Chapter 135 — The Second Voice
Henry woke screaming.
Brook was already moving before he understood what had happened.
Henry had been asleep against the wall.
One second.
Then the next—
he was on his feet.
His hands pressed against his head.
"Get out!"
Brook reached him.
"Henry."
Henry shoved him away.
Brook stumbled back.
Henry wasn't normally stronger than him.
That didn't matter.
Something had helped him.
Henry's eyes were closed.
His body shook violently.
"Get out!"
Sera stood.
Shoyo closed the book she had been reading.
Crowley moved toward the doorway.
"Don't let him outside."
Henry's head snapped toward him.
His eyes opened.
Black.
Crowley stopped.
Henry smiled.
Then his expression changed.
"No."
The blackness disappeared.
Henry dropped to his knees.
Brook caught him before he hit the ground.
Henry grabbed Brook's shirt.
"It's talking."
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
Henry's eyes moved around the room.
"It won't stop."
"Who's talking?"
Henry shook his head.
"I don't know."
Brook looked toward Crowley.
Crowley was watching Henry carefully.
"How many?"
Henry froze.
Brook turned toward him.
"What?"
Crowley didn't take his eyes off Henry.
"Ask him how many voices."
Brook looked back.
Henry swallowed.
"How many?"
Crowley nodded.
Henry's breathing became uneven.
"Too many."
Nobody moved.
Henry closed his eyes.
His face tightened.
"They're all talking at once."
Sera stepped closer.
"What are they saying?"
Henry laughed.
A broken sound.
"Different things."
He pressed his palms against his ears.
"They don't agree."
Brook frowned.
"About what?"
Henry suddenly went silent.
The room waited.
Then Henry whispered:
"You."
Brook stiffened.
Henry opened his eyes.
They were normal.
But his expression wasn't.
"They're talking about you."
Brook stepped closer.
"Who are they?"
Henry stared at him.
Then something changed.
His body relaxed.
Too suddenly.
Brook moved back.
Henry slowly lifted his head.
The smile returned.
Crowley spoke quietly.
"There."
Henry looked at him.
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
"The other one."
Henry smiled wider.
"No."
His voice came out strangely.
Still Henry.
But layered beneath it—
other voices.
"We are not one."
The room went silent.
Sera stepped forward.
Brook immediately put an arm in front of her.
The thing inside Henry looked at the gesture.
Then laughed.
"Still protecting."
Brook's face hardened.
"What are you?"
Henry tilted his head.
The blackness moved through his eyes.
"You gave us a name."
Crowley looked toward Shoyo.
Shoyo's expression tightened.
Henry continued.
"Ectoplasm."
The word hung in the room.
Brook stared at him.
"That's what you are?"
Henry smiled.
"It is what we became."
Crowley stepped forward.
"What were you before?"
Henry's smile faded.
For the first time—
the thing seemed confused.
"We…"
Henry pressed both hands against his head.
His voice changed.
"Don't."
Brook moved.
"Henry?"
Henry looked at him.
"Don't let them talk."
The blackness immediately returned.
Henry's head snapped back.
His body shook.
Brook heard a sound.
Whispering.
Not from Henry's mouth.
From somewhere inside the room.
Sera turned.
"Do you hear that?"
Crowley nodded slowly.
Shoyo's face went pale.
Brook couldn't hear anything.
But Sera could.
Her eyes moved toward Henry.
"They're inside him."
Crowley said.
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Henry laughed.
"No."
His voice layered again.
"Not only inside."
The whispering grew louder.
Brook finally heard it.
Voices.
Faint.
Overlapping.
A woman crying.
A man shouting.
Someone laughing.
Someone begging.
Henry's body stood in the middle of them all.
Brook reached for his weapon.
Crowley stopped him.
"Don't."
Brook looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because I don't think attacking him will help."
Brook's hand remained on the weapon.
Henry's mouth opened.
Several voices came out together.
"Please."
"Don't."
"He's coming."
"Help us."
Sera's face changed.
Brook looked toward her.
"What?"
Sera stared at Henry.
"I know that voice."
Crowley turned.
"What voice?"
Sera shook her head.
"I don't know."
Henry suddenly screamed.
Everything stopped.
His body fell forward.
Brook caught him.
Henry gasped for air.
The blackness vanished.
The whispering stopped.
For several seconds—
nothing happened.
Then Henry looked up.
"Did you hear them?"
Brook nodded.
Henry's face tightened.
"Good."
Brook frowned.
"Good?"
Henry looked terrified.
