#dewdrop ghost

Dewdrop was feeling a little better about the new members of the pack. He had talked with Rain about it more. And also a few more therapy sessions than usual. He’d been in therapy since the whole thing with Aether happened. It was definitely helping.

The new ghouls had been there for about a week and the normal tradition was that they would have a lunch together as a pack once the newbies were ready. Today happened to be that day. Now that he was feeling better over it, he was looking forward to it. The only thing he wasn’t looking forward to was the questions. They were curious about their new pack and wanted to learn things and sometimes that meant personal questions.

Dew had gone to the kitchen early. He sat at the table, watching Mountain as he cooked lunch for them all. He hadn’t really interacted with any of the new ghouls yet. This would be his first time talking with them.

“You better not be a dick to them” Mountain looked back at him.

“I’m not gonna be a dick.” He sighed. “At least not on purpose. I make no promises if they bring up stuff I don’t want to talk about.”

“Well you might not be that lucky.” He went back to cooking “Phantoms already asked about where your mate is.”

“I hate this.” He laid his head down on the table.

He stayed like that until the others started to trickle into the kitchen for lunch. Then he decided to sit up. He didn’t feel like talking though because he knew he would be the center of attention here and thankfully his packmates caught on to that and they left him alone for now.

He calmed a little when Rain sat down next to him. He leaned against him, resting his head on his shoulder. Unfortunately for him, all three of the new ghouls decided to sit directly across the table from the two of them.

It wasn’t long before lunch was ready. It was always something simple as the new ghouls were still getting used to these new foods. Mountain had decided on grilled cheese as most ghouls, like most humans, tended to like bread and cheese.

Everyone started chatting with each other. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself so he only listened. A lot of it was stuff he already knew as the new ghouls asked his packmates questions but he also learned some stuff about the new ghouls as well. Like how Aurora was Phantom's slightly older sister and how the both of them were now the youngest ghouls in the pack. Sunshine was closer to him in age, now being the second oldest in the pack and now joined him and Mountain as being the only ones over 100 years old. He hated thinking about how he was the oldest one.

The pack ended up turning most of their questions to Phantom now. They were a runt, just like he was. He had already figured that out. It wasn’t always easy for other ghouls to figure out unless it was obvious, but runts tended to easily find out when another ghoul was also a runt. He also learned that they were nearly blind. While their eyes were naturally black, the scar that covered the left side of their face also included the left eye, rendering it completely useless. It had also invaded their right eye as well. They could see somewhat out of it, but what they could see was blurry. This only concluded his theory that the scar was caused by some kind of magic.

His luck had run out though as a question was finally directed at him.

“I’ve never seen a fire ghoul with such long hair.” Sunshine was looking right at him. “Did you keep it that long in the pit or did you decide to grow it out after you were summoned?”

It was an innocent question. He would’ve been thinking that too. Especially if he was part fire like she was. Fire ghouls tended to keep their hair shorter as they often got into fights and long hair was just another thing that could be grabbed. But if he was going to answer he would have to tell them all about how he forcefully had his element changed and he didn’t really want to talk about it and that was also an awful thing to learn about right after being summoned. They had been told that this place was safe. Even if it was safer than the pits, it still wasn’t that safe.

“I wasn’t always a fire ghoul.” He could feel everyone’s eyes on him now. The newer ghouls staring in confusion and the older ones surprised that he was actually talking and not ignoring the question.

“What do you mean?” She only looked more confused.

“It’s a long story and I don’t really want to talk about it but I used to be a water ghoul.” He wanted to leave it there but he could already feel anger bubbling up. “They decided that instead of just summoning a new fire ghoul they’d just make one and they thought the perfect ghoul to do that to was a water ghoul and it almost killed me but they didn’t care because they could just summon another water ghoul and do it to that one too.”

The newer ghouls were staring at him, obviously scared by the revelation that they weren’t really all that safe there. Though that didn’t stop Sunshine from having more to say.

“Oh. I thought you were a runt because you’re a little small for a fire ghoul.” She seemed to want to ask more but she decided to keep it in.

“No, you’re right about that.” It was no use for him to keep it a secret. “I am a runt. It’s just more obvious now that I’m a fire ghoul.”

He was happy when someone else decided to ask some questions. Though he was only a few more bites into his sandwich before the question he was dreading came up.

“Where is your mate at?” It was Phantom. “You have a mate bond but I haven’t seen them yet.”

