Y'all are weird for liking this story if you're still reading but I appreciate it. Don't forget to vote and comment on where you think the story's gonna go! 

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Ritika weakly moved her head from right to left, groaning. Her eyes were shut tight, and she was pretty sure she'd never had such a headache before.

"Probably due to that nightmare I had with Loker. Damn, I feel like I've been sleeping on a rock!" She was still lost in this reflection, as her eyes opened only to find him sitting right there, facing her. Ritika let out a small shriek, her heart pumping in her chest, as she crawled away from him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"Happy to see you too, Princess," he snapped with no sympathy. "unfortunately I have no time for your bullshit whining, useless drama, or complaining. No you haven't been dreaming, yes all of it happened, me, the tombstone, the hand, and the Moonlight Gang."

"And the...the...z...zom..."

"Yes, the 'zombies' as you refer to them, were real too. I'm part of them," he added with a sneer. "I'm their personal messenger, they sent me to infiltrate your school as a plan to devour and invade you all later on."

"WHAT?!" she shouted.

"Note the sarcasm."

Ritika blushed violently once she realized he'd been mocking her at the last part, but that embarrassment quickly turned to rage, and before soon she got up, hollering at Rex a mixture of orders, malicious remarks, and insults.

"...Look you fucking bastard, if you don't tell me right now what the HELL is going on, I swear I will—"

"What?" he interrupted. "Rape me? Go ahead, see if I care. I'm warning you though: not sure a corpse's clit is one hundred percent sanitary and God knows I've been in those." The remark was so crude, and he said it so calmly, so icily that it completely cut off Ritika's tirade of anger, and as a result she became even redder, this time silently gritting her teeth and seething in rage. For what seemed like many, endless minutes but was merely a few seconds, she stood glaring at Rex, who defiantly stared back from his seating position. Eventually, she was the one to calm down and soften up, though refusing to give up eye contact.

"Can I at least know what happened? I remember this group of men attacked me and—"

"The Moonlight Gang, yeah."

"Then what?" He seemed to lose all interest and focus regarding her, and instead his empty gaze stood in the direction of one, small patch of grass located just a few meters on his left. Once she saw that he wasn't going to answer anytime soon, Ritika went back to raising her voice.

"HEY! Pervert, I'm talking to you!"

"I'm not at your service, Slut Queen," he hissed, completely focused on her this time. And his eyes seemed to be burning, leering with such disdain, and even –Ritika was certain of it- with such hatred, that the girl couldn't help but feel a little bit startled. Inwardly, she put away the insult "slut queen" in her nasty remarks repertory, deciding that, though this was the first time she'd ever heard it, it had a certain ring to it. Exteriorly, she tried to play it cool, and simply went on.

"What happened after those guys...attacked me?" Her voice had suddenly softened and had even wavered, terrified that she was at the idea that maybe, just maybe, though she felt no different, one of the guys had found the time to rape her after she'd fainted, even if based on her memories, a bunch of zom— dead people had suddenly risen and exterminated them.

"Exterminating, that sounds better than killing," she thought instinctively. Rex, as a black panther after its meal, elegantly slouched down before stretching in quite a few odd ways, reminiscing the girl of a feline, for that matter.

"He'd be a very ugly one. Actually, come to think of it, with his scrawny features and his big fat eyes and pointy nose, he looks more like a rat. Plus, his hair's as black and as filthy as one, and he's certainly just as disgusting. A black rat, yeah. He's only missing the glowing, red eyes."

"Simple," Rex stated. "you woke the dead." Ritika gazed at him incredulously as he continued his stretching, acting as if it were perfectly normal.

"Excuse me?" This time, he stopped the fake relaxing attitude before turning to her, no graver than his usual self.

"You woke the dead. With your scream, it was loud enough to do that. After you disrupted them from their slumber, they saved your life by killing every single member of the Moonlight Gang present that night; which means, in other words, that you're indebted to them."

