Ghouls

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    Alone, cold and just so internally lost. You stop, looking around the dark bridge, you were under the only streetlight. No one would miss you. You've been gone for hours and no one has messaged or called, not even to yell at you. You were just... Alone. Your eyes glide down to the dark rippling river below. You pause for a moment as one simple question comes to mind. If a body falls into the water when no one's around, does it still make a sound?
SPLASH
If the water feels like ice, how fast will it take to drown? So cold. Why did you choose this method? Will someone come? Everything grows dark then something wraps around you and youre pulled out of the water. Someone came, but you were already fading out.

It felt warm suddenly, then again, you were probably in hell. That was your assumption, until you heard talking. "Where did you get her?" A silver coated voice questions. Oh, you weren't dead.
"From the river, why?" A rumbling and slightly annoyed voice responds. "She drowned."
"Not entirely. She's alive, and now awake." The first voice says bluntly.
"Dammit... Can't we just eat her? I watched her jump off the bridge..." The second voice grumbles. Your eyes peek open just as someone turns off the lights. That didn't bother you more than what you just heard. Eat you? Why would they eat- no they couldn't be ghouls! There weren't any in your ward!
Then all of those horrifying stories come to mind. Sometimes they kill you and eat you. Others take you somewhere private and eat you alive. You shiver, sure you had wanted to die but not like that. Being eaten just sounds horrible and so painful.
"We're not gonna eat her. Get rid of her, Spot." An authoritative voice makes you flinch slightly in surprise. Wait, what? Not going to eat you? Was that a lie to make you relax? Because it actually worked...
"Fine." The silver voice says, and you feel someone jerk you into a sitting position.
"Dammit, I'm hungry...." The one that accidentally saved you mutters near by. You look over to see glowing red eyes. A ghoul, all three of them must be. Something is put over your head and you feel panic grip your chest. W-wait! What were they going to do if they weren't going to eat you? Give you over to a ghoul that would? Threaten to eat your family!? You had to think of a compromise.
"Morgue!" You suddenly gasp. There's a pause. Did not mean to say that out loud...
"What?" The one that saved you huffs.
"M-My father runs the morgue! I can get you food- they're just gonna clean it out and send the unidentified bodies to be cremated!" You stammer and stutter the whole time, since you were scared and so damn cold.
"... Get her to the bathroom so she can bathe and get dressed in warm clothes." The leader's voice decides.
"You're kidding, that's dangerous." Silver voice growls, obviously displeased.
".... Let's trust her." Your savior says and you were surprised. Then again he was hungry.
"Yeah, now I'll take her." The leader says and you feel yourself being picked up. So warm, you can't stop yourself from curling into his warmth, shivering heavily.
"T-Thank you..." You chatter.
"You'll be fine after soaking in a warm bath." He hums. Although he said that, you couldn't help but wonder if he was just planning to eat you anyway. No, he told the others not to eat you. But the rumors... You shake your head swiftly and you're set down on a toilet. Of course that felt familiar as much as you've sat curled up and crying on one.
The water is turned on and you relax a bit. "Stay there, I'll get you some clothes. You can take that beanie off." He adds. You hesitantly do so, finding yourself in a rather beautiful bathroom. You look around, before spotting a portrait. It was so beautiful, the colors, the flowers. You bring your knees to your chest, hypnotized by the portrait. Somehow it made you feel so calm and at peace.
"The beauty that some people can find in their own mind..." You murmur with a frown. If only you could find something half as inspiring in yourself.
"You like that?" The ghoul rumbles, coming back with clothes, a fox mask now covered his face.
"... Yes... It's beautiful..." You nod.
"My friend made it for me a long time ago. I put it in here so guests could see its beauty. I'm glad its receiving the attention." He looks at it too, tilting his head. You peer at him carefully, the shroud he wore hid any hints of what he looked like besides his height.
"Your friend... A ghoul painted this?" You were a bit surprised by your own conclusion.
