Chap 1: A quiet life
This is the story of a guy called Lug that did not find his place among the living, so he went
to live with the dead.
To him death was not a huge deal, the dead scared him less than the living.
So when he got the opportunity to work in an old cemetery where he would only have to
clean a few graves and pull weeds, he did not hesitate.
He applied and was hired, because nobody wanted the job.The recruiter didn't even bother
to interview him.
He met him directly in front of the city parking lot where he would take him to the cemetery.
Lug, like any anxious person, was early. Very early to the appointment.
After visiting the center, he sat down near the parking lot.
He was in his twenties, black hair, clear eyes, quite tall and slim. He had a discreet beauty.
His eyes lacked the sparkle that any person of his age should have.
He had the looks of a man that carries a mourning that has neither name nor face.
Nothing is more painful than to suffer without knowing why.
When the recruiter finally showed up, late, he was in an old car that probably used to be red,
now it looked more like a rusty orange.
« Put your stuff in the trunk and get in. » said the recruiter that looked and sounded as old
as his car.
After getting into the car, there were 15 endless minutes of silence.
And finally, the old man cleared his throat as if to announce the painful arrival of a sentence.
« It's an easy job, you will have to take care of the cemetery, clean, welcome the very rare
visitors and make sure to keep everything in order.
You'll be paid and have a place to stay.
The only downside is that it's a bit far from everything, but you'll get used to it.»
« Ok, good. » said Lug timidly.
After a few more minutes, the car finally stopped on top of a hill, on a rather wide plateau,
just in front of a small castle.
The castle was an old remnant of a forgotten war.
It was now a cemetery that welcomed the remains of people who have been dead too long
for anyone to mourn them.
The 3 meters high walls, which originally offered protection, had become a barrier that
separates the living from the dead.
« Let's go, I'll show you the place.
So here are the gates, the key to open them is the big one, a bit rusty but it still works »
*CLAC CLAC*
Opening the gates released the sound of an orchestra of corroded screws.
Everything outside of the cemetery looked old but somehow, the inside managed to look
even more chaotic and decayed.
Many graves had no headstones, in many spots the only indication that someone was
buried there was a pile of moved dirt.
A lot of weed had grown everywhere, the walls needed cleaning and the tombs could do
with some love, but even with all that, this old cemetery managed to have some charm.
« Come here, this is the place where you'll stay. »
The old man opened the door of a small house just inside the cemetery that could have
easily been mistaken for a mausoleum.
« The last tenant retired some months ago. He left some things, feel free to keep what you
like and throw away the rest. »
This house smelled exactly as you would expect from a place where a lonely old man lived.
« Ugh… It's very small, and is it even legal to live in a place so close to the tombs, it's like…
5 meters away from dead bodies ! »
The old man looked at Lug with jaded eyes.
« I'm a recruiter not a lawyer, legal or not if you really don't like it, you can always live in the
city and pay an expensive rent. And if you have issues with death, you shouldn't apply to
become a cemetery caretaker in the first place. »
« Yes, ok, forget it. It will be good enough for me… »
The visit resumed, the old man showed almost everything there was to see.
The oldest tombs from rich families that don't receive any visit from their wealthy
descendants.
The place where no plant can grow and where all flowers die quickly.
The place, just outside of the cemetery where people of the city decided to throw their
garbage…
He didn't visit the entire cemetery, but by the end of the tour, Lug had a pretty good idea of
what to expect.
Before leaving him alone, the recruiter gave one last indication, which seemed to be the
most important of all :
« Here are the keys, I explained everything but if you have any question, try to find the
solution by yourself. I'm a busy man and it's not the only place I'm on charge of. Thank
you. »
« Thank you for everything, good bye! »
The old guy, got back into his car and drove away.
The visit was short and he had received few explanations, but Lug understood 2 things from
this :
1 - There is not a single living soul for miles.
2 - The recruiter and the city that pays him don't want to hear about this cemetery.
Conclusion: no one to disturb him.
« Finally alone. »
Lug let out a sigh of relief when he saw the car disappear in the distance.
Yes the cemetery was way crippier than expected.
Yes his new home is old and smells bad.
And yes, he is not paid very well.
But he found a quiet place to rest.
« Ok, let's go take that nice lounge chair I saw in the landfill! »
A few minutes later, Lug managed to get a nice looking chair out of the garbage dump.
At that moment he had one and only one thing in mind: to enjoy the last rays of sunshine of
the day.
And no one could stop him.
« I'll put the chair against the wall, not too close to the tombs, and just in the right place to
get the sunshine.
What a life…
I think I'll take a nap, just for a few minutes….»
Here lied Lug, enjoying his first nap during work hours.
…
*trumpet noise*
*bbbbbbbBOUMmmmmmm*
A huge sound bursted out of nowhere and just a few seconds later, a piece of the stone wall
that was just behind Lug came crashing down on his carefree head.
The big stones gave no chance to his poor head.
He fainted on the spot.
When something bad happens to you, you can't help but think you did something wrong.
Maybe you deserved it?
Maybe you are paying the debt for a bad deed?
Maybe God is testing you?
Lug didn't have a great image of himself.
That's probably why he thought he deserved every bad thing that happened to him.
But for once, maybe, that rock was not a punishment but rather the start of something
good.
Lug stayed unconscious on the ground for 6 hours.
When he regained consciousness he heard voices.
« Hey, are you alright? »« Is he dead? »
« No, why would a ghost lay dead like that? »
« I don't know but does it make more sense to you to see a living, sleeping in the middle of a cemetery? »
« Good point. »
« Oh! He is moving! He is moving! »
When Lug finally opened his eyes, he saw black shapes moving around him.
The pain from the shock and what he was now seeing was too much for him, he fainted
again.
« Oh come on, not again! »
« What do we do now? »
« He looked alive to me, guess we wait until he dies and then we ask him what happened? »
« Sounds good to me. »
« Ok let's do that. »