Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Dead start

Norman found it difficult to process just how much had changed for him in the last few months, hell the last few years.

After the fall, not much changed for Norman, at least at first. Sure luxury goods and food became more limited and scarce. But it wasn’t like Norman had been flush with cash previous to the fall to even purchase these sorts of items.

He only had himself to blame for his lack of money. Norman had a bit of a procrastination issue, along with a boredom issue. He never found anything interesting enough to apply his mind to. Jobs, relationships, or goals in general, nothing really kindled that spark in him that made him want to work at it. He just kind of did those things because society said he had to.

That all changed after the fall when Humanity was thrust into a world of magic and mystery. Unlike most people, Norman thought the change was for the better so he dove headfirst into what he wanted. In hindsight, probably not the best move, and sober Norman may have picked a different path but unfortunately stoned Norman was at the wheel during the transition. As he was for most of Norman’s later adolescent life. And stoned Norman thought it would be awesome to become a necromancer.

By the time Norman realized that wasn’t a feasible option for him – due to issues beyond his control – he couldn’t change his path. Realizing that you screwed up your only chance to do something great led him down a spiraling path of drug use and drinking. Even worse than before the fall. Bad decisions started to pile up, costing Norman his job and even his girlfriend, Charise.

Norman couldn’t blame her for leaving him. She wanted something that it appeared he would never have. Although she could have been less manipulative about it towards the end.

What’s funny is, her leaving him was the catalyst that changed the course of Norman’s entire life. A chance run-in with a jorik – or elves as most people referred to them – thrust Norman into magic, oh, and also into a concrete floor. Neither one of those encounters was very fun. But what happened after… magic! In the most literal sense.

Norman had stumbled upon the key to unlocking his magic. Something that had eluded him for two frustrating years. There were downsides though, like suffering from a magical overdose. Yeah, it's as bad as it sounds.

But Norman wasn’t deterred, instead, he pushed ahead like a man possed or a man afraid to lose what he had had a tentative grasp on. He went from being a complete loser that most people in town avoided, to… well still a loser that people in town avoided, but now he had multiple working spells under his belt. That alone pushed him above ninety percent of the population that was unable to do magic for whatever reason. As for the loser part, who cared? If Norman cared what other people thought of him, he wouldn’t be Norman.

Everything was starting to finally look up for Norman. But karma had one last gift for him.

Unbeknownst to him, his supposed best friend Toby had embroiled Norman in a convoluted plot to take down a corrupt Mayor. Or technically, the woman controlling him, a literal Witch, and a gang of outlaw bikers. Criminals that Toby had already gotten Norman mixed up with because he had a date with his sister. A date that was forced on him by the way.

As it turns out, Karma doesn’t just hate Norman, it also hated Toby. Toby’s plans to ‘liberate the town’ fell apart spectacularly and he was forced to go on the run along with his sister Anna, and a reluctant Norman.

There was a chase, Toby got shot. Toby died and was somehow resurrected as an undead. So, yeah…

That brings us to the present. Three days after laying low in some abandoned mansion along a lake.

***

Norman poked at Toby’s arm.

Toby slapped his hand away. “I thought I told you to stop that. I’m not some fucking science experiment.”

“How do you expect me to fix you if you won’t let me examine you?” Norman huffed.

“I assumed you knew how to fix me. Not that you lied to my face.”

Norman shrugged. It had been a great joy for Norman to tell Toby he was stuck this way for some time. Call it a bit of revenge on his part. Norman didn’t even know if what Toby was asking for would be possible at all – although he kept that bit of information to himself – and if it wasn’t for Anna, he wouldn’t even bother to attempt to find a solution to Toby’s problem. Not that Norman thought being undead was a problem. He found it infinitely fascinating.

There had been a small scuffle when Toby had learned that Norman couldn’t fix him immediately. It was just more proof that Toby hadn’t really changed and fixing him wouldn’t guarantee Norman’s safety. So Norman had to find a way to ensure Toby could never cause harm to him again.

Norman thought about trying to use Anna against her brother but dismissed that as a good idea. She was likely to go ‘full psycho’ if he tried that. Plus he doubted he could bring himself to actually harm the girl. So trying to use that as motivation to keep Toby in line wasn’t likely to work. No, he would need to figure something else out. Hopefully when they weren’t on the run.

“Hmm, I wonder where I learned that from?”

“Fuck you,” Toby growled quietly so as to not wake Anna. The girl was fast asleep in the back of the van, snoring even. “It’s your fault I’m dead. The least you could do is be sympathetic.”

