The culling.

The girls drive for hours, not saying anything, as they don't know how to explain what happened at the rest stop. The girl beside me went to sleep, as did the one in the passenger front seat; only the driver and I were awake. She turned the radio on and tuned it to some K-pop stuff. I'm not fond of K-pop, so I changed it to some rock, which began an epic fight for the radio station. I don't know how she isn't freaking out about the radio being changed, but that works for me as she gives up on listening to K-pop, as she should.

We pull into Boise, Idaho, and the girls park in the driveway of a college sorority. They get out and grab their bags. As I enter the home, I see a group of female spirits, and I am hungry. As I look at them, this sends shivers down their spines as I walk over to them slowly.

"Why, hello there. Do you want to join me for dinner? I am starving from this long drive, and I didn't get to finish my meal before."

The female spirits stood up and were about to run when I froze them in place. I have been testing out my powers, and with every spirit I eat, I can control more of what goes on in this land than the living world, and I like this.

I walk to the closest one, place my hand around her neck, and devour her energy and spirit. The rest begin to beg, but I don't listen to them, as I have come to terms with the fact that I was born a monster, and I will do what I must to have control over my being. When I have to deal with my father, I will ensure it's on my terms, not his.

After drinking the last one dry, I turn my eyes to the rest of the city, eating the spirits like a gluttonous pig devouring all I come across. I feel my energy growing, but the fog doesn't clear much from it. I wonder if the more I eat, the more it takes.

I plan to spend a day or two here. As I return to the house, I wonder if there are some humans in need of culling around at night. When I walked into the sorority home, a girl was sitting on the steps looking at me.

"What are you?"

I looked left and right to see if she was talking to anyone else, as I wasn't sure if it was me until she spoke again.

"I am talking to you. No one else. Where are the other spirits in this house? What did you do with them?"

I looked at her with interest. She was the first living person to notice me, which intrigued me.

"I ate them as I was hungry and wanted more power. Do you have a problem with that?"

She looked me up and down, then spoke to me.

"Not really. You saved my friends, right?"

"Save isn't the word I would use; they had food around them and a ride I wanted. It was a give and take, as I need to get across half the country, and walking in the land of the dead isn't a walk in the park, as time is messed up here."

"Why do you want to travel across the country?"

I look at her as if she wants to know so much about me, and I want to know why.

"Why are you so focused on knowing all you can about me? I don't know your name, and you want to ask me twenty questions. Don't you think you're being rude?"

"My name is Kimberly, and my family has been able to see spirits, but I have never seen one as clearly as you. You say you ate them? Can other spirits eat others, or is that just a you thing? What's your name?"

"James, and to my knowledge—or what little it is—I have only been dead for maybe a week. I haven't found one that can eat other spirits or anything different from the spirits and ghosts we grow up knowing about."

"Can you eat the living too?"

She asked with a serious face, wanting to know the answer. Her eyes told me this was an important question I needed to answer.

"If I said I could only after I kill them, would that make you happy? Or do you want something else from me?"

She exhaled and looked me straight in the face as she stood up.

"Follow me. I need your help with something."

I walk up the stairs behind her as we go to her room, and she opens it. I look around and see two beds. But one of them has flowers on it. I look over at her, and she looks at the bed with a face full of sadness.

"I want you to kill a group of men for me, and I am willing to do anything for you in return."

I looked at her and saw she was a beauty—sunkissed skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. She looked to be in her early 20s, and I thought to myself that I could get a ride to Louisiana and have a ride for myself. I mean, I died without knowing what it felt like, and now that I am not a "good" person in any sense of the word, I should be a little greedy in my desires.

"I will agree for two things: one, you drive me to Louisiana, and two, I died without knowing the touch of a woman's body. I want to use yours."

She looks at me, weighing the deal's options; she just finished her last year's exams, is waiting to finish college, and doesn't have to be at school anymore. So driving across the country wouldn't be a problem. She doesn't know how she should feel about having sex with a spirit or if that is even possible.

She looks me up and down, trying to determine if it's worth it, and speaks after a couple of minutes.

"I agree, but only after I know you killed those ten."

I smile and ask her to explain why she seeks the death of ten people, as I want to know if they deserve me to get my hands dirty and not out of her greed.

"It's a long story, so I will only give you the short version. That bed once belonged to my twin sister, and the ones I want you to kill are those who raped her and made her end up killing herself. They have power behind them, and they got away with the rape. My sister's life became hell after that as her school life went downhill, and she ended her life."

I looked at her with complete focus to see if she was lying, but all I could see was grief and rage. I don't think she is lying, and I don't have a problem killing them if what she said is true.