Perverse Thirst: A Ghost Walkers Prelude

Chapter 2

She introduced herself as Chloria, a new inductee in the coven, just as Pilo had suspected. Stolen from her family as they traveled the countryside, Chloria showed promise she could help carry on the agenda. Instead of being used as a puppet, for food, or a sacrifice, she was taught entry level magic. On her own, Chloria honed her skills and grew in power. With her increase in power, her enticement for power grew. In her opinion, the elder witches were no match for her, and it would be easy for her to take over as High Priestess. Her greed didn't make her ignorant. She knew the other witches wouldn't follow after her if she openly betrayed the coven. Making the death of the High Priestess look like it came from an outside source, would be the only way to get the coven to accept her as an authority. To complete her plan, she needed someone on the outside to frame, and she had her sights on Pilo.

The cursed ones were expendable, and easy to kill. They were all new to their powers, and very ignorant to their true potential. Without mentors, all of the cursed were knowledgeable of only about thirty percent of their powers. No one, except the cursed, wanted them to unlock their true potential. By opening Pilo up to some of his powers, she would gain his trust, and be able to eliminate him before he became a threat. Even though Chloria wasn't a part of the initial curse, the coven had instilled a disgust within her for those cursed with thirst and hunger.

She knew all of the original cursed, were all witch hunters. In the beginning, as the High Priestess expanded her power and coven, the surrounding community became fearful of what she was becoming. With every display of the coven's power, the stronger the community's fear became. To answer the concerns of the people, the government created a group of soldiers to study, train, and eventually, hunt the coven to eliminate the threat. P.A.C.E. (Protectors Against the Cursed and Evil) became the branch to combat these new threats. Unable to do it alone, P.A.C.E. pleaded with the Light Witch to teach them supernatural methods to help in combat. Reluctant, the Light Witch taught a selected few the art of ghost walking. Her reasoning behind teaching the art of ghost walking made sure innocents weren't killed during the attacks on evil.

Prepared, the Ghost Walkers located the coven, and the Hunters moved in to attack. Expecting the community's aggression, the coven put a spell on the saliva of the bats and wolves guarding the cave access to their den. When the hunters entered the different access points, they were assaulted by the coven's pets. Those bitten by bats were infected with the curse of thirst, and those bitten by wolves were infected with the curse of hunger. For irony, the coven wanted to make the protectors of the community, the new threat, and they succeeded.

Those cursed with thirst, grew fangs, and never were hungry again. Terrorized by an unquenchable thirst, the hunters found relief only when they drank fresh blood. Their agonizing craving had humiliated them. Hiding from the community, the thirst cursed, developed a counsel, and search for some kind of normalcy. The first order of the counsel was to get revenge on the coven.

Those cursed with hunger became animals. With each passing full moon they succumb to the beast with only goal, to feed. After every full moon, they lost a little of the person they once were. The wolf became more a part of who they were. Unable to keep the wolves at bay, those cursed with hunger became a priority for the community to take care of. Under the guise of a cure, the government rounded up four out of the five cursed with hunger, and eliminated them, with the assistance of the Light Witch. The remaining hunter, with the curse of hunger, tucked tail, and submitted to the coven for their protection.

Now that the threat of those cursed with hunger was eliminated, the people were now turning their attention on the thirst cursed. They were feeling successful, and pretty full of themselves. For the moment, P.A.C.E. chased false leads, unaware the Counsel of Those Cursed with Thirst (CTCT) had a man on the inside. Information was being fed to detract P.A.C.E. from the real threats. With a distraction in place, the CTCT implemented a plan to grow their numbers to form an army. Pilo was the present liaison between the man inside P.A.C.E. and the CTCT, and made him best suited to be Chloria's pawn to aide in her ascension.