He woke up in a room, alone. It seemed to be a bedroom, but not one that belonged to anyone. It was mostly empty aside from a bed and a nightstand and a chair and a wardrobe, and there were no windows aside from a tiny one in the bathroom. The only door was locked and had strange symbols carved into it. An attempt to break the door down only led to more injuries and an exploded chair. There was some sort of magical forcefield preventing the door from being damaged. And he was too small to reach the window to try and get out that way. He had no way to escape. He was trapped. He talked to the walls, hoping that someone could hear him and would let him out. But no one answered.

Nearly a week passed. There was no food in the room, but luckily there was a sink to drink water from. He kind of started to feel like maybe he was just going to starve to death in there, but the strange symbols on his door started glowing, and a person came through the door like they were stepping out of a portal. The person brought him a severed human arm, told him that he could eat it, or starve, and left before he could protest. Malachi was horrified at the thought of having to eat human flesh, but was more afraid of the thought of starving to death, and forced himself to eat as much of the severed arm as he could.

As the days went by, he was delivered more chunks of meat from the mysterious glowing portal. Having nothing else to eat, he continued to eat as much of it as he could stomach, leaving the leftovers to rot in the corner (which, was not really helping his appetite) (also, this was later cleaned up by the weird scientist lady, because it was gross). The more flesh he ate, the easier it became to keep down. He thought maybe he was just getting used to it, or becoming desensitized, or something. However, he also started to notice that he was growing pale, and developing dark circles under his eyes. He started to worry that maybe the human meat was making him sick. But the strangest part was he swore his teeth were getting sharper every day.

He started to notice other strange symptoms, too. He stopped noticing when the room was dark, somehow still able to see. He wasn't able to sleep through the night anymore, and instead had to take several naps throughout the day. However, Malachi just kind of assumed it was because he didn't have a way of telling time. It was becoming increasingly difficult to tell when the day ended or began, and he started to lost track of how long he had been in there, despite trying his best to track the days by drawing tally marks on his wall with a Sharpie.

Since his meal was delivered at the same time every day, he started to anticipate it. Until a few days later, when no meal arrived. He started to panic, and realized that he had actually started to crave human flesh. He couldn't understand why, but something inside him was telling him that if he didn't feed, something bad was going to happen to him. He (as he often does) talks out loud in an attempt to get attention of the strange woman he'd seen before, but as per usual received no response. He becomes more frantic, but continues to be ignored, and eventually gives up, deciding he just needs a way to calm himself down.

Malachi tries to ignore the hunger for as long as he can, but there's something different about this type of hunger. The stronger the feeling got, the more he was filled with dread. It was hard to focus on anything but the way it would feel to sink his teeth into human meat. He couldn't stop imagining himself becoming violent, having thoughts of attacking another person, and ripping them apart. The thoughts scared him. He'd never experienced anything like this before.

His entire body ached, everything hurt. His muscles felt sore, which didn't make any sense, because all he'd been doing lately was pacing, laying in bed, or drawing. The changes started slowly at first, he swore he was getting paler, his nails seemed sharper, and something looked wrong with his limbs— he couldn't tell if he was imagining it, but it felt like they were getting longer, like they had been stretched out somehow. It was getting progressively harder to think, and he was quickly consumed by the hunger, the desperation, the bloodlust. Suddenly, something was happening to him— his entire body felt like it was on fire, he could hear his bones breaking, his muscles stretching, organs shifting around inside his body. The pain was too much for him to handle, and he blacked out.

When he woke up, Malachi's room was a wreck. Things were knocked over, there were scratches all over the walls, and there was blood all over the floor. And. All over him. He was covered in blood. But... it wasn't HIS blood. He didn't think he was injured. His body was sore, but he couldn't find any wounds on himself. He had no memory of anything that had happened while he was blacked out. Was he the one that did this...? But... how was that possible...?

He then noticed that the hunger he had felt prior to whatever had happened to him was now gone. While he was blacked out, he must've been fed, which would explain all the blood on his face (and the floor). He also realized that his body was back to normal again (well, as close as back to normal as it could be). Whatever had happened to him seemed to have been fixed now that he'd eaten. He thought about his previous theory that eating raw human meat was making him sick, and started to worry that maybe it had done something worse. He knew for sure that he definitely wasn't a normal human anymore. Maybe he wasn't even human anymore at all. After all, this kind of thing seemed like a textbook monster story— monster gets hungry, loses control, and turns into its true form in order to feed.