"Indebted?! What do you mean indebted?! Technically, I never asked them to save me! Though I'm very thankful that they did— oh my gosh! What the fuck am I doing?! This doesn't make any freaking sense! Why am I even listening to a maniac like you?! For all I know, you could have drugged me, or I was so knocked out that I hallucinated these things—"

"When would I have drugged you," he replied with a smile at the corner of his lips. "at the cafeteria at school? Somehow predicting that you'd show up at midnight and bump right into me on my favorite side of the cemetery, knowing and predicting that you'd later run into the Moonlight Gang?"

"Oh shut it, will you?! Makes more sense than any of the bullshit I just heard anyway! You know what? I shouldn't even be talking to someone like you, since your brain cells obviously aren't all there. Whatever you did to help me was nice of you –if I wasn't drugged by you this whole time— but whatever the case, I'm leaving home now, so bye."

"I'm afraid you can't do that," the cheery voice of an old lady boomed behind her. As Ritika turned around, she found Guru Yaba, Little Irene, and an entire army of corpses standing right behind her. Then she fainted again.

~б~

Or at least, she thought she did. Maybe it was just a blackout. Whatever the case, when she came back to her senses, she saw a dead little girl playing jump rope with a mite infested excuse for a cord. The dead girl seemed to be having tons of fun, and was giggling enjoyably with the likes and voice of any little girl. Yet instead of pigtails, she had bones attached to the side of her head. Her face was devoid of eyes, she merely had dark sockets which stared at you constantly without any form of expression. Her nose was hanging on, but part of it was torn off, and any remaining flesh on the little girl's body had now taken a dull mix between a grayish green or blue. Ritika merely gaped in silent horror at the most amazing –yet terrifying- wonder she had ever seen, a wonder who, seemingly unaware of the extraordinary situation and laws of nature she was defying, continued playing jump rope while humming some catchy childish tune.

"DAAAAAAAAAMN!" the teen mentally exclaimed, in that over exaggerated Texan accent. She remembered hearing people in some Youtube parody speaking like that, but had no idea where else it came from. Oh well.

"Uhm, hello uhm..." she stuttered, unsure of how to speak to the dead little girl. Irene turned around and Ritika was pretty much sure she was smiling at her.

"You're awake! Hi!" she exclaimed, running to the living teen and completely forgetting her jump rope. "I'm Irene! What's your name?" she inquired eagerly. Strangely enough, Ritika found herself grinning and actually liking the dead kid.

"The name is Meldavesh, Ritika Meldavesh, to be more exact."

Irene giggled. Ritika wondered whether it was because of the tone of voice she'd used or if the little girl actually caught the movie reference.

"You're alive, aren't you?"

"Yeah. At least I think I am, though none of this makes much sense, but whatever."

"And you made us wake up. That's awfully nice of you. I like waking up, it's really fun, I get to do stuff I did when I was alive, a loooooooooooooooooooooong, long time ago!" she opened her arms wide to show exactly how much she meant by "long", making Ritika's grin widen.

"No big."

Suddenly she perked up, and ran excitedly towards the silhouette advancing in their direction.

"REEEX!" Irene exclaimed, embracing his legs, for he was much too tall for her to reach the waist. He glanced down at her briefly and neutrally, before gently yet firmly pushing her away.

"What's happening now?" Ritika asked him, acting as if their previous scuffle had never occurred. Rex took his time to answer her, as usual.

"Reunion. Come on!" he grabbed her by the wrist, trying to get her to follow his quick paste, but she bucked and pulled herself free.

"Let me GO! What do you think I am, your poodle?! I can walk perfectly fine by myself!" she hissed. The necrophile shot her a glance full of disdain, before continuing his walk, leaving her behind. Ritika pouted for a few seconds, until she realized that no one was paying attention to her and that, considering the situation she was in, she might as well follow him to try and learn more about the mess she'd gotten into. She trotted to catch up with him and tried to catch his stare, but he stubbornly avoided glancing into her eyes.

"Fuck you then!" the girl thought angrily. If he didn't want an apology, well too bad. Soon enough, they reached a more desolated part of the cemetery, with almost no tombstones. Quickly enough, Ritika realized that the part devoid of graves formed a circle. She looked from right to left, observing her surroundings.

