratching nearby.
She came face-to-face with a tombstone. It was the only tombstone around, placed along a path. Here lies Jack Van, 1931–2001. Holder of the record for the greatest British engineer who helped build the Havilland Comet. Major engineering advancements. Having worked and assisted many British engineers.
« That one's original. » Suddenly a voice was heard from behind the tombstone. « You think so? Honestly, I found his brain horrible to eat, some kind of disgusting black flabby lump inside. Nah honestly, I don't approve. »
Yumiel jumped in place, opening her senses and looking on the other side of the tombstone.
Seeing a body visibly lifeless yet staring at her with blue eyes, his skin oscillating between white and beige. Muscular arms and a rather classy-looking head, however he no longer had legs—you could see the bones sticking out. Without any visible blood. Traces of struggle on his torso, cuts among other things bleeding very slightly.
« Hi, I'm Jack. Well, not the Jack from the tombstone, haha, no, another one. I'm being chased by that crazy guy who says, and I quote: "I hunt monsters", but I'm just a poor zombie eating a few brains to survive. Fresh ones preferably, of course. And you, what's your name? »