However, because he had blacked out, he had no idea what this "true form" was. His best guess was werewolf, maybe? Except for the fact that he's pretty sure werewolves don't eat entire human bodies. He's pretty sure they only eat the heart. Or, that's what they said on Supernatural, anyway. And Supernatural would never lie about monsters and is a reliable source for monster lore. He decided he would think about it later, after dealing with the mess he'd accidentally created.

Since he had nothing better to do, Malachi began experimenting with his new shapeshifting abilities. At first, it was difficult— not to mention painful. But the more he practiced, the more his pain tolerance increased. He spent most of his time waiting for his next meal, which would never come until it was too late, and he was already starving and out of control. Eventually, he managed to get good enough at shapeshifting that he was able to shift into his monster form while not literally starving to death. He learned that if he shapeshifted while calm, it wouldn't cause him to black out, and he had better control over his actions. He was even finally able to see himself in this form for the first time. He thought maybe if he could just get a look at his monster form, he might be able to figure out what kind of monster he was. However, after seeing himself, he still pretty much had no clue. He looked like a werewolf, but he definitely wasn't a wolf. Not any kind of wolf that he'd ever seen, at least. He looked more like... a hyena? Maybe...? So, he was some kind of... were-hyena? Was that even a thing?

Malachi was starting to get used to his new life. Although he still wondered every day if anyone was ever coming to save him, he started to figure that things weren't that bad. Sure, it was boring, but he supposed it could be worse. There's no way his friends would just leave him there— someone was definitely coming, he would just have to wait it out. He could do that. He would be okay for a bit longer. Plus, he had cool shapeshifting powers now! And he didn't even have to go to school, so he could just draw in his sketchbook all day without being bothered. He did really miss having people to talk to, though. Talking to himself wasn't as fun as talking to another human being. He'd never felt so lonely in his entire life.

Malachi was just hanging out and listening to music as he always does when the door to his room suddenly opened. His heart raced, and for a second he thought someone had finally come to rescue him. But to his dismay, it was just that old lady again. She wanted him to come do something for her, some kind of chore or task that she didn't feel like doing herself. Malachi didn't protest, eager to be able to leave the room he was trapped in, and maybe even get to talk to someone. He thought that maybe this was a good sign. Maybe this evil old lady was starting to trust him. Or maybe even care about him? If he could somehow make her like him enough, maybe she would decide to let him go? Or at the very least be a little bit nicer to him.

The mysterious old lady ordered him around, repeatedly referring to him as "goule", as if that were his name or something. He asked her if that's what he was— a "goule." She told him yes, that he was a "goule", but didn't bother explaining what this meant. She seemed to not like to answer questions, so Malachi figured he shouldn't bother her too much for now (in order to avoid putting her in more of a bad mood than she already was). He made an attempt to introduce himself, so that she could call him by name instead, but she ignored this, and continued to address him as just "goule." Malachi tried not to be upset with this, figuring that at some point she may come around. He asked for her name, and she introduced herself as Dr. Dubois.

After this, his door stayed unlocked, and he was able to wander around the cabin as much as he liked— well, as long as he stayed out of Dr. Dubois' way. He was cautious at first, only sticking to rooms he knew for sure he was allowed in, but eventually venturing into any room that didn't have a closed door. He still spent a lot of time in his room, but it was nice to be able to take a nap on a couch or sit next to an actual window and look outside. At first, he tried to leave Dr. Dubois alone. But he couldn't stand the lonliness anymore, and he didn't really have any other options in regards to people to talk to. He started hanging out in the same room as her, and she didn't seem too mad about it— she mostly just ignored him. Whenever she didn't seem to be in too bad of a mood, he would try to talk to her. She didn't seem to like him much, only giving him short responses, or telling him to go away, but the fact that she responded to him at all was a success to Malachi.

Over time, Malachi started to become less afraid of Dr. Dubois. He gained enough confidence to ask her for basic necessities, like a toothbrush and toothpaste, or soap, or even some extra clothes. To his surprise, she agreed. She started letting him use her washing machine to wash his clothes, so that he didn't have to wash them in the bath tub anymore. She even let him have a pair of scissors to use to cut his hair. He started helping her around the house more, and although she still didn't seem to like him, she at least seemed like she was starting to tolerate him. At this point, he was beginning to view her as a caretaker, and maybe even a mother figure. He became convinced that deep down, she was actually a nice person. Somehow, he could make her care aobut him, and then she wouldn't be so evil. Unfortunately none of this was true, and in reality was just unknowingly developing Stockholm syndrome.