"Where are we?" Rex continued giving her the silent treatment, and left her in the center of the deserted ground to go and sit on a big rock nearby. Irene, who'd followed them, went to skip happily near the tombstones, also leaving Ritika by herself.

"What's going on?" she asked, not receiving any answer. Soon enough strange noises could be heard. A chill went down her spine. This was laughter she heard, and giggles, coming out of nowhere. A few whispers as well, and somehow Ritika knew that the subject was always her. It was she the voices were talking about in these low, accusing tones. What she'd done by screaming tonight had apparently been much more important than she'd previously thought. And then, as a chorus singing in unison, they all came out. The corpses had been hiding behind graves, rocks, and trees. Some even dug their way out of the ground, and Ritika watched in horrified silence as these hands poked out, only to be followed by heads, and what was left of the body. All the deceased were in different states of decomposition. You had complete skeletons with not an ounce of flesh, up to zombies who could have almost been alive, had it not been for their emotionless stares and lack of blinking. Usually, though, they all had at least one member missing, such as the hand, a few fingers, or even, legs. Some didn't even have a head!

The one which Ritika had seen earlier, the skeleton bent in half with the old lady voice, came up next to her. The girl was quivering in fear, petrified if not for her eyes following the dead woman's every move.

"Hello love, how are you?" the skeleton in rags asked. Ritika gulped very noticeably.

"I uh...I'm...f-fine...Ma'am," she added as an afterthought.

"Why that's wonderful!" Guru Yaba gave her a quasi-toothless grin which would have made any living person scream in hysteria (except maybe Rex). And that was exactly what the teen tried restraining herself from doing.

"This can't be real, no no it's NOT real, you're imagining it, it's just that stupid Loker! He drugged you, remember?" But that was the thing, she didn't remember Rex drugging her. On the other hand, she perfectly remembered when she screamed her lungs out and those zombies had come and killed the men attacking her.

"Guru Yaba," said a...man, or so Ritika assumed, based on the deep voice, because it was impossible to give it a gender based on its appearance. "did she wake the dead?"

"Why yes she has, and we're going to explain to her in detail what will happen from now on. I'd rather wait for the General and her husband first, though." Just as she spoke those words, and as Ritika was about to ask who the hell General and her husband were, she saw the crowd of revenants step aside. Out of the gap came out an extremely tall corpse, as thin as a sheet of paper, and just as white. It still had skin, but it was completely dried up, and the layer was so thin that the teen thought it would rip off had she just brushed it with her fingers. What was seemingly a dead woman, with a few dry, remaining string-like hair going all the way down her back, marched steadily in her direction, closely followed by an even taller corpse. This one still had a seemingly human appearance, and even if both eyes had gone from their sockets long ago, the man still had teeth; yellow, rotten and broken, but teeth nonetheless. He even had rags of what seemed to be military clothes, whilst the woman wore a long, torn sky blue dress which went all the way to her ankles, floating behind her gracefully.

"So she's the one," the dead woman voiced. Ritika wondered how any of them managed to form sounds, considering the fact that they had no tongues. The one known as General lift her arm up, palm spread wide as if asking for silence, and indeed no sound could be heard from the crowd, now that she had joined Ritika in the center of the circle.

"And what may your name be?" she questioned, her head slightly tilting to the side as she spoke, seeming to pierce through the small teen before her. The girl avoided looking at her directly, quickly answering.

"Ritika Meldavesh."

In return, the dead woman nodded slowly.

"I suppose you're frightened and have absolutely no idea what's going on. Or perhaps you believe this whole thing is mere more but a dream?" her voice was soft, a bit like a cold breeze in winter. It sounded more like she was whispering a lullaby rather than speaking.

"Not really. A dream doesn't feel that way. I know in books or movies the character stubbornly believes the whole thing is a dream for at least five pages, but I know when I'm awake. That and considering that I'm not insane, all this must be real. I did consider that I could have been drugged, but now I highly doubt it." Was it Ritika's imagination, or had the dead woman actually grinned?