He hated that quints could see who was bonded to who. He could’ve kept it a secret that he was mated but that just wasn’t the case.

“He’s not fucking here.” He was trying to not lose his shit completely. He didn’t want to talk about Aether.

“Where is he?” Phantom decided to keep pressing about it. Clearly they didn’t get the hint that he was done talking about it.

“He’s not welcome here anymore after he fucked with all of our heads and tried to turn us into mindless puppets.” Yeah not losing his shit wasn’t really working. He saw Phantom getting ready to speak but he cut them off. “How about I ask you some deeply personal questions? See how you like it? What the fuck happened to your face? Someone wanted to pick on the little runt who couldn’t defend themselves?”

He hated himself as soon as it left his mouth but even now, years later, he still had no control over his fiery temper. He still hurt people without meaning to.

He got up and started to head toward the door. He needed to go cool off. The carnage didn’t happen to be over though.

“Dew?” He flinched a little at the sound of Rain’s voice. “Take the sandwich with you at least.”

He knew that Rain was only looking after him. He still hadn’t gained back most of the weight he had lost from the elemental change. But right now was not the time.

“I don’t want the fucking sandwich!” He turned back toward the table and actually grabbed his plate, throwing it to the floor.

The fear in Rain’s eyes as he did that, even moving further away from him, instantly melted the anger away. He hadn’t meant to scare him like that.

“I-I didn’t…” he didn’t even know what to say right now. He couldn’t look at anyone else right now. He could feel eight pairs of eyes on him and he couldn’t take it right now.

He turned around and ran. He headed to his usual running away spot. The lake. Even if he couldn’t mindlessly swim around for hours and forget all his worries, he could still relax next to the water. Even as a fire ghoul, the water still seemed to calm him down.

It didn’t take long for Rain to find him out there. It was where he always went when he needed to clear his head or just needed a break. He had decided to go out to the end of the dock and dangle his legs over the edge. It was a bit of a dangerous game at the moment. The dock was covered in ice and so was the lake. One wrong move and he’d slip right off, falling through the ice. He’d probably die from the cold. Any ghoul other than a water ghoul probably would eventually. He likely would in less than a minute.

Now that he was thinking about the cold, he only now realized how much he was shivering. He was only wearing a sweater. He would’ve grabbed a coat or maybe even two if he hadn’t rushed out so quickly. It was actively snowing. It was a light snow but still too cold for him.

“I know you enjoy being stubborn but you should go to the infirmary just to be sure you didn’t get too cold.” Rain sat down next to Dew, grabbing his hand to hold. There was no hiding the concern on his face, though. “You feel cold.”

“I didn’t mean to get upset…” he looked up at him. “They all probably think I’m awful…”

“I know you didn’t.” He got up, helping Dew get up as well. “They don’t think that. I’m sure they understand.”

“And what if they don’t?” He started to walk back. He continued to hold his hand though. “They probably think I’m crazy. And they definitely think I’m an asshole.”

“Well you were a bit of an asshole.” He couldn’t defend him there.

“I know that.” He didn’t really want to talk about it anymore at the moment.

It was still another minute or two before they made it back inside. He felt better as soon as they walked in. The infirmary was close to the front of the building and since it was slow they were able to take him back pretty quickly.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to be there for long. He was perfectly fine. He wasn’t out there long enough to cause any harm but he did need to be more careful.

He hurried toward the exit as soon as he was told he could leave. He was always worried that he’d run into Aether there and right now, he could smell his scent so he had to be nearby.

He made a beeline toward the door but he decided to risk a glance back. Aether was in the waiting room. And he was talking to Phantom.

He froze there for a moment, not knowing what to do. Rain hadn’t looked back, but he tugged on Dew’s arm. He wanted out of there too, not wanting anything to do with Aether.

Dew moved again after a few moments. He had settled on feeling rage. He couldn’t believe Aether had the audacity to talk to the new members of his old pack.

He didn’t care what kind of conversation they were having, he shoved Phantom behind himself, wanting to keep them further away from Aether.

“How fucking dare you!” He shoved Aether back. Or, at least he tried to. He didn’t move an inch. “How dare you talk to them! If I find you talking to them or anyone else in my pack I swear I will put you in the ground!”

“They were next in line.” He said it nonchalantly. It only pissed Dew off more. He knew what he was doing. “I’m just doing my job.”