Malachi continued to spend more and more time with Dr. Dubois. At some point, "Dr. Dubois" became "Dr. Ninette", which became "Ninette", and even later just "Nina." He talked to her about his art, and about his shows, and other things he liked. Most of the time, she had nothing to say in response, instead choosing to let him ramble on for however long he wanted. He was never entirely sure if she was listening, but sometimes, it sort of seemed like she was. Whenever he ran out of room in his sketchbook, she would get him a new one. Every once in a while, she would even get him art supplies. Before his life as a ghoul, his mom had never really approved of his art, so he took this as a sign of support. She even started to cave and give in to his more "uneccessary" requests, like extra blankets or pillows or stuffed animals (so many stuffed animals). She didn't snap at him or yell at him as much as before, except for when he ate all of the ice cubes out of the ice cube tray without refilling it. She still wasn't exactly nice to him, however, and would sometimes play mean tricks on him just for fun (for example, letting him have a cup of tea even though she knew it would make him sick).

Despite all this, Malachi was still miserable due to being in a constant state of starvation. Every time he lost control and shifted into his beast form and destroyed his room, he would mope about it for the next few days. Even worse, if he accidentally tore up something he cared about, like one of his stuffed animals, he would continue to be upset about it for at least the rest of the week (if he ever got over it at all). This was becoming a problem for Ninette, since she found Malachi much more annoying when he was sulking (ESPECIALLY when he would cry about things). In attempt to avoid this, she started butchering corpses for him and stuffing it in the freezer for him to eat whenever he wanted, as opposed to waiting until he entered starvation mode to feed him an entire corpse. Of course, Malachi once again took this as a sign that she cared about him.

Along the way, Malachi had also discovered that he had a second form he could shapeshift into, which was just a regular hyena (except bigger). Malachi badly wanted to go outside to run around, since he had been indoors so long he'd almost forgotten what it was like out there. Ninette agreed to set up a magical barrier, so that he could leave the cabin, but wouldn't be able to wander off outside of her line of sight. She figured it would be convenient for her, since he wouldn't be able to bother her from outside. Things seemed to be going really well for Malachi— he didn't have to stay in his room alone anymore, he had a bunch of fun art supplies, stuffed animals, he got to pick out some fun clothes to wear, he didn't have to be hungry all the time, AND he got to run around outside as a funny little animal and dig a bunch of holes in the ground. He had gotten so used to this way of living, that at this point, he would sometimes forget about his desire to be rescued.

Malachi still kind of had no idea how Ninette was getting all these corpses for him to eat, though. He knew that she used to be a professor who studied curses, so she was a scientist of some sort. He was vaguely aware that she was doing some kind of experiment, but he wasn't sure what exactly it was. He was too afraid to question it, and, to be completely honest, wasn't sure if he wanted to know. All he knew was that every once in a while, someone dropped a person off at her doorstep, and then he would go hide in his room and listen to music so that he couldn't hear the screaming.

Instead, he just decided not to think about it. He decided not to think about where his food came from. He had grown so desensitized to eating human meat that it was normal for him. It tasted good. And he enjoyed it.

Even though Malachi had lost track of time a long, long time ago, he continued to mark each day that passed with a tally mark on his wall. By then, the wall was covered in tally marks, and he barely had any space left to draw them. He didn't know how much time had passed, just that he was taller and older now. He often thought about Reid and Blaire, wondering what their life was like. He still clung to the hope that one day, one of them was going to save him. At the same time, though, in order to cope, he had deluded himself into thinking he enjoyed living like this. It was cool and fun to be a monster. Nina was nice to him and cared about him. Corpse meat was tasty and he liked to eat it. He didn't have to worry about anything, he could just sleep and draw and write and listen to music all day. Everthing was okay. He was going to be okay. But the truth was that he was living in an entirely different reality than the one he was actually in.

im not done writing this sorry

Trivia

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• In sed tempus magna. In at luctus ex. Aenean ultrices massa ut velit viverra eleifend.

After realizing that he can never go back to living a normal life, Malachi decides he needs to devise some kind of plan to find Reid and Blaire so that he won't be alone anymore. He waits until night falls, shifts into his hyena form, and gathers his courage to cross over the boundary of the fence surrounding Ninette's cabin, leaving the area for the first time in 10 years. It's been so long that his memory of the area is a little foggy, but he manages to head outside of the forest and back towards town. He makes his way to his old neighborhood, where he, Blaire, and Reid had lived as kids. He snoops around Reid and Blaire's house, looking for signs that they might still be there, but to his disappointment, doesn't find anything. Before leaving, he considers checking his own house to see if his family is still there, but his anxiety gets the better of him, and he decides not to.

