I was dreaming.

I knew that much.

The night was pitch dark, without the light of the moon to light the way, but the porcelain stars still hung overhead.

I was standing to the side, watching from a distance. Watching myself.

A younger version of me towered over a young girl, smiling down on her.

"Such a pretty face..." I sang, my upper kagune shrinking into my back once again. My tail remained out, poised to kill. "Such a shame... But you have to die. The strong must feed on the weak. And you. Are. Weak," I snarled, looking the terrified girl in the eyes. My tail snaked towards her face, stopping just barely a hair-width's from her neck.

"What's this?" I said, my voice laced with confusion.

Delicately, I took the thin chain from around her neck and held it up, revealing the silver crescent moon charm.

"It's pretty," I said, cracking a smile. "Can I have it?"

The girl nodded, stunned speechless.

"Really?" I asked, biting my lower lip. Once again, ghoul fell away to reveal the rather... human side of me. I had never been given anything before. It felt nice.

I snapped the chain off the girl's neck, turning away to hold the charm to the dim streetlight.

"Thank you," I said, remembering my manners as I skipped away, cradling the moon in my blood-caked hands. "In exchange for your gift... I'll let you live.

"You're bound to die sooner or later after all," I finished over my shoulder as I disappeared into the shadows.

"Sooner or later, sooner or later," I proceeded to sing to myself as I walked away. "Sooner it later. Everyone dies sooner or later. Sooner, if you're killed. But it doesn't matter. Nothing matters."

I smiled as the scene began swimming before my eyes. The buildings, the darkness, and the blood on my hands began to blur away, fading into the background as I awoke to light shining through my eyelids...