2.1: Love & Zombies

    WARNING: This may be a little PG-13

    "Flowers!" I gasped. "They're gorgeous."
    "I though that you might like zem."
    "I do." I smiled. We held hands and began walking to our scooters. "Will you tell me where we're going?"
    "You be surprised." He laughed for a moment, then said, "You Americans don't like surprises, oui?"
    "I like them...sometimes."
    "Sometimes?"
    "Yeah...when I know what they are." He began to chuckle.
    "That izn't a surprize then."
    "Exactly." I zoomed along the road a little faster.
    "Well, you like what we do." We pulled up in front of a winery and parked our scooters.
    "Um, I'm underage."
    "You're eighteen; an American adult, oui?"
    "Oui. But you have to be twenty-one...."
    "In America. It's dee-ferent in France. You're an adult. You can vote in America, enter zee military, drive, why does one suddenly become more mature at twenty-one? Alcohol ez okay, az long az you drink in limitation."
    "Okay." Ignoring the thought of my Mother scolding me. I was an adult. Besides, in France it wasn't illegal. We stepped inside and I gasped. This was the most bottle of wine I had seen together in one room.
    "It'z a lot, ezen't it?"
    "Oui." I nodded. We walked up to the counter. Francois began speaking in French to the lady, as I browsed for wines. I picked two of the finest bottles and paid for them.