Norman stifled a harsh bark of laughter, turning to make sure Anna hadn’t woken up. He hadn’t told either of them what had actually happened with the poisoned potions. It would be too cruel to Anna if she ever learned that she had been the one that poisoned her brother. Heck, she didn’t even know that her brother was dead, or undead in this case.

“I’m not the one that made those fake potions to try and poison Mr. Sin and his men. You should be glad I had one of my potions with me, otherwise, you wouldn’t be here to complain.”

“Fine.” Toby eventually relented. “You can examine me, just not when she’s around.”

“Welp, that’ll slow things down more than I originally planned.”

“What do you mean?” Toby turned toward Norman, the van jerking slightly as he did.

Norman kicked his legs up on the dash. “Well, you kinda destroyed all of my spell components when you burned down my house. It’s not gonna be easy to get more.”

“I know people, just tell me what you need.”

Norman chuckled, “well, first off, I need the blood of a jorik.”

The van lurched again as Toby glared over at him.

“Oh, yeah. You know that blue powder you stole from me.” Norman watched Toby scowl. “Yeah, I knew about that. Well, that was dried blood from a jorik. It has inherent magical properties. I can’t do anything without that. But that’s just the beginning. I will need a place to practice my spells and come up with one to help you. Who knows what sorts of components I will need for that? I doubt it's something we can find at a grocery store.” Norman shrugged. “Then again, I might be able to get what I need at a grocery store.”

Norman was feeling pretty good about being the one in charge for once. That was until Toby slammed on the brakes and Norman slid forward off the seat, wedging himself between the seat and the dash. Anna let out a startled squeak as some of the food they had taken from the mansion tumbled down on top of her during the abrupt stop.

“What the hell,” Norman cursed as he tried to unwedge himself from between the seat and the dash.

“Sorry,” Toby replied, not sounding apologetic at all as he threw the van in reverse.

By the time Norman got himself unstuck, Toby was turning down a side road.

“Where are we going?”

Toby glanced back at the now awake and angry Anna before replying. “You said you needed spell components, I know just the place.”

Norman left it at that, not wanting to discuss the issue while Anna was awake and listening.

***

The van pulled to a stop at the end of a gravel road surrounded by a thick forest. Norman glanced at a sign off to the side that read ‘National Park Campground’ on it.

“Anna, could you set up the tent and start a fire?” Toby asked.

The tent, along with the non-perishable foods in the van had come from the mansion they stayed at.

“What? Why me?” Anna asked petulantly.

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“Would you rather go fishing?”

Anna grimaced.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. We’ll be back in a few hours. Stick close to the van and keep an eye out for any wild animals. There shouldn’t be any rycors around here, but I can’t discount that there might be bears or cougars in the area. Get a fire going, that should keep them away.”

Anna rolled her eyes at her brother’s statement. “Oh, and you just expect me to start a fire. Cause I’m such an outdoorsy girl.”

Norman handed her his refillable lighter.

“Thanks, Norman,” Anna replied cheerfully as she glared at her brother.

Toby had masterfully redirected Anna’s attention so much so that she didn’t even ask how they were going to catch fish. Neither he nor Toby had fishing poles or anything to help catch fish. Norman was curious as to how they would go about catching fish as well.

Norman followed Toby down a thin trail into the woods. If it wasn’t for the fact that Toby needed him, Norman would suspect the guy was luring him deep into the woods to get rid of him. He did palm one of his orbs just in case.

Once they were far enough from the camp, Norman spoke up. “We aren’t out here to catch fish, are we?”

Toby scanned the woods to either side before replying. “No. I tracked a rogue elf to a nearby cabin a few months ago. He could still be here.”

Norman pulled Toby to a stop. “What! I’m not going to kill a jorik just to speed up the process of fixing you.”

Toby pulled free from Norman’s grasp. “Your naivety astounds me, how else did you think you were going to get more of your magic powder?”

Norman crossed his arms. “I think I’ve done well enough without having to resort to harming people.”

“Oh yeah? I wonder how those wild animals you killed felt? You know, that’s how psychopaths and serial killers get started. And I’m sure the elf that Sin bled for you was oh so willing to donate his blood to your cause. Besides, you won’t have to do shit.” Toby pulled his pistol out and began to attach a silencer to the end of it.

