Inside the classroom, Matteo and the Ghost sat side by side catching up on the time they had been apart.
"Where have you been?" Matteo asked once it sat next to him.
"That's not important", the ghost replied. "So, how has it been these past four years? Ive seen all your growth, and… all your pain".
"Why didn't I see you inside the Spirit Tree?", Matteo asked again.
"Did you miss me that much?" The ghost teased.
Matteo nodded, "There were a lot of questions I wanted to ask you. And I also wanted to talk to you."
"I saw everything", the ghost admitted, "I may have been gone but I was still there and I saw it all. How they treated you, how they hurt you… I saw it all".
The tears rolled down Matteo's cheeks, "Everybody hates me. Father hates me. Charlotte and the other servants hate me. The people here at school hate me… and I don't have any friends. Why? Why does everybody hate me?"
The ghost thought long and hard about his response, then said finally, "Because they are humans, and it's in their very nature to be cruel and selfish beings. I've been alive for thousands of years… since before the first human ever walked on this land. So trust me when I say I know better than anybody you'll ever know, that you human beings are nothing but cruel and selfish creatures", he continued,
"Just look at how they treated your mother. Look at how your father treated you, he used you, and worked you to the bone all because he thinks you are special. If he didn't have such thoughts you would have been nothing to him, but because you are useful to him he barely manages to put up with you. And when you don't give him the results he wants, he abuses you in all sorts of ways.
"Even here at this academy, they bully you because they are jealous of you. Your abilities surpass theirs and you are held in very high regard by the teachers, the kids feel inferior compared to you, so they decide to try and make you look as small as possible for no reason other than to try and heal their own wounded sense of pride. You did nothing to make them feel this way, all you did was be yourself, but because they are primitive, foolish and so terribly human, they do what they did to you, and they will never stop no matter how much you try".
"You're right…" Matteo realized as he looked back on it all. "People… human beings are terrible. But…"
He thought of his mother.
"Surely not all humans are bad, right? Maybe there's some good humans out there. Humans like mama and Sylvia".
The ghost sighed, "Matteo, I have been alive for longer than this world has existed, I've seen everything there is to see, and I know more than anyone, not even you, could ever know. So believe me when I say that your hopes are foolish, there are no good humans in this world. It is as I told you just now, it is part of a human's very nature to be selfish and cruel.
"There are no good human beings, only human beings who are good at hiding their cruelty. There is nothing you can do to change this and if you really want to protect yourself from future pain, then you need to understand this as soon as possible".
Matteo was speechless for a good minute trying to process what was being said to him.
"But, if all humans are cruel, then who do I turn to? If everyone is just going to hurt me… then does that mean I should be alone?"
The ghost stood up. "No, it doesn't. You are not alone, Matteo Dumont, humanity may be a race of monsters but I am not human, so I can never hurt you. It is not part of my nature. If you feel lonely and isolated in this hell hole of a world, then come to me. I will be your friend, your companion and your greatest ally for all of eternity. And I promise to never hurt you in any way, do you know why?"
Matteo stared at the floor and answered, "Because you're not a human. You're not cruel and selfish and mean. You won't hurt me. You're a ghost… and you're my friend".
"Well said", the ghost concluded.
Well, it looks like our reunion will have to be cut short. I'll see you soon, Matteo".
Matteo tried to reach out for it but his hands caught nothing,
"Wait! Where are you going? Don't leave me again, please! Please don't leave me. Not you too".
The ghost kneeled down and met Matteo's face on the floor, "I'm not going anywhere. We're friends now, remember? If you need me, you'll find me in the Spirit Tree, just go in there and call out my name, and you'll find me". The ghost reassured him.
"Well, can you tell me your name before you go?" Matteo asked.
"Why do you want to know my name?" The ghost asked with another sigh.
"Because you know my name, and we're friends now so we need to call each other by name. And also… because I still want to know more about you. I want to prove that mama wasn't crazy… that she really did see a ghost".
