THE LOVERS (Rain Ghoul)

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A PETITE FEMALE FIGURE walked in the middle of the dark, empty, woods. Her steps were sluggish and lazy. Her plain blonde hair blew with the wind as it blew past her, pushing leaves across the dark ground. The blonde locks contrasted with her skin which was so pale it almost looked white, the moon appearing to help show off the deathly color.

Not only did her appearance reek of death, but the blood that was smeared across her face added to the feature. She hadn't bothered to wipe it off, she didn't care.

It was a late night, one that hadn't been the best for her. It had started when she got blamed for almost getting her pack caught, something that wasn't her fault. Then she had gotten kicked out of the said pack because of it. And to top it all off she had to kill a good amount of people because the pack had outed her for being a vampire.

Athen didn't like killing people. Yeah, she liked blood from the vein over the dull-tasting blood bags she had been given to live off of for hundreds of years. But every time she killed someone the closer she got to losing the control she had over her hunger. Control that took ages to master.

Even tonight she had almost lost it, but after battling with herself she hadn't and for that, she was extremely lucky.

The sound of a stick snapping sounded off from behind Athen. At first, she had thought it was an animal but when it happened again, this time closer, she knew it wasn't. And just then she had turned around to face the looming trees that were once behind her.

"Hello?" She called out, her voice weak from the lack of use. The female waited several minutes but had never gotten an answer back, just the piercing silence that was there before she turned around. 'Maybe it was just an animal.' She thought before reluctantly turning back around.

"What's a thing like you doing out on a night like this?" An accented voice questioned from behind her. She jumped, surprised by the sudden voice, and turned back around quickly. Instead of being greeted by the trees like she was when she turned around the first time, she was greeted by a man.

His face was coated in what seemed to be face paint to make a skeleton-like figure. Black hair sat in tuffs on top of his head and a tight-fitted suit was what he wore. The moon shined down on him, highlighting the white paint.

"Sorry didn't mean to startle you." He chuckled moving his hand to pull out the folded piece of cloth from the pocket on his blazer. He held it out to her, signaling that she could use it to wipe her face. She contemplated for a second before grabbing the cloth.

She wiped the crimson off her face quickly, maintaining eye contact with the male. After she was done she pressed the cloth tightly in her palm.

"Who are you?" She asked, trying to gather a sense of who he was.  It was bizarre. A man walking through the forest at 3 in the morning with face paint on in a suit, of course, Athen walking through the very same forest with blood smeared all over her face was just as weird, but at least she was in ripped jeans and a cropped t-shirt, not a formal dress or anything.

"Right, I'm Papa Emeritus the lll, but you can just call me Papa or Emeritus." His voice was unwavering and smooth as he spoke, he reeked of confidence. His hand grabbed Athens and he brought it to his lips, placing a light kiss against her knuckles. If Athen was alive she would've blushed. "And you are?"

Athen's hand slipped from his and fell down to her side. She cleared her throat and ran her tongue over her blood-stained lips, trying to rid them and her throat of the dryness. "Athen, Athen Raith."

A grin made its way onto his face when your name fell past your lips. "Lovely to meet you Athen. I hope I'm not intruding on your time but I haven't seen one of your kind in a very long time."

A chuckle fell past her lips. "You're not intruding at all, Emeritus. I'm terribly sorry for asking, but you know what I am?"

"Of course I do, vampire stories have been passed down for centuries. After all I've heard it's not hard to spot one." He answered with a smirk. The male took steps toward her before standing just inches away. His hand reached out and grabbed the blood-stained cloth that was still pressed into her palm.

Athen watched his actions. A small gasp left her throat when he brought it up to her face, wiping away the little blood that was left around her mouth. He was so close. So close in fact she could feel his minty breath fan over her face.

"After all, you are the most beautiful creatures."

His voice came out a whisper but she had heard it perfectly. The two stood there for a second, just staring at each other. Eventually, he cleared his throat and took a step back before stuffing the red and white fabric back into his pocket. "So what are you doing out here? Don't you have a pack to get back to?" The male asked, breaking the silence. Confusion swam within Athen's mind as she watched him step back. Why did having him so close feel so right?  Athen broke away from her thoughts and blinked a couple of times before answering. "I was kicked from my pack, as of now I'm just searching for a place to lay low for the rest of the night."

Emeritus's face fell as she uttered her words. The confusion began to course through his body as to why she had gotten removed from her pack. The group that was supposed to support and care for her kicked her out? If that really was the case she must've done something terrible to deserve it.

Athen watched as he contemplated asking what she had done, but before he could she beat him to the punch. "Before you ask, I didn't do anything. I was blamed falsely and kicked to the streets." She spoke answering his question. The painted man made a oh face before it turned into a face of realization. A grin over took his features and he moved his hands to his pant pockets.

"If your in need of a place to stay I help run a church just a little while away. We have extra rooms and are in need of a little extra help."

Athens dull blue eyes lit up as she listened to him but fell as she realized that he said he helped ran a church. Vampires weren't able to go into churches, or anything that helped with the worship of God. It was holy ground. And well, her kind was considered unholy. But if he had known all these stories about vampires, shouldn't he have known that? And if he did, why'd he ask her?

"A church?"

"Oh! Not a holy church, of course. It's unholy, perfect for your kind and my ghouls."

A smile broke out into the vampires face once again. Not only did she now have a place to stay but she got to hangout with ghouls. Ghouls and Vampires were the best duo. Like peanut butter and jelly.

Stories have been passed on for generations. Each one a little different than the last but all had the same ending. They all ended with a fact that stated every vampire had a ghoul soulmate. Some ties never pushed through the surface and made themselves clear, others immediately made a appearance and it was clear as day that they were made to be.

Athen didn't want to believe these story's. Yes, she loved ghouls but the idea of having a soulmate made her feel icky. Yeah, she wanted to desperately have someone to love her unconditionally but the idea of finding a soulmate and them leaving made the idea of love push it's self back with the fear of abandonment taking first place.

"If you want to go we should get going now, it's getting late." He spoke breaking Athen away from her thoughts. The female nodded and straighten up. "Yes well let's go then."

And so they walked one with a smile on her face and another with a grin wide enough to blind a village.

-REESE SPEAKS-
First chapter my loves, it kinda sucked but I'm way to tired to care right now. Hope you enjoyed it even though it wasn't the best <3