Chapter 319 — Keep Him Alive
Brook came out of the tunnel alone.
The others were waiting at the entrance.
Sera looked at him first.
Then at the blood covering his hands.
Then at the empty space behind him.
"Where is Silvet?"
"Alive."
Henry stared at him.
"You left him alive?"
"Yes."
Crowley looked past Brook toward the tunnel.
"How bad?"
Brook looked at him.
"Bad."
"That wasn't my question."
Brook's expression did not change.
"He can still talk."
Sera understood immediately.
"That means he needs treatment."
Brook nodded.
"Not yet."
Sera frowned.
"Brook—"
"We're going back."
Crowley watched him carefully.
"For what?"
Brook turned toward the tunnel.
"To get him."
No one moved.
Brook looked back.
"Sera."
She met his eyes.
"He needs to be alive."
"Yes."
"You're going to heal him."
Sera hesitated.
"Yes."
Brook's voice became colder.
"Every time."
The words settled over the group.
Henry looked confused.
"Every time what?"
Brook didn't look at him.
"Every time he gets close to dying."
Sera's face changed.
She understood.
"No."
Brook looked at her.
"You will."
"Brook."
"You will heal him."
Sera stared at him.
"Why?"
Brook's answer came without hesitation.
"Because I want him alive."
Crowley stepped forward.
"Brook."
Brook turned.
"He burned my parents."
Crowley stopped.
Brook's eyes were empty.
"He searched their ashes."
Nobody spoke.
"He treated what was left of them like trash."
His voice remained quiet.
"So I'm going to make sure he stays alive long enough to understand what that means."
Crowley looked at him for a long moment.
Then he stepped aside.
"Go."
Sera looked at Crowley.
"You're allowing this?"
Crowley didn't answer immediately.
When he did, his voice was low.
"No."
He looked at Brook.
"But I'm not stopping him."
Brook walked back into the tunnel.
Sera followed.
The others came behind them.
They found Silvet exactly where Brook had left him.
He was still against the wall.
His breathing was shallow.
Blood had dried beneath him.
He lifted his head when Brook entered.
"You came back."
Brook walked toward him.
"Yes."
Silvet smiled faintly.
"I knew you would."
Brook stopped in front of him.
Sera approached.
She examined the wound.
"He needs treatment immediately."
Brook nodded.
"Then heal him."
Sera looked at him.
"He's going to need more than healing."
"Do it."
She knelt.
Silvet looked at her.
"You really intend to save me?"
Sera didn't answer.
She placed her hand against the wound.
Her Word formed.
"CLOSE."
The torn flesh pulled together.
Blood stopped.
Silvet gasped.
His breathing steadied.
Sera sat back.
"He'll survive."
Brook looked down at him.
"Good."
Silvet smiled.
"What now?"
Brook stepped forward.
He kicked him in the ribs.
The sound was dull.
Silvet folded over.
Henry flinched.
Sera stood immediately.
"Brook!"
Brook grabbed Silvet by the collar and pulled him upright.
Silvet coughed.
Brook punched him in the stomach.
Once.
Again.
Again.
Silvet collapsed.
Brook grabbed him before his head struck the stone.
"Where were they buried?"
Silvet looked up.
"What?"
"Where did you put what was left?"
Silvet stared at him.
"I burned them."
"I know."
"You saw it."
"I did."
"Then you know."
Brook slammed him against the wall.
"Where?"
Silvet shook his head.
"I don't remember."
Brook hit him.
Silvet dropped.
Brook kicked him across the floor.
Crowley watched without moving.
Gabriel's face hardened.
Henry looked at Sera.
She looked back.
Neither knew what to do.
Brook stood over Silvet.
"Where?"
Silvet spat blood.
"I told you."
Brook kicked him again.
"You don't get to forget."
Silvet tried to rise.
Brook grabbed him by the throat.
"Where?"
Silvet smiled.
"There was nothing."
Brook slammed him into the floor.
The impact echoed through the chamber.
Sera moved forward.
"Brook, stop."
Brook looked at her.
"He's dying."
Sera looked down.
Silvet's breathing had become shallow again.
Brook pointed.
"He's dying."
Sera stared at him.
Brook said, "Heal him."
