A ringing headache, pain that came with a twitching nose, a constant beeping noise, and bright lights overhead; these were what awaited Lincoln as he awoke from his unconsciousness. The ashen-haired boy groaned as he sat up, he glanced around, his vision mildly blurry, but enough to make out details of his surroundings. It wasn't hard to tell, he'd seen this before, more than he'd like to count; the hospital. Which one? He didn't know. Granted, Royal Woods wasn't grand but it had its fair share of medical centers. Glancing around, the boy was surprised in the realization that he had his own room, most of the time he had to share. He took notice of the hospital gown he had been switched into; at the very least he was allowed to keep his underwear on. Of course, a more immediate thought came to mind; how exactly did he get here? Since he awoke in the forest, a plethora of questions swelled in his head, and none had been answered. He grew irritated, wondering what was going to happen to him. The last thing he remembered was being home, and soon realizing that he had been missing for a week. But, nothing of those seven days came to mind, no memories, and no flashbacks. All he remembered was being injured, and then his world fading to black. But then, it hit him, the pain he felt, his bones twisting and turning, time and time again. He remembered the excruciating pain, a moment of numbness, and then more pain following after. He remembered watching his veins turn black, his body seemingly on the verge of breaking, but there were no tears in his skin. Lastly, the hunger. When he awoke, there was none. But, after his long walk home, he grew hungry, and when he attempted to eat; his body rejected almost everything. What didn't force him to gag was the meat laid on the kitchen counter. And then it hit him, the feelings he felt eating the raw meat; it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. To the point, it satisfied him greatly, but it also left him with a sliver of shame and guilt afterwards. Adding to it, as he ate, he remembered seeing his reflection in a small mirror on the kitchen wall, and his heart sank; it was vaguely similar to the creature that almost killed him that night. Bringing his knees to his chest, huddling closer to himself Lincoln buried his head into his knees and whispered to himself. "What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing really." Came a voice he hadn't expected, causing the boy to slightly jump whilst clutching his heart. The voice came from what appeared to be a male doctor with a clipboard in hand. He had short light brown hair, light skin, and appeared to be almost as tall as his father. He came out of nowhere; Lincoln didn't even hear the door open. Although, without so much as looking at him, the doctor pulled up a seat and sat down beside the bed with his eyes still glued to the clipboard. "Well, at least nothing that would merit further testing and examination." The man gave him a simply smile, it didn't feel forced, but it also didn't feel right. "Welcome back to the land of the living. You were found on the edge of the woods, and despite being in said forest for a week; you're in surprisingly good health. Albeit the obvious scratches and bruises you'd get from traversing the woodlands barefoot. An assumption can be made that the cloths you have on now, you might've 'taken' after whatever you had to begin with were tattered during your trek through the wilderness. And I'd make a case over your white hair, but your files say it's natural, so I don't have anything new to report. Although..." The doctor commented, right before fixing his glasses, his nose twitching while his eyes turned to Lincoln. An eerie chill crawled up his spine as the doctor's faint smile seemingly widened ever so slightly, and canine teeth were partially bared from his upper lip. "...I've heard reports of a little area by Hangman's Cove, a few miles into the forest. Apparently, a rescue team found a stockpile of bones and dismembered limbs. And next to a creek, just a little ways away, Ace Savvy pajamas with the initials LL inscribed in them. You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you?" In that instance, the boy's heart began beating fast, it being noted by the machine next to him. All the while, the faint grin on the doctor remained as his eyes returned to his clipboard. The doctor rose up and walked over to a small cart by the door, pulling closer to the bed. Atop the cart was a tray, the lingering smell left Lincoln with an idea of the food inside. "Smells delicious, doesn't it?" The doctor asked.
The ashen-haired boy stuttered, responding "I w-w-wouldn't know, the top is on."
"You're right, silly me..." the doctor leant over and slowly opened the plastic top, revealing the small meal left for Lincoln; a piece of grilled chicken, along with steamed vegetables; peas, corn, and green beans. "How about now?" The smell flooded the boy's senses, a cruel truth hit him; the food smelled heavenly, but he could feel his throat gag at the mere thought of trying to eat food at the moment.
"T-t-thanks, but...I'll pass..." Lincoln waved off the offer. "I'm not hungry."
