Chapter 10. Ghouls
"What are Ghouls?" Jack asked.
"I'll explain later! Now make a deal with him!" Daman nearly shouted.
"Alright alright!" Jack put his phone away and turned to Robert, "So these Gho- I mean curses. You said you found some too strong to contain?"
"Yeah, we can't even get past its barrier!" Robert said.
"Think maybe I could...tag along on the next one you go for?"
"Hm...while you have some knowledge I need to test you first."
"What kind of test?"
"I'm gonna pick an incantation from the book and have you attempt to use it."
"Alright."
Damian got to Jack's ear. "Wait! Tell him instead you'll fill in some missing pages!"
"What? How?" Jack whispered.
"Place me on the covers center, read the first ring of words, and pour in your demon energy,"
"How do i pour in my-"
"You ok?" Robert asked.
"Oh! I'm fine! sorry!...um...actually...can I try something?"
"Like what?"
"Can I see the grimoire real quick?"
"Sure," Robert handed him the book.
Jack placed it on the table and put his hand on the center. 'Now what? I can't read thi- hm?' Jack looked at the inscription and found that while he's never seen words like these before, he could still somehow make out what they say. "...Tritan," the first word lit up, surprising both him and Robert, "...Itara syphon...voltora...ichibara ikonis siena," each word he said caused another to light up on the book, the circle being nearly complete, "Ilini dokon….frelious!" The ring was complete and the center gained a red dark spiral, looking like some sort of hellish portal. "Whoa!"
"Whoa is right!"
'Damian said pour in my demon energy, but how do I do that?'
Damian could tell Jack was at a loss. He couldn't remove himself from the book so he bent down to pull Jack closer. "Think like when you turn demon, just without turning demon," He whispered through his arm.
"Oh!" Jack raised up and focused on that feeling he gets whenever he transforms, bringing out that energy. He felt that energy begin to surge as it comes out of his palm and into the book. The grimoire began to shake and rumble, red electricity sparking around it. The lights began to flicker as an encroaching darkness surrounded them, demonic words coming out of the darkness and into the book. Jack felt his body tingle and he started to change to his demon form. "Oh crud!" He tried to hold back his transformation as his energy kept going in, even Damian was trying not to change. He hoped Robert wasn't watching him as this happened. A few more seconds passed as the words coming from the darkness began to lessen along with the shaking.
The last word entered the grimoire and it glowed a bright red. In a split second the darkness dispersed, the electricity stopped, and the books glow diminished. the first ring of words became a red ring and the center returned to normal.
"...wow…" Robert said in amazement.
"That...was something." Jack said. he still felt somewhat changed and was quick to fully turn back, removing Damian from the book.
Robert was quick to open the grimoire. "OH MY GOODNESS!"
"What!?"
"The pages! So many have been filled!"
"Really?"
"Yes, look!" He showed Jack the inside, showing that some blank pages were indeed filled.
"Whoa!"
"You definitely passed this test!"
"Sweet! Then I can come with yall to your next curse!"
"Definitely! We're leaving tomorrow to a new one we found! But first do you think you can help me make some more talismans? Since you can read these it'll make using incantations much easier! Like this one here!" He pointed to one that looked like metal talons.
"I can't really re-" Jack took a look at the page and its words. Just like last time, he could understand them. "I...understand these words…"
"Fantastic! I'll go get some slips! There in my locker" He excitedly left to go get his items.
"Mission complete!" Damian said.
"...Damian...why can I understand these words? I've never read or seen these words in my life," Jack asked.
"It's cause you're a demon. Those words were only meant to be read by demon kind so it's only natural that a demon like you can understand what's said."
"But I'm a mutated demon."
"Mutated or not, still a demon."
"Hm...so about these curses,"
"Ghouls."
"Ghouls. What are they and why'd they freak you out?"
"Ok, so, you know those stories about vengeful spirits? Ones too mad to move on and they hurt anyone they come across?"
"Yeah?"
"Well Ghouls are something like that. They're spirits full of malice, too much to go on to heaven or hell. They tie themselves to a certain area and morph into horrific monsters, preying on any that enter their territory."
"That sounds really bad! Why didn't you tell me earlier!?"
"It wasn't an issue."
"Not an issue?!"
"Jack, do you know how much malice is needed to tie a mortal soul down to anything?"
"Uh...no."
"A whole bunch. So much that Ghouls are rarely created. Naturally anyway."
"Naturally?"
"Jack, that amount of Ghouls, especially at once, is something unheard of. Luckily they were sealed while dormant, meaning they haven't fully tied to the object yet, but still it's weird. The only other way this could be possible is if someone is putting malice into souls and tying them to objects, making their own ghouls."