“You could’ve made them wait longer!” His anger was not dying down at all.

“No, I couldn’t have” he actually reached out and grabbed Dew’s arm. He knew what he was doing.

Dew didn’t know how to react to that. His anger was starting to morph into fear. He knew that every other ghoul in that room could smell it, including Aether. Though he was sure that’s what he wanted. He didn’t know why he was doing this. He hadn’t been this close to him since everything went down. He had never wanted to be this close to him again.

Aether pulled him closer, leaning close enough to whisper in his ear. “I can do whatever I want. And I will get whatever I want. And wanna know what I really want? I really want you back with me. Eventually, you’ll be back with me. Even if I have to drag you away from your pack and keep you locked in my room. You will be mine.”

As if nothing even happened, Aether let go of him and walked away. Dew kept his eyes on him until he was gone. He felt someone touch his shoulder, and flinched away. He turned around, only to see that it was just Rain.

Rain had started to say something but Dew was already on his way to the door. Panic was already starting to set in. He needed to get somewhere safe.

He started to head back to the dorms. He was feeling disoriented though. Nothing felt familiar. He didn’t know where he was right now. It only made the panic set in even faster.

He could sense that someone else was in the hall with him, following after him. He was too scared to look back. He could smell Aether. It had to be him. He took off running, just trying to lose him.

He could hear the footsteps getting closer. He was too scared to look behind him. He just kept on running. He had to get away.

The thing was, the only other person in that hallway was Rain. He was having a flashback. A very vivid one. And right now, in his head, it wasn’t Rain. It was Aether.

He felt relief for a brief moment when the room to the dorms came into view. He hurried in, slamming the door behind him. He collapsed onto the floor, the hyperventilation from his panic and the breathlessness from running so far making it difficult to get any air in.

He heard the door open and his panic only spiked higher. He was screwed. This was it for him. Aether would have him now.

It was like he blinked and now he was sitting in his bed, back against the wall, Rain sitting next to him, holding him close. It was disorienting. His head was pounding and all of his muscles were aching with a bone deep exhaustion. There was also some stinging pain. He looked down and saw claw marks on his arms, obviously done by himself.

He barely remembered what happened and he didn’t remember anything at all after he finally made it back to the dorms. He let out a whine as he rested his head on Rain’s shoulder.

Rain didn’t say anything, knowing that right now he only wanted physical comfort. He knew he wouldn’t feel up for talking. They stayed like that for a while before Rain finally broke the silence.

“Let me go get Aurora. She can heal you.” Rain was already getting up.

Dew knew that if he tried to argue, he wasn’t going to win. He only nodded in understanding. Even though he mostly wanted to be alone at the moment, the silence and loneliness in the few minutes Rain was gone were agonizing.

He was a little worried when Rain returned with Aurora. He was sure she was going to judge him. He was surprised to see that there was no judgement. She walked over, not saying a word.

She started to reach out for his arm, looking up at him to be sure it was okay. Dew was a little confused by it but he nodded.

“Phantom has panic attacks too.” She decided to clear up his confusion. She started to heal up the claw marks. They thankfully weren’t too deep so she was able to heal them quickly. She was gentle the whole time.

“Thank you…” he did feel better now that he was in less pain.

“You don’t need to thank me.” She smiled at him before getting up and leaving the room.

Rain had gone into the bathroom to get a washcloth. He sat down next to him and started to wash the blood off of his arms. They sat in silence for a while.

“The rest of the pack is going to watch a movie if you’re feeling up to it.” Rain looked up at Dew. Dew had to think about it for a moment. He did feel like shit at the moment and probably looked like shit too. He had a shit day and he wanted to be surrounded by the comfort of his pack for a bit.

“We can go… but I went to get cleaned up first.” He went to get up but Rain stopped him.

“Let me do it.” Rain got up and dissapeared into the bathroom again. He came back with a brush and a washcloth. He sat them on the bed before going and getting some clean clothes as well.

Dew got up and changed his own clothes but he’d let Rain pamper him. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and let him brush his hair.

He would be lying if he said it wasn’t calming. He started to purr quietly. He even kneaded his claws into the bed a little.

“You know, you’re really adorable.” Rain stopped brushing Dew’s hair and grabbed the washcloth to clean up his face a bit.

“You’re adorable too.” He was blushing a little from the compliment but he was going to compliment him back of course.

