Chapter 2

After everything was calm once more, Ciroz went back out of his hiding spot and walked back onto the street. There was still an awful amount of damage, but the majority of zombies were gone. Now all that remained in the area are piles of broken and torn limbs and blood, the corpses of many people who couldn't escape the impending attack.

As Ciroz looked around, he wondered how many lives were lost today. How many innocent people died due to the monsters. Ciroz thought back to the story his mom used to tell about a group of friends who fought their way out of a haunted mansion during Halloween. Ciroz was only five years old when they defeated the evil spirits and returned the mansion to normal. Even then, though, he hadn't really understood what a haunted mansion was. He knew it was some sort of weird place filled with scary ghosts and stuff but didn't really understand how dangerous the situation actually was.

There was something different about tonight's events. Maybe it was the fact that the attack was on Halloween instead of the anniversary or maybe it was because it was a school night. Either way, Ciroz figured it must have had something to do with the monsters. It wouldn't have surprised him if the teachers were fighting the things to protect their students. He remembered reading about them when he was younger and watching the news when it came out.

"I know you're still alive!" Ciroz yelled, staring at the pile of bones and flesh in front of him. He hoped he wasn't hallucinating but he thought that the pile of bones shifted slightly. He blinked several times trying to make sure that what he was seeing wasn't just a hallucination and continued his speech. "You shouldn't be here anyway, you should've stayed in your home! I hope nobody gets bitten!"

Another part of the pile of bones moved and the top half lifted slightly. It was impossible for someone to breathe and remain completely still, but it happened. The head tilted in a strange angle. For a moment it looked like whoever was underneath was listening but then it lowered back down and Ciroz didn't dare to say anything else. After a few minutes the head lifted again. This time Ciroz held his breath. It was definitely a person but there was something incredibly unnerving about them.

"I'm gonna get you out of there," Ciroz declared. "Just hold on."

Then, he took a deep breath, ready to yell "Surprise!". When he opened his mouth, however, there was suddenly a voice coming out of it. It sounded strangely familiar, but Ciroz couldn't recognize it. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand and stared at the person, who was still completely motionless. Ciroz swallowed loudly and stepped forward, reaching his hand toward the neck of the creature that looked like a skeleton. It moved its arm, which was covered in a thick layer of dust, trying to push Ciroz away. With a gasp, Ciroz jumped backwards and fell on his ass. The creature looked up at him curiously and Ciroz froze, fear and confusion taking over his whole body. What the hell is this?

"What.. what do we do?" Ciroz muttered to himself. He couldn't bring himself to move. The creature let out a low groan and Ciroz jumped as best as possible. "No... please, don't move. You might cause more damage. Stay still." 

That seemed to work, as the skeleton didn't seem interested in moving. It simply lay there, staring at Ciroz and breathing heavily, as if it just survived an attack. After a couple more moments, Ciroz crawled closer to the body and grabbed the hand near his knee. He tugged gently and soon enough he succeeded in pulling the skeleton into the sunlight. The skeleton's skin was dry and cracked and it made him cringe in disgust, but at least he could see that it wasn't dead yet.

Ciroz carefully pulled a leg out of the sand and wrapped it around his shoulder, dragging the other one along the ground so he would be able to pull the monster out. He struggled for awhile, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do next. The creature groaned again and Ciroz felt its head turn to the side. Ciroz flinched as the eyes met his own and he forced himself not to look away. Then slowly, ever so slowly, he began to drag the creature towards the nearest building. He glanced around to make sure they were alone before he dropped the leg on the ground.

Once he was satisfied that they were indeed alone, Ciroz sat against the building, his hands resting on the bone he was holding in front of his chest. He closed his eyes and focused, feeling his power gather inside him as he willed himself to transform into a crow. Soon enough, Ciroz felt a small weight settle onto his back and he opened his eyes to find that the crow had taken on human form. The crow hovered over the skeleton, checking if there were any injuries it could help him heal, before flying away and landing on a nearby rooftop.

When his legs finally started to feel stable, Ciroz pushed himself to his feet and looked up.