He supposes it makes sense that Reid and Blaire don't live at home anymore, since at this point they're, uh... 25? (Why did you have to think about that so long dude it's just 15+10) So they probably went to college already and have jobs and stuff. For all he knows, they might not even live in Pinestead anymore. But if they do, maybe there was some way to bring them to him instead? Blaire could never resist a good mystery, perhaps he could lure her to him with the temptation of something interesting to investigate? And then Blaire could stay with him at the cabin, and Reid would notice she was gone and would come looking for her, and they would know exactly where to go to find her. Yeah, it could be fun! It would be just like when they were kids, and Blaire would make someone pretend to be the bad guy so she could solve their crimes. It would be like that, except better, 'cuz it's more real.

Well, except for then what is he supposed to do? He's a monster now. No matter what he's going to be alone living out in the middle of the woods forever. Maybe Reid and Blaire would visit him, but he would still be alone for the most part. But, then again, being a monster is super cool and awesome. So maybe they would want to join him. If he could bring them to the cabin, and convince them to eat a bit of human meat, then they would turn into ghouls too, and they could all be super epic monster best friends together forever! Finally, he was starting to form a plan. A completely sane plan that any normal person would logically come up with and has nothing wrong with it at all. And Reid and Blaire would totally understand that this is all just a silly little harmless game and not get really mad at him for committing a series of serious crimes and also causing them to think that their lives are in actual danger. And also that his two best friends would be completely willing to eat meat from a human corpse and that there's nothing weird or gross about that at all.

Malachi goes home for the night, not wanting to be seen as a giant hyena wandering around a town during the daytime. He takes some time to think more about his plan (and also take multiple naps). First of all he needed to find a way to get human meat so that Reid and Blaire could eat it. He briefly considers the fact that Ninette's body is still just kinda in the house and he could probably give them that but the thought makes him feel way too guilty and he proceeds to force himself to forget about it completely. Luckily though, a ghoul can smell a fresh corpse from like 10 miles away (literally) and it smells like someone was just recently buried in the graveyard. All he would have to do is go dig it up, which would be really easy for him condsidering he's super strong and can turn into a giant beast. Plus, he figures that a grave being dug up and robbed would probably be enough to pique Blaire's interest, and lure her to the graveyard.

And so the next night, he does exactly that— shifts into his beast form, sneaks into the graveyard, digs up the freshest smelling grave, and brings it back with him to the cabin. He uses his claws to dig up the dirt and tear open the casket and leaves a bit of a mess, just to make it more interesting. Once he's back at the cabin, he tears the body up to stuff into the freezer (it's not nearly as pretty as when Ninette would butcher her failed experiments for him to eat). He has a bit of a snack, but makes sure to leave the tastiest parts for Reid and Blaire, because they are his best friends they deserve only the best :)

Now, all he has to do is lurk around the graveyard, and wait for Blaire to show. And surely enough, the next night, she does. He lets her poke around the crime scene for a bit before grabbing her and picking her up in his mouth while in beast form. Now of course, Blaire is panicking, because there is a giant monster trying to eat her, but he figures she'll calm down and be fine once they get to the cabin. However, on the way there, Blaire fainted, probably from being jostled around 7-8ft up in the air, and also seeing an actual monster in real life for the first time ever instead of in a horror movie. So, he sets her down on the couch and waits for her to wake up.

Once Blaire wakes up, she is alarmed and confused, but suddenly recognizes Malachi, which he gets excited about. He is somewhat disappointed, however, that Blaire doesn't really seem that happy to see him. She accuses him of kidnapping her, which he denies, stating that he had to bring her here by surprise, otherwise it would ruin "the plan." He refuses to elaborate on what "the plan" is, because that would also ruin "the plan." At this point, Blaire is becoming increasingly creeped out, and wants to go home. Malachi tries to convince her to stay, saying that they would just be having a sleepover, but Blaire is uncomfortable and tries to leave. Malachi panics, and grabs her (starting to shapeshift due to stress) and throws her in his room, closing her in there. He drags a bookshelf in front of the door so that it can't be opened.

Malachi leaves Blaire locked in his room as he waits for Reid to come find them. He gives Blaire whatever people food was left over in Ninette's fridge, because he wants Reid and Blaire to become ghouls with him together. At some point, though, the food supply runs out.

