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Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

"Huh?" Bella stopped pulling the door once she felt it start to move easier, that gave her the heads up that someone had had hold of it from behind. She took a step backwards, waiting until she could see Jackson before she moved anymore. Once she'd heard the other's voice she smiled and relaxed, moving further into the room to talk to him. 


"Ah it's all good." She replied, placing her hands behind her back as she looked at the male, maybe he needed a hair cut, she should ask him about that too. Yeah, well, she would when she got a moment to, right now she had to ask about whether he'd want to come out later and play a game with them all. It would be understandable if not. 


Before she could say anything else Jackson was already bringing up Mari, who had come into the house not too long ago and was probably heading upstairs at that moment. "Oh, that's Mari, she's good friends with Rachael and dating Caleb, they've been dating for quite awhile now..." She looked out of the door, shaking her head, "Mari's not a ghoul, no. She's human. You realise we all have friends that are human...right? Even Daryl... We're not cut off from the rest of the world or anything like that. She's nice, I should introduce you two." 


----


Now that Ilia had gotten involved Dechlan had pretty much lost interest, he got up from his position, throwing the flesh into the air and catching it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing as he decided to walk over to a small group of people near the largest exit to the room at the back. 


Ilia continued to mess around with the chained boy, grabbing hold of the chain that attached him to the wall and dragging it around so that he was forced to go in the direction she wanted him to. She was just teasing and playing around with him, which was hardly anything compared to what the boy would have been used to by that point, but he still didn't seem to like it. By the looks of things he just wanted to be left alone for once. 


"Hm? Is that so..." Shania's voice was almost as smooth and calm and flat as Felan's, although she showed a tiny bit more emotion than the man standing in front of her. "What do you plan to do about it then?"


"Jester will be easy to lead on a wild goose chase, it is not him that I am worried about. More the people that he is connected to." Felan stood with his hands behind his back, watching as Shania continued to write, giving him no eye contact what so ever. 


"You speak of Aegis. Correct?"


"Yes."


"Hm. He does seem to have connections, but if you happen to be worried about Prince I'm sure he wouldn't bother with such a thing." 


"With respect, you do have a one eyed ghoul under you, wouldn't Aegis be interested in him?"


"Maybe, but that is if they even know about him." 


"I'm sure they-"


"You know," The woman stood slowly, finally turning her attention to Felan and dropping her pen, "When you spend enough time with someone, you learn a few things. We'll deal with that."


"Yes of course." 


"Now, if you'd be so kind as to gather everyone, we can discuss this further." 


"Of course." 
 
'She's good friends with Rachael and dating Caleb.'


'...They've been dating for quite a while now...'


"What?" It was as though the world had slowed and stopped. Suspended, forgotten, Jackson's silent utterance hung in the air between himself and Bella, lost in a world where the only thing he could hear was the sound of those words echoing over and over.


Human, he thought suddenly, trying and failing to remember how to breathe. A human girl. She was a human girl who was dating a ghoul. Did she know? No, no, oh no, not this... There was no way this could end well, it was impossible. Jackson did not even have to use his imagination to be able to picture how this story would end, and it would not be pretty. He would know.


The accelerating rate of his own heart's pounding is what finally hooked Jackson out of that rut in time. Things began to move again. The cushion, which had before been held so tightly in his arms had been flung aside to somewhere he did not care to look, and suddenly he found himself unable to find Bella's eyes directly in front of his face. He saw straight through her, and then he was moving without even thinking - pushing desparately and clumsily at his wheels until he was speeding through that narrow hall. He may or may not have knocked Bella aside with that sudden surge of movement, but instead of looking back to check his eyes locked on the figure of the girl with brown, curly hair.


"Mari!" Jackson yelled, his unpracticed voice turned dry and husky in its attempt to be loud, "Mari, Mari, don't move!" He was almost rolling over the girl's toes when he finally screeched to a halt, but the man wasted no time in turning his head up to examine Caleb's expression.


Damn it, he seethed silently, discarding the image of that unreadable face after only a fraction of a second and instead turning to stare at the poor girl who must have called herself his girlfriend. There was no telling what Caleb might do. He thought he had finally come to be at least somewhat comfortable with this boy's existence, but there was definitely something about the way Bella had described his relationship with Mari that had thrown all of that off. 


Almost without warning, Jackson whipped out his right arm and grabbed painfully tightly at Mari's hand, almost cutting off the circulation with his surprisingly high level of grip strength. Then, with his other hand pushing his left side backwards into the hall, Jackson started babbling again. "Come on, come with me, you can't be with him, do you hear me? You can't talk to Caleb, come on!"


***


It had taken only several minutes after Shania's first call for the empty space within the room to become smaller and smaller, new faces and slender bodies picking their ways up along the staircase to stand in an arced line around their senior. Apart from a few low whispers passing through the gathering crowd, very few people dared to speak up in the face of their leader. It was even noticeable that a few of the standing ghouls were straining to keep their shoulders back, making themselves as tall as they could - some others simply craned away from each other at the sight of a wry grin.


One of the men had begun to tut and tap at his bare wrist as he gazed boredly back at the staircase from which they all had emerged. Some of their members were late. "Check for stragglers," he hissed in the ear of a black-haired woman of the same height. He had to kick her in the heel before the message appeared to register somewhere inside her thick skull. 


The girl had twitched and begun to dash back to the stairway when a long-fingered hand pushed up against her throat. She staggered backwards to make way for what appeared to be one of the last remaining arrivals; a short, bony-framed man with flaming red hair and a scowl set deep in his dark and angular face.


"Move," he growled at the girl, who said nothing in response but managed a sheepish nod before going to rejoin the line. When she looked back, the red-haired male had pushed his way past the crows and slammed his hands down on the ground in what had to be the most heavily-exaggerated bow she had ever seen. 


"Shania, m'lady," he quavered in a lighter voice than what he had used before, body still pressed down against the floor beneath his leader's feet. "I am late. Forgive me, I beg." He seemed to repeat these two phrases around six or seven times before finally sliding back to his feet. Someone sniggered behind him; he made sure to step on their toe as he strode to an empty spot in the middle of the line, then briskly brushed himself down and beamed back up at Shania with his head lowered once more.
 
"Jackson, what're you-" Bella jumped out of the way just before Jackson would have run her over, what was he doing? The woman watched as the man moved into the hallway, heading for the stairs, saying...Mari's name? What? Her brows furrowed as she recovered from the shock of almost being run over, and she immediately followed after the male. What was so urgent? Did he know Mari? Maybe... The way he'd suddenly rushed out just seemed...odd. 


Both Caleb and Mari had stopped, Caleb a few steps up and Mari the bottom of the stairs. The girl didn't recognise the voice that called her, nor the face when she saw it. So when she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and told that she couldn't talk to Caleb she was more than confused, and a little freaked out. 


"Hold on a second!" The girl pulled her wrist away from Jackson taking a few steps backwards and turning to look at her boyfriend in question, he just shook his head, he had no idea what was going on either. Mari shook her head, blinking a couple of time and taking a second to process what the guy was saying. Then she turned back to Jackson. "Do I know you?" She asked, "What do you mean I can't talk to Caleb, I've...been talking with him all day... Is something wrong?" For someone who had just been confronted with what looked like a mad man she was awfully calm, she wasn't having someone drag her away from Caleb for absolutely no reason. She didn't even know what this guy was talking about or who he was. 


Caleb didn't seem to understand and so was just awkwardly standing on the stairs, honestly waiting for Jackson to go away so that he and Mari could go upstairs and see Rachael. Jackson being around in general had always made the other nervous and when he started randomly pulling his girlfriend away from him it didn't make things any better, in fact it was just making him extremely uncomfortable. 


Bella was the same, baffled, unsure what to say, and honestly just wanting to know what exactly was going on. 


"Jackson, what're you talking about?" She asked, the two girls looking between each other then back at the man in the wheelchair, "There's...nothing wrong with Caleb..." 


---


Felan had found it easy to gather the people he needed to gather, and once everyone was around he had stood to the side waiting for Shania to start speaking. Well, that was until one more person decided to enter the room. The sigh that escaped his lips at Fenway's appearance was involuntary, but he chose to ignore him, instead looking in the other direction until he was done with his little 'display'. He really was a suck up if Felan had ever seen one. Shania didn't seem to mind it though, and Ilia found it amusing. 


"Do not worry yourself with it Fenway, please, stand." Shania smiled and waved a hand, signalling for the other to head back into the line of people, which he did. Once Fenway had settled Shania took a step forwards and surveyed the ground in front of her, "Ah, I see. Everyone necessary seems to be here, we can start. Recently, as you may know, we have had a...problem with ghouls such as Jester infiltrating our routes, I'm sure you are all aware of who Jester is and I am sure some of you are aware of his involvement with Aegis. I would like to assure you all that there is nothing to worry about, as concerns over Aegis' possible involvement have been expressed to me. Aegis do not have time to worry about us, neither will the people that Jester has involvement with bother. So please feel free to continue as usual, any pest will be dealt with accordingly. Any concerns or queries should be brought up now so that I can address them in front of everyone." Her tone was calm and hard not to believe, it almost seemed like she had everything figured out already.


"I have a question!" Ilia's voice could be heard coming from somewhere in the back, the crowd parted to reveal her sitting on the ground, she had chains tightly held in her grasp, forcing the small male next to her to stay in the same position as she messed with his hair. "Are we permitted to kill Jester if we get the chance?" 


"Ilia." Now Felan had piped in, "You know who you're talking about right?"


"Yes, yes Felan, I know who I'm talking about." She yanked the chains in her hands as she felt movement, "But I'm just saying. If we get the chance." 


Shania seemed to have to think about the answer for a moment, an eyebrow raised. 


"Although I know you would love to Ilia, unless you want a plethora of ghouls on your tail I would not advise it. However, if you're willing to take that chance, well..." She simply smiled, communicating something to the younger woman, which Ilia seemed to understand immediately. 
 
Jackson's breath caught in his throat as he tried to speak again. This wasn't happening. He wanted to believe that, that this was all some sick prank that Bella thought would be funny to pull - but he knew she wasn't like that, and for the first time in his life he wished to himself that the person standing in front of him would actually be a ghoul.


Deep down, though, the logic he had come to rely on so fiercely in his life was telling him that those hopes were wrong. This girl was truely clueless - he could just see it in her face, hear it in the words she spoke. 'Is something wrong?' she had asked so stupidly, blinking like a fool as she tried to work out what invisible dangers this maniac was trying to warn her about.


