Between Heaven and Hell | A Rain-Ghoul Fanfiction

2. The Stolen Key

Before the ghouls could tell me more about what life is like in hell, Papa walked onto the little stage. ''Test, test.'' He spoke into the microphone, causing everyone to be quiet and look at him. ''Ah yes, it works. Uh, welcome everyone! Today is the day that I have summoned 3 new ghouls! Unfortunately, we're going to have to say goodbye to 2 ghouls. But let me first introduce you to the new ghouls. Here's Aurora!''

The freshly summoned ghoulette almost tripped as she walked up on the stage. She nervously looked into the crowd as she made her way to the microphone. ''Hey everyone, I'm Aurora.'' Her voice sounded sweet and innocent. ''My very good friend Sunshine wanted to be with her family in hell, and so she recommended Papa to ask me to do her vocal parts in the back. I am honored that Papa wants me to be in his band, so uh, yeah, that's it.''

She stepped away from the microphone so that Papa could speak in it again. ''The next ghoul I'm going to introduce you to is... Phantom!''

A tall ghoul walked onto the stage. His body was relaxed, he held his chin up high, as if he was the most confident ghoul to ever walk this earth. ''Hello fellow sinners, my name is Phantom, but you can call me bones shredder, because I'm about to shred your bones!'' Everyone cheered for him, except Dewdrop, who just rolled his eyes. ''Bones shredder? Seriously? What does that even mean?'' ''You are just threatened because you're scared that he's a better guitarist than you are.'' Cumulus said. ''No! I'm the best guitarist!'' Dewdrop tried to defend himself.

''And the last ghoul that I want to introduce you to is so sweet that he takes care of his sick grandma in hell. His name is... Kärnan!'' Papa said, as the last ghoul walked onto the stage. He was tall and his shoulders were broad. His teeth were perfectly white. His walk was confident, but not in a way that it was overly confident like Phantom's walk was. His mask was perfectly clean, and his pitch black horns were fairly large.

''Doesn't Kärnan mean quintessence in Swedish?'' Swiss asked, full of disbelief. ''Quintessence ghouls are extremely rare, Aether and Swiss are the only ones I've ever known.'' Cumulus whispered. And she wasn't the only one, countless of other ghouls and siblings of sin started to whisper about the new, mysterious ghoul. ''What does the quintessence element power do in hell?'' I asked, confused about why this was such a big deal. ''Quintessence is the fifth and highest element after air, earth, fire and water. In hell you have to be nice to a quintessence-ghoul. Because they can use all of the elemental powers, making them way too powerful. Aether never likes to tell people about his element because well, look at how people are reacting to Kärnan now.'' Mountain said, before Kärnan spoke into the microphone.

''Like Papa said, my name is  Kärnan. Some of you might be whispering about the fact that I might be a quintessence-ghoul. And it's true. However, I don't think I'm more special than any of you. So I would like it if you called me Cobra instead of  Kärnan. I'm here to be a new guard ghoul.'' His voice sounded deep, and serious. It also sounded like he wasn't very happy to be here. Or maybe he just doesn't like talking for a crowd full of people.

After Cobra said that, Papa announced Aether and Sunshine, who then both walked onto the stage. Aether started to talk into the microphone first. ''I... I never wanted to leave. I never wanted to leave any of you, or the bananas here on earth. But Papa thinks that this is for the best.'' The poor ghoul had a hard time speaking into the microphone, but Sunshine took it over from him. ''I had a wonderful time here on earth, but now it is time for me to go back to hell. It was a blast to go on tour and sing all of Ghost's wonderful songs. So, thank you for letting me do this. And I also want to wish the new ghouls good luck.''

Suddenly, Sister imperator ran onto the stage. I was pretty sure that this wasn't supposed to happen. She said something to Papa that caused  him to have a worried look on his face. Nobody knew what she told Papa because she wasn't standing close enough to the microphone. But we all knew that it wasn't good. Papa said something to Sister Imperator, to which she stressfully shook her head. Aether and Sunshine were just awkwardly standing there, listening to the conversation, until they decided to get down from the stage and to sit at our table.

''What did Sister Imperator say?'' I asked them. Sunshine hesitated to answer my question, but did it anyway. ''Something about you and your grandma and about... Money being stolen from Papa.'' I nervously laughed. ''That's ridiculous, I might have the keys to Papa's room, but why would I-'' I grabbed the ring full of keys out of my pocket. Only to realize that 1 key was missing. The key to Papa's room.

''What is it?'' Rain asked, when he saw the shocked look on my face. ''The key, the key to Papa's room, I- I lost it!'' ''Sister Imperator just told Papa that it happened after he had summoned the new ghouls. It could have been one of them.'' Aether said, implying that he trusted me. ''Aurora would never have done it, she's my friend!'' Sunshine protested. ''I bet it was that Phantom ghoul!'' Dewdrop yelled angrily. ''Chill out Dew,'' Rain said, ''you can't just accuse people without having proof of that they did it.''

More and more ghouls seemed to have heard our conversation, and before I knew it, almost everyone was talking about the stolen money and the missing key. ''I bet that Rain's girlfriend did it, she used to be a Christian, you know.'' I heard a ghoulette behind me whispering. ''Rain is so naïve, why is he even going out with her anyways? You know that she and her grandma can't be trusted.'' Another ghoul whispered back. Aether seemed to notice this as well, he said something in Sunshine's ear, and both of them got up. ''Eve, let's go.'' He said, with a determined tone in his voice. As we walked out of The Great Hall, I could feel the stares of all the ghouls and siblings of sin stinging in my back. It felt like The Winter Dance all over again. The stares, the whispers about how I couldn't be trusted. I was glad that Aether and Sunshine were getting me out of this mess.

When we finally got out of The Great Hall, Aether and Sunshine both hugged me. ''It's not fair... I just wanted to let you know that we trust you, Eve.'' Aether said. Sunshine held my hand. ''Don't worry about what other people say, you are innocent, and they can't blame you without proof.'' ''Thanks guys...'' I said quietly. First 2 of my favorite ghouls had to go back to hell, and now everyone suspects me of a crime that I didn't commit? This day couldn't get any worse.

''I don't think it's a good idea to say goodbye to you during the un-summoning ceremony now that everyone thinks you're a thief. So I think that it's best to say our goodbyes now.'' Aether said. I nodded. ''You're right. I just want you to know that you are not only rare because you are a quintessence ghoul, but you are also just rare as a person. You have been nothing but kind to me since the day I met you. And Sunshine, you have been the sunshine of my life. I'm going to miss our girl nights together. I... I'm going to miss both of you so much. Thank you for being in my life, even if it was just for a few months.''

I hugged both of them once last time. ''Stay strong.'' Aether said, you could tell that he was not only upset about having to go back to hell, but also about me being falsely accused. His hug felt warm, and lovingly. Aether's hugs had always felt like that. Maybe that was what I was going to miss the most about him.

Once Aether let go of me, it was Sunshine's turn to hug me. ''They'll see that they're wrong. One day, they'll all apologize once they know that you are innocent. Goodbye, Eve.'' She softly spoke into my ear. ''Goodbye'' I said, while Sunshine let go of me. The 2 ghouls walked back into The Great Hall, leaving me with nothing but sadness inside of me.