"Really...you dont think it could be...Demon monsters could it?"
"I doubt it'd be a regular demon, and you remember what that armored one said about allies right?"
"But why? Why would they want to make ghouls?"
"Who knows. Maybe they just wanna create some chaos. If they plant enough they could definitely get all of Safe Haven involved."
"We can't let that happen! we gotta go after these Ghouls!"
"We don't know how many there are or how to find them. Even then it won't be easy with just us."
"True…..What about the angel? We could ask him for help."
"How're we supposed to contact him?"
"I….well he goes to our school….maybe I can-"
"I'm back!" Robert came in holding a slip of papers, "sorry I took so long."
"Oh no you're fine!" Jack set the book down, "which talisman are we doing first?"
"This plan is still stupid," Damian said to Jack while they were in class, close to the end of it.
"It's the only one we got," Jack told Damian.
"What are you gonna tell your friends?"
"That one of our teachers asked for my help in something?"
"You had all night for an excuse and that's what you got!?"
"Oh yeah! You got a better one!" Jack realized he said that kinda loud and checked to see if anyone noticed.
"I actually do. Ahem. Sorry friends of mine, I can't hangout for lunch. I forgot to tune my instrument and would like to do that now and tune the others while I'm at it. Then we can practice tomorrow with perfectly tuned instruments."
"...That's actually a good excuse….though I don't sound like that."
"You kinda do."
"Do not." The bell rang and Jack left. It was time for lunch and recess. Jack looked around for Zill and spotted him coming out of math class. "Zill!" He went to him.
"Hey J-man. How's it going?" Zill greeted.
"Good. Listen, I can't meet you guys for lunch since I gotta tune our instruments for tomorrow's practice."
"Aw you don't have to do that," Zill smiled.
"I want to."
"Well if you want too, guess that just leaves me and Kayla. Maybe I can make this a bit romantic."
"Huh? Spam and Vanexa not coming?"
"They said they needed to help Ms Jackie with something."
Damian came to Jack's ear. "Their fucking I bet."
"Shush," Jack swatted him away.
"Huh?" Zill rose a brow.
"N-Nothing! Anyways have fun with your date,"
"Heh, I will! Oh! If you're going to the music room, mind getting something out of the attic for me? Kayla left her purse in there by accident."
"Sure, I can grab it."
"Thanks! Seeya dude!" Zill waved off, heading to the cafeteria.
"Seeya," Jack waved.
"Alright, lets get this stupid plan over with," Damian said in Jacks ear.
"Hang on, we gotta get that purse first."
"Where's the ladder?" Jack asked, looking around. He was in the backstage of the music room, trying to go up but the ladder wasn't there to go up to the attic.
"You asking me?" Damian said.
"It's usually attached to the wall right here, but it's not."
"Maybe someone unscrewed it?"
"Why? Plus that'd take while...the only other way the ladder could be gone is if someone pulled it up. We learned that during our intruder drills."
"Think someones hiding up there?"
"...Shift us," Jack said, turning demon.
"Shifting!" Damian brought them to the lower layer, turning into a demon arm.
Jack jumped up and crashed through the floor of the attic, landing and getting ready for a fight. He looked around and saw no one there but a silhouette of Vanexa cuddling Spam on a makeshift bed in the corner, talking about something. "Oh...that's why it was up." Jack reverted back to normal.
"Good thing the dip was low," Damian said as changed back and moved to make a red circle in front of them.
"Damian, what are you doing?"
"Listening in," He tapped the circle and it enveloped them before disappearing.
"Damian!"
"-Then we have less to worry about at your place. Still it would be a bit weird," Spam said.
"Especially when you get in the mood," Vanexa smirked.
"Says the hornier one between us," Spam giggled.
"I am not."
"Oh? Then when we first kissed, who was first to try and take off the other's shirt?"
Vanexa blushed. "I was pent up."
"Hehehe so was I but I had control."
"Says the one who ripped my underwear."
Now Spam blushed. "Touche."
Vanexa giggled and cuddled him closer. "Cant believe a year ago today is when we started dating."
"A year!? They've been dating for a year and we never noticed!?" Jack exclaimed.
"They know how to hide it well. Maybe we can learn from them on how to better hide our demon activities?" Damian suggested.
"I don't think it'd work the same."
"Still surprises me that you confessed first," Spam said.
"I didn't think I'd cry so much," Vanexa added.
"Heh it was a shock to me too, but also...oddly heartwarming that you were crying over me."
