Chapter Text
Bella was lamenting her poor life choices.
Huffing, she glared at the dark silhouette of her own shadow as she shuffled forward, the rocky ground crunching beneath her sneaker-clad feet. It was hot and she was sweaty, miserable, and lost.
Gripping the straps of her backpack, she pondered how she even ended up here, lost on some godforsaken mountain in Greece on one of the hottest days of the month.
Actually, she already knew the answer to that.
And in all fairness, she was just trying to be helpful.
Nineteen years old and finishing up her semester abroad in Athens, Bella had let her roommate Katerina -or Kat as she preferred to be called- convince her to join a group hike.
And honestly, she should’ve known it was a terrible idea from the get-go. Bella Swan and hiking? If it was possible to reserve a bed in the ER, Bella would’ve already called ahead.
But Kat had been so hopeful. Always the nature nut, she’d been pestering Bella to join her on one of her hikes for weeks - and for weeks Bella had been holding out strong. Until Kat’s boyfriend had dumped her…brutally…over text. Needless to say, Kat took it hard. So reluctantly, Bella packed two bags full of snacks and water, googled guided hikes near me, and prodded her heartbroken roommate into taking a much needed shower.
To Bella’s credit, it had been going well. The group had met up in a little town in Attica just outside of the urban sprawl that dominated most of Athens. The hiking guide was excellent, taking the time to regale the group with the myths surrounding Mount Parnitha as well as giving his own little anecdotes about hidden gems on the trails. More importantly, Kat had been successfully distracted, looking less and less heartbroken and more and more enthralled by the words of the guide and the gorgeous views of the Attic peninsula.
So Bella gave herself a pat on the back.
Oh, she hated every single moment of this outdoor adventure. Well…hate is a strong word. The views were beautiful, however, Bella had never been one for more athletic endeavors. She’d have much preferred sitting down with a good book or visiting one of Athens’ many museums to marvel over ancient artifacts. Instead, she was breathing harshly through her nose in an attempt to hide being winded by a beginner's trail.
It was pitiful.
At least Kat was happy.
Naturally, she just had to get herself lost.
When the group made a stop for lunch at one of the visitor's centers Bella was relieved. Practically collapsing onto one of the benches, she was grateful for the reprieve. Then her lunch disagreed with her and she was making a beeline for the restrooms. It was her own fault really. Who orders bean soup on a hike?
When she’d finally left the bathroom, the guide was already calling her group’s name and Bella couldn’t find him or Kat in the sea of hikers and tourists. So, she made a decision. Picking a random woman who looked vaguely familiar Bella followed her. Ten minutes into her trek she realized she’d gone with the wrong group. Too embarrassed to say anything, she tried backtracking to the visitors center, but they had taken so many turns, and all the signs were in Greek.
There was no denying it. Bella Swan was unconditionally and irrevocably lost.
To make matters worse she couldn’t even get a single bar on her cell phone.
After a few minutes of trying, Bella gave up on her phone. She reached for the side of her bag that held her water bottle, drawing it to her lips to take a sip.
Empty.
Bella stared dejectedly at her empty water bottle.
Of course, she thought.
Grumbling, she continued onwards. She was bound to run into someone eventually, she just hoped, for her sake, that they spoke English.
\\\
After twenty minutes spent sweating through her shirt and gloomily dragging her feet, Bella heard the sound of rushing water. She recalled the guide telling her group about the freshwater springs that were scattered throughout the mountain, places where hikers could rest and grab a drink of water.
Filled with a renewed sense of hope, she hurried towards the glorious sound. Veering off-trail, Bella made her way through the forest, ducking under the low hanging branches of trees and stumbling over rocks until, finally, she stood triumphantly over a small pool of clear, cool water. Dropping her bag, she squatted down and cupped her hands, greedily drinking from the spring. With her thirst sufficiently quenched, she finally took a look around her surroundings and immediately deflated.
In her haste to get to the spring, she had lost sight of the trail. Staring dumbly at the dense forest she had emerged from, she knew there was not a snowball’s chance in hell she was ever going to find her way out on her own. To top it all off, there was a distinct lack of people in the area.
Not a single soul around.
Just her and an empty water bottle.
Well, at least she could fix one problem. Dipping the empty container into the spring, Bella let the cold water fill the bottle, before replacing the cap. She promptly stood up and stretched her arms, attempting to work out the kinks in her back from carrying a backpack.
She would just have to stay here, she decided, until someone came along and took pity on the poor American tourist with no sense of direction.
