14. A Rainy Day

                                    

                                          
It was a rainy day, the dark clouds flew above the church as I made my way out of it with Lucy. Rain stood outside next to a tree, he was looking at his phone but he smiled and waved at me as soon as he saw me.
''What's Lucy doing with you?'' Rain asked, once I got close enough to him so I could hear him. ''Diablo asked me if I could take care of her while he's on a date with Roy.'' I replied. ''I was just going to take her out on a walk in the forest.''
Rain lifted up the sleeve of his coat to look at his watch. ''I've got some spare time, mind if I join you on your walk?'' I shook my head. ''Not at all. Do you have an umbrella somewhere? It's raining and I don't have an umbrella and that makes me uncomfortable because rain makes me wet and-''
Rain smirked at me. ''We slow-danced once and I do what now?''
My mouth fell open. I never expected him to say something like that. He didn't either. ''Oh I'm so sorry, I don't want to make you uncomfortable.'' He scratched his neck uncomfortably. ''I don't know what came over me, I usually never say things like that.''
I patted his shoulder. ''It's okay Rain, really, don't worry. I just think that you've been spending too much time with Dewdrop lately.'' Rain sighed in relief. ''Yea, that must be it.''
The leaves cracked underneath our feet with each step we took in the forest. The sun didn't shine, unlike the last time I was here. It wasn't just rainy, it was cloudy as well and quite cold actually. Even my coat couldn't stop me from shivering.
Rain gave me a concerned look. ''Are you cold?'' I nodded. ''Here, let me borrow you my coat, I don't need it anyways since well, I'm a ghoul.'' I raised my eyebrows. ''Then why do you have a coat in the first place?'' Rain chuckled, he was holding Lucy's tennis ball, she sat down and wagged her tail at him in the hope that he would throw it away for her. ''Papa ordered Roy to make matching coats for the ghouls, because he didn't know that we can't really feel temperature anyways. When he found out, Roy was already halfway done with making the coats for us, he finished making the coats and gave them to us anyways. I think that it's quite fashionable, the dark fabric matches my mask, so that's why I'm wearing it.'' He threw away the ball for Lucy, she happily started running after it. ''Here, you can wear it for now, you're clearly cold.'' He took off his coat and handed it to me. ''Since you don't mind it anyways, I might as well accept your offer.'' I smiled at him as I put on his coat. Because it was a few sizes bigger than my own coat, it fit easily over it. His coat smelled like him, and the fabric was thic and soft. ''Thank you, Rain.'' ''No problem.''
We walked past the point where I almost fell when Rain walked me through the woods in the dark after the Ritual-Afterparty. ''I can't go further than this, the border is there.'' Rain said. ''But we can go left here, I know a cool place there.'' I followed him onto the path I've never followed before.
Luckily for me, it stopped raining. Rain didn't really seemed to care about the weather. His name was Rain after all. I wondered why he just stood outside randomly, maybe water ghouls liked it when it was raining outside? I wanted to ask him that, but I knew that I had to ask him something else.
''Rain, I was just wondering,'' I began, ''how do you summon ghouls?'' ''Why would you want to know that? Am I not enough for you?'' I pushed him away playfully. ''No! You are enough! Of course you are, can I tell you a little secret? You are my favorite ghoul.'' Rain let out a nervous laugh. ''Am I? Wow, I'm honoured. And no, I was just kidding with you. So have you heard of the church's basement?'' ''The one place that's not on the map I got?'' ''Yes, there's a reason why there's no map of it. The church didn't know where to keep their prized possessions, so they designed the basement to be a maze that's protected by ghouls. I was actually a guard ghoul before I joined the band, and The Clergy gave me permission to let pastor Robertson enter the basement. And well, you already know the rest of the story.''
We arrived at a small lake in the woods. The water was reflecting the many clouds in the sky. ''Rain! This place is beautiful!'' I said. He smiled at me. ''I know, that's why I took you here.'' We sat down on a bench that looked out over the lake. Luckily, the bench wasn't wet because it was located next to a large oak tree.
''So, us ghouls are summoned in the room where they keep the book. They put the prized possessions in different rooms in the maze, like, every week. So it just doesn't happen in one specific room. It's mostly done by a Clergy member. They put candles in the shape of an upside-down pentagram inside of a circle of salt. They cast some spells from the book in a strange language, and then they put down the most important part of the summon session; "the offering".'' I gave him a shocked look. ''The what?'' ''Don't worry,'' he laughed, ''they offered a Milka Oreo chocolate bar to summon me.'' I burst out laughing. ''What?'' Rain laughed. ''I mean, how could I resist that? Anyways, then they keep you inside the circle of salt, talk with you, and if you're a cool ghoul, like me, they open the circle and you can start with your new job at the church.''
''Good to know that they keep the book safe there, it would be a shame if someone stole it again.'' I said, while I petted Lucy. ''Oh yeah, I don't know what I would do if the connection between hell and earth is lost once again. I love my family in hell, but I also love my friends at the church and... you. Uh, I'm sorry, that came out weird. I'm just saying, I'm just really glad that The Clergy takes the task of keeping the book safe so serious.''
''How did pastor Robertson get into the basement?'' I asked. ''He pretended to be in love with one of the Clergy members, and she let him into the basement.'' I thought for a second. ''Can you take me into the basement one time?'' Rain shook his head. ''Why would you want that? It's like, really cold there. Or so I've heard at least.'' ''Because, I've always had a thing for spooky places. And besides, I won't get cold if I bring your coat with me!'' Rain shook his head once again. ''No, it's not going to happen. If the guard ghouls don't kill me, The Clergy members will once they find out. And you wouldn't want me to be dead, would you?'' ''No, you are too precious to die.''
I was disgusted by myself for trying to use Rain to get into the basement. It really made me question if I wanted to keep doing this. But it was simply impossible to choose between my new friends and my amazing grandma.
After a while of talking with each other on the bench while looking out over the lake, we decided that it was time to walk back to the church.
''That's Ciara,'' Rain pointed at a ghoulette walking in our direction with her friend. ''She's scared of dogs.'' ''Oh, let me put Lucy back on her leash then.'' I yelled Lucy's name, she immediatley came back to us, like the good dog she is. I put her on her leash and we continued to walk. I might as well keep her on the leash, we were almost back at the church.
We greeted Ciara and her friend as we walked past them. Lucy got really excited for some reason. ''How can she still be full of energy?'' I asked. ''I mean, she just ran a lot. I would be tired if I were her and-''
Lucy decided that it would be a good idea to run around us. The leash around me pulled me closer to Rain, I could feel his body against mine. ''Oh, hey, you are like, really really close to me right now.'' He said. ''I'm so sorry, I tried to stop her, but she's too strong! This is uhm, awkward.'' Rain pulled my chin up so I was looking at his face. ''It doesn't have to be awkward. Let's just see if we can get out of this.'' We spend the next minute trying to get Lucy to walk the other way, and we wiggled ourselves out of the leash that was wrapped around our bodies.
''Now, let's forget about the last couple of minutes and go get some soup inside.'' I said. Rain smirked at me. ''But what if I don't want to forget that?''