Chapter 318 — The Hunt
They leave before sunrise.
There is no farewell.
The settlement is still sleeping when Xcution moves onto the road, carrying what little food the survivors insisted on giving them. The woman from the burning house had tried to press a wrapped loaf into Sera's hands. Henry had accepted it before Sera could refuse. Athena checked the straps on her weapons. Gabriel stood at the edge of the road and watched the eastern horizon.
Brook did not say goodbye to anyone.
He did not turn around.
Crowley was the last to leave.
He stood beside the road for several seconds, looking back at the settlement, then followed.
Nobody asked where they were going.
They all knew.
Silvet had left them alive.
That was no longer enough.
Brook walked at the front.
His side still hurt where the stitches had opened during the fight, but he ignored it. His movements had become careful enough that the pain stayed beneath the surface. Every few minutes, his fingers touched the edge of his coat.
The scrap was still there.
The piece of paper Silvet had forced him to carry through the memory.
The paper had not changed.
Brook had.
That was what bothered him.
Before the memory, he had thought the scrap contained an answer.
After the memory, he understood that it contained something worse.
A record.
His parents had existed.
They had held him.
They had carried him through a dying world.
They had died in front of him.
Silvet had found their bodies afterward.
And burned them.
Brook had watched every part of it.
There was no mystery left in that.
Only a person who had done it.
Silvet.
Brook stopped.
Everyone behind him stopped too.
Crowley looked at him.
"What?"
Brook crouched beside the road.
There was a footprint in the mud.
Not fresh.
A few hours old.
Sera came closer.
"Silvet?"
Brook shook his head.
"No."
He touched the edge of the print.
"Heavier."
Athena crouched beside him.
"Soldier?"
"Probably."
Brook looked farther down the road.
There were more prints.
Six.
Then eight.
Then several that crossed over each other.
Gabriel looked toward the trees.
"They passed through recently."
Brook stood.
"Where?"
Gabriel pointed west.
"Old quarry."
Brook immediately turned.
Crowley caught his shoulder.
"Wait."
Brook looked down at Crowley's hand.
Crowley released him.
"We don't know that he's there."
"I know."
"Then why are you moving?"
"Because he wants me to follow."
Crowley stared at him.
Brook continued.
"So I'll follow."
Henry shifted uneasily.
"That sounds like a trap."
"It is."
Henry blinked.
"That's not exactly comforting."
Brook looked at him.
"I didn't say it was."
Then he walked toward the quarry.
Crowley followed.
The others did too.
No one suggested another route.
There wasn't one.
The quarry is three hours away.
By the time they reach it, the sun is high.
The place is abandoned.
Deep cuts run through the earth where stone had once been removed. Rusted machinery sits beneath collapsed sheds. Old ropes hang from beams. Water has gathered in the lowest sections, dark and motionless.
Athena stops at the entrance.
"This place is wrong."
Henry looks at her.
"You say that a lot."
"Because the world keeps giving me reasons."
She steps forward.
Brook looks down.
A strip of cloth is tied around a broken fence post.
Black.
He touches it.
Crowley sees it.
"Don't."
Brook removes it.
There is a symbol scratched into the cloth.
Not a word.
A mark.
Brook recognizes it.
B-01.
His face changes.
Only slightly.
Crowley notices anyway.
"Brook."
Brook folds the cloth.
"He wants me here."
"Yes."
"He wants me angry."
Crowley looks at him.
"Are you?"
Brook considers the question.
"Yes."
Crowley says nothing.
Brook looks into the quarry.
"But anger isn't why I'm here."
"What is?"
Brook's eyes settle on the dark water below.
"He burned them."
The words are quiet.
Nobody answers.
Brook starts down the slope.
Sera follows.
Henry follows her.
Crowley remains at the top for one second longer before descending.
The first attack comes from beneath the machinery.
A blade cuts through the air.
Brook ducks.
The attacker comes over the railing.
Brook catches him.
The man is wearing black.
Not Hell.
Not Heaven.
