The story begins in Mexico in the modern era.
3:00 PM
In a deep jungle a group of archaeologists was exploring a newly found temple, probably dating back to the Aztec period.
They were equipped with all kinds of items and gadgets to explore every little space in the temple.
The air was thick with incense and dried blood, a completely unnatural thing in a place that old.
Their steps could be heard in all directions as they walked trough a dark alley, leading to multiple rooms.
Most of the rooms were empty.
Their cameraman was recording everything, trying to find anything related to the ancient Aztecs..
There was a feeling of uneasiness as they wandered the halls.
One of them was leading the way.
A girl.
She wasnt an archaeologist, she was an explorer.
Master in combat, climbing, swimming, driving and survival.
She was born in Scotland.
Her name was Lyra Thornfield.
For her entire life she trained to survive in the most dangerous places in the world.
She was dressed in the stereotypical explorer clothes.
She had a backpack, a torch and a hat so big it made her face hard to see in the distance.
Her phisique was well shaped, and she was around her 20's.
As they approached a room at the end of the hallway, she was more and more curious to see what was inside.
As they entered, the smell of dried blood was intensifying.
And...
This room was different from the rest of the facility.
It looked like someone built it years after the making of the temple.
It looked demonic and out of place.
Candles scattered on the floor, weird drawings on the walls and a small table in the centre.
It took them a little over 40 seconds to realize that it was full of skeletons.
One of them screamed.
Of course it wasnt Lyra.
It was the cameraman.
He quickly recomposed himself and started recording all the corpses one by one.
They all were intrigued by what could have happened in that room.
It was an important discovery.
'A group of archaeologists found an Aztec temple full of corpses.'
Of course that would have hit the news.
But something felt wrong.
Where did the dried blood smell come from?
The corpses were already fully decomposed.
They all thought an animal died inside the temple, but there was no sign of it.
Still it was no time to doubt.
They kept exploring the room as it was really huge and dark.
After what seemed like 5 minutes of searching in the room, one of them found a weird item on the floor.
"Guys look what i found!"
It was glowing red, and looked like a small sealed jar.
Inside there was a floating fluorescent sphere, completely still.
No sound, no movement.
They then realized that the bloody smell was coming from that thing.
They gave a good look at it but no one dared to pick it up.
Then Lyra said:
"Ive never seen something like this, what the hell is that weird sphere...."
"This must be highly valuable"
Said the cameraman, as he leaned down to pick it up.
It was really heavy and no one expected it.
The cameraman was surprised and tried to hold it for as long as possible...
He then accidentally dropped it, doing what would then become the worst mistake of his entire existence.
The jar shattered, leaving pieces all over the place.
A dense red fog covered the whole room...
Now the smell of dried blood was so intense that they all started throwing up in disgust...
"Wh..what did you do!!???" Said Lyra in pure shock.
Their mind then started to feel heavy as they all fainted.
They didnt know what they had released upon the world.
An ancient magic.
A magic connected to ancient demons.
From now on, any human on the planet who commits murder, receives a curse, that gives them a supernatural ability based on the murder they commit.
But this wasnt only beneficial, because the curse would twist their mind and make them rot from the inside.
At the time all of this was still unknown.
Meanwhile In Japan...
6:00 AM
A 22 year old boy was driving in his car trough a deep forest.
His name was Isael Serrano and he was born in Mexico but lived in Japan.
He worked as a delivery guy and learned 3 different martial arts since he was 10.
At 6 years old though, he got completely traumatized by a tragic event.
His father, who was violent and drunk and had always abused his family, shot and killed Isael's mother in front of him while she was pregnant,and fled.
This deeply affected Isael's character and forged hate inside of his hearth.
He remembered that day very well...
His parents arguing, as his father pulled out a gun and shot his mother right on the forehead.
The disgusting and metallic smell of blood.
His own mother's blood.
An entire pool of it.
The sounds of the ambulance.
This resulted in him getting adopted by another family.
Still to this day he feels hatred towards his father, but doesnt wish revenge, as he doesnt want to be like him.
As Isael drove trough the forest, he was following the directions of his GPS to get the delivery done.
6:22 AM
After a little more than 20 minutes, his car's left tire broke.
"Damn it!"