"Oh, well. That does bring up another set of questions, doesn't it? Like; what did you have to eat when you were lost?" The doctor asked, gently pushing the cart away. "I'm a little curious."
"Aren't these questions the police should be asking?" Lincoln asked meekly, hoping the doctor would stop asking.
"Oh, I see." The doctor mumbled, what occurred next would, like the night of his attack, be engraved in his memory for a lifetime. The doctor leaned backwards a bit, his body made a slithery, crackling sound as it reshaped itself. His clothes dissolved in an instance, and just as quickly, reformed into that of an officer he knew from his school. "This better, sugar?"
The boy was at a loss for words, sitting in front of him was a clear copy of his school's officer. His heart began racing again as he felt, in the moment this person was shapeshifting, a similar feeling he felt when he was attacked. He wanted to run, to scream. But nothing escaped his lips, instead, he was helpless. If this thing was what attacked him, he was in no position to fight back; this would truly be his end.
"Are you scared?" The unknown asked, removing his shades to reveal black scleras and milky white iris. His mouth had split into four sections; jagged teeth were aligned on the four separate mandibles. Even with his mouth in that form, he still spoke clearly enough for Lincoln to understand, but the fact the fact that he had yet to close his mandibles disturbed the ashen-haired boy. Locked in direct eye contact, Lincoln nodded, tears were beginning to form as he could picture how much more slowly and with leisure this creature would treat him. He could easily cry for help, but if he did, who would respond? And would help arrive before he was plunged into darkness again? Instead, he remained perfectly still, only small whimpers escaped his lips. "Are you going to answer my questions?" Again, Lincoln nodded. "Good." The unknown smiled, it now spoke with a laid back tone. Though, rather than ask questions for answers he already knew, the unknown intended to lighten up the situation. "I have to admit..." the officer started, shaking the back of his head before shifting again, only this time, he reformed into someone who looked to be around Leni's age, he had long dark grey hair tied into a ponytail, his skin was that of a slightly darkish grey. His eyes remained the same, but there was a feature that caught Lincoln's eye; a mole just beneath his right eye, and what looked like a tattoo of a black heart on his upper left cheek. The more this unknown shifted, he could've sworn this person was a girl, but something about him screamed 'boy'. His mouth had returned to normal, or, whatever counted as normal in this situation. "I'm kind of jealous, when I turned; it took me at least three weeks and a half to come back to my senses." The voice didn't help, it was borderline feminine and slightly masculine, if that made any sense. But that thought was quickly overshadowed by what he had just said.
"T-turned?" That word echoed in the ashen-haired boy's mind, until the unknown nodded.
"Yea, that thing that attacked you in the forest, do you remember it?" He lowered his voice, to a whisper-like level.
Lincoln nodded solemnly, his mind flashed images of what occurred.
The unknown's eyes widened a bit before gently face-palming himself. "What am I saying? Of course you remember. It's not something you'd forget so easily, especially after what it did to you?"
Lincoln's eyes widened, he realized whoever this was spoke as if he knew what had been done to him. But then, if this guy knew what happened to him, perhaps, he had an explanation, and maybe even a way to deal with it. With a rekindled spark of hope in his eyes, Lincoln asked. "What did it do to me?" He held his breath, unsure over whether he wanted to know anymore. Yea, he was damn sure confused and wanted to know what happened to him in that week, but given recent events, he suddenly had second thoughts. Was this like an infection, was he going to become like the creature that attacked him? Or was he, by some miraculous reason, just lucky to be alive.
"Putting it as simple as I can; coursing through your veins is no longer the blood of a human's. It's the same as the thing that attack you, and the blood flowing through my veins. You are one of us; a Ghoul." Lincoln's entire mind set was on the verge of a break down, he wasn't ready for this answer, nor did he want it to be true. At first, like any, he was skeptical, but thinking back on it, and with the boy standing before him, it didn't sound all that farfetched. But, to be told he was now the same as the creature that attacked him, it disturbed him. Adding to his swirling emotions, it began to make the sudden appetite for raw meat make a bit more sense. But that raised another question.
"What's a Ghoul?"