Sera's face went pale.
"Brook."
"Heal him."
She didn't move.
Brook's eyes hardened.
"Sera."
She knelt.
Silvet looked at her.
There was almost amusement in his expression.
Sera placed her hand over his chest.
"CLOSE."
His breathing returned.
The bruising faded.
The broken ribs shifted back into place.
Silvet inhaled sharply.
Brook waited.
Silvet opened his eyes.
Brook said, "Again."
Sera looked at him.
"What?"
"Ask him."
Sera stared.
Brook pointed at Silvet.
"Ask him where."
Sera swallowed.
She looked at Silvet.
"Where did you put them?"
Silvet smiled.
"I didn't."
Brook punched him.
The first hour becomes a pattern.
Question.
Silence.
Strike.
Blood.
Healing.
Question.
Silence.
Strike.
Healing.
Silvet refuses to answer.
Brook refuses to stop.
He does not shout.
That makes it worse.
He does not lose control.
That makes it worse.
Every movement is deliberate.
Every blow has a purpose.
When Silvet's breathing becomes too shallow, Brook looks at Sera.
"Heal him."
When Silvet's body stops responding, Brook waits.
"Sera."
She heals him.
When Silvet's head falls forward and his eyes close, Brook grabs his face.
"Wake up."
Nothing.
"Sera."
She heals him again.
Silvet wakes screaming.
Brook waits until the scream ends.
"Where?"
Silvet breathes heavily.
"You're becoming exactly what I wanted."
Brook hits him.
"Wrong answer."
Another strike.
"Where?"
Silvet laughs.
Brook hits him again.
"Where?"
Nothing.
Brook steps back.
Sera looks at him.
"Enough."
Brook turns.
"No."
"He can't take much more."
"He doesn't need to."
"He's already dying."
Brook points at him.
"Then heal him."
Sera's voice cracks.
"You're asking me to keep bringing him back so you can hurt him again."
"Yes."
The simplicity of the answer makes her recoil.
"Why?"
Brook looks at Silvet.
"Because death is too easy."
Silvet opens his eyes.
Brook continues.
"He gets to die once."
Brook looks at Sera.
"My parents died once."
His voice lowers.
"They didn't get to come back."
Sera says nothing.
Brook turns toward Silvet.
"He gets to wake up."
Silvet's smile fades.
Brook crouches.
"He gets another chance to answer."
Silvet whispers, "You think this brings them back?"
"No."
"Then what does it accomplish?"
Brook looks at him.
"You stay alive."
Silvet stares.
Brook says, "That's the punishment."
Crowley finally moves.
He steps between Brook and Silvet.
"Enough."
Brook looks at him.
Crowley doesn't raise his voice.
"You've made your point."
"No."
"You've hurt him."
"No."
"He knows."
"No."
Crowley studies him.
"He knows what he did."
Brook's expression doesn't change.
"He doesn't know what it cost."
Crowley looks at Silvet.
Then back at Brook.
"He never will."
Brook steps around him.
Crowley catches his arm.
Brook looks down.
Crowley's grip tightens.
For several seconds, neither moves.
Then Brook says, "Move."
"No."
Brook's eyes lift.
"Move."
Crowley doesn't.
"You're angry."
"Yes."
"You're hurt."
"Yes."
"You want him to suffer."
"Yes."
Crowley says nothing.
Brook's voice drops.
"And I'm going to make sure he does."
Crowley looks into his eyes.
There is no rage there.
That is what finally makes Crowley release him.
Brook walks back to Silvet.
Crowley turns away.
Gabriel watches him.
"You're letting this happen."
Crowley answers without looking at him.
"No."
"Then why aren't you stopping him?"
Crowley looks toward Brook.
"Because I don't know where the line is anymore."
Gabriel's expression tightens.
Crowley adds quietly, "And neither does he."
Brook grabs Silvet again.
"Where?"
Silvet's breathing is weak.
"I told you."
Brook drives him into the stone.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Brook hits him.
"I don't know."
Another.
"I don't know."
Another.
Silvet's head drops.
Brook catches him.
He looks at Sera.
"He's gone."
Sera moves immediately.
She kneels.
Her hands shake.
Brook notices.
"Do it."
Sera closes her eyes.
