Flip the Coin [BL]-Chapter 356. Remember, remember;

I didn’t anticipate that he’d ask that.

Crossing my arms and bumping the back of my head softly against the closed door behind me, I thought of the day I saw in a vision of what exactly had happened to Henry at the hands of Dr. Carell.

How I got into the bathroom inside the center and got rid of the ankle monitor and the bracelet.

How I conjured up dark clothes and teleported to Dr. Carell.

How I, contrary to my actual memories, didn’t break his neck but ripped his arm off when I saw him sitting at his desk.

How he turned and screamed deafeningly when I grabbed his jaw and pulled it off.

How the blood splattered inside the small room, how the screaming subsided, and he lost consciousness, followed by me smashing his torso until he died for good.

How I gathered his parts in a conjured-up trash bag and teleported into the desert.

And how I teleported into the ocean to wash the blood off, how I teleported back into the desert, dried myself off, changed my clothes, and dug his grave.

How I emptied the trash bag inside the hole I dug.

And how I looked at the sky in the desert while smoking before I later went to get Henry’s necklace from some foreign country.

All these memories were as real as the one of me simply breaking Dr. Carell’s neck, so if someone were to ask me which version had actually happened, I wouldn’t be able to answer.

But everything hinted at the violent version to be real, from what I saw of Dr. Carell’s corpse later and how the memories matching the corpse’s state came to my mind instantly without problems and also without the baggage of guilt or doubt.

As I rummaged through the memories of my time inside the center, I also remembered waking up at night and... talking with Henry.

I remember telling him I was ’Kenneth.’ I remember that I was dazed and confused but also clear about this identity.

I remember thinking I WAS the giant, as my memories were chaotic and jumbled together, and how sometimes when I woke up at night, I would just forget my own memories and only remember the ones of the giant.

The riddle of how I appeared inside the crystalline world was now also finally solved, with my muddled self wanting to teleport to ’Hannibal’ and landing where the commander was.

I hummed and opened my eyes.

I looked at my grumpy grandma and at Ethan before I turned to the window and let these memories sink in.

It seemed I put my dog through more than I had thought.

I will—now that I recalled it—never again forget the terror-stricken and panicked expression on his face, before he hid it behind a frozen mask, when he was confronted with my confused self.

Such a dumb dog. He was probably so damn scared that it was really the giant that took over my body that he didn’t dare to tell me about my demented behavior. And all that useless dreading even though I already told him that the giant was dead—there was no way he could appear inside my body.

My mind got just so damn messed up by one counterpart, luckily to later be healed by another.

Fuck... that face he made back then really pulled at my heartstrings, especially how insecure he was the next day sitting lethargically on his own bed instead of hovering around me.

Goddamn it! And all he told me was just that he just had a bad dream.

Let’s get this over with so that I can go to Henry.

"First, Dr. Carell, who was brought into our world by you guys. I killed him inside a military facility by ripping his body apart; it was fast, and although he screamed his lungs out, I was out before someone stormed the room. Second, the skinny guy who shot Henry inside the garden of the center; I dragged him into the desert and killed him before burying him in the same hole as number one. Third, Dr. Thompson, I killed him the very same way as the skinny guy. All buried together."

I looked back from the window at my grandmother, who didn’t react in any certain way but observed me silently, before looking at Ethan, who also seemed totally unfazed by what I told him.

"Would you be able to pinpoint the exact location inside the desert?"

"Two years had gone by; the bodies have decomposed." My grandmother waved her hand in dismissal.

"It depends on how deep he buried them..." Ethan straightened his suit jacket, which was different from the suit he wore when coming into the parallel world to our rescue, as he was contemplating for a moment.

Then he pushed his glasses up.

"Can I ask that you, after taking a good rest, teleport with Henry to the desert and use his power to get rid of every possible remnant? That would soothe the heart of your attorney."

"Only when he feels better. He is now very weak, and the giant’s blood doesn’t help." I shot out, looking at Ethan warningly because I didn’t want to hear someone else talking about ’using’ Henry.

Ethan understood as quickly as usual and bowed ever so slightly while looking at the floor.

"Of course, Mr. Howard. I will supervise the doctor and see that we get Henry’s blood results as quickly as possible."

"Perfect. Wake me up when you get the results." I stood up tiredly, wanting nothing more than to go downstairs and take Henry into my arms when my grandmother cleared her throat.

"Why did you kill them?" She asked expressionlessly.

"Because they harmed what’s mine." I looked back at her and smiled while opening the door and simultaneously moving the pot with it.

I stepped outside before I stopped and smirked at her.

"Henry will sleep in my room because his room is flooded. Good night."

I hurried down the steps while hearing my grandmother scream at Ethan.

"DID YOU HEAR HIM? LOOK AT WHAT HE HAS DONE TO THE HOUSE SINCE HE CAME!"

I was already down the stairs and opened the door to my green room, seeing Henry sleeping soundly.

I locked the door from the inside, got rid of the slippers I wore that were full of earth from the pot, and threw myself on the mattress.

Pulling the wrapped-up Henry to me, I whispered again what I was forced to constantly say to him,

"I am sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I am so fucking sorry."

Pulling his wrapped body to mine wasn’t enough, so I unwrapped the blanket and crawled under it, holding his warm body to mine.

When that wasn’t enough anymore, I grabbed his hand and bit softly into his palm.

Next, I kissed his forehead and eyebrows, along with the mole, before I came to his lips.

In the end, I forced his mouth open and slid my tongue inside, feeling him respond softly as if he was trying to wake up.

When I was breathless myself, I slid under the blanket again and put my head to his heart, hearing it beat continuously and steadily, albeit a bit fast.

It still didn’t feel like enough... 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

I tapped against his heart twice, as if to perform the little exchange we did occasionally, promising myself that I would take good care of it—of him.

"I will protect you, Henry." I mumbled.

Then I closed my eyes; the last things I heard before falling asleep were the footsteps on the staircase, the opening of the door from the adjoining room, and my grandmother throwing a fit about the matching lake I left behind for the earth on the bed.

I chuckled, relieved I had locked the door.