So Bella sat down.
And waited.
And waited some more.
And it was too fucking hot for this.
Bella had never missed Forks more than she did at that moment, seasonal depression be damned. Looking for shelter from the heat, she quickly spotted a cave tucked between two large fir trees. It was a small thing, a formation of rocks sloping downwards into the earth, with an entrance just big enough for her to squeeze into. But it was only a couple meters from the spring and close enough for her to be able to keep a lookout for any passerby.
She just hoped she wouldn’t be sharing it with any bats.
Mind made up, Bella grabbed her bag and water and made her way to the mouth of the cave. Squinting at the darkness, she cautiously placed a foot forward to enter and immediately slipped down a steep incline, falling flat on her ass with a resounding thump. Groaning, she slowly rose to her feet and checked herself for injuries. No broken bones but she was definitely going to bruise the next day.
After gaining her bearings, she did a quick sweep of the cave.
It was bigger than she’d originally assumed. The narrow entrance of the cave tunneled off into a larger cavern. Bella could see light streaming down from what she could only guess were openings in the cavern ceilings, casting the large area in a soft glow. Patches of grass and flowers covered the areas of the cavern that were exposed to sunlight and water trickled down from one of the walls into a small pool on the right side of the cave.
It was all so mystical and Bella felt as though she was intruding.
And perhaps she was, Bella thought, as she stared at a raised dais of stone that sat in the middle of the cave. On the stone lay a man with his arms crossed over his stomach.
What the fuck.
Bella rushed forward.
The man seemed to sparkle as sunlight brushed his pale skin. Long black hair spilled over the edge of the dais, framing closed eyes and finely cut features. He was dressed in some sort of white garment that reminded Bella of the clothes that adorned the countless marble statues she had seen in museums.
In truth, he himself looked like a statue. Beautiful, inhumanly so, more akin to a piece of art than a person.
He also looked very dead.
Bella gawked at the lifeless figure. She might’ve thought he was sleeping if it wasn’t for the fact that he was just not breathing.
Bella let out a nervous laugh.
Holy fuck.
She continued to stare.
The cops, yes the cops. She should call the cops. She fumbled for her phone, flipping it open and…right no signal.
What was she supposed to do now? Briefly, Bella thought she might have stumbled upon a murder den. If she did, the serial killer certainly had some weird kinks, what with the whole sleeping beauty thing in the magical cave.
He was actually kind of pretty-
No, that is a dead body. A DEAD BODY, Bella scolded herself. She would not be unpacking the ethics of being attracted to a post-mortem serial killer victim today. She stood there in front of the corpse, unsure of what to do.
As if sensing her indecision the universe decided to take matters into its own hands.
Bella jumped back, heart lurching in her chest as the “dead” man suddenly shot up. Bright red eyes met her own and Bella froze.
He stared at her with an unreadable expression, blinking sleep from his eyes as if he had merely taken a catnap and was not in fact a zombie.
She stared back, dumbfounded.
She didn’t know what was the proper response -if there even was one because what the actual fuck - to seeing a corpse become reanimated. She was pretty sure this wasn’t some he rose again on the third day type of situation -as if she even believed in that- even if she did find him in a cave.
So Bella did the only thing she could think to do.
She threw her water bottle at him.
The resounding smack echoed through the cave walls as the plastic bottle made contact with the man’s face.
The bottle fell to the floor and the man -zombie???- looked at her as if he couldn’t believe she had done that.
She couldn’t believe she had done that either.
“...Sorry?”
The man tilted his head to the side before bursting into short, chortling giggles. Bella felt her face burn in embarrassment. Then she was hit with a wave of indignation -because why should she be embarrassed? She was not the one who came back to life in a bedsheet ready to kickstart the apocalypse. And he had a weird laugh, so really he should be the one embarrassed.
The man hopped off the dais on bare feet, shaking his head as his laughter died down to soft chuckles. He reached down, grabbing the water bottle from where it had fallen and inspected it with curious eyes. He held it up, the clear plastic material reflecting the sunlight, and made a noise of excitement. Handsome face split into a wide grin, he said a series of words that made absolutely no sense.
Met with her blank look, he repeated the odd set of syllables, voice a hypnotically smooth baritone, lilted with an unidentifiable accent.
His words were unintelligible.
Was he speaking Greek? It sounded like Greek.
“I…erm….I don’t speak Greek.”
