Nameless Ghoul

The Third Day

Itzal lasted three days.

The first night was the worst. Sunshine slept fitfully and kept jumping herself awake. Itzal thought she must be in shock from her ordeal; Secondo told him it would happen. He made sure that he stayed with her. She seemed to want to be in constant contact with him and he didn't have any problem with that.

She spent the night mostly curled into him, hiding her head under the covers. He soothed her through the bond as much as he could, and he could feel her stress coming back through it. He didn't sleep much at all.

When she dozed off, he watched over her and when she was awake; he petted her. He held her tight and he whispered sweet nothings into her ear in Ghoulish as she cried.

In the morning, he made her some breakfast while Cirrus and Cumulus snuggled with her, but she didn't eat much. She pushed the eggs around the plate and she didn't touch the pancakes at all.

"Do you want me to make you something else? You need to eat something, Sunshine," he asked her.

She sighed and looked up from her plate.

"I'm not really hungry. I think I'll go back to bed."

The sadness coming from her was all-consuming. He hated it because Sunshine was such a vibrant soul and he'd got used to having that feeling of happiness and peace coming through their bond from her.

A slow burning anger had ignited in his gut and the more Sunshine cried, or woke up from a nightmare, or shied away from life, the hotter the fire burned.

The next couple of days were much of the same. She didn't want to leave his bed except for bathroom breaks, and she barely ate anything. She drank the tea that Rain had made a point of bringing her regularly.

Omega stopped by to check on them and he talked to Itzal in the lounge while Aether, Swiss, and Dew sat with Sunshine. He didn't want to be away from her for too long though, so he made his excuses and went back to their room. When he walked in, Aether was trying to cheer her up by telling her about something funny that had happened on their run that morning. Swiss looked up at him when he entered and shook his head with a sad smile. They left and Itzal resumed his place with her on the bed. He sat with his back against the headboard and she lay with her head in his lap. He was stroking her hair and gently twisting the curls between his fingers.

"Do you want to sit with the others in the lounge? It would be nice for you to get a change of scenery, maybe?" he said.

"I can't, I just... I just want to stay here. For now. I want to forget it all, but I just can't. Every time I close my eyes I remember them, and what they did," she said, her voice wavering as her tears fell. Itzal closed his eyes and tipped his head back. "How do I forget?"

"I wish I knew," he replied.

And that was it. That was the straw that broke him.

The slow burning fire turned into a raging inferno.

Sunshine cried herself to sleep, and Itzal carefully extracted himself from underneath her. He went to find the other ghulehs to sit with Sunshine so that she wouldn't be alone when she woke up. They looked worried when they saw him, but he told them he was going for some fresh air. He didn't look back as he left the ghoul lair.

Itzal walked through the Abbey and took the stairs down to the basement. The cells where Itzal had been kept were one floor below the main Abbey, but another floor down were the main cells, or 'The Dungeons', as they were known amongst the ghouls. These cells were for those that the Clergy wanted to disappear. Once someone went down here, there was zero chance they would leave; alive, at least.

He didn't know exactly where he was going. He kept wandering along the dimly lit, bare stone corridors, but he could hear someone shrieking and cursing. As he got closer, he realised it was the red-haired witch.

He could feel the wards that shrouded the whole area prickling on his skin. The magics here were even more powerful than the wards protecting the main Abbey.

As he rounded the corner, Alpha and Ifrit stood guard in front of the doors that led to a small block of cells. Itzal's eyes glowed with silver fire as he saw them, and he curled his lip and growled as he approached. Ifrit sighed.

"Nope. No way. Just turn around Itzal. Please," he said.

Itzal stopped in front of them.

"Let me through," he growled.

"You seriously think we're going to do that?" Alpha said. His face was still bruised and swollen and he had cuts from Itzal's beating. "Secondo has given strict instructions to not let you anywhere near him."

Itzal was stunned. He had more right than anyone to rip Santos to pieces. How could they keep him from him?

Alpha stepped up to him.

"You need to get back to Sunshine. She needs you. We've got this under control. Secondo has been interrogating them. He will come and get you when the time comes."

Itzal screamed in frustration and punched the wall, instantly regretting it when he felt pain shooting up his arm.

"I can't fucking stand it any longer! Knowing what he did to her and that he is here under the same fucking roof as her! I need to see the life draining from his eyes! He needs to die beneath my claws! I can't do anything to help her! She's never going to be able to forget this, to forget him! What the fuck am I supposed to do?" he screamed.

Alpha gave him a sympathetic look.

"Every single one of us will back you up when the time comes, but that time is not now, Itzal. We all want a piece of him, but he is suffering under interrogation. That will have to give you solace for now. Go back to Sunshine and help her heal. Just be there for her; that's all she wants, all she needs. Please. Go back to her."

Itzal growled, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, Alpha was right.

He turned tail and stalked back up to the lair.