“Come on, let’s go.” Rain got up, grabbing Dew’s hand and leading him out to the living room.

The rest of the pack was already there and the movie had already started so they quietly snuck in and took the empty space on the couch.

Dew leaned into Rain, resting his head on his shoulder. He did try to focus on the movie but he was just so tired and the couch was so comfortable that he ended up falling asleep right there. He even began to purr again.

Phantom had been looking over at Dew since he came into the room. When he started purring, they couldn’t help but think about how cute he was. Someone else noticed what they were doing though.

“You have a crush” Aurora whispered over to them.

“I do not,” Phantom quickly looked back at the TV.

“I think the three of you would be great together.” She also turned her attention back to the movie.

Phantom thought about it. They did like Dew a lot and they liked Rain as well. They didn’t think either of them would want them though. At least not like that. Maybe they should shoot their shot. It wouldn’t hurt.

Dewdrop stared at the ceiling. He was in his and Rain’s room. They would be summoning new ghouls that night and he was not even close to ready. They were summoning a new quint and all he could think about was Aether and what he did. He knew the other ghouls were a little apprehensive as well. None of them were ready for a new quint in their pack. It would be hard for them the adjust when the last one went and fucked with all their heads.

He knew the rest of the pack was more concerned about him than their own problems. Especially since what Aether did nearly killed him. He forgot what it was actually called, medical terms hurt his head, but he remembered someone calling it broken heart syndrome. He was fine now but the pack had never stopped worrying about him.

He had never wanted to be in a relationship after Aether. If that almost killed him, the next one definitely would. He couldn't help it though. Rain had been there for him through everything and he could feel himself falling for him. He tried to ignore it but it was too hard to. Now he’d been sharing a room with him for almost a year now.

They had wanted to be mates, and Dew was a little hesitant about that. His last mate was awful and there was the fact that they were still technically mates. He didn’t know how to fix that other than one of them dying. Because for all anyone knew, that’s the only way a mate bond breaks.

He’d been up for a couple hours now, ever since the light started pouring through the window. Even if he wasn’t the only early riser in the pack, he was usually the first one up. He usually didn’t get out of bed until he heard someone else was awake.

He heard some noise out in the hall which usually meant one of his packmates was up. This led to his least favorite part of the morning, getting out of his partners hold.

He wasn’t sure what happened in the middle of the night. He was always under at least two covers and essentially made his own little oven to stay warm in. Rain was usually not under those covers, at least in the summer, but he always woke up with the covers off him and Rain wrapped around him.

He hated accidentally waking him up. So he started his routine of trying to slip out of Rain’s arms. It took a couple minutes but he was successfully out of bed without waking him.

He wandered out into the kitchen and smiled when he saw Mountain in there making breakfast and a full pot of coffee. He went right over to make himself a cup.

“Not even a good morning?” Mountain looked over at him.

“Well it’s not a good morning.” He already started to make a second cup of coffee.

“Didn’t sleep well?” He went back to focusing on the pancakes he was making.

“I only got like an hour.” He sighed. Jumping a little as he felt arms wrap around his waist and a head rest on his shoulder.

“What about you?” He looked over at Rain now.

“My heater left me.” He was pouting a bit but he smiled when Dew handed him one of the cups of coffee.

Dew walked over to the table and sat down. Now that he was actually up he was dreading that night even more. He didn't want a new quint in the pack. It was honestly scary what they could do with their powers. Who’s to say this one wouldn’t be worse than Aether?

“You okay?” Rain sat down next to him.

“I’ll be okay.” He leaned against him.

“Wanna talk about it?” He kissed the top of his head.

“Maybe later.” He looked up at him. “I’m just being dramatic.”

“You’re not being dramatic. I’m anxious about this too.” He looked down.

“I know.” He wrapped an arm around Rain, nuzzling into his side. He knew everything affected Rain a lot too. It seemed out of everyone them two and Cirrus were affected by it all the most. Especially because she didn’t fully recover from what he did to her. He still hadn’t forgiven himself.

“I have some things I need to do today. I’ll be back before we have to leave” he kissed Dew’s cheek.

“Okay. I love you.” He kissed him.

“Love you too.” He kissed him back then got up.

Dew got up as well. He didn’t really feel like eating right now. He might come back later though. He needed to keep himself busy so he didn’t start spiraling.

