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Scroll of the Necro By Geoffrey C. Porter Hayden walked briskly across the sun lit campus in the early morning hours. He breathed in the fresh air and the scent of the autumn leaves. He sat in his cubicle in the university archives and went over his to-do list. First on his list was his thesis, but that could wait. Second, he needed to go over a junior archivist's translation of boring Iraqi scrolls from around 800 A.D. that appeared to be nothing more than a merchant's accounting records. Third, he could be cataloging scrolls out of the Hittite collection. They intended to display the whole collection in two weeks and the powers that be wanted every scroll summarized in English and properly broken down into categories. Or, he could check his email and surf the web to start out his day. Surfing won. He was checking his fantasy football team when his phone rang. He paused. Nobody used phones on campus anymore. He answered it gingerly, "Hello?" "Hayden?" "Professor Adams?" "We just got some new scrolls in. We carbon dated them to 3,000 BC. They are Sumerian. They are in perfect condition." Sumerian, thought Hayden. That could be interesting. "We are sealing them in plastic. There's one in particular I'd like you to look at. Can you come to the basement and pick it up?" "I'll be right there, professor." Hayden hung up the phone. He cracked his knuckles and stretched and flexed his fingers in anticipation. He went to the elevators and pushed the button. They went ping, and the doors slid open. He almost bumped into luscious Ms. Pearson, a fellow archivist. She was focusing on the newly sealed parchment in her possession and barely noticed him. Hayden asked, "Is that one of the new Sumerian scrolls?" She smiled and nodded stepping out of the elevator. All she ever did was smile and nod at Hayden, and he never had the nuts to ask her out or even talk to her about anything outside of work. Hayden feared women terribly, and he knew it, hell, he embraced his fear of women with all his heart. Hayden stepped into the elevator and pushed the ‘B' button for the basement. The elevator doors slid shut, and the machine crawled down the six floors to the basement. Hayden stepped out of the elevator and turned left. Professor Adams stood at one of the big tables with a scroll encased in plastic laid out in front of him. Hayden said, "Professor Adams." Adams turned and grinned. Adams picked up the scroll and held it out to Hayden. He took the scroll and immediately noticed one important thing. The scroll had a title in larger script than the rest of the scroll. This meant a few things to him. First of all, it meant he had page one, which is always nice. Secondly, it meant that whoever wrote the scroll thought it was important. Hayden read the scroll title and started to drool. He spoke the words out loud just to be sure he had them right, "Scroll of the Necro." Professor Adams said, "Translate the whole thing." Hayden wanted to say, ‘Of course, my liege,' so terribly, but instead he said, "I'm on it, professor." Hayden checked the scroll to be sure every inch of it had been covered in the plastic shrink wrap. He could spill a big cup of coffee on this thing and it wouldn't be harmed. He made it back to his cubicle without noticing the elevator. He cleared stuff off his table until he had room for the scroll. He undocked his laptop and set it right next to the scroll. He opened a fresh Word document and typed in the title, ‘Scroll of the Necro.' He opened his Sumerian dictionary on the laptop next to Word and verified that was indeed the title. He began his translation. He worked feverishly until he encountered inscriptions he didn't recognize, and they weren't in his Sumerian dictionary. They were some sort of ancient prayers for the dead. He marked down their phonetic pronunciation in his Word file. He had the whole thing translated when he realized it was past lunch, and that he hadn't read a single word of the document. He had simply translated it word for word. He plugged his laptop back in its docking station so it would charge. He unpacked his peanut butter and jelly lunch and started munching away. His curiosity got the better of him, and he started to read his translation of the parchment. In the beginning, it talked of human sacrifice. Then it claimed to know a prayer to restore the sacrifice to a life of slavery. He looked at the pronunciation of the prayer, and without thinking about it, he started to read the words in a whisper. He felt a strange tingling sensation like a cancer in the tips of his fingers. A voice whispered in his head, You need a corpse to make it work. Hayden paused. He had never heard a voice before. But he knew it wasn't crazy, for he knew the voice came from inside his head and not outside. He knew it was a voice. He shrugged. He read the rest of the scroll. The animated corpse would be like a slave to whoever resurrected it. There was even a prayer to put a corpse to rest after resurrection. The very last line of the scroll seemed to be some sort of caveat, but it was scratched out. It seemed to read: something-something corrupts the wielder. The scroll warned the magic would be dispelled if the necromancer died. Minor points, he thought. He emailed the prayer to raise the dead to his personal email. He made a printout of the prayer and stashed it in his backpack. His mind started to spin between magic and corpses and prayers. He walked across campus to his house. His cat, Mathew, was on the front porch waiting to be let in and fed. The words rolled through his brain, thirteen year old cat, Mathew. He let the cat in and put out food for it. Hayden's thoughts raced between the prayer for raising the dead, and the fact that Mathew was on his last legs, over the hill even. The cat finished eating and started to lap up water from his water fountain. Hayden eyed the cat and