"Where the hell am i gonna get a new tire inside this forest??!"
Said Isael annoyed.
He tried to fix it in any way, but the only things he had were a steel wrench and a camping tent with some food.
He tried to call for help with his phone but the line didnt work.
With no other choice, he opened the tent and started cooking some food.
His mind full of negative thoughts.
"How am i gonna deliver the box..."
"How am i gonna get back home...."
The smell of the food quickly spread over the forest.
6:47 AM
as Isael started hearing weird noises.
Branches breaking and leaves moving, something in the forest was observing him, quietly.
He tried to ignore the noises, but whoever was there, was starting to get closer.
Suddendly he heard the metallic click of a gun.
He started shivering as he turned his neck and noticed tall figure, with a mask on the face and a gun pointed at him.
A thief...in the middle of the forest.....
"Give me everything you have, including that huge box in the car."
Said the thief without moving an inch.
Isael was completely stunned, but knew that he had to act quickly.
He noticed that the thiefs hand were actually shaking.
That meant he was scared too.
Probably his first robbery.
Isael slowly walked to his car, following the thief's instructions.
Fortunately, he had a bunch of items in his car .
He started picking up a bunch of them, as the thief was roaming over him, ready to take the shot if anything happened.
Isael had the perfect plan to escape the situation.
He needed to wait for the perfect occasion.
As soon as he finished picking up things, he got out of the car slowly and started leaving them on the grass.
As soon as the thief got closer to inspect them and lowered his guard, Isael quickly blinded him with a flashlight he picked in the car.
He dashed and tried to disarm the thief.
The thiefs reflexes were good though...
Thats what adrenaline does...
A flash....the smell of gunpowder and blood....
The thief had accidentally shot himself, trying to resist.
Isael started getting flashback of his childhood.
The same smell...he had done the same mistake has his father...or did he? It was the thief who shot himself...
It wasnt his fault....
The thief fell to the ground, trying to breathe...
The bullet hit him directly into the chest....
Isael was too shocked to do anything....
His mind started blurring.....
"N..no i...i didnt do t...this....."
He fainted....
7:56 AM
Isael started hearing a voice, after a while...
"Y..you awake?"
Isael opened his eyes....
A completely white figure, with no facial features, was staring at him.
Isael shocked, started screaming..
"W..wait no..i dont want to hurt you! Well...not anymore.."
Said the figure...
"Y..you are not real!"
Said Isael panicking..
The figure tried to calm him.
"Its me...that guy you see laying dead...its me"
Isael's mind paused.
"Y..you mean you are a ghost?"
Isael had gained the ability to talk with the dead...but was it only that?
That was the doing of the Aztec seal that broke...of the ancient magic...
Isael had killed someone without meaning to..and received an ability...
The figure nodded...
"You fainted for over an hour.."
"Over an hour!??!?"
"Yes...i tried to get away from you...or to get to some sort of underworld..but it seems im stuck with my killer"
Isael realized it was him who killed the thief....
"I...im sorry for killing you...but you tried to rob me...and pointed a gun on me..."
The thief quickly responded annoyed...
"Yeah well...i had my own reasons."
"I dont understand....how is this even possible..."
Isael couldnt believe that the guy that tried to kill him...was now a ghost...and was stuck with him...
Isael quickly looked around...
"So uhm....what are we going to do now? How should i handle the fact...that i can talk with a ghost..."
"Dont ask me....im still shocked too...but thankfully you havent seen me crying...when i discovered i was dead.."
Isael started walking around...and they noticed that the thief could only move wherever he did..
"So uhm...whats your name?"
Said Isael...still guilty for his act..
"Im...Kenji..or..i was..atleast..whats yours..?"
"I..im Isael..."
Kenji looked at him...
"So..what are we gonna do with this...situation?"
Isael realized.
"I...need to deliver the box....if you let me deliver it...ill help you find a way to go to the underworld..."
Kenji looked sad..
"I..dont think theres a way...but ill let you do...i dont have much choice..."
And so...Isael started picking up his stuff..still shocked...while talking to Kenji about different topics...including something that may be of help to make him go to the underworld...
"I might know...a place where we can discover a way to help you..."
Said Isael.
"I hope youre right..." Kenji said..
That was his only chance...
TO BE CONTINUED