"Yes!" Jackson cried out finally as he found his own voice again. He reached up and tried to grab once more at Mari's hand, but in his desparate state he missed the girl entirely and slammed his fist into the frame of the door. "It's Caleb, I told you, you - y-you can't stay here! It's dangerous, don't you understand? What the hell do I have to do to make you get this!?" He was becoming louder by the second, his trembling outcry quickly snowballing into the loudest shout his lungs could manage. Rather dramatically he threw his arms out to his sides, striking at Caleb with a flick of the fingertips as his gaze flitted hurriedly between him and his lover. "You know he's a ghoul! He's gonna kill you, Mari - or worse - just trust me, please."


***


Fenway had been so quick to snap to Shania's orders that he had almost tripped on his way to the line, but now that he was stood comfortably among his fellow ghouls there was no issue with his stature. He did, however, twitch and turn his head from side to side as a few mutters began to rise within the line.


"Say it properly or don't say it at all," he warned to a taller, skinnier man by his side, who had been busily discussing Shania's claims in hushed voices with another girl behind him. "You're distracting those of us who are actually trying to listen to Lady Shania." The man responded with a quick 'piss off' which turned Fenway's face bright red. He swore under his breath and made a note to speak to one of the superiors later, but other than that said no more until an opening was made for inquiries.


It was painful to have to wait for Ilia's own question to pass, but since Fenway did not dare interrupt a high-ranking member like herself, he managed to bite his tongue until an opening was presented.


He opened his mouth to speak, and-


"Shania! Can I ask one, too?"


"Bastard," Fenway hissed, far too quietly to be heard by another, even for a ghoul. He glared in the direction of the interrupting voice - it had come from his left. That idiot girl from before, the one who had stopped him from entering the room, he realised as a short woman with long, silky black hair stepped forwards with one hand raised.


"Uh..." The girl dropped her arm and put a finger to her lip. She now had the attention of a fair number of ghouls, which was making her squirm in her boots. "Are we still gonna be using Jester's territory? I thought that maybe we would get in trouble with Aegis if they noticed."


Idiot, idiot! Fenway could not help but smack a hand to his forehead so that he didn't have to see that girl's stupid face. She was not the only one squirming now, but another jab from the noisy man next in line froze him in a stiff position once more. The girl simply shuffled her feet, looking everywhere but Shania as she awaited her answer - the floor, Ilia, the small boy in the chains. 
 
Mari didn't know where to begin with this guy, his outbursts were starting to worry her just a little bit, she thought he was insane for saying such things as 'It's Caleb' and 'you can't stay here' without explanation. She'd known these guys longer than this man had, at least...she'd never seen him or heard him mentioned before, so she assumed she did... 


"I'm sorry, I still don't understand." She replied, her voice still strong, confusion only growing the longer he babbled on like a crazy person, "You're not making any sense... Maybe if you actually explained instead of spitting me nonsense then I'd get it!" Now she was getting a little annoyed with this man, she didn't want to be rude or anything, but he really was acting crazy. "I just want an explanation as to why you're screaming about my boyfriend!" 


Of course, when she said that she didn't expect the explanation that she got. Upon hearing the words 'he's a ghoul' her eyes widened and her mouth closed, what? That couldn't be true, this guy seemed insane enough without spouting claims here and there about people being ghouls... He was just crazy, he probably didn't even know what he was saying. She didn't want to believe that, nor would she. Why would they hurt her now? She'd stayed here before, many times!


"Caleb?" The girl turned slowly, facing the boy in the stairs, but the minute her eyes met his his dropped to the floor. "Caleb, look at me." He didn't raise his gaze, he couldn't, Mari knew what he was doing. Caleb was a terrible liar. "Tell me that's a lie." Silence. "Caleb!" 


"Mari, I-" Finally Caleb raised his head again and looked at the girl in front of him, the panic in his eyes was more than obvious, his heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest. That...didn't just happen.


"Tell me he's lying." Mari didn't wait for Caleb to finish, she interrupted him because it was the only thing she wanted to hear at that moment, she knew how the other worked, he was hesitating. 


"I...H-..." He couldn't manage anything but stutters and so just ended up swallowing and turning his head away, "I'm sorry."


"You can't be serious..." Mari let out a slightly panicked breath, backing off a little bit, "You really...can't be serious..." 


"L-Look, Mari I...I couldn't-" Caleb tried to explain himself, stepping down from the stairs, but he was panicking just as much as she was. 


"N-No, y'know what...just...just...stay there. You...weren't gonna tell me... What? S-Seriously? That's like..." Again she breathed out, shaking her head in disbelieve, dark eyes wide. "Stay away from me for a bit...yeah?" With that she grabbed her shoes and backed up right to the door, completely freaked out. Seconds later she'd disappeared. 


Bella stood there in disbelief, she didn't know whether she was dreaming or whether this...had just actually happened. Shit. Of course once she was over the initial shock her first thought was to go over to Caleb, after all he was the most affected by this...well...apart from the whole thing of someone knowing that there were ghouls living in the house now... That could be really bad. 


"Caleb..." Bella reached a hand out towards the boy's but he almost immediately retracted his own hand and backed up. 


"I-It's fine." Caleb choked out, looking towards Jackson, then Bella, and then the ground, "It's...It's really fine." After that he turned and made his way up the stairs rather quickly, he didn't want to be around anyone anymore. 


"Shit." Bella breathed, after a few moments of just watching the boy disappear she turned to Jackson, furrowing her brow, "What was that for?! Do you know how much shit we could all get into?! What the hell did you just do?!" 


---


"Thanks." Ilia mumbled, grinning and going back to pulling the boy next to her's hair, she was treating him like a rag doll.


"Hm? What was that?" Upon hearing a voice Shania turned her head, staring at the dark haired girl with her hand up, "Of course, my dear, go ahead." She motioned with her hand. Now the girl pretty much had everyone's attention, and she didn't look too comfortable about it, but Shania still smiled, seemingly listening to her intently. 


"Ah yes," The woman nodded, "We will still be using Jester's territory, of course." She treated the question as she would any other, simply answering it, "I don't believe Aegis will bother getting involved with us, so again, you really do not need to worry." With another convincing smile she turned her head, looking around the room once more. 


Her eyes ran over every individual as she spoke once more, "Any other questions?" Once she had answered every question in the room she planned on going straight on to the next topic, there weren't many things she needed to cover, but she wanted to get through everything important. 
 
Jackson cried out again some nonsensical gibberish, a mix between two different sentences, almost pleading at this point as he kept waving his arms about, occasionally making another grab for Mari's hand in an attempt to make himself understood.


It wasn't working, it wasn't... He didn't have to be a genius to know why the girl was upset, but he could not say that he cared; she could either be upset now and live longer, or stay with whatever the hell this kid called himself and risk losing everything to someone who never told her what she was looking at. 


He only stopped trying to speak when Mari did. Ghoul. That word, that was what had thrown her over the edge into a complete, stunned silence. She really didn't know after all. "Mari," he began, his eyes wide and worried, not knowing where to look. "I - I told you, he's - all of them are-"


No use. His words were too fragile and too quiet, so easily drowned out by the call of Caleb's name. Jackson's eyes naturally drifted over to check the boy, and he was surprised to feel a sudden, heart-stopping pang of something he could not admit to be guilt. It didn't look good. That look of panic he could see growing on the young ghoul's face was a familiar sight to Jackson, for it reminded him a lot of Adrian, but he could not bring himself to think anything other than that it was all deserved.


They kept it from her, he reasoned with himself, attempting to validate whatever chaos he had just caused. Caleb was going to be distraught... But that was a trick, wasn't it? That was what ghouls did. They deceived. He could play the heartbreak act for as long as he wanted, but surely it couldn't be real. 


Mari, on the other hand, was a whole new deal. She must have wholeheartedly believed that she was dating a human. That's so horrible, Jackson thought. He had to say something, explain himself or do something to calm her down without taking back his claims - but when he turned around to speak to the girl again, she was already gone. Caleb must have fled the scene too, for he was nowhere in sight by the time Jackson went to check him again.


"They're ghouls," he mumbled to nobody but himself in the quietest voice he could, the words nothing more than the ghost of what he might have said next. But he had no time to pick himself up or think of something new to do or say, because suddenly he was assaulted by the sound of Bella's voice in his ear.


At first he only sat still, arms frozen stiff in front of his body as he was forced to listen to the miniature rant. She didn't understand, he decided, making sure to push his long hair over the sides of his face so that Bella could not see his eyes. He hadn't done anything but save that girl's life. If Caleb had to pay for that with his relationship status, so be it - it was a small price to pay. But... If that was so right, why could Jackson feel warm tears rolling down his cheeks? 


"I - I didn't d-do anything," he said in response to Bella's words. Maybe she was why he felt so awful. Even though she was a ghoul, Bella had felt the most human out of everyone in this house - the closest any of these animals could ever come to being a friend. It hurt to hear those words from her. But then again... He just remembered something else. Another reason that might have shaken him to his core before he had opened his big mouth at all.


There was no point in waiting for a response, because she would probably just cling to that same topic for the rest of the day if he let her keep talking. Trying not to make eye contact, his face still covered beneath that thick mane of long golden hair, Jackson turned his back and went back to the room where he slept. Quickly and almost noiselessly he opened the door, slid inside and then let it slam shut behind him, shrouding him in darkness once more.


With one hand he pushed himself into a leaning position and with the other he felt around on the floor until he found a cushion, different to the one he had before but this time just as soft. He hugged it to his chest and then pressed his face down into the cover, knocking his glasses askew and drying his tears on the soft felt, all the while muttering, "Shit, shit, I didn't do anything, I saved goddamn her life..."


***


It had been physically painful for Fenway to stand and endure those precious minutes lost to the idiot girl's idiot question. He could have answered that himself, as could any other person here with a brain. Yeah, he thought, casting a dark glare in the girl's direction, she was right to be nervous. Keeping everyone waiting for their turn.


"Oh," the girl kept saying every time Shania paused, her annoying high-pitched voice piercing through Fenway's skull. He had to keep his teeth gritted to avoid making the equally stupid mistake of speaking aloud over his leader - though if he did end up losing control, it was unlikely anyone would blame him. People to his left and right were starting to righ and tap their feet, straightening up only when Shania had finished up her answer. "Thanks!" the black-haired girl had breathed. She put a hand above her head and then made an odd gesture, as though she were mimicking the motion of tipping a hat despite the fact that her head was bare. Stupid, Fenway thought again as she stepped back in line with the rest of her comrades.