"Yes. You don't think we can see beauty?" He guesses turning off the faucet in the tub.
"I... Anytime someone spoke of ghouls, I thought they were mindless monsters.... So no I didn't think you could..." You admit looking down. Wait, what if he was offended. You swiftly pick your head up. "I-I'm sorry-" He started laughing, surprising you. What...
"Yeah I guess we would seem like that... What? Didn't think I knew how to laugh either?" He chuckles in amusement. You blink, feeling a bit embarrassed, cheeks heating up.
"N-No..." You admit looking away. He chuckles again.
"I was only teasing you. Alright, I'll go out now, so get warmed up." He rumbles, setting the clothes next to the sink, and going back out, closing the door. You stare at it for a while. What... What just happened? You look back at the portrait. You didn't feel scared all of a sudden.
Standing up, you swiftly strip and get into the water, relaxing entirely. Maybe next time you tried to drown yourself you should go to a hot springs and be blanketed in warmth. You blink and lean your head back. The thought didn't appeal to you anymore.
"I don't want to die now..." You mutter. How strange, especially in your current situation where you could easily be slaughtered and devoured. The irony that was life.
After you felt warm enough, you get out and dry off, before getting dressed. The clothes were... They were guy clothes, but oddly cozy. You rather enjoyed the scent of the shirt. The jacket had a different scent but you still enjoyed it. You carefully step out of the bathroom to find the Fox waiting with the other two. The taller one wore a demon mask while the other wore a gas mask.
"Eh? That's my shirt!" The Demon gasps, his voice you recognized as the one that saved you.
"And my jacket." The silvery voice makes you look over as another appears, wearing a blank, simple mask. Wait, if that was silver voice, who was Gas mask? Had they been there the whole time?
"I didn't know what else to get her..." Fox shrugs.
You felt nervous again, inching toward Fox. "Y-You're going to let me take you to the morgue right?" You ask him carefully.
"Of course, don't worry, we just feel better if we blindfold you real quick." He assures. You glance at the others before nodding at him.
"I-I understand..." You murmur. Yeah, you understood, but you were still uneasy. You try to relax as your head is covered again. There's a brief pause.
"What?" The Demon huffs.
"Carry her." Fox says.
"Why me? You carry her." Demon grunts. You blink at the darkness and frown slightly, of course none of them would want to carry you.
"That's okay, I can walk." You tell them, blindly starting away and walking into a wall. "Ouch." You mutter, trying to slide yourself across the wall.
"Stop. I'll carry you." Demon sighs and you're suddenly picked up. You stiffen in surprise, he doesn't wait for a response, nor a protest, before carrying you out. You soon felt the cold air on you and curl into him with a slight shiver. He pauses and you're swiftly put down, sack getting snatched off your head.
"Wow, you're an ass." Blank huffs to Demon, as you shiver again and look around. You recognized this road.
"This way..." You murmur, leading the ghouls quietly. You look back to find they weren't anywhere to be seen.
"Go ahead, its less suspicious this way." You hear Fox's voice and glance over to see his figure in an alleyway. You nod and continue on.
Some time passes and you reach the back door to the morgue. You look around the wall, feeling over the bricks before pulling out one and reaching into it's slot, pulling out the key.
"That's clever," Blank mutters.
"He's forgetful and doesn't like to talk to me, so he found a compromise.." You murmur, unlocking the door, before putting the key back. Leading them inside and down the steps, you reach the unidentified room.
"The ones with the yellow tags on the door are the ones about to be cleared out." You tell them pointing the tags out.
They go and pick out the corpses so you can remove the tags and place them back on a desk, pausing when you hear a truck back up near the back door. "Truck's here." Demon says carrying some corpses out.
"This was good, thanks." The Fox pats your head before they all go out. You follow after them, locking and closing the door as you watch the truck drive off. You relax now that you felt out of danger, but now you felt lonely again.
"Even ghouls have companions..." You mutter and look to the sky. "Am I just meant to be alone then?"

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