"It's when I realized how much you meant to me."
"I was so happy to hear you say that."
"So happy that you kissed me out of the blue."
"You were quick to return it though, and then, that's when you added your tongue."
"You were quick to wrestle it though," She said somewhat seductively.
"And then that's when I suddenly lost my shirt followed by something on my neck."
Vanexa smirked. "Something like this?" She licked her tongue across his neck before tenderly biting it.
"MMph! Yes exactly! And I believe this is how I responded!" He wrapped his arm around her waist and placed a hand on her butt, nibbling on her ear to make her groan in pleasure.
The two were about to start taking the others' clothes off and that's when Jack knew to leave. "Alright, that's enough!" Jack said, leaving with a blush.
"Aw it was getting good!" Damian laughed. He pulled them back. "Wait! Satchel."
"Oh right." He looked around for it, finding it in the corner. He went to it and hid behind a prop. "Ok, shift us back, I'll grab it, then we can get out of here."
"Righto!" Damian shifted them to the mortal realm.
As soon as they got in they could hear Vanexa moaning and a bit of spam growling. "Oh god!" Jack whispered, quickly grabbing the bag. "Take us back, take us back, take us back!"
Damian shifted back and once they were in the layer he started to laugh. "AHAHAHAHA! Man they're really going to town huh?"
"Oh shut up! Cmon, let's find the angel."
"Angel!" Jack yelled from the top of the roof. He was in the lower layer. "Angel!"
"This is stupid," Damian remarked.
"You could help."
"I am not helping you with this."
"Cmon, two voices are better than none. Angel!"
"This plan is stupid. How the hell is he gonna hear us?"
"He could be in the lower layer."
"And if he's not?"
"Then we go to plan B. Raising the layer so he can see us."
"Jack...how we gonna do that?"
"Cant you do that?"
"No! What made you think I could!?"
"Well the angel did it so i thought you could too!"
"I used a device for that," Said a broken voice from behind.
"That's what I told him last….oh shit," Damian was surprised by who's behind them.
Jack turned around and saw the angel they met the other day. "Oh, It's you!"
"What are you doing?" The angel asked.
"Looking for you. There's something we need to talk about!"
"Before we do that...why were you shouting for me in the lower layer?"
"Uh...cause well...I had no way of contacting you and I just...assumed you'd be here."
"I told him he was being a dumbass," Damian remarked, Jack deadpanning at him.
"Well you're lucky I was trying to reach you as well," The angel sighed.
"You were?"
"Yes," He reached into his coat and took out a round device. It looked like a big silver pocket watch and had a blue insignia of a twisted cross on it.
"What's this?" Jack reached for it until Damian yanked back.
"It's not a holy item is it!?" Damian asked.
"No, it's just a communication device. It won't hurt you," The angel clarified.
Jack took it and opened it up. There was contact on the top with one name on it. The bottom part had a ring of letters, all thankfully English, with numbers, and punctuations. In the center was a touchpad with arrows. "Osen?" Jack read the name on the list.
"That's my name. Now whenever we need the other or need to talk, we have this."
"Sweet!"
"But please keep Damian from prank messaging me."
"Wha-!?" Damian said, flabbergasted.
"Trust me, I will." Jack agreed.
"Fuck you guys!" Damian said, offended.
"I've already set it up for you. It even has a map with a tracking function for emergencies along with an emergency call."
"Sweet!" Jack said, cycling through to the map and seeing its options.
"Now then. What'd you want to talk about?"
"Oh right!"
Jackson explained to Osen about the club and ghouls.
"That sounds dangerous. Want me to come with you tonight?" Osen offered.
"No that's fine, it shouldn't be too bad, plus it's hard to sneak you in, but maybe keep a look out for them?" Jack asked
"Yeah, if you see anything ominouse or foreboding, hear anything that wails or moans like it's in discomfort, especially in a haunted way, that means a ghoul is resting there. Now you can't get to it in the layer, you gotta get to it in the real world, then it'll drag you in the layer, but that's only if its developed enough to protect itself, if it isn't, just take out the part it inhabits and properly seal it," Damian explained.
"How do you know this?"
"Studied it in middle school."
"How do I seal it?" Osen asked.
"Don't you know any sealing arts?"
"Yes, but will it work?"
"They should work fine. After you seal it, bring it to us and I'll release the soul."
"Release it? How?" Jack asked.
"I have a way. We gotta let those mortal souls move on."
"Speaking off...wouldn't it be dangerous to release them around me considering...y'know."
"No worries. Being a mortal originally means mortal souls are less appetizing to you, so as long as you're fed well with demon beast souls, you'll be fine...I think."
