After ten years had passed, Mable was now eighteen years old and being sent to join a group of ghoul hunters. The group was brought over to Audric's house to meet her for the first time. There were five people on the team already, so including Mable, it put the group at its group limit of six people.
Mable was sleeping in bed and thrashing around from a nightmare. When she woke up with a gasp and sat up, Audric had just walked into the room with a stack of pancakes. Most of their meals were modified so they looked like normal food but didn't harm ghouls by having small bits of hum flesh in them
"Good morning Mable!" Audric says in a singsong voice. "Today is the day, you finally get to put all of your skills to use and join the team. They are waiting for you downstairs."
"They won't like me, why do I have to join this group?" Mable sighs and pulls the blanket over her head. Audric sets down the plate of pancakes on her nightstand and pulls the blanket off of her. She then glares at him feeling annoyed with the way he treats her as if she is still a little kid.
"They have been excited to meet you ever since they heard about you. Just because your parents constantly saw you as a monster doesn't mean everyone will see you as one" He says with a sigh. "I'm sure you will change your mind after meeting them all, you'll see."
"Yeah, yeah, now get out so I can get changed into something else before going downstairs to meet them," Mable says while climbing out of bed and walking over to her closet. Audric leaves the room and she locks the door while she is getting changed.
Once she changed into some clothes she ate the breakfast Audric brought her, and then she heads downstairs to meet the team she will be working with. When she reaches the bottom of the stairs she can hear a girl talking.
"She's a ghoul there is no way I want her getting close to me." The girl said angrily. "I don't trust any of them even if they are only half-ghoul. That just means they are more powerful." Mabel then walked around the corner and saw a girl with red hair pacing back and forth. Another girl who had brown hair was sitting down in the accent chair.
There were three boys in the room as well, one was leaning against the wall near the door and had brown hair. Another boy had red hair similar to the girl, and he was standing next to the girl with red hair. Then the last boy in the group had black hair and was sitting on the couch next to Audric.
"Ah there she is, everyone this is Mable, my daughter." He says while walking over to her. "I hope you all welcome her."
"Wait, how is she your daughter?" The boy with red hair asks. "She looks nothing like you." Mable sighs and looks around at the group to get a better look at all of them.
"Audric took me in ten years ago, and raised me as his daughter," Mable says. "He found me in a bad situation and helped take care of me until I was healthy again, which took a while because I was being difficult with him. I am thankful for him taking me in though."
"It's nice to meet you, Mable, my name is Zane," the boy with red hair replies with a smile. "The girl with red hair is my twin sister Bianca, the girl with blonde hair over there is Kenzie. The boy with black hair is Caden and then the boy with brown hair is Xavier. We are excited to work with you."
"You might be, but I am not," Kenzie sneered. "She shouldn't be a part of the team, we hunt ghouls, not work with them." Everyone sat there unsure of how to respond for a minute, then Audric looked over at her and sighed.
"Kenzie, I know you don't like ghouls, but she is very different from the others. Just take some time to get to know her and I am sure you two will get along well." He said while patting Mable on the head and Mable pushed his hand away.
"Please stop treating me like I am a child." She said and looked up at him. "It's nice to meet you all, I hope we can get along well." Mable smiled and look at the group. Kenzie glares at her and crosses her arms, then lets out a small scoff.
"I'd rather hug a cactus than talk to you, so just do us a favor and stay here instead of being in our group," Kenzie said in disgust. Mable looked at her in shock as her smile disappeared off her face.
"Ignore her, she's just a brat at times," Zane said while sighing. "I promise when you get to know her she won't act so stuck up." Kenzie then walked out of the room not saying another word. Xavier followed and looked back at Mable before he left the room following after Kenzie.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't expecting this to happen," Mable said with a nervous laugh. Then Bianca stood up and walked over to her, and took her hand.
"Don't worry about her, she doesn't get along with new people very well," Bianca said with a smile. Then Caden walks over to her and smiles.
"Kenzie has always been like that, but I am sure she will warm up to you in no time. It didn't take long for her to warm up to us." Caden said with a dorky smile, and Bianca hit him.
"I don't know about that, but I am sure once she sees you aren't the same as other ghouls she will be nicer to you," She says. "It might take a bit longer for her to open up to you considering your um… situation."
"Hopefully, I don't want to cause any situations with your group," Mable replies while crossing her arms.
