The Ghoul's Little PlayThing

The wardrobe crashed to the ground, breaking apart into pieces of wood and splinters.

Jasper tried to scatter the wood in the hope that they could find something—anything.

But he was just gone.

Seraphina's feet remained planted in place.

Her heart dropped, beads of sweat running down the sides of her face.

She opened her mouth, voice breaking.

"Where'd he go?"

****

Yanked into the wardrobe, everything turned dark in a second.

He felt the claws dig deep into his shirt, almost grazing him.

He let himself blink—because what choice did he have?

BOOM! THUD. THUD.

Keiran's body rolled down the stairs.

He opened his eyes, vision swarming, his ankle swollen, and an odd metallic taste in his mouth.

He spat.

Ptah.

He spat into his hand as he stared at it.

"Of course I'm bleeding."

A light chuckle escaped his lips as he slowly and painfully dragged himself up.

Turning around once, he saw it—

He was back in the entrance hall.

They took him back to the beginning.

Keiran grabbed the side of his head with one hand, an unimaginable pain rising within his skull.

FLICK.

The light at the left hallway flickered to life again.

Then another.

Rhythmically, they lit up one after the other.

"You know you're not gonna let me die," Keiran hissed.

But there was no one around—except for him.

He was talking to the Ghoul.

He laughed even harder.

"If I die, then you die too. I wonder how you'll feel about that—the all-powerful Ghoul died with a nothing 17-year-old teenage boy."

Keiran spat as he slowly walked toward the lit hallway.

"So no matter how quiet you become, I know what you're afraid of.

You're not afraid of dying—

You're afraid of not being remembered."

He stopped, resting against the wall just before the hallway.

"So like it or not, I trust that your egotistical, narcissistic ass won't let me die—at least not yet."

Keiran pushed himself off the wall as he continued to force his way into the hallway.

He entered, walking past the peeling wallpaper and the soaking wet walls, before stopping at the top of the rotten stairs leading down.

Feeling the bile rising in his throat, Keiran swallowed hard, forced his lips into a line, and clenched his fists.

He muttered to himself, "Let's get this shit over with."

He slowly began stepping down—mostly with his right leg, still feeling the effects of his swollen left ankle—until he finally stood before a door.

He slowly pushed it open to reveal—

A bedroom??

Petite, bordering on a walk-in closet. The wallpaper was a faded yellow.

It was a strange mix between a little girl's bedroom and a cramped storage room. No windows. A tiny bed in the corner. Tools lined up on the other side. A miniature chair and tea table squeezed in at the foot of the bed.

But the most prominent thing—

Green moss.

Everywhere.

Almost every inch of the wall, floor, and ceiling was covered in it.

Grrrr...

Low growls.

Multiple of them.

Keiran's mouth instantly ran dry. They were closing in—and there was no place for him to hide.

"It makes no sense... I don't understand... How many are they?" Keiran muttered to himself, as his face drained of all color.

Peeking out the door—

Three beasts.

Huge.

Barely fitting into the hallway, their fur brushing against the walls—and trust me, they were pissed.

Keiran jolted back, slamming the door shut.

He trailed his eyes around the room in a second, then ran to the bed. Using all his strength, he shoved it against the door.

"What else? What else?"

The tea table.

Light, but he needed all the help he could get.

He dragged it to the door and braced himself, anchoring his weight against it.

The door started to vibrate.

BOOM!

"What the hell is missing? I thought I figured it out!"

BOOM!

"The kids were being abused and—"

BOOM!

The door was barely hanging together.

"It was the dad!"

BOOM!

"And they killed the child—"

Hahaha.

A low voice laughed from inside his head.

"And you thought you were smart," the Ghoul's laughter continued.

"Look, if you're not going to help, might as well shut up. But if I die because I can't figure this out, then we're both dead," Keiran hissed, his brows furrowed, his legs being pushed forward by the force at the door.

BOOM!

"Ughh... fine. It wasn't all the kids. It was just the daughter. The man and his two wives abused her, maltreated her—until finally she died.