"You think!?"
"Well there weren't any records of Mutated Demons eating souls belonging to what they once were... well there were but only cause they were in a hunger craze...I think."
"Damian!"
"I'll stay with you when you release the soul, that way I can hold you back if needed," Osen said.
"Thanks,"
"Recess is almost over. You should probably head back."
"Yeah, we don't wanna be late," he hopped off the roof, "seeya Osen!"
Osen waved back before flying off.
Later that day.
Robert and Jack got off the bus near an old factory near an abandoned railroad.
"There's a curse here?" Jack asked.
"Yep! Found out about this one through the web! Apparently some students of another school hangout here at times and they said some things that got our attention," Robert answered.
"Wait, how do you know it's a curse then?"
"One of our members scoped it out, even found where the curse was."
"Then why didn't he seal it?"
"It takes all three of us to seal a curse."
"Oh."
As they came around the building they spotted a female manx with red eyes and black curly hair and a male black fox with white spiky hair that had red tips. The fox was an inch taller than Jack while the manx was about the same height as him. The fox wore a gray short sleeved shirt and khaki shorts while the manx had an ivory dress shirt with blue buttons and a long black skirt. They waved at Jack and Robert who were approaching them.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Jack," Robert said, "Jack, this is Emily," he gestured to the Manx.
"Hi," Emily greeted with a cheery smile
"And this," Robert turned to the fox, "is Albert."
"Hello," Albert said with a kind smile.
"Nice to meet you," Jack said.
"It's really nice to meet you!" Emily got closer, "you gotta tell me how you filled those pages! Robert told me all that happened while you did it and I was so jealous!"
"Uh w-well I read the inner circle while channeling...energy."
"What kind of energy? Are you saying we could do that too!?" Emily had a sparkle in her eyes.
"W-well-"
"Calm down there Emily, you're gonna scare him," Albert chuckled, pulling Emily back.
"Oops!" Emily took a step back, scratching the back of her head with a nervous giggle, "Sorry. I'm really into the supernatural."
"I think he noticed," Robert rearked, "now, where did you find the curse?"
"It's in the back, on one of the saw machines. It got itself inside the blade."
"Alright, let's show our quest how we do it!" Robert said with excitement.
"Right!" Albert and Emily said together. They followed Robert inside.
Damian got to Jack's ear. "They are way too excited for this."
"Oh leave them be," Jack whispered, smiling at the group.
The factory they went into had a long conveyor belt that went around close to the edge of the room, there was an assortment of machinery with different parts on them, a console being on both ends of the belt. There were an assortment of crates in the sides near the entrance and some on the far edges, some with steel beams inside poking out or leaning on the boxes.
"This way!" Emily took the lead, heading to the machinery that had the curse.
"Wonder what they made here?" Jack asked.
"I'm guessing something related to railroads," Albert answered.
"Huh…" Jack's eyes wandered around. Since he wasn't looking forward he failed to notice the pipe in front of him, stepping onto it. "Whoa!" He slipped and tripped into a crate. When he did, the front of it cracked open and eased down, the contents about to spill. "Uh oh!" He pushed the front, pushing it closed and pushing the steel beams back in.
"Jack, you ok?" Robert asked.
"Y-Yeah I'm fine! Luckily nothing was in here. I'm just gonna wedge this back in!" Jack said nervously.
"Hm. Ok, hurry up, we're about to start!"
"Hurrying!"
"The bolts snapped. I'll weld them back together," Damian told Jack, reaching for the bolted areas, being sure to only use two fingers so as not to be noticed.
"Here it is!" Emily said, pointing to the saw blade. It had a purple tint and had some insignia on it.
"Alright. How thick is its barrier?" Albert asked.
"Pretty thick, I couldn't make a dent in it with our current talismans."
"Well let's see if these will work," Robert pulled out the new talismans that Jack made for him. He took two and concentrated, turning them into purple opaque sharp feathers. He threw them at the saw where the Ghoul resided and they bounced off but formed a few cracks.
"It's working! Can I try!?" Emily asked.
"Here give these a go," Robert handed her a talismon with a different incantation.
"Yes!" She took it and focused, bringing it to life. It transformed into a long purple chain with a hook on the end. It was slightly see through and wrapped around her hand. "Sweet!" She started swinging it at the shield.
"Here Albert," Robert gave the fox a different talisman.
"Thanks!" Alberts talismon turned into a long thin blue spike, also opaque and wrapping around his hand. "Amazing!" He started stabbing at the barrier.
