Chapter 138 — The Things Outside
Nobody mentioned the roar again.
Not at first.
They kept walking.
That was how Xcution dealt with things they didn't understand.
Move.
Stay together.
Pretend the sound behind you wasn't important until it became impossible to ignore.
Brook walked near the front.
Rick was ahead of him.
Shoyo moved beside Rick, her eyes constantly searching the trees.
Sera stayed close behind Brook.
Henry and Crowley followed.
Nobody had discussed their positions.
They had simply fallen into them.
Brook knew why.
Henry was still carrying something they didn't understand.
Sera was still a target.
Crowley was—
Brook didn't know what Crowley was anymore.
And Shoyo knew too much.
That left Rick.
Rick was the only person Brook trusted to watch the front without needing to say anything.
The forest grew thicker around them.
Henry looked over his shoulder.
"Do you think it's following us?"
Brook didn't turn.
"Probably."
Henry sighed.
"Comforting."
"You asked."
"I regret it."
Crowley spoke from behind them.
"That's personal growth."
Henry looked back.
"From you?"
Crowley shrugged.
"I've been alive long enough to develop some."
Henry smiled.
"Any chance you developed the ability to make this less terrifying?"
Crowley thought for a moment.
"No."
Henry nodded.
"Expected."
The path slowly disappeared beneath the roots.
Trees rose around them like walls.
Brook hated that.
He had spent his entire life surrounded by walls.
He didn't need the forest doing the same thing.
Sera noticed him looking around.
"You're tense."
Brook glanced at her.
"You think?"
She almost smiled.
Brook looked ahead again.
The silence lasted for several seconds.
Then Sera spoke quietly.
"You know you don't have to act like you're fine."
Brook looked at her.
"I'm not."
Sera nodded.
"I know."
Brook waited.
Sera continued.
"You always get quieter."
Brook frowned.
"Do I?"
"Yes."
Henry immediately spoke from behind them.
"You do."
Brook turned.
Henry smiled.
Brook pointed at him.
"Stay out of it."
Henry raised his hands.
"Just confirming."
Crowley added:
"He's right."
Brook stared at him.
"Why is everyone suddenly studying me?"
Crowley smiled faintly.
"We're bored."
Brook shook his head.
Then kept walking.
But Sera smiled.
That was enough.
They reached a clearing shortly after midday.
A small pool sat at its centre.
The water was completely still.
Henry stopped walking.
Brook noticed immediately.
"What?"
Henry didn't answer.
He stared at the water.
Sera moved closer.
"Henry."
His face tightened.
"I don't like it."
Brook looked at the pool.
"It hasn't done anything."
Henry slowly looked at him.
"That isn't reassuring anymore."
Brook understood.
Since the Ectoplasm had entered him, nothing needed to be doing anything to be dangerous.
Shoyo stepped into the clearing.
She studied the water.
Rick remained near the trees.
Crowley moved closer to Henry.
"Can you feel something?"
Henry shook his head.
"No."
Crowley waited.
Henry looked uncomfortable.
Then he corrected himself.
"Not exactly."
Brook stepped toward him.
"What does that mean?"
Henry swallowed.
"It feels familiar."
Nobody moved.
Henry slowly walked toward the water.
Brook immediately followed.
Henry looked at him.
"Don't."
Brook kept walking.
"You're going to get annoying."
Brook stopped beside him.
"Already am."
Henry almost smiled.
Then looked back at the water.
His reflection stared up at him.
Normal.
Henry's face.
His brown eyes.
Then—
the reflection smiled.
Henry wasn't smiling.
Brook grabbed him by the arm.
"Move."
The water exploded.
A black shape rose from beneath the surface.
Sera jumped back.
Rick drew his sword.
Henry stumbled away.
The black substance reached toward him.
Then dropped.
The water became still again.
Brook pulled Henry farther from the pool.
Nobody spoke.
Henry stared.
"That was not me."
Brook looked at him.
"I know."
Henry's breathing was uneven.
Crowley approached the water.
Shoyo immediately stopped him.
"No."
Crowley looked at her.
"You planning to explain why?"
"No."
Crowley smiled bitterly.
"Of course."
Shoyo stared at the pool.
"The fragments are following him."
Henry looked at her.
"Then why didn't it take me?"
Shoyo's expression hardened.
"Maybe it couldn't."
Henry frowned.
"Why?"
Nobody answered.
Sera slowly looked toward Brook.
Then toward Crowley.
Crowley understood before anyone else.
"Because of them."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Crowley pointed toward himself.
Then Brook.
"The Ectoplasm couldn't take us."
Henry stared.
"Why?"
Brook looked at Crowley.
Crowley shook his head.
"I don't know."
Henry looked toward the water.
"So it can take me but not you?"
Brook's face tightened.
Henry laughed quietly.
"That's insulting."
"Henry."
Brook warned.
Henry stopped.
Then looked at him.
"Sorry."
They left the clearing.
No one wanted to remain near the water.
The forest seemed different afterward.
Brook couldn't explain why.
The trees hadn't changed.
The ground hadn't changed.
But something felt closer.
Henry walked in silence.
Eventually, Sera moved beside him.
"Are you okay?"
Henry looked at her.
"No."
Sera nodded.
"Fair."
Henry looked ahead.
"I saw something."
Brook heard.
He slowed.
Crowley did too.
Henry continued.
"While I was looking at the water."
Sera waited.