Dewdrop managed to make it through the rest of the day without freaking out over the new ghouls. He was currently getting his uniform on. They got to wear their new uniforms for tonight and it was only his third time having it on.

He was checking himself out in the mirror. It was definitely more interesting than the old ones but he did like it. He walked out of the bathroom and smirked when he saw Rain.

“You look nice.” He walked over to him and gave him a kiss before grabbing his ass, making Rain squeak. “Makes your butt look nice too.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna be staring at my ass all the time on stage now.” He kissed him back.

“I might.” He looked him up and down “if we didn’t have to be there in ten minutes I’d already be taking these clothes off you.”

“Well you can always take them off me after.” Rain headed towards the door before looking back at him, then leaving the room.

Dew quickly followed him out of the room. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t turned on at the moment. He frowned when they entered the common area and the rest of the pack was there.

“You both look great.” Cumulus smiled at them.

“Well I’m just gonna have to take your word for it.” Cirrus looked at Cumulus. “She said I look nice too.”

Dew looked down. This was why he still hated himself for hurting her. Her peripheral vision was almost completely gone. It was caused from the brain damage from him slamming her head into the ground. The not nearly as bad thing was the chronic back pain she had.

“Well actually I said she looked hot.” She kissed Cirrus.

“You can all fuck each other later we’re going to be late.” Mountain started to head towards the door.

“You should get someone to fuck you later. You look hot too.” Dew walked past Mountain, smacking his ass.

“I hate you.” Mountain rolled his eyes.

“Maybe you wouldn’t be so grumpy if you got laid more often.” He smirked back at him. Mountain just rolled his eyes again.

He could tell how excited the rest of the pack was over this and even now he was starting to get excited too. The dread was still there but he couldn’t wait to meet his new packmates.

Usually, these summonings would pull a large crowd. Everyone wanted to see the new band ghouls when they were summoned. But all five of them, Aether included, had said that so many humans around when they were summoned was awful and made the whole situation even harder and scarier. So, now that Copia was Papa, he made it so only ghouls could attend. Well only ghouls and whoever was doing the summoning.

When he walked in the room, it was still somewhat packed. And he could tell they were a little late by the way Copia was looking at them as they entered.

The pack took their place near the front, ready to help their new packmates. Copia was saying something but he wasn’t paying attention. He had caught eyes with someone else in that crowd. Aether.

Aether was there and he was staring at him. He stared back for a moment before finally looking away. He looked down in his lap, not looking back up until the first too was summoned. And even then, he could still feel Aethers eyes on him and it was taking everything to not freak out.

His eyes went to the summoning circle when he felt the new ghoul, or rather ghoulette was summoned. She was on the shorter side and the first thing he noticed was her hair. It was so light, basically white at the top, but the further down it went, the more blonde it looked. She seemed to be a fire and air multi.

They decided together that one of them would take care of each new ghoul at first until they were ready to meet the new pack. It was less stressful that way. They decided it would be him and Mountain. Rain would take over if he felt like he couldn’t do it. So Mountain went up to her and helped her calm down before leading her out of the room.

He watched as the next ghoul was summoned, trying to shake the feeling of being watched away. But this time, a ghoul and a ghoulette showed up in the summoning circle.

They looked like they were related. The first thing that caught his eye were the beautiful star shaped freckles they both had littering their bodies. But he didn’t pay much attention to the ghoulette other than she seemed to be a quintessence and air multi. His eyes were on the ghoul. Fully quint.

They were beautiful. Their ears reminded him of bat wings. Their eyes were pitch black, both the iris and the sclera. It wasn’t common, but sometimes ghouls had eyes like that. What fascinated him the most was the scar. It covered the left upper side of their face, covering their left eye and ear. And even the left horn and some of their hair seemed to be affected as well. The skin there was pitch black, like their eyes, and it almost sparkled with specks that looked like stars. It reminded him of the night sky.

He was examining the ghoul until a wave of anxiety and panic hit him. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t fall in love with another quint. He hurried out of the room, Rain following close behind him. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Dew, what’s wrong?” He was concerned.

Dew couldn’t say anything. He heard the door open and looked over to see Cumulus and Cirrus leaving with the two new ghouls. But the quint seemed interested in what was going on with him. They were probably just trying to help, but when they started approaching him, he only freaked out more.

He backed away, he needed to get away. He was feeling lightheaded now. He kept his eyes on the quint until it all suddenly went black.

