Flip the Coin [BL]-Chapter 166. City

Being lightly cradled was so soothing and comforting that I wanted to stay asleep, yet my whole body was sticky, and I started to feel really cold, so I opened my eyes.

"Kenny."

I was squeezed against an equally wet, but somewhat warm, muscular body. Looking at Henry’s face, full of anxiousness, I ran my hand over my face.

"What happened?" I asked before patting his arm so he would let me down. We were atop the skyscraper’s remains, and I saw The Four Hundred scattered down there near the hellhole.

"You don’t remember?" Henry asked, and I turned back to shake my head, where I saw that everyone from the mansion had come as well, even dragging the ladder with them.

When my grandma looked at me, I thought I saw relief on her face before she again turned back into a grumpy demon. She, along with the rest, had nearly arrived at the top with us.

"You weren’t dazed, but possessed by something with a consciousness." Henry didn’t let me out of his sight, constantly checking if I was okay.

"Something like a super shadow? I remember four of them entering me."

"Yeah, and that thing also had superstrength and speed."

Looking at Henry and myself, I noticed that the feeling of stickiness came from both of us being bathed in blood, and my grandmother was looking the same. Though I understood that no one wished to waste time washing up, I would have preferred to do it nevertheless.

"Okay, it doesn’t matter. Are we sure we killed all four?"

"Yeah, you killed yourself four times." Henry choked out, seemingly on the brink of tears.

I patted Henry’s head, and he placed it on my shoulder as I watched Henrietta come to the concrete slab we stood on and saw that her hands worked just fine again. That didn’t sit well with me. When we were out of here, I should cripple her hands again. When she stood still, I let go of Henry and approached her to flip the coin. I watched the memory again where she entered the portal that brought her to the trash world, and counted the shadows myself.

Just to make sure.

She hadn’t lied about the number of shadows; we had really killed every single one.

Naturally, a bit of time had passed between Henrietta and her parents entering the trash world and Henrietta, Henry, and I going back to close it; we can’t say that during that time no other shadow had entered. Hopefully, as long as no humans were near the portal, the shadows didn’t feel attracted to it and stayed in the Little City world.

We had to hurry and close the portal we would soon open, just to be safe. Though if a shadow really came with us, it wasn’t my problem anymore; Henry and I had done our utmost, and we can’t do any more.

I stepped back again and started to climb down to The Four Hundred, Henry following me, constantly asking if I was really alright or if I felt another presence inside me, stuff like that.

"Everything feels fine." I just want to leave. I feel so homesick, more than I ever thought I’d be able to.

When we arrived at the ground, The Four Hundred crowded around us, many asking about the blood on us, but we just waved them off.

Henry even announced that his sister would open the portal. When I heard that, I applauded him internally. The more people knew about it, the more others would believe it, and Henrietta would soon be handed over to the military, becoming their problem. The people cheered, some leaving to get others that were still somewhere inside.

"Are you okay? Your hand?" I asked Henry while we waited for the others, and I finally noticed that his wrist was blue and swollen.

"Yeah, it doesn’t hurt at all."

"Yeah. Sure. You’ll go immediately to a hospital when we’re back... or at least to the hospital ward." In prison.

I watched my grandmother jumping from chunk to chunk, looking like a bloody superhero.

A strong euphoria welled up inside me. Look at all these people here who had survived, despite this world being sick as hell. Look at what we had accomplished.

I looked at Henry and grinned, and he grinned back at me.

Henrietta didn’t wait to be asked to do her job; contrary to her usual behavior, she did what she was supposed to do. Turning to the skyscraper debris, she touched the air, feeling for something.

Henry came to my side as we watched, putting his arm around my neck.

Ethan took over the talking, speaking loudly to the crowd with paper in his hands.

"Please don’t run; we will first check if the world is safe! Then I will call your name, and you can pass. This way, we will make sure everyone gets out!"

I guessed it would be pointless to try and organize them, but do what you want.

Henrietta made a pulling motion, using the imaginary zipper, and opened the portal. The air pressure changed, and everyone understood that it was now open.

"DON’T BE HASTY!" Ethan screamed at the crowd, which was starting to get restless.

"Step aside." Henry said to his sister before pulling me toward the portal.

"Please make sure she doesn’t lock us out, Mr. Devin." I addressed Henry’s father, who was near us waiting with his wife.

Henry nodded at that as well and dragged me through the portal, apparently fearing that we would get separated if he didn’t hang on to me.

I took a deep breath and hoped we wouldn’t lose consciousness, as it had happened often enough when we crossed a portal.

From the undefinable sky, I was nearly blinded by a night sky filled with so many stars, and I was almost deafened by a car that screeched to a halt in front of us. Ah, it wasn’t the night sky blinding me; it was the lights of a night city, the stores, the windows, and skyscrapers all around the big lake with advertisements and TV screens showing some prominent people I had never seen before, as we stood on a bridged highway that was crossing the big lake.

Henry pulled me behind him and got into a fighting stance, yet that wouldn’t help against cars. A few more came to a halt, and the vehicles behind them stopped, partly bumping into the cars in the front.

I stood on tiptoes and put my arm around Henry’s neck, just as he had done with me.

"What do you say? Is that our world?" Henry watched a few more cars crash in the distance and how more and more drivers stepped out of their cars, mostly pulling out their phones to call police or a tow truck or whatever.

He chuckled. "Nope."

"Then let’s leave here." I steered him back to the portal, ignoring the people and their damaged cars.

Before we could leave, Henrietta stepped out herself.

"What took you so long?" Sadly, she still looked energetic though she had just opened the portal. When she saw that we were in a high-end city, her eyes widened, and she looked around in excitement.

"That’s not our world." Henry said sternly, and I wanted to pull my arm back so I didn’t have to continue standing on tiptoes, but he clutched my wrist with his uninjured hand to keep me in place. At least he bent his knees a little, allowing me to stand comfortably.

"Be thankful that it’s a world with humans. I can only open a portal to the nearest and thinnest layer, not to a random one." She giggled.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I should be angry, but I am just so happy that there is a society here; everything is better than a world with monsters or trash, or just a small city part with shadows running around, or deer monsters, or a cannibalistic hellhole.

"And... I think this portal will close soon." No idea if she did it on purpose, but Henrietta put her healed finger against her lips, laughing with delight.

Yes, she is doing it on purpose..... though I suspect she is telling the truth, as I already thought it would turn out like this, and we’ll have to close the portal soon anyway regarding possible shadows.

"Then we’ll stay for now; let’s get them in here."