The realization came as a bit of a shock.

After three endless and arduous days, I had finally approached my goal. I had discovered the vampire who had stolen my soul. He had been defeated, and not even by me.

I should have suspected that things would go awry. Because, despite the fear I had felt at the time, on second thought it had all turned out too well.

Something like this had to happen.

From a very young age I had in my head the idea that every time something good happened to me, something bad was just around the corner, very close. The same didn't apply the other way around.

My life had been relatively short, but in all honesty nothing had ever happened to contradict that idea, which was like a law of the universe.

How much time had passed?

There was no one around me. Not the vampire, not Plague, not even Lucia, struggling to get me out of the cell. I could see light coming through the windows, but that didn't mean anything.

Still, I couldn't have spent a whole day in this cell, could I?

Then now it would be Thursday, or well, the fourth day. Four out of seven. Just thinking about it, I was starting to feel like the cell walls were coming down on me.

Knowing this crazy world, it could literally be true, so I eyed the walls with suspicion.

But nothing was happening. For the moment.

I approached the bars of my cell. Of course, it wasn't the first time I'd ended up behind bars, but come on. I'd done a lot of bad things, certainly, but I didn't think I deserved so much shit.

“I'm innocent of everything I'm accused of. Whatever it is.”

I didn't get any response. Strange. That kind of comment usually provoked the guards to come over, shake the bars with their batons, and possibly a little community service as well. That is, a good group beating.

But nothing. Not even a shout from afar, irritated. Sigh.

“I wish I could say I at least had my soul, but I don't feel any different.”

I hadn't felt much different without my soul either, by the way, but no. I was sure I wasn't finished. I was sure I wasn't done now. That was still the real problem, not being behind bars.

Anything that wouldn't take me one step closer to my soul was a waste of time. I had to get out of here fast. With any luck, the vampire had been captured as well and it wasn't too late to catch him yet.

Once I got out of town, I knew I wouldn't be able to find him again.

Not without Lucia's help, and surely that was no longer an option.

I reached out my hands to touch the bars and received an electric shock. A single one, not as intense as the ones those drones launched, fortunately. I had had enough for a lifetime with just once.

“There really are ghost prisons. Holy shit.” That was all I could say in response. I was more surprised than angry or hurt.

I pushed myself away from the bars and sat in the corner of the cell, curled up in a ball, thinking. I needed an escape plan. I couldn't count on anyone's help, not Lucia and certainly not Plague.

If only there was a guard nearby, I thought I could provoke him to open the door and come in to beat me up. Then I could sneak out without being electrocuted.

But, at the moment, there was no one around. Or I could also slip through the door, enduring the electricity and the pain it sent back, but it seemed too risky.

And painful.

Mostly painful. Would I even be able to move once I got to the other side? Otherwise, I'd be easily caught and back to square one.

For some reason, my thoughts brought me back to the day my life had irrevocably changed. My sister had told me the truth the day before and because of that I couldn't sleep for a second out of sheer rage, I stayed up all night, trembling, plotting.

So when the moment came, I felt almost like I was daydreaming.

Getting my hands on a gun wasn't hard at all. This is America we're talking about, after all. I was of legal age and had no criminal record, so I was able to buy myself a good gun with which to write the first item on the list.

Sneaking the gun into the high school was more difficult, but I managed. The details don't matter. Let's just say I knew the importance of people owing you favors even before I ended up in jail.

“It's my mission,” I said that to myself in a barely audible voice, but it sounded as loud as gunfire to my ears. My heart was beating fast.

But I knew it was true. That it was my mission and it had to be done, so I stood up, walked up to that teacher with the gun twirling around in my backpack, along with the pens, the books and notebooks, along with the half-eaten snack rolled up in the wrapping paper.

It was my mission. And I couldn't turn my back on that, on that responsibility.

On my own sister.

Oh, my little sister.

Sullied by the hands of that filthy bastard. If he had gone any further, if he had.... I wouldn't even have been able to wait until the next day. Prepare myself properly.

The animal who had done this was talking to some students about whatever it was.

It wasn't that I didn't remember it now, but that even then I hadn't heard it. The sounds of the world had become a meaningless hum, even the colors had faded. There was only me, the professor, left.

And the weight of the gun in my hand.

He was still talking, still going on with his normal life, as if nothing had happened. But my sister had cried. My sister would remember it for a long time. My sister...

“What do you want?” Kind, polite, but in his eyes there was irritation. And suspicion. He was wondering if I knew.

He was wondering...

I heard someone gasp, a second before I raised the gun.

Then he twisted his face and like the pathetic little man he was, tried to escape too late, only to stumble all by himself and end up falling at my feet. Literally.