    "Come." He said. "I show you zee surprise." I followed him into a room with an odd contraption in in. The walls where stone and cold, but Francois was warm. I leaned over to kiss him, as the heavy wine smell filled the room. As I pulled away, I noticed the grapes
sitting on the table. "Today, we make our own wine."
    "Okay." I smiled. He instructed me what to do. Put the grapes in the barrel and smash them with your feet. I tried doing it, but slipped and fell. I ended up stripping down to my swimsuit (Which 'd put underneath my clothing, in case we went to the waters) and smashing the fruit. As I turned my back, I could feel Francois's eyes follow my butt. Men. They're pretty much the same universal. "Hey." I turned around.
    "What?" He smiled, quickly looking up. But still not exactly at my eyes...more at my chest.
    "You need to help me." I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the vat of juice with me. We giggled like little children, as he slipped and fell, covering himself with grapes. I kissed him softly, pulling him out of the tub. We decided that our efforts where fruitless and that we could just buy a bottle of wine.
    Francois insisted on paying for the bottle. I poured it and we sat down together to drink.
    "Cheers." I said.
    "Cheers." He repeated, after me. The wine was delicious. It poured down my throat, into my stomach, giving me a warm sensation. I'm assuming it was the alcohol. We each had another glass, then decided to go back to my home and decide what to do next.
    "That was fun. Thanks." I sat on the bed and he sat on the chair.
    "We could go look at zee ruins, if yo
u wanted."
    "We could...." A sly smile spread across my face. "Or we could do something a little more fun." I gestured for him to stand up, which he did. I sat up and pulled him onto the bed.  I began kissing him.
    "It'z only zee second date. Don't you Americans have a policy?"
    "Third date, usually, but the only date I have tomorrow night is with an airplane. Wait." Is sighed. I stood up, and rummaged in my backpack. It was embarrassing tat Evelyn had assumed that I'd be doing exactly what I was doing and had packed protection. I handed it to him. A few seconds later, we were ready again. He slowly discarded my clothing, as I pulled his shirt off him top. I let him c
ome inside me, gently. He kissed my body, up and down, slowly. When we pulled away from each other and I sighed.
    "So..."
    "Are we official?" I asked.
    "Dating?" He asked. "I suppose....I'm not one for one night stands."
    "Neither am I."
    "I guess we're dating then," he replied.
    "Hand me your phone."
    "What?"
    "Your cell phone." He got up and walked over to the pile of clothing, picked it up, and handed it to me. I snapped a few explicit photos of myself and programmed my number in.
    "There." He wrote his number down for me, which I placed on the side table. Then I kissed him.  I took control of things again; let them me a lot rougher. "You don't have to be so gentle. I won't break." I whispered. As if my words where the key, he began doing exactly what I wanted. Rough. Aggressive. We trade places and I began kissing him. I turned onto my back and let him do all the work. When I turned around again, I hit my head on the bed post. "Bloody hell!" I screamed.
    "Tiff?" We pulled apart. I propped myself up, and looked at him.
    "I'm-I just hit my head." Regretting ruining the moment.
     "Do you need anything?"
    "No-" The pain seared through my brain. "Yes!" He put his shirt and boxers back on and exited the room, to the bathroom that was right
next to us. Nobody would see him anyway; it was one am. I heard screaming and someone being pushed into the wall. I sat up and ran into the hall way in my underwear. Francois was being attacked by a mutant creature. I tried pulling the thing off me, but it pushed me into the potted plant. I groaned and rubbed my bruised arm. I stood up again, when the vile thing bit Francois. "NO!" I screamed. Francois crumpled and began disappearing. I hit the creature again and again, until it accidentally rolled down the stairs and out the door. "No, no, no!" I cried.Was it really that bad? What we just did? Sure, the phone thing was awkward, but I was naked anyway, why not take some pictures? "Franc, please come back...I...dammit! I love you."
   A groan interrupted  me.
  "Francois?" I asked again, drying my tears. A mutant green creature that looked an awful lot like my boyfriend appeared.  Realization hit me. Full moon. Zombies. My brother told me legends, but I never believed him. Now I knew. And it was to late."I-I-we can work through this." I tried to take his rotting green hand and kiss his cheek, but he tried biting me.
    "Brrrrainnzzzz." His French-American accent still apparent.
    I ran into my room and locked the door. I threw myself onto the bed and cried. It was all my fault. If I had played good girl and been gentle, I wouldn't have hit my head.  He wouldn't have gone to get me an Advil and we'd probably still be making out with one another any have some wine. I cried myself to sleep; a vat of self-pity. I loved him. That's what I said. I suddenly wondered if it was true, or if it was a random though I said when I thought he was dead. No. It wasn't random. I was going to cure him. I had no idea zombies existed for real up until a few minutes ago, but I would fix it. I had to.
    In the morning I skipped breakfast; I  felt too depressed to shove another pastry into my mouth. I began asking around about zombies. Everyone's advice was to head to the bookstore and ask the owner. She had hundreds of books, all on different things. If someone had written a book about zombies and Paris (or the outskirts where I was staying) had ever heard of it, she'd have it.
    "Bonjour, um," I began an awkward conversation with the little French I knew.
    "I speak English, you know."
    "Oh. Really?"
    "It's impossible to run a shop in the tourist part of Paris and not. Too many people expect everyone to know their language; they don't learn ours." I made a mental not to learn French.
    "Do you have any books on zombies?" I asked.
    "Fictional or factual?"
    "Factual...my boyfriend..."
    "Is a zombie?" She guessed. "Full moon yesterday."
    "Yeah...."
    "Check upstairs or out by the front."
    "Thanks, madame." I walked upstairs and began to browse the titles. A mixture of French and English populated the shelves. Zombie 101: How Not to Be a Zombie in the Morning Wouldn't help me, nor would Les morts se lèvent which I assumed from the amount of pictures was a children's book of scary tales. I browsed and browsed, my efforts fruitless. Everything that  mentioned zombification didn't mention a cure. 
    "Whatcha looking for?" A lady with blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail asked.
    "Zombie cures."
    "Really?" She laughed, "Well if you're looking for zombies why not go to where they live?" She put air quotes around zombies.
    "Hey....that's a good idea. Thanks!" I ran out the door and hopped onto my scooter.
    "Wait! I was kidding! Zombies don't exist! I d-" Her screams faded as I rode away, to the grave yard. I parked and began looking around. I wasn't sure what to look for or who to talk to, but I figured the mausoleum and catacombs was a good guess. 
    I opened the door which let out a creek. The place had a musty smell. Bats flew past me, into the darkness. I walked deeper into the darkness, water occasionally dripping down on me. I used my iPhone as a flashlight. A chest covered in cob webs, spiders, and mold from the musty, dark, and wet place cover the wood, which was half rotted, was shoved into the farthest corner. The rusty metal look had a padlock the size of my fist on it, but looked useless. I bent down and pulled on the padlock. It was rusted, but solid. I didn't have a key, or lock picking supplies. The chest....was wood. Wood that's rotted. I stood up and kicked the chest. It collapsed into a pile of rot and metal. Nothing appeared to be in it...
     "Great!" I screamed, kicking a wall. Black soot rained down on me, making me angrier. Calm down. This is all in the name of love. I took a few deep breaths and began digging through the pile. A single old book rested at the bottom. 
     "Curses magiques à travers les âges: Magic Curses Through the Ages." I read the title of the worn, leather book. This had to be it. I stepped outside and began walking to a concrete bench. I flipped to the table of contents and read. Zombie Origins. Page one-ninety-seven. 
    During the French Revolution, magic was said to blossom. A great witch called La Puissante Sorcière; translated to The Powerful Witch began to rule. In English, she is often called The Great One. She cursed the souls who crossed her. Her most infamous curse was zombification; the rising of the dead and making them fight in battles and uprisings. 

