Gravekeeper

-=x=x=x=-

I snuck out of my house around midnight the next day. The previous day (technically today but I didn’t count its passing until I fell asleep) the police had shown up and nearly placed me under arrest before they realized who I was. I suppose I should be grateful that Officer Nickle and Officer Salom were the ones out patrolling the area, but all I felt was annoyance at having been kicked out and taken home.

They didn’t bother with any charges and didn’t even notify my parents, for which I was also grateful, but I was still pissed at them for interrupting the strange conversation Gravekeeper and I were having, though I really should have thought about it before I used that flashlight. Tonight I wouldn’t be making the same mistake. I’d either remain in the darkness or I’d somehow get Gravekeeper to let me into one of the mausoleums; they were locked unless someone asked for a key.

Speaking of Gravekeeper, I had also taken several other near-liquids from the house for him to try. His reaction to the peanut butter was so amusing that I just couldn’t help myself. I had nearly gone to the store as well just to see what else I could find.

Walking to the graveyard I took the longer way around so I wouldn’t meet up with any cops. It added on about 15 minutes to my time but that was well worth it if it prevented me from getting caught. I wasn’t actually doing anything illegal, since I had gotten permission from the caretaker long ago to stay past normal ‘visiting hours’ and wasn’t technically trespassing. So even if the officers did catch me again they couldn’t charge me with anything.

Several dogs barked at me on the way there and I nervously avoided them while trying to seem like I wasn’t. I wasn’t quite sure what had happened to make me so nervous and paranoid around them. Derek and I had had a dog a long time ago and I was just fine around all of them then, but now, since I haven’t been around many in a long time, I had somehow gotten like this. It was like I was afraid but I just wasn’t going to admit to that.

Pushing my thoughts aside I once again avoided the issue and concentrated on what I was doing. I hadn’t had much time to spend with Derek today, but I had gone there long enough for people to see me. Otherwise they’d think it was weird that I hadn’t visited on a Saturday when I could barely be pried from the place.

I planned on stopping by Derek’s grave tonight as well but I didn’t think I’d be able to stay near him long with the cops on the look out. Damn them…

I realized that I was spending less and less time with Derek now that I was focused on Gravekeeper and I felt a bit guilty about that. Derek would want me to move on but I’m not sure this is what he would have in mind. I guess I was just trying to trade one creepy obsession with another.

This didn’t mean that I loved Derek any less but it was just so painful to think about him sometimes that I was looking for a distraction. I knew I should let him go but I just couldn’t bring myself to do so. It felt like a betrayal and that was the last thing I wanted to do to him.

Going around the perimeter I came in from the back and started making my way to Derek’s plot. The graveyard was actually quite large and held around five hundred graves already and there was still room to spare. I’m not sure how long it had been here but it has to be a few hundred years old at least. There were graves around here so old they dated back to the early colonial times and with some of them you couldn’t even see the writing on the gravestones anymore.

Derek, in plot 17, was in the more recently ‘developed’ section along with people like Mrs. Petersmith. I thought it would have been cooler for him to have gotten a mausoleum like some people but apparently those were expensive and ‘out of date’. What a bunch of crap. My parents were rich enough but they didn’t want to spend their money on their dead son. If they didn’t care enough when he was alive then why should they when he was dead? Bastards.

I stopped in the middle of the plot above Derek’s. There were sounds of a radio coming from the street and I had to focus for a minute before I could tell what it was. Squinting, the outline of the squad car came into focus. Fuck! Now they’re just sitting there?!

I waited for a few minutes before I realized that the engine was off and that they weren’t planning on going anywhere for a while. I guess I wouldn’t be going back to Derek’s grave tonight. Sorry, Derek.

Creeping back I headed over to where the mausoleums were even though doing so sent a shiver down my spine. I could still hear the gunshots, breaking bones, and screams of pain. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant memory but it was when I had first met Gravekeeper. He had been creepy as hell, still was too, but at least now I had gotten semi-used to him. It’s hard to be really scared of someone when they freaked out over a sandwich.

Snickering I hid behind the mausoleums, out of sight from the cops, and took a moment to take the area in and calm down. There wasn’t anyone out here now that was going to hurt me, and even if there was the cops were right there watching the place. There was nothing to be afraid of.

