This Little Light Of Mine

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page Number 4, Post Number 77

-Outside Silent Cemetery, midnight-

Dressed in her casual outfit with hiking boots and Shining Light on her right hip, Lucia walked up to the gates of Silent Cemetery. She had come here on behalf of a paranormal investigator in Magnolia Town to investigate the source of a strange light that they had seen in the cemetery. Lucia was to fight her way through the cemetery and find the strange light, then determine what exactly it was. The job sounded simple enough, but the investigator mentioned that there was zombie activity in Silent Cemetery that could complicate things. The zombies were what had forced the paranormal investigator to abandon their quest and hire someone to do it for them.

Fortunately Lucia had come armed with Shining Light. The handgun had proven to be able to hurt ghosts, so killing zombies should be well within its abilities. Standing outside the wrought iron gates, Lucia drew Shining Light and opened the right gate with her left hand, then walked inside and shut the gate behind her.

-Inside Silent Cemetery-

Lucia turned around from closing the gate and found herself looking down a path lined with neatly arranged tombstones on both sides. She also found a few walking corpses in the immediate area that were oblivious to her; the nearest one was approximately three meters away behind the fourth row of tombstones, so she raised Shining Light and took careful aim in a two-handed grip. She aimed at the head of a zombie wearing a tattered black burial suit and fired once, grazing its temple and causing it to release a moan that alerted five other zombies in the immediate area. Lucia clenched her teeth and took aim a second time, aiming and firing at its forehead.

The second shot took it down with a clean hole punched through its forehead. It fell backwards and sprawled on the ground. The other four zombies had been alerted to her and began shuffling towards her with outstretched arms and moans on their desiccated lips. Lucia stood her ground and took careful aim at the next zombie, another male zombie wearing a burial suit with a tattered left leg. She aimed at its forehead and steadied her aim, then fired.

It went down in a single shot and fell onto its right side, leaving three other zombies to press their "attack." Lucia focused on a female zombie with missing eyes and tattered gray hair wearing an elaborate dress from several decades ago standing behind the fifth row of tombstones to the right. The blonde aimed at its head and waited a moment before firing, but once she fired Lucia hit it in the forehead and killed it. The tombstones were serving as natural obstacles to the zombies and gave Lucia time to carefully aim her shots, an advantage that she was using to the fullest because this was only her second "real" job that involved combat and she would take every advantage that she could get.

Once the female zombie was down Lucia aimed at a fourth male zombie, which was a "younger" one wearing a brown burial suit with a tattered right sleeve. She aimed for its left temple and led the target a little before firing the fatal shot that killed it. The last zombie was within three meters of her and walking down the path, but she spotted it in time to face it and aim for its forehead. Lucia fired once and hit it between the eyes, taking it down for good.

Once the last zombie was down Lucia took a deep breath and lowered Shining Light but did not put it away. She heard more zombies moaning in the distance, so she kept Shining Light ready and walked down the path in front of her, taking care to stay away from the dead zombies out of principle. Lucia walked down the path and stopped when she came up to a branching path. She could go either left or right.

Lucia took another deep breath to calm herself and looked both ways for that strange light the paranormal investigator wanted her to find. Lucia looked left and did not see any lights in the distance, so the light was probably not that way. Lucia looked right and saw some zombies shuffling towards her at a very slow pace, but that was not the most interesting thing about that path. Out in the sea of yellow-orange lights was a bluish light in the sea of tombstones. The blonde made a beeline for the right and raised Shining Light for another round of target practice.

-On the right path-

Lucia looked ahead of her and saw her undead opposition closing in at the blistering pace of a foot every five seconds, but there were about forty meters between her and the targets, so she had plenty of time to aim if she remained calm. Lucia calmly aimed at the first zombie and fired at its head, taking it down. It fell face-first onto the path and the other four continued to advance towards her without trying to speed up or throw off her aim by suddenly changing direction. Lucia aimed at the head of a zombie wearing a black burial suit and a battered black top hat and fired once her hands were steady.

The zombie stopped in place and stiffly fell onto its back, its hat fluttering off and landing just to the side of its head like something out of an old Western movie. The fourth zombie shuffled by its fallen colleague with a limp that was noticeable even for a zombie and Lucia focused on it. A single shot to the head and it sprawled face-first onto the ground. The last zombie shuffled by and Lucia aimed carefully before firing a headshot that punched through its forehead and caused it to freeze in place momentarily before crumpling to the ground in a heap.

