Nameless Ghoul

The Witches

Secondo and Itzal walked through the maze of corridors to his study. Itzal clung to himself, still in shock over what had just happened. He’d always known that there was a possibility that Santos could get to him, but inside the Abbey he'd felt safe. Itzal had trusted in the magic there because it felt so powerful. 

He remembered what Sunshine said about his aura and how she could barely see Santos in it while he was here. But that implied that she could still see his influence and he must be exploiting that tenuous link that they still shared. He would have to ask her about it.

Secondo seemed pissed that the wards had been breached. Even though it wasn’t a physical breach, it was still a danger. Itzal could feel a low level panic buzzing through him as he thought about the last couple of days he'd spent here. He realised how good it had felt to be in control of his actions the whole time. He hadn’t been able to feel the darkness of Santos through the bond, hadn’t had to worry about curfews or committing acts of violence through no choice of his own or of being a passenger in his own body. As he thought about how the bond in his dream had felt, he knew he had to do everything he could to stop Santos from reclaiming him.

He'd built up a tolerance for living with it for all these years, a grudging acceptance because he thought that he'd had no other choice and he just had to deal with it. But now that he'd had a taster of what it was like to be free again, and he'd seen those of his own kind who lived and worked here, he wanted that for himself.

He couldn’t go back to Santos. It would kill off what little of himself was still left. He knew it was stupid to hope, because it could never actually happen. Being free and being alive were not possible for him. But even if he had to stay within these walls for the rest of his life to block Santos, it was a small price to pay to be his own ghoul. He allowed himself that brief fantasy, at least.

They reached the study and Secondo stepped inside. Alpha and Omega waited for them with two witches and when he saw them, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Itzal did not like witches. He’d had a lot of dealings with them over the years. The rituals that they performed for Santos more often than not required blood, sex, or usually both. Ghoul blood was more potent because of their links to Hell, so he had found himself the number one choice for the blood rituals that the witches conducted. He shuddered as he looked at them, remembering the ethereally beautiful witches Santos had at his disposal, and the absolutely rotten souls that they possessed. Their power came from blood and pain and they doled out the pain with relish.

He was actually surprised that the Clergy used witches, but he supposed that they would need them to maintain the wards and help to plan the rituals. Itzal followed Secondo into the room and a cold sweat broke out over his skin. He left as much distance between himself and the witches as physically possible. He kept his eyes on them so he knew what they were doing. Omega gave him a questioning look, as he must have noticed his apprehension.

He sensed that they were witches, but actually, these two looked nothing like the ones Santos used. The smaller one was a plain-looking woman in her thirties, dressed in leggings and a hoodie. The taller and younger of the two had black hair shot through with electric blue streaks, dramatic make-up, and a face full of various piercings. They both looked at him and smiled what looked to be genuine smiles. The older one approached him and he couldn’t help himself. Before he realised what he was doing, he backed away and bared his fangs at her. She stopped short with a surprised look on her face, and Omega quickly stepped between the two.

He looked at the witch and gently said, “I don’t think he likes witches.”

The witch met his gaze with a sympathetic look.

“My name is Seren. I'm the Clergy's Head Witch and I'm in charge of the magic at the Abbey. My sister here is Helena,” she said as she motioned towards the younger witch. “I just want to take a closer look at the collar and see if there is anything I can do to help. I may be able to block the signal to it. Is that ok? I promise I won’t touch it. I’ll just look.”

He stared at her and took a deep breath. She didn’t smell the same as the witches he had encountered either. They smelled of blood and sulphur. This one smelled of herbs and something spicy. And Omega? His scent seemed to be all over her, so Itzal guessed that they must be close. He knew Omega was Terzo’s ghoul, though, so she couldn’t have enslaved him. He must be hers by choice.

“I’m guessing the witches you’ve met before were black witches? From what I’ve been told about you, and what I know about the Santos family, I’m going to presume they were. You need to know that they are very different from Clergy witches. We are born with our gifts. They are not. So they have to gain them through blood sacrifice and pain. Your reaction is completely understandable if they're the witches that you’ve dealt with before,” she said as she peered at him around Omega. In a quieter voice that was full of concern, she added, “I’m so sorry you had to deal with them.”

Itzal felt his cheeks flush with shame as he realised that she knew exactly what the black witches would have used him for. He dropped his gaze to the floor and nodded to her it was okay to look at the collar. She stepped around Omega and stood in front of him.

She was a fair bit shorter than him, so the collar was at her eye level. Omega hovered protectively nearby, ready to step in in case he freaked out again, he presumed. He raised his chin so she could get a better look.

“Has anyone checked these wounds yet?” Seren asked. Secondo shook his head. “Well, they need cleaning up and looking at, sooner rather than later.”

Itzal had forgotten about the scorches from the collar, but when she mentioned it, they began to throb. She inspected the collar closely, mumbling to herself as she read the symbols and she tutted every now and again. Itzal kept very still and kept his eyes on Omega. Even though he was still nervous of her, he didn’t want Omega to get all twitchy and knock him out if he made any sudden movements around her.

She stepped back with a thoughtful look on her face and addressed Secondo.

“So you were right Secondo, they’ve taken one of the original collars and they’ve done something to the inscription. I think Santos was trying to strengthen the bond through the collar to re-establish control over him because the wards were blocking their actual bond. The collar is just like the picture in the scroll you showed me, but with some amendments. I presume they are specific to his ghoul species? I’m sorry, I didn’t think to ask. What kind of ghoul are you?”

“Shadow," he responded.

She nodded.

“Ah yes, Itzal. It means shadow in the old Basque. I should have realised.” He raised his eyebrows at that. He hadn’t known that when Santos named him Itzal that it had an actual meaning behind it. Itzal suddenly didn’t seem to mind the name as much anymore. “Sorry, I’m a bit of a language nerd. I'll do some research but I think we can change the inscription just enough that it will break the connection temporarily. He will find a way around it eventually, I'm sure, though. Obviously, you are bonded to him, not just through the collar. But I’m pretty certain that's what he was trying to do. He must have been trying a ritual to change the inscription, and that's why the symbols were burning. The inscriptions have to be made with hellfire.”

The younger witch stepped towards them.

“I have a couple of ideas actually, so we can look into it over breakfast if you like? We can order something and have them drop it off here.”

"That sounds like a plan," said Secondo. "I'll get someone to come and clean up your neck as well, Itzal, and then we will make a start."

Everyone agreed on that, and they got to work.