"What?"
Henry's face changed.
"A room."
Crowley immediately looked at him.
Henry noticed.
"You know it?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Henry continued.
"White walls."
Shoyo stopped.
Everyone noticed.
Henry's voice lowered.
"There was a table."
Brook looked at him.
"Who was on it?"
Henry shook his head.
"I couldn't see."
Sera asked:
"Who was there?"
Henry's face became pale.
"Elias."
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Henry looked toward the trees.
"He was standing over someone."
Brook's hand tightened around his weapon.
Henry continued.
"I could hear screaming."
Crowley's expression changed.
"Henry."
Henry looked at him.
"They weren't memories."
Nobody spoke.
Henry swallowed.
"The voices."
Brook understood.
The Ectoplasm.
The people inside it.
Henry's breathing became heavier.
"I think they're still alive."
Sera stared at him.
"Inside it?"
Henry nodded.
"Somehow."
Crowley looked away.
Shoyo closed her eyes.
Brook's voice was quiet.
"Elias made it."
Henry nodded.
"Yeah."
Brook looked toward the forest ahead.
The anger came slowly.
Cold.
Controlled.
Elias wasn't simply experimenting.
He was taking people.
Keeping something from them.
Death.
Peace.
The right to disappear.
Brook felt sick.
Henry looked at him.
"You okay?"
Brook nodded.
"No."
Henry stared.
Brook corrected himself.
"Not really."
Henry understood.
A sound moved through the trees.
Everyone stopped.
Rick raised his sword.
Brook drew his weapon.
The forest went silent.
Henry stepped backward.
"That's not good."
Something moved between the trees.
Branches snapped.
Then a figure stepped into view.
Tall.
Thin.
Its body was covered in pale moss.
Long dark hair covered most of its face.
Brook stared.
Henry whispered:
"Please don't attack us."
The creature stopped.
It looked directly at Henry.
Henry became still.
The creature opened its mouth.
"Broken."
Henry's face changed.
Then the creature looked at Sera.
"Door."
Sera stiffened.
Brook moved slightly in front of her.
The creature looked at Brook.
Its head tilted.
"Change."
Brook's grip tightened.
Then it looked at Crowley.
The creature froze.
For several seconds—
nothing moved.
Crowley stepped forward.
The creature immediately stumbled backward.
Its mouth opened.
A terrified scream tore through the forest.
Then it ran.
Brook watched it disappear.
Henry slowly turned toward Crowley.
"What did you do?"
Crowley frowned.
"Nothing."
Henry stared.
"That's becoming less believable."
Shoyo wasn't looking at Crowley.
She was staring into the trees.
Brook noticed.
"What?"
Shoyo whispered:
"It wasn't afraid of Crowley."
Brook waited.
Shoyo slowly looked toward the direction the creature had run.
"It was warning us."
The ground trembled.
Everyone froze.
A second tremor followed.
Closer.
Henry looked around.
"What is that?"
Something massive moved through the forest.
Branches broke.
Trees bent.
Brook saw a shape.
Pale fur.
Antlers.
A Vardø.
It ran across the clearing.
Not toward them.
Past them.
Fast.
Terrified.
Another followed.
Then another.
Brook watched the creatures disappear.
Henry's voice became quiet.
"They're running."
Crowley nodded.
"Yes."
Brook looked toward the direction they had come from.
"From what?"
The answer came as a roar.
The entire forest shook.
Sera froze.
Brook turned toward her.
Her face had gone pale.
He knew immediately.
The sound wasn't unfamiliar.
Brook had heard it before.
He remembered Sera bleeding.
Remembered her lying near death.
Remembered Elias standing over her.
And remembered the creature beside him.
Brook's jaw tightened.
"Azael."
Henry looked toward the darkness.
"That's the beast?"
Nobody answered.
The roar came again.
Closer.
Trees shook.
Birds exploded into the sky.
Rick stepped forward.
Brook moved beside him.
Sera stood behind them.
Her breathing had changed.
Brook glanced back.
"You good?"
She looked at him.
"No."
Brook nodded.
"Stay close."
Sera's expression hardened.
"I know."
Brook looked toward the forest again.
Then—
another roar answered.
Everyone became still.
This one was different.
Deep.
Old.
The sound didn't feel like anger.
It felt like a warning.
The ground trembled.
Henry looked at Brook.
"That's not Azael."
"No."
Crowley said quietly.
Brook looked toward him.
Crowley stared into the darkness.
"I've heard something like that before."
Brook waited.
Crowley's expression tightened.
Then he shook his head.
"But I don't remember what."
A third Vardø burst through the trees.
Its body was covered in blood.
Not its own.
The creature stopped.
Looked toward Xcution.
Then looked behind it.
Its entire body shook.
Henry whispered:
"What is chasing them?"
The Vardø didn't answer.
It ran.
Azael roared again.
Closer.
The unknown creature answered.
Closer.
Two monsters.
Somewhere inside the forest.
And between them—
Xcution.
Brook tightened his grip on his weapon.
Rick moved beside him.
Crowley stepped closer to Sera.
Shoyo stared into the darkness.
Henry swallowed.
"Any ideas?"
Nobody answered.
Then Brook heard something.
Footsteps.
Heavy.
Slow.
Coming from the trees.
Not Azael.
The other thing.
And Brook realized the Vardø hadn't been running from a monster.
They had been running from something worse.
End of Chapter 138