I'm Alive

~ I'm Alive ~

Original Short Story

“I can’t believe they said that about me.” Amy kicked a rock in her path as she stomped along the dirt road. Folding her arms with a huff, anger slowly turned to sorrow. “I’m not weird. They don’t have to be so mean just because I’m different.” The fourteen year old soon found herself wiping away tears. “Why do we have to move so much? I can never make any friends.”

The pink and orange sky was growing darker, but Amy didn’t care. She walked along the path that was supposed to be a shortcut home. She wasn’t paying attention to the bend in the road that took her a different direction. Without warning, Amy tripped on something and fell on the hard ground. Amy sniffled and was about to kick the object that tripped her only to realize it was a gravestone. With a scared gasp, Amy scrambled to her feet and looked around. She was just inside the entrance of a large cemetery. She didn’t remember ever seeing this creepy place. The sky was dark blue now and it was getting cold. Amy shivered and turned to leave. Before she could go two steps, she heard a sound that made her stop and turn around. Ba-bum. There it was again. What was that sound? Ba-bum. It sounded familiar. “Hello?” Amy called out, but the darkness did not answer. Ba-bum. Amy walked through the graveyard, trying to find the source of the sound. “Hello? Is anyone here?”

Ba-bum. “Save me,” a tiny voice whispered. Amy screamed and looked around. No one. Nothing but a bunch of old headstones. One grave looked different. Coming closer to get a better look, Amy noticed that the dirt was fresh, but the stone was worn and crumbling. Ba-bum. There was that noise again, louder than ever. Amy stooped to read the writing on the stone.

Alexander Livingston

1898-1912

Without a friend

I met my end.

To living death I’m bound.

Now here I stay,

To my dismay,

Until a friend is found.

Ba-bum. The sound was coming from the grave itself. “Please save me.” Going against her better judgment, Amy started digging through the fresh dirt. It was soft and damp, as though it had been rained on. Amy dug and dug, the sound getting louder. Ba-bum. “It’s a heartbeat!” she thought to herself. “Someone’s buried alive and I have to help them!” This drove her to dig faster. She stopped when her dirty nails scraped against wood. Sweeping the dirt away, Amy found a wooden box. Unlike the smooth and polished coffins Amy had seen, these boards were rough and rotten, held together by rusty nails. She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. The sound had stopped and the world was silent. Panic settling in, Amy grabbed a board and pulled as hard as she could. Grunting, she could hear the wood creak and groan before it gave way with a loud snap. Throwing the board aside, Amy looked into the coffin and gasped in fear. Inside was a boy with white hair and gray skin. He wore gray, tattered clothes. The name on the tombstone snaked through her mind. “Alexander,” she thought. He wasn’t rotting or mummified, just … sleeping. Other than the severe lack of color, nothing seemed to be wrong with him. The boy slowly opened his eyes. They were unnaturally green, but looked clouded and glassy. He seemed dazed and groggy. Gathering her courage, Amy pulled away another board, making enough room for Alex to get out. The second snap of wood woke him up, but he still seemed out of it. Amy offered her hand to help him out. The kid grabbed her hand and she pulled him out of the crude coffin. Looking at the hole she dug, Amy realized how far down they were. She wouldn’t be able to get out without help. Lacing her fingers together and holding them out, Amy nodded toward the side. Alex seemed to understand and placed a gray shoe into her hands. With a quick boost, the boy was able to climb out of the grave and onto solid ground. He knelt next to the hole and reached in to help Amy out. 

She stretched her arm up, but before she could grab his hand a loud roar and smoke erupted from the grave. Dark red light shone from the coffin she just rescued Alex from and a deep rumbling shook the ground. Without warning, Amy was hauled out of the grave. Alex snatched her hand and took off running. She looked back just in time to see the grave explode and a large, dark creature start chasing them. Amy had no clue where she was going. She just followed Alex deeper into the cemetery. He twisted and turned among the gravestones, the monster never losing their trail. The creature of darkness got close enough to swipe at them with its huge claws. It crashed into a statue and turned the sculpture into a pile of rubble instead. Alex led them to a large, marble mausoleum. Throwing his shoulder against the door, he managed to heave the solid door open enough for them to get through. The two ran inside and shoved the door closed behind them. Their only hope was if the monster didn’t find their hiding place. Staying as silent as they could, the two crept to the back and looked for an exit, only to find that they were trapped. A couple long minutes passed in silence. With a loud roar, the door was torn off its hinges and thrown into the back wall. Alex stepped in front of Amy to protect her. The creature entered the large room and headed straight for him. To Amy’s astonishment, white light surrounded Alex’s pale arms as they turned into blades. He ran ahead and met the enemy headlong. Alex slashed and stabbed the dark creature. Try as he might, he could not cause enough damage. The monster would swat away the attacks and try to capture Alex with its huge claws. The boy would get hit every now and then, but he would keep fighting. Amy could tell he was growing weaker the longer the battle progressed. The creature swung and hit Alex so hard that sent him into the wall. He crumpled to the ground and didn’t move. As Amy watched in horror, the monster picked the boy up and shoved him into the marble floor. Just when Amy was about to give up hope for Alex, white light started gathering around him again. Two incredibly large, grey bat wings sprouted from his back and a blast of light threw the monster into the air. The boy attacked the creature again. He seemed to be doing more damage than he did earlier. The monster managed to grab Alex again, but the boy flew out of the mausoleum and into the air. Amy ran out of the building to watch. The creature kept its hold on Alex as he flew straight up. Eventually, the creature let go and fell back to the earth. Putting his blades together, they formed one large sword that Alex held with both hands. Diving toward the creature, Alex attacked it midair with his more effective weapon. Snarls and cries of agony filled the air, letting Amy know the creature was losing. As they approached the earth, Alex lifted his blade high and rammed it through the monster just as they hit the ground. A cloud of dust blocked Amy’s view. Once it cleared, she watched the monster dissipate in a cloud of black and purple mist, revealing Alex kneeling with his sword in the ground. As the boy stood, his sword and wings disappeared in fading light. Amy and Alex stood staring at each other.

“You-you saved my life,” Amy whispered, still stunned. Without really thinking about it, she wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. The white light returned and enveloped him as she hugged. When she let go and stepped back, color returned to his face and clothes. His hair turned brown and his green eyes cleared. By all accounts he looked perfectly normal. He looked alive.

“Now you’ve saved mine,” Alex replied. “I never had a friend in life. Now one found me in death. Thank you.”

“What happens now?”

“I don’t know.” Alex looked toward the rising sun. “What do you do with a second chance?”

Amy smiled and held out her hand in friendship. “Start over.”

~SMS