Jess chased after the criminal, only half-aware of where she was going as she was hot on his trail. Though 15 she stood 9' 6", an imposing figure despite her normally friendly nature due to that and her incredible strength. Yet it was still clear she was young... Finally the criminal evaded her, and so she started stalking around the place, examining every hiding place she saw possible... Then it dawned upon her. He'd led her into a graveyard.

Jess heard a branch snap and turned to see some young boy all covered in dirt... She couldn't help but to take pity on him. "Hey, you ok kid?"

The little boy stared at the woman with eyes that had no light in them. Dead eyes, a blank stare and a turn later he was back to his chores. He had just started another hole. He'd been informed that a new edition to the graveyard would be coming... he was not all that thrilled. But then again he never was. He had been told to dig the grave, six feet by nine feet by three feet.

It took him a little while but the boy saw the size of the grave he was starting and when he looked up at the woman he realized that the grave was a perfect fit for her.

Walking over to her, he held up his hand as high as it would go, seemingly reaching for a handshake with his short arms. "Sorry that you have to die... can you not come out of the ground afterwords please?" His voice sounded pleading but his stare remained blank and lifeless.

[... Ok, did whoever's in charge of the graveyard somehow get wor dof the 'death by vampires' part of Jess's curse or something?]

Jess looked at the young boy in surprise, then frustration. "Who says I'd let myself die so early in life? Whoever is is a fool." She knealt to get a better look at the boy... "Are you forced to do this?" She half-asked-half-stated to him, feeling so sorry for him. If she could help it, she'd get him at least one normal day of being a kid. It didn't matter what she had to resort to, she'd get him out here and give him a taste of what it was like... At least as much as she could. She too had been robbed of that by the mysterious absence of her parents.

"My grandpa says someone knew is gonna die... That's why he told me to dig this big hole"

Now at eye level with the giantess he cocked his head to one side as she asked if he was forced to do this. "...what's forced mean?" His blank stare remained, as blank as the mind behind it. Knowing only what he had been told the word "forced" had never entered his vocabulary.

He had always done what grandfather had told him. If he didn't do it on time or didn't do it as well as grandpa wanted then he would hurt. That was the reaction, do what and how Grandpa says or you will be hurt.

"Hmm. That's new, no one I ever met didn't know what forced means... Basically when someone forces you to do something, you do it or they hurt you." Jess looked the kid in the eyes. 'Dang. He's had an even rougher time than I have...' She thought. "So what's you name then, or should I just keep calling you Kid?" She asked. She had to get him out of here. She didn't care what the consequences were. "Come with me and you'll get a taste of freedom. Jessica Emiline Cowart is the name." She took one on his tiny hands, and looked as though she was about t stand up.

"... Grandpa says that my name is the same as his. He calls me Graves. ANd when people come to see him, they call him Graves. We're the Graves's." Had this been any other child he probably would have said the last part with some sense of confidence or questioning. This child however said it as if it were some kind of curse and began looking dejected. They were no different than the things the dead came out of. When he was younger he had nightmares about them crawling out of his body, just like they did out of the dirt. Then he stopped sleeping, and the nightmares stopped.

The child allowed himself to be dragged behind the lady. Her large hands dwarfing his own. He wattled along side her on tip-toes even as she had to lean down and clasp his hand. As they came to the singular opening in the wrought-iron gate. When he saw where she was leading him he panicked and did the best he could with his tiny little hands to backpeddle and keep her away from the gate. "No! Nobody can go through the gate unless Grandpa says so!" His Eyes scruntched up and his face contorted in the futile effort to pull her back.

"If anyone tries to go out when Grandpa doesn't want em to.." As he tried to pull her back twelve monstrous beings rose from the cobblestone path leading out of the graveyard. Hulking figures each as least as tall as Jess, undead giants twisted and contorted with vicious features. The smell of rot and decay permeated the air as maggots writhed off their decomposing yet animated bodies.

If they took one more step then it was certain these creatures would attack.

Jess could feel herself shaking in fright as she looked back at the monstrous undead... "Great... Just great..." How frustrating... There had to be a way out of this. She didn't dare take that next step though, for fear the things would attack. She put her hand on her nose, pinching it while it scrunched up from the nasty smell as she tried to ignore that and her fear and think...

[Short post... In my mind I'm kinda overwhelmed by the image of those zombies my imagination provided...]

"There isn't one. The only way out is through the front gate. And the giants guard the front gate. So there's no way outside." The little boy tugged on her sleeve to pull her away. If they stayed there too long then Grandpa might get suspicious. And he didn't want his grandpa to hurt him when he realized he wasn't doing his work when he was told... no it was forced, to do so.

