Mother?

The word echoed through Echser's mind. It was such a simple word, one bringing up a plethora of emotions – none even remotely befitting the hideous abomination squatting before them in its bed of corpses.

The creature's slash of a mouth grew wider still, sharp teeth glittering in the torchlight. "Who else did you expect to meet in our kitchen, boy?" The huge head tilted to the side, a worried expression that looked all the more horrible for its sincerity appearing on that nightmare of a face. "You are not getting ill, are you? You look... pale. Very pale. That won't do, that simply won't do now that our plight is finally over." Her smile faltered. "Our plight..." She shook her head. "What was our plight again? I feel I should know, should know..."

"D... dead..." Stefan had to choke the word out. "You... you're dead. I... I buried you – buried you with my own hands, here in this graveyard. I... I..." He stared at Hornbach, who in turn looked almost as horrified as Echser felt.

A frown crept over the giantess features, half-hidden by tresses of filthy hair. "Dead?" The black, saucer-sized eyes blinked. "Me?"

Echser heart ached – either from the sheer tragedy of the moment or because of an imminent heart attack. Probably the latter... By Science, doesn't this... this thing know?

The abomination started cackling then, and it was a sound that would haunt Echser in his nightmares – if he was lucky enough to ever have them again. "I'm not dead, silly."

The giant ghoul shifted her skeletal bulk, their light tearing more unpleasant contours from the dark. She held something close to her chest, something small. Echser moved a few tentative steps aside to get a better view - and almost cried out at what he saw... Legs... knobbly knees, dirty feet. They were not moving.

The child... she has killed the child.

"Mama was merely sick," the monster continued. "Yes, yes. Very, very sick." She raised a hand to her head, and never before had Echser seen a larger one. It was huge, even compared to the rest of her body, obscenely long and with claw-tipped fingers that would not have looked wrong on a giant spider. "So very, very sick. My mind, my mind is still somewhat befuddled. I remember... I remember that you took care of me... and of little Will, of course. I am so proud of you, my son, so very, very proud. Finding paying work during that terrible time..." She froze, her black eyes glazing over. "That terrible, terrible time..."

Echser knew what time she spoke off. He almost sank to the ground in desperation then. Have I done this? Have my experiments set all this in motion?

"I was cold, so cold," the giant ghoul continued. "No wonder I've gotten sick. So hungry, always hungry. The vermin had eaten it all. Never enough food. Never enough warmth." Her eyes glazed over, and it was like frost creeping over obsidian. "Never and ever and never... until you brought home some food. The broth was so delicious, the meat so tender. I remember... sleeping then. It was strange. I slept, but I could still see, could still hear." She fixed Stefan with her gaze. "You took me to a place of healing, didn't you, my dear? A place of warmth where I got better, where there was ample food."

Stefan's gaze wandered over the decomposing corpses. "Food?" His terror-stricken gaze turned to Hornbach, eyes pleading. "Did we do this to her? Did we bury her alive? Did the—"

"Of course not," Hornbach spluttered. "We..."

He trailed off as the horror turned his gaze towards him. It was as if the monster only just now noticed the rest of them, and a strange jumble of feelings ran over her features. She almost seemed... embarrassed?

"Oh my... Stefan, you should have told me that you intended to bring guests for dinner, should have told me." She gestured at the corpses. "There is more than enough food for all now in these times of plenty, but..." and she timidly brushed away a strand of hair, then smoothed the flimsy rag clinging to her body, "...I'm hardly presentable – especially when I'm tending to little Will. One might almost call this indecent. If Father Conrad learned about this, I'd never hear the end of it."

Stefan's eyes went wide. "William? He's here? Where is he?" He actually made several steps forward, torch high, hope, and horror emboldening him. "Where?!"

"Stefan!" The light spilled over the monster's hideous form – and the still figure in her arms. "Behave yourself!"

Echser gasped, and the young undertaker fell back as if struck. The sight was horrendous. Abominable. He had thought himself prepared, had seen many a corpse in his life, after all, had dissected dozens, maybe hundreds of all ages and genders. He shouldn't have been shocked – but he was. To the core of his being, to the roots of his hairs – for the child was still alive.