Her Word forms.
"RETURN."
Silvet's chest rises.
He coughs violently.
Sera pulls her hand away.
Silvet gasps.
Brook waits.
Silvet looks at him.
"You can't kill me."
Brook shakes his head.
"Not yet."
Silvet laughs.
"You need me."
"No."
"You need answers."
"No."
"Then why?"
Brook looks at him.
"I need you to remember."
Silvet's laughter dies.
Brook leans closer.
"Every time you close your eyes, I want you to remember them."
Silvet looks away.
"Your father."
Brook's voice stays calm.
"Your mother."
Silvet closes his eyes.
"Their bodies."
Silvet opens them.
"The fire."
Silvet looks at Brook.
"You saw everything."
Brook nods.
"So did you."
Silvet says nothing.
Brook grabs him by the face.
"You had the chance to walk away."
Silvet stares.
"You didn't."
Brook releases him.
"So now you stay."
Hours pass.
The quarry changes color as the sun moves.
Nobody leaves.
Sera keeps healing Silvet.
Each time she does, her expression becomes more distant.
She hates what she is doing.
She hates that she understands why Brook is asking.
She hates that part of her believes Silvet deserves punishment.
But she hates even more that Brook is becoming comfortable deciding what punishment means.
At one point, Henry approaches her.
"You don't have to."
Sera looks at him.
"If I stop, he dies."
"Maybe that's better."
Sera looks toward Brook.
Brook is standing over Silvet.
"No."
Henry looks at her.
"No?"
"He needs to survive."
"Why?"
Sera's voice lowers.
"Because Brook needs to decide what happens next without death deciding it for him."
Henry looks at Brook.
"That doesn't sound like the Brook I know."
Sera's eyes remain on him.
"I know."
Henry looks away.
"I miss him."
Sera says nothing.
Henry continues.
"I know he's right there."
"Yes."
"But I miss him anyway."
Sera closes her eyes.
"So do I."
Silvet eventually stops resisting.
Not because he has surrendered.
Because his body cannot keep up.
He lies on the ground.
Brook crouches beside him.
"Where?"
Silvet whispers, "I don't know."
Brook looks at Sera.
She shakes her head.
"He's close."
Brook looks back.
"Can you speak?"
Silvet nods weakly.
"Then speak."
Silvet's eyes open.
"I burned them."
Brook's face remains still.
"I know."
"I burned everything."
"I know."
"I searched."
"I know."
"I found nothing."
Brook looks at him.
"Nothing?"
Silvet shakes his head.
"Nothing."
Brook's voice drops.
"You found me."
Silvet looks at him.
"Yes."
"You thought I was something."
"Yes."
"What?"
Silvet closes his eyes.
"I thought you were proof."
"Of what?"
"That it worked."
Brook's face tightens.
"What worked?"
Silvet's breathing becomes weaker.
"I don't know."
Brook grabs his shoulder.
"What worked?"
Silvet coughs.
"I don't know."
Brook looks at Sera.
"He's dying."
Sera kneels.
Silvet whispers, "Don't."
Sera stops.
Silvet looks at Brook.
"Let me."
Brook watches him.
Silvet says, "Just this once."
Brook's eyes remain cold.
"No."
Silvet's expression breaks.
"Why?"
Brook answers:
"Because you don't get to choose."
Sera heals him again.
Silvet screams.
Brook waits.
When the scream ends, he says:
"Again."
The violence resumes.
This time, Brook stops asking questions.
He simply beats him.
Not wildly.
Not with rage.
With the terrible patience of someone who has decided that time itself is part of the punishment.
Silvet tries to crawl.
Brook pulls him back.
Silvet tries to speak.
Brook waits.
Silvet tries to stand.
Brook knocks him down.
Sera heals him.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every time Silvet reaches the edge, Sera pulls him back.
Every time he wakes, Brook is there.
Every time he opens his eyes, he sees the same face.
Brook.
The child he had watched grow.
The child whose parents he had burned.
The man he had expected to become something else.
Eventually Silvet stops smiling.
He stops provoking.
He stops pretending he isn't afraid.
He simply looks at Brook.
"You really hate me."
Brook looks down at him.
"Yes."
Silvet nods.