“Gravekeeper?” I semi-whispered, not needing to but doing so anyway because of the cops’ presence; they made me a bit paranoid. It took him a moment, mostly because he used the mist as a signal saying that he had heard me and was coming, but it wasn’t much longer before he showed up a only few feet away.

I stared at him for a moment, utterly surprised to see him standing up like a normal person instead of being in that cat-like crouch. He didn’t seem to have any problem with his nudity, not that he ever did, and I wondered how he could be so confident. Maybe it was because he could break the bones of trespassers so easily.

“If I stay out in the open the police might catch me and force me to leave.” I paused for a moment, not sure how he’d react. “Could you take me inside one of the mausoleums?” I had to admit I was a bit afraid of getting trapped in one of them but I figured if I screamed loud enough someone would come by eventually. Gravekeeper also didn’t seem like the type to abandon or hurt someone when they didn’t deserve it.

He stared at me for a while, contemplating the matter or something, before nodding. Stepping closer he took my hand and started leading me off into the older sections of the graveyard. As we went he briefly looked off in the direction the cops were in before the mist started to enclose us. I wondered if he could actually see them from this distance or if he was just being careful.

It didn’t really matter though and I soon became distracted by the coolness of his hand. It wasn’t cold or anything but it was like he had been outside in low temperatures for a long time. Which he had been, technically, but that wasn’t it. It was hard to describe and I couldn’t even get my thoughts together on the matter.

Gravekeeper led me to the mausoleum in the upper corner of the graveyard that I had always thought was some sort of shed instead of an actual tomb. There was an iron, black gate around it with well kept vines growing over it. The locks on the doors had rusted shut and I remember one of the workers telling me that the caretaker didn’t even have a key for it. I wonder if Gravekeeper had it and if it would even work.

He looked me over for a minute as I dug out my flashlight, knowing that it would be pitch black inside, the same look he had given me before when he was trying to decide how I’d react to something, before we became surrounded in fog. It was so thick that I couldn’t even see through it and when it finally started to dissipate I was in a cement room that looked nothing like a mausoleum.

Startled by the sudden change in scenery, I shown my flashlight around in the darkness as Gravekeeper dropped my hand. There wasn’t much in there except for some really old furniture that was covered over in dust and dirt and a stone coffin that was halfway open. There was no one inside.

“Is this inside the mausoleum?” There were some stairs off to one side so I figured that they lead up to what could be seen on the outside. Who would have thought there’d be an underground room in here? It certainly explained where Gravekeeper disappeared to all the time.

I was startled when lips settled against my own though I really should have remembered it would happen. “Yes.” I suppose it was hard to answer when you didn’t speak and the person you were trying to relay a message to wasn’t paying attention.

His lips stayed a moment longer than they needed to and I couldn’t help but kiss him back. I didn’t know what I was thinking, if I was even thinking at all, but he was the only one who had ever touched me like this. Even if it was just to communicate.

I guess I was just tired of being alone.

He stiffened for a moment but didn’t seem like he was going to run away. It was more like he didn’t know what to do or how to react. Not that that was surprising, like me he had probably never kissed anyone before. Well, other than to communicate that is, and he couldn’t have done that very often.

Becoming compliant to my touch he let me do what I wanted, though even I didn’t know exactly what that was. I tried to imitate what I had seen others do in the hallways at school and on TV but I was certain that I wasn’t very good at it. Gravekeeper didn’t complain though.

His tongue was just as cold as it had been before and the touch of it made me shiver, though not entirely in a bad way. The need to breathe made me stop and slowly break off the kiss, keeping my eyes lowered as I caught my breath. We stood there for a moment in silence, though with Gravekeeper it was understandable.

What am I doing? I had no idea anymore. Glancing up I caught Gravekeeper watching me with curiosity. He wasn’t disgusted or angry, just curious as to why I had done it. I didn’t know what to say to him. Even I didn’t know why I did it.

“I, um, brought you something.” I walked around him and put my backpack on the lid of the lid of the tomb, angling the flashlight so I could see, desperate for a distraction. Pulling out the food stuff I brought him I blushed when I looked at the chocolate sauce and honey and once again wondered just what the hell was wrong with me.

