Obiit.

That's the name of the picturesque little town where I, Alya, have just settled.

A 25 year old woman, with wavy hair as black as ebony, chocolate almond eyes lined with long lashes and a face paradoxically studded with freckles.

It's already been two months since I left the capital to come and live here.

Why ?

Well, because... Because nothing and nobody was holding me back. Orphan and hardened bachelor, that's my life summed up in only two words. Sad, isn't it?

But one evening in September, all of that changed. I was lost on the internet and discovered pictures of a beautiful ruined castle in a small town called Obiit. Almost instantly, I fell in love with it and felt this visceral need to move there. Whether by fate or by chance, a job as a graphic designer had just become available in a small local company. This attraction, almost obsessive and unexplained, pushed me to move the very next day.

A month has passed since then and at the beginning of October, during a coffee break, I met Lazare for the first time.

I still remember it. It was late and the offices were almost empty. I had decided to go for a coffee to fight off sleep and there he was, standing at the machine.

When my eyes met his, the ground gave way under my feet and the world stopped... For a few fleeting seconds. They were emerald green and filled with an intriguing sadness tinged with a touch of guilt.

How do I know that?

A gift or call it what you will, I have always been able to decipher people's eyes. Everyone knows, the eyes are the mirror of the soul. We only exchanged a few words, but it was strangely enough to make my heart fall for the first time in 25 years of existence.

Our brief nocturnal exchanges became like a ritual and I feel, since then, like a familiar warmth in my chest whenever I see him.

His curly ashy hair never leaves my mind and I even start dreaming about him. We are always dressed in sumptuous period clothing and dance at balls to the melody of Chopin's Second Nocturne.

In these dreams, I have this inexplicable and annoying tendency to call him Azrael. I tried to understand why and I found on the internet that our subconscious can distort reality to make it more acceptable to us.

Azrael being an anagram of Lazarus, it made perfect sense to me. I just couldn't accept the fact that I was attracted to a colleague...

I wouldn't say he's godlike or carved in marble but he's perfect... Perfect for my hand in his, perfect for my face in the hollow of his neck.

I am madly in love with him without even knowing him and I can't explain it to myself.

Today is the 30th of October and I had another dream about him.

We were in a beautiful garden filled with flowers of a thousand colors, both of us lying on an embroidered tablecloth. Hand in hand, solemnly, we looked at each other and exchanged verses in Latin:

- "Ad vitam, ad mortem." He said tenderly to me.

- "Ad vitam aeternam." I replied lovingly.

Since I don't speak Latin, I began to search for the meaning of these words as soon as I woke up. "To life, to death" and "Forever, indefinitely", how could I have imagined this without knowing the meaning... And why did it all seem so real?

I don't have time to question myself further. It's the day before Halloween and the office is buzzing. So I have to concentrate!

I'm completing countless projects in progress but I'm still behind. This is due to my daydreams, since I don't work in the same department as Lazarus, I am constantly wondering if we will see each other in the evening.

Just like when we first met, one by one people start to put their things away and go home. After a few hours, I am perfectly alone on my floor. Drained of all energy, I head to the break room wishing he was there tonight.

I slowly open the door and am pleasantly surprised to find him facing the door, almost as if he was waiting for me. He smiles at me but I can still read the deep sadness in his eyes as soon as they land on me.

I don't understand. Do I make him sad?

- "Good evening Lazarus, you still haven't finished either?"

- "Well, no, I did... But I wanted a coffee. And you? Haven't you finished yet?"

- "I still have a big project to finish before midnight tonight. I've somehow fallen behind lately."

I'm not going to tell him it's because I think about him too much. I would die of shame.

- "Can I help you in any way? The sooner this is over, the sooner you can go home and rest because you look exhausted."

Now I'm speechless. Our exchanges have always been very brief, never anything very personal and he offers to help me? Since I've known him, I have the impression that he forbids himself to get too close to me. His eyes are tinged with a mixture of desire and guilt every time I try to break through his shell.

I don't think about it any more than necessary and gladly accept his help. After all, if I can spend even a few more minutes in his company it will fill me with an inexplicably familiar happiness.

Once we've had our coffees, we walk together to my office. It is dark but the atmosphere is not heavy or frightening. Lazarus has a way of calming me the second I'm with him. What a strange man.

He answers some of my emails and then tidies up the files that are lying around on my desk while I work on my tablet. The minutes and then the hours slip by, and I finally finish my project. Then midnight rings in the streets. It's officially October 31!

- "Happy Halloween!" I then throw to Lazarus.

Against all expectations, he does not return my courtesy and his eyes are tinged with an even greater sadness. His eyebrows frown.

There is no denying that he is in pain.

- "I'm sorry, did I say something that offended you?" I then ask him, full of anguish.

- "Oh no no, it's not your fault... It's just that I don't really like this date." He answers me by plunging his eyes in mine.

At that moment, my heart is pounding in my chest and I can't think of anything else but his emerald eyes. My gaze travels along his long black lashes, then follows the bridge of his nose to land on his lips.

His lips.

They are unknown to mine and yet I feel like I've tasted them a thousand times before.

- "Alya?"

The call of my first name snaps me out of my trance and I shake my head slightly to regain my senses as quickly as possible.

- "Thank you so much for the help Lazarus. I don't know how I would have done it without you. It's late and I'm already mad at myself for holding you back for so long."

- "Don't blame yourself it was my pleasure."

His voice, still as calm as ever, makes my heart beat again for the umpteenth time. We gather our things and take the direction of the exit. As usual, he is not very talkative but this silence suits me. We pass the front door and the autumnal breeze tickles our faces.

After saying goodbye, we go our separate ways.