When nobody else bothered to step forwards, Fenway cleared his throat rather loudly - which earned a few glares and several more eye-rolls - and strutted towards Shania and the other higher-ups. Again he threw his entire body forwards, bent over double with his face almost pressed against the floor in the most ridiculous bow imaginable. "M'lady," he wheezed at last, struggling to get the words out when his knees were pressed so tightly into his chest, "I, too, have a question, and I humbly request that you grace my humble self with an honest answer."


Somebody in the back muttered, "How many times do you think he can fit the word 'humble' in one sentence?" It was quiet, but Fenway still heard it and had almost choked with rage. He would have to speak to somebody about whoever that was, too. 


For now, though, the red-haired man managed a very forced-looking smile as he dared to raise his head back up at Shania. "I ask, M'lady, of what consequence might it be to Zeplin for us to group up and claim a new hunting ground for ourselves? Some of our lowly grunts are beginning to look thin, and I would not wish to see our men starve as they strive to aid such a marvelous cause."
 
"Oh my god." Bella didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to do. Jackson didn't believe he did anything... Was he really that delusional? Of course he'd done something! They'd done everything for him for the past month and...and this was how he repayed them? By telling someone that they were ghouls and then upsetting Caleb? She honestly thought he wasn't as bad as that. The woman sighed, but he truly believed he didn't do anything wrong... It didn't matter now anyway, they had other things to worry about than whether or not Jackson thought he was right to say those things. Whatever, she didn't get it, if he didn't want to be there, if he was so worried then why not just leave? The door was open half the time, if he wanted to go he could go... 


She was going to have an awfully hard time convincing Dane and Daryl not to kick him out at this rate... He really had fucked up. Big time. 


For the next hour there was no noise, everything was silent. Rachael had come down to talk to Bella after Caleb had slammed a door in her face, the two had text Dane about what had happened, and it wasn't like they could keep it from Daryl. So they had gotten him to take Nathan out, although reluctantly, he eventually done so. They knew that Dane would be dealing with it when he got back anyway, but Daryl had been furious, which was why they'd had to get him out of the house. Having Nathan around all that yelling would not be good. 


Kedin had come home about half an hour after the incident, whilst they hadn't told her what happened, they told her to leave Caleb alone for a bit and to just spend some time upstairs for the next hour or so. Although, it was unlikely she'd listen to that, she'd be down at the first sigh of trouble. She always was. 


Half an hour after that, Dane came in, and saying he was livid would be an understatement. 


"Where's Caleb?" He asked, to which both Bella and Rachael pointed to the stairs. He'd gone upstairs immediately, not bothering to take his shoes off or his coat, instead he just barrelled up. 


Even from downstairs they could hear the two of them talking, Caleb wouldn't open the door, Dane kept trying to get in, but his door didn't have a lock on it, he was simply sitting in front of it. So it was easy for Dane to push it in on him. Dane had bugged Caleb so much that the boy had actually evacuated his own room and head downstairs in an attempt to lose him, but it just wasn't happening. 


"You're being irrational." Dane followed the younger male down the stairs, turning towards the kitchen as Caleb did, "Caleb." 


"Am I?" Caleb rubbed his eyes and shook his head, "She hates me Dane! Y-You must know how that feels!" 


"Caleb-" 


"I-I can't...I can't do this anymore! I hate it! I hate lying, I hate that people have to die to keep me alive, I can't do it. It's disgusting." He leaned over the sink for a few moments, just shaking his head, he really couldn't do something like this any longer. It was immoral... So so immoral. 


"Hey," Dane grabbed hold of Caleb's wrist as he tried to leave the kitchen after the other entered, "We're doing what we have to to survive, that's it." 


"Yeah? Well it's fucked. I'm not doing this anymore." Caleb snatched his hand away, attempting to walk off. 


"Caleb..." The older of the two went after the other again, but he didn't have to go far before Caleb stopped and turned, putting his hands up.


"No, no, just stop. It's true, you know it's true, it's disgusting, we're disgusting. How can you do that? How can you just take a life like that and not feel bad? I-I don't..." Caleb was doing his best not to cry, "We can't tell people because they'll hate us, because they'll kill us. Maybe we deserve to die then, have you ever thought about that? We're literally just humans gone wrong!" 


"Caleb do-"


"We're monster Dane, goddamn monster, when are you going to finally accept that? No one wants us here!" He was breaking, he couldn't hold himself together anymore, it was all too much.


"Don't you dare say that Caleb." Dane's looked directly at Caleb, but he was lucky if he managed to catch the other's eyes for a little more than a second, the other just kept staring at the ground or rubbing his eyes. 


"But it's true! You know that!" Caleb's voice broke and he let out a slight sob, he didn't want to cry there, he just wanted Dane to leave him alone so he could go upstairs again. Alone. 


"We're not monsters, I don't fucking care what anyone else says, we're not okay? Not you, not me, hell, not even Daryl is a monster. We're doing what we have to to survive, that's all, that doesn't make us monsters!" After taking a step towards Caleb and watching the other back up into the wall Dane stopped, he wasn't trying to upset Caleb more, but no matter what he said it just made things worse. 


"Oh fuck off... We....We were born murderers, th-that's it, and what happens t-to murderers? They go to prison, we...we don't deserve to be here..." With his back against the wall Caleb just put his head in his hands, sliding down it until he was in a sitting position, his face completely buried in his legs. 


"Stop it Caleb, you know that's not true." Dane squatted down in front of him, just staring, trying his best to decide what to do to help Caleb.


"I-I...just...I...I just w-wanted to live...like...like everyone else..."


"I know." 


"I-It's never...-" Caleb swallowed, he was finding it hard to contain his sobs at this point, "Th-That's never gonna...h-happen....i-...is it?" 


"I'm sorry." 


----


Shania had watched as Fenway had decided to bow before her on the ground once more, it gained complaints from multiple people, along with a roll of the eyes from Felan, but she wasn't paying attention to that. She knew it was going on, however she chose to ignore it, instead focusing on the question at hand. 


"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow, waiting for the question to be asked. Fenway suggested claiming new hunting grounds, they could do that, of course they could. "If you wish to claim a new grounds to hunt, I'm not opposed to it. I'm sure it would be beneficial for us, however it is up to you, or anyone else who wishes to act on this idea, to find the grounds and claim it. Thank you Fenway." 


Having answered the question Shania once again asked if there were anymore, but when she got no answer she went onto the next topic. "Alright, with that sorted, we shall get on with more crucial things for this evening. We have a tournament set up for after nightfall, which means the area will be open..." The woman went on to explain detail of the event and its happenings and guests, there were several other topics she went over, including the distribution of food and the trading that some of the ghouls that came to them had been doing. After everything was covered she took names of previous customers and dismissed everyone. 


Most people left the room, some stuck around still. Shania had even left the room to talk to some people and sort some other things out. Ilia had finally left the chained up male alone and had followed Felan back out of the room as they had many things to attend to that day, plus she said she was hungry. She planned on hunting humans that night, anyone she could find would do. 


Dechlan, however stayed in the room, sitting back in front of the restricted male, staring at him with that oddly uninterested gaze of his. The boy had backed up against the wall, legs crossed, bending his fingers backwards. He had his head down, so his eyes were hardly visible, Dechlan could just make them out staring up at him from between strands of hair. He gave no reaction, still sitting there, watching. 
 
Once again isolated within the pitch darkness of his own tiny room, Jackson could do nothing but hunch over his cushion and listen to the damage he had done. I did this, he reminded himself, a wracking sensation of horror and regret shuddering through his body. I did all of this. That was a truth he had come to accept only after an hour or so of mumbling gibberish into the tear-stained fabric covering the cushion; at first he had blamed everything on Caleb. He had thought that maybe he wouldn't be so upset if only he'd had the guts to walk away first. But then... It crossed Jackson's mind how unfair that was. 


"Shut up," he croaked at himself. It sounded as though the boy had come downstairs by now, probably chased out of his shelter by some pursuer or another. "Sympathising with a goddamn ghoul, shut up, shut up!" 


He had done this, and now he could hear all of the consequences from behind that closed door. That was Caleb's voice. Talking about the value of human life.


No! Jackson's eyes shot open again, searching for something to believe but only seeing the thick darkness he had used to hide himself. Stop talking, he pleaded silently, but still he kept himself quiet so that he could hear every word. Monsters... Caleb, a boy born ghoul, had finally come to call himself the thing Jackson had believed him to be all along. It should have been an accomplishment, he knew that he didn't see Caleb as a person in the same way he would a human. But this, this speech, these cries of sorrow and self-hate felt all too genuine and real.


Maybe he'd been wrong all along.


Caleb was serious, he was being truthful about all of this. 


Were all ghouls the same way? Did they all feel trapped by an existence that would only let them live as long as they were willing to kill, to murder? 


Maybe we really are the same.


By now his tears had run out and dried, but Jackson still wiped at the corners of his eyes before dropping the cushion to the floor. He felt alone without that lifeless bag of feathers to hug, but perhaps that was deserved; Caleb probably felt worse, and Jackson knew he was to blame. 


"H-hello?" he said numbly in the direction of the door, unsure as to whether or not somebody would materialise to confront him should he dare show his face again. There was only silence to answer, so carefully he clicked open the door and rolled quietly out into the hall.


He stopped just a few feet away from where Caleb and Dane were crouching against the wall, then simply stared down at them both with his puffy, bloodshot eyes. They could probably already hear him. There was no point in clearing his throat.


***


Only a few minutes after Shania's call for dismissal had the room been almost emptied. Most of the ghouls had followed her downwards in groups, chittering busily between themselves about the outcome of the day's meeting. Fenway, of course, had eagerly tailed his leader with such keenness that several times he almost tripped over the woman's ankles, much to the amusement of several taller members who had taken their sweet time.


In the end, the only people who had chosen to stay were Dechlan and the tall black-haired girl who had called out a question earlier. She kept glancing nervously in the direction of the staircase, tapping her fingertips together as she tried to figure out whether or not she had been supposed to leave too. 


Eventually it seemed as though Dechlan's presence was enough to reassure her permission to remain. The girl tore herself away from the spot to which she had been rooted and then started to slink over to the wall where Ilia had stood.


The presence of the boy tied up in chains had clearly piqued her interest, for immediately after coming into his reach she decided to squat down and stare into those grey eyes hidden under strands of dark hair. 


Instead of greeting him or Dechlan with a spoken word, the girl hummed a short melody and ended by flicking the boy on the forehead with an index finger. Whether or not she was supposed to be doing this was another mystery to her, but judging by the way Ilia had been playing with him then this should be normal.
 
