Henry’s POV

With a complete name at hand, I was able to teleport to Bianca.

It was deep in the night, and I thought I would find her sleeping, just like Dr Lawrence.

But she was awake.

Curled up on a hospital bed, she was clutching her legs.

When the girl saw me, she covered her mouth to suppress a scream.

Her right hand was thickly bandaged, and part of her hair had been burnt off – probably when I threw the grenades while rescuing Patrick and company from the fabric and forgot to take her with me.

So Kenny hadn’t healed her in the circus instance, hmmm~

That I had forgotten her back then proved to be good, given that I needed the actual location of Martin Lawrence’s minions, which were equipped with collars – the devices I needed to protect -shackle- Kenny.

And what he needed currently most was protection from himself.

- ...

She was still shaking, and I ignored her, turning to the door that would lead me out of this hospital ward, in which only the girl was in.

Stepping out, I saw a row of unopenable windows in front of me, with a view of the city. This dilapidated greyish building, apparently shaped like an ’L’, seemed to be on the city’s outskirts; this meant they had already started to leave—this seemed more like a temporary stop.

I walked down the corridor towards a few voices.

Passing by a door that led to a balcony but was heavily barricaded, I smelled a whiff of chemicals.

The smell came from outside.

Not like before, not like in our city when we returned from the bone-dragon world, but far more aggressive.

If the smell was already so strong on the outskirts, the seemingly hasty chemical attack was enough to kill any rat or worm residues.

Disinterested, I continued with my walk, arriving at a door where a few people were talking about their next shift, and one asked his companions for another mask.

When I pushed the door open, I saw that part of them wore military uniforms and part wore the black outfits I had seen in the warehouse and then the burning fabric.

Every one of the six men had a collar attached to their gun belt; apparently, this device had made it to the top two weapons to have at hand.

Not stopping to appreciate the shocked expressions and hurried motions towards their guns, I raised my gloved hand in a bored greeting.

They disappeared in black smoke; only six collars fell to the ground.

I bent down to gather them all, then turned back to Bianca’s room.

I ran into her as she was in the midst of opening the door.

She flinched and stepped back inside the ward again.

"Where has Dr Lawrence disappeared to? And the others?"

I ignored her question and gave her one of the collars.

"Are these still functioning?"

She hesitantly took it and circled it in her hands.

"I am a medical assistant, not a—" Her eyes met mine, and she froze.

Then she earnestly looked back at the collar and turned it before pressing the two ends together, mostly with her uninjured hand.

As the collar closed, a small LED I had never noticed before blinked green once. There was apparently a movable ring on the inside of the collar that started to move as if searching for something.

Then it stopped, and two needles, so thin that it was hard to spot them, came out of one side.

"What is that?" I asked her.

"I think these needles are going into the spine..."

I raised my eyebrows at her, and she chuckled nervously.

"I listened in when they had a briefing about these collars... They briefly explained it..."

The needles stayed outside for a few seconds before they retracted again, the LED blinking red twice, and the whole collar opened again.

"It works if it’s put around a person."

"Remove the electricity...and the needles."

"I...how?" She again fiddled with it, eventually walking to the candle to get a better look at the collar.

"Can you bring me to Dr Lawrence...?" she eventually asked, with her back to me.

I let my eyes wander through the room, seeing a shelf.

"Yes, if the electroshocks and the needles are successfully removed."

Bianca sighed slightly.

"I don’t know how to do that..."

On the shelf were band-aids, cotton padding, and rolls of plaster...

"Then you will stay here."

She turned her head back to look at me, and I stared back until she averted her gaze.

"If you remove these two things, it will just be a decoration." She explained as if I didn’t know it already.

I closed my eyes for a moment, my patience running thin and my withdrawal from hearing Kenny’s heartbeat getting stronger, and I felt my thoughts slowly jumble. Another daze would approach soon.

And I didn’t know what I would unconsciously do when he wasn’t in my sight when that time came.

When I opened my eyes again, the girl before me stepped back in fear, nearly knocking the candle over.

–Do you know how DESPERATELY I wanted to put this collar on him?

However, the ’punishment’ of electroshocks on someone who had been in cardiac arrest not long ago? What a joke.