thought of perhaps the best way. Hayden picked the cat up and set him on the table. He let out a pitiful little, "Mew." Hayden went to the rack of knives on the counter and pulled out an especially sharp one. He petted the cat a few times. He plunged the knife into the cat's chest. The cat let out an unholy screech and then lay still. Hayden went to his backpack and pulled out his printout of the prayer. He stood next to the dead cat and read the prayer out loud. He felt the power coursing through his fingertips, and he grabbed the dead cat. At first nothing happened; then the cat started to purr with life. Hayden smiled, for he had actually crossed the bridge between life and death. He laughed. The cat purred and licked at his hand. He set the cat on the floor, and it rubbed against his leg. Mathew hadn't rubbed against his leg in years. And purring? Mathew had forgotten how to purr it seemed. Hayden noticed the blood on the table and got a sponge. Soon enough the mess was all gone, and Mathew sat in a window sill pawing at the glass as if trying to catch a squirrel just out of his reach. Hayden wanted to tell somebody about his new found power, but another part of his brain told him to keep it secret. He decided to watch some TV before cooking dinner, and Mathew curled up on his lap and purred while Hayden switched through the channels. After going through every channel at least twice, Hayden went into the kitchen and threw a frozen pizza in the microwave. He went to bed that night, and Mathew curled up between his legs. Mathew hadn't done that since he was a kitten. Hayden drifted off to sleep. In the morning, Hayden woke up and started to climb out of bed. Mathew stood at attention at the foot of the bed, and a dead mouse rested at his feet. Hayden said, "Good boy! You finally got that bastard!" Mathew seemed to nod his head. Mathew jumped up on the bed and nuzzled Hayden. He petted the cat and smiled. He climbed out of bed and threw the dead mouse in the trash. Hayden went through his morning routine. The cat followed him around the house. Hayden spent the day letting his mind wander to the possibilities. He knew he needed to try it on a human, but where was he going to get a corpse. Reason slipped into his mind, and he decided he should wait and make sure the cat was ok. But the cat was ok. The cat was better than before. The cat acted like a kitten again. The cat did everything you'd expect from a kitten. Hayden was set. He would try it on a human. There was a mortuary near where he lived. He collected together an assortment of tools: crowbar, pliers, hammer, and bolt cutters. He waited until the dead of night. He put the tools in the front seat of his car. He inched through neighborhoods hoping to not be noticed. He pulled around back of the mortuary and parked. He grabbed up all the tools and approached the loading dock. The building was pitch black other than a few street lights. The door at the loading dock was sealed with a lock that might as well have been made of forged titanium. The door looked like it was built to withstand any pry-bar mortal man could wield. Hayden thought to look up, and right above him, an open window waited. He tried jumping straight up and grabbing at the window. Then he felt like an idiot. He looked around. A stack of wooden pallets stood at the other end of the building. He looked around again to make sure he was alone. He started hauling pallets to the open window. Once he had a sizeable stack, he climbed to the top. The window had a screen but he poked a hole in it and pulled it out of the way. A tiny voice he didn't recognize said, Breaking and entering. Hayden climbed into the dark room. He realized of all the things he could have remembered to bring, a flashlight would be nice. His eyes adjusted to the dim light coming in through windows from the street lights. He made his way carefully into the hallway. He made his way down to the first floor and found his way to the embalming room. He clicked the lights on. A stainless steel table sat in the middle of the room next to a device of some sort. Rows of coffin sized doors lined one wall. He approached one of the doors in the wall and tugged on the handle. The door slipped open, and a corpse, on some sort of metal table, slid out of the wall. Hayden pulled his notes out of his back pocket. He recited the prayer. Power coursed through his hands, and he touched the dead man's arm. The corpse began to twitch. The corpse sat up and said, "So cold!" Hayden smiled, "It's because you've been in a cooler." The dead man looked around. He brought his hands together and started rubbing them. He said, "I have been embalmed. I can feel the poison coursing through my veins." Hayden said, "Yes. But you understand you work for me now? I raised you from the dead." The man nodded, "You are my master. I live to serve." "Nice. Let's get going." The dead man climbed off the steel rack and swayed a bit on the ground as if he wasn't sure how to stand. Hayden said, "What's your name?" "Hughes Meyer. But everybody called me Hue." Hayden nodded. Hue said, "And your name is Hayden." Hayden paused. He shrugged it off and opened the door to the outside. He shut off the light in the embalming room and led Hue to the car. Hayden popped the trunk open and said, "Hop in." "You want me to ride in the trunk?" "Yes. You're rather blue in the face, and I don't want to get pulled over." "I don't want to ride in the trunk. It's not safe." "You're dead!" "I still wouldn't want to get crushed in an accident. Let me ride up front where there's a seatbelt." "Get in the trunk!" Hue sighed, but he climbed in the trunk. Hayden closed the trunk and looked back at the mortuary. A light was on in an office on the second floor: a light that hadn't been on before. Hayden's hands started to shake. The light in the hallway on the second floor kicked on, and the light in the office clicked off. Hayden's heart