I pulled the trigger.

I cracked his head open and also blew up the life I had lived so far. And the fear and doubt, treacherous, weak feelings, disappeared at that very moment. I realized that I hadn't made a mistake because there really was no other solution.

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There was no proof other than my sister's testimony. That animal would probably end up losing his job, the mere accusation could end his career, but what did it matter to me?

He would still be free. To walk around, as if he were a human being, and free to try again.

So I couldn't allow it.

I wanted to kill him, but I decided against it. That earned you a lot more jail time, as if the worst thing you could do to a person was to kill them, when at least then it was all over. I remember very clearly thinking about that. Ha, if only I had known.

Anyway.

That's why I didn't aim for his face, but lower down. If he wasn't going to jail and I couldn't kill him, I had to at least leave his dick in pieces. You couldn't reform this kind of bastard, just bind his hands. Forever. Mine was a much more effective method of castration.

I pulled the trigger.

I pulled the trigger, blew his dick off and also blew the life I had known up to that point to smithereens.

But regret? No, I had no regrets. Because it was my mission.

But even if it were otherwise, which wouldn't only be a great betrayal to my sister but to myself, it was useless to ramble on about things like that. Water under the bridge from centuries ago.

Life vanished in the blink of an eye.

I raised my head and began to form more productive thoughts. Like considering whether the electrified bars were really a measure against ghosts.

I stood up and tried to move to the cell next door, through the wall.

No more shocks or pain, no trap in there. I got through without any problems. The cell was empty, as I had expected, at least they would have yelled for me to shut my mouth when I tried to get someone to answer me.

I took a deep breath, pleased with myself even though this should have been the first thing I tried.

“I see,” I could only talk to myself now, and talking out loud could help me get my thoughts in order. At least I hoped so. “It was for normal prisoners, it just worked on me too. It's not like anything could hurt me, after all. I should have known better. Ghost prisons, come on, how many ghosts would have to be out there to make that worthwhile?”

There would have to be a few. Lucia had barely blinked at the sight of me, after all. But the only one I had encountered was, well, myself.

I walked out of the jail, through the back wall this time, ending up in the alley. Sweet, sweet freedom. And with hardly any effort. Being a ghost had its advantages.

I was still screwed, though. No Plague, no Lucia.

No real starting point or more of a plan than running around town like a headless chicken, hoping the vampire hadn't already run off with my soul.

Great.

It was almost like I was back to square one, in fact.

I knew I had to get the hell out of here, so I broke into a run, though I wasn't sure how to avoid drone attacks if they came after me again.

I would improvise on the fly as I had done so far. Don't fix what isn't broken?

My position wasn't solid enough to make any real plans, anyway. Yes. It was like I was knee-deep, at the very least, in quicksand. I was sinking and every little movement only served to accelerate the process.

With each passing second, I was left with less and less room to resist, until....

An inevitable end?

No, nothing was inevitable. I had to believe in that.

As I rounded the corner, I saw Lucia approaching the police station I had just left. I stopped, even though I shouldn't have. At first I thought I had been mistaken, that it would be any other nun, because it was too good to be true. But she kept coming closer, I got a better look at her and it was definitely her.

What was she doing here?

Or rather, why was she still here? There was only one answer to that, wasn't there?

I swallowed hard, suddenly overcome with guilt. The answer was obvious, definitely. But she'd been lucky to get out of that mess alive. I'd done enough to her, hadn't I? I'd done enough to that poor girl, but....

Then Lucia saw me and took the decision out of my hands. She ran up to me. She wasn't wearing her typical warm smile, but she didn't look angry either.

Yeah, I was already thinking that way even though we hadn't even been together a day, weird, I know.

I'm weird. Sue me.

“Did you run away?” Lucia asked, a little out of breath. Had she been running all the way here? That is, before I saw her. “I was going to try to get custody of you. This is going to make it harder.”

It sounded like I was a regular kid, but I figured it was more like custody of a prisoner.

“I need my soul. I won't last long without it.”

“I know. I know, but...” Had I made some kind of face? In that case, it hadn't been a conscious attempt to manipulate her, this time. I wondered what she had seen in my face, in my eyes. “I'm on your side. That hasn't changed and it never will. I'm just saying it makes it harder.”

I trusted her. Not completely, I wasn't an idiot, but at the moment I had no reason to doubt her, had to admit that. And who would know what was best in this situation, a native of this world or me?

“Well. I can go back inside?”

“I don't think that would work.” Her face said she was sure, though. “Let's go while we still can.”

“Won't they attack us? Not the cops. The drones.”