Gravekeeper appeared beside me without making a sound and gracefully jumped up to crouch on the tomb, watching me with fascination. I was grateful that he was so easily distracted and that he had let the subject drop. I didn’t even want to think about why I had kissed him right now.

He cautiously picked up the bottles one by one and looked them over, sniffing them and scowling when his fingers became sticky from the maple syrup. He licked it off and didn’t seem to mind the taste, though I didn’t think he’d be eating it for the hell of it anytime soon. It was probably too sweet for him.

Well, I guess that one’s out. He didn’t open any of them, though. I wondered if that was because he didn’t know how or if he was afraid it’d all come rushing out and make a sticky mess everywhere.

…

I really had to stop thinking dirty.

Trying to ignore my own thoughts I brought out the small, plastic glad container and poured a bit of the chocolate sauce in it. I didn’t want to make a mess either and chocolate sauce wasn’t nearly as easy to control as peanut butter was. Offering it to him I watched his reaction as he inspected the container.

His nose wrinkled up like it had done before when he had smelled the peanut butter and he looked at me for a moment before copying my previous actions and sticking his finger in to taste it. He blanched as he did and set the container down before looking at it like it was pure evil. Disappearing for a moment he reappeared on top of an old cabinet in the corner and refused to come down no matter how hard I tried to coax him.

Sighing I stared up at him as he determinedly didn’t move. I was rather surprised that that old cabinet was even able to support his weight and I didn’t even want to think about what might be living or dead up on top of it. Looking around I realized that this place was really in need of a cleaning.

There was dirt and dust everywhere, so much so that it caked the floor and the only spots where you could see the cement were where Gravekeeper had often crouched. I hated cleaning but there really was no one else but me that could do it. Gravekeeper certainly couldn’t and I really didn’t want to end up falling asleep where a rat or giant spider could eat me or something.

This place might actually be pretty cool once cleaned up anyway. Like a clubhouse no one could get into unless Gravekeeper allowed it. And if he was living in here then he really needed some house work done anyway. It was horrible living conditions.

Of course I didn’t have any cleaning supplies on me, since I had figured we’d either be with Derek or in one of the newer mausoleums, but I knew there was some in the shed the caretaker had. Glancing up at Gravekeeper again I figured he wouldn’t do anything until the chocolate sauce was put away and out of sight so I went and did just that. He relaxed a bit when he could no longer see it but still didn’t come down which probably meant he could still smell it or something. Oh well, the cleaning supplies will kill the smell anyway.

First what was needed was some better lighting than this. I couldn’t clean very well in a pitch black room with only a flashlight and I really didn’t want to end up coming across something that moved when I couldn’t see it. I’d probably end up freaking out and Gravekeeper would think I was crazy.

“Are there any lights down here?” I wasn’t hopeful about there being electricity since the place was so old but maybe there were some old torches or oil lamps or something. If not I’d have to buy some and deal with it next time.

Shinning the light up on Gravekeeper, he winced and looked away from it before finally coming down. A second later his lips were upon me and his voice was echoing through my mind. “The switch makes wire lights lite up, but on outside too.”

So there was electricity down here? Maybe they had put it in after the place was built and then forgot about it. Come to think of it there was a light outside but it was never on and I had thought it was just for show. I wondered if it even worked but in order to test this we’d first have to remove the bulb from the outside. I didn’t want to bring the cops down on this place and didn’t think Gravekeeper would be happy about it either.

Shinning the light around I saw the switch next to the stairs, though it was covered in dust and dirt. The metal frame that held it too was rusted over and I wondered if it would even work. It was worth a try though.

“Can you take me outside? I want to take out the light bulbs so those ones won’t work and I can try out the lighting down here.” He nodded and surrounded us in fog before we appeared outside but within the gate. I quickly turned off the flashlight and looked around but no one had seen us. Sighing with relief I gave Gravekeeper a weird look as I saw him squatting on the gate, mere centimeters from the metal spikes that stood up. His position made even me nervous though he didn’t seem to notice it at all. Maybe I should try bringing him some clothes.