"Yes, and you're right about that. Well Ms R., let me confirm to you that you have not been drugged. You see, for some reason beyond us human beings, scattered around the world are a few...special graveyards, such as this one. In them, a certain selection of deceased never really die and, if not for the decomposition of their bodies, are more in what you'd say is a sort of coma. These dead people can only be awoken if someone within the graveyard screams loud enough, a shriek so full of terror and distress that we are forced to be shaken from our slumber and go to help them. That is exactly what we've done for you today."

The girl blinked a few times, amazed by the whole situation, before grinning.

"Cool! Well then...thank you...for saving me, I mean."

The amused aura of the General seemed to evaporate at that moment, and she sounded and seemed graver than ever as she continued.

"However, there are consequences linked to this act. Because of what we have done for you tonight, Ms. R, you are indebted to us for the next fifty days."

"Based by your tone of voice, I assume that won't be so great now, will it?"

The General sighed, passing her skeletal hand over her skull and through what remained of her hair.

"We dead are just like you living in that way: not everything is always right, and some things pose problems to us. They can go from very simple tasks to much more complicated ones. Regardless of the tasks, and if our community asks your help or not, you must be present every day from midnight to three in the morning right here, in this graveyard."

"But...I can't be here every night! I have parents! They'll wonder where I am! And it's dangerous at night here—"

"We'll protect you, don't you worry. And in theory, though it's a very complicated process and functioning which I will not explain to you in detail at this moment, you are currently in an alternate reality, which prevents the people in the streets from seeing this cemetery as it actually is. Including you conversing and being with us. The line is over there," she pointed at a tall rock which was more or less 4 meters away from the sidewalk. "passing that spot, you return to your own reality. And as for school, I'm very sorry Ms. R, but you are indebted, and there is nothing you –or ourselves- can do about it for that matter. Those are the rules."

Ritika, determined to find a flaw in the system somewhere, crossed her arms, this time staring straight into the corpse's black sockets, and asked.

"What happens if I skip a night?"

The General's face was expressionless, but her voice seemed extremely warned out, if not with undertones of sadness in it.

"Then you will die ten years earlier."

Ritika's eyes widened tremendously at that last statement.

"Wait-what?! You're joking right?"

"Sadly no, child. Every night which you skip will cost you ten years of your life."

"So if I don't come three times—"

"You'll die thirty years younger," The General confirmed gravely.

"But why?! There are always times when—"

"I'm afraid that's not debatable, these are the rules. We don't even know if you can call it a rule, seems more like a course of nature which none of us can alter."

Ritika's shoulders fell down. She already knew that this would be the hardest part of it all, to manage to escape her parents and other obligations every night. Not to mention that the lack of sleep would be seriously compromising when it came to school.

"Your next assignment begins tomorrow. Good luck, Ms. R." These words said, the general and the man –Her husband, Ritika supposed- both silently left, cutting through the crowd the same way that they came.

"WELCOME TO THE FAMILY, RITIKA!" Irene exclaimed happily, running to hug her leg. Ritika actually jumped aside, unable to repress a shudder of fear and disgust at the idea that the dead girl would even touch her. Maybe it was her imagination, but Irene seemed a little saddened by this rejection.

"Now now, little one, calm yourself. I'm certain this pretty living thing already has one," Guru Yaba reprehended her. The teen didn't know why that struck her as being so sad, yet it did, and she was about to say something nice, if not apologize, when Rex walked up to them.

"Where do you live?" he asked very directly.

"What does it matter to you?" she countered.

"I'm assigned to bring you back home. Also, considering what you've been through tonight, it's probably the best option." Ritika pondered that and decided that he was right. It was always safer if someone else was with you, especially a boy, though she highly doubted that Rex would even try to help her out if someone tried attacking her. In fact, that would probably overjoy him to the highest point.