The combination from all three were quickly breaking through the barrier, a small gap already forming.
"Almost done there?" Jack asked Damian.
"Yeah yeah I'm alm-" Damian froze to the next sound he heard.
"GWOOOO!" An ominous moan reverberated from the point of the Ghoul.
"Oh shit!" Damian realled back.
"Damian?" Jack said, with concern.
"Stop them! Stop them now!" Damian pulled Jack to them.
"Wait! What's wrong!?"
"They need to stop before that barrier breaks, or else!"
"Or else what? Damian, what's going on!?"
The shielding broke more, the cracks furthering as the moans became louder and more ominous.
"That's a new one," Emily commented.
"Well maybe this is a stronger curse?" Albert questioned.
"That ghoul is a developed one! One that's developed far enough to protect itself!" Damian shouted.
"Wait you mean-!?" Jack was starting to realize the issue.
"It's gonna attack as soon as it's released from that barrier!"
"Oh nuts!" He ran to the club members, reaching out for them, nearly closing the distance as he used his full speed, "Wait! STOP!"
They all looked at him confused but he was too late. The barrier shattered and with it came a booming groan that shook everything.
"RRRRRRRWOOOOAAAAAAAAR!"
The saw floated up, detaching from the machinery and emitted a red wave, all who entered it coming into an area that had no color. It was the lower layer.
"What's going on!?" Emily asked, looking around at the gray area.
"I-I don't know...this has never happened before!" Robert answered, confused.
A black ooze bubbled front within them saw, covering it and growing in size. As it grew it began to take shape, forming scales for skin. its body stretched out, legs stretching out from the bottom, growing twelve feet in length and seven in width before bending and stomping on the ground, having no toes and a flat bottom. its back slit into two, forming two long sharp tails with small spikes adorning them. The front of its being continued, stopping its growth as the mouth began to form. Its gator-like maw was wide and narrow at the end, one large eye opening on the top, being nothing but black with a red dot of an eye. It stood at being nearly two and a half stories tall, having no arms.
"GRAAAAARG!" It roared, showing its large saw teeths. Its gaze went down to those that had awaken it, its red dot of a pupil looking as though it were glaring at them.
"What...is...that?" Emily asked, backing away in fear.
"RUN!" Jack yelled.
It stomped forward, shaking the ground, alerting the occulty members who turned and fled, screaming in terror.
"Cmon!" Jack motioned them to follow out the door, "Damian, take them out as soon as we get out of here!"
They ran as fast as they could to the door, the Ghoul quaking the earth with each step to them. They were nearly out till Albert, who was in the lead, fell back, having rammed into an invisible wall.
"What the-!?" Albert looked forward, rubbing his nose.
Emily stopped and felt forward, feeling the unseeable blockade. "It's some wall!"
"It's getting closer!"
"Move!" Robert got his Razewing feather talismans, activating them and throwing them at the wall, the spell bouncing off with no effect. "Shit!"
"Damian, just take us back here!" Jack said, raising his right arm. He expected the usual red wave to take them back. Instead, red sparks were all that came out. "Damian?"
The ghoul lept and dove in on them, its teeth sticking out with its open mouth. Jack grabbed and threw Emily and Robert to the side while taking hold of Albert and leaping away, avoicing its dive.
"We gotta find another exit!" Albert yelled, running to find one.
Jack looked at Damian. "What happened!?"
"I don't know! I can't shift us for some reason!" Damian answered.
"Well what now!?"
"Jack, we're gonna have to fight! The ghoul may have conjured another barrier to lock us in here and keep us from returning to the mortal realm!"
"Damian, that means revealing myself to them!"
"It's either that or watch them die!"
"Ah!" Emily screamed. She had tripped over some wires, getting her foot tangled in them. She tried to pull her foot out, but to no avail. The ghoul approached her, filling her with dread, making her panicky kick, trying to free herself, only tangling herself more.
Robert saw this and rushed to the monster, reading his feather talismans. "Leave her alone!" He threw them, only for them to lightly scratch its skin. It groaned but ignored it. He kept throwing them as they returned to him, desperate to get it away from Emily. A few went to its eye, gashing it.
"KYRAAAAW!" It yelled in pain, blinking the razors out. It turned to face Robert, bending its knees and thrusting forward in a jump, sliding on its bottom scales, dartring to Robert, bringing out its teeth.
Robert had no chance or way to get out of the way, he simply closed his eyes and braced for what would be a fatal and painful hit. He heard the impact and what sounded like skidding. He didn't feel anything, thinking he got a painless death, until he heard what sounded like grunts and a grinding saw. He opened his eyes, the sight before him astonishing him.
