Jane Doe

III

Sabrina had made me call Everett over to my house for the research, as he was now a part of this too. When he came, there was an obvious tension between Sabrina and my brother. Not an angry tension, but more of a sexual tension. I chose to ignore it and decided to make us all dinner before we jumped into research. After all growing up together I know by now that none of us can function on an empty stomach. 

After I put in the lasagna into the oven, I got a call from Ron Newton. I decide to pick up and i swiped my thumb across the screen to answer his call. "Hey, what's up?" I tried to remain nonchalant because I knew he wouldn't be calling unless it was an emergency. 

"After you left, I ran into your brother and he looked distraught so I asked him what was going on and he told me everything. Are you okay El?" Wow. He was actually being cordial for once. I took a deep breath and wiped my free hand on my little apron. 

"Well, you know about my little family business I complained to you about earlier this year? Turns out my mother's disappearance is gonna restart the business. So I'm a little paranoid about what will come, but I need you to run everything while I'm out. I don't know how long it will be, but I trust you with everything." I could hear the shocked and sharp intake of breath from the other line.  

"Are you positive you want this?" I rolled my eyes and left the kitchen and wandered into my at home office.

"More than anything. This is my mum's life on the line. I officially promote you to assistant CEO. I've been wanting to do this for a bit of time now, but I was waiting for the right moment, and this is it. I will fax you the paperwork this evening. Congratulations, Ron. You deserve it." I could practically fell his smile glowing.

"Thank you so much, Ms. Woods. I won't let you down." I chuckled lightly. 

"Ron, I told you a thousand times. Call me 'El' or 'Eliza' Ms.Woods is my mother. Anyways, congrats again Ron. Have a good rest of your evening. And for heaven's sake,  loosen up for once and go to a club and get wasted. Have some fun and celebrate!" 

"Thank you so much, El. And good luck with your mum" With that, the call ended. I could smell the delicious aroma of my lasagna and walked back into the kitchen. When I walked in, Everett and Sabrina were glued onto each other's faces. I just laughed and opened my fridge to take out a lemon meringue pudding. I was onto my third pudding when Sabrina finally sensed my presence. 

"El! Um, I am so sorry I didn't mean to- he just-" It was hilarious seeing my best friend so frantic. 

I just laughed. "Rin, Hun, I have been rooting for this for God know's how long. The two of you are like Ron and Hermione. The best of friends who everyone knew would eventually like one another." Sabrina's face was quite flushed and I decided to put an end to her misery, despite humor I found in this. "I'm taking time out of the office to deal with this thing for mum. I just hired Ron as my assistant CEO. So my company is in good hands." I looked at Everett. "What about your company? Is there someone there to take care of everything?" 

Ev smiled. "Do you honestly think I would go halfway across the globe and leave my company to a bunch of idiots? Of course I put someone in charge. I'm not as  stupid as you, sis."

I rolled my eyes. "You are such a smart ass." After that, we ate a delicious meal and got to work. 

We were three hours into scanning my father's hunting journal when we came across it. Ghouls. It made sense. They could have snuck up through the drain pipe and grabbed my mum while she was showering. If this was true, we didn't have much time to find her. Rin and I grabbed our laptop and did some research on the ship. Ten years ago, there was a similar incident of eight mysterious vanishings, and so far this year, there have been three. 

Sabrina looks up from her laptop and at me and Ev "Okay so here's what I've dug up on ghouls." She begins to recite the web page exactly.  " A ghoul is an undead supernatural being originating from Arabian folklore. A ghoul or ghūl (which translated from Arabic means "demon"), is known to inhabit cemeteries or other types burial grounds; in lore, they are known for preying on young children, drinking blood, stealing coins, and most famously consuming the flesh of the dead. It's in eating the dead they are able to then assume the identity/form of the deceased. In some lore, ghouls are not dissimilar to , being corpses re-animated by or that can be commanded. Like zombies, the typical method for dispatching a ghoul is to destroy their brains or decapitate them." 

I scoff. "Great, now all we have to do is find out whoever they ate last and what they look like. Should be fun." 

"Eliza, stop being such an assbutt and embrace your inner hunter. It's the whole reason we are roommates in the first place. Your aunt didn't teach you how to hunt at the age of twelve for you to just take this lightly. And plus, you said you saw a black dog earlier, right?" Sabrina reminds me for what seemed like the thousandth time. 

I look down, attempting to avoid the impending conversation. "Yes" I mutter. 

Sabrina sits up. " What did it look like?"

I take a shaky breath that rattles my lungs. "I first noticed its eyes. They were just-empty. Like black gaps. And it's fur. Well, its fur was blacker than black and it didn't shine from the glow of my headlights either. And it's teeth were hideously long and sharp. Trust me Rin, I know it was a black dog." I paused, waiting for her response when it suddenly came to me. "Holy shit! Oh my God I can't believe I didn't think of this before!" Sabrina's eyes widened in alarm. "Give me your laptop." Sabrina let me grab it as her brows furrowed in confusion. "Okay, so you know how on Knocturn t=street it's a four-way cross road? Well, that's where I saw the dog. And guess how many years ago those ghouls turned up on that ship?"

"Ten! Oh my God! I knew it was connected but I didn't know how!" Sabrina was now all jumpy.

"Exactly. And guess who suddenly became successful ten years ago?" I looked at my best friend and it all clicked in her head.

"Oh my God, your Aunt Tessa! But why is it coming after you and your mum?" Sabrina was growing more anxious by the second. 

"Sabrina, don't you see? Tessa taught me how to hunt at twelve years old. I am twenty-two. I was a part of the deal, and so was my mum. But here is where it get's weird. When Tessa taught me how to hunt, she later went on that same cruise ship as my mum and dad, and we all thought she disappeared. Then two weeks later, she randomly turns up and is acting a bit strange. Then she wins the lottery. Don't you see, Rin? My aunt Tessa did vanish. A ghoul took her and all this time and it has been right under our noses. The ghoul knew her memories and made sure that it could still inhabit her body, so it made a deal with a cross-roads demon. It's eternal life in exchange for mine and my mum's. But look here." I move the laptop so she can see. "Any deals made with a cross-roads demon can be broken if the one who made the deal dies before the time is up. I don't know how a ghoul made a deal or how it managed to sway the demon into taking my life rather than the ghoul's, but we need to find out."

A/N: Hey guys! So I hope you are all enjoying the story so far! This book is going to get pretty dark at some points, so just be aware. Also, there will be some scenes between Sabrina and Everett later on. Please reccomend my story to fellow readers if you like it!