Chapter 7

"You stood me up. I was at the dance, and you were nowhere to be found." 

"My mom wouldn’t let me go, honestly. She didn't even purchase me a dress; I tried to tell him."

"Yes, well..." he said with uncertainty. You and I are in different grades. I'm about to graduate from middle school and head straight to high school," he said, "so we won't be able to spend time together. "He replied coldly, I don't enjoy long-distance relationships anyway."

He could have been more convincing as if attempting to persuade someone unsure about himself as he spoke. I suspect. It was unlikely that he even trusted his own story by his demeanor.

I felt horrible for stabbing him in the back and didn't think there was any possibility I could convince him now.

What was going through my mind was that my plans for our future didn’t seem to matter anymore, so I thought, why bother trying?

After he was done talking, he turned and walked away fast.

Time passed, and I was starting high school with a fresh adventure, a chance to start a new one.

This year, my goals changed a bit. I wanted to get a job, a house, and a roommate. I was trying to leave my mother's house for independence and peace.

Over the two years, my Guardian baby had the chance to train me. It wasn't easy, and I still had a long way to go before I became stronger.

I discovered that people known as Waymakers can drive out devils and free spirits to the afterlife.

I trained endlessly, but I could still not make my abilities and powers function or open up any further. Baby told me not to give up hope that my powers would manifest at the appropriate time.

On my first day of high school, I had a considerable blast thinking sarcastically. The only bullies left now were the occasional possessed people.

One example was when I went to the wrong class. This guy attempted to mess with me. 

I was asking for it. The teacher had me pass out papers. I was not in the best mood when she called on me; I was running late and having difficulty finding my classes.

Getting through the crowd was hard; the halls of the school were long, and the buildings were huge.

As I was passing out the work assignments, I came up to this boy with greasy, long black hair that covered his eyes. His head pointed to the table, and he seemed in a trance, doodling something in his notebook. I couldn't see much of his face because his hair was messy and covered his face and art.

I stood there for a couple of minutes. Annoyed, I asked him, "Here, to take your paper in a not-so-polite tone."

Either he did not hear me, or he was ignoring me. Then, I spoke up louder to him in an unpleasant tone.

I was overwhelmed with all the daily frustrations, and now I feel all the pressure flustered together. I finally yelled, letting loose all that had been boiling up inside. “HEY,” "Boy, take your stupid paper already!"

He gave me a look as though he was about to beat my face in.

Over the summer, I developed a bit of an attitude—or perhaps I should say a backbone—and stood my ground as he looked at me I was without fear.

He answered me coldly, "I didn't see you there."

I retaliated, aware that words were merely my only weapon at my disposal. "You might notice something if you remove that mop of hair of yours." 

Given my behavior, I knew that reaction was a bit uncalled for, but something about him got under my skin.

It pained me I was not about to let myself go another year, being bullied and mistreated by anyone. No more being a target, not at this new school! 

I was thinking to myself, just as the bell rang to let us know it was time to move on to the next lesson, we did so. I bolted from the classroom. I was wishing to get free of that jerk from earlier.

All of the students filled the halls, obstructing my path. I was trapped at the entrance; I was unable to flee fast enough. I was well aware that I was stuck in a dangerous situation there. Considering I could feel him pursuing me.

He employed an all-knowing, too-simple bully maneuver. This oily-haired prick slapped them out of my hands and kicked my books across the floor right before putting his arm around his gothic-looking but awful girlfriend. When he walked away, he turned his head to look at me, smiling proudly and boastfully.

"Oh man," my blood boiled. I thought of 100 ways to get back at him.

Later on that day, I learned I was in the wrong class. They switched me out before I could get my revenge the next day.

It was a good thing, I guess. I swore I was going to tear him a new one! I had hoped never to see that jerk's face again.

When I got home, my daily routine consisted of homework, dinner, and regular chores. Baby would take me out at night and teach me how to combat the Deabrus.

The Deabru is the name of some of the skeletal demons. Soulless people are often people who have lost their way to the afterlife. They can be guided. Some soulless were made by forcefully targeting and are challenged to change by a demon/ Deabru. 

"So, spirits that stay here on earth are cursed I asked Baby. They could end up becoming soulless." 

"A bad living person who is not careful can also create Deabru. Also, if you have a person with a massively negative personality, they can become targeted." "This, unfortunately, means they will get consumed by a Deabru or soulless."

"What do you mean by that?" 

"If you don’t let things go of your negative energy soon, soulless can come and rip you from your spirit."

"Yikes…I see; I understand what you are saying." 

"So it will be your job to stop the Deabru’s and soulless from coming after pure spirits and the living."

"To the souls and the soulless, you are the difference, the protector in keeping them safe by exorcising them before they become part of the lost and take over."

"Now, I also must teach you what is a fully born. I believe you met one two years ago, the hell hounds that attacked us—standing on the street when I first revealed myself to you.

"Full Born is the fully fleshed version of a Deabru. They are like a guard of the underworld, hunting dogs seeking prisoners." "The bad thing is that they can be seen by people who are alive. They cause panic wherever they are, but they are rare sightings."

"Standing here talking to baby, I heard a bone-chilling howl." "Is that?" 

"Kaysi, that is the sound of a soulless."

We were interrupted by a scream. "I heard the sounds of a girl being attacked just now!" "We have to save her," I said, leaping into action.

"Kaysi, I have not trained you enough, and you have no weapon or real protection," Baby yelled with disapprovment.

"I know, but I have to see if we could help."

As we came to the scene at Spencer Park only two lights were on the rest were flickering.

The surroundings looked pretty messed up. Some of the tree branches were broken, and the smaller ones were uprooted. The bushes were wrecked and knocked down, and everything was destroyed.

It looked like some wild animal bulldozed its way through. I bent down to my knees to look at some tracks and fur. As I did so, I heard the howl again, this time closer.

It almost sounded like the wild boar. Wild boars are known for their ability to destroy landscapes and crops in the area.

Fastly coming, ran a girl through the thickly wooded area.

Indeed, something large was chasing her in the distance. Behind her, something was knocking the trees over. They lay down flat, closer and closer as it came.

It looked like it had a boar-like structure, but it couldn’t be a boar because it was super huge, but it sounded like one. 

As I came out of the forest, I could see its skull and parts of its bones. This thing was not alive. There were areas of rotted flesh that smelled badly of something dead. I saw a mark like an upside-down heart with a slashed x through it.

Baby spoke up, saying, "This is what we were talking about- a soulless. What you are seeing is the form someone takes after death if they are possessed." "You are cursed to take the form of your natural animal instinct; if you change when you die, everyone has a spiritual animal that their soul resembles."

The monster was getting closer and closer to the girl.

I had a quick discussion, and my body reacted before I could think about it. I jumped into action, grabbing its tusks. Holding on to the tusks as tight as I could, I was able to distract the soulless from the girl. I yelled back at the girl, "Run."

As it charged, I jumped on top of the boar, hoping to change its direction with my weight. What came next caught me off guard. It seemed like we were going to hit a big tree. I attempted to move to get out of the way but it stopped abruptly. It launched me forward as it impelled me through my stomach.