"Means I'm not going insane."
Nobody answered.
Henry swallowed.
"Yet."
They moved Henry to the centre of the room.
This time, nobody tied him.
Brook refused.
Rick didn't agree with the decision.
"That's stupid."
Brook looked at him.
"He's conscious."
Rick folded his arms.
"He was conscious before."
Brook's expression hardened.
"And?"
Rick didn't look away.
"And something else took control."
Henry looked between them.
"Thank you for discussing me like I'm furniture."
Rick glanced at him.
"You want me to pretend nothing happened?"
Henry stopped.
Rick continued.
"You are still Henry."
Henry nodded.
"Good."
"But you're also carrying something we don't understand."
The room became quiet.
Henry looked down.
Rick's voice softened.
"That doesn't mean we're abandoning you."
Henry glanced toward him.
Rick continued.
"But it means we have to be careful."
Brook looked at Henry.
Henry slowly nodded.
"Fair."
Brook frowned.
Henry smiled weakly.
"Don't look so surprised. I can occasionally be reasonable."
"Rarely."
Sera said.
Henry looked at her.
She almost smiled.
Almost.
Crowley pulled Shoyo aside.
Brook watched them.
They spoke quietly.
Brook couldn't hear everything.
But he caught enough.
"…more than one."
Crowley.
"I know."
Shoyo.
"How many?"
Crowley asked.
Shoyo didn't answer.
Brook walked toward them.
"Stop."
Both looked at him.
Brook folded his arms.
"Every time you two start whispering, something horrible happens."
Crowley sighed.
"That's unfair."
"It's accurate."
Shoyo looked at Brook.
"What do you want?"
"Answers."
Shoyo glanced toward Henry.
Then back at him.
"I believe the creature is carrying memories."
Brook frowned.
"Memories?"
Crowley continued.
"Not just its own."
Brook looked toward Henry.
"Previous hosts."
Henry looked up.
He had heard.
Brook noticed.
Henry's face had gone pale.
Shoyo nodded.
"Yes."
Brook stared.
"What happens when a host dies?"
Shoyo remained quiet.
Brook already knew he wasn't going to like the answer.
Crowley answered.
"The memories remain."
Henry stared at him.
"And the people?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Henry's voice became quiet.
"What happens to them?"
Shoyo looked at him.
"We don't know."
Henry laughed bitterly.
"That's comforting."
Sera sat across from Henry.
Brook immediately noticed.
She had something in her hand.
A piece of paper.
Henry raised an eyebrow.
"What are you doing?"
"Talking."
Henry stared.
"We've tried that."
"Not to you."
Brook stepped forward.
"Sera."
She looked at him.
"I know."
Brook didn't move.
Sera looked toward Henry.
"If it takes him, don't attack."
Brook frowned.
"That's a terrible plan."
"Probably."
Sera said.
Crowley stepped closer.
"But not necessarily."
Brook looked at him.
"You too?"
Crowley ignored him.
Sera placed the paper on the ground.
"Can you hear me?"
Henry's eyes remained normal.
"Yes."
"No."
Sera corrected.
"Not you."
Henry stared at her.
Then looked away.
Nothing happened.
Sera waited.
Henry yawned.
Brook sighed.
"Excellent."
Sera ignored him.
She placed her hand over the paper.
"Can you hear me?"
Silence.
Then Henry froze.
Brook immediately stepped forward.
Sera lifted her hand.
"Wait."
Henry's eyes slowly turned black.
Crowley moved closer.
Sera didn't.
She stared directly at him.
"Can you hear me?"
Henry smiled.
"Yes."
Sera nodded.
"Good."
Brook looked at her.
"What are you doing?"
Sera ignored him.
"Who are you?"
Henry laughed.
"We answered."
"Who were you?"
The smile disappeared.
Henry stared at her.
For the first time, Sera seemed to have asked something the creature didn't want to answer.
Brook noticed.
Sera did too.
"Who were you?"
Henry's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
His hands began shaking.
Brook reached for him.
Crowley grabbed his wrist.
Brook looked at him.
"Don't."
"He's hurting."
Crowley didn't let go.
"Or they are."
Henry suddenly spoke.
A woman's voice.
"Please."
Everyone froze.
Henry's face twisted.
A man's voice followed.
"He made us."
Another voice.
Young.
Too young.
"Don't put it back."
Sera became still.
Brook looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
Henry screamed.
The room shook.
Shoyo stepped forward.
"Stop."
Sera looked at her.
"Not yet."
"Sera."
"I almost had something."
