Pain, unending pain coursed through her body. And why would it be any different, it didn't kill her, it toyed with her. Adding to it the insults, the blatant disregard for how Carol treated her supposed property, and the most infuriating of all; Lincoln. He gave himself up, agreed to be her pet, left his family once again, and all of it to protect his family. Only when the threats came that he surrendered, and while it infuriated the Lynn, she couldn't help but see reason in it. Perhaps being close to death finally gave her a reason to sit back and think on the situation rather than dive straight at a problem. But as with most things, thinking over this whole ordeal only raised more questions.

Lost in darkness, she heard something, muffled, calling to her. It only became clearer the more she focused on it. It only took a few seconds for light to pierce through her apparent abyss, following with it were much louder voices. Her eyes twitched as she, by instinct, groaned and attempted to rise up. Only to be caught by two pair of hands, urging caution their voices did. Listen, she did not. Without heeding their advice she brushed them away as she attempting to sit straight up, only to feeling a stinging pain in her chest, forcing her back down. Her body twitched, for the pain was not a culmination, it was a sudden spark of intense agony. Lynn's groans were masked by nothing as those still with her kept urging caution. It wasn't until she heard a familiar voice that her eyes snapped wide open.

"Stubborn moron." As the light settled, in her view were two hooded, partially masked figures tending to her. The upper half of their faces were covered, though, it was the rather sizable fangs they spotted that caught the jock's attention.

"Antila, Vela." The two hooded women turned, revealing Sam with a less than pleased expression. "Leave us." The two glanced to one another, then to Sam before bowing respectfully and exiting the room rather quickly. Leaving the blond rocker alone with the jock. And taking a quick glimpse around, Lynn took notice the overbearing dark green colored walls with thin golden crosses, lined only with a touch of maroon at knee height down. But, as she took a better look around, she noticed that only she and Sam were on the room, the place being practically empty, save for a chair or two by the door, and the bed from which Lynn lay on.

The way she spoke to what Lynn assumed to be nurses gave her the image that this rocker held some for of authority within wherever they were, it sure as Hell wasnt the Loud house. But, as her memory played back to recent events, she remembered Sam changing her appearance as well; she was the same, if not vaguely similar to Carol, and that was enough to have the jock distrust her right off the bat.

Speaking of which, her hands still stung from when she took her swing at Carol, bitch had quite a stern head, it even made a clang sound when she struck. If the scar on her chest was anything to go by, she was nothing but a bug to that thing, something not even worth her time, and yet she still toyed with her if only to get Lincoln to submit to her. And then it hit her; Lincoln gave himself up to keep her and the rest of their family safe. He made a sacrifice for them like it was second nature, caring little for whatever was planned for him by that damned witch. Her blood boiled at remembering the way Carol was touchy with Lincoln, the way she spoke to him, and the manner in which she claimed him as her own. What was she? What did she do to her brother? What were they?

"You done daydreaming?" The irritated tone of the rocker brought the jock loud back to her senses, though, she was less than pleased to still be in the same room as the girl who tried to take her brother, more so now that she knew what same was; the same as Carol. She didn't respond, she wouldn't, not to Sam.

"Leave her alone, Virgo." Another voice caught her attention, this time from above, her eyes shot upwards, catching another sight that reminded Lynn of her sister Lucy, whilst also giving her a mild heart attack as well; Haiku was on the ceiling, seemingly unaffected by gravity as she was more focused on a book in front of her rather than the already woken up Loud. And that name, Virgo, the other one, Taurus, said it too. "She lost her brother twice in one month, you could cut her some slack." Haiku reminded.

"Wouldn't have happened if she acted like an actual sister in the first place." She murmured rather loudly.

Lynn wanted so badly to slug this rocker across the face, but she couldn't. She was too weak, her body was almost numb, and the fatigue kept her in place. All she could do was take the insults, she was never used to taking guff from anyone, but it would appear that in this case, she had no choice but to take it. After all, Carol was right, painful it was to admit it; it was Lynn who pushed the narrative. She continued the rumor, she pushed her brother away, all for a stupid superstition. And now she was living with the consequences, that being she was now under the mercy of whatever these people were. She had many questions, most related to whether or not her brother was their top priority in terms of retrieval. As it was stated in what little she heard before passing out, there were more of them out there, but whether or not they'd help Lincoln was entirely up to their stance on Carol.