And now, knowing that the collar worked by needles burrowing into the neck of the wearer, it was out of the question all the more.

"I’m sorry, please..." She stopped, thinking of something.

"I know who I can ask; if you come in two days, it will probably be finished."

A smile bloomed on my face.

"If this is a trap... I am looking forward to it."

She shuddered abruptly, shaking her head.

"No, I would never risk offending you."

Not as timid anymore, she raised her eyes and looked sincerely at me.

"In two days," I said, walking up to the shelf and taking a few things before I disappeared with the other five collars in my possession.

Back in the restaurant, I threw the loot on the couch and went to Kenny’s side.

The crystals disappeared at my approach, and I was able to hear it again: thump, thump, thump...

Never-ending, constantly working to keep him alive—natural to do for something that was mine, to work for someone I needed.

I tapped his chest twice before bending down to whisper in his ear.

"After giving your heart, it’s not yours anymore."

-Not yours to hurt, not yours to lose, not yours to ruin.

I felt the darkness creep up my wrists, and so did the crystals covering them.

I raised my upper body and placed my palm on his chest.

Feeling the heartbeat through the shadows that sought freedom and through the crystalline barrier that restrained them from reaching it, I soon lost track of time.

Just sitting there, I prayed that he wouldn’t wake up until I was finished with my preparations.

When I came to, it was day again; the crystallines had grown, making a small room amidst the big one.

I let them disappear, stood up and got into the kitchen.

I took a big pot and filled it with water.

Then I returned to the bed and took one of the blankets to place under his legs.

My eyes fell on his left leg, where a scar had been after he returned from killing the giant.

It had, meanwhile, healed completely; there was nothing that hinted at the horrors I had dreamt of.

I took his ankles and pulled him to me, then started to work on his right leg.

It was a soothing activity because I could do it while close to him, while more or less touching him.

Just that there was still the darkness, the protection, and the gloves in between.

After I finished, I waited at his side until the plaster had completely dried.

Then I acidified the blanket, teleported home, and brought towels.

After cleaning him up, then cleaning the room up, I showered at home and finally saw my reflection in the mirror.

I changed clothes and got new gloves in the store I had been in before.

Just that this time, there was this aggressive chemical smell, the same I noticed in the L-shaped building and ever so slightly in our home, which seemed to have very good insulation despite its cosy build.

Inside the store, I felt the need to hold my breath, and so I had to in the next store, where I took blue-coloured contact lenses.

No non-upgraded human would be able to survive this chemical cocktail.

I returned to the restaurant, where I sat and waited, travelling between couch and bed, to hear the heartbeat from far and close.

When it was night again, not knowing whether it had been two days or three, I teleported back to the girl.

She was alone in her ward, holding a collar in her hand.

Nobody else was close, so it didn’t seem like a trap.

She breathed sharply in when I appeared and patted her chest; then she stood up and presented the collar to me.

"No electricity? No needles?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"We managed to remove them."

"Good." I fumbled with the collar, seeing that she had a packed bag sitting next to her hospital bed.

Seeing my gaze, she explained,

"We were told to move again, farther away from..." She pointed in the direction of the city.

I hummed; then, before she could react, I placed the collar around her neck.

She stumbled back and fell on the bed, touching the collar softly with both of her hands and close to tears.

"Open it yourself," I ordered.

The electric ’punishment’ would appear even when using one’s power AND when someone tried to remove the collar.

While shaking badly, she touched her way around, and eventually the collar sprang open.

She gave it back but didn’t stand up again.

I nodded and disappeared, hearing her say, ’Wait!’, but I was already dissolved, flying to where I belonged, put back together inside the restaurant.

Seeing Kenny still sleeping, I was relieved.

I let the crystals disappear; I put the collar on him.

Time to wake up.

Now.

Wake up.

The wait that didn’t feel that long before turned excruciating after everything was in place.

It suddenly wasn’t enough for him to be alive, for his heart to beat.

I NEEDED him conscious.

-NEEDED him to look at me.

-NEEDED to confess.

-NEEDED to know if he would hate me.

-NEEDED to know if he would try to run away.

–Needed him to know that there was no running from me.