Forever {GHOST BC}

Chapter 7

My eyelids slowly lifted, the product of ghouls running up and down the hallway long before morning break. Sodo's voice was recognizable, yet the others were still foreign to me.

In a state of half-consciousness, I laid still for a period, unhappy and groggy. I turned onto my back, looking up at the ceiling. Slowly, my eyes shut, on the verge of once more falling unconscious.

The door, however, was abruptly banged on from the opposite side. In came Sodo, after a period of silence. I remained unmoved, yet fully aware of his entrance.

"Good morning," the ghoul spoke, a wide grin on his face, leaning against the wall closest to the door.

Half-asleep, I barely made a sound, only managing to groan. I felt too sleepy to muster up anything else.

"Someone's happy~," he purred, chuckling. "Come on, sunshine. Get up," he continued, before turning and walking away from the bedroom door, giving it a bang before closing it behind him.

I groan again, throwing my hands over my face, slowly trailing them down, rubbing my eyes to try and wake myself up. With a long, pained sigh, I reluctantly kick the warm duvet off of me and push myself up out of the bed. As I do, I silently dread the thought of the day to come, knowing that the mornings will always be filled with this tired, foggy wake-up routine, possibly with Sodo making me even angrier in the morning. The thought does little to motivate me, and I continue in my sleep-induced haze as I slowly stand up.

After getting ready at a rather leisurely pace, much to Sodo's annoyance, I step out into the hallway, where I am greeted by a very impatient Sodo. He is standing outside of my room, having apparently grown impatient with the time it was taking me to get ready. Judging by the frustrated look on his face and the sound of the door being almost kicked off its hinges, it's clear that my leisurely morning routine was not his idea of a good time. Sodo stares at me impatiently, clearly in no mood for any more of my dawdling.

"Your ghoulettes take way too long to get ready." Sodo mutters to himself under his breath, not realizing how loudly he actually said it or that I was paying attention. I narrow my eyes at him, a smug look on my face.

"Oh? Is that so? And can the impatient ghoul not handle waiting just a tiny bit longer if he wants to wake me up wayyyy earlier than my body wants to?" I raise an eyebrow at him, letting him know just how aware I am of his impatience and my own lack of morning hurry.

He rolls his eyes, though the faint smile on his face gives away his attempt at nonchalance.

"Anyway... you still haven't met the rest of them, have you? Apart from Rain, very briefly."

"Not yet... I don't know if I want to either, if they're as annoying as you." I tease, giving him a playful elbow in the ribs.

He elbows me back, shaking his head in mock frustration.

"Oh well. They want to meet you, so you don't really have a choice," the ghoul replies with a smirk, coming to a stop in front of a door only a few doors down from my room.

"I won't give them too much of a hard time," I laugh, following along beside him.

He looks down at me with mock warning eyes before slowly pushing the door open, immediately halting the buzz of chatter from within as the ghouls and ghoulettes inside turn their attention to the door. Their eyes follow both of us into the room where we stand in the doorway, waiting to see what we'll do, their curiosity piqued.

"And this is Ember," Sodo says, motioning towards me. "Go ahead and introduce yourself."

I give him an impressed look, surprised that he had been able to get the attention of the room so swiftly. The ghouls and ghoulettes look up at me in silent expection, awaiting my introduction.

My mouth opens for a second, but I'm too caught off guard by the number of people in the room to manage any words. The thought of all of their eyes on me makes my confidence vanish like mist on a summer's day.

I snap out of the trance, quickly adjusting my stance to look as confident as possible, though my nerves are still obvious as I offer a nervous laugh.

"Umm... hello. I'm Ember... and I feel like I'm about to die... And it feels like Sodo's trying to offer me up as bait, even though I'm sure none of you will kill me." I chuckle nervously, glancing over to him for reassurance, but finding none. Though I try to hide it, my nerves are still on display, my voice shaking as I speak and the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. They had all been so quiet up until I entered, and now their eyes are all on me with a silent, piercing judgement. I feel more awkward and out of place than I ever have before.

"Alright, Bait." Sodo snickers as he gestures towards the others in the room, who are sitting down in various places throughout the room, their gaze fixed on me as he speaks.

As they continue to stare at me, my anxiety only grows, and I find myself struggling to maintain the false confidence that I had tried to muster, trying my best to disguise the nervous quaver in my voice.

A small moment passes, and then one of the ghoulettes stands up. She is taller than me, with dark hair, and is wearing a T-shirt and shorts with boots. She offers me her hand, smiling gently as if she can sense the nervousness radiating off of me.

"I'm Cirrus," she says softly, reaching her hand out to me.

I take her hand and shake it gently, smiling back at her in an attempt to mirror her own gentle demeanor as best I can.

"You'll get less nervous around them," Sodo says gently compared to his earlier cocky attitude, gesturing at the ghouls, trying to provide me with some measure of comfort as I continue to struggle with the anxiety that has come to define the last few minutes of my life.

"Now to try and get you to memorize everyone..." he finishes, and I let out a sigh, the prospect of remembering all the names of these complete strangers that I've never met weighing heavily on my mind. "This is going to be a long day," I murmur under my breath.