Jack held against the monster's jaw, its teeth grazing against his hardened fur, his feet having skidded through the ground. His arm already changed to its demon form and the rest of him followed, transforming as he held against its maw. "Gosh….darn….luck!" He tossed its lips up, giving him an opening to its chin. He pulled his arm back and uppercutted it hard enough to put it back on its feet. He jumped towards it, punching it straight into its chest, making it stumble back. He turned back to check on Robert. "You ok, Robert?"
"J-...Jack!?" Robert was flabbergasted by his appearance.
"I'll...I'll explain later," He turned back to the Ghoul, "For now, keep your distance!" He charged, jumping above a sweep of its tail, socking it in the snout, it leaning back from the blow and thrusting forward to hit him with it. He blocked in time, landing on his feet, sliding back before running forward.
The Ghoul took a big step forward, attempting to stomp on Jack. When the demon Jackal rolled to the side away from the stomp, it twisted to try and hit him with its tails again, to which he jumped above, aiming for its chin. The ghoul wanted Jack to jump over its tail, as when it came around it slammed down its jaw onto him.
"GAHG!" Jack groaned when he hit the floor. He saw its foot about to crush him so he quickly guided his blue hairs down to a nearby crate and yanked himself to it, avoiding its foot entirely while also opening the crate. Iron beams slid out the box, nearly falling on Jack if he hadn't jumped back. The Ghoul had turned to him, stomping towards him.
"Jack, use the iron beam!" Damian shouted.
Jack grabbed a beam and hurled it at its face. He nailed it right on the bridge of its nose. He grabbed another and ran up to it while it was disoriented from the first beam, thrusting it into its belly, forcing it to bend down as it groaned. He jumped up and slammed the beam down on its snout, making it take a knee as the iron bent slightly. He jumped again, about to do it again, until it glared at him and shot a red beam from its eye, blasting him away. "OOF!" Jack hit an invisible wall, his chest burning, a hole in his shirt, otherwise he was ok. He grunted through the pain, collecting himself so he could jump away from its next beam.
Albert and Emily met up with Robert.
"You ok, Robert?" Emily asked.
"Y-Yeah, Im...Im fine," Robert replied, his eyes staying on Jack as he now pushed against the monster's beam with a blackened left arm, while his larger arm held another iron beam, managing to slap its face with it, jumping back from the slamming of its tail. Albert and Emily were also watching.
"Is that….Jack?" Emily said, astonished.
"He looks so...demonic," Albert commented.
"GROOARG!" The ghoul cried out and slammed his foot hard on the, causing a quake big enough to crack the ground and trip Jack up, allowing it clamp its jaws around the mutated demon, grinding its saw teeth into him.
Jack hardened his fur just in time, the saws being more irritating than painful as they revved against him, ripping his clothes more. He pushed against them, opening up its mouth, his feet pushing the bottom with his hands on the roof of its maw. It tried to close its mouth, fighting against Jack. "GRRRRGG," Jack groaned as he was locked in a struggle. He looked forward and saw its exposed throat, giving him an unpleasant idea. "Gonna...hate this!" he took a deep breath and blew forward a stream of hot flames straight down its neck.
"GYAAAAAA!" It stomped around in agony, trying to shake the jackal out of its mouth, but he held his grip.
Jack ran out of breath, panting and coughing at the discomfort in his throat. He breathed in again, albeit a bit reluctant, about to breathe more fire, until the sounds of gurgling took his attention. "Hm?" A purple liquid was bubbling up from its throat. Before Jack could react, the fluids were violently spat out, splashing on him. There wasn't much force, if any, in the blast, but it got right into his eyes, burning them. "AAGH!" His grip loosening as he rubbed his eyes, the Ghoul using the opportunity to toss him away, him tumbling on the ground. He ground as he raised up, unable to open his eyelids due to the stinging pain. He could barely crack them open, even then his vision was too blurry. "I can't see!"
"Neither can I!" Damian shouted.
"What!?"
"Whatever hit us is affecting my senses! I can barely even sense his energy!"
"Oh crud!" Jack got up, trying his best to see but unable too.
The Ghoul prepared its eye beam.
"Jack, it's about to fire on your left!" Robert yelled.
"Oh crud!" He turned to his left, guarding himself and hardening his fur. The beam hit him but he was braced, pushing back. He moved forward, hoping to get close enough to attack. Suddenly the blast stopped. "Huh? Why'd it-"
"Jump back quick!" Emily shouted.