Dew started to wake up. He couldn’t have been out for long because when he looked to the side, he could see one of the infirmary quints talking to Rain.

When Rain noticed he was awake, he hurried over. He seemed relieved.

“You had a panic attack.” He frowned a little. “I was worried that it was something with your heart. You can’t do that again it scared me.”

“I’m sorry..” he looked down.

“What happened?” He sat down on the side of the bed.

“I was looking at the new ghoul… and… they’re cute.” He hated himself right now. It sounded pathetic. He had a panic attack because he found someone cute.

“And it made you think of him?” He held his hand.

“It did…” he began to cry. “I can’t do it again. I can’t be with another quint.”

Dew ran. He had to get away from there. He hurt Cirrus, Aether betrayed him, and he didn’t know who he could trust right now. He had no one else he could go to right now.

There was one place he thought no one would look because he rarely went there anymore. He stopped once he made it to the dock, collapsing onto his knees. He was so out of breath. He hadn’t ran that far in a long time and his body was not enjoying it.

He laid down on his back and stared up at the sky and just cried. He got lost in his thoughts because suddenly it was starting to get dark, and he sensed someone else there.

He sat up and saw Aether at the other end of the dock. He didn’t know what to do but he didn’t want to be anywhere near him right now.

“Leave me alone, Aether.” He glared at him.

“Just let me talk to you.” He stayed right where he was. “Let me explain”

“There’s nothing to explain.” He looked back, debating on jumping into the water to get away. It was too cold though.

“She would have killed you if I didn’t do what she said.” He took a couple steps forward but stopped once Dew growled at him.

“I would’ve rather died than go through this!” He started to cry again.

“I couldn’t lose you!” He decided to close the gap between the two of them.

“Well congratulations because you lost me anyways!” He took a step back, only leaving a few inches from the edge of the dock.

“I’m sorry.” He looked down.

“Sorry? Do you really think sorry is going to fix this?” He cried harder. “You were there weren’t you? When she changed my element?”

Aether didn’t say anything, but he refused to look at Dewdrop.

“I can’t believe you.” He shoved past Aether. He wasn’t going to listen to this anymore. But he turned back towards him. “You’re my mate! You’re supposed to protect me! And instead you put me through that! I wanted to die! I didn’t even want to survivestarted it! But I didn’t give up because I didn’t want you to lose me! I fought for you!” He couldn’t say more because he to sob.

He couldn’t do this anymore. He needed to find somewhere else. He decided there was no point in trying to hide somewhere he wouldn’t be found, because there weren’t many places like that. He hurried back to his room, not listening to what Aether was yelling to him.

Once he got back, he locked the door behind him. For all he knew, his pack wasn’t back to normal, but if they were he didn’t want them bothering him right now.

He slid down to the floor, back against the door. He was starting to calm down, but then he looked up and he was hit with a swirl of sadness and anger and confusion. This was a horrible choice. His and Aether's room that was filled with their things. The room that he had felt so loved in and the person who made him feel that way betrayed him.

At first he felt overwhelming sadness, distraught over the situation. He sat there and cried for a while. He blamed himself for this. He should’ve known something was going to go wrong. Every partner he had ever had turned out to be shitty and he thought he lucked out with Aether. But he was wrong.

He never got anything good and now he didn’t think he deserved anything good. He would never find the person for him. Aether was supposed to be that ghoul.

His sadness was turning to anger because Aether had the audacity to say that he was protecting him. Protecting him? He put him through the worst months of his life so he wouldn’t lose him. What it was was selfish.

What he went through was worse than dying. It was torture. If Aether wanted to protect him he would’ve made sure he never experienced that. And then he hurt not just him, but their entire pack to further protect him. He betrayed everyone who cared about him.

He was angry at himself too. He saw signs that something was up. The times that Aethers emotions seemed wrong. Or that fucking call in the bathroom that night in the hotel. He had been suspicious then but he didn’t question it because he trusted him. This was all his fault too.

He felt the rage bubble up inside him. He was more angry than he had ever been before. He went on a rampage, grabbing anything he could find of Aethers and doing his best to destroy it. Breaking what he could, ripping his clothes to shreds. Some of the clothes he unintentionally set alight. He wanted every memory of him gone.