Hornbach gagged.

Craven's head fell to the side, his expression curious, his eyes hungry. "Fascinating..."

The utterance was an obscenity in itself – and yet it was so terribly, terribly fitting. Nuzzled against the sagging breast of that nightmare and feeding was a small boy in filthy garments. The sucking noises came from him, not from any corpse eaters lurking in the dark. Compared to the giant ghoul, the boy really looked like the tiniest of babes, and the monster handled him as such.

Stefan stared, eyes wide, mouth agape. "W... William?"

"Who else would it be, silly?" the giantess said, half smiling, her gaze softening and shifting to the little boy. "William... William, my precious... Your brother is here. Don't you want to greet him?" She gently pulled his sucking lips away from her breast, the sagging skin stretching obscenely before the dark nipple snapped back with an audible pop.

Echser felt his bile rise, tickling the back of his throat. Science safe us.

Bereft of that monstrous tit, William turned his head towards them with infinite slowness, eyes blinking drowsily. Those eyes – Echser swallowed hard – they were no longer that of a human, but of the same beady black as that of the giant abomination before them. Echser glanced at Craven, expecting... well, something – but the monster hunter just stood there. Not afraid, thanks to the Lich Tears he was beyond those feelings, but there was something. He almost seemed... captivated?

It was a disgusting thought, more so because Echser felt something very similar in his chest. That most beautiful feeling in the entire world, that most noble of sentiments: scientific curiosity.

Stefan must have seen the changes in his brother as well, for from one moment to the next, his strength abandoned him. "No," one word that held all the desperation of the world. "Please no..."

William lifted a small hand towards his brother so that Echser could make out the beginnings of tiny suckers on his palm. His heart ached – it really did – but he could not help but feel a flutter of excitement as well. This is it... this is the answer as to where ghouls come from in the absence of a Rising! His gaze shifted to the giantess. She was something new, or rather, something undiscovered. A ghoul matriarch?

The monster sat William down, her huge hand – bigger than even the child – gave him a gentle nudge. "Go on. Give your brother a hug. I am sure he missed you. Just as I have missed the two of you for so long, so very, very long."

William gave a ghastly mewling and staggered forward, one of his small hands reaching for his brother, tiny suckers undulating. As he came closer, the signs of transformation became even more apparent. The bone of his lower jaw had started to dissolve, giving his mouth a slack, lopsided look that Echser had only seen in the victims of a stroke. Seeing it in so young a face turned his guts to water. He was glad when his back found a supporting wall behind him.

Stefan started sobbing, tears streaming down his face.

"I know," the matriarch said, voice full with pride. "His first steps. Isn't it amazing! I'm so proud, so very, very proud."

Echser tore his gaze from the scene of madness. "Craven, for Science's sake, do something, I beg of you."

The bounty killer said nothing, did nothing, just watched with hungry eyes. There was no fear in those fathomless pits, only that sick fascination. It was... revolting.

"Do something!" hissed Echser.

Craven merely watched – and he did so with a smile.

Despair crashed over the alchemist then – had the lich hunter snapped? Was his drug-addled mind no longer able to cope with reality? If yes, what should they do? What should he do? What could he do? By Science, he did not even have a proper weapon, damn it! He was still wrestling with that dilemma, as somebody else made the decision for him.

Hornbach snapped, bellowing, "Abomination!" from the top of his lungs.

All the fear, all the horror must have broken something inside his mind, for not only did he cry out, but he also jumped forward, attacking William. Like an ax, the head of his spade hissed through the air, straight for William's neck.

"No!" screamed Stefan, but it was too late.

The blade bit through the child's bony neck without even slowing down, his head flying from his shoulders, landing directly before Stefan's feet.

And just like that, the whole world turned from mere madness to hell...

*******************************************

:O

Things are about to get... uglier.

Anyway. I hope you are having fun and enjoy the adventure so far. 

On a side note, I also one of the round two qualifiers for this year's OpenNovellaContest. 

One more round to go and still needing to finish the remaining chapters. 

Wish me luck - and I'm always happy to see some feedback on how I'm doing so far. :)

Cheers!

M.