At that moment, the creature calling itself a Ghoul, stayed silent. Though, not for an attempt to avoid the boy's questions, but rather, he didn't know how to answer that. It was easy to give a simple definition, but the Ghouls he was referring to were anything but simple. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, the unknown offered a hand to Lincoln. "Before I answer, allow me to introduce myself; I'm Taurus." Only for a moment Lincoln hesitated, but he shook the ghoul's hand, albeit meekly.
"Lincoln." He responded with sharing his name as well, quietly.
"Nice to meet you. And to answer your question; if you want a detailed history, small as it is, you'll need to speak to the Primordial. But, what I can tell you; Ghouls, in our case, we're a taboo. In the sense that the only forms of nutrients our bodies don't reject are raw meat, and, believe it or not, any vegetation that would normally be counted as poisonous to a human…at least to our current knowledge. Still, hunger for raw meat is common, all ghouls have that craving. Also common features are pale or dark grey skin, different shades of white and grey, or pure ebony hair. As for eyes; it's a gamble, but the scleras are always black, and the iris range from white, yellow, red, or violet. Lucky for you, your hair was already white, and your eyes look like they're still in their normal human color. Skins a little paler, but that'd be easier to explain than 'demonic' eyes, or so that one nun told me. But, keep in mind, this is only according to what my kin and I have seen. There are still questions we don't have the exact answers to; only guesses and on-the-field experience."
Lincoln took everything spoken in like a sponge, but, the way he described a ghoul, his immediate thought was of his younger sister Lucy, save for the white hair. Still, he was shocked to learn that such a group of people existed, and he was one of them. That fact still had yet to take root in him. And to top it all off, he realized that the creature that attacked him was also branded a ghoul by Taurus. So, did that mean Lincoln would become the same as that creature? Blood hungry and able to twist his body to such an inhuman degree just to toy and…it was in that train of thought that he realized another little fact he had overlooked. The ghoul that attacked him had the intention of eating him, and it was just confirmed that he was of the same group as that beast. So, did that mean Lincoln would crave human meat? Simply imagining it left him with a twisted knot in his stomach, and a trail of saliva running down his mouth. Immediately, he wiped away the saliva and gave a worried glance at Taurus.
"B-But, that thing that attacked me, it's also a ghoul? Am I going to become like that?" His tone was rising, at an alarming rate, as did his heartbeat. In an attempt to calm him down, Taurus placed a hand on Lincoln's shoulder and shushed in a rhythmic tone, almost in the manner a father would to a child.
"Slow down, kiddo, you're not even close to becoming a Feral." Lincoln calmed, be it slowly, he then looked at him with a confused expression. Sensing the question that would follow, Taurus clarified. "When a ghoul starves themselves; for some reason their minds grow weak and vulnerable to their primal desires. Their minds deteriorate; they begin to see everything as food; humans, and even fellow ghouls. Accompanied with long periods of isolation, ghouls will devolve, their sense for reasoning is discarded, and they become feral ghouls; constantly hunting, always hungry, and animal in nature. But, for a ghoul, to starve oneself is to go at least weeks without consuming meat of any kind. Now, I know what you're thinking, why would a ghoul starve himself? Well, not every ghoul is fond of the idea of needing to eat raw meat. Some think they can sustain themselves by other means…but, I'm sure you already know what happens when a ghoul tries." His words made Lincoln feel slightly more relaxed. However, he wondered if what he saw in the forest was his doing? If so, then he shouldn't have to worry about starving himself, right?
Taurus reached into his coat, which Lincoln had just only taken notice. The teen had seemed to have shifted his cloths as well, possibly when the ashen-haired boy wasn't paying attention. Still, now knowing what had occurred to him, his mind swarmed with new questions, many of which worried him. One, for example, was if he would start to crave human flesh, like those of who he shared a roof with. For a moment, he did feel legitimately worried, but there was a gnawing feeling in that back of his head that made discarded that particular sentiment. He couldn't understand it, but thinking on it, he wondered if by learning that he was no longer human; he no longer felt any sense of emotional connection to his siblings. Now, at first glance, he scoffed at the idea; he had lived with his family all his life, and even with their ups and downs; he loved them. And he constantly showed it…but, could he say the same for them? Yes, there was the occasional kind gesture, touching moment, and there was a possibility they were going to be feeding him constant attention once he came home. But…in his mind, he knew; it was fleeting. Once he was home, yea, there would be touching moments and the kindness he so wanted from his family, but once time passed, and all this was behind them, life would go back to how it was prior to his disappearance. Constant taunts, being blamed for things he didn't do, the joke of his siblings, and the constant reminder; no matter how much he did for them, they would rarely return the affection. For the first time in a long while, Lincoln felt anger growing in him. But, this wasn't the same kind he felt before. He enjoyed feeling this way, images of him standing before his 'family' the fear in their eyes as he held this new form of power over them. Although, this particular image held something he quickly feared; his loss of whatever humanity he had left. He snapped out of his momentary train of thought, shaking his head from the sudden headache that arose.