"Virgo, enough." Again, a new voice appeared, though, now it was from the door. Oddly enough, it opened silently with that same police officer that claimed to be Sam's dad walking in. Seeing this man brought out a small tangent of pink in her cheeks, but if he was here, then the man was fully aware of what the blonde rocker and Haiku were, meaning he was probably one of them too. In a surprising twist, without much warning, his body shifted, twisting about in a similar manner to Carol's as his form settled on the one she remembered belonging to the one they called Taurus. It wasn't any different,t save for the somewhat pale, yet still dark skin, haunting eyes, apparent tattoos on his face. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Taurus. These are my kin, Virgo." He gestured to the rocker, who huffed at the jock before turning away. "And Scorpio." He gestured upwards to Haiku, she waved halfheartedly before returning her attention to her book. Zodiacs. It didn't take long for Lynn to put the pieces together, especially after she remembered this one referred to Carol as Aquarius. These...whatever they were referred to themselves by the twelve zodiac signs. So then, there were only twelve of them, right?

"Skip the fucking formalities and erase her damn memory already." Sam spewed out, caring little for the Loud sibling that pushed Lincoln towards the edge multiple times. Though, the idea of someone tampering with her memories, erasing her memories so easily left her with widened eyes. What were they going to erase? Their existence? Lincoln? Her breathing became heavy as her heartbeat sped up. She didn't want to forget her brother, the thought of him being out of her life forever, it was too much to bear. It was as if ripping out a piece of herself and tossing it aside.

Taurus turned his head to Sam, disappointment apparent in his eyes. "Virgo. Enough." He wouldn't need to say it a third time. "Forgive her, she's grown fond of young Lincoln. Seeing him in the hands of Aquarius has put her on edge."

Sam's foot tapped with ever growing annoyance, particularly now aimed at Taurus.

"W-what...are you?" The question she wanted to ask, Lynn cared little if Sam like Lincoln or not...actually, she cared a whole lot. But she saved her energy for something far more important; understanding what it is she was going up against the next time she saw Carol.

Taurus showed no reaction to her question, having been asked this many times before. "If the rest of society could brand us we would be called monsters, demons, devils...abominations. But, our term is simply; ghouls." Haiku dropped from the ceiling, her body forming to into the Ghoul natural form; hers being a taller slimmer version of herself, long claws in place of fingers, a similar face to the one Carol displayed; no facial features, a blank slate. And when displaying her open palms, Lynn took notice of two slits opening up in the ghoul's palms, revealing themselves to be mouths. Their jagged teeth and elongated tongues only furthered how much of a horror fiction novel these things belonged in. And yet, they weren't at all what movies would portray a monster, save for Sam though. And it seemed Taurus was the more gentle of the three, given that he showed no intention of harming the jock Loud.

Yet.

But, this also sparked an unnerving reality that Lynn finally pieced after taking in Haiku's form. "S-s-so, Linc is like this too?"

Haiku reverted to her human form, her eye diverted to the side, tilting her head as if pondering something. Which she was; of the time she spent with Lincoln, while having the smell and instincts of a Ghoul, he never once reverted to his Ghoul form. Or rather, could he? For most of their kind, their original form was usually what they started off with when recovering from the infection state, only after practice did they manage to revert to their human forms. And yet, Lincoln was the opposite, an anomaly, or at least that's what Taurus and a few others murmured over.

"Yes and no." Taurus responded. "While your brother is a Ghoul like us, he has not exactly shown much change save for his enhanced instincts. After referring to the council, we believe it was Aquarius' doing that has kept his progression stagnant." He knew he said too much as both Sam and Haiku were now staring at him with much curiosity. The fact that one Ghoul alone was able to alter their newly acquired hereditary traits left them with piling questions that threatened to bubble past the surface of containment.

