Twisted Death

1. The Murder Begins

Funeral. An event held by the living to tell the departed that they never died unloved. Having visited this ceremony countless times and even been inside a casket before returning as an undead man, Brandon knew it better than any human did.

Two little girls stood before Dr. Bernard's coffin, drawing Brandon's attention with their loud cries. Death and reanimation had actually taken away most of his feelings, but he couldn't help it. With a lump building up in his throat, he recalled what he saw in the hospital yesterday.

The last time Brandon visited Bernard in the ICU, he knew there was no more hope for the poor man. Bernard lay still on his bed, his head bandaged and his breathing aided by a mechanical ventilator. Although the monitor indicated that his vital signs were fine, judging from the man's condition alone, Brandon knew they would decline sooner or later.

About thirty-six hours after the car crash, Bernard finally passed.

Brandon approached the little girls and gave them a hug, yet they only thrashed and kept bawling. Feeling rejected, he ambled away from them while looking down at the loamy soil. Poor kids... Now, they only had their mother left.

The town of Billion shows no mercy to children, Brandon thought. Mika Asagi, his fourteen-year-old adoptive child, came to him for that reason. When the undead infested the town last year, her mother and butler sacrificed themselves to buy her enough time to reach him. They knew he was one of those monsters, but because he had made a promise to protect the Asagi family before his death, they believed he'd make a good guardian to Mika.

He turned out to be a damn good one. Mika often said that he was the father she'd never had, although she preferred calling him by his name.

Amid the quiet sobs coming from the girls, he heard Mika tell a crying woman, "We're sorry for your loss, Ma'am."

Not even a woman could escape from the cruelty of the town. With her husband gone, this woman - Christina - would continue to live on her own. Wiping the tears from her eyes with a kerchief, she nodded. "Thank you."

Unable to think of the right words, Brandon only patted Christina on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. The grieving woman's lips took a slight upturn in response, which delighted him.

The wind blew harder as Brandon and Mika turned around and walked towards another cluster of people in black. The thick gray clouds moved to conceal the sun. If necrolyzation hadn't killed his sense of smell, he'd have detected the fresh, earthy scent around.

Brandon approached the crowd, where Biscoe stood beside Dr. William - Bernard's younger brother - and placed a hand on the doctor's shoulder. For an ordinary Millennion mafioso, a mob boss warming up to his underling would look strange. Heck, the old man didn't even speak to Bernard's wife or kids. However, William was, like Brandon, a valuable asset to the Mafia. Without him, Brandon would've decayed to nothingness last year, and if that had happened, the organization would've never had a tough undead fighter by their side.

Recently, more and more scientists in Millennion had learned how to sustain a necrolyzer's body properly, but William had never lost his status as one of the Mafia's notable people. After all, he had the most experience in taking care of a reanimated corpse.

"Be strong," Biscoe told William, his voice muffling through the nearby chatter.

The tearful William replied with a nod.

Brandon sauntered closer to the weeping doctor. Noticing his presence, Biscoe stepped aside and asked, "You no longer need a walking stick?"

Brandon shook his head. Although deep, those gashes on his thighs only took two days to heal. A stray necrolyzer couldn't possibly have the equipment to inflict serious damage upon his body.