He was about halfway through the closet when he felt a sudden pain in his chest. It felt like he couldn’t breathe. He tried to call out for someone but he already felt too weak. It wasn’t long before he was on the floor, writhing in pain. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was someone breaking through the door.

Dew was starting to wake up and he had no fucking clue where he was for a moment. However, the familiarity of the infirmary didn’t take long to penetrate through the fog in his brain. It looked to be one of the private rooms thankfully. Well, it was supposed to be private but there was another bed in there.

He tried to get a better look at who it was and he quickly realized it was Cirrus. She wasn’t awake and he hoped she was just sleeping.

That didn’t answer the question of if the rest of his pack was okay. He was still very distraught over Aether but after the breakdown he had, he had the room to worry about his pack now.

Not even a minute passed before someone walked in and he nearly cried. It was Mountain and if he was okay it likely meant the rest of his pack was okay. He tried to say something but the only sound that came out was a whine. Within seconds Mountain was by his side, wrapping his arms around him in a hug.

“I’m so happy you’re okay.” Mountain sat down in the chair next to the bed.

“I can say the same about you.” He managed to get something out.

“You know, you nearly burned down the entire dorm.” He gave him a stern look, jokingly.

“I should’ve.” He didn’t have the energy to be angry right now even if he could feel it bubbling up again. He gestured over to Cirrus “Is she gonna be okay?”

“She will be.” Mountain already knew how Dew was going to feel about it “it wasn’t you. It’s not your fault.

Dew didn’t respond. It was his fault. It was his hands that hurt her, even if he hadn’t been in control. He didn’t get long to stew in it though because the rest of his pack had just arrived.

Cumulus only waved at him as she was very quickly at her mates side, making sure she was still okay. Rain, however, hurried over to his side, hugging him. No words were exchanged, but he could feel how much they all cared about him.

Dewdrop had been stuck in a cell for days. The fact that Aether hadn’t come for him yet, only continued to solidify the fact that he probably betrayed him. But there was still the possibility that he may be in the same situation.

He was still in a lot of pain from being thrown around. There was still a little sense going around the clergy though as he did now have a cast for his wrist. There was no reason for them to fuck up the wrist of the best guitarist they had.

He didn’t know if the rest of his pack was okay. He knew Cirrus was somewhere down there but she was too far to actually converse with. He hated the cells. It was in another part of the basement, different from where the ghoul dorms were, but it was somehow 10x more freezing.

Even if he tried to fight when they tried to take him, it would be no use. He was too hurt and he couldn’t use his powers. He could barely even warm himself up with them at this point. He was hoping Aether was looking for him, and that all of these worries were for nothing. Aether would never hurt him.

He was curled up on his side on the shitty uncomfortable cot they had. He was starting to shiver from the cold. His eyes were drifting shut. He had been doing a lot of sleeping since there wasn’t much else to do and the cold was draining him.

He was on the edge of sleep when he heard a noise that caught his attention. It sounded like there was fighting in the direction of the door. He sat up when he heard the door to the cell block open. Then Aether’s scent hit him.

He quickly got up and went to the front of the cell. He only felt relief when Aether opened up the cell. He quickly wrapped his arms around him, starting to cry. He was so scared and overwhelmed and he just wanted his mate.

He felt a bit more relieved as Aether used his quintessence to relieve the pain. It didn’t make all of it go away, but it helped.

“I’m scared…” he was gripping onto Aether.

“I know, sweetheart.” He kissed the top of his head.

“Is Rain okay?” He didn’t know what happened to him. Was it the same that happened to everyone else? Did something else happen to him?

“He’s like the others…” he sighed and looked down, holding Dew a little tighter.

“We need to get Cirrus she’s somewhere else down here.” He let go to head further into the cell block but Aether caught his hand.

“I found a way to protect us from Sister.” He let go of his hand “if we all get caught, it’ll be no use. We can come back for her later.”

Dew was a little suspicious. He didn’t want to leave Cirrus here and he thought it was weird that Aether would do that. But why would Aether be breaking him out if not to help? He really didn’t know what to think now. He wanted to trust Aether though.

“Are you sure it will work?” He knew if they did any kind of ritual, someone would find out and it would put them in danger. If whatever this ritual was didn’t work, they would be screwed.

“I’m sure.” He grabbed Dew’s hand and started to head back to the main floor.

He stayed close to Aether, worried about being ambushed again. He would hate for Aether to have to protect him along with himself.