After eating a small breakfast they go to their team house which is paid for by the company they work for. Other than Kenzie and Xavier, everyone gathered in the living room to watch some TV together. They talked and got to know each other better which made Mable feel more comfortable with the group.
Kenzie walked into the living room and stepped in front of the TV blocking everyone's view.
"Are you all just going to pretend she's one of us?" She asks. "It's disturbing, she is one of those disgusting monsters. I don't even understand why she was kept alive."
"Don't you think you are going too far Kenzie?" Bianca said while standing up. Mable sat there silently feeling awkward, not wanting to say anything because she knew that Kenzie had a point. Kenzie and Bianca argued back and forth for a while, as Mable tried to think about why she was kept alive.
Next thing she know she had a fist hitting her in the face. She looked up to see who did it and saw Kenzie lunging at her to hit her again. Caden jumps in though and grabs Kenzie can hit Mable again. Zane helps her up while Kenzie starts yelling at them all.
"She doesn't belong here! She is one of those monsters and she could kill any of us!" Kenzie shouts angrily while struggling against Caden. Mable then heads to her room and locks herself inside, hoping to help Kenzie calm down.
However, after a few minutes have passed she can still hear her shouting at everyone while the others try to get her to stop. Mable lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling waiting for the shouting to stop, and her mind went back to one of the times her parents fought.
They were extremely unhappy after finding out their child had been turned into a half-ghoul. Weeks before Mable was found she was hit by a car along with her best friend. It turned out though that her friend was a ghoul, and when they used her organs to help save Mable, it turned her into a half-ghoul.
They only found out that their daughter had become a half-ghoul when she couldn't eat normal food and threw it up instantly after taking a bite. They couldn't figure it out for a while and decided to do some research because they didn't have the money to take her to see a doctor again. After a while, there was a knock on her door and she opened it a crack and saw Xavier standing there.
"I hope I'm not bothering you," Xavier said with a small smile. "I heard the others yelling and assumed you would be in here. You wanna talk?'
"There isn't anything to talk about, it's clear she doesn't like me." She replied. "But I don't mind if you want to come inside." Xavier then came into the room and sat down in a bean bag that was in the room. Mable closed the door and sat down on the bed and sighed.
"I'm sorry that Kenzie treats you so awful," Xavier said while staring at the ceiling. "Her mom was eaten by a ghoul when she was at school and ever since then, she has hated ghouls. I mean most people already don't like them but she doesn't even like hearing the word."
"I understand that feeling," Mable says with a sigh. "I had a feeling there would be somebody who doesn't exactly like me, it happens frequently I had teachers who didn't like me but they still taught me because they were getting paid more than the normal teacher salary."
"Ah, so this isn't the first time you've dealt with this?" He asked while looking over at her. "I'm kind of surprised they let humans around you, considering you are a ghoul."
"They paid them more because I am a ghoul," She replied. "They were told about me being a ghoul and they were warned that it could be dangerous, so they knew what they were getting into and the pay was enough to encourage them."
"That makes sense, and I am going to assume that these teachers have never actually hit you, unlike Kenzie," He said and looked back up at the ceiling then he closed his eyes.
"Well, not by my teachers," Mable said and looked down at the ground. "But my parents did sometimes, they were terrified after I was turned into a ghoul, but it's not exactly like I had a choice in the matter. I would have died if they didn't use the girl's organs to save me."
"I remember that being on the news when I was younger, I didn't realize that you were that girl," Xavier said in shock. "I never thought I would meet somebody who almost died. That's kind of rare in a way."
"Well, I think my situation might be a bit rarer than just anybody who has almost died," she said with a small chuckle.
"You have a point there, I'm sure that must have been difficult for you," he replied and looked over at her with a small smile. "If you ever want to talk about anything just to vent about it, I'll be here for you."
Mable smiled back at him feeling relieved that she was able to talk to someone freely in the group. She wasn't fully comfortable with it yet, but if there was ever a point where she needed to get stuff off her chest she at least had the option to do it with someone who didn't mind.
For a few more hours they talk learning more about each other and then it's dinner time so Xavier leaves the room to go eat with the group. Mable isn't comfortable eating in front of the others considering she eats humans. It isn't as obvious with the way Audrin would cook it to make her slightly more comfortable eating it.