"You ok, sugar?" Taurus asked, placing a hand on Lincoln's shoulder.
Lincoln nodded, but glanced up to his fellow ghoul. "Sugar?"
Taurus chuckled lightly to himself, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that, kinda stuck with me after a little job I took out when I still lived out west. Ever been to San Francisco?" When the ashen-haired boy shook his head, Taurus chuckled again. "It's nice, the view is beautiful, not a big fan of the cold though. Just 'cause I can change my form to something warmer doesn't mean I can't feel the damned cold."
"Will I be able to change my form too?" Lincoln asked, a glimmer of excitement appeared in his eyes as he imagined all the possible forms he could take.
"Sorry to burst your bubble but that little trick is my specialty alone." Taurus declared proudly, though, when he noticed Lincoln's dejected expression, he quickly added with. "Only kind of transformation you'll be able to do is…well, let's save that little bit for another time. But, one thing to keep in mind about ghouls is that we develop unnatural abilities. I have a few friends who can control elements, some who can shape their bodies into weapons, some with abilities that more or less are for illusionary effect alone. As for you; who knows what kind of power you'll develop. You know, you don't seem so…I don't know, torn up about this."
Lincoln chuckled dryly, wondering the exact same thing. He was just told that is no longer human, and in addition, he must survive on eating flesh and should he resist the urge to do so, he will go mad and become feral. He honestly was shocked, and somewhat excited. He never imagined something like this actually being a reality, hell, he was still processing the very idea of there being ghouls with supernatural powers, and he had so many more questions to ask. But before he could…
There was a sudden knock on the door, rhythmic, almost as if a code. Taurus rose up, and wasting no time, he reshaped himself back to his doctor form. After doing so, he fixed his clothing, assuring nothing was out of place and writing something on a small torn scrap of paper. "Time's up, kiddo, I gotta head out and continue this little role." He commented, earning both a confused expression, followed by a growing fear in Lincoln's eyes. Before having to leave, Taurus sat on the bed beside Lincoln whilst handing the ashen-haired boy the paper. "Believe me, kiddo, if it was up to me I'd take you with me. To be surrounded by your fellow ghouls. But things aren't that simple. I'll explain later, just keep this with you. And play along." Lincoln received the scrap of paper and quickly hid it under his body. As the doors opened, Taurus was on his feet, writing…something on the clipboard as two officers entered.
"Hey doc, how's he looking?" One of the officers asked to which Taurus hot them a neutral expression, slowly shifting to one of disappointment.
"He's healthy, physically, minus the smaller bruises and cuts; he seems to have fended well for himself. However, I'm afraid I cannot speak so positively of his emotional state. Any question I've asked him, he's either responded with a nod or a shake of his head. He stares off into space, and has refused to eat anything. As of now, I want him here for the night, in case we missed something. But, after we run our tests, he's free to go home." The doctor summarized, giving Lincoln an idea of what angle to play in this scenario. The officers looked to one another, then back to the ashen-haired boy.
"Kind of early for a release, considering he's been lost in the forest for about a week, don't you think?" The first officer asked, a single brow rose upon learning that this doctor was going to easily declare the boy fit to go home, Taurus's remained firm on his decision.
"Normally, I'd agree, but I'm afraid we're under-staffed at the moment, and with his tests showing him fit enough to be discharged early, I really don't have a choice, its procedure."
"Alright, we're gonna need to ask him some questions, standard procedure." The second officer commented. Taurus nodded, right before making his way towards the door, though, just as he was to pass the officers, he whispered to them.
