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After five years of relative peace — as peaceful as living this purgatory of an existence may be — I should’ve known I’d be back on the hunt soon. I dig my hands in my pants’ pockets as I make my way into the cemetery. Beneath the cliffside, the setting sun paints the water shades of orange and red. Fishermen boats sway under the gentle breeze, which carries with it the briny and piscine scent of the sea. I like that it’s so strong — it masks the stench of the town. Or rather, of the people living in it.
Living might be too generous a word for what the souls in this town seem to be experiencing, though. Surviving would be more appropriate. There is nothing delicious about these souls, no strong pleasures or deeply rooted desires. They seem to exist in a constant state of simmering, never reaching a boiling point. I’m hungry, but the unappealing smell is enough to persuade me to postpone my feeding a few more days. At least until I find someone appetizing.
It’s not lost on me that the curse has chosen some nameless town with nameless souls as the home of the next challenger, as if the whole game wasn’t absurd enough.
Not even the cemetery, a place usually fraught with strong emotions, smells pleasant. There’s twenty or so humans gathered around a fresh grave, and maybe four of them scent of despair. The rest are, like everyone else in this town, simmering. Uninteresting.
“It’s quaint,” says a voice behind me. I don’t need to turn to recognize the high-pitched, rasping tone.
“That’s one way to describe it.”
Meilin, always my shadow, steps up beside me. “How would you describe it?”
One word comes to mind. “Dull.”
Mei scoffs. “So dramatic. Has anyone ever told you that you’re a pain to hang out with?”
I can’t fight the grin spreading on my lips. “Yes, you. All the damn time. And yet there must be something entertaining about me, if you insist on sticking around.”
“Your misadventures are entertaining,” she quips back. “I enjoy watching you struggle and suffer. I’d say it’s appropriate payback.”
She may have meant that, thirty years ago, but in time it has begun to feel less and less true. Mei and I are kindred spirits, in some twisted way. “Well, I’m happy to provide your amusement.”
She looks up at me. “Who do you think it’ll be next time?”
I grimace at the thought, my eyes trained on the funeral happening at the other end of the cemetery. The heavy rain muddles the scene, but my senses are acute enough that I can hear the pastor’s eye-rolling speech.
I’d rather not dwell on the kind of person the curse chooses. As a matter of fact, I’d rather not think of them as a person at all. It’s easier that way. “I don’t much care.”
Mei’s expression darkens. She leans in and lowers her voice, as if revealing a treasured secret. “I know that’s a lie, by the way, but if this is how you want to play it still, fine, I’ll play along.”
I shrug. “What is the point in caring? It’s not like this time is going to be any different than the last. Or any of the ones before. I’ve been entertaining this curse long enough to know it never ends any differently.”
“You don’t really know that,” she insists. “If you did, it’d mean you could see the future, and even all-powerful you can’t quite do that.”
I look up to the sky, which is starting to bruise purple, rain letting up. All-powerful. I haven’t felt that in centuries. “Right.”
Mei follows my gaze upward. “This person could be the one. You never know. They could be different.”
“The only way in which I hope they’ll be different is their graciousness in admitting defeat,” I say. “Moving on is much easier when they accept their fate.”
“Do you want to place bets on how this one will die?”
I quirk an eyebrow as I turn to her. “I thought you were sure this one would be different.”
Mei shrugs. “I mean, I can’t be sure of anything. All I’m saying is that statistically speaking, it’s unlikely every single one of your challengers is bound to fail, so you’ll have to land on the right one at some point.”
What if there is no right one? What if the curse was built to live on in perpetuity? What if the missing piece isn’t missing, it’s just… nonexistent?
I don’t voice those concerns out loud to Mei, partially because they’d make me look weak, and partially because accepting the curse isn’t breakable would also be admitting that the lives I’ve taken have been wasted. That Mei’s life has been wasted.
“Maybe this one will want to stick around, too,” Mei says.
I try to play off the shiver that shakes me with a snort. Never again do I want to take the life of someone who has as much to lose as Meilin did. “Didn’t realize you craved company. I thought I was all the entertainment you needed.”
She shrugs. “You’re fine as entertainment, but you’re not the best company, Teizel. It would be nice to have someone more human around, is all.”
I know she isn’t going to want to hear what I have to say on the subject, but I do nevertheless. “There’s a whole world waiting for you in the Beyond. You can go anytime you want.”
