I didn’t understand. How is my body there when I’m here? Did I die? Am I a ghost now? I looked around and saw Connor standing a few feet away. “Connor! Can you see me? I don’t know what happened!” I said in a panic. He didn’t move. He was almost..frozen. “Enic! Get down!” I heard Connor’s voice. I wanted to turn around and face him, see where he was, but something forced me to do as he said. I dropped to the ground and soon felt a body land on me. Just as soon as it landed on me, it was lifted- no. More like it disappeared. I turned around and was instantly lifted up to my feet. “Please stay out of the way, and don’t get hurt.” Connor said then ran off. I then had noticed that more of those creatures had shown up. Connor was fighting them off, but they kept getting back up after every hit they took from- Wait. When did Connor get a large knife? I thought as he hacked at the creatures.

One of them seemed to notice me and started after me. Uh-oh. I stepped back but that seemed to make it irritated, causing it to go faster towards me. I gasped as it swung a hand at me. I put my arms up, my hands in fists, in a defensive motion then on instinct I shot my hand out, punching it in the face. It fell back with it’s jaw now hanging. It looked shocked, but once it recovered from that shock, it stood up and jumped after me. I was the one in shock this time. Trying to remain calm had left my memory, and I was tackled to the ground. I pushed on its shoulders trying to keep it away as it tried to bite me. I felt scared till suddenly it disappeared to ash. Connor stood above me with fear in his eyes.

He lifted me up quickly and took me into a tight hug. “C-onnor?” I choked out. “What?” He said pulling back to look at me, holding onto my shoulders still. “Am I dead?” I asked him. His fear slowly melted to a small smile. “No. You’re not dead. Come here.” He said pulling my hand, walking me to my body. “Touch your spirit hand to your body’s hand like this.” He said before going to his body I had saw before, and touched his hand with the statue-like Connor. Instantly they became one and my eyes widened. I looked to my own and did the same. I gasped as I felt a warm feeling wash over me. A moment passed as Connor walked over to me, silent. I said one thing. “The truth. Now.”

* * *

“So let me get this straight. Those were...zombies. You and your friends are hunters. And Because I can push my spirit out of my body like you guys, I am too?” I said in question. Connor didn’t tell me everything right away. He told me to wait for after school. When I said no, he rolled his eyes and took me to his… I don’t even know what to call it. Base? And told me everything.

From what he had told me, what we saw earlier were zombies. Spirits that have lost the memories of their old selves, and hunger for what they no longer have. Life. They feed off of people’s spirits. Not their actual form or as Connor said, “The shell of a person”, but their spirit. The body of a person meant nothing to them and they would ignore it if a spirit weren’t there in it. Hunters were more complicated to understand. Hunters were beings that could push their spirits out of their bodies to fight the zombies, otherwise they would go right through them. Zombies couldn’t be killed by a hit through their brain, but they had to be burned. Not by fire but a light that hunters were able to create from their hands. Connor had then told me how in another country, a group of hunters had found a girl that was able to light her entire body with this light and could control the zombies like lifting them into the air.

It all sounded crazy to me but after what I saw, I didn’t argue. Connor said how there was an industry that had used to go on called Anima, but that they were taken out by the group that had the girl with mysterious power. They were experimenting with zombies, putting them into people and eventually killing the human and turning them into zombies while trying to find a cure to living forever. My mind was filled with so many questions, I didn’t know what to say. So I asked a basic question. “What were their names?” I asked. I’ll admit. I still didn’t believe it so I figured I could search the people if I knew their names. He caught on and laughed. “I knew you’d ask that. Alice Bell, and Cole Holland.” He said. Instantly I bursted out laughing. “Cole? Like you? Is that where you got the nickname from?” I asked. His full name is Connor Neige.

He laughed and nudged me. “No.” He paused and thought about it. “Well yes and no.” He said with a smirk and we both laughed.

“The others said that I sound like him from the stories we’ve heard about them. Just nicer.” He said then looked at his hands. “They also say you’re my Alice. The only difference is the visions they had.” he said. “Visions?” I asked confused. “Yeah. It was passed down to all the members of the group somehow. I forgot. But it was said that the two of them had visions of the future once everyday whenever they saw each other.” He said and I nodded understanding. “I’m your Alice?” I said smirking. “How so?” I asked. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “That’s enough questions for today.” He said standing up and offering me a hand. I took it and then more questions formed. So why did he end things? If his friends liked me- why? And why do I see the...zombies now, but not before? What do I have to do with any of this? All these questions that I couldn’t ask made my head spin.

“Oh. And Enic?” Connor said looking at me as we stood at the door of the base- I still don’t know what to call it. “Hm?” I looked up at him. “You can’t tell anyone about this. Any of it. Not Milani, not Alice, and not even Isaiah. Got it?” He said in a serious tone. Normally I would argue. I hated doing what he told me to do, but I understood why he wanted no one to know. People would freak out and things could get messy. Either that, or no one would believe me and think me crazy probably due to my family’s… death. I could be sent to a mental hospital. “I won’t. Pinky promise.” I said lifting my hand and holding out my pinky finger. He sighed and wrapped his pinky around mine. Pinky promises were childish, but I took them a little more serious. I mean them.