Something older.
Something without insignia.
Brook drives him into the ground.
Another attacker comes from the left.
Athena's lightning cuts across the quarry.
The man rolls away.
Gabriel lands beside him.
The fight spreads.
There are twelve.
Brook sees them all.
He doesn't ask who they are.
He doesn't need to.
They are there to slow them down.
He moves through them.
One attacks with a spear.
Brook catches it.
The man pulls.
Brook lets go.
The sudden release sends the attacker backward.
Brook closes the distance and strikes him in the throat.
The man collapses.
Another swings a chain.
Brook ducks.
The chain catches his shoulder.
Pain explodes through him.
He grabs it.
Pulls.
The attacker comes forward.
Brook drives his forehead into the man's face.
Blood sprays across the stone.
The man falls.
A third attacks from behind.
Brook turns too late.
The blade cuts his back.
He staggers.
The Devil's Instinct rises.
Fast.
Immediate.
It offers him the easiest answer.
Turn.
Kill.
Move on.
Brook turns.
The attacker's neck is exposed.
His hand reaches for the man's throat.
Then Brook sees the man's face.
Young.
Terrified.
Not Silvet.
Brook stops.
The attacker freezes.
Brook grips his collar instead.
"Where is he?"
The man doesn't answer.
Brook slams him against the machinery.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Brook tightens his grip.
"You came here."
"We were paid."
"By who?"
"I don't know his name."
Brook throws him down.
"Then tell me what he looks like."
The man coughs.
"Old."
Brook kneels.
"That's not enough."
"White hair."
Brook's eyes harden.
"Silvet."
The man nods.
"He said you would come."
Brook releases him.
The man crawls backward.
Brook stands.
"Where?"
The man points toward the far end of the quarry.
"Tunnel."
Brook turns.
A gunshot cracks.
The man beside him jerks.
Blood bursts from his chest.
He falls dead.
Brook looks toward the ridge.
A figure stands there.
Silvet.
He lowers the weapon.
Brook stares.
Silvet does not run.
He simply watches.
For a moment, everything else disappears.
The shouting.
The fighting.
The others.
The quarry.
Brook sees the room again.
He sees Silvet standing over ash.
He sees his parents' bodies burning.
He sees the way Silvet searched through what remained.
He sees the way he had treated the bones.
The memory does not fade.
It sits over the present.
Silvet turns.
He disappears behind the ridge.
Brook starts running.
Crowley catches his arm.
"No."
Brook pulls free.
"Move."
"It's what he wants."
"I know."
"Then don't give him the road."
Brook turns toward him.
"You don't understand."
Crowley's eyes narrow.
"I understand exactly."
"No."
Brook's voice is colder now.
"You know what he did."
Crowley says nothing.
"You saw the bodies."
"I did."
"You didn't see what happened after."
Crowley looks at him.
Brook's jaw tightens.
"I did."
Crowley understands.
Brook turns away.
"I need him."
Crowley follows.
"You need him alive."
Brook doesn't answer.
"That matters."
Brook stops.
Then looks back.
"For now."
Crowley's expression hardens.
"Brook."
Brook starts walking again.
Crowley follows.
The tunnel is narrow.
Water drips from the ceiling.
The walls are carved with old markings, most of them worn away.
Sera runs her fingers over one.
"People worked here."
Brook continues.
Henry looks around.
"Could we maybe agree that this is the kind of place where something horrible happens?"
Athena answers without looking at him.
"Yes."
"Thank you."
They continue.
The tunnel splits.
Brook stops.
Two paths.
Sera looks at the ground.
"Footprints."
Brook studies them.
One set.
Fresh.
He turns left.
Crowley looks at the other passage.
"There are prints there too."
Brook looks.
"Older."
"How can you tell?"
"The mud is dry."
Crowley nods.
Brook continues.
The tunnel opens into a large chamber.
Empty.
A chair sits in the center.
On it is a coat.
Brown.
Burned along one sleeve.
Brook stops.
He recognizes it.