Both Caleb and Dane had heard Jackson emerge from the room, but neither had shown any sign of responding to him. Caleb probably didn't want the man anywhere near him, everyone else was enough, he didn't need more people. He was curled up sobbing, hoping that the world would just leave him alone for once. He never asked for any of this, he never asked to be how he was, but it didn't really matter what he said, because in the end everyone believed him to be a monster anyway. 


Dane on the other hand was trying not to blow up on Jackson, he simply kept staring forwards, trying his best to ignore Jackson's presence. That was becoming exceedingly difficult when Caleb continued to bawl his eyes out with no signs of stopping any time soon. He hated seeing the other upset, he didn't want him to think that he was a monster or disgusting or anything like that, Caleb was one of the sweetest people he knew and upsetting him in such a way... It was despicable. 


Taking in a deep breath, Dane stood up and turned around, furious gaze landing on Jackson. He looked as if he was planning what part of Jackson to smash first, but before he could even take a step forwards Bella had come out to get in between the two. 


"Okay, okay. Dane don't do anything stupid." She had her hands on the other's chest in an attempt to stop him from moving forwards, "Hurting him isn't going to do anything." 


"Do you not see what he's done?!" Dane couldn't stop himself from yelling, his hands balled into fists, and he scowled at Jackson. "Do you not see how much he's upset Caleb?! Get out of the fucking way Bella! If anyone's a fucking monster here it's him! I don't understand! I don't understand your logic man, why'd you have to go and do that to him?!" Dane's gaze was now off Bella and back into Jackson once more, "He's innocent! He's never done shit wrong in his life and you have to fuck this up for him? Why was it even any of your goddamn business!" 


"Dane! Calm down!" Bella tried to shout over him, but he was louder. All the yelling was only attracting attention from everyone in the house, Kedin had now appeared on the stairs, completely baffled and confused by the scene in front of her. She just stood there, unsure of how to react. 


"It's low, that's just so low! Is your hobby going around and fucking up people's lives or something?! I don't understand people like you!" 


"Dane!" 


Dane's yelling really wasn't helping the situation one bit, it was just upsetting Caleb more and causing everyone else to worry they were going to have to deal with a blood bath or something. Rachael had moved over to sit by Caleb, resting her head on his shoulder and trying to speak to him in some way that would help.


"Dane, stop you're just upsetting Caleb!" Bella looked between Jackson, Dane, and Caleb and just sighed, "Please just go cool off or something, go upstairs, no one needs this right now." It was obvious that Dane didn't want to do that, and if Kedin, Rachael, and Bella hadn't been there he probably would have continued to get angry, but they were, there was nothing he could say right then that was going to make anything better. So after a moment of simply glaring at Jackson, the man sighed and angrily turned away from the situation, passing Kedin on his way upstairs. 


"Shit..." Bella sighed, running a hand through her hair, "I don't..." She didn't know where to start, she didn't want to start, honestly she wished none of this had happened. It was too much, Caleb was still on the floor, crying, Kedin probably had no idea what had even happened, and Daryl would come back at some point which would only make things even worse... "Shit..."


----


Upon seeing someone else approach, Dechlan turned his attention off of the boy before him and onto the girl that had now joined them. He didnt say a word, his expression never changing, but he did watch as the girl decided to hum and then flick the black haired male in the head, he knew that was probably nothing to him, but he wanted to see how he'd react anyway. 


It wasn't surprising that from flicking the boy in the head she gained his attention, he didn't do much else in response, instead just staring at her for a moment or so with those large, grey eyes of his. He sat there with the same expression of curiosity on his face for at least half a minute, his head was tilted to the left as he watched the girl, although his eyes glazed over pretty quickly. 


After a minute or so of all three of them sitting there, Dechlan simply messing around with whatever he could find, and the boy in front of him staring on at the girl still, the male in chains finally raised his hand. He kept staring at the blacked haired female, moving forwards slightly and stretching his arm out, after that he copied her, going to flick her in the head with his index finger, although very lightly. Of course, moving backwards a meter or so would prevent him from doing this, but he didn't seem to be being aggressive or anything like that, simply...copying.


Dechlan was slightly surprised by the reaction, but it was hard to tell, his expression didn't change too much. He finally took interest in what was going on, looking between the girl and the boy.
 
Not for the first time that day, Jackson wished that he had never come out of his room at all. Everything had been fine before, at least as close to fine as it had been all month; he was finally starting to show some trust for Bella, for Rachael and Caleb and everyone else. Even if he had never gotten along with Daryl there was definitely some new kind of faith there... But in the end that old saying turned out to be true. It only took one false move to destroy everything they had taken weeks to build up.


Dane's roars had to be one of the loudest noises Jackson had ever endured in his life - it was the pure embodiment of rage itself, twisted and shaped into words painful enough to deafen the man for a few seconds until he finally had the sense to put his hands to his ears and block some of it out. "I know," he kept mumbling pathetically beneath all of the shouting, "I - I know, I'm sorry, I know..." 


Jackson's ears were still ringing even after Dane had finally bitten his tongue and stormed upstairs, likely still furious enough to kill. He almost didn't hear Bella. Maybe it would have been better if he hadn't; her bemused utterances gave the man a horrible sinking feeling that seemed to weigh him down further into his chair. He wished that he could just sink straight through it and disappear, but a grown man bound to logic such as himself knew that such childish fantasies would never do anyone good. 


"Bella, I-" he began, but even without anyone else to cut him off he could not carry on. It was impossible to look at her, he did not even dare to try for fear of what he might see in those eyes. Instead he found his gaze drifting back to the wall, where he noticed that Rachael had now gone to join Caleb in some kind of attempt to comfort the boy. Shit, he thought, unable to stop his lips from parting in a hopeless grimace as he watched. Even Rachael knew... 


Not sure whether or not it would be an intelligent move, Jackson slowly, carefully begun to advance towards the boy who had hidden his tear-streaked face from prying eyes. Caleb hated him, he did not even have to guess to know that. Of course he did. Jackson had managed to derail that kid's life with the mention of a single word. Damn it... He didn't want to do this! He didn't want any of this to happen! It was just that idea... A human girl who didn't know what her lover was. It had driven Jackson mad, he thought she was going to die, or worse. I just wanted to save her, he kept thinking, I just wanted to save someone's life, I didn't want to do this...


He had to say something. Someone would probably beat his face in for going anywhere near Caleb... But after all of this, Jackson had to try. He couldn't just run away from everything like he had done the last time, he had had enough of being a coward. "C-Caleb?" he began, voice hoarse and quiet, almost splintering as he tried not to let it break like the boy had done. "Caleb? Are - are you o-okay? Is... Is it - is it okay if - if I t-talk to you?"


***


It was not as much with spite that the girl had flicked the other's forehead than with curiosity. The song she had been humming was short, just a few sunny notes from what sounded like a quick nursery rhyme, and now that it was finished she simply squatted and watched him as she sucked on her lips.


It had taken her quite a while to decide what exactly this boy was - he looked somewhat feral, chained to the wall like an animal and staring at nothing in particular with those hungry, unfocused eyes. Ilia had been playing with him earlier, pulling on his hair and then leading him around like a dog. Maybe that's what he was... She had heard things about Shania keeping pets before, so this is probably what they meant. How odd, and yet how intriguing.


The girl had come quite close to prodding the boy with a sharp thumb when she felt the touch of a finger on her own head. "Huh?" She brushed the boy's hand aside to touch at the spot where he had laid a finger on her fair skin. It might not have hurt, but the girl did not look particularly impressed, either. She simply grabbed at one of the chains and yanked it back towards her, forcing the younger male to slide a few inches in her direction. It was only a small gesture, and swiftly afterwards she straightened her legs and bounced into a standing position.


Quickly the girl cast a gaze over at the man she knew to be named Dechlan. She stiffened after realising that she was being watched, and quickly made a point by kicking the prisoner rather roughly in the stomach with the tip of her heavy leather boot. "I think he's playing," she stated, beginning to tap her fingers together again. "You know. Monkey see, monkey do. Right?"
 
Bella didn't want to say anything more, she didn't really want to discuss the issue with Jackson either, it was something for another day...something they could talk about when the shock had passed and they were all able to think straight. Everyone just needed a rest for today, including her, now that someone knew about them she needed to decide what to do about it. She needed to talk to Daryl, but she didn't want him in the house right now, whilst he was with Nathan he might be able to calm down, he needed to stay out a little longer.


All eyes were on Jackson as he rolled up towards Caleb and Rachael's. The girl's eyes were locked on the man, but the boy didn't bother to look up, he was just trying to control his sobbing. Rachael had a hand on his back, she was rubbing it and speaking to him, but it didn't seem to be doing much to help him. 


Upon hearig Jackson speak everyone looked at Caleb. For a moment there was no answer, Caleb just kept sobbing, but finally he let out a shaky breath and nodded in response to Jackson. However, his head was never raised. He was indicating that it was fine, probably just so that he didn't seem rude, Caleb never turned down things like this, he felt awful afterwards if he did.


Rachael looked between them, before rubbing Caleb's back once more and removing herself from next to him. Quickly she stood up, dusting herself off and smiling. 


"We'll leave you two for a moment." Her eyes seemed worried, but she still proceeded to motion to Kedin to go upstairs, which she did after a solemn nod, before walking over to Bella and turning her around, walking towards the kitchen. "Try not to make too much noise, you might attract Dane again."  With that she made her way out, still leading a confused and shocked Bella.


----


It was had to miss the sharp intake of breath from the boy as he was pulled unwillingly in a different direction, he had to put one hand down in order to make sure he didn't fall flat on his face. Grey eyes shot up to look at the girl as she stood, his head sharply tilting to the side in question. He didn't look particularly dangerous or angry, which was probably due to the chains, who knew what he'd be like without them.


"Huh?" Dechlan turned as the girl kicked the boy in the stomach, causing him to keel over and back off from her, shaking a little as his eyes darted around. "Monkey see, monkey do huh?" He stood up, walking over to stand next to the black haired girl, "Monkey see..." The man squatted down in front of the boy and raised a hand, he furrowed his eyebrows, before pressing a finger in between the boy's grey eyes, on his forehead. Then he let go, pausing for a few moments, but...the boy didn't do anything, he didn't even move towards him. "Monkey...do..." He sighed, standing back up again. 


"You sure?" He asked, looking over to the girl, "You think he even understand that? I mean...he looks like he could, but..." With a shrug he turned back to her, "What even is playing to him. Should we play with him more?" 
 
The sudden silence that had followed Jackson's question left the man wondering whether or not he should have dared to open his mouth at all. He could not see the woman, but half-expecting a slap from Bella, he could not help but flinch.


