Chapter 178 - Ghost Of The Past

"Diana?" Ghost asked.

I pulled myself out of my phone and rushed to catch up with him. "Sorry, sorry. No reading on the go again. By the way, do you know what's TH3?"

"Tee-Eich-Three…" Ghost hummed and scratched his neck under that long white mane of his. "I think it stands for Training Hall Three. It's on the basement floor. There are three training halls total, though actually, one of them is more of a gym? The second is for just physical fighting and stuff, and the third is for magic. It has a seal on the walls that isolates it from the outside world, in case a spell goes wrong, you know?"

"Interesting. Thanks, Ghost." I sighed. "Now, do you think Elena plans on biting our heads off?"

She wasn't a type to do so, but when I and Ghost came to report, Elena came awfully close with a dressing down about irresponsibilities of running god knows where when shapeshifters in the city decided to declare an open war against vampires. She mentioned nothing about the attack near Nightingale's hospital, though, to my relief. I guessed that the shifters who attacked JJ gathered themselves and run away before a patrol got a whiff of them.

Elena's words, though, didn't do that much for me and Ghost. Ghost was… just himself. I, well, I was simply remorseless. And, when Elena let us go with one last threat about a late night hospital shift, we will have to go though later today, very appreciative that Ghost didn't speak with Elena about vampire business.

"So," I wondered as we both meandered somewhere towards my room. "Do you often keep secrets from your Elders?"

Ghost laughed. "You think I can even remember? Oh… I pretty sure I started with the previous one. She was very much against youth-prolonging magic, so I had to experiment with it in secret at first. She realised what I was up to, in the end, but by that time, well, what could you do? I got poached by some other coven, too… Hey, I think I was pretty famous as a healer back then!"

"You don't now?"

"Not since they call me Ghost, no. I looked differently back then, too. Don't remember it very well, but I was sure I looked older, at least." Ghost pinched the smooth and taut skin of his cheek. "I wasn't that good at not ageing then."

"You know, Ghost, surely someone must know your old name, or have it written somewhere. Why won't you ask?"

Ghost shook his head. "No, no, it's better that way. Fame was too distracting from looking for immortality. Poachers, fans, people pleading to heal them, or to make them young… Now I'm just Ghost, and no one notices ghosts. Hey, one day will come, Diana, you will know what I mean!"

"I think I already do." My lips stretched into an unhappy smile. "Alright, take care, Ghost. I have to go find my vamp."

⠀⠀

My vamp wasn't hard to find—he was still just where I left them, in my room, on my sofa. His current occupation was to stare intently at the screen of his phone, poking or swiping it with one of his pianist's fingers once in a while.

"Where's Panda?" I asked, plopping down next to him and leaning to look over his shoulder. He was scrolling through a news feed, but I caught nothing particularly interesting or new from it. Mayor's statements, even President's statements… Blah blah, cover-ups and so on.

"She went to her room to sleep while she had an opportunity. I think this is something you would profit from as well, ma chèrie." JJ put the phone aside and pulled me closer instead. His lips brushed over my forehead.

I melted into him like his arms were the place I was meant to be all my life. Like I was cheese and JJ was my ham. "Only a nap, at most. I got a message from our Witches Rights activists. They want to meet again in a few hours. Oh, and speaking of them, they agreed to let you assists, I assume, so… I have to ask if you are on their side."

I tensed, waiting for JJ's answer. In retrospect, if he was against the idea, I imagine he would've protested against my involvement earlier, but nevertheless, the knot in my chest relaxed only when I heard JJ's shiver-inducing chuckle in my ear.

"Aren't you a little late for it, ma chèrie? If I was against it, I'd have a long time to pass the information about their movement to the other interested parties, or to act on my own. Luckily for you… I am inclined to do neither."

"Really? I mean… I imagine, it's not a piece of cake to shake off centuries of keeping existence of magic secret so suddenly." I began to draw circles on his wrist. "Not to mention, not going against and helping are different things."

"Yes, it's not easy." There was graveness in JJ's voice, in his eyes now. "But it would be foolish to cling to the colossus of them when its legs are crumbling. I can see what's happening, ma chèrie. No matter what anyone does, the cat is out of the bag, and it wouldn't be put back anymore. It's worse than with Dragon. Then, the news travelled with the speed of a mail pigeon, or a horse messenger, and even then too many people saw and heard about him and his true nature before Dragon died. Now? The news travel almost as fast as they can be spoken aloud, and the demon is still out there." JJ gestured with a hand towards the window.

"To go against this wave would be a futile effort. To direct it, to prevent any angry mobs from forming, would be the best we could do. So, yes. If these witches had agreed to accept my help, I will gladly offer it. For better or worse, we are in this now."