Commissioned [completed]

Chapter 7 - You want a third?

The study was unlocked when you skidded into it, leaving the door half-open behind you. You hoisted your bag on your back and were about to explode from the room when you heard clipped footsteps. You immediately held yourself to the wall to listen.

"You bring this up now? Are things in place?" It was sister Imperator; you relaxed.

"Things are coming together, Sister. This temple will soon see a new dawn," whoever was speaking had a rasped voice; it had you freeze in place with your hand to the door. Was that another ghoul?

"A blood-bathed red dawn," she said softly. "It is quite a shame and just as much an unholy miracle." Her voice slowly travelled down the hall, disappearing.

You waited for silence. You felt the warmth of blood trickling down to your elbow. You didn't know how to deal with that; you needed to find a hospital. You moved inconspicuously down the hall in case you ran into sister Imperator again, hiding as much of the bleed with your hand as you could.

It was a cloudy, dark night, and the car park was full. You dug for your keys in your backpack, and heard booted footsteps closing in behind you—the search for your keys became frantic. If not a key, then pepper, or a knife, or something. Just something. The keys came free, and your speed walk became a sprint. Caught the keys wrong in your door and fell. "Fuck." Your hands were slick with sweat and blood.

You turned, picked up your keys and found a ghoul staring at you. You tried again to open your door, and another hand promptly slammed it shut. The ghoul. You went into your bag for the knife.

"______."

You realised the stature of the ghoul and collapsed back on the closed door, breathing hard. "Fucking hell, Sodomiser. You scared the living shit out of me."

"I thought I smelled fear. And why would that be? You weren't afraid when we first met."

You sighed and slowly slid down the van's door to sit as your shaky knees gave up on you. "Just a shitty couple of days." Your body no longer obeyed; without your acknowledgement, it had decided to trust Sodo not to kill it.

Sodo bobbed by you and pointed to your shoulder. "I see that. Tell me what happened."

"It's... I don't want to," you gave up pretending.

"You misunderstand; I don't particularly care what happened," he said with a growl.

"Oh really, such a bedside manner." But it was an honesty you could trust.

"If this happened to you—if someone did this to you while you work for us... I get to go after them." He spoke with the genuine thrill of a hellhound begging to be let off the chain.

"Ah, I see; good thing it didn't; I tripped..."

He raised a finger cutting you off, "No bullshit, you don't want Papa Emeritus to know; you tell me, I won't tell him."

"Wow, this is an invasion...."

He raised your chin with that same finger. "No more, just tell me."

"He's right; you are short and angry."

You could tell he was smiling under that cloth.

"I don't have a choice, huh?"

His thumb traced over your lower lip, and you smacked his hand down with a foul glare.

"Some guy showed up at my motel wearing one of your masks. Came at me with a knife, I went at him with ghost pepper powder."

"Nice," he complimented.