She finally couldn't hold back her emotions as she followed him back... "So I would have been turned into one of those things? Oh god..." She quickly made sure her profanity was in foreign languages so the little boy was less likely to recognise it... As far as she was concerned the kid got enough abuse sent his way even without the verbal component... Soon as she'd gotten that out her system she looked him in the eyes, determined. "Listen... Once you get the chance little boy... When those things aren't guarding the gate, you run. Run like your life depends on it." Speaking of which...

"So now what, do I have to wait for your gramps to let me out or what?"

"But they're always guarding the gate. Always. And you can't get out. He won't let you. You came in here without asking. So now you won't be able to leave even if you ask." The child had lead them back to the grave he had been digging. He'd already managed to lay the outline for it and had dug almost a square foot out of it so far. Whether this spoke of the soft maleability of the ground or the expertise the little boy had in digging graves was unknown.

"When tonight comes they're probably going to wake up and make you like them. So I'm gonna try and finish up your new home before they all come out. I even gave it a view facing the outer gate" He said pointing to the short brick wall with a tall wrought iron fence around it. At least she would be able to wake up every night and see the outside, even if it was through a fence.

Just then Jess remembered a spell that would be useful... It had no combat use but if the person was trapped under rocks or earth it would let them survive for hours. She doubted this kid knew of this spell, and a good mage never revealed her secrets so if he saw her walk away she decided he'd just have to think she was a zombie... At least until they met again when he'd escaped this place himself...

She thought. It was exhausting but she could use this spell on another person if she put in some extra effort. For once she decided she'd give away her secrets... "Hey kid... There's a spell that lets one survive being buried alive. Don't worry." It was her only chance, so she'd take it. "Hey, what if you faked your own death and wound up in the grave with me? It's exhausting but the spell can be used to save others as well..."

The little boy blinked at her now two feet deep. "...What's fake mean?" So many strange words the lady used. "If you can survive underground, then why don't you just walk right under the gate?" he asked.

Now Jess felt so foolish... she slapped herself matter of fact. "Why didn't I think of that?! Of course!" She shouted, before giving the boy a bear hug out of her happiness.

[... Remember Kagami hugging 8-year-old mortimer, well... XD]

The child was startled by this. He hadn't been... Held like this before. Arms wrapped around him. Well he had but it was much tighter, then it was another punishment. A painful squeeze. It had been painful. But this... this didn't hurt. It felt the opposite of hurt. What had it been called again... pleasant? Tentitively the little boy raised his arms and slowly began moving them around the very tall lady. Bringing them in closer, but not tight. He was barely touching her but still this way felt... good.

But soon Jess broke away from the hug... "I guess this is goodbye then." She said, wiping a tear from her eye as she put the boy down and started and incantation... Slowly she sank into the ground, eventually dissapearing from sight completely. She then bagen to reappear once she was outside the gates though, turning around momentarily and waving the little boy goodbye before she set off again.

Once Jess was out of sight the scroundel she'd been after decided to try and rush out, but was set upon by the zombie guards. He hadn't been listening after all, just hiding until he thought it was safe.

[End the flashback part after you next post?]

The child stared after the lady as she appeared on the other side of the fence. Something nobody should have been able to do... but se did it. And if she could get out of there without grandpas permission.... why couldn't he?

[Ten years later]

Mortimer stood on the inside of a shop window looking out. He had gotten a part time job as a pastry chef, but really he just worked at the place, and did very little cooking as compared to his other duties. He was cleaning up the glasspanels of the windows when he looked up to survey his work. Then he looked past that. And there behind the bars of the window was Jess.

Jess had arrived with Alice, one of her students, to tell her the tale of why she became a self-defence teacher. Mortimer knew the story. It all started with the day he and Jess had first met. Jess saw what Alice was getting at as she finished the story.

"So do you want to introduce yourself to him then?"

"Sure!" Alice gave an excited look, walking up to the door of the shop.

Just then Jess's cell phone went off... She flipped it open... "Oh right." She cleared her throat and put her phone away. "Sorry Alice, but Neji requested a tutoring session and I can't cancel this late."

"That's okay."

And Jess breifly waved at Mortimer before she once again disappeared under the ground to get past a fence barrier... "Mortimer, we've taught each other so much. Truly you are the best friend anyone could have." She muttered looking back once more as she appeared just outside the boundary of the fence. "Never forget that day, it changed both our lives forever."

Rewards

Jess: 2 SP, 2 MP and 150,000 Drachma
Al: 2 SP, 2 MP and 150,000 Drachma