When A Ghoul Falls In Love - Volume 1 Chapter 157

“Why are you staring at me?” Nell asks the cat.

“I am trying to calculate how stupid you are,” Devil Cat replies, “but your stupidity is larger than the universe.”

“I want to skin you alive,” Nell yells as she reaches for the cat’s neck. The cat slips through her hands and jumps off the bed. When it reaches the door, Devil turns around and looks at Nell with a smug grin.

“Stupid!” Devil taunts. “If you have the ability, catch me.”

“You know what?” Nell climbs off the bed. “Today is the last day of your life.”

Devil Cat laughs. “Some people like to overestimate themselves.”

Devil Cat dashes out of the door when she lunges in his direction. He runs in the corridor, leading her toward the main entrance. He has already sensed Little Marshmallow’s scent. There is also someone else with him.

“Why do you keep running away?” Nell roars.

“Why would I stay still when you want to kill me?” Devil bellows.

“Tch!” She stops running, placing her hand on her h.i.p.s. Her stamina is so weak that she starts questioning everything again. “Did I always use to get exhausted this quickly?”

She squats down on the floor, bending down her head. Her hands don’t look the same. People can make their faces look younger or older, but hands usually don’t hide the age because they are used the most. Her hands have wrinkles — not too old, but not young either. They are rough and dry.

“I am old,” She murmurs to herself. “I am not eighteen anymore.”

She must accept everything.

“It’s hard to believe.” She closes her eyes. “How could I forget ten years of my life?”

How can she forget what happened to Baek Joon Woo and others?

The cat might have been lying. Everyone else might have been lying along with him. How can she believe that they are all gone? What will she do without them?

Waking up suddenly and finding out that she has aged ten years and the most important people in her life are dead?

“I need to escape this place.”

“Escape me?”

Nell looks up at the owner of the voice. Eli is watching her with raised brows. She folds her fingers as she curls her toes, swallowing her saliva under his weighing gaze.

She doesn’t like these queasy feelings in the pit of her stomach. Where the hell are they coming from? She doesn’t even know this man well.

But Eli isn’t alone. There is a cloaked figure standing next to him. Nell glances at the figure curiously. She can’t see his face. When Eli gives his hand to her, she doesn’t take it. She stands up on her own and straightens her back, balling her fists.

Eli takes his hand back and turns to the man beside him. “I brought someone. I think that you would be happy to see him.”

The only people she would be happy to see are Baek Joon Woo and her friends.

“Who are you?” She asks the person. “Show your face.”

The person hesitates before pushing back the hood of his cloak. He raises his head and meets Nell’s eyes. It’s been such a long time. His hair is cropped short, and his eyes are missing naivety that he used to have.

“Who?” Nell furrows her brows. The man looks familiar to her. Did Nick have an older brother? “Are you related to Nick?”

Nick’s eyes turn misty. His knees tremble as he takes a step toward her. But Eli raises his hand, signalling him to stop. Nick becomes still. He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to swallow back his tears.

“I… you…” Nell is at a loss for the words. Nick would look like this man now, wouldn’t he? “A-Are you Nick?”

“Nell.” Nick covers his eyes with his arm. “Samantha died.”

“What?” Nell turns pale. “How could she die?”

“He killed her,” Nick utters the words with great difficulty. “My master killed her.”

Master… Nell can’t absorb it. What does he mean by a master? Did the cat speak the truth? “Is it Killian?”

After a long moment, Nick replies with a heavy voice, “Yes, it’s him. He gave the orders.”

Nell staggers backwards. Just then, Eli grabs her by her shoulders, supporting her body. Her back presses against his chest. Unable to stop herself from shaking, she doesn’t move as his warmth seeps into her skin.

It’s strange how she is not afraid of anything because this man is standing behind her. Just how much does she trust him?

“What about others?” Nell inquires, trying to keep her voice levelled. She can’t break now. “Don’t lie to me about anything, Nick. You have to tell me everything.”

Nick lowers his arm and raises his chin. “You really don’t remember.”

“Yes, I don’t remember!” She shouts at him. “I hate this! How could… just… I don’t want to lose anyone.”

“I know.” Tears roll down on his cheeks. Nick nods his head as he repeats, “I know that you didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I know that you didn’t mean it. I will tell you everything.”

Nell steels herself for the truth.

***

[Flashback — Ten Years Ago — Nick’s POV]

Sitting on the couch in the book club room, Nick shakes his head. “How could her mother do that?”

“I can’t believe that she won’t press charges against her mother,” Maisie seethes. “My father was also angry. He said that it should have been Nell’s decision to keep the baby or not. No parent can force someone like that. You know what? He can’t believe that her mother fed her some unknown drug, which is an unsafe method for abortion. Are we living in the third world? How could she harm Nell like this? Mothers are supposed to be good even if they are angry.”

“You are stereotyping mothers,” Millie interjects. “Stereotyping any role is the evil of society. Fathers are supposed to be hard while mothers are soft. All stepmothers are evil. Brothers must always protect their sisters or girls should always act cute. There is no end to stereotypes. Who said that mothers can’t be evil? There are cases where mothers abandoned their children or worse, they killed them because they didn’t want them.”

“Actually, I heard of a case like that.” Abigail raises her finger. “My family and I visited my grandmother’s village to spend the summer vacation last year. I heard it from my aunt. She told me that there was an unmarried woman who gave birth to a child, but it was kept a secret from everyone in the village. One day, the woman went to the pond in the middle of the night and slit the baby’s neck. Then, she threw her in the pond. Someone saw her doing that. When they questioned her, she said that she didn’t want to live an unmarried life because no man would marry a woman with a child back then.”

Maisie gapes at Abigail. “Is this a true story?”

“It is.” Samantha nods her head in confirmation. “Police took the woman away. They don’t know what happened to her after that. They say that they still hear baby’s cries from that pond on each new moon day.”

“…” Nick wonders how did this conversation escalate to horror stories. He’s not a fan of it.

“You know what.” Maisie furrows her brows. “Everything happened because of that Killian.”

“He hasn’t appeared in the school after that day.” Millie frowns. “The teachers didn’t react when I asked them about him.”

“Why are they pretending like he didn’t exist?” Maisie shouts. “Are they trying to hide something?”

“Perhaps, Evie will know,” Abigail suggests. “You know, she likes to mingle with anyone who hates Nell.”

“Yes, this is a perfect opportunity for her to take Baek Joon Woo away from Nell.” Maisie places her one leg over the other one, leaning back as she crosses her arms. “She needs to be taught a lesson. How could she just see that creep hurt Nell and then, take pictures and go away? Even if we are enemies, girls should help girls. If Nell was in her place, she would have kicked Killian’s arse.”

“I am not so sure.” Millie sighs. “Nell hates Evie.”

“Nell won’t do that to her,” Maisie stresses her words. “Perhaps, Evie doesn’t deserve help. But Nell won’t look away if she sees someone in a situation like that. This is one of the reasons why I love her.”

“God!” Nick laughs. “Baek Joon Woo has a lot of love rivals.”