Gravekeeper

-=x=x=x=-

Time is a strange concept for me now. I have no idea how much of it had passed since my death but it was no longer a concern for me and I barely even thought about it anymore. It was the same for Gravekeeper as well.

I had asked him once what his name was and he had looked at me with that blank expression that he always had. Later he revealed that he couldn’t remember what his name was or if he had ever had one to begin with. I wanted to call him something, to give him a name myself, but I didn’t know what to name him. Nothing seemed fitting.

Finally I decided on Azrael, the angel of death, and then shortened it to Az. Gravekeeper looked at me weirdly when I told him this but accepted it anyway, though he sometimes forgot to respond when I called him by that. I had never really heard him call my name either, but since there was just the two of us here there wasn’t really much of a need for it anyway, even if it would be nice to hear.

And ever since that day, when I had first tasted his blood, I’ve had a craving for it that Gravekeeper has only been too willing to satisfy for me. I fed from him every once in a while (with time being obsolete I didn’t know how often), though I’d have liked for it to be more, and each time I did my body seemed to change on me.

My skin, which had been pale and sunken in from my death, was back to its normal form and even the wounds I had sustained were healing, though it was a very long process. I didn’t think they’d ever completely go away and I didn’t really care if they did or not. Not even the autopsy scars bothered me and I found I didn’t even care enough to take out the stitches once they healed enough for me to do so.

Az, Gravekeeper, didn’t care either. He had no aversions to how my body looked and I was grateful for that because I only had that mortician’s coat and that would only last me for so long. I wasn’t embarrassed about my body or anything like that, but sometimes my old human instincts came back to haunt me and I felt a little self conscious about being naked all the time.

I supposed that one day I’d be like Az and just not care but for now I was still struggling with who I was. Sometimes I’d catch myself acting like Gravekeeper, crouching and stuff like that, and I’d force myself to stop out of habit rather than anything else. I asked him about this as well and he told me that the more I consumed his blood the closer I’d become to him; the closer I’d become to a Gravekeeper.

I wasn’t sure if that meant I would eventually become a Gravekeeper or not, since Az didn’t bother to elaborate on it, but that certainly seemed like it would be the case. I didn’t think I could become a full Gravekeeper, since the wings were a bit of a far stretch, but it would be cool to be able to use the fog and mist like he did.

Speaking of which, Az often took me on his rounds around the graveyard so I’d be able to get out for a while. I was grateful for it and for the fact that he was always nearby in case I ran into someone. There had actually been a couple of close calls with Keith, but Gravekeeper didn’t seem as disturbed by this as I was, and a while later I figured out why this was.

One day, sometime in the afternoon I think, Az took me out on a very rare daytime excursion. He took me to Keith’s funeral. I was sad that he was gone but I think that that might have been because I was forcing my emotions. It’s not that I didn’t care but I was so neutral about the dead that death didn’t seem sad to me anymore.

I would miss seeing him around but even in death he was where he was supposed to be and it was hard to feel anything other than peace at his passing.

Another strange excursion Az took me on was to my own funeral. We watched from amidst a large walnut tree nearby, hidden in fog and mist, as the funeral workers put my empty casket into the ground right next to Derek. It wasn’t as hard to watch as I thought it would be and even though both of my parents were there and crying I felt nothing for them.

I couldn’t tell if that was because of my actual feelings for them or if it was Az’s blood influencing me. Either way it didn’t matter and although I no longer had any attachment to the graves I still liked to sit by mine and Derek’s sometimes. I could still feel my love for him but it was starting to become just the same brotherly love he had for me.

I hadn’t seen him since that day I let him go and although I missed him I didn’t wish to see him again, not here anyway. It wouldn’t be right for me to call him back and disturb his afterlife. Besides, I had Az here with me now and there was no reason for me to be lonely with him by my side.

As for our relationship, we hadn’t gone much farther outside of kissing. My sex drive had never been much when I was alive and it would be strange for it to grow after my death. I wasn’t even sure if that part of me was working anymore but Az assured me that it was (Though how he knew this I didn’t think I wanted to know).

I figured that we would have sex one day, and I was looking foreword to it, but there was no reason to rush. We had all the time we needed.

I wouldn’t say that we were the best or happiest couple there was, but we were a couple and that was enough for me right now. There was no need to jump into bed so soon, although this time the bed might just turn out to be a coffin. And Az wasn’t the pressuring type either (I wasn’t even sure if he was the desiring type) so I think we had the same view point on the subject.

My life, or after life, whatever it was, was relatively simple and I liked it that way. I had Az beside me and a job to conduct, guarding and protecting the graveyard and its occupants, and our relationship was going well. I was wanting for naught and I think for the first time since Derek’s death I was truly happy and at peace with myself.

I didn’t know for how long I would be here, or how long Az would be here either, but for now I was content; living in a graveyard with a creepy zombie boy whom I know as both Azrael and Gravekeeper.

-=x=x=x=-

Author’s Note: Yay, I’m done! There’s no more to this story, but if I feel like it I may just write some creepy coffin sex staring them sometime!

Tall Tree-san: Thanks for the review. I didn’t want to make him 100% happy after everything he went through, it would be wrong to do so, but I didn’t want him miserable either. Plus I wanted Shane and Gravekeeper to be together.

yunasgrace: Yes, Gravekeeper is sexy man. XD Sadly this is the last chapter of this story, but I’m glad you liked it.

cobraqueen: Thanks for the review; I’m glad you liked it.

KatFO: Thanks for the review…and it’d be a little weird if it wasn’t morbid with all the dead people around.~