"And how would the witch be able to do something like that?" Haiku asked, surprising Taurus as he had never once thought he'd hear the poet refer to anyone, least of all Aquarius, by anything but their name. Odd as it was, Haiku never truly stuck to nicknames, insulting or otherwise, as it all felt childish to her. Even though the latter was technically a child herself.

Back to the matter at hand, Taurus remained silent for the most part, unsure over whether to further elaborate over what exactly Carol had become. The rumor was known nearly all of constellation's members, but the truth of her exile was known only by the original zodiacs and the primordial. Case in point, only Taurus and their leader knew why Aquarius had turned on them.

"As I said before, Carol's ability allows her to mimic the abilities of other ghouls. She simply copied what was Libra's portals. Amongst others..." he muttered. "However, She was not idle during her time with us. She studied our kind extensively, and the things she did...the experiments she conducted..."

"Are a danger to all." All eyes turned to the entrance. Standing with his arms crossed behind his back was the leader of Constellation. Beside him were two ghouls dressed in the same robe as he, though, their hoods denied any viewing of their faces. The need for secrecy in this case was a necessity, primarily over what was decided for the young Loud. As he entered, the three present ghouls bowed their heads respectfully as the primordial approached Lynn. His eyes examined the young Loud, from her injuries to the ever trembling state she was in. "The Council has reached its decision." His eyes glanced briefly to Taurus, though eye contact was not met. "The council votes in favor of Capricorn's proposal; the family's memory of this day will be erased. As will this one's." As he approached her, her shaking became all the more noticeable, particularly since if these things could alter memories, then there was a chance they wouldn't take a risk with her; they'd get rid of her. Though, lost in her panicked state, she failed to notice a claw press gently against her head, by the time she finally took notice, it had begun to remove what appeared to be a glowing white string. The effects of removing the string were felt instantly as Lynn's eyes twitched for a few seconds before she inevitably passed out.

Reaching within his enlarged sleeve, the primordial retrieved a small test tube, placing the string inside and sealing the small container. Once done, he handed the vial to one of the hooded ghouls and began to take his leave, only for Sam to call out to her leader.

"So that's it then?" The primordial stopped, if only for a moment. "With their memories erased, now we just forget about Lincoln and continue on with our lives?" The primordial frowned, albeit faintly.

"Without so much as knowing where to look for Aquarius, for now, that's all we can do." The leader answered before leaving. Allowing Sam and Taurus to take in what just happened. Whilst Haiku kept her mind focused on what would proceed next.

'How are we going to explain this to his family?'

-Unknown Location-

In what could only be described as a refitted base, Lincoln found himself, after exiting Carol's portal, in a rather large underground cavern. The ever echoing dripping water ringed for hours in his ears, the sight of residue and collapsed corridors gave him a clear idea of what occurred here; a desperate, unprecedented, attempt to keep something from getting out. Judging by the deepened scratches on what appeared to be reinforced walls, it might've worked. Though, what existed in the quarantined cavern was a still perfectly usable lab. How he knew he was underground was the mass of what he hoped was a stable bulk of dirt above him. The steel ceiling stilled covered much of the small facility, but it depending on how deep they were, it wouldn't last should there be an accident of some sorts. It gave home ideas for how to rid himself of Carol. Though, judging by initial impressions, she had to have other ghouls down here, how else would she stave off feralism. Then she had claimed to overcome such a state, and if there was truth to that statement, then there was more to being a Ghoul than Taurus knew of. Whether he liked it or not, Carol, for some reason, knew more than Constellation did, or whatever she discovered were secrets exclusive to her alone. Either way, he couldn't deny he was impressed with her collective abilities.

Walking about the somewhat dirty hallways, he quickly took note of how he underestimated the how deep this structure dug into earth. Four or three stories, judging by what he could see from a balcony overlooking the entire facility. It almost resembled a vault from a familiar game her played. The color scheme was off, as was the tech, but the dirt and grime were there. Though, it wasn't as abandoned as he expected. Nevertheless, he continued his trek inwards cautiously. Did Carol dump him here, or was she just messing with him. Either of the two could've been plausible.

"Welcome home, Linky."