It takes Reid longer than Malachi anticipated to find them, but they eventually show up at the cabin. He follows them around as they investigate, waiting for the right time to greet them. After Reid stumbles upon Ninette's decaying body, Malachi comes up behind them to reveal himself. Reid is at first startled, and almost doesn't recognize him. Unfortunately for Malachi, Reid is also not too happy to see him. They get angry at him, demanding to know where Blaire is. They get into a physical altercation which ends with Reid falling against the floor, hitting their head and becoming unconscious. Not entirely knowing what to do, since his plan is going so horribly wrong, Malachi drags them to his room and locks them in there with Blaire.

While Reid and Blaire are locked in his room Malachi prepares their very special meal of human corpse. After everything is ready, he goes to get Reid and Blaire to bring them to the dining room with him so they can eat. Reid wants to fight him again, but Blaire asks them not to, and to just go along with whatever he's planning for now, since she hasn't eaten and is getting kind of weak. Reid agrees, although reluctantly, because they're convinced Malachi is going to kill them. Blaire tries to reassure him that he probably wouldn't do that. Probably.

Malachi sits them down and brings them their "food." He apologizes that it isn't fresh, and that since it's from the graveyard it probably tastes a little bit chemically. He chose a tender body part so that they would have an easier time chewing it with their human teeth, but not to worry, because once they become ghouls like him, they'll be able to bite through anything, even bone (to demonstrate, he takes a bite out of a dismembered human arm, crunching through the hand and finger bones). Reid and Blaire are confused, and don't understand what's going on. So Malachi explains that the meat is human meat, and he wants them to eat it so they can become ghouls with him, and they can be monster best friends forever.

Unsurprisingly, Reid and Blaire refuse, because there is no way in hell they're going to eat human meat from a dead body. And also, they don't really want to become monsters. This upsets Malachi, as he'd done all this work to make his evil plan and bring them all together and find them a nice meal. Blaire pleads with him not to do this, because she knows this isn't who he is. This sets Malachi off, because he feels like Reid and Blaire don't know him anymore, because they abandoned him and never came back. He has a breakdown and starts to accuse them of abandoning him, not caring about whether he lived or died, that everything that happened to him was their fault. He can't control his emotions and shapeshifts into his beast form and tries to attack Reid and Blaire.

Reid fights Malachi off while trying to not die and calm him down at the same time. At first Malachi seems to not even be able to understand them, but as they try to reason with him it starts to seem like he's starting to regain control over his thoughts. But right as he corners Reid, and Reid thinks he's about to kill them, he manages to calm down enough to shift mostly back into his human form. He's upset, and tells Reid that he doesn't want to hurt them. Reid tries to insist that he doesn't have to, and that they and Blaire can help him, but this only makes him more upset. He feels like nobody can undo the things he's done, nobody can fix him or help him. He has to do this, because he's the bad guy now. He has no other choice.

As he gets more and more upset, he starts to transform again. But luckily, Reid is able to pin him down before he can fully transform, and uses a knife to carve a curse-breaking sigil into his flesh. Malachi thinks Reid is trying to murder him and escapes, but calms down once the sigil is fully carved into his skin, and his body shifts back into its humanoid form. He seems confused, like he doesn't remember anything that just happened. Reid and Blaire explain that he went monstermode and tried to kill them, but that Reid used a special sigil to break his curse. Malachi is apologetic, feeling awful about what he's done. He hugs Reid, thanking them for breaking the curse, and telling him that he always knew they would come back to save him.

At this point, Denver shows up with Father Abner, having entirely missed the whole final boss fight thing. He helps tend to everyones wounds, and talks to Reid about what they should do next.

EPILOGUE

In the epilogue, Reid and Blaire visit Malachi to bring him some raw meat and fresh strawberries for him to eat. Malachi has been resting, healing from having a sigil carved into his skin (he isn't used to healing at a normal human rate since he's been a ghoul for so long). He's also been trying to readjust to his new way of living, being able to eat things besides human meat, getting hungrier more often than he used to, not being able to shapeshift anymore. He's very excited about the fact that he can have treats now, however neither Reid nor Blaire are entirely sure what he can or can't eat, so they pretty much stick to the rules of whatever dogs or cats can eat (since he is essentially just a regular carnivore now). Malachi looks a lot healthier now than he did when he was cursed— he's less pale, and the deep purple circles under his eyes have lessened (but the dark circles haven't gone away completely, he still has trouble sleeping).

The three of them have all forgiven eachother for the crimes that Malachi committed and for what happened to Malachi after he got kidnapped (he no longer blames Reid or Blaire for what happened). It's implied that Reid and Blaire have been visiting Malachi regularly and it seems like everything is back to normal :) Well, almost. Because Malachi still isn't a completely normal human. But this doesn't bother Reid or Blaire. They still love him all the same.