"Are you obligated to do this? Why the fuck are you helping out anyway?" She tended to forget that the deceased ones could comprehend everything she said and had emotions as well. Irene, who whispered inquiringly to Guru Yaba why Ritika said so many bad words, immediately got hushed. Most of the crowd had dispersed, yet a lot of zombies were still here, many of them angered by this living girl's discriminatory treatment and injurious remarks. Rex made a low growling sound before answering her in a cold, threatening tone of voice.

"I don't only do things because I'm forced to. Have you ever heard of giving favors? And the reason I'm helping out is certainly not for you. You bitch harpies probably haven't heard of it, but that's what friends do, they're always there for each other. It's called friendship."

Ritika snorted disdainfully.

"You forgot one tiny, little detail: your 'friends' are dead. And personally, I think you're completely insane, and sick as hell, which makes sense in a way. After all, it is a perfect combination."

"Yeah, I'm sick because of you being here," he continued, his voice lowering and sounding more dangerous by the second. "So do me a favor: shut the fuck up, answer my previous question, finish your goddamn fifty day obligation and LEAVE this place!"

"Nooooo, I'm gonna stay because I love it so MUCH, Freakazoid! Contrary to you, darling, I don't spend my nights fucking dead people in cemeteries, and you know what? I have good news for your assholistic corpse-fucking face: you don't have the burden of bringing me back home, because I'm going back where I came from like a big girl!" And with these words she stormed away as fast as she could, not glancing up to look at the zombies staring at her. Every cell in her was dying to scream to them to take a picture if she was so freaking gorgeous, but she managed to remain quiet and not do so, realizing that, despite all of this, they had probably saved her life, and it wasn't their fault if Loker was such an insult to Mother Nature. She ran through the beautiful streets of her neighborhood as fast as she could. Any other day, she'd have thought herself to be a lucky girl; she would have generally loved her life, if not of course for a few minor frustrations, such as being single. But regardless, she knew she lived in an amazing country and city, she absolutely adored her family, school and friends, her kitten was the cutest thing alive...no really, up until today, most of the things in her life had been just right.

"Why?! WHY did I have to actually do that stupid bet?!" she thought desperately. Just then she reached her doorstep. Wow, she'd almost missed it in all her mental complaining and desperation. A soft breeze blew the hair from her face, and the girl felt a chill go down her spine. The weather was still fine; it was only October after all.

But...

"What if I miss a day?" she worried. "It's bound to happen, I'll never manage to sneak out every day. What if I don't come once, twice?" Only the general quietness answered her, with the wind and a few night birds murmuring anthems which only they could decipher. Ritika sighed before taking out her keys from her pocket, inserting the right one into the lock and turning it as silently as possible. If she woke up her parents, she was definitely not going anywhere in the next fifty days. In fact, she'd probably be adding up to the list of corpses at the cemetery if they found she'd snuck out at this hour. Thankfully for her, everything went for the best, and upon hearing her parents' snoring in the master bedroom, she mentally squealed and cried for victory. After getting ready for bed, still in the most discreet and quiet fashion she could muster, the girl slipped into bed with a sigh of relief.

She touched the tip of her nose delicately, before actually squeezing it. Nothing, it felt perfectly normal. That actually amazed her, that the zombies had managed to heal her so well. When the guys had attacked her, she was pretty much certain that it had been broken.

The moonlight gang...

"Don't think about them!" she mentally ordered, her heart pumping in her chest. Thank God for her, she was pretty much immune to nightmares, usually. Even so, she had a feeling that with what she'd seen tonight, she would not sleep peacefully, and that her mind would be agitated by the day's terrifying events.

The zombie decapitating the guy.

"Don't think about that babe, don't think about it!"

The blood. And...and my blood. They wanted to ra—

"STOP IT! Don't THINK about it for fuck's sake!"

Oh my god, they wanted to rape me...

Despite her worries, even if her sleep was definitely not the best one she'd had so far, no nightmares populated it. And yet, somewhere far, far away, whilst the girl attempted to drown her fears in the comforting realm of slumber, the dead made another reunion, and they'd been talking. Up to this day, only two parties existed. One cheered the Waker and her talents, and the other well, the other was a bit more radical in their one demand.

Devour the Waker.