Nameless Ghoul

Firing Squad

By the time Itzal had got back to the Abbey and into Secondo's study, he was in full on panic mode. He paced back and forth and he couldn't breathe. His chest ached and he'd broken out in a cold sweat.

Secondo must have felt this happening through the bond before he arrived, as Quinn was there waiting for him as well. The ghoul was trying his best to calm him, but he was fighting it. His brain was going through all the worst-case scenarios and he couldn't shut it off. He felt confused about where and when he was, the scenarios in his head mixing with events from the past as his thoughts spun out of control.

Secondo had been sitting back and watching, giving him space to work through it, but he eventually sighed impatiently and came to stand in front of him.

"That is ENOUGH!! You will snap out of this right now!!"

His stern words were like a slap to the face. Itzal jumped back from him and met his gaze with wide, frightened eyes, preparing himself for the physical manifestation of his Master's anger. But the shock had pierced through the churning fog and he came to his senses. It was Secondo who had admonished him, not Santos. There would be no beating for this.

Quinn's mojo finally penetrated the panic and he let it soothe him. He slumped down onto one of the sofas and took a deep, grounding breath. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands as he tried to calm his shaking body.

"Are you back?" Secondo asked shortly. Itzal looked up and nodded. "Good. Because now you will listen. What did we discuss just the other day?"

Itzal looked at him blankly.

"We discussed the possibility that Santos could still be out there. And what did we decide?"

Itzal took a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders, earning him a scowl from Secondo.

"We decided," he said as he enunciated every word carefully, "that you and Sunshine should not leave the Abbey until we knew for sure what we were dealing with. You both agreed to this. Am I correct?"

Itzal met his stare and nodded.

"We did. But..."

"No! Do not say but... There is no but... You agreed it was for the best. And then you blatantly disregard my wishes, and those of Sunshine and the other ghouls by going off after an unknown threat on your own, with no backup from the Clergy."

Itzal sighed a shaky breath and stared at his lap.

"I know. It was stupid," he admitted. "I wasn't thinking straight."

"Air tells me it was the witch. Santos' witch. What happened?"

He couldn't form the words, so he sent the memory to Secondo, who shook his head and cursed under his breath in Italian.

"This is a mess. He must have added fail-safes into the binding spell as we feared. So we broke the bond, at least, but he had a contingency plan in place all along." Secondo went and sat behind his desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb. Quinn handed Itzal a bottle of water and sat at the other end of the sofa. "She must have used a cloaking spell to get past the wards in the public chapel. She wouldn't have been able to access the rest of the Abbey, but we should have picked up on her sooner, nonetheless." Itzal could tell Secondo was pissed at himself. He took things like this very personally. "Until this is resolved, we cannot let anyone into the Abbey grounds who does not already live here. We will lock down for the time being. I will get the witches to double check all the wards and lock down the public chapel, too. Quinn, can you bring them to me, please?"

The ghoul nodded and went off to fetch them, leaving Secondo and Itzal alone in the study.

"I'm sorry, Secondo, it won't happen again. I just didn't want her to get away before I knew for sure."

"I know Itzal, but she clearly lured you out there. They could have planned an attack. I know you are not under his control anymore, but they are powerful, more powerful than we originally gave them credit for. They could have taken you back."

Itzal shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. He knew Secondo was right, and he would follow his instructions to the letter from now on. He didn't even want to think about being back there with them. Secondo must have felt his remorse through the bond and he seemed satisfied.

"You should get some rest. Please try to enjoy the day. We will make a plan of action once we have gathered more information. Do not fear. We will extinguish this threat once and for all, si?"

And with that, he was dismissed to face the firing squad back at the ghoul lair.

The closer he got to the lair, the more he could feel the heat through the bond, and his stomach was churning. He had never felt anything like this from Sunshine and he almost turned left instead of right to ask if he could stay with Secondo's ghouls tonight.

As he entered the lair, he could hear voices coming from the lounge that suddenly went quiet once they realised who was approaching. Cirrus, Cumulus, Aether and Dew were all there, and Sunshine was pacing the back wall. Dew looked up at him and grimaced, a look of sympathy in his eyes. The ghulehs looked at him with pity, as well.

"Do you want us to leave, Sunshine?" Cirrus asked her.

Sunshine raised her eyes to his and he saw the flash of purple fire just before she marched over to him. He readied himself for a slap like the one she had given Alpha, but she threw her arms around him and breathed him in, before shoving him hard against the wall. The others made themselves scarce and snuck past them before she let rip.

"Don't you EVER do that to me again, Itzal! I have been worried sick about you! All I could feel was you panicking and freaking out and I could do nothing about it! You can't just dump me like that and go after a freaking black witch on your own, a black witch who would have slit your throat as soon as breathe!!!"

"She wouldn't have killed me. They want me back too much," he tried to argue, but that only made her more angry and she started prodding his chest with a stabby finger.

"Right. Yes. That makes it SO much better then. That's totally fine. So you wandered off to a possible fate worse than death, without a second freaking thought for your own well-being, or for the ones you were leaving behind here. Fabulous!" she yelled.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight," he said, trying to back away from the stabby finger.

"That's your problem, isn't it? You can't think straight when it comes to them, which is why you need to listen to us when we are telling you to wait!"

He frowned at her words and he knew she was right, but they hurt him. She growled in frustration and backed off. He reached for her hand, but she pulled away from him and it was like a shard of ice to his heart.

"I'm so mad at you right now, Itzal! I can't even look at you, but I don't want you out of my sight!" she whined. He didn't argue, as he figured anything he said now would just make it worse. He could feel the anger dying down slightly, but it was still there and he let it in, knowing that he deserved it. "I'm going to bed," she said in a flat tone. "I'll see you in the morning."

And with that, she turned away and went to her room, closing the door quietly behind her.

He stood there for a moment and he both heard and felt her sadness through the bond as the sounds of soft crying drifted from her room. He let himself into his own room and sat down on the bed, huffing out the breath he'd been holding and letting her sorrow wash over him.

Itzal suddenly remembered the little box that he had placed in his bedside drawer the other day after their shopping trip. He carefully removed it and grabbed a pen from the drawer. He quickly sketched onto the pale wood of the lid and put the pen back. Before, he'd always been pretty good at drawing, and the design was a simple one, so it hadn't taken long.

Itzal took off his boots and silently opened his door. The corridor was in darkness, as everyone must have been asleep. He couldn't hear Sunshine sobbing anymore, and the anger from the bond had died down, so she must have fallen asleep.

He carefully placed the little box with the stylised sun drawn onto the lid on the floor outside her room and stepped away. He went back into his room and closed the door, climbing into bed and closing his eyes, hoping that sleep would take him quickly.