However, tonight, I feel like taking my courage in both hands and asking him his number. I know he is as attracted to me as I am to him, but it's as if something is holding him back. But, after all, this is the 21st century and a woman can make the first move.

Determined, I turn around and... No one. No one, except for the dead leaves twirling to the gentle rhythm of the night. It's a straight line and Lazarus has simply disappeared. Welcome to the mysteries of Lazarus number... number... I don't even count anymore.

With no energy left, I decide to skip this new mystery and go home to sleep as soon as possible.

The day of Halloween is spent in the same chaos as the day before but our boss authorizes us to finish earlier so that we can find our loved ones and celebrate.

Having failed to get Lazarus' number yesterday, I am determined to get it now. So I head to his department, two floors above mine. I look for him but can't find him in this anthill. I then ask the first person I can find:

- "Excuse me, have you seen Lazarus? I would like to talk to him."

- "Lazarus? Talk to him? Is this a bad joke?"

At my more than surprised look, the man continue:

- "Look, I don't know if someone has played a trick on you, but Lazarus left us two years ago. Look, that's his picture on the wall."

Already stunned by the news, I literally break down as I look at the said photograph. This person ... is ... deceased... And is, to top it all off, definitely not the Lazarus I know.

My legs no longer support me and I collapse under my own weight. If Lazarus is dead and ... is not Lazarus ... then who is he? Is it impersonation? Is he a psychopath after my life?

I simply refuse to believe it. The look in his eyes, the softness, the feeling I get when I'm with him... It's impossible.

Not without difficulty, I end up getting up and wander in the streets without any precise destination. I am confused, terrified and at the same time consumed by curiosity. I am drawn out of my thoughts by music coming from a crowd gathered in the city cemetery.

Normally, I would have gone on my way but this music... It is Chopin's Second Nocturne, the music that keeps appearing in my dreams.

As if attracted, I end up getting closer and closer until I become part of the crowd. Intrigued, I ask the young woman next to me:

- "Is this concert for Halloween?"

- "You could say that, yes! This year is the first centenary of the death of the star-crossed lovers."

- "The star-crossed lovers?"

- "You must not be from here, but you should know that our little town of Obiit is known for this tragic story!"

- "I know you must have something else to do, but could you tell me a little more about this tragedy?"

- "But of course! I'm always happy to share a little bit of our history! More than a century ago, the castle was inhabited by the royal family of Dabria. They had two sons, the elder Cain Dabria a cruel tyrant and the second son, Azrael Dabria."

- "Azrael ..."

- "A young noblewoman with unparalleled beauty also resided in the city. The two brothers fell in love with her, but her heart beat only for Azrael. So they dated in secret. Cain, the crown prince, coveted her more than anything else and decided to force her to become his wife. Azrael could not bear the thought of his beloved suffering at the hands of his cruel brother, so he hatched a plan. He arranged to meet his brother at the top of the highest tower of the castle, planning to push him there. Unfortunately, Cain, having understood his younger brother's plan, decided to pass on the invitation to the young woman. To do this, he sent her a letter pretending to be Azrael. He ordered her to go there wearing a cloak so as not to be recognized by the guards. As you can imagine, Cain's evil plan went according to plan and Azrael ended his beloved's life with his own hands. In despair, he then jumped into the void. Today, it is one hundred years to the day that these young lovers died. It is even said that Azrael, who never found rest after his act, still haunts the streets of the city.

Once her story told, the young woman returns to her occupations, the concert ends and the crowd disperses. Only I am left, frozen in place as if lightning had nailed me to the ground.

I am facing the tomb of these cursed lovers. Overlooking their remains is a magnificent statue of them. For the second time of the day, I find myself on my knees on the ground. My eyes are riveted on the said statues and tears start to bead up when I recognize their faces.

Lazarus' or rather Azrael and mine.

- "Azrael..." I gasp in a sob.

His first name having barely danced at the edge of my lips, I am taken by a violent migraine. I hold my head to vainly prevent it from exploding. Sudden tremors end up making me fall heavily on the ground.

Flashes come to disturb my vision and images scroll before my eyes, like a film.

Our first meeting at a ball where hundreds of chandeliers shone like stars in the middle of the darkest of nights. Our first dance, where his eyes captured my heart forever. Our first kiss in that beautiful garden. Our promise to love each other, always.

All those dreams that weren't dreams are memories... Our memories.

We had our whole lives ahead of us, we had all the love in the world ahead of us. And Cain stole them from us. But an infinite number of lives cannot separate us.

I love him, I love him!

I slowly regain control of my body and stand up awkwardly. My legs run by themselves to get me to the only place I need to be right now.

The tower.

I'm short of breath and my heart is about to explode when I finally reach the top of it. Almost ironically, this is the only part of the castle that is not in ruins. My feet skimming the void, I feel the breeze caressing my neck.

I don't need to turn around to know it, he's there, next to me.

Tears start to flood my cheeks again, which are pink from the cold and my frantic run. I turn my head and see him standing with me on the ledge... Azrael.

- "My beloved. Don't burden yourself with the past, I forgive you. None of this is your fault."

It is then that I can finally see it in his eyes... Peace.

- "May we meet again in our next life and in all the lives to come." I whisper tenderly to him.

He smiles at me.

- "Ad vitam, ad mortem." He says in a breath that could be mistaken for a breeze.

- "Ad vitam aeternam." I reply, closing my eyes.

END

And that's it for this halloween one shot !

I hope you liked it, don't hesitate to leave your opinion in comments as well as give a little star!

By curiosity, go and look for Obiit's translation on google, you won't be disappointed haha!

I spent an hour and a half looking for a name in anagram and that has a meaning for Azrael I hope you liked it!

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you again for one of my other works!