Now that this batch of zombies had been killed Lucia was free to take a moment to examine her surroundings. About one hundred and fifty meters away from her current position was the blue light that stood out in a sea of yellow-orange lights in the form of old-fashioned glass lanterns placed on top of tombstones at twenty-five meter intervals. Lucia did not see any more zombies in the immediate area, so she began to walk down the path and towards the light while avoiding the downed zombies in case they were not quite dead.

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-Forty meters down the path-

Lucia had walked forty meters down the path towards the light when she looked to her right as if something was pulling her attention in that direction. Lucia looked down a row of tombstones and found a grave that was open. When she saw it the blonde froze in place and her skin began to crawl.

Lucia found herself frozen in place at the sight of an open grave with a lantern perched on top of it. To the right of the open grave was a pile of dirt with a shovel planted blade-first in it. Before she realized what was happening the blonde began to walk towards it as if something was guiding her to it. After a short walk Lucia stood in front of it and looked down into the six-foot chasm. The moment her eyes settled on the grave a feeling of familiarity began to wash over her.

She belonged there.

That was her home now.

What was she doing in the world of the living?

Her time among the living had come and gone.

She should really go back home, back where she belonged. Her home was in the cold embrace of the earth. The earth would comfort her and protect her forever.

The hair on the back of Lucia's neck stood up and she quickly turned away from the open grave to try and get the intrusive thoughts out of her head. She needed to find that light and get out of here while she still could. Lucia walked briskly away from it and got back onto the path to the light.

As she walked the blonde's skin stopped crawling and a strange feeling of peace began to wash over her. It felt like she really did belong in this cemetery. That feeling of peace made Lucia feel even more uneasy than she did looking into the open grave and the emotional dissonance was starting to get to her. She needed to get out of here.

Lucia's walk turned into a brisk walk for about ten meters before it became a full run. She desperately needed to get that light before something happened to her. What that something was she did not know and that scared her. Lucia ran the last one hundred-plus meters and rushed down one of the last rows of tombstones, coming to a pause in front of a tombstone with a golden candleholder resting on top of it. On top of the candleholder was a small, partially melted candle giving off a blue flame. The winded blonde took a few deep breaths and leaned closer to the candle to examine it.

The moment she leaned in to examine it the candle grew short, stubby arms, opened a yellow eye, and smiled at her. Lucia screamed and took a step back while aiming Shining Light at it with her right hand.

"Hey there, lady!" The candle called out to her and waved a stubby little arm at her. Lucia took a breath and blinked. She calmed down just enough to realize what was happening... and show disbelief. She lowered Shining Light once she realized that the small candle was not a threat.

The candle was talking to her.

"Hey there, lady!" The small candle repeated its greeting in a childlike voice. Lucia blinked again. She looked at it closer and noticed where a clump of wax had fallen over the right side of its face like bangs on a human.

"Um... hi there." Lucia returned the greeting and gave a small wave with her left hand. The small candle was kind of cute.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing in a place like this?" The candle asked her.

"I was sent here to find a strange light." Lucia replied calmly. The candle blinked.

"That must be me!" It said and smiled. Lucia gave a small smile in return.

"You are the only blue light around here, so I think you're the light I'm looking for." She answered without sarcasm. The candle waved its little arms in joy.

"Yay!" It exclaimed. Lucia picked up its candleholder in her left hand and looked at the tombstone using the light put out by the candle. The letters were worn and faded beyond legibility. Lucia looked the little candle in its eye.

"What's your name?" Lucia asked it. It put an arm to its mouth and looked upward.

"I... I don't have one." It answered. Lucia looked at it again and thought of a name. Her first impulse was to call it "Lumen" after the unit of measurement for the brightness of a lightbulb, but since it currently had a childlike voice, maybe a diminutive form would suffice.

"How about... Lumie?" Lucia asked it. It smiled widely and waved its little arms.

"Lumie? Works for me!" It exclaimed. Now that its name was settled, Lucia began to walk towards the exit with her new little candle in her left hand. She heard moaning in the distance, so it would be wise to get out of here with Lumie while she still could. She just hoped that the paranormal investigator who had hired her to find it would treat Lumie with respect while studying it.