“Not as long as you stay close to me. They're programmed to avoid harming members of the Holy Church.”

Oh, so the Church had that kind of power. Lucia really was the most convenient ally I could have found. Too good to be true, yet here she was right before my eyes.

“Oh. You're great.”

She said nothing in response, and we moved away from the station quickly. For a moment I thought maybe she was embarrassed, but on second thought she must be used to getting attention from little kids every day.

Wow, that sounded a little weird, didn't it?

“Did you know? That Elizabeth...?”

“Yes. She'd come to help me, even with those doubts in mind. So, before I knew it, I'd told the truth. It was the least she deserved.”

Even aware that it could be self-sabotage, not only towards myself but also towards my little sister, when protecting her was my mission.

Lucia looked away, lowered her head, but kept walking. For long seconds I thought it was over.

“Then why?” She was really too good.

If she was real, the world was going to eat her alive sooner or later. I couldn't deal with a person like this. She was a freaking unicorn. Feeling as if I had ants crawling under my skin, I continued to tell the truth.

“I was alone, I was scared and she was strong. I thought I needed all the help I could get.”

I still thought so.

“Even though the creature was only helping you to get the soul before you did.”

“Yeah. I'm sorry I misled you like that,” I hoped she understood that was true too, though it didn't change anything, especially for what was about to come out of my mouth, “but I'd do it again. I have to go back to my sister no matter what.”

The whole truth.

All the cards on the table.

“You can't come back to life.”

Oh. She'd misunderstood me. Well, I hadn't been very clear either, it was really my fault.

This was all my fault.

“In heaven, many years from now, I hope. I need to be there to see her.”

“Do you love your sister very much?”

I snorted.

What a question, dude.

“Of course. She's family.”

Real family, not just my blood, which was what really mattered. What defined family.

“I see. I'll do what I can,” Lucia said, to my surprise.

We kept walking and, in the meantime, Lucia said nothing, but she didn't stop either. In the end I couldn't contain my curiosity. I was assuming that she was leading me to my soul again, but maybe I was wrong. In any case, I wanted to understand what was going on.

It was a matter of life and death.

“Where are we going? I mean, don't you need to do the same as before?”

“Now I'm tracking the vampire. Not your soul.”

“Oh. I see.”

Well, that's all there was to talk about. Time to shut my mouth and follow her like a duckling.

I had never been known for my patience, but I kept my mouth shut until Lucia stopped. This time not in front of some abandoned complex, full of warehouses and shadows, but a shiny, five-star luxury hotel with who knows how many fucking floors.

To see the roof, I had to throw my head back so far it hurt.

Why did some parts of this world look like they were stuck in medieval times and other places had shit like this, and attack drones?

If I thought about those things too much my head was going to explode.

“Is that motherfucker here?”

“Did you expect vampires to live in caves or ruined castles?”

“Huh. Maybe.”

More like she'd read my mind completely, though it wasn't that hard either.

Lucia laughed. It hadn't been that funny, but she had a beautiful laugh. With every moment I spent next to her I thought less about her gorgeous body and more about how she resembled my sister.

Maybe I was just desperate, though, seeing what I wanted to see.

“You're not a normal kid, but sometimes you think like one.”

At least she was unlikely to realize that was because I'd lived so many years, but not in this world.

Okay.

At least now I knew the vampire was right here, in this hotel, that he hadn't skipped town. I hadn't lost the trail of that damn motherfucker. I really hoped, though, that I wouldn't have to search every floor. By God, we'd never be finished.

I made a move to enter the hotel, but stopped shortly thereafter.

That was because I heard someone screaming at the top of their lungs. Well, it would have been hard not to hear. The sound was getting closer...

“What the fuck?”

I had time to pull back and become intangible. Lucia wasn't so lucky. She protected her face, but sacrificed her arms. She ended up smeared with the blood that flew when some poor bastard hit the ground at high speed, shattering into pieces.

“Oh. Maybe he needs more than my soul.”

“What? Why do you say that?” Lucia asked, looking down at her hands, at the blood dripping from them. She was strong, but it seemed she wasn't used to people dying around her.

Not like this, at least. Maybe to taking down creatures and people who deserved it, to doing justice, but not something so... sudden and ugly. Come to think of it, could one really get used to something like this?

“Because unless that man just committed suicide and it's a huge coincidence, I think it's going to start...”

I threw myself backwards, moved by my instinct, without warning her. Too little, too late, anyway. I hit an invisible barrier. Trapped.

I resigned myself. I had no intention of escaping anyway, no choice.

I relaxed my shoulders, taking a deep breath.

“To kill everyone.”