Something…Something was missing. What was he missing?

My name…I forgot…my name is Rick…

Rick. That was the man's name. But that wasn't what was missing.

An accident…No, a fight…I got hurt in a fight…

Rick was barely aware that his body was lying flat on the cold ground. At least he thought it was cold. What he felt was beyond numb. It was like the very nerves in his body had died, like there were no sensations to be muted.

"How did it feel?"

A voice. A girl's voice. She sounded young but there was something about the way she spoke. It was as if she was a body without a human spirit. No emotion at all.

"I don't want to talk about it…"

Another girl. This voice was older and tinged with remorse. Rick felt drawn to the voice…It had what he was missing…

"You need to tell me."

Tell her what? Rick could feel his mind slipping away into darkness. His memories were fading along with his identity. He wanted to be scared but the emotion felt so alien to him.

"It felt amazing" Was the girl crying? "And I never want to do it again."

"But in the blood. Was there something in the blood?" The soulless girl either didn't notice the distress in her friend, or didn't care.

"How did you…It felt…as I drank his blood, there was something else…something alive." The voice took a moment for a deep breath. "It was like Pip, but so much worse. It was like something sick, weak and writhing inside of me …I feel a part of him is inside me…"

A part of me…She has a part of me…

That's what was missing. The man…what was his name again? That wasn't important. The man needed to get it back. He slowly forced his arms to move but they felt slow and sluggish. He managed to bring his head up, his eyes were covered in blood but he could make out two figures. A black haired girl, standing beside a blonde one. The blonde one looked in pain, she was curled in a ball and hid her face in her arms.

"I think I know what that was." The younger girl spoke slowly as she formed her thoughts. Neither of them had noticed the man staring at them from the ground. "You took a part of his soul."

"You don't think I know that?" The blonde snapped back. "I felt it rip apart as I drank his blood!"

A soul. The blonde one has my soul…

The man needed it. The desire for his soul was greater than that of food, of sex, of love, drugs or anything else he had ever wanted. That all-consuming drive allowed him to force his decrepit body to move as he called out to the figures.

Help…me…

What came out of his mouth was a cold, deathly moan.

Both of the girls suddenly turned to face his body. The blonde almost fell backwards, a look of horror on her face when she saw what she'd wrought. The younger one briefly showed surprise, but it was quickly masked. But even through the mask the man could see something. Pity? Regret? A deep seated sorrow that radiated from her being. This girl had a human soul, even if she refused to acknowledge it.

Where was he? A city? A town? A kingdom? Who was he? Nothing seemed to matter anymore. Nothing except that need for his soul.

"Oh my god" The blonde one's voice was barely a whisper, her white skin somehow grew paler. "He's a ghoul…". Her eyes widened as the man forced himself to rise. "I made him a ghoul…"

Help…me…

He could feel his will and his mind growing weaker. Soon he may not even remember what was missing. Soon all he would be left with is that need, that insatiable need for something he can't remember. In desperation, he lunged at the blonde one.

"Stop!" She held her hand forward.

The man stopped. His body wouldn't obey him, and he simply stood, his broken jaw hanging from his head and blood still dripping from a stump on his shoulder. He willed himself to move with every fiber of his being, but with a single word the blonde one had taken away his freedom.

"What…what happened?" The blonde one looked stunned that her word had such an effect.

"You have part of his soul…" the young girl spoke, never taking her eyes off the ghoul. "He has to obey you."

Help…me!

He was trapped. He was in Hell. A shadow of a man that had died. He could only scream within the confines of a dead body. There was only that hunger and desire for what she had. There was only that insatiable thirst that dominated everything. All the while his body stood still, awaiting its next command.

"Can you hear him?" The young girl continued. "Tell me, Seras. Can you hear him?"

Now the blonde one came closer, her fear had been replaced by a cautious curiosity. She brought her face inches to his and stared deeply into her eyes. Then there was a moment of realization.

"He's screaming…I can hear him screaming."

And the man kept screaming. His body was numb, but what little was left of his mind was on fire. Anybody but the blonde one would never be able to tell his suffering just by looking at his body. A slight breeze swayed his body as if it hung from a noose.

"I did this." The blonde one turned to the young girl, horrified by man's screams.

"Now you know the truth about ghouls." The young girl fearlessly reached into the ghouls pockets. The man. Was he a man anymore? Was he any more than a corpse? The corpse watched as her bloodsoaked hands retrieved a single bullet. "There's only one thing you can do."

Even as he raged, screamed and whimpers in the confines of his own mind, the corpse was envious of the girl's life. Even its master, a picture of youth, was trapped in a curse of undeath. The young girl would grow old, feel pain and beauty and one day die. The corpse yearned for that life again, or at the very least that death.

The knowledge that life was forever out of its grasp redoubled the corpse's pain. Its master winced as another cry of pain ravaged her psyche.

An escape! Please an escape!

Could she hear its thoughts? Could she tell what it was for? He would do anything to end the pain. The seconds seemed to drag on forever as the blonde realized what she'd have to do.

"Give him an escape." The young one said, handed the loaded revolver to its master.

She took the revolver and slowly walked up to the corpse. It watched through glassy eyes the barrel was brought to its forehead. Its existence had been mere minutes, but it felt like it had been an eternity. Its body gave no sign of acknowledgement or life, yet its soul yearned for the trigger to be pulled. Tears were streaming down its master's face, as if she could feel a part of the pain it was in.

"I'm…so…sorry" She said before pulling the trigger.

As the bullet collapsed what was left of its brain, a sigh of relief, easily mistakenly for another deathly groan escaped the corpse's mouth. Its body collapsed to the ground, and it felt the sweet embrace of oblivion.

An escape.

AN:

This was a very experimental chapter for me. I had been trying to write every chapter from a single character's point of view, but capturing the perspective of a ghoul was a decision I made early on. I thought it would be the best way to show the kind of torment that Seras brought onto poor Rick.

Furthermore, the concept of mercy killing, and an escape was also an important idea I wanted to establish, as it becomes relevant later in the story.

I also wrote the chapter in this style to mirror when Integra had been forced to kill her own soldiers that had been turned into ghouls. It was a time when Integra had to own up to her own mistakes and face serious consequences, and I wanted Seras to face that same challenge.