Then again, maybe not. His eyes glanced upwards; nothing, he glanced around, seeing nothing Lincoln wondered where her echo was originated from. It wasn't until he felt her hand on his shoulder that he had a clear idea. Though he wasn't too fond of her touching him, there really wasn't much he could do. Her grip tightened as she slumped over him, none too forceful but at the same time with enough force to keep him pinned.

"Like it? To think, the humans that captured me tried to seal this place off so that I couldn't escape." Carol giggled, her head nuzzled against his head, as if his hair were made of silk. Gently, she cupped his chin and turned his head towards a room with glass walls, within were large tubes one would only think to see in fictional movies. Within them were disfigured and possibly decaying corpses, Ghoul or human, Lincoln couldn't tell. "Well, they were just as useless keeping me contained as they were test subjects. Everyone thinks I'm dead...or, they used to." She released her grip on the ashen haired boy, pacing calmly towards the balcony. Her attention was fixated on the laboratory that once contained her, now reduced to bits of rubble, all by her hands. Her palm gestured Lincoln to her side, he did so. As he stood beside her, his eyes examined more of the place he was now to call home. "How much did Taurus tell you? Of ghouls?" Her tone shifted, while her smile remained, Lincoln could feel the venom in her tone when she spoke of her former comrades.

"Not a lot, he only told me how ghouls looked. The two Ghoul factions. And how everyone only has one ability." He replied, meekly. Mostly due to feeling ever growing malice from Carol.

"I knew it, they wouldn't have told you any Ghoul secrets. Not unless you joined them." She again embraced him, her arms swimming over his shoulders, her head now nested comfortably against his neck. "Not me." She whispered, pressing her body closer to his, fully aware of Lincoln's ever growing need to separate from her. Her grip tightened,p as her hands drifted downwards. "I won't leave my ghoulings in the dark." She giggled, eerily. "Well, not entirely." She removed herself rom him, much to his relief. Though, as she turned to walk away, Carol gestured him to her side again, and like a newborn pup, he followed closely. Their walk took them to the lowest level, the sounds of screams and banging were not even audible from the top level, but entering the second, they were faint. As they descended to the last level, past three reinforced rooms, the two came to a stop in front of what looked like a cage, with only a single open slit, within a hollow room. A fowl stench invade his senses, his nose directing to source to the steel cage in the middle of the room.

Carol approached it, her smile all the more evident. Each footstep she made echoed within room. The sounds of her approaching caused whatever was in the cage to begin to bang harder against the cage. He heard a raspy voice trying to scream out, desperately calling in a tongue unknown to Lincoln. She stopped by the entrance, keeping closely to the sides of the cage where the slit was blind to. Carol gestured Lincoln to approach. Hesitantly, he did, but he kept a greater distance from the slit, unwilling to peek into whatever was in this box. But as he did, he heard a raspy voice call out again.

"H-hello...someone...anyone..." there was a clear hint of desperation, and from the tone of this voice, she was young. Maybe around his age. Lincoln's eyes glanced to Carol, her smile widened, as she tapped on the cage. She gestured him to speak, it didn't matter what he said so long as he started the conversation.

"Um...hello?" Without warning, he heard a faint gasp from the cage, peeking slightly in he saw a pair of ruby red pupils. Their eyes, almost saurian, with a slithering sound heard from within the cage.

"H-h-h-help...please. Let me out."

Also without warning was when a small silver object was tossed his way. He caught it, though, when looking at what exactly it was, his confusion over this situation only increased.

A key.

That's what it was, and presumably the one to open the cage.