She still avoided eating in front of the others because she thought it would be awkward. She barely touched her food and put it back into the small mini fridge that was set up in her room for her. She stayed in her room, not wanting to cause more problems for everyone. After a while, Bianca came to her room and knocked on the door. Mable opened it and smiled at her.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay after what happened with Kenzie," Bianca said in a worried tone. "I would have come to check on you earlier but it took a long time to get Kenzie to calm down. Once she gets started on the topic of ghouls it is nearly impossible to get her to stop."
"Thank you for coming to check on me," Mable replied "Xavier stopped by and talked with me for a bit while you guys dealt with her."
"huh, that's kind of weird," Bianca mumbled. "None of us have seen him until dinner, we assumed he was hiding in his room or with Kenzie."
"Oh, I mean he heard the whole thing with Kenzie going on, but I guess he wasn't in there while it was happening," Mable says nervously. "He said he wanted to make sure I was okay so I let him in here and we talked for a bit, I'm sure there isn't anything weird going on with him."
"I could just be overthinking it, I tend to do that a lot," Bianca says. "Zane says it worries him with how much I overthink but it could just be the stress talking, or anxiety who knows."
"I understand your reason for worrying, It makes sense to me," Mable sighs and sits down in the bean bag chair. "I think we all tend to overthink small things, so you don't need to worry about being the only one who does it. Zane probably is just worried since he is your brother."
"I guess you're right," Bianca says and sits down on the floor across from her. "I hope you know we are all glad to have you here, except for Kenzie obviously but that is Kenzie."
"Yeah, Kenzie is an interesting person," Mable says while looking over at Bianca. "I honestly thought all of you guys wouldn't like me being here so I am really happy that most of you have welcomed me into your place. Despite not knowing me very well other than that I am a ghoul."
"Just because you are a ghoul it doesn't mean we shouldn't give you a chance," Bianca says while holding Mable's hand. "We know you aren't like the other ghouls, so we wanted to give you a chance and we trust you."
Someone then knocked on Mable's door, and she walked over to it to see who it was. She opened the door and saw Zane there and Bianca smiled at him.
"Is it okay if I come in?" He asked. Mable let him into the room and left the door open in case anybody else wanted to come in. She walked back over to the bean bag chair and sat down in it.
"Hey Bianca, I didn't realize you were in here," Zane said while looking over at her. "I just wanted to make sure that Mable did eat something for dinner."
"Or are you in here for another reason," Bianca says with a small giggle. Mable looks at her confused while Zane just sighs.
"Um, I did eat a little bit, but not a lot because I wasn't really hungry," Mable replied.
"I guess that is a bit understandable, also I'm sorry about Kenzie," He said and ran his hand through his hair. "She's never been a fan of ghouls, despises even hearing the word."
"Xavier told me about the whole issue with her, and it's alright," She smiled. "I understand why she doesn't like me and why she can't trust me." As Mable and Zane were talking Bianca left the room without them noticing and went back into the main room.
They talked for a few more hours until it was time for lights out and everyone went to their rooms for the night. Mable lay in her bed staring out the window not feeling tired enough to sleep. She put in some earbuds and listened to some music for a bit while looking up at the moon.
After a few hours passed she finally fell asleep while still listening to the music. Then she woke up to some screaming and jumped out of bed. She opened her door and saw Caden standing coming out of his room.
"Did you hear the screaming as well?" He asks with concern in his voice.
"I did, do you think it was someone inside the house?" Mable responds and looks up at him. "We should go check it out though, what if a ghoul is attacking someone?"
"We have to stick in a group of four it can't just be the two of us," Caden replied. "We can wake up two of the others if they aren't awake yet."
"Okay, I'll wake up Bianca, and Zane, you can get Xavier and Kenzie," Mable sighed as she went into panic mode slightly. She wasn't used to this kind of situation when she was training it was always her alone so she didn't know how well she would do with a group of people. She quickly went over to Bianca's room and knocked on her door. Bianca opened the door and looked at her annoyed.
"Mable it's the middle of the night, why are you waking me up?" She said and rubbed her eyes.
"Caden and I heard a scream we wanted to make sure everyone is okay, and we are trying to wake everyone up so we can go check it out." Mable rushed out and then took a deep breath.
