"…I'm going to regret this."
Still trembling, Omen turned towards the far corner of the hall, from where the sound seemed to be coming from.
Between two cracked walls, he spotted a narrow gate hanging loosely off its hinges. Beyond it was only darkness.
Omen slowly pushed the narrow gate open with a shaky breath.
It groaned loudly, the sound screeching through the ruins. Behind it, a steep staircase led downwards, each step swallowed by pitch blackness.
"…you've got to be kidding me," the boy muttered.
His body screamed at him not to move, but his legs did anyway.
The stairs were old and uneven. Every step made noises under his weight.
The air grew colder as he went down, and the smell only got worse.
The boy gagged and covered his nose with his sleeve as he descended deeper into the ground.
Halfway down, he heard something drip, then another.
Each drop sounded too heavy, like thick liquid hitting the stone floor.
By the time he reached the bottom, Omen's hands were cold and damp.
The faint red glow from above barely touched this place, but his eyes slowly adjusted enough to see.
It wasn't a room but a cellar instead.
And it looked like a nightmare.
Chains hung from the ceilings. Some had hooks on their ends, some still dripping dark liquids.
The floor was wet and sticky and the stench of blood and urine almost made him choke on his own breath.
Omen swallowed hard, and then froze.
On the far wall…something moved.
It was another figure.
A human shape, no, a woman chained to the wall.
Her skin was pale and bruised, clothes torn and dirty, barely covering her thin frame.
Her arms hung limply at her sides, wrists cuffed in rusted metal. Long strands of messy black hair hid her face.
For a second, he thought she was dead but then she let out a weak breath.
"…Help…me…"
The boy stumbled forward before he could stop himself, his body moving on instinct. "Hey-hey! Hold on!" He reached the walls and tried pulling on the chains.
They were tight, old, and cold against his fingers. "How do I even break these?" he asked to no one in particular.
"Dammit." Omen looked around the room for something, anything that could help.
On the ground, half-buried under dust, was a bent iron rod. The boy grabbed it, held it between the chains, and pulled with everything he had.
The first cuff came loose with a loud clank.
Then the second.
And as soon as the chains broke, the woman's body fell forward.
His fair and lean hands barely managed to catch her.
They both crashed to the ground as the women's frail body fell right on top of him.
"Ugh!" Omen gasped, coughing as the smell of blood filled his nose. The girl's hair brushed against his cheek as she coughed weakly, trying to lift herself off him.
She trembled violently, her breath shallow and skin cold as ice.
The boy gently pushed her up. "Easy! You're okay now, well, kind of…"
The girl didn't respond. She sat still for a moment, then crawled away from him on all fours, ignoring his words completely.
Her hands searched the floor like she'd lost something important.
"Hey, what are you…" She didn't answer.
Her movements were frantic, and desperate. Then her hand stopped, her fingers closing around something small on the ground.
It was a ring.
She lifted it slowly, even in the dim light, Omen could see it clearly.
The ring looked like it was made of black bone, if that even made sense, along with a carving of a twisted loop with faint red markings running along its surface.
The girl held it close to her chest, trembling, then slipped it onto her ring finger.
As soon as she did, something changed.
Her breathing steadied. The air around her stopped shaking and for the first time, she raised her head to look directly at Omen.
Her face came into view, pale skin, sharp features, lips cracked and dry.
But it was her eyes that made the boy freeze.
They glowed faintly red, just like the woman on the throne.
"…you—uh…" He took a step back, unsure whether to help or run. "You're not going to, like, scream and turn to dust…right?"
The girl blinked slowly, still catching her breath. "No…" Her voice was soft, rough like she hadn't spoken in ages.
"Okay…" Omen continued quietly, staring at her ring and then her eyes. "Then, um…what are you? If you don't mind me asking by the way."
The girl stared straight into his eyes.
Her red ones shining brighter for a moment as she whispered,
"I'm a ghoul."
***