Chapter Text
All Alma wanted was to know where to start. She trained her whole life for this, and there she is, alone, sitting on a bench in a square, with no idea where to start. The world was so dangerous, normal people are dangerous... And now there were soulless monsters too. The council began to call hollowgasts, and rumors began to emerge that such monsters were undergoing a kind of metamorphosis and becoming humans, who were being called Wights. Alma really hopes that this is just a rumor, mere speculation, because if it isn't... Things are going to get even more difficult for her.
She needs to find peculiar children in a vulnerable situation, the advice is clear on this, you cannot take a peculiar child away from a normal home that loves her even though you know her peculiarity. Only children whose lives are in danger, who are in risky situations.
Alma has the peculiar gift of sensing peculiarities, like all good ymbryne, she cannot guess what the child's gift is, but she can sense that the child has the gift.
Night is already falling and Alma has no idea where to start looking. Peculiar children often hide, or are hidden by their parents, good parents who fear that a society that doesn't understand their children will persecute the poor children.
She decides to go back to her inn, she had just arrived in the city, she was tired and needed to plan.
Alma returned to the inn and went straight to sleep, she urgently needed to rest. Unfortunately, her sleep was filled with nightmares.
She dreamed that she was in a cemetery, looking at her brother Jack's grave, there wasn't a body under the ground, there shouldn't have been a body left to be buried. Alma was crying, but her tears weren't exactly of sadness, she felt bad, not entirely because of her brother's death, but because she was genuinely happy to have gotten rid of him, now Jack couldn't hurt her anymore. Finally freedom. No one would ever hurt her like Jack hurt her again. When she decides to leave the cemetery, something grabs her foot, three tentacles come out of her brother's grave and Jack's voice reverberates through the air. “You're not going to get rid of me so easily sister” he shouts, and then the tentacles start to pull her into the earth, Alma screams a lot, but there's nothing to be done, she is trapped, before being completely pulled into her brother's grave, she wakes up in a cold sweat.
It was already morning. Very early, but Alma prefers to leave and forget everything she dreamed of. She goes downstairs to have her breakfast.
The food was already being placed on a table and some people were already waiting to eat. Alma kept herself in a corner, as far away from the normal people as possible, but still paying close attention to what they were saying.
“They say things are thrown at everyone who enters the house” says an old man, while stroking his gray beard, to two other men.
“Because no one has done anything yet ?It's been a month since the events started! Why hasn’t anyone called an exorcist yet?” One of the men wanted to know.
“They called, the man did everything he could, but the spirit chased him away from the house, they say it was the soul of a devilish child. The house has always had a reputation for being haunted, but since the end of last month things have become even worse...” the gray-haired man made the sign of the cross.
That conversation was interesting, Alma recognized peculiar behavior when she heard of one. Abandoned houses with a reputation for being haunted are great homes for peculiar children and adults, normal people avoid them and that's great, a spirit that not even the best exorcist can expel... It's not a ghost, it's a person, perhaps a peculiar one with telecines, or someone who becomes invisible. It could be just a rumor too, but it's worth taking a look at the place. Alma approaches the three men.
“Gentlemen, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, is this story about the haunted house real?” Alma asked.
“it's very real, miss, I only believe it because I saw it with my own eyes! The house on the main avenue, number 87, a mansion that has been abandoned for years, you may have seen it, it is an imposing building, it is haunted. Many theorize who the spirit is, and I'm sure it's the deceased son of the owner of the residence. The ghost's voice is that of a child, it must be little Davy, coming from hell to take revenge for having dropped him from a tree in the garden and breaking his neck. I just don't understand why he only started to manifest himself so recently, if he died 13 years ago.” The gray-haired Man spoke, trying his best to impress Alma with her theories.
“ wow... That's... Impressive. I'm going to stay away from that house... I'm terrified of ghosts... Thank you for telling me, gentlemen, I already know which part of the city to avoid” Alma forced a smile and walked away, going to eat.
Alma could barely contain her smile, already completely forgetting her nightmare from the previous night. Now she finally had a place to start her search for peculiar children.