"Woah, okay slow down for a second," Bianca replied with worry. "You go sit down and I can go help wake up the others, you're new to this type of situation so just try to calm down. It doesn't end well if you let the panic overwhelm you."
Mable then went into the living room and sat on the couch. Bianca woke up Zane and Xavier then headed into the living room where Mable was, and Bianca sat next to her. They all waited for Caden and Kenzie which only took a few minutes and Kenzie was angry.
"Let's just get this over with, I want to go back to sleep," Kenzie said. "So Caden said he woke up from screaming, obviously all of us are okay so it was somebody outside."
"Which is kind of weird because not many ghouls come around this area, but we also don't know if it was a ghoul until we go check out the situation," Zane finished. "We should head out and go check on the situation as soon as we can to make sure nobody is hurt."
"Is there anything we need to bring with us?" Mable asked not sure what they would need.
"We should bring a first aid kit first in case someone is injured, It is always better to be prepared," Xavier said. They gathered the materials they needed including the first aid kit and left the house to look around for any clue as to what happened.
They walked around looking around each corner but couldn't find anybody. They walked a bit more and found some blood on the ground and they looked at each other.
"Looks like we are dealing with a ghoul," Zane said while pulling out his weapon, and the others followed. Other than Mable who stood there unsure of what to do yet. They kept their eyes open as they walked looking for other clues as the where the ghoul was. Then a creepy cackling broke through the silence of the night and the ghoul was suddenly right in front of them.
"Looks like you heard the scream, I tried to keep her quiet but she wouldn't sit still," The ghoul sighs and looks at Kenzie with a sadistic smile. "Oh, you look quite familiar young lady, I may have met your mother before." Kenzie glared at the ghoul and balled her hand up into a fist.
"You're the stupid ghoul that murdered my mother, aren't you?" Kenzie said angrily as she prepared to attack him. "She didn't deserve to die, she was the best mother a person could ask for."
"Kenzie don't let your emotions get the best of you, he will use that to his advantage," Caden warned and looked over at her. The ghoul then came charging at them but Xavier blocked it and Bianca helped him while Zane was next to Mable.
"Are you sure you can do this, if you can't it's fine," He said with a small amount of worry in his voice. He looked at her concerned and put his hand on his shoulder.
"I can do this, I promise," Mable replied with a small smile and she took out her kagune which was shaped like a scythe. Then ran over to the ghoul to help Bianca and Xavier, then Zane joined in while Caden got Kenzie to calm down.
Once Kenzie was calmed down the ghoul was pretty much already dead so there wasn't much left to do. The group all gathered back together and dealt with the mess that was caused during the event.
Mable looked a little like she was struggling as she leaned against her scythe and used it as a support to keep herself standing up. None of them saw any blood and just assumed the adrenaline was wearing off so she was becoming exhausted since it was her first time dealing with a ghoul.
Once they were done cleaning up they all went back to the house and went to their rooms, feeling too exhausted to make small talk with each other since they were woken up in the middle of the night.
When Mable got back to her room she collapsed onto her bed and sighed while looking up at the ceiling. She quickly fell asleep since all her energy was used up in battling the ghoul. The rest of the people also fell asleep except for Kenzie who snuck into Mable's room while she was asleep. Kenzie then slapped Mable to wake her up and she woke up startled and almost screamed until she noticed it was Kenzie.
"Listen here, just because you were able to help us with that ghoul it doesn't mean I trust you.," Kenzie said as she got in Mable's face. "You need to prove yourself before I even have a thought about trusting you."
"I wasn't trying to win your approval," Mable mumbled and rubbed her cheek where Kenzie slapped her. "I was just making sure the ghoul got dealt with. That is our job isn't it?"
"Yes it is, I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't think I would accept you so easily," Kenzie whispered. "I don't even know why the others trusted you so quickly, and why they are so kind to you. Just because you act differently doesn't mean that you aren't the same as those other monsters. All I know is that you are trying to get us to lower our guards so you can attack when we least expect it."
"You can think what you want, No amount of persuasion will make you think otherwise," Mable sighed. "I will say that is not true, I was constantly monitored by headquarters and they never saw me as a threat, except when they first found me because they didn't know about me until then."
"That doesn't matter just know I have my eyes on you," Kenzie said quietly. Then Mable felt a stabbing pain in her abdomen she looked down and saw that Kenzie had stabbed her.