His father's.
Not the actual coat.
A piece of it.
Or something made to resemble it.
Sera steps closer.
"Brook."
He doesn't answer.
There is something on the chair.
A small metal object.
Brook picks it up.
A button.
His father had worn the same kind.
His fingers close around it.
For several seconds he does not move.
Then he hears applause.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Silvet steps from the shadows.
"You remember."
Brook looks at him.
Silvet smiles faintly.
"You remember everything now."
Brook says nothing.
Silvet looks at the button.
"I wondered if you would recognize it."
Brook closes his fist.
"You made this."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To see whether the memory stayed."
Brook's face remains still.
Silvet takes one step forward.
"You were always going to come."
Brook looks at him.
"Why did you burn them?"
Silvet doesn't answer immediately.
He looks at Brook carefully.
Not with fear.
Not with regret.
With curiosity.
"You finally ask the right question."
Brook's voice drops.
"Answer it."
Silvet smiles.
"You think the burning was the worst part."
"It wasn't?"
"No."
Brook takes a step.
"What was?"
Silvet's eyes remain on him.
"The fact that nobody cared."
The words settle into the chamber.
Brook's face changes.
Silvet continues.
"Your father was dead. Your mother was dead. You were a child. Crowley took you. The world continued."
Brook says nothing.
Silvet gestures toward the floor.
"People walked past."
"You burned them."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Silvet looks at him.
"Because they were already nothing."
Brook moves.
Crowley catches him.
Silvet doesn't flinch.
Brook turns on Crowley.
"Let go."
Crowley holds his gaze.
"No."
Silvet laughs softly.
"There."
Crowley looks toward him.
Silvet points at Brook.
"That."
"What?"
"The anger."
Brook pulls against Crowley's grip.
Silvet continues.
"You think I don't know what I did to you?"
Brook stops struggling.
Silvet looks pleased.
"I watched you grow."
Brook stares.
Silvet takes another step.
"I watched you become a Watchman."
Another.
"I watched you lose people."
Another.
"I watched you search for answers."
He smiles.
"And I watched you pretend you didn't care."
Brook's hand closes.
Silvet's smile fades.
"But now you do."
Brook looks at him.
"You're wrong."
"Am I?"
"Yes."
Silvet's head tilts.
Brook's voice is quiet.
"I don't care what you think."
Silvet's eyes narrow.
"Then why are you here?"
Brook steps forward.
"Because you are."
Silvet doesn't move.
Brook continues.
"You wanted me angry."
Silvet says nothing.
"You wanted me to chase you."
Nothing.
"You wanted me to ask questions."
Brook raises the metal button.
"So I did."
Silvet watches him.
Brook throws the button onto the floor.
"I don't need your answers anymore."
Silvet's expression changes.
For the first time, something like uncertainty appears.
Brook turns to Crowley.
"Get them out."
Crowley doesn't move.
"Why?"
Brook looks at Silvet.
"Because this is mine."
Sera immediately steps forward.
"No."
Brook looks at her.
"Leave."
"No."
"Sera."
"No."
Henry steps beside her.
"I'm with her."
Brook looks at both of them.
"Don't."
Henry swallows.
"You don't get to decide everything."
Brook's face remains cold.
"This isn't about deciding."
"Then what is it?"
Brook looks back at Silvet.
"It's about finishing something."
Crowley walks toward him.
Brook raises a hand.
Crowley stops.
The two stare at each other.
Crowley says, "You don't need to do this alone."
Brook's expression hardens.
"I do."
Silence.
Crowley looks at him for a long moment.
Then he turns.
"Everyone out."
Sera looks at him in disbelief.
"Crowley—"
"Out."
She doesn't move.
Crowley looks at her.
"He's made his choice."
Sera looks at Brook.
Brook doesn't look back.
That hurts more than if he had shouted.
Sera leaves.
Henry follows.
Gabriel hesitates.
He looks at Brook.
Then Silvet.
Then Crowley.
He leaves.
Athena is last.
