Yumiel was speechless, it took her a while to understand. But during that time, the only words coming out of her mouth were: « Fucking hell, what the fuck is this shit? »
The zombie—or Jack—looked at Yumiel without actually being shocked by her reaction.
« So yes, I know, it's surprising, but you must also be some kind of monster, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have come, and you'd be running for your life by now if you were human. »
Jack wasn't wrong, but still, it was strange. Yumiel had several thoughts. The first was to take his heart, if he even had one. The second was to leave, abandoning him there. And the third was to question him.
Which Yumiel did: « Tell me, Jack? What exactly are you, some sort of zombie? And who are you talking about when you say that madman? »
Jack didn't take long to answer, in fact he replied almost instantly.
« Yes, Jack, that's my name. I'm a zombie capable of changing bodies as long as my brain isn't damaged, and we really need to move, otherwise the crazy monster hunter will come back. »
Taking all that in, Yumiel asked a question before making her decision. « That man, I want to fight him and I want you to help me. I'll take his heart and his blood, and I'll let you have his brain and his body. »
Jack looked at Yumiel, widening his eyes before giving her his hand, helping her out of the pit. « Good, and now? » said Yumiel.
« Now I need legs. Carry me on your back, we have to find fresh corpses or humans still alive. »
Zombie Jack was on the ground near Yumiel's legs, patiently waiting for her to pick him up, but she wasn't done questioning him. « I have more questions. »
« Alright, but please hurry », Yumiel nodded. And asked her question in a single sentence.
« I came in here to look for friends, a girl named Morgane with a large chest, then a man and his son Mathis, pretty well built, and Mr. Norman. »
Jack understood. Instinctively replying the second Yumiel finished. « I'm sorry but I haven't seen a woman with those attributes in the cemetery, nor the two men you mentioned. However, I might be able to help you, but first let's go! »
Jack crawled to Yumiel, clinging to her. Yumiel grabbed him and placed him on her back. Jack wrapped his arms around Yumiel's neck, pointing in a direction she followed through the cemetery.
While running through the cemetery, Yumiel questioned Jack.
« Is your monster hunter really that scary? » Jack tightened his grip around Yumiel's neck.
« If you only knew, between us, he's the real monster. I've seen him kill more than one. Well… not exactly seen, but close enough. » Yumiel was puzzled by Jack's words.
« What do you mean, close enough? » A long silence followed. « Look, we can reveal our little secrets later. »
Yumiel agreed, she didn't want to reveal her secrets either. While indicating the direction to follow through the immense cemetery, Jack asked questions in return.
« You're a vampire, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have asked me for his blood. My question is: why do you want to kill the shapeshifted ones? »
« Shapeshifted? » Yumiel asked, puzzled. « Yes, shapeshifted, that's what I call the people who transformed. Ah, take a left at the intersection. »
Yumiel didn't particularly want to answer, simply following the path indicated by Jack. But the heavy silence made her speak.
« Yes, I am a vampire, and as for killing the "shapeshifted," it allows me to become stronger faster… or at least I hope so. »
« Yes, I can assure you it makes us stronger, I've had the chance to… »
Jack wanted to say more, however they had just arrived. In front of them was an immense tombstone, several names engraved on it—far too many to read them all. « So what are we doing here? » Jack was frantically digging the ground.
« I need new legs. What better than a cemetery with freshly buried people? Unless you have some detection ability to find a living human, I'd take that too. » Yumiel opened her senses but detected only a few vibrations, probably from the crows.
Yumiel waited for Jack to finish digging, but it was taking too long. She opened her flask, took some of her blood and used it to create a shovel. « Wooooow, that's so cool, » Jack said, but Yumiel didn't pay attention, beginning to help him dig.
« Say, how did you do that? It's amazing! Your blood turned into crystal! » Jack's eyes sparkled, Yumiel continued digging.
Even though he only had his hands, Jack was digging at a decent speed. With Yumiel's help, the grave was opened in less than 10 minutes. For the coffin, Yumiel pulled it out with one hand, then opened it. Jack slid his head inside to see that there was no body.
« Damn it. » Yumiel transformed her shovel back into blood and returned it to the flask. Arms crossed, she waited while Jack paced around. « So now what? »
« Now? I have no idea, this grave was one of the most recent. »
« What if we went back to the corpses I came across earlier? »
« No, that would be madness, the hunter is surely waiting for us there. » Jack slipped into the coffin. « Let's pretend to be dead. »
Yumiel approached the coffin. « I don't have time for this. Move, we'll find something. » Opening her senses to their maximum, she eventually detected a faint sound in the distance, similar to a voice.
« I may have something in that direction. » Jack got out of the coffin and looked toward where Yumiel pointed. « Over there? I think that's one of the cemetery entrances. »
« Perfect then, let's go. »