Flip the Coin [BL]-Chapter 347. Tree

My consciousness twisted and turned, disappearing before being pieced together, my memory dwindled, my mind dulled, and my senses sharpened.

"Come here, Kittykittykittyyy!" The old female makes the sound that means I will get a treat, so I jump up to follow her through the mansion, down the steps, and out into the garden in front of the house to finally stand in front of a big dark green car.

"Here, jump inside." She points at the large trunk of the car.

"Mrs. Howard... are you sure that he should come with us?" The young male asks.

"Obviously, SHE will accompany us." The old female responds.

"God, I miss my limousine." She continues before again pointing at the trunk of the car.

I jump into it and try to find a position in which I can lie comfortably, but in this little space I have to curl up to fit.

"Don’t worry, my dear; the heavy work has already been done by the youngsters." She pats my head, and I lean in for more.

She takes out a bone that still has flesh around it and puts it in my mouth.

"Stay obedient." She raises a finger before touching my nose.

"What am I talking about? You are the most obedient and least disappointing!" She smiles and shuts the trunk.

I play with the bone, nibble on it, and try to get off whatever is left of the flesh while the car starts.

"Apparently, the portal leads into a tent." The young male speaks.

"The portal was open?" The old female asks.

"Yes, it seems like it. Kenny’s friends found a young woman who did survive inside; apparently, she had an interesting story to tell."

I stop, hearing a word I know, a word I feel familiar with.

Then the smell of the meat wafts strongly into my nose, and I continue to peel it off the bone.

"...Tell me about this later. What about the other soldiers? If they had an open portal, their base was surely protected, wasn’t it?" The old female asks.

"Most soldiers crossed the portal to help the people that were attacked inside this other world; the rest were taken out by Kenny’s friends. The only survivor said that there was a dragon that attacked them." The young male explains.

I halt again, look around, groom my hand, then turn back to the bone.

"A dragon?" The old female asks, and I snort.

"That is what she said, but they found no monster near the tents."

"I hope they are waiting, just like. it. was. planned." The old female.

"Naturally they are, Mrs. Howard; we will be there soon anyway." The young male replies.

Soon the bone has no flesh left on it, so I keep it in my mouth and doze off.

****

"Kitty, we are here!" My head is patted, and the bone is taken from my mouth.

I open my eyes, feeling a certain energy in the air, something that makes me restless.

I don’t want to come out of the trunk, but the old female lifts the upper half of my body and pulls me out.

"No treats for kitties that aren’t obedient!" She touches my nose, and I look away, at my surroundings.

An area with thick fences around it and a big building in the middle.

In front are young males, holding weapons in their hands.

"How is the situation?" We walk to them, and the young male we came with asks.

"We went out of the tent on the other side, but we didn’t go far; we just looked around at the other tents. There is a capsule with a shattered window, and—"

Another male approaches the group.

"I took a look at the computer beside the portal; it is coupled with that capsule. The moment the capsule was destroyed, the portal opened through the machines—the whole thing is similar to technology in my world; however, we never had someone who could open or close portals, so we didn’t come this far."

"You mean Henry’s sister was inside the capsule?" A young male with a weapon asks.

"I know for sure that she was inside because her data was in the machine."

"Let’s go inside first." The male we came with says.

The young males with weapons go first, then the old female with the two other males; I follow behind them.

I smell blood, early decay, urine, and feces.

I move my ears uncomfortably, feeling my hair stand up.

We enter the building, and I see a few dead males. We take a very big elevator down a few stories.

We enter a huge room with many shelves and things on them.

The energy is stronger, and I move my head, let my eyes wander, and listen to each sound, interpreting whether there is danger.

There are two more people: the young female that smells of fear and sweat and the old male.

The old male sits at a big computer in front of a large half-round metallic doorframe.

When I see the door, I growl, and the old female turns around and comes to pat my head.

"Don’t be scared, my precious Kitty."

"What is that all about a capsule?" She turns to the old male.

"This facility is declared a military warehouse; security is high, but nothing here should be top secret. It was a wonder Mr. Hendricks even found it."

"Do you want this old lady to praise him for doing the work you couldn’t accomplish? Why can’t you answer my question?" The old female asks.

"...No, I apologize. The military marked Henrietta’s files as top secret, but even when I decoded the document about her, I found only her bodily data. No interviews, no questioning, no report of day-to-day activities, like with all the other survivors..."

"You stalked not only me but also my grandson; I already know!" The old female says loudly.

A few of the young males laugh.

"... It wasn’t me personally...but I apologize. I meant that now it makes sense. I think they used drugs on her, put her to sleep, and extracted her power to open and close portals."

"Let’s hope it was their first one." A male said.

"It doesn’t matter. What are we waiting for? Let’s go inside! That imbecile is forcing us to form a search group to escort him home! Wait until I find him!"

I feel a slight shudder at the way she swings the stick she is holding.

"We go first." The young males with weapons go to the door and disappear.

"Come." The old female waves at me, and I hiss and spit, not wanting to be near the door, but she grabs my neck and drags me inside with her.

The energy around me changes; everything changes, and my instincts scream and yell, telling me that it was a mistake, a grave mistake, to have crossed what cannot be crossed.

I suddenly stand inside a tent, dead people around me.

"What a hassle!" The old female yells and lets go of me to pat her heart.

She leaves the tent, and I follow her, seeing more dead people.

They smell disgusting.

I walk around and raise my head, perceiving something in the air that is familiar enough to grab my full attention. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

I turn my body in the direction of the smell.

"Bring Jeyjey. Wait until we find that thankless fellow, then try to get home with her help; we will test her power on the go." The old female says.

"No, I will help find them."

The old female harrumphs and looks around.

That is when I can’t contain myself anymore, and I run, following the smell, or maybe it is intuition that is calling for me.

"KITTY!" The old female screams behind me, but I can’t stop; I need to find, need to find, need to find.

In the blink of an eye, I am out of their reach, running through the forest speedily, all my senses directed at this one and only smell.

I run until I come across a large empty field with dark earth and a big black pulsing flower growing in the middle.

I ignore the flower and continue to run and run and run until I am again inside a forest.

The smell is stronger, and a picture appears in my mind—the picture of an opening to the insides of a hollow tree.

I run and soon find the right tree.

I circle the tree and sit in front of it.

I hear four beating hearts inside the right tree.

I smell four different living beings inside the tree.

But I see no way to get inside; it is just a thick tree.

There is no opening.

It’s just a tree.