He seemed to understand her as much as she understood him if his look of confusion was anything to go by. Shrugging his shoulders, he gently placed the water bottle on top of the dais before turning to face her. For a moment, they stood there sizing each other up.
Then he pounced.
In the blink of an eye, Bella was slammed backwards into one of the cave walls, the contents of her bag barely cushioning her impact as her head whipped back from the force of the gesture. The man loomed over her, face mere inches from her own. Bella felt her heart pound in her chest as panic overtook her.
Oh Shit-Oh Fuck-Oh Shit
He was going to eat her. She was going to become the zombie’s first meal. The first human casualty of the impending apocalypse.
He said something in that odd accent of his, smiling softly down at her. Close, way too close. Bella felt herself blush. He was beautiful -and congrats Bella you’ve become a necrophiliac, time to die of shame- even if he was going to eat her. He brushed her hair back from her face and she felt the gentle caress of his hand, cold against her cheek -corpse fingers, her brain screamed- and waited.
Nothing happened.
She looked up to see him standing frozen over her, brows furrowed in confusion. He seemed to be utterly perplexed. He grabbed her other cheek and smushed her face together -Bella was reminded of Mrs. Jameson, who would do the same thing every time she visited Forks as a child. Astonishment was the only word to describe the emotion on his face, then enthusiasm. At least he found her more interesting than the water bottle, she thought, as he gave her a Cheshire cat grin and went off on a tangent of which the meaning was completely lost on her.
“mmhhm…plesh lem me guh?”
He loosened his hold, backing away, and Bella let go of the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. She reached for her cheek, feeling the ghost of his touch linger, again, she felt her face turn red. He stared at her expectantly, waiting for her reaction.
“Thank you?” Bella mumbled awkwardly. She fought the urge to facepalm, did she really just say thank you to the undead guy who she was sure was about to make her his afternoon snack?
He watched her, smile never leaving his face, and said a few more words in that infuriatingly smooth tone of his. He turned around floating -floating? Was he floating? Maybe it was the whiplash from being thrown?- towards the dais, picking up the long-forgotten water bottle. He spun to face her, saying something in what she thinks is apology, pressing the bottle into her hands. She looks at the bottle and looks back at him. What was happening?
He keeps talking, gesturing for her to follow. Befuddled, she follows him because what else can she do? The two make their way to the entrance of the cave, the man talking her ear off the entire way despite the language barrier and her own inability to focus on anything but the strangeness of the events that had occurred. Distantly, she wonders if Kat had noticed she was missing and if anyone was coming to find her soon. How would they react to the man beside her?
She snaps back to reality just as they reach the mouth of the cave. The narrow entrance, revealing the water spring and wooded area from earlier. The man reaches up, grasping one of the rocks that line the entrance of the cave. He lifts himself up, attempting to climb out, and is immediately thrown back, landing several feet away with a loud thud.
Bella blinks.
Well, that’s weird.
The man sits up, puzzled. He tries to exit again only to be met with the same violent reaction from the cave. Bella watches with a growing sense of satisfaction. Good, she thinks, it’s his turn to be thrown around. After a third attempt, the man gives up and focuses his attention on her. He says something. She stares at him, uncomprehending.
What followed was the oddest game of charades Bella had ever played in her life. Perhaps, Bella thought, she was still outside, suffering from some bizarre heat stroke-induced hallucination. It certainly made more sense than watching this strange man, scantily dressed in a bedsheet, make hand gestures at her and the cave entrance.
He points to the entrance and makes a punching motion then points back to her.
Does he want her to fight the cave?
Sensing her confusion, he picks up a rock -it was the one she had previously tripped on, she realizes, as she stares at the rock lined with a series of unfamiliar symbols- before pointing at her and crushing the rock in his fist. She eyes the crumbled remains of the rock as it falls from the man’s open palm.
Huh.
That was…not normal.
She’s starting to get the notion that he was being gentle with her when he threw her into the cave wall.
At least, she finally understands what he means, she thinks, as he takes the water bottle from her hands and slowly pushes her towards the cave entrance. She grabs one of the rocks -covered in symbols like the one he’d crushed- roughly yanking it out of the ground. Lifting the rock over her head, she hurls it with all of her might at the cave floor. It shatters into several brittle pieces and the man hums in approval. She glances his way and he nods, waving the water bottle in encouragement. She faces the entrance and repeats the process until all of the rocks lay broken on the ground.
She’s sweating from exertion and her arms are sore when she turns to face the man. He pats her on the head as if to say good girl.
Then they’re clambering up the incline of the cave and stepping into the sun.