The seconds passed. No slaps, Jackson realised as he touched a hand to his beard, the spot on his face that surely should be stinging by now. But no, instead of filing around the man to yell out their fury, this time his request was actually met. Caleb had just about managed to agree on a talk, and before Jackson could even look around to see what was going on, the others were already on their way out of the scene.


For a fair while, Jackson simply sat in silence, watching with stunned eyes the weeping young man beneath him. Caleb... He must have really taken things hard. Whilst Jackson did not wish to admit that what he had done was the wrong choices, the consequences were somewhat rattling. This boy was a ghoul who did not want to exist. Did he really hate himself? Did ghouls really just think they were just a cursed variant of human?


He looks a lot like Adrian when he cries, Jackson noted glumly. Of course the two boys did not share many similar features, but the way this boy was folded up, closed off to the world as he sobbed into his knees - there was a definite sense of familiarity there that made even Jackson, who was terrified even by the mention of ghouls, feel some kind of sympathy.


Jackson began to reach down to put a gentle hand on Caleb's shoulder, but his arm froze midway and he quickly pulled it back up to his lap. This ghoul was not his friend, it was not Adrian, he had to remember that. They were just here to discuss. Comforting was everyone else's job, they could do that, Jackson had no business to hush or reassure. He should not lay a hand on this ghoul today.


Eventually he managed a tiny, weak cough, just loud enough to re-announce his presence to the younger of the two. He even turned around to press the back of his wheelchair up against the wall so that the two of them could be facing the same direction, sitting side by side. "C-Caleb..." Jackson paused for a moment to rub at the nape of his neck. It was hard to talk to somebody when he was sure the other must hate him. To try and apologise now would feel patronising, but what other choice did he have? "Caleb... Sorry, I - I'm sorry. I didn't th-think that would happen, I just..." I just... What? There was no explanation. Just pure, idiotic impulsiveness that he could not find an excuse for in time. "I won't tell anyone. No-nobody else."


***


The girl had shuffled hurriedly to one side to clear Dechlan's path, but for a while longer she still had eyes only for the boy in chains. She had kicked him rather roughly and Dechlan didn't seem particularly interested in paining him at this moment. Maybe she should have waited first.


It was with great interest and attention that she watched the following interaction, blinking with owlish brown eyes as the man tried and failed to get a trick out of the prisoner. "Maybe not," she sighed with a rolling shrug. That kick might have shaken the boy up a little, rattled him in the head so that he forgot how to copy. It didn't look like he was going to do what Dechlan wanted.


Rather suddenly the girl straightened her posture, standing tall as though she has received some kind of electric shock. Dechlan was giving her her own choice? That was a new feeling. It frightened her, but at the same time she wanted to point fingers at the prisoner and start bellowing commands like some kind of military sergeant. "Yeah," she responded rather quickly and almost without breath. "I've only seen him once, but I don't think he's smart. We can try, though! Oh, does he talk?"


Oddly enough, the girl appeared to abandon that last question as soon as the words had left her mouth. She rejoined Dechlan's side and bent back down into a squatting position. She flicked her fingers at the boy's head a few more times, but guessing that the response would be unsatisfactory, she decided to try something else. 


A pair of short-nailed hands closed in on the boy's head. The girl pushed and pulled at the soft flesh on his face, forcing his mouth into a number of strange and amusing shapes. Her feet shuffled gradually forwards as she did this, and when the tips of her toes made contact with a chain, she stopped. "Dance!" the girl barked at him, releasing his face to then grab at the chain by her foot. She tugged at it in all kinds of different directions in an attempt to start some sort of performance display from the prisoner.
 
With everyone gone and just himself and Jackson left in the room Caleb started to become uncomfortable, he'd never been okay breaking down in front of strangers and so trying to control himself had suddenly become a lot easier than before. He was shifting awkwardly, trying to get into a comfortable position yet at the same time keep his head covered by his arms. This wasn't a topic he really wanted to discuss, not after his girlfriend had straight up left him because he hadn't told her one important thing about himself... 


He didn't want an apology, he wasn't going to accept an apology. There was really no reason for one anymore, it wasn't going to make anything okay, it wasn't going to bring Mari back...he knew that. Therefore, there was no point to it at all. Jackson was better off spouting gibberish than apologising. 


"I-..." Caleb's words got drowned out my another sob, "It...d-doesn't matter...now." He replied, his voice awfully quiet, he swallowed and started to rub his eyes in an attempt to dry them. "It...w-was going to...to h-happen...s-...sooner or later anyway..." He sniffed, shaking his head, he honestly couldn't believe that all of this had just happened...but...that was reality...that was his reality and there was no escaping it. Mari was gone and everyone was possibly in danger. 


For a few moments the boy was silent, he tried to calm his breathing some more, reducing loud, uneven sobs to softer, deeper breaths. There was no point in crying... He should have been ready for this. "I-I...I should have told her..."  He pulled his legs closer to his chest, swallowing again, "It's...It's my f-fault for...not telling her s-sooner..." Again he fell silent after that, there wasn't much more to say... Well, not until Jackson mentioned that he wouldn't tell anyone else.


The sound that came from Caleb was a pathetic attempt at a laugh, he shook his head. "I-I don't...- Th-Those are...they're words f--for Bella...or Dane or Daryl... N-Not for me." At this point Caleb was beyond caring who knew, it didn't matter to him, what were they going to do? They really couldn't make him hate his life any more than he already did, he hated who he was, and he hated doing all of this, living like they did... It wasn't him. It wasn't who he wanted to be. Yet...he had no choice...


"I-I'm...done lying to people a-anyway...what's the point?" 


----


"Never seen him talk." Dechlan replied, shrugging as he crossed his arms and watched the boy, "Probably does. They usually can." He shrugged again, looking around, Shania didn't seem bothered when he was playing with the boy last, but who knew, they should check anyway. Whatever, she wasn't around so who cared? 


The girl's kick had made him back completely off, which honestly disappointed Dechlan a little, but the black haired girl next to him didn't seem to be giving up on her advances. She'd made her way forwards, whilst the other stood back and watched, she flicked him a couple more times, which did nothing, before starting to mess around with his face. This gained more of an uncomfortable look from the boy than anything, he seemed to try and pull his face away every now and again, but it didn't look like he was being allowed to do so, and then she'd grabbed the chain. 


Dechlan had been getting slightly bored, but upon seeing the small male's chain grabbed he took a step around the two, trying to get into a good position to watch. The girl commanded the boy to dance, starting to pull the chains he was attached to in multiple directions, it caused the male to stumble around, tripping over himself now and again, but he mostly acted like a puppet on a string, once the girl let go he was bound to fall to the ground again and sit down. 


"He's awful passive don'tcha think?" Dechlan muttered in his normal unenthusiastic tone, "Like, I mean look at him... Can you believe Shania uses that to fight? How does she earn anything? He should be dead by now right?" He was genuinely confused, Dechlan was well aware of what many of Shania's pets were used for, and he was pretty sure this was no different, apart from the fact that this one was still alive... Despite being small and seemingly passive. 
 
Mari. That girl... She was like a grenade; perfectly safe until that day when everything had been pulled out into the open, all secrets exposed at last. Jackson thought he had been saving her life - or her sanity - by trying to take her away from the boy she thought she loved, but in the end what did it ever lead to? Jackson had begun to have second thoughts about Caleb ever since his show of tears and self-hate. Yes, he was a ghoul. If he told the truth, he was also a ghoul who hated being what he was. 


Shit. He bit down on his lip and tried to keep a level head. Thinking about that was painful now, probably not as painful as whatever was going on inside Caleb's head, but just knowing that those spoken-aloud thoughts were true was mind-bending. It changed everything... Ghouls... This boy, someone Jackson had forced himself to be frightened of, really was no different to any human he could think of. Had he been wrong all this time?


If he had, then there would surely be trouble to follow. Not the kind of trouble that involved facing up to Daryl and Dane, both of whom Jackson knew to have tempers just as short as his own, but more about long-term consequences. These ghouls - these people had not done anything wrong, and now a human just as clueless as he had been for years knew what secret was being kept.


This was why they had never told anybody.


If a human found out, the chaos would be incredible. Their lives would fall apart. They had to hide what they were just to stay alive, lying was how they survived, and Caleb suddenly wanted to stop?


"No," Jackson said finally. Still refusing to have to look Caleb in the eye, he simply stared at the wall with glazed eyes, his long, shaggy hair falling to obscure his face from each side. This way neither man nor boy would have to see the tears in one another's eyes. "N-no, you... Just - no."


Without moving his head, the man went to rub at the nape of his neck again with the base of his thumb. This was going to be hard... Speaking as a lone task was hard enough when he constantly lost his breath to earthshattering pangs of guilt and worry, but now he had to try and figure out what words would best suit the situation. 'No' was not enough. Caleb was verging on giving up, he needed more than a stern word. Something that would make him listen, even if he did hate Jackson, it had to work... "W-well... It - it's fine. I think... The point. The point, is, uh. It's to live, r-right? I'm sorry... Dane was right. You're surviving, right? Uh, that's a good reason... I think."


***


"That's a little mean," the girl commented as she turned up one side of her face to listen to Dechlan's thoughts. She still held the chains tightly in her grasp, but now that she was distracted by conversation she appeared to forget her captivation with the 'dance'. Instead her eyes were on the ground, suddenly thinned to solemn crescents. "I think it's not that, he could be, like, well-behaved. He danced for me, see!"


A few seconds later, a metallic jangling and a sudden release on the tightness with which the prisoner was bound signalled that the girl had finally released the chains. "Think about it," she suggested, her voice suddenly lowered to an amazed whisper, "Okay, look - he's pretty skinny so probably not that strong." She prodded rather sharply with one foot at the boy's belly, feeling for any softness between skin and muscle. It didn't feel like there was much fat left there, but then again her sense of touch was so dulled by the thickness of her boot that she could just be pressing straight into his stomach. "Yeah, not strong. But if Shania tells him what to do that's gotta count for something, right? He just does what she says and wins. Strategy!"


The girl let out a quick sigh and skipped backwards to stand by Dechlan's side again. Now she watched the man, pushing a finger to the corner of her mouth. "What do you think's gonna happen now? There's supposed to be a tournament today, but I dunno if I'm even meant to be there. You're going though, right?"
 
Caleb couldn't help but shake his head at Jackson, there was no point going through this, Dane had already tried to talk to him about it, Jackson wouldn't do any better. The boy curled himself into a tighter ball, squeezing his eyes tight shut, if everything could just stop for a minute...if everything could just pause and for a moment he didn't have to worry about all of this, he didn't have to stress, that...would be amazing. but of course, that could never happen. He was stuck in his own personal hell, until someone came along and killed him or...he died of old age. 


