One Foot in the Grave: An Almost Zombie story

Chapter Thirty-Two: Ouch, That Kinda Hurts!

Nacelles' chamber isn't what I think a monster lair should look like. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to expect, but certainly not the warmth and light I find. The same purple couch he summoned before stands against the far wall and scattered cushions litter the carpeted floor. It looks more like the inside of a genie's bottle than anything else.

"Now, how did this injury happen?" Nacelles takes my arm from me and peers at the torn shoulder.

"It was an accident." I'm loath to name the hell hound, though I'm not sure why. Nacelles likes him, and I'm pretty sure Maxx wasn't lying when he said he chose to stay with the lich.

He looks at me. "Maxx doesn't always remember his own strength."

So much for keeping the cause of my accident a secret. "It really was an accident," I repeat. "He saw a kitten."

"I never did get around to introducing him to kittens," Nacelles muses. "Take off your shirt."

"Ummm...excuse me?"

"I have no designs on your zombiefied body, Isis," the lich says. "I need to see the wound itself and your long sleeved blouse, while beautiful, won't allow me to do that."

"Turn around," I demand. "This is embarrassing enough."

"Here, wear this." Nacelles reaches into thin air and pulls out a sleeveless, zipper up top. It matches the couch. What an awesome color. I'll look like an eggplant, but I guess it's better than the alternative. I catch the top and wait until the lich turns his back. It doesn't take me long to undo the buttons on the shirt I'm currently wearing, shed it, and put the new one on.

"Okay, I'm ready."

Nacelles turns around. "The color suits you."

Right now, I don't much care. I just want my arm back on. "So how do you plan on fixing me, anyway?"

"I don't," Nacelles says. "I can't heal you, Isis."

The bluntness of it hurts.

"Then what am I even doing here?"

"Good question," the lich replies. He strolls over to me and peers at my empty socket. It's weird.

"I thought we could experiment on you, but I wouldn't know where to begin. You're an unusual case-study. Are you sure you don't just want to use crazy glue or screws?"

"I'm positive," I say. "I've glued myself and screwed...ummm...enough, thanks."

"The only thing I can think of is to self-heal," Nacelles says. "You said you've never tried it before. Do you feel comfortable enough to try it now?"

I shrug. "Sure, why not?" I grimace. "It can't hurt, right? What do I do?"

"Vampires don't need to do anything," the lich muses. "But you are only half-vampire in spirit. Try putting the arm up to your empty socket. Maybe the muscles will knit together of their own accord."

I take my arm back and do what he says. I can't help but picture tendrils of ligaments, reaching out like vines to grab the arm and pull it close.

"Is it working?" I drop my arm and it falls with a thump to the ground. Nope.

Nacelles is nice enough to retrieve it and hand it back to me. "Hmmm...let's try this instead. Close your eyes and visualize the arm adhering to your shoulder, looking exactly like it used to be."

It sounds simple enough. I give it a shot. And the world turns purple. My insides are doing their level best to crawl out through my belly button. I can barely breathe. I curl into a ball, hugging my knees to my chest and moaning low in my throat. I'm pretty sure Nacelles is trying to talk to me, but I can't hear anything beyond the roaring in my ears. It feels like hours before I can unkink and open my eyes. A black fuzzy blur greets me. A huge black fuzzy blur, which means Maxx is back to his normal size.