"Would you mind sending in his family after you're done?" When the second officer nodded, Taurus proceeded to make his way out, looking back only once to see the ashen-haired boy. A faint smile emerged on his lips as he watched Lincoln do exactly as he told the officers; he stared aimlessly into space, responding to none of their questions, at least not verbally.
As the doctor stepped out and closed the door behind him, he was almost instantly swarmed by what he could only guess where the boy's family, judging by the faintly familiar scents he caught on them. Each was bombarding him with questions, loudly and in a speed that he couldn't make out. He noticed a few with reddened eyes and dry tears along with oncoming new tears. At first, he was slightly touched by their worry over their sibling, but that was quickly replaced with ever growing annoyance. Before actually snapping at them to shut their mouths, it appeared as if their folks did it for him.
"Girls! Enough, leave the doctor be." The apparent father of the children had taken quick control of the situation, instantly silencing his daughters, much to the relief of the ghoul. Of course, this didn't mean he was free yet. "How is my son, doctor?" The patriarch of the Loud family asked, he seemed almost a complete mess, as did his wife who held an infant in her hands. "Is there anything you can tell us?"
Taurus looked at this rather large family, feeling a faint sense of pity; he gazed at his notes and pulled the father and mother aside. The girls were about to follow, but were quickly told to stay put. Once the doctor and the Loud parents were far enough away, Taurus held back what he wanted to rant about, and kept to a subtle approach. "As to his physical health, your son is, while mildly bruised from what I assume aimlessly wandering the forest, he has yet to say anything. Rest assured, I don't believe his sudden disappearance is connected to the other missing boy. However, I'm wondering what would entice a young boy to simply leave his home in the middle of the night and wander into the forest. I'm even more surprised that, with a family as large as yours, no one had seen him or noticed his absence within the home. If you would pardon my comment, my only intention is to piece together an accurate assumption." He glanced to both parents who were now showing extreme guilt on their faces, understanding clearly that they had a part to play in their son's disappearance. "Since he doesn't appear to be in any immediate danger, I'm going to recommend he stay for the night, and tomorrow he'll be cleared for discharge." This snapped both parents out of their trance with both confusion, and a hint of anger.
"Don't you think that's a bit too soon, they only found him a few hours ago?" The mother asked.
To which he repeated what he had told the officer. "We're understaffed ma'am, and with no sign of any possible or immediate danger to your son's health, I see no reason to keep him here. You can pick him up tomorrow in the morning. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have another matter to attend to." As he turned around and was prepared to leave, something came over the matriarch of the family that prompted her to suddenly ask, out of curiosity. "And what about the other boy? Do you know if they found him?" For a moment, Taurus stopped; he turned to the two parents, acknowledging the siblings slightly closer and listening in on their conversation. Now, he had two options, tell them the truth, or lie.
"They did…what was left of him." With a grim tone, he chose honesty. As he walked away, he took notice of their paled expressions, realizing that due to their actions, their son could've met a similar fate. As he walked further down the hall, the ghoul turned his gaze to the outline of the forest. He knew after this, finding his original target would become all the more difficult. However, he couldn't contain a rather content smile, content that Lincoln's transformation didn't end the way it more commonly did. Now, all that was left; inform his superior, and the next stage of their plan could commence.
Frozen in place, the Loud family took a moment to allow what the doctor had said to sink in. The boy missing prior to Lincoln had apparently been found, but not in one piece. Whatever occurred to him, it was evident that their ashen-haired boy could've met a similar fate. Rita, while grateful her son was found and was in no danger according to the doctor, sobbed uncontrollably in the arms of her husband. Their daughters weren't any better, how could they be? On the account of a silly superstition, they nearly sentenced their only brother to death. Lori was comforting her younger sibling, Leni, who was sobbing quietly in her arms. Lori was the eldest of the bunch, and while she admittingly pulled off similar stunts in the past, they've never taken things to this extreme. So why with Lincoln? She was riddled with guilt, and didn't know if she could face her younger sibling in his condition. The younger siblings were the same, each of them were filled with guilt for their actions, primarily Lynn and Luna, whom were both keeping to themselves. Lynn sat alone, quietly, the weight of her actions kept her from so much as glancing to the door to where her younger brother was. She was angry, with herself and Lincoln. With herself for starting the bad luck idea, and her brother for running with it. Luna, stood silently by the door, she had images in her head of how her brother's condition was. This incident hit her the hardest, she prided herself in the claim that she had the closest relationship with her brother, but she turned her back on him when he needed her the most. When he finally told the truth, instead of believing him, she chose to stick with the damned superstition.