"You...don't b-believe that..." He mumbled, "S-So...please...don't try a-and tell me it's true..." Once again Caleb really truly did feel alone, he thought things would be better when they met Daryl, Rachael, Bella, and Nathan, that's what Dane told him...but things never really got better, because when you were finally convinced something would always come back to break everything down once again. Dane lied to him, he didn't mean to lie, but he lied to him. 


"Anyway..." Caleb turned himself to the side, sniffing and running an arm over his eyes, "I-I...I don't c-...care about s-surviving..." What was the point in surviving when he would never be able to live, especially not now... if Mari told anyone they were all done for, everyone would die... Either that or they'd have to leave... Or...Or he could make something up, after all she only knew he was a ghoul. 


Again the boy started crying, wiping his eyes desperately, he couldn't let this hurt everyone else, they didn't deserve to be stripped of their freedom. "Y-You...- You can't tell Dane th-this, okay?" Caleb swallowed, he looked afraid, upset and afraid, what the hell was he thinking... It was insane...but it could save people's lives. "I-If...- If Mari...tells anyone... I can tell them it was just me, that...that no one else is involved...  I-If...if I say that everyone will be fine... N-No one has to get hurt..." He gritted his teeth, "B-But you...you can't t-tell... Th-They won't let me if you do..." His voice was almost silent, he couldn't risk anyone else hearing that...there's no way they'd let him go through with it...but...maybe that was the best thing for everyone. They'd all be safe, no one would have to worry. 


---


"Don't think it's that mean." Dechlan replied, simply staring at the boy now. He didn't look like much, it did seem like anyone could probably fight him and win...but that couldn't be the case if he was still there, there had to be something else to it. There just had to be....


The girl started explaining how he could just be well trained or well behaved, yeah, Dechlan got that much, but it still didn't explain why a small fry like him wasn't dead. There were ghouls who could probably rip him in half with one hand out there. "I suppose. But just 'cause Shania tells him what to do don't mean he's gonna win. She can't tell him what to do whilst he's actually fighting, he just has to...do it..." What drove this guy? What drove him to stay alive instead of just giving up or something? It wasn't like he was treated particularly nicely or anything. 


"Mmn..." The tournament, of course he was going to go, he hadn't been to one in quite some time, but Dechlan didn't say that, he just shrugged. "If you wanna I'm sure no one would stop you. Most people go anyway... If you wanna come with me we could go." He knelt down onto one knee, "Might be fun watching him beat the shit outta some people." He stared at the boy, who now had half of his chains in his hands, almost as if he was trying to stop them from being grabbed and pulled around anymore.
 
He could not recall when he started doing it, but suddenly, as he sat listening to Caleb's words broken by sobs and sniffs, Jackson realised that he was nodding along in false agreement. He stopped himself, wishing not to keep up the subconscious lie - that could wait until he figured out what to think of all of this. 


It wasn't difficult to work out what Caleb had meant when he said survival no longer mattered. Those words seemed to wrack Jackson's body like a shudder, sending his heart into a frenzy of hammering so violently that he could even hear it throbbing in his chest. He doesn't mean that. Not really, not truthfully - it was an exaggeration or joke. People didn't say things like that in real life. 


But if Jackson really believed himself for a moment, it certainly did not show. Every twitch of his eyebrows, every nervous glance cast through his hair at the boy below told of the concern that fluttered around inside the lump in his throat. Caleb probably did not have his head up to see that. Good. One person breaking down was enough, he did not need the boy to witness the blood drain from his elder's face.


Caleb wanted him to keep quiet. He was going to go and put himself in humanity's crosshairs for the sake of everyone else in this household, and Jackson was not allowed to do or say a thing.


But he had a choice.


"That's not... Caleb - Caleb, l-look." Jackson began to wring his hands together as he thought. He couldn't just let the boy go out by himself and do something like that. There were people out there - there were investigators! If Mari had told anybody anything already, who knows what sort of things were already positioned outside of the front door waiting for Caleb to walk into their web? 


Yeah, I'm one to talk, he heard his own voice say inside his head. It wasn't like Jackson could step up and take that job instead. He was a missing person, or so he guessed - and besides that there was no telling how to find the girl. Taking that job... That was out of the question, too. Damn it. He had to think of someone else.


Dane... Dane was far too aggressive, as was Daryl. Bringing this up with either one of them could end up in a one-on-one fist fight, as what might have happened just minutes ago had it not been for Bella's intervention.


Maybe I should just leave it, he thought, that inner voice suddenly dwindling into something close to silence. He had to be careful. The last time... There had been a time before. Something like this happened, and it was Jackson's own involvement that brought everything to hell.


"I won't," Jackson mumbled his promise. He tensed his arms as though to hug a cushion tight to his belly, but after remembering that he had left it in his room he simply held his hands together again. "Y-you... Caleb, you don't have to. You d-don't have to do anything, just stay here. It's okay. I won't tell anyone, but only... Only if you don't go."


***


"You're... Inviting me?" The girl froze for a fraction of a second, then ran her fingers through her long, silky hair. There was a smile on her thin, white face, but instead of looking back at Dechlan she simply continued to stare at the boy tied up in chains.


The man had a point. Upon closer inspection he looked even weaker - there was little soft padding around his bones to protect them. Put up against a more powerful opponent in the ring, he would probably be snapped clean in two before his slow mind could even think to run. No command from Shania could save him there. So what was the secret?


As she thought, the girl began to play with her lower lip, tugging at it with the fingers of her left hand. "You know, I think I'll go," she finally said. "I normally don't. Actually, last time nobody told me there was even a tournament. I think I cried a little then. But yeah, I'll go with you - hey, we can see how this kid survives, right?"


There was a moment as she spoke when the girl considered dipping her foot in for another quick kick, but in the end she decided to leave the prisoner alone. It would be no fun if she ended up breaking a rib - then he would almost definitely lose the fight, having to be careful not to puncture a lung as he scrambled for his life. She didn't want to see that. She wanted to see the magic that raked in Shania's income.
 
Caleb felt almost relieved when Jackson said that he wouldn't tell Dane, he didn't want to upset the other, and he didn't want him to stop him either. If he did this everyone would get what they wanted, he wouldn't have to live like an animal anymore, it would be one less person for everyone to feed, and one less ghoul on the planet. That made it okay, right? That made it right... 


For a moment he sat there, somewhat content, he was okay with this...and in the end everyone else would be too. He guessed that's just how life worked, it threw curve balls, and sometimes if you wanted to see the people you cared about come out of it then you had to sacrifice something... Nothing was free, nothing was ever gained by doing nothing, only lost. Now that this had happened, maybe it was just something that he had to do. He wanted to see them come out okay, they didn't deserve this. 


He was going to speak again when he heard Jackson's voice chime in once more, he told him he didn't have to do anything but he just didn't get it, he didn't get how serious this could be for everyone... Everyone could die because Jackson had told Mari that they were ghouls, it wasn't a definite, sure, but it could still happen... Mari was sweet and kind, but he didn't know how much of this she would stand, she wasn't exactly one for ghouls...


"You..." Caleb let out breath that sounded awfully like an attempted laugh at his own misfortune, "You c-can't be serious..." That phrase had been said way too much that day, but...he didn't understand it. If Jackson would only keep it a secret if he didn't go then...what was the point? Either way Dane would keep him there, it didn't matter if he told at that point... There was no secret to keep if he wasn't allowed to go anyway! So...why was he so worried about anyone else finding out? Because he'd upset them? Dane would yell at him, then get upset, then tell him he was important and no one was going to let him do this, he'd make Caleb feel guilty about trying to help...he'd make him feel like a burden to them... He couldn't do that. 


"You w-won't...even-...even if I go...you won't tell them..." In a last ditch effort Caleb attempted to call Jackson's bluff, "You...still wouldn't...because-...because D-Dane would get mad at y-you for letting me go... He would, you know that, s-so you wouldn't." He shifted awkwardly.


"I....I don't believe you..." 


---


"I guess so." Dechlan replied, he was inviting her, yes, but he really wasn't bothered whether she went or not, it was just an offer. Who knew, it might be better to go with someone who wasn't Ilia or Felan for once. Those two can easily become boring after awhile, and Ilia got on his nerves every now and again, even if it didn't really show. 


It was clear now that the boy in front of them was at least trying to interpret what they said, as he turned his head to the side slightly whenever they spoke. Maybe he really couldn't understand...no...that would be a little too far, he seemed old enough to at least know the English language, and Shania hadn't had him since birth or anything, not that Dechlan knew of anyway, she got him recently as far as he was aware. Dechlan was going to speak again when he heard footsteps and another voice. 


"Yes, you definitely will." The voice was easily recognisable, and seconds later the owner of it was standing behind them. Shania. She smiled deceptively, looking between the two and the boy chained on the ground. "It is rather spectacular. I have to say, I didn't expect Ilia and Felan to bring back quite a specimen." Dechlan moved out of the way as Shania knelt down before the boy. His eyes immediately locked onto hers and he stopped messing with his chains, sitting with the balls of his feet together and grabbing hold of his ankles with his hands. 


Shania looked up to the two individuals standing next to her, "And he will surely survive." Her smile and those eyes gave away the confidence she had in the boy before her, "He's survived everything thrown at him so far, why stop now?" Her head snapped back around to look at the boy, startling him as he flinched and leaned backwards the moment he saw her. 
 
Jackson swallowed and forced himself to keep staring blankly ahead. His eyes wanted him to look at Caleb, but his mind knew that if he did then the sight would only remind him of Adrian. It would make him forget who this was, it would make him behave irrationally about a problem that this boy didn't even know existed. In the end he had to close his eyes to keep the corner of his vision obscured.


Lies. Caleb thought he was lying? Caleb thought... That Jackson would keep quiet, that he was too frightened to face Dane again after that night. The man grabbed at the loose cotton of his shirt, tightening his fist until he could see the whiteness of the bones in his knuckles. Damn it. He really was planning on going out, wasn't he? It would only take one mistake after that. He would go out and get killed, and then that would be Jackson's fault.


Jackson kept his eyes closed for a moment and steadied his own breathing. He couldn't let this happen. Not again. If Caleb died, and it was his fault, if he had to take responsibility for that, he might not be able to hold himself together. What would happen? It would be something far worse than humiliation, that much he knew - if he had to live with that knowledge, knowing that someone like Caleb lost his life at the hands of a bumbling idiot, he would never be able to trust himself again.