Henry began laughing.
The voices overlapped.
Brook couldn't understand them.
Then—
one became clear.
"Elias."
Everything stopped.
Henry's body became still.
His eyes remained black.
His voice returned.
Layered.
Calm.
"We remember him."
Crowley stared.
"How?"
Henry slowly turned toward him.
"Because he made us."
Nobody moved.
Sera's hand tightened.
Henry continued.
"Not all at once."
The whispering returned.
"First there was one."
Brook stared.
Henry's voice continued.
"Then another."
The thing inside Henry smiled.
"Then he learned."
Crowley asked:
"Learned what?"
Henry looked directly at him.
"That death is wasteful."
Silence.
Henry continued.
"A body dies."
The blackness moved beneath his skin.
"A memory does not have to."
Brook's stomach tightened.
Sera whispered:
"He used people."
Henry's head tilted.
"Yes."
His smile widened.
"Many."
The room became cold.
Brook looked toward Shoyo.
She looked sick.
Crowley spoke carefully.
"What did Elias want?"
Henry became quiet.
Then all the voices whispered together:
"To remember everything."
Nobody spoke.
Henry's body suddenly jerked.
The blackness disappeared.
He collapsed.
Brook caught him.
Henry opened his eyes.
Normal again.
He looked around.
"What happened?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Henry noticed their expressions.
"Oh."
Brook helped him sit.
Henry rubbed his face.
"Did I say anything?"
Crowley looked at him.
"Yes."
Henry sighed.
"Was it bad?"
Brook looked toward the floor.
Henry followed his gaze.
"Brook."
Brook looked at him.
Henry's voice lowered.
"Was it me?"
Brook knew what he meant.
Henry wasn't asking what he said.
He was asking whether any part of him had chosen to say it.
Brook shook his head.
"No."
Henry searched his face.
"You sure?"
Brook nodded.
"Yeah."
Henry looked away.
But he didn't look convinced.
Night came.
Hades's guards remained outside.
The city beyond the guardhouse continued moving.
Brook could hear people in the distance.
Life.
Normal life.
Inside the room, nobody felt normal.
Henry sat near the window.
Rick eventually approached him.
Henry didn't look over.
"Going to tell me to stay away from everyone?"
Rick stood beside him.
"No."
Henry looked at him.
"Really?"
Rick shrugged.
"You know what it feels like to have someone else's decisions define you?"
Henry frowned.
Rick looked out the window.
"Probably not exactly like this."
Henry laughed quietly.
"That's one way to put it."
Rick continued.
"But you're still responsible for what you choose."
Henry looked at him.
"And if I don't get to choose?"
Rick's expression hardened slightly.
"Then we help you take it back."
Henry stared.
Rick walked away.
Henry watched him go.
Then looked toward Brook.
"Was that Rick being nice?"
Brook shrugged.
"I think so."
Henry nodded.
"Terrifying."
Later, Sera found Henry asleep.
This time, he wasn't screaming.
His face was peaceful.
Sera stood beside him.
Shoyo approached quietly.
"Leave him."
Sera looked at her.
"I wasn't going to wake him."
Shoyo glanced toward Henry.
"He needs rest."
Sera nodded.
Then looked at Shoyo.
"What did you recognize?"
Shoyo didn't answer.
Sera's voice hardened.
"Don't."
Shoyo looked at her.
"I'm tired."
Sera whispered.
"Of what?"
"Of everyone knowing something."
Shoyo looked toward the sleeping Henry.
Then answered quietly.
"When I saw something similar before…"
Sera waited.
"…it didn't remember the hosts."
Sera frowned.
"What?"
Shoyo's expression darkened.
"This does."
Sera stared at Henry.
Shoyo continued.
"And that means Elias changed it."
Crowley, sitting nearby, looked up.
"Into what?"
Shoyo didn't answer immediately.
Henry shifted in his sleep.
His lips moved.
Sera froze.
She leaned closer.
Henry was whispering.
At first, she couldn't understand him.
Then she heard the words.
"He's bored."
Sera slowly stepped back.
Henry continued sleeping.
His voice was barely audible.
"He's always bored."
Crowley stood.
Brook woke immediately.
"What?"
Sera pointed toward Henry.
Everyone listened.
Henry whispered again.
This time, his voice sounded different.
Young.
Frightened.
"Please."
His face tightened in his sleep.
Then—
"Elias…"
Silence.
Henry's eyes opened.
Black.
He smiled.
And the second voice whispered:
"He wants to remember you too."
End of Chapter 135