Poison (A Ghost fanfiction) // EN

Chapter 3

Reyna, Nebula and the rest of the Clergy's ghouls stood before sister Imperator, waiting for their assignments. The dimly lit underground room casted shadows on the old woman's face which made her seem even older. And more evil, Reyna thought. Everyone knew the leader of the church was Papa, but the person pulling the strings was really sister Imperator. She insisted she would be handling the ghouls personally as she believed them to be vile untamed animals who, given the opportunity, would tear apart everything in their paths. That was, of course, a big lie carefully fabricated by her to keep the siblings and the ghouls separated, to create this idea of fear amongst the human members of the Clergy. Ghouls were thought of as dangerous but quiet servants often doing the dirty work. Ticking time bombs. Walking weapons. Murderers for hire. Reyna has heard many things said about the creatures of hell.

Nebula squeezed Reyna's hand. The air ghoulette had feared the old woman very much. Maybe because of what she would do to the disobedient ghouls. In her office, there was a wall full of mounted ghoul horns that showed just how cruel she could be. One time, Nebula said that going back to hell would be merciful compared to a punishment dealt from sister Imperator's hands. Reyna didn't have the slightest idea of what hell looked like, but when she saw her friend shivering with fear, she felt goosebumps on her arms.

So there they stood, a quiet wall of bodies, everyone dressed in the same black shirt and black pants with silver masks on their faces. Ready to obey.

Sometimes Reyna wondered if human life would be easier. By giving into her ghoul nature she gave up a lot of benefits that came with being a human. Mainly being able to live a free life aside from the duties every sibling had. But they didn't have a strict curfew. They could go anywhere they wanted, wear anything they wanted, do anything they wanted - as long as they completed their assigned tasks. Ghouls had it the exact opposite way. Yes, human life was definitely easier. But Reyna had her reasons why she chose the exact opposite.

Some of them may or may not have something to do with the current Papa.

She listened as sister Imperator gave her orders to the ghouls. Some of them were not very pretty. They ranged from cleaning duties to... well, also cleaning duties, but different kind of clean up. Rather than polishing floors, they would be cleaning up unwanted individuals. But thankfully, Reyna's task for today was the first kind of clean up. Even though she was to tidy up the crypt.

It was a rather cold place that gave goosebumps to many siblings of sin, though the ghouls rather feared going there. Soma said it was because they had more in common with spirits residing there than with the humans. If it was another lie fabricated by sister Imperator, Reyna didn't know, but she herself had an awful feeling of ghastly hands grazing her skin and twirling her hair the first few times she ventured there. Even now, she wasn't unfazed by the crypt's cold aura, but she had more or less gotten used to it.

Reyna started throwing out the wilted flowers placed on the final resting places of those important enough to be buried there. She and her group worked quietly, everyone heeding their tasks. The only thing that could be seen in the poorly lit underground was the occasional glint of a silver mask hit by a ray of light from a candle. A grim, boring job, really. But it could always be worse.

As Reyna went to throw out the fourth trash bag full of dead flowers, she thought about how different she would have spent her day a few years ago. But she was determined she had made the right choice. That day when she begged sister Imperator to be reassigned with ghouls, to never be treated as a human again, was engraved deep in her memory. A few weeks after the low blow from Terzo she had awakened from the overwhelming pain searing her flesh and bones. It was as if someone flicked a switch that illuminated the whole room. Her thoughts and emotions went from self pity to anger and spite. She had relied on Terzo too much. It was time she showed him that he was just a man, while she could be so much more.

Lost in her thoughts, Reyna suddenly collided with a wall and the trash bag full of wilted and rotten flowers spilled on the floor. Only it wasn't a wall she collided with, but a rather large growling ghoul. And he looked angry.

"If you want to pretend you're a ghoul, at least watch where you're going," he hissed, baring his fangs at her. Reyna immediately recognized him as Malec, a ferocious beast. Earth ghouls were usually quite mellow, but not this one. He was quite the opposite. And the fact they had a history together didn't help at all.

Still, she stood her ground. "If you want to pretend you're intelligent, at least try to communicate with words," she snarled back, referring to his growling and hissing.

"You're lucky I didn't crush you like a cockroach."

"Yeah, we do have similar hair colours," she replied with a sweet smile.

Malec towered over her like a mountain. Reyna refused to look or even feel scared. "Do you know what else you have in common?"

"We have more brain cells than you?"

The ghoul gave out a guttural grow, his hand striking up to her shoulder. Sharp claws digged into her flesh undoubtedly drawing blood. Still, Reyna did not show even an ounce of pain or fear, though it was getting harder and harder to conceal it as he was pushing her back against a stone wall.

"You're a pest, Reyna. Like that cockroach, you invaded our community, our home, and you acted as if there was nothing wrong with that. Do you think you're a part of the pack? Because you're not. Because you would have to be a ghoul for that. And if you were a ghoul, you could fight back right now." Malec's second hand shot up to her hair and tugged hard, baring her neck right at the artery pulsating hard and fast. Reyna tried to keep her cool. He wouldn't hurt her. He could be sent back to Hell for that. He wouldn't risk it.

"But you can't. You're too human for that," he hissed in her ear. She felt his hot breath fanning her neck.

"You didn't talk like that when you begged me to get in your bed," she said in a strained voice but with a smug grin. Her neck hurt like hell from being stretched with such a force.

"That was before I knew you. Before I realised I could just take anything I wanted from you and you couldn't fight back." His hand on her shoulder was now poking at her chest right where her heart was begging her to run. "Inside this, there's a beating heart. That's the biggest difference between you and me. I have never seen it in real life. Some say it still beats a few minutes after being ripped out of one's body. Maybe I should take a peek."

His eyes shone with insanity and determination, pupils blown wide. Reyna knew that look. This was a hunting ghoul now and she was in big, big trouble. She knew none of the other ghouls cleaning the crypt with them would interfere. No, Malec had them all scared shitless. So she did the one thing that worked on every man, ghoul or human. Her knee shot up hard and fast, not missing its target.

The ghoul fell back with a loud cry of pain, clutching his groin. Reyna wasted no time. As soon as Malec's hands left her body, she ran for her life. Judging by the silence behind her, her assailant didn't follow her. She turned round as she was about to turn the corner to see for herself but her gaze met with a large glass vase flying through the air towards her. She dodged the impact and the glass shattered as it collided with the wall behind her. Reyna closed her eyes as she saw a few shards flying her way but that caused her to tumble and fall. She tried to break her fall with her hands as she hit the ground hard. A painful yelp left her lips, her breath hitching with the impact.

Get up, get up, she thought. Now was not the time to think about pain. This was a matter of survival. So she scrambled up and got running again, adrenaline pumping in her veins. Malec still didn't try to follow her, but she knew this was deliberate. Despite the animalistic nature of ghouls, they were still sentient beings. He was playing with her fear, tasting it in the air, enjoying every second of it. As long as he didnt do anything really serious, the Clergy would not interfere. Ghouls were replaceable

Reyna ran with all her might. Her lungs burned and protested with every step, but her survival-driven brain didn't allow her to slow down. Not until she could get to safety. But not her room shared with Nebula. No, she needed to patch herself up somehow. She had to find a quiet place where she could cool off.

So she turned right as she ran out of the underground crypt. And even in her panic, she thought of how the stars were shining beautifully on her misery tonight.