Norman ignored the man’s statements. He was intensely uncomfortable about the accusation. Also where the hell had Toby hidden a silencer? He decided it wasn’t worth asking as he continued to follow Toby deeper into the woods.

After about an hour the pair came to a small rise. In the distance, Norman could vaguely see a small wood cabin through the thick trees. It was clearly occupied as he could see a thin curl of smoke rising from the chimney.

This felt all sorts of wrong to Norman. It was one thing to have a jorik killed outside his view and without his direct knowledge. But knowing it was going to happen and being there when it occurred left a bad taste in Norman’s mouth. He needed to stop this.

He reached out and stopped Toby once again. “Let’s just go.” Before Toby could turn on him, Norman continued. “Look, I got enough of the blood to last another month. If I don’t come up with something by then.” Norman left the last part unsaid.

Toby glanced back toward the cabin, then toward Norman. “Fine, let’s go,” he gestured back the way they had come.

Norman let out a relieved sigh as he turned around and began heading back toward their camp. When he glanced back to thank Toby for listening to reason, he saw the man sprinting toward the cabin.

“Are you fucking kidding me,” he hissed as he raced to catch up to Toby.

Norman knew he wasn’t going to make it in time. Toby had a large headstart. He could only watch as Toby kicked in the front door of the cabin. There were three flashes of light followed by three muffled gunshots and a pained grunt. Norman also heard shattering glass but he couldn’t see where it had come from.

Heaving for air, Norman finally made it to the cabin just as Toby stumbled out.

“Goddamn mother-” Toby cursed loudly as he pulled something from his hand and threw it to the ground.

“Wha- What happened?” Norman managed to gasp out as he sucked in new air.

“The fucker was waiting for me, he must have heard us coming. Hit me with some spell, then bolted out the backside of the cabin like greased lightning. There’s no way we’re going to catch him now.”

That must have been the shattering glass that Norman had heard. Norman couldn’t help sighing in relief, earning him a slap from Toby.

“Ow, what the hell?”

“Listen here, Norman. I’m going to do everything in my power to get you the shit you need to fix me. If you try to sabotage my attempts though, I’m going to end our little agreement. Are we clear?”

Norman slapped away the man’s hand, sick of the man’s attitude. “I told you not to do this. If you would have listened, this wouldn’t have happened. So stop blaming me when your I’ll conceive plans go to shit. This is on you. Besides, I have time to come up with an alternative solution that doesn’t involve killing every jorik we come across.”

Toby snorted but didn’t say anything else.

Norman realized he needed to stop thinking of jorik as lesser beings, even if they were generally unpleasant. It wasn’t exactly racism, but it was close and Norman thought of himself as being pretty open-minded. And hey, maybe his new attitude would eventually rub off on Toby. He doubted it, but you never knew, miracles could happen.

As for how to get away from using jorik blood to fuel his magic, he didn’t rightly know. But only a fool would rely upon a finite resource that was difficult to come by in the best of times.

It was a crutch that Norman needed to kick. There had to be other races that would be willing to help Norman overcome this obstacle. He just needed to find these people and figure out how to trade what he had, with what they knew.

As for Toby, well, he was busy wrapping the gaping hole in his hand with some fabric. The man seemed unconcerned about the hole.

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

Toby shook his head and despite his bad mood, he answered Norman’s question. “I can feel things, but the pain is more like a dull ache. It only surprised me… then there’s the blood or lack of it. I know you noticed.”

“Yeah, I was gonna ask about that.”

Toby shrugged. “You know as much as I do. My heart doesn’t beat, so there is no blood to pump out. It should have settled by now but it's more like it turned to a thick jelly in my veins.”

Norman perked up at that, earning a glare from Toby.

“No, I’m not providing you a sample. If you want some, scrape it off the inside of the cabin walls.”

Norman did just that, putting the thick substance in the empty vial that used to have his healing potion in it for later study. This did make Norman wonder what would happen if he gave Toby a healing potion. In games, they would normally severely injure or kill the undead.

That was something Norman was going to have to figure out eventually. Not that he had any more of the healing potion on him though. Some of the potions might have survived the fire at his house since they were in the fridge. But it wasn’t like Norman was suicidal enough to go back and check. Another thing he hadn’t told Toby was that he had stashed most of the magic powder around town in case of emergency and to keep it out of Toby’s hands. Norman just never figured the emergency would make it so he couldn’t return to the town to collect said powder.

If it came down to it, he could tell Toby. As for how they would go about retrieving it in that instance, he wasn’t sure.

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