Intrigues

December 6, 2011. 9 a.m. (Western Standard Time)

Sweden is entering its winter season. Small drops of snow can be distinguished around like small dancing fairies in the sky. Looking around the cities, towns, and villages, a sense of Christmas atmosphere had already enveloped the country. As a Christian nation, December is the most important month of the year, as this is the birth of the lord god. Anyone would not let this month pass without celebrating such a momentous occasion.

"Pathetic humans, do god even exist?" Raul said while sipping his wine made of blood sugar. His eyes were currently locked in the bustling city of Stockholm. "If there is a god and a fair one. Why do we suffer? Are we just toys for his enjoyment! What is his reason for creating this fucking world in the first place anyway? Why does he deserve to be worship?"

Raul believes that there is God. But he deeply hated him above his enemy. If he truly promises to his creation of internal life and peace, he should have not allowed Satan to roam around his petri dish Earth. He should have sanitized him in the beginning before he corrupted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and allowed evil to evolve beyond comprehension.

Huu.

Regardless, he did not know how God's mind works, so he needed to wait until he comes back for his so-called judgment day. He will certainly ask him several questions and if possible, punch him in the face to exact his point on life!

"Hahahha, I bet god will evade my punch."

Satisfied with the wine, he blew out the volatile alcohol from the wine. As a ghoul, his mind and taste buds only hunger for human flesh. However, hallucinogenic and stimulant beverages somehow negate this trait, allowing their taste buds to experience different flavors other than the common sweat and juicy human meat. This glitch in the system is a strange one.

"Huu. Why are we different? What is our purpose." His eyes examine the towering Christmas tree across the luxurious houses. His thought flew away from his previous thinking. "They live normal, eat normal, and enjoy life to the fullest. I envy them…if I was a human as well as my family could we also have those smiles forever?"

His eyes diverted from the tree to a family walking on the street in front of his large manor. Their smiles did not hunger Raul but starve his heart for a perfect life. If he was a human how will his life run?

He smiled at the daydream. He knew it was impossible.

In the suburbs of Stockholm city near the Baltic sea, his manor stood tall facing the bustling metropolis while its backyard faces the blue cold sea. Above the entrance of his manor is a spacious room that seems to resemble an office or study room. There, Raul sat on his desk while overlooking the lively city.

Tring! Tring! Tring!

His telephone rang, turning his attention towards it. With his right index finger, he presses the answer button and allowed the person to talk to him. He put his wine glass at the table and leaned back to his chair to prepare for the upcoming news.

"Good morning Sir…this is Natalie."

Natalie's calm voice uttered aloud on the telephone speaker.

A sense of excitement and fear boiled inside Raul. Ever since he left her wife from the hands of his enemy, he could not eliminate the feeling of anxiousness towards her safety, especially the biological origin of his wife. Even though he created a pact with Shem, his trust in the other party wasn't that strong, but only persevered because of the favorable benefits.

"How is she?" Raul asks with a controlled tone. "Is…my wife truly healed?"

"…" Natalie was quiet for 5 seconds the question seemed to be daunting but after that, she responded. "She is fine sir….she's undergoing recovery. Mr. Shem's treatment cured her of the disease, I could not even imagine the process scientifically, it was as if magic was conjured to her." Natalie laugh on the phone, though she lied about what truly happened on the island, currently for her, the result justifies the means as long as the madame was healed the process should be neglected. She then continued with another piece of news. This one defies logic and comprehension.

Shem's employee (AI) reported to her that they found an anomaly inside her womb. Upon inspection and thorough routine tests and imaging scans. A miracle was uncovered to her.

"Sir, madame Eva is also…pregnant. She hid it from us…sir. I don't know how it was possible but it was alive." Natalie carefully chose the right words and tone, to share the heaven-defying miracle.

Boom.

Raul was taken aback. Pregnant? She had the ROS disease for god sake how can a baby survive within her cancer-affected womb. If Raul counted the years, he had done it with his wife it was eight years ago, certainly, a sperm or an egg even, will not be able to survive that long. How can a sperm fertilize an egg at a badly diseased body and continue to develop for several years? Furthermore, sperm cells can only last for five days inside a woman's womb before exhausting their pack fructose energy, while an egg cell only lasts not more than a day.