The first day, they thought he had gone to his friend's home in a fit of anger at them. But, after calling all possible people he could've been staying with and none had seen him, red flags started to fly, especially after remembering seeing posters of another boy, eerily similar to Lincoln, disappearing not too long ago. The days following, the family spent all of their free time searching for their lost sibling, to no avail. And now, with the boy they've searched for the entire week waiting behind a closed door, the family feared over how he'd receive them. Was there anger, rejection, fear? Neither knew, not until the officers finished their questioning.
After an hour, little to nothing gained from asking the ashen-haired boy of the details of his disappearance, the officers exited the room. Seeing the family waiting outside, the two officers took the parents aside, while commenting that the siblings could go in so long as they didn't make too much noise. Needing no further say, the Loud sisters almost stampeded past the two men and went in to see their sibling. They stopped once they had seen him, his eyes were almost empty. His skin had become paler, almost eerily close to the same shade as Lucy's. And in their grand entrance, he made no reaction. There wasn't any sign of joy, relief, fear, or anger. His face was simply void of emotion. With each sister weighed by guilt, none approached, for fear of inciting a negative response. Though, it was Leni who took a chance.
"Linky?" She approached her brother cautiously, sitting beside him. "Linky?" she called to him again, hoping he'd turn her way. Eventually, he did, but unbeknownst to his siblings, he was, since they entered, fighting a burning rage inside. One that wanted to rant and come clean over all the times they had taken him for granted. Of course, he never had this much trouble before; keeping his negative emotions bottled up. But as it stood, it seemed that he was nearly on the verge of blowing a gasket. What stopped him was the constant need to remind himself that no matter what, his family loved him.
But, would they still love him if they discovered he was a ghoul? Would they show tears of love, not fear? Would they be so worried if they knew that he could potentially see them as food? With these thoughts came the visions of everyone he knew, looking at him with fear and disgust.
His body began shaking as he could feel his sister next to him. As Leni tried to comfort him by embracing her younger sibling, unintentionally, Lincoln slapped her hand away. For a moment, the spark in his eyes had returned, and his sisters noticed the quickly shifting emotions he felt upon his older sister attempting to hold him; anger, regret, and fear. All of which in that order. Without so much as taking looking them in the eye, Lincoln shifted himself away from Leni, bringing his knees to his chest and burying his head. For a moment, he felt a twisted sense of relief, solely for the fact that he felt regret in swatting away his sister's hand, but something in the back of his head kept justifying his immediate response. He'd been having these thoughts for a while, and the more he thought on it, the more these thoughts vocal, in a sense.
His sisters were shocked, to say the least. Never had Lincoln responded this way, under any circumstance. And while they assumed he'd feel some level of anger towards them for kicking him out; they never thought he would outright refuse to be near them, especially Leni. After recovering from the initial shock, Leni, disheartened over her brother's rejection of her embrace, tilted her head. She didn't move away, nor did she intend to leave things as they were. If the young teen could be credited for anything, besides her interest in fashion, it was her dedication to her family. Rather than get up and walk away, she shifted just a bit closer, pressing her head against his. "I'm sorry, Linky. I'm so sorry." She apologized in between small sobs. Again, she tried to embrace him, slowly wrapping her arms around him. "We never should've doubted you. Please. Please, forgive us."
"No." In that instance, there was silence from both Lincoln, and his siblings. Leni seemingly recoiled from that one word. Her eyes had widened, never in her life did she think she'd ever hear them coming from her brother, especially in this circumstance. Her tears still ran down her cheeks, but with the cold way in which he refused to forgive his sisters, it made it all the more hard for her not to sob uncontrollably. Her siblings were no different, each of them were equally shocked to hear Lincoln reject any form of peace between he and his sisters, particularly because, in that one moment, they could've sworn they heard an echo in his voice. But, when Lincoln finally glanced up, albeit mildly, he had an almost similarly shocked expression.
