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

“But, you said that I had a recessive trait. Why am I a ghoul now? Wouldn’t I be like, I don’t know, immune to getting turned?”

“Ghouls can’t eat ghouls. Something about their kin’s blood burns like acid. When it bit you, it unpleasantly realized you two were the same. And because the gene was recessive, the saliva that would have transformed a human simply woke your inner ghoul.”

“Oh.” Val closed her eyes and tried to process. It made sense, both her mom thinking she was normal and her getting turned. But there was one question left unanswered.

She looked back at Vladimir, hands nervously fidgeting with the folds of the blanket. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Another memory struck.

She was crouched at a pond, lapping water to chase down blood. The ghoul that bit her had blue, human eyes. The eyes staring up from her reflection had been a demonic purple.

Val swallowed before gripping the blanket tighter. She needed to ask.  “Why do I have to eat the living? Why couldn’t I survive off of the dead.”

“You’re not just a ghoul.” He yawned, arms barely missing her face as he stretched. For a moment, she questioned if he even heard the question. “Do you see that mark on your chest?” Val looked down at the black emblem and nodded.

“We all have one. See?” He pulled down the front of his shirt, revealing a similar symbol in the center of his chest. The only difference she could notice between the two was that his was the number one.

“What do they mean?”

“That we’re the sins of heaven.”

“Well, what does that mean?” she snapped. His half answers were only making her more confused.

He gave a bitter laugh and stared at the ceiling. “Michael can explain better. But what Avia said about you being a terrifying beast that will make streets run with blood— accurate. In my spirit is the carnal sin of Lust. In yours, is Gluttony. The Mark will contain the curse and your hunger, but the beast is still in there. Its hunger will live inside of you until the end of the world.”

Vladimir turned on his side to face her. “Do you really think a slab of meat from the morgue could satisfy such a terrifying creature? You were made for the destruction of the entire human race. The only thing that could possibly soothe that longing is blood.”

A chill streaked down Val’s spine. Memories of what felt like a past life continued to bleed before her eyes. A frame stuck and the feeling of creeping dread wrapped its claws one by one around her throat.

“You were there.” The words drifted so softly that she nearly questioned if she had said them aloud.

“Yes,” he answered quietly. “The king was given an approximation of when the Sin would awaken. He sent me to make sure the transition was unobstructed. I created a thrall and we watched you until it was time to place the Mark.”

Val remembered now. She had watched herself die as Vladimir and another man stood over her body. Anger should have been the first reaction, but instead, she sat between sadness and apathy. Her shoulders slumped and she slowly spun her feet off the bed and onto the floor. The Mark, which had been pulsing steadily, now hammered into her chest like a second heartbeat. There was a lot that she didn’t know, but something inside told her that he spoke the truth.

But truth or not, it didn’t matter. She refused to kill anyone else. There had been enough bloodshed. She would go with Vladimir to find this Michael and demand he remove whatever was on her chest. He’d obviously made a mistake; she wasn’t a killer, and she certainly wouldn’t become this beast.

“I can’t be what you want me to be,” she finally said, turning her back to him.

Vladimir yawned again—not the reaction she had anticipated. “I honestly don’t care either way. But you will. Our fate is set in stone.”

Though she was positive he hadn’t moved from the bed, Val turned to find him standing at the door.

“Come on,” he said with a smile. “I’m sure the king is waiting to meet you.”

The door distantly slammed behind Avia as she stared wide-eyed down the corridor. The stonework that made up the walls and floor was completely transparent.

A river as clear as crystal ran several hundred feet below. It was breathtaking; the orange glow of the rising sun made the surface shimmer in its light.  Mountains rose on either side of the river. The foliage twisted itself to become a part of the stone in a picturesque frame. As the rocks ascended, she could see stone blocks begin to take shape. The base of the castle was built into the mountain itself.

Tearing herself away from the scenery, she started down the hall, boots clicking on the brick. She now had a decent idea of what was going on. An angel named Zadkiel, who also happened to be the Sin of Pride, had pulled her from the nothing and brought her to Le Ciel—Heaven. She remembered from their conversation in the void that they had talked about burning the world alive. Everything else was hazy. She supposed that Vladimir would have filled her in had she stayed but leaving was the best call. She hated criers. Dealing with that girl, right when she woke up, no less, would have ended in disaster. It sucked even more because she had actually been excited when she first saw Val. The word Gluttony had appeared in her mind, along with a portrait of a terrifying monster with claws and fangs and purple-black eyes. Maybe one day, she’d get to meet the monster.

I guess even heaven has its disappointments.

But she still needed to know what had