Page 81 of Squad Ghouls

The head was intact.

But the blast made it fucking furious.

It started jumping on Owain’s chest, balling its hands into fists and slamming them over Owain’s heart.

He jerked in pain and started choking again, but his eyes remained glued shut like he couldn’t escape whatever prison in his mind he was stuck in. A trickle of blood ran out the corners of his mouth, seeping slowly down.

It coloured my vision red.

I charged forward, ready to pummel it to the ground in whatever way I could fucking think of.

“STOP!” Andrew yelled as he phased through a wall and appeared in front of me.

“I have no time to stop; that fucking thing is killing him,” I yelled back, one foot already stepping through him.

“You won’t be able to touch it,” Andrew said. “It’s a mare.”

“A what?”

“A mare,” Andrew repeated. “It’s like a sleep paralysis ghost. A nightmare entity.”

“Great,” I spat. “How do I kill it?”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t found anything about it when I… Before…”

“Before what?” I asked, watching as he looked away.

“Before I died.”

“That’s not helpful, Andrew.”

The mare was still raging, still growling. Still sitting there like Owain’s body was its fucking throne. Like it had the right to steal the brightest thing I’d ever seen.

A mare.

Nightmare.

I knew that name.

I’d seen it somewhere; I knew I had, but the blind panic and fear made it almost impossible to focus and bring the information to the forefront of my brain.

Owain drew in another ragged breath.

His chest barely rose under the weight. A tear slipped out the corner of his eye. And then he went quiet. Eerily, frighteningly quiet. His chest settled, his mouth closed, his eyelids stilled.

“Owain!!” I called, taking a step towards the bed and freezing when the mare screamed at me.

Owain didn’t move. He didn’t react. He didn’t snore. I just wanted one more snore.

“Please!” I called out to him. “Fuck, you’re gonna be in so much trouble when you wake up. I’m gonna put you over my knee and spank you for scaring me like this, just please wake up!”

Nothing.

“Owain…” I paused. “Fuck, I don’t even know your full name to scream it at you. WAKE UP!”

“Evans,” Bronwyn said. “Owain Evans is his full name.”

“OWAIN EVANS, WAKE THE FUCK UP!”