Jack could hear the urgency in her voice and did so, unknowingly avoiding a leaping stomp from the Ghoul, the shake it made making him nearly lose his footing when he landed. The ghoul was about to lock him in its jaws again until Robert threw a few feather blades in its eye. It roared in pain, shaking its head and blinking them out.
"Jack, jump and uppercut!" Robert yelled.
Jack leapt up and raised his fist into its chin, making it falter back. Once he landed he felt a chain wrap around his right arm. "Huh?"
Emily wrapped her end of the chain onto the conveyor belt. "Move five steps to your left and pull when I pull!" She yelled.
"Ok!" Jack moved in that direction.
The Ghoul shook its head and looked forward, seeing Robert and Albert, the cat throwing more at its eye. It closed them and ran forward. Emily pulled the chain and Jack responded, pulling as well. The Ghouls leg caught on the chain, the conveyor belt waning but holding, tripping it over, it falling with a hard thud. It tried to get up, opening its eye as it did. Albert jumped on its snout, jabbing his nail into its retina, pushing it in halfway before it tried to shake him off.
"GYRAAAAA!" It got to its feet, thrashing about, Albert hanging on.
"WHOOooOOAH!" Albert screamed.
"What's going on!?" Jack asked, still unable to see.
Emily ran up to him and splashed some water in his face, "Albert got on it and he's trying to put his nail in its eye!"
"What!?" Jack exclaimed, rubbing his eyes, getting some of his vision back, enough to barely see Albert trying to hang on. He jumped up onto the ghouls back, climbing up it as quickly as he could.
"This wasn't such a great idea!" Albert said. His hand was grabbed by Jack.
"Yeah, it wasn't! Let go of the nail!" As soon as he felt Alberts hand lossen, he tossed him back, using his blue hairs to somewhat safely land him, it being hard to do with the shaking and blindness. He grabbed the nail and pulled back, tearing some of its eye and eyelid, making it shriek. He got higher, nearly standing on its head, raising his demonic fist up before slamming it down on the spike, his hand going into its socket as the nail went deep into its head.
"GROOOOOOOAAOAOAOAAAAAaaaaa!" It let out one final, agonizing roar, falling over on its front, going limp.
"Is it dead?" Damian asked.
"I think so." Jack answered.
"Then you should jump."
"W-Why?" The body of the Ghoul began to bubble and expand, its surface straining. "Oh crud!" Jack quickly jumped off the body, right before it popped, exploding into a fading mist of purplish black dust. The saw it once was floated there, suspended on nothing.
"Quick!" Robert said, getting his occult members attention. They all surrounded the piece, keeping a seven foot distance. They each pulled out a black talisman with yellow inscriptions and pointed it at the saw. They started to recite an incantation in an unknown language that somehow Jack understood. As they recited it, the talismans glowed and the inscriptions on them came off floating, one ring surrounding the saw, while one ring connected to the others slips of paper. They let go, continuing their chant, the papers flying and slowly spiraling around, gaining speed as the words turned into rings. They stopped suddenly and closed in on the saw, swooping in once they reached halfway, the paper turning into thin strips, wrapping all over the item, the rings of light pressing onto the paper, turning into a different kind of inscription. The saw softly fell to the ground, sealed.
The occult club members breathed in relief before turning to Jack who was rubbing his eyes. Emily walked to him, grabbed his demon hand and put a water bottle in it. "Here," she said, feeling one of his fingers.
"Th-Thanks," Jack said, pulling his arm back, splashing the water in his eyes, rubbing them free from what blinded them, splashing the rest on Damian.
"Well...we successfully sealed the curse," Albert commented.
"Yeah...didn't expect that fight….among other things," Robert said, looking at Jack.
Jack shook off his arm, realizing they were staring at him. "...Right...Guess….I owe an...explanation huh?"
"I wouldn't say I know you well, Jack, but...you've never given off well...let's just say you being a demon all this time is a shock," Albert mentioned.
"...I wasn't always a demon….in fact I…." he sighed, "I never wanted to get found out like this,"
Damian came up. "You didn't really have much of a choice dude."
The members were startled when his hand talked. "Whoa, your hand just talked!?" Emily gasped.
"Yeah, names Damian, and I'm the reason this guys a demon, or rather a mutated demon."
"Mutated what?" Albert questioned.
"You ever hear about...the accident I was in?" Jack managed to say.
"Yeah?"
"Well-"
"And that's what led me to you guys," Jack finished. He started with his accident and ended to the moment he met Robert.
"So...this demon became your arm and….turned you into this?" Robert clarified.
Jack nodded. "Pretty crazy, huh?" He changed back.
"Wait, don't change!"