Carol tapped the top of the cage in a rhythmic manner. "Oh Nikki~" Lincoln swore he heard the one in the cage's breath hitch at the sound of Carol voice. "What did I say?" With a swift swing, Carol struck the top of the cage, denting it, causing a small yelp to echo from within. She smirked, turning back to Lincoln. "She was one of the first, a beta, if you will. Her variables were nothing but a guess...though, she was more...vocal than I expected." She chuckled, a sound that made both Lincoln and the Ghoul inside the cage cringe. But, for the one trapped within containment, she knew more of what Carol did to those she managed to get her hands on. As if showing regret for her actions, Carol caressed the dent she made. "That's the reason I keep this thing in here, on more than one occasion she's been too...cocky. I do this to teach her proper manners...also, it's rather fun hearing hear scream and beg." Or rather, she cared little for regret. For it was apparent; she had none. Her attention remained on the container as she addressed Lincoln. "I took her from a city nearby, I had high hopes for this one as well, but she failed to meet my expectations. And yet, she didn't die. I'm faintly impressed, but then, there are insects that are just as irritatingly difficult to kill." Her eyes glanced to Lincoln, seemingly surprised that what was cowering in the cage was a living experiment, as Carol put it. "This is your first task; tame her. Or kill her, I don't care. If you succeed then consider this my gift to you, this defect is yours to play with. But remember Linky..." she walked towards him, using a finger to nudge his chin upwards, gazing him directly in the eye. "You. Are. Mine." She drew ever closer to him, their lips only a mere meters away. Until, her grin eased as she turned to walk away. Before exiting, she called to him, whilst never turning back to face him. "Make me proud."

As she left, Lincoln heard sniffling, as well as barely stifled sobbing coming from the cage. Carol called her a defect, what that meant could've been anything. Hell, she might as well be a Ghoul that didn't transform right, or maybe her body was immune to Carol's blood. Whatever the cause, he couldn't leave her like this. He walked up, kneeled before the slit and searching for Carol's victim. Due to the slit being the only opening, very little light shone in the cage.

"Hey...she's gone." His words received no response, at least none in the form of proper speech. A snarl was directed his way as whatever was in the cage banged against the side of the cage Lincoln was in. He stumbled backwards as the room echoed with the girl's apparent desperation finally breaking through.

"Stop mocking me!" The voice was still raspy, but she somehow found enough energy to verbally retaliate. "I'm not gonna fall for it again. I know you're still there you bitch! Let. ME. OUT!" The banging increased as what sounds like claws were attempting to force the slit open, perhaps to wedge it wide enough for her to make leverage. "I promise...I promise I'll be good...I'll be a good girl...please..." her voice broke into heart-wrenching sob.

She thought Lincoln was Carol. Having been here, presumably for quite some time, the ashen-haired boy could only assume she knew of Carol's abilities. But to instill such fear into someone, in a prolonged period of time, he could only shiver at what...Nikki, went through. But, if only for a moment, there was some fight in her, and it would work to his advantage. Hopefully.

"I'm not her." He spoke, calmly. Lincoln sat at the cage's opening, key in hand. He wouldn't taunt or torture her, but he needed to establish who was in charge. He already saw how powerful ghouls could be, especially since their appearances were almost always different, meaning whatever shape Nikki was could easily overpower him. She'd kill him if the idea that he was Carol remained in her mind. As much as he wanted to free her from her prison, he couldn't, not while she was like this. "I'm like you; a toy she picked off the street." He winced at referring to himself as the very thing Carol taunted him over.

"..." there was a moment of silence, broken only with an immediate hissing from the cage as a pair of ruby red appeared once again. "Why should I believe you?" As a response, Lincoln held up the cage key again, immediately catching her attention. "...you gonna taunt me?"

"No, I need a friend. Especially if I'm gonna be here with...her. Besides, you need me as well. You know what happens to a Ghoul that's been isolated for too long? Don't you?" Nikki was silent, but she knew. She knew all too well, she watched as the others brought with her slowly deteriorated, prisoners she spoke to, befriended; all of them eventually succumbing to feralism.

"I do." She whispered. "I've seen it...so many ghouls...so many friends...i don't wanna see it happen again..." And with that, her eyes retreated into the shadows of her cage. Though, her tone was easily seen through; she was scared. The thought of becoming an emotionless, seemingly mindless, ever-hungry cannibal was looming closer her way. If Lincoln truly walked away, she'd eventually be left to her fate. But, she'd been through enough of Carol's tricks and experiments; if he'd just kill her now, she could go in peace.

Whatever Carol put her through, the effects remained. This girl preferred dying than associating in any way with her captor. Glancing around, Lincoln took note of the purpose of this room; isolation. This was probably another way of torturing a Ghoul, isolating them. It struck the boy as an odd trait that ghouls would go feral if left alone for too long. But, that only made the need for partnerships all the more a necessity. In this case, the two of them knew, even if there was no trust, they'd need to stay aligned if they wished to avoid feralism.