pounded in his chest, and he raced to the driver's side of his car. He cranked the machine to life and sped home. Hayden went to the trunk of his car and paused. He looked up and down the street to be sure. He opened the trunk, and Hue climbed out. Hue said, "Did you have to hit every bump on the way here?" "I didn't hit every bump!" "Perhaps your car needs new springs in the back then, for it felt like we hit a lot of bumps." Hayden motioned towards the house and said, "Let's get you inside. You still look a little blue." "Because my veins are filled with embalming fluid." "Inside!" Hue went to the door of the house and waited. Hayden unlocked it for Hue, and they both stepped inside. Mathew the cat purred and rubbed up against Hayden's leg. Hue looked into the kitchen and said, "Shall I do the dishes, sir?" Hayden smiled, "Splendid idea." Hayden went to sleep. He woke to the sound of the vacuum cleaner running at six AM. Hayden walked through the house. Everything was spotless. There were no cobwebs in the corners of the rooms. Every little nook and cranny was free of dust. Even the walls had been wiped down. The bathroom was spotless. He took a shower and donned fresh clothes. He smelled breakfast before he reached the kitchen. He ate heartily. He told Hue to get some rest, and headed off to work. At work, he realized he had questions for Hue. Did he remember anything from the afterlife? Was he in any pain? Hue's answers were simple. He remembered being in a dark, cold place, but that was all. He claimed his bones ached, and he said he was having a hard time breathing. He couldn't seem to pull in enough air it seemed like. Hue had done Hayden's laundry that day, and raked all the leaves in the yard. The next day, Hue said he mowed the yard, yet it was uncut. Hayden paused. Hue sort of laughed meekly, "Oh, I forgot to start the mower. I spent all afternoon pushing around a dead lawn mower. The aches and pains are getting worse. It's like I'm only half dead and half alive." Hayden knew in his heart it was the embalming fluid polluting the magic. He got out the prayer to release a corpse back to the nether region. He read the prayer with Hue present and the power flowed through his hands. He touched Hue on the shoulders, and he crumpled into a ball on the floor. Hayden realized something quite quickly. He now had a rotting corpse on the floor of his living room. He went and got a big sheet of plastic and a hack saw. He put the plastic on the floor and rolled Hue onto it. He started by cutting off the arms. Then he moved to the legs and started sawing. Finally, he cut off the head. He put each part into trash bags and waiting until the wee hours of the morning. He hauled the bags to the dumpster next to the apartment building across the alley. After the final trip, Hayden returned to his house, and Mathew the cat had another dead mouse in its mouth. Hayden grinned at the cat and threw the mouse away. Over the next few days, Hayden mulled his options. He needed another corpse, a fresh one. He decided on a simple plan. He grabbed the same kitchen knife he used on Mathew and went to the apartment building across the way. He hid in the downstairs hallway waiting for somebody, anybody, to return home. Hayden heard somebody step into the hallway above. Fear gripped his heart though. What am I doing, he thought. But he knew he could raise the dead. He just needed a fresh subject. Another person returned to the apartment building stopping for their mail. Hayden still paused. He knew a guttural fear, but he knew he had to know if the magic would work right. He heard a third person return to the apartment building. He raced up the steps with the knife held behind his back. A rather pretty woman in her twenties startled him. She said, "Hello." Hayden said, "Do you know which apartment Bill Jones lives in?" "Umm, no." Hayden raised the knife up and tried to bring it down into her chest. Her eyes went wide in fear, but she reacted with a fury. She grabbed Hayden's wrist with her left. She lashed out with her right catching him square on the nose, and his head jerked backwards from the force of the blow. She lifted up her knee feigning towards his groin and then brought the heel of her foot down on his toes. He cried out in pain. She lashed out at his jaw with her right elbow. He dropped the knife. She kicked him in the stomach with enough force to double him over. She dropped down low and swept his feet out from under him. She laughed maniacally, "You picked the wrong black belt today, bitch!" Hayden was still on the ground dazed from the fall. She grabbed up the knife and jumped on Hayden's chest. She planted her knees on his arms and held the knife up to his throat. She smiled, "What were you going to do with this kitchen knife? Threaten me? Rape me? Maybe I should cut on you a little bit to show you how it feels. Maybe I'll cut one of your nipples off." Through the blood pouring from his nose, Hayden whimpered, "Please don't hurt me." "What were you going to do to me? Surely you had plans of hurting me. Likely murder, so you could go through my purse for a few dollars to support some drug habit." "I found the secret of life after death. I just needed a fresh corpse to test it on." The woman laughed again. She said, "Prove it!" "In my front pocket is a prayer to raise the dead. Read it. You'll feel its power." She fished around in his pocket. She read the words out loud, and blue lightning crackled between her fingers. The glee of madness itched its way into her eyes. She said, "So what? I just stab you in the heart, and then I say the prayer." "No!" "That means yes!" Hayden tried to struggle, but she was too quick. She plunged the knife into Hayden's heart. He twitched and then lay still. She read the prayer and put her hands on him. He woke up and knew he was bound heart and soul to the woman. |
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