The ghost turned around and thought it over for a few seconds, then replied,
"Fine. From now on you can call me… Ozah"
Then he disappeared. A few seconds later the teacher came in through the door and was surprised to find that the lights were out in the room. But he dismissed them and focused on what was more important.
"Sir Matteo, please come with me".
Matteo scowled, got up and followed behind the teacher.
***
Back at the small village in Callistéa's rural areas, a noise could be heard amidst the quiet of the dead of night. The unfortunate soul who awoke to this noise far too early decided to go investigate it himself.
He soon found out that the sound was coming from the small shed right next to his home, and inside the shed, he found Biscuit, the community pet, rolling around and shrieking on the floor. The man wrinkled his face in disgust. He had always hated Biscuit since the day the kids brought the creature to the village. He had always been opposed to keeping the foul looking creature, but unfortunately he was always dismissed by the rest of the village who saw Biscuit as unusual but completely harmless.
As he looked down on it, he suddenly had an idea. It was very late into the night and the whole village was most likely asleep apart from him. So what if this was his chance to finally put himself out of his misery and get rid of the foul creature. As long as he went about it the right way, nobody would ever know that he was the one who did it, and they would have no choice but to move on from it.
He liked the sound of that idea.
But as he moved in to put it down, something happened to it that left the man utterly disgusted, maybe even traumatized. The boils on Biscuit's fur began popping, and along with a lot of strange juices, crawled out a small creature that looked exactly like it. This happened for all the boils on Buscuit's body, both large and small. The man stood frozen at the sight of it. Biscuit had just given birth. There were multiple Biscuits now. Not just one. Before he only had to deal with one Biscuit, but now he had to deal with… however many of them there were. They just wouldn't stop coming.
He contemplated running away but then thought about what life would be like with all these creatures running around the village. He did not like those thoughts. He grabbed a nearby tool and slammed it on the ground where the little Biscuits were. He missed.
The babies then collectively ran towards him, climbing his body with frightening speed. By the time the man realized what was happening to him, it was already too late. The baby Biscuits gathered around the man and began nibbling at his skin, tearing it apart from all parts of his body. The man shrieked so loudly the entire neighborhood woke up, and when they went to check in the shed, they found his body chewed away with blood all over the floor. They also saw the many little Biscuits just there on the floor.
The few who went to check on the shed ran away in pure terror, banging door to door, waking their families up and trying to warn the rest of their community, but they were not fast enough to avoid the little creatures. They pounced on them and had their flesh nibbled on as well. Some were so unlucky that the little Biscuits entered their insides and laid their eggs on the people, and less than a few seconds later, more baby Biscuits were born to wreak havoc on the village.
"Ruji! Ruji!" Kamo called out for him, but she was knocked over by somebody and fell to the ground.
"Kamo! Kamo!" She heard his voice.
"Ruji! Help me!"
Ruji found her and helped her up.
"Kamo! Are you okay?"
"I can't find my mom and dad!" Kamo cried.
"Come with me, let's go!" Ruji held out his hand. Kamo took it.
They both ran ahead as fast as they could until they couldn't run anymore.
"What's happening Ruji? Why is this happening?"
"I don't know!" Ruji cried. "Let's go!"
He pulled her by the wrist but she fell over on her knee.
"Ow!"
"I'm sorry, come on let's go!" Ruji tried pulling her up but she fell over again.
"My knee hurts!"
Ruji was scrambling for solutions. He tried picking her up but she was too heavy for him. He carried her over his shoulder but they simply weren't fast enough and Ruji couldn't endure. They stopped to the floor once more and that's when Kamo screamed at the top of her lungs.
Ruji looked over at her and saw the little Biscuits eating away at her little by little. He tried kicking them away and grabbing Kamo but they got him too and they both fell to the ground writhing in pain from being eaten alive.
And not long after that, they both stopped moving.