-She’s inside, waiting for you.- Twilight Hobo Dilf said, solemnly. 

Fear grabbed my stomach, suddenly. -Who is she?- 

He shrugged his shoulders, staring into space. He seemed to have lost any interest in the conversation.

-You’ll see.- He just said and then he closed his eyes, burying his head in his arms. I wasn’t sure if I was feeling pity or revulsion for him. “I suppose that’s all I have to expect from him.”

I tried to suppress the anxiety I was feeling in the pit of my stomach. I hated anxiety, even more than depression. “Think about the brain burgers, think about the brain burgers!” I repeated to myself. After a deep breath, I slowly opened the door. 

I opened my eyes wide: there was a skeleton dressed like a priestess, sitting on my bed. She slowly turned her head towards me, a little bit mechanically. 

-Hello there!- She waved her hand at me, tilting her head, like we were meeting to have coffee together. 

-Who… What…- I was so confused. Her uniform comforted me a little bit, though. It was the Sunset Church robe, and, judging by the intricate patterns, a high rank one. 

-Who are you?- She asked me lightly, with a dreamy, silky voice.

“That’s my line.” I was utterly confused. “Why does she sound like she’s on drugs? Do priests usually do drugs?” I wouldn’t have been too surprised, judging by her companion back in the hallway. -Uhm… I’m Hana, Hana Lee.-

-Nice to meet you, Hana. May I ask you a few questions?- 

I narrowed my eyes, feeling suspicious. -I suppose…-

-Do you know where we are?-

-Uhm… In Condo n°23 in Coffin District- 

-I beg your pardon, what I mean is…Which city?-

“Is she mocking me?!” -Are you serious, ma’am?-

She nodded and then tilted her head, looking at me from head to toes, as if I was an item in a museum. -Why do you have scars all over your body? And why do you have that expression on your face?-

-What expression?- I knew actually I had a resting bitch face, unfortunately. 

-Like you have lost the will to live.- She said mercilessly, with sincere curiosity. 

That was enough. -I’m sorry, but what are you doing in my room? Who are you? And please, don’t sit on my bed, I changed the sheets yesterday.- The last one was a lie. I didn’t wash my sheets for three months. 

-But there isn’t any chair in your apartment.- The priestess objected. -And to answer your questions, unfortunately I don't exactly know who I am or what I’m doing here, right now. I don’t know where we are either. It’s pretty embarrassing. From what I understand, This is a city with a lot of interesting folk who look dead but they also behave like they are very much alive. They walk, they work, they use substances, have sexual intercourses… It’s a little bit confusing, actually. I can tell you one thing, though, my bones felt tired so I sat on your bed so at least I'm pretty sure I'm an old lady!- She nodded at herself, really satisfied with her deduction. 

“No way, Sherlock.” Of course, she was an old lady, all the skeletons were usually ancient decomposed undead, everybody knew that. Sometimes they had really bad amnesia, due to their age. This was probably one of those cases, maybe she was escaped by a rest home. 

-Look, ma’am.- I started, hoping to solve the situation quickly and return to my dinner. -I’m very sorry about your condition, is there anyone I can contact for you? Your companion is under substance influence, so I don’t think he can escort you anywhere.- 

-Oh, but I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be!- She exclaimed enthusiastically. -I think I was looking for you. I don’t remember why right now, maybe you could tell me more about yourself to refresh my poor memory.-

-Look, I cannot Imagine what a high priestess could want from me, I’m not part of your church, nor any church. I’m just a normal zombie cleaning lady, minding her own business.- 

-Am I a high priestess? Of what?-

-Uhm… the Sunset Church.- I said. I didn’t understand why a Dark Blood addict was with her. Night Church priests were sometimes involved in nasty affairs, but the Sunset Church was pretty clean. 

-But I’m not sure I’m a believer, I think I’m more a woman of science.-  

I rolled my eyes. -The churches in Undead City are more of political and philosophical organizations than spiritual ones. You don’t need to believe in superior entities to become a priest.-

-And how did you end up here? I mean, in this city- She was already asking too many questions. I didn’t like that.

I shrugged my shoulders. -Like everyone else. I’m an involuntary immigrant.- 

She glanced at me confused.

-The city always needs immigrants.- I started to explain tiredly. -The aging of the population is an urgent issue. We don’t reproduce as the living, of course, and the ancient undead, even more ancient than you, lose their consciousness and end up in rest homes. Less workforce is a problem for the economical system, you see.- There was also the problem of the Void Sickness, but I decided to not complicate things further. 

-But, specifically, how do people arrive?- She asked with intense curiosity.

-No living creatures can survive here, necromantic magic is everywhere, it permeates even the air. Nowadays it has been figured out a way to find human bodies from Earth through an algorithm. Not the ones who died for suicide, those ones usually want to remain dead.  Automatic multiversal portals are opened in proximity of dead bodies, sucking them in. Then our bodies are reanimated with necromancy and we are reborn as zombies, vampires, ghouls, mummies… And then there are ghosts too, those ones always find ways to transmigrate here without the help of portals.-

-I see. Thank you very much for the explanation. You’re good at explaining things. Maybe you’re wasted as cleaning lady.-

I sighed. “Is this the old racist saying you’re smart for being a zombie or am I reading too much into the lines?”   -No, everyone knows about this stuff, it’s not very complicated. Just newborns and, I suppose, amnesiatic skeletons don’t know.-

-And what are those?- She suddenly pointed to the brain burgers on the table.

For an instant, I contemplated ignoring the skeleton lady and just going to eat the burgers. I felt like I lost every bit of patience. 

-You know, ma’am, It’s Tuesday.- I blurted out, with my best resting bitch face on.  -It's not as bad as Monday, but it’s still pretty bad. I have almost a week to face before the weekend and, with all the respect, you’re asking too many questions and stepping on my racial zombie rights to not be required to think, or to talk. This evening, I reasonably just aim to numb myself, erasing my depression, my anxiety, my shitty life, for a few perfect hours. So please, take Twilight Hobo Dilf with you, and leave alone to eat my brains burgers and trip about some cheesy fantasy romance.-

“that degenerated quickly.” 

-I…uhm… I’m sorry for that...- I started to mumble awkwardly, but at that moment the priestess stood up. My eyes went wide. She was inhumanly tall, and I wondered if she had been a giant once. She walked towards me. Then, before I could do anything, she hugged me. 

I completely froze, shocked.

-It’s ok, Hana, I’m here for you- She told me softly, with the sweetest, maternal voice -That’s right. I just remembered the reason why I’m here.-

I held my breath.

-I owe you something, and I want to give back. I want to take you with me.-