Post by Kuro on Feb 2, 2012 13:33:06 GMT -5
Ghouls
All from Guilty Pleasures
"Tell me about ghouls, Anita." He had his trusty little notebook out, pen poised and ready.
"This cemetery is still holy ground. Cemeteries that have ghoul infestations are usually very old or have satanic or certain voodoo rites performed in them. The evil sort of uses up the blessing, until the ground becomes unholy. Once that happens, ghouls either move in or rise from the graves. No one's sure exactly which."
"Wait, what do you mean, that no one knows?"
"Basically."
He shook his head, staring at the notes he'd made, frowning. 'Explain."
"Vampires are made by other vampires. Zombies are raised from the grave by an animator or voodoo priest. Ghouls, as far as we know, just crawl out of their graves on their own. There are theories that very evil people become ghouls. I don't buy that. There was a theory for a while that people bitten by a supernatural being, wereanimal, vampire, whatever, would become a ghoul. But I've seen whole cemeteries emptied, every corpse a ghoul. No way they were all attacked by supernatural forces while alive."
"All right, we don't know where ghouls come from. What do we know?"
"Ghouls don't rot like zombies. They retain their form more like vampires. They are more than animal intelligent, but not by much. They are cowards and won't attack a person unless she is hurt or unconscious."
"No, ghouls don't work with humans, or any other undead. A zombie will obey orders, vampires have their own thoughts. Ghouls are like pack animals, wolves maybe, but a lot more dangerous. They wouldn't be able to understand working with someone. If you're not a ghoul, you're either meat or something to hide from."
"Dolph, these ghouls traveled quite a distance to reach this cemetery. There isn't another one for miles. Ghouls don't travel like that. So maybe, just maybe, they attacked the caretaker when he came to scare them off. They should have run from him; maybe they didn't."
"Could it be something, or someone, pretending to be ghouls?"
"Maybe, but I doubt it. Whoever it was, they ate that man. A human might do that, but a human couldn't tear the body apart like that. They just don't have the strength."
There was the sound of scrabbling claws on metal. I whirled. A ghoul sat on top of my car. It was naked and looked as if a human being had been stripped and dipped into silver-grey paint, almost metallic. But the teeth and claws on its hands and feet were long and black, curved talons. The eyes glowed crimson.
"What's it doing up there?" he asked.
"Don't know." I waved my free hand at it and said, "Scat!"
It crouched, staring at me. Ghouls are cowards; they don't attack healthy human beings. I took two steps, waving my gun at it. "Go away, shoo!" Any show of force sends them scuttling away. This one just sat there. I backed away.
"Edward," I said, softly.
"Yes.,,
'I didn't sense any ghouls in this cemetery."
"So? You missed one."
"There's no such thing as just one ghoul. They travel in packs. And you don't miss them. They leave a sort of psychic stench behind. Evil."
"Anita." His voice was soft, normal, but not normal. I glanced where he was looking and saw two more ghouls creeping up behind us.
We stood almost back to back, guns pointing out. "I saw a
ghoul attack earlier this week. Healthy man killed, a cemetery where there were no ghouls."
"Sounds familiar," he said.
"Yeah. Bullets won't kill them."
Of course. "How are you getting the ghouls out of their cemetery? How come they obey your orders?"
"You know the theory that if you bury an animator in a cemetery, you get ghouls."
"Yeah."
"When I came out of the grave, they came with me, and they were mine. Mine."
"You don't smoke, do you?"
"No, why?"
"They're afraid of fire."
"Great; we're going to be eaten alive because neither one of us smokes."
All from Guilty Pleasures
"Tell me about ghouls, Anita." He had his trusty little notebook out, pen poised and ready.
"This cemetery is still holy ground. Cemeteries that have ghoul infestations are usually very old or have satanic or certain voodoo rites performed in them. The evil sort of uses up the blessing, until the ground becomes unholy. Once that happens, ghouls either move in or rise from the graves. No one's sure exactly which."
"Wait, what do you mean, that no one knows?"
"Basically."
He shook his head, staring at the notes he'd made, frowning. 'Explain."
"Vampires are made by other vampires. Zombies are raised from the grave by an animator or voodoo priest. Ghouls, as far as we know, just crawl out of their graves on their own. There are theories that very evil people become ghouls. I don't buy that. There was a theory for a while that people bitten by a supernatural being, wereanimal, vampire, whatever, would become a ghoul. But I've seen whole cemeteries emptied, every corpse a ghoul. No way they were all attacked by supernatural forces while alive."
"All right, we don't know where ghouls come from. What do we know?"
"Ghouls don't rot like zombies. They retain their form more like vampires. They are more than animal intelligent, but not by much. They are cowards and won't attack a person unless she is hurt or unconscious."
"No, ghouls don't work with humans, or any other undead. A zombie will obey orders, vampires have their own thoughts. Ghouls are like pack animals, wolves maybe, but a lot more dangerous. They wouldn't be able to understand working with someone. If you're not a ghoul, you're either meat or something to hide from."
"Dolph, these ghouls traveled quite a distance to reach this cemetery. There isn't another one for miles. Ghouls don't travel like that. So maybe, just maybe, they attacked the caretaker when he came to scare them off. They should have run from him; maybe they didn't."
"Could it be something, or someone, pretending to be ghouls?"
"Maybe, but I doubt it. Whoever it was, they ate that man. A human might do that, but a human couldn't tear the body apart like that. They just don't have the strength."
There was the sound of scrabbling claws on metal. I whirled. A ghoul sat on top of my car. It was naked and looked as if a human being had been stripped and dipped into silver-grey paint, almost metallic. But the teeth and claws on its hands and feet were long and black, curved talons. The eyes glowed crimson.
"What's it doing up there?" he asked.
"Don't know." I waved my free hand at it and said, "Scat!"
It crouched, staring at me. Ghouls are cowards; they don't attack healthy human beings. I took two steps, waving my gun at it. "Go away, shoo!" Any show of force sends them scuttling away. This one just sat there. I backed away.
"Edward," I said, softly.
"Yes.,,
'I didn't sense any ghouls in this cemetery."
"So? You missed one."
"There's no such thing as just one ghoul. They travel in packs. And you don't miss them. They leave a sort of psychic stench behind. Evil."
"Anita." His voice was soft, normal, but not normal. I glanced where he was looking and saw two more ghouls creeping up behind us.
We stood almost back to back, guns pointing out. "I saw a
ghoul attack earlier this week. Healthy man killed, a cemetery where there were no ghouls."
"Sounds familiar," he said.
"Yeah. Bullets won't kill them."
Of course. "How are you getting the ghouls out of their cemetery? How come they obey your orders?"
"You know the theory that if you bury an animator in a cemetery, you get ghouls."
"Yeah."
"When I came out of the grave, they came with me, and they were mine. Mine."
"You don't smoke, do you?"
"No, why?"
"They're afraid of fire."
"Great; we're going to be eaten alive because neither one of us smokes."