"Huh? Why?"
"It's really important!"
"Uh...ok?" Jack turned demon again.
As soon as he did, Emily grabbed his demon arm, examining it. "So this whole arm isn't actually yours?" She said, feeling his fingers.
"N-not really. Damian ate my arm before merging with me."
"It's easier to say I took on the role of being his arm. I can move on my own but he can still move me on his own," Damian stated.
Albert came to his side, grabbing a blue hair strand. "So these act like some sort of grapple that you guide with your left arm?"
"Yeah, I got it from eating the soul of a demon monster."
"It was the first new power we got," Damian commented.
Robert grabbed his face, pressing near the side of his eyes. "Your eyes are so pitch black. Do they do anything special?"
"Well I can shoot an eye beams from them, bu-"
Robert gasped, "Can you show me?"
"Uh, S-sure." He moved Robert and squeezed his eyes, shooting a blast at a nearby crate, destroying its front, its contents falling out. The members looked astonished at what Jack did as the demon squinted in discomfort. They saw it all go back together as if it was never blasted.
"It repairs what it shoots?" Emily asked.
"No, that's just cause we're in the lower layer," Damian said.
"Lower layer?"
"It's the space that acts as a gateway between hell and the mortal realm. It's kinda like a limbo and it dips, sometimes reaching closer to hell and sometimes the mortal realm. The closer it is to the mortal, the more it influences the mortal realm."
"Interesting," Emily said, intrigued while still feeling Damian.
"...Ya done feeling me?"
"Oh sorry!" She let go of Damian, "Um...Mr Damian?"
"Just Damian."
"Damian. Can you eat?"
"I don't need to, but I can, though it'll feel weird to Jack, but still turn into nourishment. I can't eat souls though, nor can I make my mouth big enough to."
"Whaddya mean?" Albert asked.
"Show em!"
Jack rolled his eyes and opened his maw, stretching it far as it enlarged.
"Whoa!" Albert and the others were amazed, Albert taking a closer look into his mouth, grabbing his jaw.
"Ah!" Jack groaned in surprise.
"Amazing! His jaw didn't just get bigger, he actually grew more teeth!"
"No way!" Emily looked in too, gasping, "there is!"
"And they're all so sharp!" Robert analyzed, "Does it hurt doing this?"
"yoht hrelay," Jack said, hard to speak with his mouth open.
"I think he said not really. Hard to tell with his mouth held open," Damian said.
"Oh, sorry," Albert released Jack's mouth, letting him close.
"It's fine. but before you continue studying me, let's at least leave the lower layer," Jack said, raising his arm.
"Mortal realm! Coming up!" Damian said, emitting a red wave, taking them back. Jack and him changed back to normal.
"Aside from the surprise monster, this day has been...exciting!" Emily said.
"I'll say! Can't wait for the next one!" Albert said.
"Next one!?" Jack was flabbergasted.
"Well, yeah, there's more of these Ghouls out there and we gotta take care of them."
"We!? Guys don't you think based on what you saw it's dangerous for you to do this alone!?"
"You mean how we dangerously helped you when you got blinded?" Robert said.
"Well-"
"And how we dangerously sealed the ghoul away," Emily added.
"That's true, but you guys nearly got hurt!"
"We were fine thanks to you,"
"Yeah but-"
"Jack, we know it's dangerous, but with our knowledge and use of talismans, we can be a great back up for you."
"Well yeah, but I-"
"Jack," Damian spoke up, "let's face it, these occult nuts would just go on their own even if we told them not to, plus it wouldn't hurt to have some backup, we've proved that we could use it."
"Bu-"
"And we can spread out this way. Some with us, some with Osen. We can protect them if things go wrong."
"What if we can't? What if my bad luck-""
"Then we'll deal with it. You've survived this long against your luck, and it's not like you were alone during it all, right?"
"True…"
"So let's accept their aid. Besides, it sounds fun!"
Jack sighed. "...Ok but we atleast need them to meet Osen and run this by him."
"That's fair."
"Um, not to interrupt but...who's Osen?" Robert asked.
"An angel."
The occult members lit up.
"An angel!? Really!?" Emily squealed.
"When can we meet him!?" Albert wondered.
"Soon, trust me. I just gotta message him," Jack pulled out his communicator, messaging Osen.
"Can you believe this, guys!? We're gonna meet an actual angel!" Robert said excitedly.
"I know! I feel like I'm dreaming!" Emily bounced, giggling.
"Might wanna warn him about their enthusiasm," Damaian brought up.
"Good idea," Jack agreed.
End.
Next chapter. Team