guarded by ghouls [g.b.c.]

seven.

"you have 3 angry ghouls running after you; what do you do?" cirrus asked, planting her hands on the table in front of me.

"distract them then run." i answered.

cirrus hummed, standing back and holding her arms behind her.

"the distraction doesn't work; what do you do?" cirrus offered.

"run, dodge corners, hope you find something to ward them off." i grinned.

aether chuckled from the corner of the room, his arms crossed as he looked over at mountain.

mountain was smirking at the ghoulette, his tail swaying back and fourth.

cirrus nodded, "what if you have all the ghouls chasing after you?"

"hide." i shrugged. cirrus chuckled, "we have enhanced senses, we could smell you if you hide now. a super moon just makes everything more intense. you wouldn't last five minutes hiding." cirrus challenged, a glint in her eye.

i smirked, "the book of ghouls says otherwise."

"the book of ghouls?" cirrus rose a brow, "and how do you know to trust it?" she asked.

"i have my reasons," i shrugged.

swiss grinned, looking at cirrus.

"really? you're cornered and all you have is salt, matches, and incense. you can only use two. which are you using?" cirrus asked.

ghouls will become enthralled with any rhythmically moving fire and/or smoke. they'll watch all movement for hours if you catch them at the right time.

during intense moon phases/types, ghouls will go crazy for any kind of primal mind stimulation. use this to your advantage.

"light the incense and keep it burning while moving it around." i shrugged.

"she's good.." dew commented, obviously trying to tease cirrus. cirrus scoffed, rolling her eyes at dew before glaring down at me.

i simply stared back.

after a few moments cirrus' glare turned into a smile.

"i think she's all good, guys." cirrus grinned, turning to face all the ghouls. aether laughed, holding out his hand to dew, making the fire ghoul groan and hand him $20.

i looked over at rain, raising an eyebrow.

"they made a bet on if you'd pass first try or not." rain explained. i hummed and nodded, standing from my seat and giving cirrus a hug before walking over to the ghouls.

aether held up his hand for a high five, which i happily gave him.

"you did great, y/n," swiss smiled. "thank you." i grinned. "hopefully the 13th goes well." mountain stated, lowering the mood slightly. "isn't it a friday?" dew asked, looking around at the ghouls. "thursday, i think." rain corrected. "either way," aether jutted in, getting rid of any superstitious ideas, "we can't let 13th go bad." aether stated, everyone nodding along.

"i wonder if there's any hidden info in the book about how to bring the affects of the moon down before the sun actually sets." mountain thought out loud. i shook my head, "i've searched everywhere that something about the moon could be hidden. nothing."

rain sighed, sitting on the couch arm and leaning into the wall.

"why don't we talk to the ghoulettes about it?" i asked. "they're not as primally effected by the moon phases as we are. the ministry hides them somewhere so we can't get to them." swiss explained. i hummed, nodding.

"why not put me down there then?" i asked, thinking that was the obvious answer. "the ghoulettes don't like people in their space during important moons." aether said plainly. "oh.." i mumbled.

"whatever happens, you'll be fine." mountain smiled, placing his hand on my shoulder. "yeah! plus, if any of us hurt you it would probably just-" dew started. "shut up, dew! you aren't helping." aether exclaimed. dew mocked the mystic ghoul, crossing his arms.

i smiled as rain shuffled over, taking my hand in his and walking me out of the common room, the ghouls following, "we should start setting up the ministry."

643 words