When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

few short seconds, the walls, floor, and ceiling were enclosed in a purple-black substance.

Val willed herself to take a fighting stance, but all she could do was press back against the headboard. She franticly flicked her wrists in some attempt to trigger her claws, and the ghoul abilities that would follow, but to no avail. For the first time in two years, she felt truly helpless.

“Hello, deary.”

Val raised her head, unaware she’d been closing her eyes. She was standing in a grey void. The purple-black was gone, replaced by a light grey that seemed to stretch forever. In front of her was an off-white silhouette of a man. She couldn’t make out much detail. The image nearly faded into the grey itself, but there were a few distinguishing features. He was very tall and appeared to be wearing a top hat.

Val narrowed her eyes and prepared to strike. Her nails had extended to familiar blades and she could feel her teeth sharpen in her mouth. Whatever had come over her in the room was gone, replaced entirely by animal instinct.

“Now, now, no need for those.” The man waved a hand and Val stumbled back, claws and fangs retreating into their human counterparts.

She banished her initial shock and scanned her opponent. Maybe Crystal was right about hand-to-hand combat.

“Who are you?” she asked coldly.

“Who?” He tilted his head, seeming to ponder the question. “’Who’ is merely a function of ‘what’ and what I am… is a lowly traveler.” He raised a hand to where his mouth would be like he was sipping a glass. “I think a better question would be: ‘Why are you here?’”

“Why am I here?” Val growled. She stole a step forward. As he, dramatically thought through the question, Val took in her surroundings. There were no obstacles between them. Unless his nonchalance was a ruse, which very well may have been the case, she could cross the distance between them in two seconds, side sweep, then pin him to the ground. After that—

“Well, I’m not here to hurt you, so you can stop eyeing me like a piece of meat,” the man said with a laugh. “I stroll through the spirit realms on occasion to visit the woman of the house. After assisting with her son and husband, fifteen hundred—no, twenty years? I forget how you people age…” He scratched his chin, then began counting with his fingers, then toes, which Val now noticed were bare.

“Fifteen years ago!” he exclaimed. “She’s resilient, that ghoul. Never once regretting the spell. Mournful, yes, all the time, but not regretful—no, sirey. Or, missey, I suppose. Why are you people so attached to your gendered pronouns? I understand the concept, but…”

The silhouette’s rambling faded to the background as Val continued to replay what he had just said. Could he be…

“I had to make him forget...”

“It was you…” Val said slowly, looking at the silhouette where it’s eyes would be. “You made Crystal’s husband forget they existed.”

He shrugged, then took another sip from his invisible glass. “Just because I’m practically a Greater Spirit doesn’t mean I don’t have a heart. Who could say no to a crying young woman and a baby?”

Val froze. Despite his nonchalance, it was like he’d hit her with a truck. There was so much she didn’t know or could even begin to understand. If this man-spirit-whatever not only knew about ghouls, but could cast spells and walk through the spirit realm, perhaps he could—

“You brought me here,” Val spat out suddenly. “You wrote to me in that book…”

Angels lie…

Val had no idea what that could have meant, but the ‘save you from your saviors,’ maybe. She certainly didn’t need saving from Crystal and Ligel, but maybe he meant the life of a ghoul. If that was the case—

“Not at all.” He shook his head, then sat on the grey ground. “Lies from a liar. Well, that’s harsh. I’m sure there’s truth in whatever Raven told you. I’m not particularly fond of either party. I vote independent, personally. If one could vote for the supernatural forces that battle for the essence of reality, that is…”

He looked up and seemed to read the confusion in Val’s face. “Raven tried to summon you, but I intervened and brought you to this middle ground. It’s not the aether, given you’re not a spirit or a dreamwalker, but it’s as close to it as your mind can perceive. If you want me to send you through, I can. I just wanted to meet you first. I was curious.”

“What?” Val tried to process what he was saying. She had no idea who this Raven was, or where he had attempted to summon her to. A shadow of the fear that had overcome her moments before began to rise, and Val deemed that she was content with ignorance.

“That’s alright…” she said slowly. “You can just send me back. But why did you want to meet me?

“The fifth of the angel’s transgressions,” he said, leaning forward to study her. “I don’t vote, but I like to know what’s going on.”

Val shook her head before turning away. “You’re insane.”

The man shrugged, then gave a delicate wave of his fingers.

The next second, she was opening her eyes, safely tucked into bed. The light from the window suggested that the sun had been up for at least a few hours. The suggestion was further confirmed by the smell of breakfast wafting through the woodwork. Turning her head, she saw that the book of fairy tales was secured in its place on the bookcase. Val tentatively pulled it from the shelf and opened up to the first page.

Jack the Giant Slayer.

She quickly flipped through the rest of the book. All of the strange writing was gone, replaced by the anthology of classic stories.

Maybe I just—

A stab from her