Born of Hatred by Steve McHugh

Author:Steve McHugh [McHugh, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: C429, Extratorrents, Kat
ISBN: 9781481270441
Publisher: Hidden Realms Publishing
Published: 2012-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

I am not a good flier. I don't panic or run around screaming, but I do get very tense and drink far too much alcohol. So it was probably for the best that the flight attendant who had kissed me earlier placed an eighteen-year-old bottle of Japanese goodness in front of me with a crystal tumbler. I knew it was crystal simply because no one who owns a jet as expensive as the one I was in supplies anything but the best in tableware.

So, as we banked left, and I caught a glimpse of the ground, several thousand feet below me, I knocked back my third glass and poured another.

"Flying is the safest form of travel, you know," Kasey said as she stared out the window.

"So people tell me," I replied. "It doesn't make me any less thrilled about having to be up here."

"Who are we going to see?" she asked with a smile on her face that I was certain was meant to melt my heart.

"Does that work on your parents?"

"Daddy," she said in a needy voice.

"Yes, it works," Tommy said. "I'm going to sleep, so you're on your own, Kase." He glanced at me. "Good luck."

Kasey made a humph-like noise, and crossed the aisle, taking a seat opposite me. She placed her notebook and pen on the table between us, opening it to the first page. "You said you would," she reminded me when she saw the trepidation on my face.

"Okay, hit me with your best shot."

"What attacked my mum?"

"A ghoul," I said.

"Is that what murdered those women?"

I shook my head. "No, ghouls are... primal. But they're also intelligent and maintain their human brain power. It's just that now, they're more interested in causing pain and suffering."

"Is my mum safe?"

"She's surrounded by her agents; she's safer than we are up here."

Kasey chuckled. "So, what's the difference between ghouls and zombies?"

"Have you ever seen a zombie movie? The zombies either run or shamble slowly, but the main part is that they eat people, and those who have been bitten turn into zombies themselves."

Kasey glanced over to Tommy, checking that he was asleep. "Yeah," she whispered.

"Well, those movie zombies are a combination of two different species. Firstly, you've got zombies themselves. They're created when someone who has died forcefully has their soul shoved back inside them. Zombies do shamble, because their bodies don't work properly, but they couldn't eat anyone if they tried. They basically have the ability to move very slowly and talk. That's it."

"They're not dangerous?"

"Only to themselves. The process of raising a zombie is painful for the soul of the person being reanimated. It's frowned upon because it's a bit too close to torture for many in Avalon's liking. And in truth, very few people even bother, unless they're truly desperate for answers, because once you've forced a soul back into its body, the only way to send it back is to kill the person again."

"And the second species?"

"The second are called the barren. They used to be humans, before they were bitten by a ghoul.

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