She looks at Brook.
She seems to understand something the others don't.
Not approval.
Recognition.
She walks away.
Crowley stays.
Brook looks at him.
"You too."
Crowley doesn't move.
"Brook."
"Please."
The word is quiet.
Crowley hears it.
He turns.
He leaves.
The tunnel becomes silent.
Silvet watches the last shadow disappear.
Then he looks at Brook.
"You finally learned how to ask people to leave."
Brook stands across from him.
"No."
Silvet's expression changes.
"I learned when they should."
Silvet attacks first.
He is faster than Brook expects.
A blade appears in his hand.
Brook barely blocks.
The impact drives him backward.
Silvet follows.
Brook catches the second strike.
The third cuts his arm.
Brook kicks Silvet in the knee.
Silvet stumbles.
Brook punches him.
Silvet hits the wall.
Blood runs from his mouth.
Brook grabs him.
Slams him into the stone.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Silvet elbows his ribs.
Brook releases him.
Silvet swings.
Brook ducks.
The blade cuts the wall.
Brook catches Silvet's wrist.
They struggle.
Silvet drives his forehead into Brook's face.
Brook staggers.
Blood runs down his nose.
Silvet smiles.
"You're angry."
Brook punches him.
Silvet crashes into the chair.
The fake coat falls.
Brook walks toward him.
Silvet stands.
"You know what your problem is?"
Brook says nothing.
"You still think you're different from me."
Brook hits him again.
Silvet spits blood.
"You aren't."
Another strike.
"You're closer than you think."
Brook grabs him by the throat.
Silvet's feet leave the floor.
"You burned them."
Silvet looks into his eyes.
"Yes."
Brook's grip tightens.
"You searched the ashes."
"Yes."
"You touched what was left."
"Yes."
"You treated them like garbage."
Silvet smiles.
"Yes."
Brook slams him into the floor.
The stone cracks.
Silvet coughs.
Brook kneels over him.
For a moment, the Devil's Instinct whispers inside him.
Finish it.
No hesitation.
No risk.
No tomorrow.
Brook's hand closes around Silvet's throat.
Silvet looks at him.
"Do it."
Brook doesn't.
Silvet laughs.
"That's why you hate yourself."
Brook's eyes harden.
"You don't know me."
"I know exactly what you are."
Brook's hand tightens.
Silvet's face reddens.
"Kill me."
Brook doesn't move.
Silvet smiles through the pressure.
"Kill me and you'll finally understand."
Brook's expression becomes empty.
"No."
Silvet's smile fades.
Brook releases him.
Silvet drops to the floor.
Brook stands.
Silvet coughs.
"What are you doing?"
Brook looks down at him.
"I'm not giving you that."
Silvet slowly rises.
"You think sparing me makes you better?"
"No."
Brook picks up the fallen blade.
He looks at it.
Then at Silvet.
"It makes you stay alive long enough to understand why I didn't."
Silvet's face changes.
Brook turns toward the tunnel.
Silvet lunges.
Brook turns.
The blade enters Silvet's side.
Silvet stops.
Brook holds the weapon.
Silvet looks down.
Blood spreads across his clothes.
Brook pulls the blade free.
Silvet collapses against the wall.
Brook doesn't look away.
He doesn't finish him.
Not yet.
He simply watches.
Silvet slides down the stone.
His breathing becomes uneven.
"You're cruel."
Brook's face remains cold.
"No."
He wipes the blade against Silvet's coat.
"I'm angry."
Silvet looks at him.
Brook steps back.
"You're going to live."
Silvet coughs.
"For what?"
Brook turns away.
"To remember."
He walks toward the tunnel.
Silvet watches him leave.
Brook stops at the entrance.
Without looking back, he says:
"And tomorrow, we do this again."
He walks out.
Silvet remains on the floor.
Alive.
Bleeding.
Alone.
Brook steps into the darkness.
His face is empty.
But his hands are shaking.
He notices.
He closes them.
Then keeps walking.
End of Chapter 318