    I flipped to the next page, scanning for the word cure. There it was.
    The only way to cure this is a spell. The Great One's female descendants are to train great witches the power of alchemy; a source of power for untrained witches and human folk. The soul searching for a cure must find fairy dust. She will give the dust to The Great One, the dust is her source of magic; a bond between creatures, who will create a scroll. On the scroll, she will give the instructions for the hex needed. You will have to gather the materials needed. 
    Not all witched need fairy dust, just The Great One to share spells. Many spells human folk can find themselves by practicing alchemy, but they will not be as strong as The Great One's spells and hexes. Few humans know of alchemy's power and assume it is children's lure. 
     Find The Great One. But first, find fairy dust. I have a felling that Kroger won't be selling it. I went home, showered, packed my bag, and went to the airport. I used my laptop during the flight to write a short romance novel about a girl who's boyfriend turns into a zombie. It's up to her to cure him. I researched The Great One after I finished writing. She appeared to be in America. I just didn't know which state or city. Alchemy tools where surprisingly easy to find. People regarded them as old relics that were collectables; not magic. I'd buy one at home.
  
    "Surprise!" Alex, Jamie, Mom, and Harry shouted when I walked inside. They had drinks and chips and dip and cake to celebrate my arrival home.
    "Thanks guys." I sat down.
    "Guys, can I tell you something? Cassie is-" Jamie said. Cassie. Perfect relationship. Something I didn't have. I felt the tears come as my face turned a splotchy red.

    "I need to go upstairs!" I ran upstairs,  tears flowing down my cheeks. I was depressed. Francois was a zombie. Everybody's love life was great except mine. Mom had Harry, we all knew Evelyn and Alex were going to tie the not; they just didn't realize it. Jamie had his  relationship with Cassie, that we assumed he'd ruin, since he was still stuck in high school jock mode....lately, though he's been acting like Alex. Sweet, kind; almost father like. And I haven't seen Cassie a ton lately, either. She always has doctor appointments or work....and she seemed to be suffering from weight gain. Strange... I should have put two and two together, but somehow I couldn't manage to. My thoughts were blurred.
    "Tiff?" Mom cried. I heard her knock on my door.
    "Go away." I mumbled. I curled up on my bed with my bottle of wine. I didn't drink any, I jst sat and stared. The wine Francois bought for me.....I got out my phone and texted him. I know he wouldn't read it in zombie mode, but it comforted me.
  
 I love you.