When We Were Still Human Vaughn Foster (the kiss of deception read online .txt) 📖

I find it odd for a ghoul to be so startled by another creature of the night. How much do you remember?”

A crack split down Val’s mind and memories seeped through.

Blood.

The feeling of running through the rain at inhuman speeds. The feeling of being on top of the world and finally at peace in her own skin. The feeling of actually being full.

Blood.

Claws sinking into human flesh behind a dumpster in a back alley.

Blood.

The ecstasy as blood washed over her face and hands. The joy from the utter exhilaration of the hunt.

Tears pooled in her eyes. “No. No, I couldn’t have—”

“But you did,” Vladimir said with a wave of his finger. “Nothing to feel bad about; it couldn’t be helped.”

“But I don’t know how I even got to that point.” Val pulled at her hair, which she now noticed was far longer than she remembered. “Crystal and Li... They said that ghouls could survive off the dead… Why couldn’t I?” She started shaking. The memories of Franklin and Elaine crept to the forefront of her mind. Their bodies were in her arms. Her mouth.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Vladimir.” Avia threw her arms up, exasperated. “This girl? Really? This is supposed to be the horrifying Gluttony incarnate? The ‘beast that will make streets run with blood, her hunger never satiated?’” Flames sparked in her eyes as steam trailed from her hands.

Vladimir uncomfortably bit his lip. “Could you give us a sec?” His eyes darted from Avia to the door.

“Fine.” The flames went out and Avia quickly crossed the room. “I’ll meet you in the main lounge.” Without another word, the door slammed, and they were left alone.

“I apologize,” Vladimir said after a moment. “She’s been through a lot. Plus, you know, the whole ‘Wrath of Heaven’ thing.”

Val could only nod before tears wracked her body in ugly sobs. It was over. She was a murderer and a monster. She couldn’t remember much, but the images that did break through were soaked in blood. And now she was sitting in a golden room with a vampire. She shuddered and buried her face in her hands. For all she knew, these were the people sent to kill her for her crimes. It made sense. If this Gluttony Incarnate was the root of everything, then maybe it deserved to die.

A soft pressure on her back brought her back to the infirmary. Vladimir had placed an arm around her shoulder.

“It’s okay to cry. Just know that, whatever you did, you’re still you. No one here is going to hold you to it.” And like that, the waterworks started again. She buried her face in his chest and soaked his shirt with tears.

Vladimir silently reached into a shadow across the comforter. He then pulled out a thin black square of rippling darkness. Val gratefully took it, blew her nose, then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. The tissue vanished and he took her hands in his. It took Val by surprise, and she had to stop from pulling back. His skin was ice cold, but just the touch of another person made her feel a little bit better.

“If it’s not too much, I would like to ask you a question,” he said quietly. “There’s something I’m not getting.”

“What is it?”

He let go of her hands and shifted to sit cross-legged beside her. “Were you born a ghoul, or turned?”

“Turned.” She quickly looked away as images of the creature—the original ghoul—played behind her eyes.

“What happened when it bit you?”

“I don’t know. Umm…” She took a deep breath, forcing herself to re-watch the memory. “It reeled back like it had been burned. Then it ran off into the woods. What does that have to—”

“Exactly!” He jumped off the bed and started pacing.

“What?”

Vladimir looked back at Val with surprise, almost like he’d forgotten she was there. He plopped back onto the bed and leaned in. Much closer than she would have preferred. “You were already a ghoul,” he whispered.

“What?!” She shot up, any fatigue from crying gone. “No, that’s impossible.” But even as she said it, the symbol on her chest began to pulse. Somehow, she knew he was right.

“Improbable, yes. Impossible? Obviously not,” he answered, laying back on the pillow. “Most mirage are born from two parents of the same bloodline—”

“Bloodline?” She recognized the term; something Ligel had said years ago, but the definition was lost over time and bloodshed.

“More technical term for species. Fairy. Elf. Merman. Blood carries the imprint of what you are. Occasionally, a mirage and a human bang it out. You are then left with a hybrid or a retrai. Retrai are mirage, but because the gene is recessive, they live out their lives as humans. I’m surprised you didn’t know. Were you adopted?”

"I, um... No?” She had to fight through a fog for the memories, but details began to trickle in. “My biological dad died when I was just a few months old. My mom remarried when I was six.”

“Ahh, and so it is revealed!”

Val barely heard him. How could she have been a ghoul? Her mom would have known if her biological father was out harvesting organs every night. Plus, he had been a lawyer. Where would he have even gotten… Val’s stomach dropped at the memory of her own hunts. If he was hungry enough, he could have found food.

“My guess is that your mother assumed you were human when you didn’t show any signs,” Vladimir said. “That’s probably why she didn’t bother with a family history lesson.” Val stared back dumbfounded. It was like he was constantly one step ahead. She wanted to accuse him of reading her mind, but she had never heard of that skill being in the typical undead repertoire. Maybe he was just