"Good."
Brook's expression hardens.
"Why?"
Silvet's voice is barely audible.
"Because if you hated me, at least you still cared."
Brook says nothing.
Silvet closes his eyes.
"That's all I ever wanted to know."
Brook looks at him.
Something flickers across his face.
Not sympathy.
Not forgiveness.
Something closer to grief.
It disappears immediately.
He looks at Sera.
"He's going again."
Sera's hands tremble.
"Brook."
"He's going."
"I know."
"Then heal him."
Sera stares at him.
"Please."
The word is different.
Not softer.
Worse.
Because Brook is asking her to help him continue.
Sera looks at Silvet.
Then at Brook.
She places her hand on Silvet's chest.
"RETURN."
His body jerks.
He breathes.
Again.
Alive.
Brook looks at him.
Silvet opens his eyes.
Brook kneels.
"You should have stayed dead."
Silvet whispers, "You wouldn't let me."
"No."
"Why?"
Brook looks toward the tunnel.
"Because my parents didn't get to choose."
Silvet closes his eyes.
Brook watches him.
Then he says the words that finally break whatever remained between them.
"You're going to remember them."
Silvet opens his eyes.
"Every time you sleep."
Brook's voice is quiet.
"Every time you wake."
Silvet stares.
"Every time you look at your hands."
Silvet's breathing shakes.
"You're going to remember what they looked like when you found them."
Silvet looks away.
Brook grabs his face and turns it back.
"You're going to remember the ash."
Silvet's eyes fill.
Not with remorse.
Not with redemption.
With fear.
Brook releases him.
"And when you die, you'll know exactly why."
Silvet whispers, "Then kill me."
Brook stands.
"Not yet."
Night falls.
The quarry becomes black.
The others sit away from them.
Nobody eats.
Nobody talks.
Sera sits with her back against the stone.
Her hands are stained.
Not with Silvet's blood.
With the power she has used to keep him alive.
Henry sits beside her.
"You okay?"
"No."
He nods.
"Me neither."
Sera looks toward Brook.
He is sitting across from Silvet.
Neither is speaking.
Henry says, "Should we stop him?"
Sera's eyes remain on Brook.
"Yes."
Henry looks at her.
"But?"
She takes a long breath.
"But I don't know how."
Henry looks down.
"Crowley?"
"He won't."
"Gabriel?"
"He could."
"Then why doesn't he?"
Sera's voice becomes quiet.
"Because Gabriel knows what Brook has lost."
Henry looks toward the dark.
"And Athena?"
Sera shakes her head.
"She understands."
Henry looks confused.
"Understands what?"
Sera watches Athena sitting alone near the edge of the quarry.
"She knows what it looks like when someone decides they can live with what they've done."
Henry says nothing.
Near midnight, Silvet speaks.
"Brook."
Brook looks up.
Silvet's voice is barely there.
"I'm sorry."
Nobody moves.
Brook stares at him.
For several seconds, the words hang in the dark.
Then Brook stands.
He walks toward him.
Silvet closes his eyes.
Brook crouches.
"Don't."
Silvet opens them.
"Don't what?"
"Don't make this easy."
Silvet looks confused.
Brook continues.
"You don't get to say sorry now."
Silvet's eyes close again.
"I know."
"You don't get forgiveness."
"I know."
"You don't get a clean death."
Silvet's breathing shakes.
"I know."
Brook stands.
Then turns toward Sera.
She looks at him.
"He's going to die."
Sera rises slowly.
Brook says, "Heal him."
She doesn't move.
Brook looks at her.
"Please."
Sera's eyes fill.
She walks over.
She kneels beside Silvet.
She places her hand on his chest.
Silvet looks at her.
"You hate me too?"
Sera shakes her head.
"No."
Silvet looks surprised.
Sera says, "I don't have enough of you left in my life to hate."
Then she heals him.
Silvet inhales.
His eyes open.
Brook looks at him.
And for the first time, Silvet does not look at Brook like a mystery.
He looks at him like a consequence.
Brook turns away.
The night continues.
The beating will continue tomorrow.
But something has already ended.
Not Silvet.
Not yet.
Something inside Brook.
Something that had once believed punishment and pain were different things.
End of Chapter 319