"What if I promise to get her back, for all the things she's done?" And just like that, her interest was caught, but Nikki treaded cautiously. While the stench in her cell was indeed strong, she still caught Carol's scent on him. How could she forget that damned stench of the witch? But, she also caught someone else's. A newcomer's, stronger than Carol's. Her eyes reappeared, though, only one as it cautiously fixated on him.

"You'll kill her?"

"Worse..." both her eyes were now on his, her pupils dilated as she watched Lincoln's eyes shift from their usual color to those only a Ghoul would show. "I'm going to break her." And there it was again, that echo that came with his apparent Ghoul form. While only his eyes ever changed; black scleras and lightish amber took hold.

In this one instance, for once in her life, Nikki looked to another Ghoul with fear equal to that of Carol's. For what reason she couldn't exactly place into words, but the more she looked into his eyes, the more she felt herself shivering, almost violently to a point. His non-changing expression didn't help either. "So..." he fiddled with the key for a bit before gesturing it to Nikki. "You in?" That voice was unnerving, it was as if two people were speaking at once. Not simply for the echo in his tone, but rather it actually felt like there were two people speaking at once. "Besides..." in a surprising twist, his eyes shifted back to their normal colors, and only one voice spoke this time around. "Give it time, and she'll find someone else to play with, it'll give us more time to plan something out." As he spoke, he unlocked the cage, allowing Nikki to open it, albeit slowly. Hesitantly, she pushed it open, allowing more light to enter her dwelling and allowing Lincoln to see better within. When he expected to hear footsteps, instead he heard slithering. Out popped the head, disheveled and dirty platinum blonde. Dirt and dried blood encompassed most of her skin and tattered clothing. Her cheeks had a unique scale-like feature, and her arms were even more aligned with saurian features. And as she emerged further from her cage, she slithered out, for the lower half of her body was that of a serpent. To put it mildly, she was...amazing. Lincoln had only seen what he remembered to be Europa's form, but to see Nikki's.

Catching his seemingly unending state, the young Ghoul snapped at him. "What?"

Realizing he'd been looking for too long, and with a mild tint of pink in his otherwise pale cheeks, he chuckled nervously before pointing to her. Nothing in particular, just her.

"Even with the dirt and grime...you're...beautiful." To say she was surprised was an understatement. He could've said anything, literally anything at all, but to say that. She had no words. Of all the response she could've had to this, Loud house Nikki was at a loss for words. "And tall."

...

Without warning, and perhaps for the first time since she arrived in this hell hole; she laughed. It was hoarse, and raspy, but she still managed to laugh. That was something she always expected, and yet, it took a backseat to his initial reaction. It wasn't until she was fully out of the cage that she could finally smell him better, he had a variety of scents on him, most faint, only one irritating. But, there were two stronger ones, above the many scents he carried on him, there were two similar, yet obviously different smells. For ghouls, when forced to live in the shadows, only free when the world was dark, their senses, primarily their smell and hearing were enhanced greatly. But, everyone had one distinct scent, and if there were others, most likely it was due to recent physical contact. So then, why did he have two?

"I'm Lincoln, by the way." Nikki's thoughts were put on hold.

"Nikki." She responded.

'Well done.' Both their eyes widened, their blood ran cold as they heard what appeared to be Carol's voice echoing in the room. 'Not how I would've proceeded, but then, we all train our pets differently.' The source came from speakers hanging by the corners of the room.

"She's not my pet!" Lincoln snapped, earning a surprised look from Nikki.

Silence engulfed the room before Carol spoke up. 'I see...so then get rid of it.' The hearts of both ghouls began beating rapidly; knowing full well Carol would actually go through with it if he didn't. 'Better yet, eat her.'

If their surprised expressions weren't telling enough; they couldn't believe the witch would make them do such a thing. In all honesty, perhaps maybe they did, but to hear her so casually pit two kids against each other, to kill one another and afterwards eat the other's carcass; it made their stomachs turn. They glanced at one another, seeing the fear in one another's eyes gave them the assurance that neither would go through with what Carol wanted. But, to deny her what she wanted was only to invoke whatever twisted punishment she would think up. Though, what she spoke of next would truly break them.