They walked quickly. He hadn’t actually know what time it was but based on the darkness outside and the deserted halls, it was likely the middle of the night. That was good. It meant they were less likely to run into someone else.

At this point, he didn’t think Aether had betrayed him. He did sense something a little off through their bond though. He was riddled with anxiety at the moment which wasn’t too weird, he was too. There was something else there too, but he couldn’t place what it was. He could think about it later once they were safe.

The ritual rooms weren’t far from the basement entrance so they made it there within a few minutes. It didn’t seem like anyone else was there either so that was a good sign.

“In this one.” Aether walked to one of them and opened up the door. “I already have everything set up.”

Dew walked in. It didn’t seem like it was set up for a ritual though. Maybe it was the wrong one? He was turning around toward Aether when he was suddenly grabbed from behind.

He immediately tried to get out of their grip but it was no use. He wasn’t strong enough. There was something he could still do though. He maneuvered himself around enough to bite.

The ghoul yelped in pain and slapped Dew hard enough that he fell to the ground. He let out a whimper. He had landed on his injured wrist.

“Dew, stop fighting.” Aether was still standing by the door.

“What do you mean, stop fighting?” He looked over towards him to see him standing by the door. At that moment his heart broke. He was betrayed. This had been a trap.

Aether was refusing to look at him and it was fucking pissing him off. He just broke his mates heart the least he could do was look at him as he did it.

In the time he took to process what was going on, the other ghoul had grabbed him again. He tried to get free again but it was still no use. He only had one more thing he could do to get away.

He started to heat his body up but the other ghoul didn’t even react. They must also be a fire ghoul. He wouldn’t give up though and continued to try and get away as he was forced towards the altar.

He tried again when he was shoved down onto the table, trying to kick at the other ghoul as he was chained down at it. He smirked as he manage to land one, only to be smacked again, this time his head hitting the stone beneath him, making his head pound.

He knew it was no use trying to get away at this point so he just gave up. His mate betrayed him and now, he didn’t know what was about to happen. The last time he was in this room, he was forced to become another type of ghoul. This time it could be something worse.

He heard the door open and he recognized the scent of who it was immediately. Tears started to flow down his face, silently.

“Dewdrop. Nice to see you aren’t fighting it this time.” Sister Imperator approached the altar. “There’s no use in doing it anyways.”

He didn’t say anything back to her. Didn’t even look at her. He wouldn’t give her that satisfaction.

“Not saying anything? That’s new.” She stopped once she was next to him. He only cried harder when Aether came over as well. He was hoping this was a dream and he would wake up soon.

There was a silent look between Sister and Aether and Aether put his hands on Dew’s temples. Dew closed his eyes, accepting what was coming. But then he felt his hands leave.

“I can’t do it” Aether looked like he was about to cry along with him.

“You know what the deal was.” She was reaching into her pocket. “You do what I say, or I kill him.”

He whimpered when he saw what she pulled out. It was a gun. She placed it up against the side of his head. It was only then that the sobs came out.

“Do it, or I’ll blow his brains out right here.” She had her finger on the trigger. He braced himself for it to happen because, even if he was terrified, he would rather be killed than have Aether do whatever this was to him.

He closed his eyes and waited.

Aether placed his hands on Dews temples again. Dew barely had time to react to it. He felt like he was drifting in nothingness. The thoughts of what had happened were drifting away until no new thoughts popped into his head.

It felt normal when new thoughts popped in. About how he should obey. How he was only there to obey Sister Imperator and that he would only do what she told him too. And if he wasn’t told to do anything, he would wait for her instruction. Because he was hers now.

He heard the door open again and some shouting but he did pay it any mind. He didn’t need to pay attention to that. But a voice broke through the fog.

“Kill her.”

He didn’t know who said it, but it was probably Sister, so he listened. There was only one other person that could have been referred to by that. There was a ghoulette in there now and she seemed to be causing problems.

He stood up, despite all the pain and lunged at her. She didn’t seem to be fighting back, only defending herself. He bit at her a couple times, biting deep and viciously, tearing out chunks of flesh. She was yelling something but he didn’t pay any mind.

Despite the pain in his wrist, he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her down into the ground multiple times before specifically slamming her head into the ground as well. He could hear the sounds of pain but it didn’t stop him.

His mind started to clear up all of a sudden. He looked down at the ghoulette beneath him. It was Cirrus and she was hurt pretty bad.