Even more shocking why did the medical experts employed by the church did not detect the baby before Eva underwent an upgrade.

"WHAT? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?" Raul shouted after hearing the news while he almost jumps after internalizing the meaning of its content. "…Tell me everything!"

"Yes, sir!"

Natalie put away her phone from her ears, to help her numb ear drums recover. Raul's voice was painfully sharp.

"It was a healthy baby girl. Mr. Shem confirmed the gender through his advanced imaging equipment and some biochemistry evaluations. He also conducted a DNA compatibility test and was found positive. The genetic compatibility of the baby to your wife and your DNA was 99% match."

Raul's eyes no longer held the strength to hold his tears. His glands opened its flood gates and let out a gram of salty tears that fell from his cheek, forming small rivers. How can this be? He asks within himself. Why did Eva hide the truth from him? How did this miracle happen? What is the truth? He recalled his conversation with Shem about how lucky he is.

He contemplated a lot about the comment made by the young man but arrived at a dead end. Now he finally connected the dots and figure out the true meaning. His wife was pregnant and miraculously, continued to develop the fetus with care despite her ROS status.

"Lucky…" Raul whispered; he then asks Natalie some theory of the baby's conception. "Is it perhaps a side effect of the ghoulification therapy?"

Natalie pulled her brows upwards briefly but then returned them downwards.

"It could be sir, but the DNA compatibility test does not lie, unless the lab technician who conducted the test, have made some clinical errors in the process. "

Raul considered the assumption dish-up by Natalie. Not all lab results had perfect accuracy and precision to produce perfect results. Sometimes lab results diverge from the true results, due to some systematic errors or random errors. Lab technicians aren't perfect, they're just humans. But, by wholeheartedly conducting consistent quality control, these errors can be minimized. Levy-Jennings chart is the best tool you can have.

"To expound more, it is viable to have a child if you had…mate-mated with the madame, before her operation," Natalie added while she blushes deep red that covered almost all of her face. Raul can hear even her deep inhalation. The sex topic is very sensitive to virgins.

"Yes, I have done it with her before the church's protocol to effect." A straightforward answer.

"Then is it her disease, sir? I mean after that lab explosion; she had somehow contracted the disease and consequently fell ill."

Raul didn't want to remember the past.

"I don't know Natalie…but I am glad. I had a daughter, made of my blood." Raul was filled with joy, he had two children now. One his own and the other, adopted.

After letting her boss experience ecstasy at the idea of having a daughter and being a true father. Natalie then drops the heaviest news.

"…I…am sorry sir…" Natalie mustered to use all of her strength to speak. Humiliation from Shem stabs her heart. On par with the humiliation was the sense of betrayal that not only amounts to a death sentence but is equal to internal suffering in hell, drilled her soul.

"What is it? Is there something wrong with the fetus or anything? Speak to me properly, Natalie!"

As if electrified Natalie spoke without walls on her voice.

"I AM SORRY SIR! I HAVE SPILLED ALL OF OUR COVEN'S SECRET TO HIM! I DESERVED TO DIE; I HAVE LED OUR KIND TO ITS DEMISE! HE KNEW EVERYTHING NOW."

"WHAT!" Raul jerk from his chair and stand up.

Natalie cried all her frustration; her tears began to drop endlessly. She narrated all the information she shared with Shem. All for the safety of the madame.

Grit.

"That bastard immigrant!" He punches his expensive wooden table to pieces, to curb his anger.

Raul gnashes his teeth while he clenches his hands that blood even spilled out from his grip. One of his powerful guards was toyed by some humans. It seemed that Shem was far more dangerous than he anticipated, probably more powerful than the church itself. His pharmaceutical company even stood tall to provide a light on what his capability is. He knew that he angered this man base on Natalie's reactions. He knew that he should tell this to the council of Elders to properly dispose of this man. He knew that Europe will be in chaos any time soon all because of this immigrant monkey.

He clenched his hands into a fist while he grinds his teeth. His race is at stake.

Nonetheless,

Raul had already chosen to betray his Coven and the Church. He already achieved what he desires so why join the organization further? The church was changed organization after it found something dangerous from the depths of hell. It no longer embodies the idea of a ghoul to coexist with the humans. But a monster who lost its mind.