Because, he too was shocked to have said that. Even so, as the initial shock passed, he realized almost immediately; he felt no remorse, and he cared very little that his sister was crying. Fearing this to be an affect to becoming a ghoul, the ashen-haired boy worried over what he would eventually come to see his family as. Although, that worry was as well fading. "Not right now." He muttered; clear enough for his siblings to have heard him. He kept his voice devoid of any emotion. At the moment, he didn't want tension between himself and his sisters, but he knew well that he wasn't ready to forgive them for kicking them out of the house. Not at the moment at least.
Meanwhile
Elsewhere, sitting atop a rooftop within the older district of Royal Woods, a lone hooded figure sat quietly. Her glowing violet irises wandered around, from the empty rooftop, to the bustling city in the distance. As the cool night air allowed her hair to dancing aimlessly, her nose twitched, giving her the indication of approaching company. She turned around fully, greeting her barely arriving partner. He took a seat beside her and sighed heavily.
"How was it?" She asked with mild curiosity in her tone.
"Better than I thought, he didn't get hysterical, and…" He paused, if only for a moment. His female partner glanced his way, and was surprised to see a faint grin on his lips. "He looked like he was actually relieved. You know? To have some answers, and to know there are others like him. But, he did get a bit worked up when I asked him if he remembered what happened to him."
Without warning, the door to the roof had opened, and the two shot their attention towards the newcomer. They were able to relax upon the sight of a black-haired girl walking out onto the roof. She had black pajamas, light pale skin, one of her eyes covered by her long hair, and in her arms, a stuffed rabbit, adorned with stitches. She walked over to the two ghouls, calmly, and with a stoic expression. "Welcome back, Taurus." She spoke with a monotone, of course, however neutral her voice was, there was an unmistakable trace of a smile on her face. The two teens greeted her; Taurus by kneeling to her level and patting her head gently.
"Hey, sugar. When's Sam gonna stop painting your hair? You look like a human." His remark earned him a clean smack to the back of his head, followed by fierce glare from his partner.
"Don't use my name in public, Taurus." She hissed between gritted teeth.
"Geez, relax, Virgo, simple slip of the tongue." He responded whilst rubbing the spot she had struck. "Thought rockers were supposed to be laid back."
"Oh sure, I'm pretty laid back after getting an earful from the Primordial while you get all chummy with the new ghoul." She remarked, a little less than pleased with having to be reminded of the 'conversation she had with their leader.
"New ghoul?" Their argument was quickly put aside as they now focused their attention on the small ghoul before them. Her expression and tone had yet to change, though, if the sudden gleam in her eye was anything to go by; the rumors circulating around their group had just been proven true. A new ghoul had been born, though the question remained; which faction would he side with?
Again, the door to the roof opened, another hooded ghoul poked their head out, their attention focused on Taurus. "The Primordial wishes to speak with you, Taurus." It spoke in a raspy voice just before descending back into the dark building.
Taurus gave a quick glance to the young ghoul in front of him, and then turned to his partner. "I need a favor." Virgo's expression soured, she was about to tell him off just before he placed a finger to her lips. "Hear me out, woman. Knowing the Primordial, I probably won't be able to visit the boy tomorrow. We both know what'll happen when the other factions hear about what's been going on in our city. I need you to check up on him tomorrow. You might not know the boy, but you might be familiar with his sister; Luna Loud." As soon as that name was mentioned, Virgo's eyes widened, a weary smile crept on her lips as she recalled knowing that particular sibling.
"Yea. I do…" The gears had clicked, she took the moment to recall the Loud sibling, but she had only just realized what it played to in the whole. "…And…her brother is the one who…?"
"Yes. Can I count on you to keep him safe, at least until the Primordial decides how to handle the stituation?"
For a minute, they were silent, that was, until Virgo nodded. With a reassured smile on his face, Taurus descended into the building to meet with their leader, leaving his partner and the young ghoul alone. As she watched her partner leave, Virgo was lost in her own train of thought. "Familiar with his sister? Damn right I know her…damn…just…damn it, Luna. I'm sorry…"
And that concludes the second chapter, with a few questions answered, and plenty more still up in the air, there's a whole much more to look forward to. Stay tuned for the next update, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Ciao!