Nameless Ghoul

Debts

Itzal felt more than relieved to be back inside the walls of the Abbey. The smells and the sounds helped to calm his frazzled nerves as soon as he walked through the door.

Omega had picked up that something was wrong, and Itzal could tell he was desperate to ask what it was and try to help. Sunshine intervened, though. They said their goodbyes to Seren and Omega, and headed up to their rooms.

“Do you want a hand unpacking your things?” Sunshine asked as they got to the doors.

Itzal looked at his door and shook his head.

“I’ll be ok thanks. It won’t take long.”

A look of disappointment flashed in her eyes, but she covered it up quickly. He felt like a bastard for refusing her help when she clearly wanted to spend time with him, but Itzal felt like he needed some space for a little while.

“Oh, okay. Well, I might wrap some of my gifts then. If you need me, I’ll be in my room.”

She turned and let herself in.

Itzal dumped his bags on his bed, taking off his jacket and boots. He took out the phone from his pocket, putting it on the bedside table. There were a few notifications, but he ignored them for the time being.

He flopped onto the sofa and sighed, trying to ignore the nagging feeling of dread when his mind strayed to what happened at the store. Thinking he saw Santos.

He reasoned it had probably been too soon for him to have left the Abbey. Everything was still fresh, so he was bound to be paranoid. He hoped he was right.

Talking to Shay about it tomorrow would help. The old ghoul knew more than anyone else here how these things worked, and an expert opinion would put his mind at rest.

Itzal glanced at the bed and figured the sooner he put his new things away, the better. He set about unpacking the bags, and put the clothes into his drawers and closet. The shampoo, razors, and other toiletries went into the bathroom. The blanket went on the sofa for now, as that’s where Sunshine kept hers.

The only thing left was the little gift that he'd slipped into his cart while Sunshine wasn’t looking. He put it in the drawer by his bed, and figured he'd better check the messages on his new phone.

One was from Terzo. It was a selfie of him and Omega making L signs on their foreheads with the caption:

“You chose the wrong team, loser! 😜😜😜”

Itzal laughed and shook his head.

The second was a group chat with Secondo’s ghouls that Earth had added him to. They all said hi, and added the details for their cards and whiskey night thing the next evening.

The third one was a text from Secondo, basically reiterating the sentiment from the note he'd sent earlier. Itzal sent a reply, thanking him for the phone and the money. He replied to Terzo with a laughing face, and thanked Secondo’s ghouls, telling them he would try to make it.

The thought of socialising with the mostly unfamiliar ghouls filled him with dread, but he reasoned he'd be working with them, and they were connected through Secondo, so he needed to make the effort.