“Where are we going now? Back to school?” I asked as we sat in his black mustang. How did he afford this? I thought. “And how did you get this car?” I asked him as he drove. “So many questions. I thought I said no more for the day?” He said looking at me then back to the road. “They’re small questions. Answer.” I said with a bit of sass. “Alright. It’s almost twelve right? We can go get something to eat, then I’ll take you back before anyone even notices you were gone. Aside from skipping class.” He said smirking, then continued. “And I bought it. How else?” He said then looked at me. Seeing my confused expression, he rolled his eyes looking back to the road and answering my question with more explanation. “It’s engine was a really beat up and next to irreparable, so it was sold for a lot less. A tire was also flat and there was a dent on one of the rims. After working people’s yards and then some, I was able to fix it up over the past three years. I just got it painted during summer break.” He said, and I nodded In understanding.

He pulled into a Carl’s Jr. and ordered my meal. “Can I get a number three please, with the meat on the side?”He said and I looked at him shocked. “Do you guys have raspberry ice tea here?” He asked. When they said they were out, he nodded and ordered a root beer. When he rolled the window up and drove forward, I just looked at him confused. “Why are you staring at me?” He asked, not even looking in my direction. “How do you know what I order here?” I asked. He even got the meat on the side part right. “What do you mean?” He asked while pulling out his wallet from the middle compartment of the vehicle. “You know what I mean. How do you know my order here? The number three, meat on the side. Even my drink and what I get if they don’t have it. How?” I asked again. Never once has he gone with me to Carl’s Jr.. My memory may suck, but this is fact because I didn’t even start going there until I moved in with Isaiah- when Connor was never around. He didn’t make eye contact with me till we drove up to the window.

“Here.” He said, handing me the bag of food. “You’re not getting anything?” I asked looking at him. “Nope.” He answered instantly. “So you’ll answer that question but not my other one.” I said frowning at him. “I didn’t. It was a random guess. Three didn’t have a lot of meat on it, and you’re a vegetarian so I figured I’d eat it, so I ordered it on the side. You and I both like the same drinks.” He said with a shrug. “Oh…” I said looking away then pulling out the fries from the bag. “Aye, woah, woah, woah. You aren’t eating that in here.” He said looking between me and the road. I sighed and put the fries back in the bag, then took out a single fry, popping it in my mouth. “What did I just say?” Connor said in a scolding tone. I smiled innocently. “What? I didn’t eat it in here, I ate it in the bag.” I said honestly. “Which is in here. Gimme the bag.” He said holding out one hand with his other hand on the wheel. “With the food in it.” He added on, knowing I’d find a loophole to his words again. I made an upset face before handing it over to him with a sigh. He took it and set it in the back, behind my seat. I crossed my arms and looked at the front, sulking to myself.

“Can we pull over somewhere then? I’m hungry, and the drive to school is almost twenty minutes. The food will be cold by then.” I said honestly. I hated eating cold food unless it was meant to be cold. He sighed and nodded as he drove into the next lane. When we pulled over, instantly I asked a question. “So… when do I get to ask more questions again?” I asked while I pulled out the fries and meatless burger, setting them on the table we sat at. We were at a park near by. It was mostly empty. Connor sighed, “Tomorrow. Okay?” He said pulling out a container that held the meat he’d ordered on the side. “But I have so many questions still!” I said in a begging tone, wishing he’d let me ask more. “Fine. You get one question for today. One.” He said and I sighed. What do I want to know most? How does this involve me? Why couldn’t I see the zombies before? How is this even possible? How many other hunters are at the school? Are there even more in this town? When did the others start to see them? How long has he been able to see them? I realized, the longer I took trying to picking one question, the more questions started to form in my head. I finally picked one I wanted to know most. “What happened that made me involved in all this?” I asked looking at him seriously.

His expression became unrecognizable. I didn’t know what it was. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but judging from his silence, I knew it wasn’t good. He looked away and tore off a piece of meat from the burger patty, then ate it. There was a long moment of silence before he finally spoke. “There’s people after you. We don’t know if it’s Anima, but we know you’re in danger.” He said, but it looked like he was holding information back. There was more to it, I know there was. What does he know that is keeping him so scared he can’t even talk about it? I didn’t know, but I was going to find out.

When we finished, he invited me to go back to the site, as he called it- not base- on Wednesday. I said I’d have to think about it, but I really wanted to go. I needed more answers.

Just as Connor had promised, I got back just before second period. However, that didn’t stop Isaiah from giving me a mouthful for not being anywhere around school. Turned out, someone had seen me leave with Connor and word got out to him. I told Isaiah it wasn’t that big a deal. It was only one class and the first day, which meant all they did was talk about the class and do introductions. Not an actual lesson. He was still mad, but he left it at that. When I got home, Alice had gotten a call for my being gone and she had a small talk with me. I was honest with her. Mostly. I told her Connor and I had to talk about some serious things about the accident of my family. When I mentioned the accident, she grew a sad pale and instantly left it at that. I apologized and told her I won’t let it happen again. She nodded silently. I don’t think she really knew what to do. I wasn’t her child. I had only lived with her for about six months now, and we weren’t very close before either.

I felt bad, and that was one of the many things I had spent all night thinking about. Along with Connor, his friends, zombies, and more so, what made Connor seem to be pinned to a wall to keep his mouth shut. I couldn’t fall asleep at all until my eyelids felt like sandpaper on my eyeballs, and my jaw hurt from yawning so much. Eventually though, I fell asleep with the soft memory of the sun already starting to light the morning sky far away through my window. It was quite disappointing.