'Go ahead; don't you want to be strong faster? How do you think little Nikki earned her little current state? Here's a little fun fact; little Nikki...well, she helped quite a bit with the disposing of the failed subjects. But just in case, I made sure to starve her just enough.'

While Lincoln was, for a brief moment confused, Nikki was quivering in place. The few times she was fed, the meat she was given...it was all her former friends. The people stuck with her. All of them, hacked and given to her on a literal silver platter. Her shaking hands placed themselves against her mouth, sharp gasps escaped her mouth as she fell to her...not her knees, but with only one arm to keep her up from collapsing on the floor, Nikki felt herself gag at the thought of eating her former comrades. And to make the image worse, she remembered enjoying her meals, every time.

'What's wrong Nikki, you look surprised? Did you really think I would waste meat? But don't worry, I had a nibble too.' Her glee in all this was shown no subtlety. The hatred Nikki felt towards Carol only grew. A small giggle echoed for much longer than comfort wanted. 'Well, lessons will have to be for later then, if you're not gonna eat her than hurry on up to the dormitories, your team awaits you.'

This brought on a new batch of questions. What exactly did she mean by team? More ghouls?

'Oh, but I don't want your pet making a mess of my floors, take her to the baths and clean her up.' And with that, the doors to the room opened.

With no intention of treating her the way Carol wanted, Lincoln merely walked with Nikki to where they assumed was the baths, standing outside as she slithered in to clean herself up. As she did, Lincoln wondered what exactly their master, a term he hated but used nonetheless, had planned for them? Up until now, Carol was experimenting on ghouls, from what he could deduce from the way she treated those in the tubes and how she spoke of Nikki and those before her. And yet, Taurus never mentioned her. It was odd; Carol seemingly knew a way for ghouls to consume regular food, albeit for a short period of time. And judging by Nikki's nearly human appearance, save for the snake half, it seemed whatever Carol was aiming for in her experimentation; she drew ever closer to her goal. Or, she was nowhere near it. Either way, it would be beneficial to stay and learn what he could from this witch. Even he had to admit, while sadistic and cruel her tactics were, she demonstrated a greater understanding of Ghouls then the ones who claimed themselves to be the first faction of their kind.

After about ten minutes, the two ghoulings made their way to the dormitories, which were made easy to find thanks to signs around each corridor directing their path. Though, their walk was long, intentionally, as neither was especially thrilled to be heading to meet other possibly broken ghouls Carol brought into whatever scheme she had in mind. Of course, this mindset was primarily on Nikki's mind. After having been revealed what she was fed for months on end, she felt the urge to simply just let Lincoln do away with her. After all, what was left for her? Where she came from, a kid going missing wasn't uncommon; a runway they'd call her. Maybe that was why Carol took her. Her folks might've been looking for her, but at this point, they'd probably give up. Wouldn't they? She didn't know, and she probably never would if she remained in this bunker.

Approaching what was clearly labeled with dried blood splatters as the dorms, both Lincoln and Nikki felt queasy. Both of them could pick up the scents of ghouls, three to be exact. Waiting on the other side of the slide doors were three more of their kin, possibly broken and halfway insane thanks to Carol's tests. But, they weren't going to find out standing where they were. Inhaling deeply, gathering courage, Lincoln walked forward, the doors to the room slid open as he entered.

Greeting him was a sight that would stay with him for a good while; two ghouls sitting side by side, holding one another. The third was standing to the side, their mind elsewhere. The one on the right had six arms, skin as dark as night, and eyes pure crimson. There were no pupils, all he saw was crimson. Two elongated fangs on her bottom jaw gave off a threatening first glance, however, the sight of her crying was anything but threatening. Not to mention, her short ashen hair reminded him of Lori, for some strange reason. The one on the left had four arms, and like Nikki, had only the upper half of her body still human, the bottom was resembling that of a spider; a black widow, if you would. She too had pupil-less crimson eyes, though, she had six, two normal ones with four smaller atop the two. Her mouth was hinged, four mandibles, with two fangs on her upper jaw. And lastly, it was the third that truly caught his undivided attention. Her hair was a similar shade of white as the one on the right, though, hers was long and braided. Not for her Ghoul form, but for the fact that he knew her. He recognized her.