She was the youngest… and so the three sons—now the beasts outside—were her only protectors.

And now… when she died, so did they.

And so, their spirits protect the grave of their beloved sister."

"How tragic… Well, to me, it's beautiful," the Ghoul sneered.

BOOM!

"So how do I stop them?" Keiran asked, panicking.

Every time the Ghoul spoke, shivers ran down his spine—his voice like sandpaper.

"She was killed and buried in this house. An innocent soul. And as such, her soul's trapped here, within these walls.

Grab her body—or whatever is left of it—and show it to the sun. Only then can she be free."

Keiran screamed, "So where's her goddamn body!?"

I'm not gonna help you figure everything out. Use your brain... Hope you make it.

And with that, the Ghoul went silent.

"Oh come on, where can the body be?"

Keiran's eyes trailed all over the place.

There.

His eyes widened like he'd seen a ghost.

They'd bury her where no one would ever find her.

In her room.

Everywhere was covered in moss—except for the circular spot at the center.

It has to be there.

But that thing was made out of cement.

"How the hell am I supposed to break that thing—and still hold the door?"

*****

"Do you hear that?"

Seraphina turned as she asked Jasper—scratching or pounding on the walls.

"How 'bout we don't follow the strange noises," Jasper answered.

Dragging the back of his shirt, she replied, "It could be Keiran."

They hurriedly ran back downstairs as fast as possible—only to hear the pounding on the door down the hallway.

As they glanced through, the beasts turned back—three of them now facing Jasper and Seraphina.

They lunged after them, crashing into the walls as dust filled the air.

Jasper and Seraphina moved backward slowly before the bloodshot eyes rose through the smoke.

Through the dust, one lunged forward.

Jasper and Seraphina avoided its claws by pushing each other away—now separated.

The other two walked through the haze, mouths dripping, as they both set their sights on Seraphina.

The third blocked Jasper from reaching her.

They rounded Seraphina—

And just as they lunged forward, they smashed into the wall.

Where was she?

She was upstairs.

She had touched the book on the table earlier—

And now she had switched places with it.

Jasper was all alone versus three very pissed-off beasts.

Backed into a corner, he had no choice.

As one of them jumped forward—

Jasper's clothes stretched until they tore.

The hair on his skin grew furiously, forming a pelt coat just like the one on the beast.

His facial features stretched like they had no bone until they shifted into that of the beast.

He looked just like them.

He'd finally used his divinity—Form Replication.

He locked hands with one of the beasts in a tug of war for strength—both straining their muscles until—

Skrrch!

Another one, from behind, slashed into Jasper.

He fell to a knee.

A pound straight to his face sent his skull bouncing off the floor.

As they scratched his back relentlessly until Jasper stopped moving.

The area pooled with blood as he slowly turned back.

His lifeless body laid to waste.

*****

The pounding suddenly stopped as Keiran's back remained pressed against the wall.

Why?

No idea—

But now's not the time. Hurry, before they get back.

He quickly grabbed the sledgehammer from the corner, barely able to lift it off the ground.

He steadied himself, took a deep breath—

And, calculating it perfectly, swung it against the floor.

Nothing.

Just barely a fucking dent.

I'm not strong enough to do this… but I have no choice.

He swung again.

Nothing.

I need the Ghoul. But he's not gonna come out.

Keiran's stomach churned.

His brows furrowed, his grip on the hammer tightened, and his eyes narrowed.

I won't give him a choice.

He bit down on his tongue—

Hard enough to cut straight through it—

And at the same time, swung the hammer.

CRACK!

It actually got through.

His mouth filled with blood.

I can't stop.

CRACK!

Once.

Twice.

Five times—

Until—

I see it.

Keiran dropped the hammer, blood dripping from his lips onto the floor.

Bones.

Clenched together in a cradling position.

RIP.

He grabbed the skull.

Hurriedly rushed out—

Only to see the three beasts over Jasper in a pool of blood.

They turned immediately upon seeing Keiran—

The skull in hand.

Oh shit.

They lunged for him just as he lunged for the window, running as fast as his feet would let him until—