Maybe it was true. Dane was terrifying; if not for Bella, there might not be anything left of Jackson to sit here and speak to Caleb. That man was still here somewhere, somewhere above them where he was unseen. But he could probably hear everything with those ears of his - Jackson was beginning to get used to the idea of ghouls' enhanced senses. It was frustrating, having to remember that this conversation may or may not be truly private. He hoped that it was.


It took him a long time to finally decide what he was going to do. Caleb had him up against a corner here, but he couldn't just give up and let the boy go. There was no time to stop and think anymore, too many seconds wasted and the younger male would surely take the silence as confirmation.


"What? Ly- no, no, Caleb, I'm not," Jackson insisted rather suddenly. "I'm not lying. E-everyone else - they know what's out there, right? You - you know, uh, in... Investigators. They care about you more than they hate me, okay? If - if I tell them... If I tell Dane then he's going to care more about you. It's not my problem. Uh, so - s-so I'll tell. Just don't go, I mean it, I'll tell them, it's not a lie."


***


It was clear from the moment she had opened her mouth that Shania's voice was a surprise to the girl who had been standing by Dechlan. Out of instinct she whipped her head around so quickly that she ended up having to spit out a mouthful of glossy black hair before she, too, could get out a word.


"Shania!" she beamed, hopping backwards a few steps to greet her leader. For a moment she wondered if she should try to bow like that short ginger man had, but eventually decided that a quick dip of the head would suffice. 


At the explanation of this pet's origins, the girl's brown eyes drifted back over towards the grey-eyed boy in question. That was odd. He seemed to be behaving differently now that his owner was present. Maybe he only put on his best behaviour when he had too, after all. "So it was those two who got him in the end?" the girl parroted back, leaning forwards a little way to examine that face again. Interesting. They must have pulled this kid right off the streets - he couldn't be that competent if those two had managed to overpower him that easily. Maybe Shania had a little magic trick for them after all.


The girl caught that flinch from the prisoner, and could not help but smile again. "Aw, he's almost too cute to fight," she sang, crouching down again to gaze comfortably at him on eye-level. "But hey! Funny how looks can be so deceiving, but it's like they always say, right? I can't wait to see it, really."
 
It did seem to worry Caleb a little, the thought of Dane, or anyone in the house, finding out about his plans was something he couldn't have happening... Not until they were too late to do anything about it, they wouldn't be stupid enough to give themselves up for nothing, he knew that, he knew them. Maybe he should just lie, why did he even say anything to Jackson in the first place? He didn't need to, but he had, not he needed to lie, just tell him that he wouldn't go... He couldn't say he one hundred percent believed Jackson would say anything, but...but he could never be sure. 


"Okay." The boy's voice was almost silent, "I-...I w-won't go..." He kept his voice low, trying to make it out like he was upset instead of lying, Jackson didn't know him, he didn't know what he did when he lied. He wouldn't know... Tomorrow, he could go tomorrow, no one even had to see him leave, they wouldn't be any wiser... He just hoped that Mari held off until then, if he texted her, maybe he could convince her, maybe she wouldn't tell tonight. He hoped it was enough time. 


For a few minutes the boy was completely silent, he sat with his head covered by his arms, thinking. He just had to convince himself, everything would be okay. "I-..." Caleb shifted himself again, starting to stand up, "C-Can I go?" He asked, finally looking up, he didn't want to be rude, but at the same time he felt sick, he just wanted to curl up on his bed and ignore everything for a little while. It was going to be the last time he got to do anything like that, he might as well just cherish that... Just for a little while... Everything had been hectic, crazy, he had to fix it. 


"Sorry." Caleb mumbled, "I just...I-I wanna sleep..." He looked at the ground, wrapping his arms around himself, eyes on the floor the whole time. He already felt like death, he wanted to keep his family safe, their lives were worth so much more than his, they wanted to live...he...they wanted to live...he...he didn't care anymore. He wished this was the first time he'd felt like this, but...he hated being a ghoul for as long as he could remember, and if he could never really fit in, if he had to hurt people in order to live, he didn't want to live at all. Eventually they'd understand him, eventually they'd get that that was just how it had to be.  


---


"Yes."  Shania nodded, "They told me they found him on Jester's territory when they were taking food from him. Felan was the one who grabbed him. Poor thing couldn't even put up a fight, there was a hole in his shoulder you see, he had a broken wrist too." Slowly she leaned forwards, grasping at the boy's arm and holding it by the wrist, palm up. His eyes were glassy and although he was looking at Shania it was almost as if he was staring right through her. She pressed a finger onto his wrist, which made him jump slightly, but his gaze didn't move. 


"Looks dead." Dechlan muttered, it was strange how much his demeanour seemed to change now that Shania had appeared. He was listening, but he didn't really care to speak anymore. The boy did seem rather innocent, he didn't look like the type to fight. Was he really going to be as impressive as she made him sound? 


"I agree." The older woman smiled over at the girl and then looked back towards the chained boy, drawing circled on his wrist now, he didn't do so much as twitch. "I can't say I know much about his past, but when you see him fight, tell me if you think it reminds you of anything." She chuckled, keeping her eyes on the male in front of her, but talking to the girl. "Now excuse me, but I don't think I've ever gotten your name." 
 
That's what I needed to hear.


Jackson finally wheezed out the sigh he had been holding in his chest for so long. For all that time he had been biting his tongue, staying silent in anticipation of a response. He had been expecting more arguing, some kind of ridiculous reason brought up that would provide a loophole to leap through. But it sounded like his reasoning had worked. It was a miracle, considering the time he had spent thinking up the point, but Jackson decided right then that he was going to quit while he was ahead.


"Okay," he breathed. Unsure as to whether any tears had leaked out, he quickly wiped a hand behind his glasses to dry the reddened skin around his eyes so that nothing would look quite amiss when he brushed those shielding locks of hair aside. His neck felt stiff after so long spent tense, but eventually he managed to look down at Caleb. There it was again; another wave of that guilt, another spasm of worry for someone who looked nothing like Adrian and yet was in so many ways the same.


I don't need to worry, Jackson reminded himself, clenching his fist around his opposite hand again. It was okay. He had done something stupid, something that could turn these people's lives on their heads, but at least Caleb had finally come around to see reason. Unlike Adrian, wherever that boy may be, this time Jackson had not thrown away a life trusted in his hands. "Y-you can go. Caleb. It's... It's fine, go and get some sleep."


It was fairly clear to the man now that Caleb wished to be left alone. Not wishing to push his luck further over the line than he already had, Jackson was the first of the two to leave the scene. He pushed his glasses up his nose and then turned his back on the younger boy, quickly advancing back down the hall and slipping into his room once more. 


That was enough talk for one day. Caleb was okay. Caleb was not going to go anywhere, do anything that could end in a catastrophe worse than what Jackson had already caused. He could stay inside now, cradled into comfort by that sweet, soft darkness with a cushion on his lap until he slept.


It's okay.


***


The girl kept nodding her head vigorously as Shania continued. At first her interest in the boy had been something of an act, an exaggeration of her own mild curiosity, but Dechlan's questioning and every word their leader spoke seemed to whet her appetite for more information.


Seemingly unable to pick between standing and squatting to watch the prisoner, she eventually settled down in an awkward-looking but otherwise stable position with one knee on the ground and the other pulled up against her chest. However, she only raised her head again when Shania put out her own question.


"Huh?" It took a while for the black-haired girl to realise that it was her Shania was speaking to. The fact that her eyes were on Dechlan did not help, but everyone knew who that man was. Eventually she jabbed both thumbs at herself and let her mouth fall open in a tiny circle. "Me? Oh. It's Johanna, or Jo, whichever you'd prefer. Has he got a name?" Her hands moved from herself to the boy with the grey eyes, waving about in confused circles as she cast the boy a sidelong glance. Maybe she wasn't supposed to bring so much attention to someone locked up in chains, but everything Shania said just made her wonder more. Fighting style, hmm? she thought, switching her gaze back to the woman. Interesting!
 
Caleb managed a smile and then watched as the man disappeared down the hallway, he sighed, it seemed like he'd gotten away with it... That was the thing with people who didn't know him, or any of them, they could get out of so many things... No one else would have let him leave so easily, not without making sure that he wasn't going to leave the house at all tomorrow, but he would...and if Jackson chose to say anything he'd already be out and gone. Everyone's lives could be at risk, he had to at least talk to Mari, and if she had said something or was going to he'd make sure she thought it was only him. 


He turned once he heard the shutting of a door, quickly making his way upstairs and towards his room. Who knew where Dane was, he'd just cause more problems, and he didn't really want to talk to any of the others, there was nothing else to discuss... Nothing... He'd made up his mind. 


Upon hearing thumping from the staircase and the closing of a door Bella emerged from the living room, where she'd been watching television with Rachael. The woman looked around, no Caleb, no Jackson...what happened? She should probably check on them, make sure that they were okay.


"Hey, Rach." She turned back to the other girl sitting on the sofa.


"Yeah?"


"Could you go check Caleb's room for me?"


"Sure, they not out there anymore?"


"No, they're both gone." 


"Okay, no problem." Rachael got up and headed to the door, moving past Bella to make it up the stairs whilst the other moved towards the back room to go check if Jackson was in there, she didn't really see where else he would be.


When she got to the door she stopped, pausing for a moment, she couldn't say she wasn't still a little annoyed with him for spurting out that they were ghouls, but they'd work it out, they had no other choice now. It happened, it was done. 


"Jackson?" The woman knocked on the door three times, "You in there?" 


---


"Johanna, yes, I'll remember that."  Shania nodded, she'd moved to drawing figures of eights on the boy's wirst, and whilst it wasn't too obvious that such a thing was bothering him his hand twitched every now and again, which it wasn't doing beforehand, however he didn't any obvious complain. 


Upon receiving the question about the boy before her's name Shania simply smiled and laughed quietly, "Why yes, as long as he didn't lie to me, I believe he does." She turned her head, looking into his glazed over grey eyes, "Adrian, right?" The minute she uttered the name the boy seemed to return to reality, he blinked, tilting his head to the side and staring at Shania, then the girl next to her, and then Dechlan, before looking down.


"Now, now, what's wrong, look up." Reaching up a hand, Shania tapped the bottom of his chin, jerking his head awkwardly upwards once more. "We talked about this, do you remember?" He nodded, chewing on his lip as he watched Shania much more intently than before, he difference was obvious, but she didn't seem to mention anything about it. 


Dechlan sighed, watching as Johanna and Shania continued to speak, the boy's name was Adrian then? Why'd Ilia never tell him that when he asked? Bitch.
 