Lumie:

[Post Word Count: 874]
[Total Word Count: 1,961/2,500]

-Magnolia Town, eight hours later, inside the paranormal investigator's home-

After leaving Silent Cemetery with Lumie and heading for Magnolia Town, Lucia finally arrived at the paranormal investigator's home and stood in the foyer, which was decorated with posters of cryptids that supposedly existed like "Largefoot" and "The Mothwoman." Standing in front of her was the man himself, a tall, lanky blond man with a five-o-clock shadow and black-rimmed glasses. He was wearing a white t-shirt with "GHOST HUNTER" on the front and khaki cargo pants with well-worn black boots. He raised a hand in greeting.

"Ah, you must be Lucia Winchester! I'm Simon Wright!" The man greeted her and introduced himself to Lucia. Lucia took the offered hand and shook it with her right hand while holding Lumie's candleholder in her left hand. Lumie took notice of Simon and greeted him.

"Hey mister!" Lumie greeted Simon and waved a little arm. Simon yelled and jumped back.

"I think this little guy's the source of the strange light you saw in Silent Cemetery." Lucia said to the frightened man. Simon recovered from the shock and approached Lumie, then leaned down a little and examined the small candle. Lumie remained calmly in place and smiled at Simon.

"Yes, I recall seeing a blue light in the distance. This little guy must have been the source of it." Simon said to Lucia before standing up straight. He crossed his arms and hmmm'd.

"I can't say that I've ever met a living candle. What's his name?" Simon asked Lucia.

"When I asked him he said he didn't have a name, so I called him Lumie, which is a made-up diminutive of "Lumen." Lucia answered. Simon looked at Lumie again and looked at Lucia.

"Lumie, huh? Well, he's an interesting little guy. He's got some level of intelligence if he answers to a name and can speak and understand human language." Simon opined.

"I've been sitting on that tombstone for a few months now and it got pretty lonely. My former owner died some time ago and his family put me on top of the tombstone as a memorial to him. The only company I've had is those dead people who shouldn't be walking around but are walking anyway and those dogs that look really funny like they've been rotting for months." Lumie said to Simon and Lucia. The two blinked.

"Who was your owner, Lumie?" Simon asked the candle. The candle put a little arm on its chin.

"A guy named Mortimer. I don't remember his last name, but he was a really nice guy. When he found out I was alive he treated me like a friend. He said that I had spiritual power or something and said I could keep bad spirits away." Lumie answered. Simon crossed his arms again.

"There IS a lot of spiritual energy coming from you, little guy. In some cultures blue flames have special power and I think you have special power. I think you were made to protect people." Simon opined to Lumie. When it heard that Lumie crossed its little arms and puffed out its nonexistent chest.

"Yeah! Mortimer told me the same thing! He said that I was made to light the darkness and fight evil spirits!" Lumie proclaimed. Lucia smiled a little. Lumie was a little guy with a lot of personality.

"Say Lucia, why don't you take Lumie with you?" Simon asked Lucia.

"Take Lumie with me? I thought you wanted to study him." Lucia replied in surprise.

"I think he'd be better off going places and fighting evil than sitting around in my house. Besides, I've got a lot of other cases to study like supposed sightings of Largefoot all around Earthland and ghost activity in the Haunted Guild! There's even talk of a Mothwoman rumored to be somewhere in Earthland!" Simon assured her that it would be OK for her to take Lumie with her. Lucia was not inclined to argue. She had taken a liking to the little candle.

"Even though I'm little, I'll light the darkness like Mortimer told me I was made to do!" Lumie promised Lucia and Simon. Lucia did not doubt the little candle. It was often said that big surprises came in small packages and Lumie promised to prove that adage right.

"All right then. If you don't need Lumie, then I will take him with me." Lucia said. Simon nodded in approval. Lumie cheered.

"All right then. I'll be going now." Lucia said to Simon.

"Sure thing. And thanks for bringing Lumie by here. I might contact you for more help later on, so be careful out there!" Simon bade Lucia goodbye. Lucia waved goodbye to Simon and turned around, carrying Lumie in his candleholder. She would go back home and go to sleep, then look for another job... and her younger sister. However, she would no longer be traveling alone. Lucia would have Lumie by her side to light the way.

[Post Word Count: 830]
[Total Word Count: 2,791/2,500]