==Hi, everyone! I am back unexpectedly! I was writing a chapter when I discovered that the timeline didn't make sense, so I did some switching around of chapters in my plans and found that this would better suit of sequence of events. Unfortunately, it negates what I said in the last chapter about going back to Zane and Macca...for the most part. But I still really wanted to write about this, so I ended up sitting down this morning and just writing uncontrollably. This is the result and I'm very satisfied. Some unknown information is going to be revealed! Maybe it's considered to be a plot twist, I'm not too sure, but this is it! I hope you all enjoy. I will definitely be posting again - I think - by Monday, but I'm not sure. I'm still guaranteeing you all one more chapter before my Christmas break is over, but who knows, I might be able to sneak another one in ;) No promises, though!==

Structured Noise - "Another World"

Listen. Kill them.

Haunted: Collapse into Caliginosity

Chapter 65:

The Future Is Now, Old Man

The beautiful woman slept in the brush. She was laying on her side, peacefully breathing, as the thick and healthy grass pillowed her head. The assortment of flowers covered one side of her face, but her curly brown hair splayed in every direction as if she was a pure human being. Her faultless sienna skin seemed smooth to the touch. It was a temptation I would regret.

Very slowly, I reached to caress her cheek, not wanting to disturb her slumber. I'd only encountered such beauty once before. It was almost a sin to make physical contact with her.

My rough, wrinkled palm gently touched the side of her face. Her eyes opened, revealing a black orb. I gasped and backed away. There was no human eye, only the eye of the deadly entity. A shrill shriek erupted from her mouth as her jaw stretched open so wide that it popped out of place. The once smooth skin crackled into shallow fissures, starting at her lips and traveling as far as her ear.

I had no time to run away. Her broadened mouth was bearing down around the circumference of my skull, her teeth penetrating blood vessels in my scalp. The shriek destroyed my bleeding eardrums without ceasing. Death itself was about to consume me piece by piece. This was the end.

I awakened from the nightmare in a state of panic. The horrible shriek remained in my ears as I stared at the familiar wooden walls surrounding me. Regardless of what I did to stop it, it continued. Tears erupted from my eyes from the reconstructed childhood memory. The other woman had tried to kill me, but I survived. For years I thought I could move past the tragic event, but it has come back to haunt me. Even as a well aged man, the nightmare was just as traumatic as when I was a young boy.

Needing a solution to stop the disembodied shrieking, I stumbled across the room for my spirit smoke. It was a shaky process, but I set up the pot and lit the incense. Meditating caused me to focus in on the shrieking itself. The smoke began to dance as it entered my nostrils. It brought me the original image of my firsthand experience with the entity's first host.

The fasuma door to our bedroom had slid open as if a gust of wind had taken it off its hinges. The demonic creature towered over my trembling body, looking at me with its black orbs. Only one side of her face had remained somewhat the same compared to the pure bone cursing the other.

My own flesh and blood. The woman who nursed me as an infant and cradled me a young child. This was no longer my mother, but a deformed monstrosity; a product of the entity's possessesion and metamorphosis.

My brother wept in fear, cowering in the corner, as the monster's jaw encased my skull. I screamed for someone to save me with warm blood trickling down my face and onto my pillow.

A bright light blinded me as the pressure building around my head increased. A jolt commenced, causing the monster to release me entirely. My father had the Scythe of Quakes in hand as he used its thick blade to punch a hole into the monster'a back and to throw it off me. A ribbon of blood splattered the wall. It found the strength to stand once again, forming a shadow over him from its immense height.

Then the moment occurred: My father, with his long blonde braided hair creeping down his back, stood face to face with the monster in a battle stance, but no strikes were taken. They both looked into each other's eyes, recognizing each other for a split second. This wasn't a monster. This was the love of his life, now eternally corrupted.

It seemed as if the monster forgot it was here to feed. The blood from its wound poured incessantly. For that moment in time, my mother had returned to consciousness and realized what she had done. Then she ran away from the Monastery of Spinjitzu, leaving a trail of blood in her wake, never to return. My father fell to his knees, dropping the scythe. He was a broken man from that day until his untimely death. The love of his life was gone, her body a host for the entity to use however it wished.

I exhaled the smoke with more tears streaming down my face. With that, the shrieking in my ears subsided.

The smoke created a new vision for me. Bodies scattered the ground. I knew the faces they possessed. My students...Nya...Lloyd...All with throats blungened by teeth. Pools of blood flooded the areas around them. They were all brutally murdered with terrified expressions covering their faces. No amount of training could spare them.

As the smoke panned farther along the dreadful scene, a similar monster crouched over a body. It turned to me, its jaw clamped tightly around Zane's neck, and shrieked like it did in my dream. I flinched at the sight of his body being flung like a rag doll. Before the smoke dissipated, I saw how half of its face was pure bone and the other half belonged to a depraved version of Macca's beauty.

I opened my eyes, seeing how the smoke seemed to have never altered to begin with. Voices on the upper deck came to my hearing. My students were ready for their daily routine of morning training, but I was not.

My knowledge of the entity had been limited, but I knew it has claimed many doomed victims. Accounts of women disappearing all across Ninjago have surfaced throughout my lifetime. Every depiction included how the woman was the most beautiful woman anyone had ever laid eyes on. The entity used beauty as a disguise before the metamorphosis started. Like in my dream, it was a trap for prey.

The reason why many hosts have been taken was because the women themselves have not been strong enough to carry out the duties of the entity. The true purpose of the entity was unknown to me, but it was clear that it was trying to do something that the bodies simply weren't built to do. If Macca was its next victim, there was a chance she could survive, but at a cost. Her beauty and strength made her the perfect host, which would mean she would have no choice but to allow the metamorphosis to take place. The beauty all of Ninjago praised her for would be her own enemy, for it was both a blessing and a curse.

Until the entity took Macca's body, there was nothing I could do. Her mind would still be intact, but her body would begin to change in preparation for the transformation. If she could train with my students while adjusting to her destiny, she could pull through. I was sure of it.

But for now, I would have to wait. Nobody will be expecting it when it happens. My only fear was that her mind would be lost prematurely. If she allowed the entity to mentally take her along with her body, it was over. She always had to be aware of her actions, or else everyone would perish. The mere thought haunted me.

And now we know why this is the "Haunted" trilogy :) I hope you all enjoyed reading this! Unfortunately, Sensei's POV will be disappearing for a very long time. He said there was nothing he could do for now, so there's no use for his side of the story until something actually happens. That sounds so mean. Sorry! ._. Thank you RandomDragon2.0 and SpitfirewaterNinja for reviewing. Have a happy New Years!