Chapter 94: "Do It."

"Bryce," Vincent called when Bryce offered no response.

"It doesn’t matter anymore."

"Bryce, please don’t talk like that. It really hurts me knowing that I made you feel as though I would have been cruel enough to do something like that to you, knowing that I would never have found out about the baby."

Rather than address what Vincent had said, Bryce shifted his attention elsewhere.

"Do you think the power I possess could heal his leg? Why is it only getting worse instead of better?"

He rose from where he had been sitting and crossed toward the bed, leaving Vincent with no immediate answer to give.

Vincent watched him in silence as Bryce sat beside Dave and closed his eyes.

Bryce told himself that all he needed to do was concentrate on what he wanted. He had to believe that it would happen.

With that thought anchoring his mind, he focused entirely on Dave’s swollen leg and summoned the healing power within him, willing it to consume the injury.

Although, nothing happened, but Bryce refused to abandon the attempt.

He placed his hand over the bandage covering the wound, fixed his eyes upon the injured leg, and tried again.

This time, something responded. A purple, smoke-like energy gathered around the bandaged area, curling over the swelling before gradually enveloping it.

The change was immediate.

Dave’s leg began to decrease in size, the swelling receding until it matched the other leg. The difference was unmistakable beneath the short clothes he wore, leaving no doubt that the injury had changed.

"This is amazing," Vincent murmured in awe.

At that same moment, Dave jerked awake.

He shot upright with such abruptness that it seemed as though something had struck him awake.

His disorientation lasted only seconds before his eyes moved around the room, eventually settling on Bryce and then Vincent.

The sight of both men immediately seemed to overwhelm him. He shifted on the bed as though intending to get away, and Vincent instantly stepped forward.

"For heaven’s sake, stop being stubborn. You cannot leave this place with those people still after you."

"I’m going to the washroom. Help me with the crutches," Dave answered at once, as though getting away from them was more urgent than anything else.

The crutches were lying near the door, well beyond his immediate reach.

"I don’t think you need them anymore," Bryce said, still seated on the bed.

Dave looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

He was clearly oblivious to what had happened.

Bryce did not answer verbally. Instead, he shifted closer and reached for the bandage wrapped around Dave’s leg, beginning to remove it.

Since the swelling had disappeared, Bryce could only hope there was no wound left beneath the covering.

Dave watched his hands, confusion gradually giving way to realization. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed what had changed.

Bryce continued until the final section of the bandage came loose.

The moment the injured area was exposed, Dave’s eyes widened further.

"Wha... what happened?" he stammered.

"I possess some supernatural powers that were able to heal it," Bryce answered softly. The gentleness in his voice came naturally, without him consciously deciding that he wanted to speak to Dave that way.

"And to answer your question," he added, "I didn’t know any of this until a month ago, when I met Vincent. It’s a kind of world that exists somewhere I don’t know yet. It contains people who have supernatural abilities. I don’t even know how they came about.

I just know that I’m from there, and according to people who know better than myself, I was discarded by my own mother because she considered me weak, a humiliation- left me in some woods, and a goddess who apparently created us used some means to have me taken to an orphanage in this human world."

The explanation came more freely than Bryce expected, driven by a sudden need to explain what he had denied Dave earlier because of his anger toward him.

"I’m sorry about your mother," Dave muttered.

The absence of shock in his voice caught Bryce’s attention. After everything he had just revealed, Dave did not sound horrified or even particularly startled.

He simply sounded sorry.

"Nothing to be sorry about. I don’t actually care. I’m not planning to care either, nor am I planning to find out who she is."

Bryce’s answer came with more firmness than the words required, almost as though he needed to convince both Dave and himself that his mother’s identity meant nothing to him.

Silence settled over the room, none of them spoke for a moment. Vincent eventually cleared his throat, breaking the quiet.

"About how we came into existence... It’s said that the very first werewolf was initially a pure human, a woman and a man who didn’t have a child. Every day, they prayed and cried for the blessing of having one. One time, during a full moon, they sat outside and prayed while looking at the moon as though it were their god and could answer them."

Vincent’s explanation drew both men’s attention.

"To their utter surprise, the full moon was powerful enough to respond to their prayers. They saw visions telling them what kind of people they had become and what kind of child they would have.

They didn’t reject it as long as they could have a baby. It guided them until it moved them from the human world, creating another world that is not different from this human world, but is unacceptable to humans.

The moon gave people powers when they cried out for them, those who wished they could do this or that. And that’s how it came about. It gave birth to others until the world became far bigger than you could imagine. There are other unnatural beings there too. Not just werewolves."

Both Bryce and Dave looked unsettled by the mention of other unnatural beings. The revelation seemed to add another layer to a world that had already become difficult enough to comprehend.

"You’re not allowed to tell this to anyone, Dave," Vincent added.

Dave stayed quiet for a moment before giving a stiff nod.

"Okay."

His answer was so brief and accepting that it almost seemed as though he had decided to accept everything without attempting to understand any of it, perhaps because trying to make sense of what he had just learned might have driven him insane.

The casualness of his response made Vincent suspicious enough to slip into his thoughts and see what Dave was actually thinking about the warning.

But what he found was not concern over the secret.

What he found were questions about Bryce’s true nature and the supernatural powers he possessed, alongside painful thoughts about Bryce carrying another man’s child-

and the growing uncertainty over where Dave himself belonged and who he was supposed to become now that Bryce was gone from his life as well.

Vincent slipped back out of Dave’s thoughts when Bryce began speaking. His attention settled fully on Dave.

"We were actually thinking that maybe we could use these powers to erase the memories of those people who are bothering you.

It is possible to make them forget that you ever existed around them, forget that they owned any properties. If you want, we can make them sign back everything your father left them as well, and then make them wander off like homeless people until they are far away from somewhere you can never see them again."

Dave looked as though the suggestion had caught him completely off guard. He said nothing at first, but the shift in his expression made it obvious that he was weighing the proposal.

"Do it."

The answer came with certainty.

"But... there are other people who know about them and the property and everything."

"Whoever brings it up, we just need to know who they are and erase their memory as well," Vincent replied.

Dave considered that for another moment before his thoughts settled on something.

"My father’s burial is today. Perhaps you can use the opportunity to erase the memories of all the people who will be there, because they would be most of the people who know that family. But spare the bastards. I want to have a moment with them before they forget who I am."

"That’s a great opportunity. We’ll go with you," Bryce assured him.

"Thanks..." Dave answered quietly, then the room fell silent again.