The Ghoul's Little PlayThing

"You—you are not ever allowed to hesitate. I told you, I made this perfectly clear. I say kill, and you say what? If you ever hesitate again, you're next."

Her gaze steadily glared at him.

The child's body finally slumped to the floor.

Keiran's eyes stayed plastered on the girl's head on the floor, strands of her hair in its mouth.

They walked out of the building, Keiran not looking at Lucy for a second, his head completely downward.

He thought to himself, "She killed her. She was just a child, and she killed her like she was nothing."

As they walked out of the school, Lucy faced the reporters with a smile—like she didn't just kill a child—as she shifted her hair toward the back and answered them.

Keiran slowly walked into the plane, not for a second taking his eyes off his blood-infested, rotten fingers. They had slowly started to rot again during the fight.

After hours of answering questions, Lucy finally got back into the plane as they took off.

*****

They finally got back to headquarters. Immediately as the jet landed, the doors slowly slid down to reveal a very pissed Mr. Terrace Manhattan—the Archangel of the Spear Division and Lucy's boss—his hands in his coat as he folded them, his jaw visibly clenched and a red, popping vein plastered on his forehead.

The soldiers all ran out of the plane as if on routine, one carrying the decapitated head of the demon in a see-through containment vessel filled with fluid.

Lucy stepped out of the jet with Keiran behind her, beside himself.

Mr. Manhattan pointed at Keiran. "Out. Now."

Keiran could feel that whoever this was, he was definitely the boss. He sidestepped Lucy and walked out.

Lucy stammered, "Sir, I—"

Mr. Manhattan screamed, "MY OFFICE, NOW!!"

*****

In Mr. Manhattan's office

There was a certain calm silence—the kind that came before the storm.

He sat in his chair with his arms folded and a death stare fixed on Lucy, who knew one eye could have the same impact as two. Lucy stood up, eyes forward, almost at attention.

Mr. Manhattan started, "Do you have a switch in your brain that just tells you to act like a complete child?"

"Sir, I—"

Mr. Manhattan interrupted, "STOP."

"You've done and spoken enough. You ignored protocol. You threatened an employee. You took a demonic into a mission without proper clearance—and a Ghoul nonetheless. You went with zero backup."

An exhausted sigh left his body.

"Lucy, I could have you fired for this. What—no, I should have you fired for this."

Lucy cut in, "It was a Transition Demon."

---

Transition Demons are demons who can rise in rank. They are very rare and very dangerous because they are completely unpredictable. A simple Rank D could even crawl to Rank B.

---

Mr. Manhattan shot up from his seat. "What? What class was it then? How did you kill it?"

A small smile curled on Lucy's lips. "It was probably a Rank C that crawled to B and was on the precipice of A. And I probably would've died if he wasn't there. He's a legitimate asset."

Mr. Manhattan's arms finally unfolded as he dropped them against the table. "What's your point here, Luce?"

"If we just call his a Rank - A higher demonic no one's gonna know" she said as she shook her fist.

Confidence crawled up her chest. "You know exactly what I'm getting at. There are hundreds of high-rank demons, hauntings that we haven't explored because we don't have expendable member, and now we have a guinea pig to aim at them. If he succeeds, we succeed. But if he doesn't, then we have a dead Ghoul."

"It's a win-win situation."

*****

The sound of the shower trickled down over Keiran's body as the water on the floor dyed red. His hands, once pulp, were back to normal. Seems like they only rot when the Ghoul is in control—but he didn't even notice.

He tightly shut his eyes, but every time he did, he saw glimpses of the child's decapitated head rolling on the floor again, her words still echoing deep within him.

"If you ever hesitate again, you're next."

"That's actually what she said. I showed compassion for a child, and she said she'd kill me if it happened again," he thought.

Slowly banging his head against the tiled shower walls as water washed over him, he thought, "I'll never, ever be clean again... will I?"

"Of course you're quiet again. Guess you only come out when you want to," Keiran muttered under his breath, hoping the Ghoul would respond.

"I'm getting the hell out of here," Keiran said, clenching his jaw.

****

After showering, he marched out of the bathroom, slammed the door, and stared at Marcus, who was just on his bed, watching the ceiling fan go round and round with the same tired expression.

Keiran came and stood above him, covering him like a shadow.

"How the hell do we get out of here?" Keiran hissed.

Marcus shook his head slowly.

"Your first mission and you want a way out? There's a lot more coming."

"No! I'm done. And I know you are too. The 'how-I-don't-care' bullshit doesn't work on me—I see through your shit," he said, now pointing a finger at Marcus.

"You're still starving yourself. You still haven't slept in years. You're looking for an easy way to die... which means you already know a difficult way to survive."

Marcus rolled off the bed and stood on his feet.

"You have no idea where you are, do you? Accept your fate, man," he said as he patted Keiran on the back.

"I'm done with this for today. I'll probably come back when you've tired yourself out," Marcus continued as he headed for the door.

"Please, man..." Keiran gripped him by the wrist.

"I cannot do this anymore. I need an out. Please."

Marcus let go of the handle and let out a sigh.

"I'll make you a deal. If you can get three other people with suicide wishes who want to escape—and one of them must be an angel—I'll be onboard."

Keiran continued, "And if I do, there's no going back."

Marcus scoffed.

"Angels love it here or more precisely they fucking hate demon. They live like kings. And one thing they'll surely never do is help a demonic."