Huu. He had to gamble with Shem.

He blew a sigh that unexpectedly perplexed Natalie. This was a first-time reaction from his boss. It's unusual to even witness it herself. Usually, her boss becomes a monster when he was at a disadvantage.

"Sir….?" She carefully inquired, testing the waters of his boss's mood.

"Natalie, is my wife awake?"

"No Sir, Mr. Shem's employee said that she will recover after 2 days. Her body still needs time to recover, as well as give time for the baby to develop inside her."

"The nutrients for my daughter? Did they also provide it without restrictions?"

"Yes, sir. A process RC Cells. The baby is well fed inside the madame through intravenous."

Hearing her wife's condition Raul ordered Natalie to stay put.

"Stay there, and do not return to Europe. Europe isn't a safe place anymore. Anytime soon it will be engulfed with fire."

Natalie held her tears, the guilt of betraying her species was immensely heavy within her heart.

"I am sorry Sir, for my incompetence." Natalie acknowledges her fault. She deeply knows the reason for the upcoming chaos.

"No, it wasn't your fault." Raul softened. "You have done right; I have always been eager to leave the church but found no opportunity to do so. Now that an opportunity arrived. I will choose myself and my family. Let my sin be paid by the church."

Hearing the unexpected words from an Elder. Natalie let out some of her accumulated guilt.

Sega Island. Infirmary facility.

After talking with Raul, Natalie signed off her phone. She looked back past her left shoulder and found Shem smiling at her.

"Nice, your boss picked the right move. Thank you for sharing all those secrets, Ms. Natalie. Your contribution will be greatly recognized after I achieved my goals. For now, you are safe here on my island. But please refrain from thinking crazy thoughts."

Natalie remained quiet as he held her boiling anger.

"St. Petersburg Facility is a stronghold of the North and East Coven. Our Coven's headquarters boasts powerful means that even a Russian army division can't penetrate. I don't know what you're planning to do but I say this to you, give up. Your efforts are clearly in vain."

"Hahaha��I'm going to enjoy myself at the world's cultural capital when I returned to Europe." Shem laughs at the tourist attraction that he will be seeing. St. Petersburg is the cultural center of the great Russian history that was deeply admired by the world's artists and considered by them as the cultural center of the world.

He then continued to talk to Natalie, disregarding her warning. "I'm not that dumb Ms. Natalie, I have many means in my catalog. I can even detonate an atomic bomb at your base."

Grit.

Natalie held Shem's collar and pulled him close to her. Even the floral smell of the lady perks up Shem's nose. Her breath was heavy and warm as it blew around Shem's face. He can feel the animosity growing inside her base on her contorted face due to being taunted at her core. She was deeply pissed towards Shem.

"…You bastard human!" A short word. She could not complete her sentence because she knew that Shem is capable of doing anything he wants to. The capability to heal a ROS disease inflicted patient is just the tip of an iceberg. Shem has many secrets that defy human understanding. As for Natalie, she could only curse at him.

"You can't do anything. That is the world, Ms. Natalie. It is very unfair. Sometimes being ignorant is a bliss."

Shem, said while he maintained a serious face and let the woman steamed out her boiling emotion.

"Please…spare the innocent…I beg you. We only have done it so we can survive."

Push.

Natalie pushed Shem forcefully, rendering him to step 1 meter apart from her. She then proceeds out of the facility and took a route to the private ward of her Madame.

Shem knew the woman's fears. He saw an explosion of a nuclear bomb back home. He knew the pain of witnessing its godly powers. He knew how it feels to lose someone from its destructive power. Nevertheless, this world pushes him to choose that otherwise.

"It will be a contingency plan. But man, this world is twisted far more inhumane than my dimensions government and rebels. If survival is at stake anyone would choose the convenient way no matter what immoral that is, all for the sake of fucking survival."

Shem sighed and prepared for his departure towards Europe. His Jet is waiting for him outside the facility.

"Destroying the source of the food will eventually destroy the formidable hierarchy. Taking over the ruined kingdom is then a piece of cake. I thank thee our greatest war generals across time for I will plagiarize your strategy for the benefit of mine, and to this world's demise. "

Shem walks out from the room as the scene flew out from the facility and presented the fake Earth of Tokyo Ghoul.