"Maggie?" As soon as he uttered her voice, her eyes widened as her head snapped towards his direction. It was then that he saw her Ghoul form; the left half of her body was still human, but the right was seemingly rotting, almost like a corpse. Once her eyes fell on him, her human half still with its normal color, but the corpse side was milky white with the pupil a pale sky blue.

"Lincoln?" Her voice uttered in disbelief, she approached cautiously. She knew him, or rather, she knew his sister. How long had it been? Couldn't have been too long, he looked the same as the last time she saw him. Her hands reached out, though they shook in fear that he was merely an illusion, another trick of their captor. However, once her palms cupped his cheeks, an overwhelming sense of emotions welled is in her. This Maggie was not what he expected, the one Lincoln remembers was a girl who showed little to no emotion. This one has an ever-flowing stream run down her cheeks. Without warning, she grabbed hold of him and brought him into a tight embrace.

How could she not? He was perhaps the only familiar thing she'd seen since arriving here. Her family? Who knew where they were? All she remembered was that they were all taken, placed in here, and soon after Carol made her breakout, what little survived the blast became toys for the blonde witch. It came down to just three ghouls remaining, though, it appeared as if another two were either added recently or kept secret until now.

Lincoln's returned the embrace, overcome with joy at seeing a familiar face, but almost quickly he'd frowned at realizing what occurred down here. If Maggie was down here, no doubt she had succumbed to the witch's treatment.

"L-l-Lincoln?" Another familiar voice caught his eye. As his eyes glanced to the source, his breath hitched at seeing his classmate. Someone he and many others believed to have been on a vacation with her family overseas. But, seeing her here, in the form that she was, broke his heart. The anger at how far reaching Carol's testing had become had boiled over.

"Jordan?" He had hoped the familiar braid and face was simply a coincidence, however, as it became all the more clear; Jordan and Maggie were both ghouls. Though, the third one eluded him. In a sense she almost looked like a smaller version of Lori, and yet...

"W-w-what are you doing here?" Girl Jordan asked as she'd broken from her embrace with the other Ghoul, approaching the still human form of her classmate. She recoiled for a moment, believing he was brought here to endure what she and the other three had endured.

"Same as you." Nikki interrupted, slithering closer to the group, or rather, staying close to Lincoln. "Brought here by a psychotic bitch, tortured and starved for days on end, and now here we are...the result of whatever experiment she had in mind."

'Oh dearies~' and there it was, the voice that was the cause of endless screaming, sleepless nights, and never ending nightmares. The six-armed Ghoul jumped up, falling out of her seat and crawling towards Jordan, whimpering all the way. The arachnid ghoul welcomed the frightened one with open arms, though; she too was put off by the Carol's overly gleeful tone. 'Silly little defects. This is not the end, far from it.' A blast door above them opened from the second floor of the dormitory. All eyes, minus those of the six-armed Ghoul, were now focused on the opening doors.

At the sound of humming, that all too familiar voice, it forced the six-armed girl to bury her head against Jordan's chest, both Lincoln and Nikki stood at ready, with Maggie frozen in fear, unsure of what to do. And there she appeared, the bane of their existence; Carol. Though, she had reformed into her full Ghoul state, or what appeared to be so. Two her teeth clicking to the tune of her voice, blackened veins marked across every inch of her body, with her skin a milky grey color as she glanced towards her test subjects with a satisfied grin. Her claws tapping rhythmically against the metal rail as her voice echoed in the dorms.

"I had strings, but now I'm free...there are no strings on me..."

And with that comes another chapter, we really hope you guys enjoy this one, it's been pretty fun writing these chapters, especially with what we have planned for the future of this story. Also, before anyone asks, yes, the ghouls found in the Carol's little base are all defects, and that'll be explained later on. Its gonna be considerably less dark in the next few chapters. until next time. Ciao.