He had barely locked himself inside that dark room before he could hear the thundering of quick, hurried footsteps tracking overhead. That was no click of a front door; Caleb had finally gone upstairs, just as he had promised. There was no sneaking out, no lies unmasked behind his back. Good. Everything was fine.


Just as he had done before, Jackson bent down, felt around on the floor and dragged a cushion up onto his lap. It seemed as though eavesdropping was not the only new habit that he had picked up over the weeks - never before coming here had he felt the need to wrap his arms around something soft, but somehow being able to hug anything at all seemed to ease the sting of separation. 


Already, after having been alone once more for barely a minute, the man had managed to lull himself into such a dazing state of comfort that he jolted at the sound of a knock at the door, his arms flailing so suddenly that they nearly knocked his glasses off his face. 


Who was that? It sounded like...


"Bella?" Jackson called quietly back through the door in a hushed voice. He repositioned his spectacled and blinked at the thin bar of light at the edge of the doorway where the hinges were attached. He couldn't see through it, but even from there the man could have sworn that there was a flash of red from her hair.


Wonderful, he thought to himself, that's really, really splendid. Even his inner voice was laced with sarcasm now, and it wasn't the light-hearted kind; Bella must have still been furious. Surely she was, Jackson's actions earlier... They had left the woman speechless. Whatever this was, it surely would not be good. She could have just left me, there's no point in talking... I'm done talking.


Despite himself, however, Jackson found his hand grabbing for the handle. He turned, then pushed the door open until there was a gap no more than a couple of inches wide for him to peer out of. There was barely any light falling on his face, so the image of the unshorn hermit hiding at the edge of the shadows did look somewhat frightening, but when he spoke his voice had turned soft and tired. "What is it? Wh-what do you want?"


***


"Hey, look," Johanna stage-whispered as Shania began to address her pet by name. It was a first sight to her and she could not help but stare at the boy named Adrian as he wordlessly obeyed his master's commands. Funny, the girl thought, starting to play with her long and glossy hair. It was funny how Adrian understood English and yet for some reason never spoke. Maybe Shania didn't like that. "He doesn't talk much for a kid who can, does he? Funny. Got a funny name."


Eventually Johanna's strange half-crouching position seemed to get the better of her. She had to stifle a whoop as she rocked forwards, but luckily her quick reaction speed allowed her to roll smoothly back up to full height without slipping or tripping. She tip-toed over to stand behind Dechlan, peering down over his shoulder and then finally looking at the man himself. "You okay there?" she asked rather suddenly. Out of habit her hand went to flick at the man's ear, but she managed to pull her arm away before that could happen. Instead she crossed her arms behind her back and stood straight. "Dechlan, you're huffing and puffing, what's up?"
 
Bella took a step back as the door was opened slightly, staring down at Jackson with a slight smile. Maybe Mari wouldn't tell anyone, she could only hope that was the case, but...who really knew. There was no telling what people would do when afraid. Still, they could hope, it wasn't over just yet, they didn't have to leave right then. 


"Uh, hey," She managed an awkward smile for a moment, "I was just wondering how it went, everything okay?" Jackson looked like he didn't want to talk, but she felt like she at least had to check up on the two of them, Caleb and Rachael could talk if he wasn't too upset and maybe she could see how everything was between Caleb and Jackson and whether Jackson was alright. 


There were footsteps from upstairs as someone quickly descended once more, Rachael appeared in the hallway, eyes landing on Bella. 


"He's asleep." She replied, "I went in to say hi but he's sleeping already. Also I think Dane has cooled off somewhat, he's on the third floor, and I don't hear banging anymore, so...that's probably a good thing." 


"Oh right, thanks Rachael. We'll wait for Daryl to get back and see if we can get him down to...discuss..." Bella nodded, and Rachael disappeared into the living room once more, closing the door behind her. That was going to be awkward, trying to get Dane and Daryl to talk about an important issue when they were probably both pissed off was going to be hard. Dane would be easier than Daryl, the man was probably done getting pissed by now, he would be fine as long as Daryl didn't start something. She sighed, turning back to Jackson, "So, yeah, anyway... How did things go?"


----


"Mmn... He used to talk a lot more, sometimes he still does." Shania replied, smiling at Johanna and then turning back to Adrian. She finally let go of his wrist, and he retracted it, rubbing it even though she hadn't really hurt him, it had probably just irritated him if anything. Then she stood up, "I am sure you two will enjoy the tournament, no doubt it will be interesting. Please, do feel free to come back and tell me what you thought." 


"Uh." Dechlan blinked and nonchalantly turned to look at Johanna, "Yeah. I'm good." He replied, he was just thinking about how much of a bitch Ilia was, that was all. Really he had no interest in going into it anymore, but it wasn't like he cared who heard him call Ilia a bitch, what were they going to do about it? If she asked he'd tell. 
 
He had been expecting Bella to swear, scream or slap him upon sight, but when her voice was mellow and low Jackson could not help but heave out a sigh. She had not exploded on him. It was fine. Even if she was annoyed, clearly her head had cooled over the time he had spent talking to Caleb and now there was no more than a fading sizzle compared to the blaze from before.


"Fine, it was fine," he responded reluctantly, pausing and then being cut off again as Rachael reappeared to report about Caleb. So he's asleep, Jackson thought. That was awfully quick. It was better than being awake and alert, though - nobody could disturb the boy, nobody could coax him back into the danger zone. Maybe this way was better. "He - he's okay. Nothing really happened, we just... Talked. Then he'd had enough."


He had neglected to explain to Bella the finer details of the conversation; the least he could do for Caleb now was to keep up his end of the bargain and leave what was between them unsaid. It was something he had never done before, but this time he really trusted that the boy would calm down and let the past settle in the past. What else would he do, what other motives would he have for anything else?


For the rest of the evening it was with great reluctance that Jackson remained in the vicinity of another person at all. He barely spoke to Bella as she aided him down onto the mattress as usual, attempting to cover up what else had been discussed between himself and Caleb and thankfully finding some success. Even after everyone had finally left him alone to sleep, he still had not let any more information slip than Caleb would like. That... That was an achievement.


Jackson did not lie awake for long before he lost his race against drowsiness. Minutes, seconds - he could not tell which, but within one or the other he had spiralled back down into his own kind of darkness.


***


With a click of her heels, Johanna took a great leap and jumped four steps at once. She could not afford to be slow here; people were arriving now. From every entrance visible within the building there was an incoming stream of ghouls, filing in and then forming swarms as they waited for those in front to quicken the pace upstairs.


"Ow!" Without thinking the black-haired girl made a move to grab at a hat that was not on her head, pinching thin air as somebody shoved past her rather roughly. They were muttering as they walked, something about 'fools, everyone here's an idiot' - or at least that was what it sounded like to Johanna. That was probably one of the higher-ups becoming impatient with a simple grunt's inability to pick up speed on her way to the higher floor. Quite unpleasant, she thought, but still made another jump towards the top when a free space presented itself.


At least not all was bad that night. The hours had ticked by at an agonisingly slow pace ever since Shania had first waved her and Dechlan away from the room after that meeting. This tournament was what she had been waiting to see, and now that the time had come she was almost ecstatic. 


Was it going to start soon? If Shania was anywhere in sight, the answer must surely be yes. She had to know, she had to see or find out on her own. Johanna jumped a few more steps, then scrambled up the last two so that she could lean over the railing and examine from above. 


Shania, Shania... She couldn't see her. However, there was somebody else she could spot weaving their way through the crowds: Fenway. That short-standing weirdo who liked the word 'humble'. 


"Out of the way, move," the man snarled at the people hovering around in his path. Several bemused faces turned and simply blinked at him, so he grabbed at the collars of their shirts and pulled them out of the way himself.


Well, that's one way to do it, Johanna thought as Fenway continued to shove and pull the grunts this way and that, eventually shortening his waiting time to mere seconds before he could join the taller girl by the railing.


Johanna made the rather intelligent choice to shuffle along a little way before Fenway could slam his paws down on her hands. He did not seem to remember her - if he did, then his face of recognition looked a lot like confusion and disgust. 


"You okay, Fen-"


"Where's Lady Shania?" Fenway snapped, completely cutting through Johanna's question. The girl frowned and glanced away, then raised her shoulders in a shrug. The ginger-haired man ground his teeth together and turned back to lean over the railing. "Worthless," he muttered under his breath. Johanna could only try a silent sigh. There was no point in talking to this guy. She would just have to stand and wait like before... At least Dechlan was supposed to be joining her at some point. That would make things better. Actually, is he here yet..?
 
The place was becoming very crowded very quickly, Dechlan didn't care about that though, he just made his way through it in someone else's shadow. No one really bumped into him because he was always behind someone else, he'd always been good a slipping through crowds, that day was no different. Now, he just needed to find out where Johanna was... 


With hands in his pockets he searched the metal floors, there really wasn't much to search on each level, but with so many people it would probably be a little harder to spot her. It seemed like they were already taking bets...which meant that everyone knew who was fighting first. Damn. He shrugged, he was sure he'd find out sooner or later, maybe he should have paid more attention to Felan the other day when he was getting blabbered at about something or other...  Who cared. 


Soon enough Dechlan noticed the black hair and tall figure that he knew, he moved towards her, accidentally bumping shoulders with another male, they stared each other down for a solid ten seconds before either moved on. Once that was over he came up next to Johanna, leaning on the barrier and looking over. 


"Excited?" He asked in his normal, emotionless tone. Johanna didn't come to these right? So she must be at least a little excited about watching one for the first time, everyone always was, well...apart from him, he'd been indifferent about it. He never bet, just watched, but a lot of the non Zeplin members in the 'arena' seemed to like to bet for some reason, greedy, that's what it seemed like. People usually were when they had the money to waste. 


Down on the floor below Ilia could be seen doing something or other, she was being her normal, arrogant self, standing with Felan as usual. The two were talking, what about he didn't know. However, what he did notice was that she had something metal in her hands, she was swinging it around like it was a ball on a string. It looked awfully like the metal collar and chain he'd seen on that boy earlier that day, did that mean they'd taken it off? So...was he down there somewhere already? Probably.


Those two weren't the only people that had come into view now, Shania had her arm rested on metal barrier of an upper floor, she was looking into the arena with that same calm, confident smile, it never wavered. Next to her stood many of the higher up ghouls, most likely Ilia and Felan would go and join her at some point as well, but they seemed to be a little busy at that moment. 


Felan had started to move, he was now talking to some other Zeplin members who quickly nodded to his commands and ran off to prepare whatever. At least, Dechlan assumed that they were preparing something, it was supposed to start soon, it probably would start soon. Almost everyone seemed to be in position now. 
 
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