Vengeance Of The Undead

Vengeance Of The Undead (Part 1)

Dark clouds were gathering in the sky, looming over a group of mourners at a quiet church cemetery while a priest said the prayers.

“God, our Creator, the death of our beloved Duo Maxwell, recalls our human condition….”

The blond boy, Quatre was trying to hold back his tears while Trowa gently patted his back. Beside him, Heero stood stonily, staring at the coffin in daze. There was no emotions in his eyes, just a strange, almost haunted look. Every now and then, Wufei would turn to look at him, concern mirrored on his face.

Why had all these happened? Why? Why? The unanswerable questions went through the Japanese boy’s mind in an endless round as memories slipped back in time to the unfortunate day.

[Flashback]

Yet another fight broke out between them and this time, things were getting really ugly. At first, it was just an argument, then, a shouting match ensued.

“If you are so unhappy being with me, leave now. Don’t ever come back! You are not needed here!” an angry Heero shouted at the American boy.

An equally enraged Duo was astounded to hear those harsh words.

“Fine! Don’t you regret what you have just said! I am a fool to put up with you all these times. You don’t deserve anyone; you are nothing but a heartless bastard!” Duo screamed back.

The patience in Heero snapped and he did a horrible thing. He slapped the back of his hand hard across the braided boy’s face. A stunned Duo cupped his stinging cheek and stared at the infuriated Japanese boy. Almost immediately, Heero regretted his action. The look of fear in Duo’s face was frightening.

“Duo, I….” Heero approached him slowly.

Suddenly, by impulse, Duo turned to the door and ran out as fast as he could, away from Heero. The Japanese boy quickly went after him and saw Duo dashing across the street blindly. His heart froze when he saw the braided boy running right into the direction of a moving vehicle.

“Duo!” he yelled.

The car swerved in time to avoid hitting the boy.

“Duo! Wait!” Heero called out again but the boy wasn’t listening. He kept running until he had disappeared into the thick crowd. Heero could only stare at the crowd, berating himself for hitting the boy.

Duo heard someone calling his name frantically as he made his way further into the crowd but his battered pride made him ignored it. He just kept on running, tears sweeping away against the wind.

Heero walked back to the apartment alone, slouching onto the couch dejectedly. He had broken his promise to Duo. Their relationship had not been smooth sailing at all. Quarrels and arguments often ensued between them. Sometimes things got so out of hands that they turned into violence. A few times, Duo had just decided to give up on their relationship but Heero stopped him from leaving, imploring for another chance. Duo always ended up giving in because he loved him too much. Heero had promised never to use violence against him.

But today, that promise was broken in the midst of a blinding anger. He had not meant to hit Duo but he was really angry and it happened before he could stop it. He truly didn’t mean it and he hoped that Duo would find it in his heart to forgive him.

*****

Hours had passed and day turned into night. Heero paced around the apartment impatiently. Duo still wasn’t back yet. It was getting late and his worries were increasing as the minutes of hour ticked away.

11p.m. – Heero thought he heard something, the sound of keys rattling. Getting up quickly from the couch, he went to the door and threw it open. The guy next door turned to look at him for a moment before entering his own apartment.

1:30a.m. – Heero stood by the window, his eyes kept watching the street, which was slowly becoming deserted due to the late hours. Every time a cab passed by, he would look on with anticipation, hoping that Duo was in one of them and each time, he was met with disappointment.

3:35a.m. – Still no sign of Duo. Pacing around the room restlessly, Heero grabbed his jacket and walked out of the apartment. Stepping out of the apartment building, he sat on the steps, continuing his wait for his braided lover to return. The streets were empty and quiet.

“Where have you been Duo? Please come back,” his heart cried out miserably.

*****

Dawn was approaching and the fog was getting thicker. Pulling the jacket closer to his body, Heero stared at the streets as a few passing cars turned on their headlights. The dampness of the wet fog on his face revived him and drove away his need to sleep. He stayed up the whole night waiting for Duo but the American youth didn’t come back that night and neither did he the next morning.

Picking up the phone, Heero called up the garage to ask if Duo went to work but his colleague replied no. Thinking for a moment, he dialed another number. The phone rang for a while before a quiet voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Trowa? This is Heero. Is Duo at your place?”

“Duo? No, Quatre and I haven’t seen him for a couple of days. What happened?”

“We…we had a fight yesterday.”

“Again?”

“He didn’t come back last night and he is absence from work.”

“Don’t worry, maybe he’s still angry. Let him simmer down and he will be back. I will let you know if he comes here,” Trowa suggested.

“Thanks.”

“Who is that?” the blond boy asked as he stepped into the hall.

“Heero, asking for Duo’s whereabouts.”

“Another fight between them?”

Trowa gave a silent nod. “Duo didn’t go back last night, Heero’s worried.”

“This is getting from bad to worse,” Quatre sighed.

The apartment was so silent that a leaking faucet in the apartment upstairs sounded like a loud noise. The normally calm and composed Heero was beginning to feel an unsettling fretfulness slowly creeping into his heart. They had fights before but Duo always returned after he cooled off. He had never stayed away for so long before. Fearing for Duo’s safety, he finally decided to call Wufei who was with the Preventers for help.

The Chinese boy listened to Heero’s recount of what happened with a deep frown on his face. He had never been very optimistic about Heero and Duo’s relationship. After the war, when they announced that they were going to stay together, Wufei had a feeling that this relationship will be very difficult to maintain. Heero was an introvert, quiet and at times, unresponsive while Duo was an outgoing type of person and both being equally hotheaded, a clash in personality was bound to happen.

Though he had witnessed their cold wars before, this time, things had gone too far. Heero sounded extremely distressed and helpless, so unlike the cold-faced solder that he used to be.

Wufei gave a sigh. “Don’t worry Heero, we will find him.”

He conducted a search party to look for his missing ex-comrade. They combed the whole town but there was no sign of the boy. Heero who joined in the search was getting more and more worried. He refused to rest, wanting only to find Duo as soon as possible to tell him that he was sorry, to make amends to him.

By the third day, they found him. Or rather, they found his body, washed up on the beach a few miles down the coast. A devastated Heero went into a traumatic shock as he stared at the familiar body that used to nestle closed to him in the bed at night and the cold blue lips that used to kiss him passionately.

Duo’s body was transferred to the anatomy department. Autopsy revealed that he was drowned. There was also a high level of alcohol content in his blood stream. But what actually happened that led to his death remained a mystery. Did Duo commit suicide? Or was he murdered? The coroner’s report put down his death as accidental but Wufei did not rule out foul play.

[End of flashback]

“..…..as we pray for Duo Maxwell and for those who love him through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

The priest finished his prayers and the coffin was lowered into the ground. Everyone walked around it, tossing their flowers and fistfuls of soil onto the coffin, bidding their final goodbyes to the deceased before mud was shoveled over it.

“Duo…don’t go….,” Heero muttered distantly, staring numbly at the grave.

“Heero, are you all right?” Quatre asked worriedly.

“I told him not to come back again and he acted to my words. I killed him, I killed him….”

“Heero….”

“He is too distressed. Let’s send him back. I will give him some tranquilizer to calm him down,” Sally suggested.

That night, a thunderstorm hit the town with heavy downpour, strong wind and roaring thunders. The cemetery caretaker struggled to keep his umbrella from being blown away. Clutching his flashlight, he was eager to end his routine round to run back into the warm church, away from the cold rain. As he came upon the new grave erected that morning, the caretaker stopped short, staring at it with an unspeakable horror. The mud had been dug apart and the coffin lay open, its inside…..empty.

~~ End Of Part 1 ~~