Shaking my head I looked around for the lights but they were hard to find since the whole place was covered in vines. Gravekeeper pointed them out and even helped me get rid of the bulbs when I couldn’t get the plastic cover off of them. It was nice to have someone around who could by pass solid object as if they were nothing, though it was still a little creepy. I hoped he never used that power against me.

Once all of them were down I had him take me back inside and cautiously flipped the light switch. There was a loud humming noise before one of the bulbs flickered and turned on. The bulb was almost dead but it was enough to help me see the rest of the room and where the other bulbs were to. They looked like the normal kind, thankfully, and I figured caretaker would have more of them in his shed as well.

I asked him to take me there and he looked at me for a moment as if deciding if he really wanted to play chauffer to me all night but took me there anyway. I think he was a little nervous about what I was planning to do and I didn’t blame him for that. He had probably been alone so long that having someone in his private space was making him paranoid and uncomfortable.

I explained to him what I was going to do and he calmed down a bit, though he still didn’t look too happy about it. Either way he decided to help me anyway and we stole some stuff from the shed, but only after I had promised Gravekeeper we’d take it back once we were done with it. Apparently he didn’t like stealing even if it was from his own graveyard.

Turning off the lights when we got back I dumped everything on the floor and went about changing the light bulb, showing Gravekeeper how to do it and then having him go after the ones I couldn’t reach. The sound of him crawling around on the ceiling creeped me out and I forced myself not to look. Just what the hell was he, spider man?!

Once the light bulbs were all changed I turned the lights on and Gravekeeper winced as they lit up the room. There really was a shit load of dust and dirt—not to mention all the spider webs! Scowling I looked around in dismay before getting started. I was not going to sleep in that!

Gravekeeper sat on the stairs, normally this time, and watched me as I worked. It was a little annoying but then again this had been my idea and he had probably never cleaned a day in his life. Which made me nervous about how dirty he actually was. I wondered if I’d end up having to give him a bath. I doubted that he’d willingly leave his graveyard and maybe he wouldn’t even willingly consent to a bath. I hoped I didn’t have to wait until it rained.

This room we were in actually wasn’t that big, with most of it being taken up by the stone coffin, but there was enough room for me to lay out between the cabinet and the stairs, after everything was cleaned up that is. The coffin itself was rather interesting. It had vines on the lid at the bottom were the words ‘Aeterna Somnus.’ I didn’t know what that meant but I at least knew it was Latin. It probably said ‘Eternal Slumber’ or something like that; at least that’s what it sounded like. I wondered if Gravekeeper slept in it.

It would creep me the hell out to sleep in a grave, stone or otherwise. But then again Gravekeeper was creepy enough already so it might just be considered normal for him. Speaking of which I’d probably have to clean the coffin out as well, if I was going to have to hose him off it would only be counterproductive if he went back and slept in a dirty, bug ridden tomb.

Goddamn it, I hate cleaning. At least once it was habitable I could hide out down here for as long as Gravekeeper allowed me to. He didn’t seem to mind my presence beyond being nervous about being near someone after so long, but he’d get used to me eventually, just like I was getting used to him.

He was no longer nearly as creepy as he had been when I first met him but there was no doubt that he was still weird. I mean, he was afraid of mp3 plays and sandwiches and utterly despised chocolate. He wasn’t a bad person though; he had moral values just like anyone else though they were a bit off. He didn’t like stealing at all but he was willing to punish those who did it with violence, though that may have been just because they had pulled a gun and were planning on shooting me.

He wasn’t mean or anything like that but I did wish we had a better way to communicate. Speaking through kissing was rather inconvenient and it also sent my mind to places where I didn’t want it to be. Keeping myself from thinking about that even further I worked on sweeping and eventually had to move on to the walls and ceiling.

I really did hate cleaning.

-=x=x=x=-

Fanart! (Kitsu’s more accurate with the wings, but they’re both good.)

Kitsu Maxwell
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o31/Darkyiel/Other/Gravekeeper.png

Brayzen
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o31/Darkyiel/Other/GK.png

Me
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o31/Darkyiel/Other/GravekeepersMausoleum.png