Beast Soul - Chapter 112

“But what if that guy really is a monster?” The thought had been bothering Harold for quite a while now. Ever since he left the school. Ignoring the moral aspects of the plan that his friends had made, they would most definitely end up in big trouble if Mr. Carrick really was a monster.

“God damn it! Those f*ckers are making me worry about them!” Harold screamed loudly and slammed his fist onto his bed.

BAM!

He had expected a small and soft noise, but surprisingly, the punch sounded much more loud, as though he had punched wood. A surprised Harold immediately leapt up and looked at his fist, only to be horrified to find that the whole exterior part of his hand was covered in countless thorns!

“What the actual f*ck?!” Harold couldn’t control his emotions and accidentally blurted out loudly, which resulted in him getting scolded by his mother, who was downstairs. “Don’t swear under my roof, Harold! And keep your voice down!”

“Sorry, mom!” Harold replied as he immediately shut his mouth, and his gaze once again shifted towards his hand.

“What the actual f*ck?” Harold repeated his words once again, this time whispering his thoughts softly under his breath so as to not make his mother angry.

He used his other hand to touch the thorns that had seemingly grown out from his skin, and he felt ticklish as soon as his palm came into contact with the thorns.

“Don’t tell me that this is supposed to be what my superpower is?” Harold whispered under his breath once again as he rubbed his fingers over the thorns, confused as to whether spiky hands were the only superpower that he had.

WHAM!

“Wha-” Harold was caught off guard once again as he witnessed the thorns retreat back into his skin like it was nothing. It all happened in the blink of an eye, and Harold couldn’t even feel his skin opening up so that the thorns could return into his body.

“This is fascinating..” A shocked and surprised Harold murmured under his breath as he rubbed the part of the skin from which the thorns had popped out of, staring at his hand with curious eyes.

After touching his hand for a few more seconds, Harold then looked around the room, trying to find something that he could use to test out his new skill, and its functions.

“Aha! This should do it,..” Harold’s eyes widened and a smile bloomed on his face as he stretched out his other hand and grabbed an empty soda can.

“Alright then. Let’s try doing this…” Harold said to himself right before closing both of his eyes and then loosened his grip on the soda can as he concentrated.

“Come on, come on…” He began mumbling to himself, and all of a sudden, he opened his eyes and said, “Come on!”

BAM!

As soon as he spoke, countless thorns burst out from his hand, this time even longer and more thicker than the thorns from before, and burst through the empty soda can, piercing through its metal body and completely ripping it into pieces!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The metallic pieces of the empty soda can fell down onto the floor, making loud noises, and a scared Harold immediately reached down and began grabbing the metallic pieces, afraid of inviting the wrath of his mother, as the thorns retreated back into his skin once again.

“F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!” He whispered softly under his breath as he clumsily grabbed all the metallic pieces from the floor and threw them all into the garbage bag.

“Harold! Didn’t I tell you to keep your voice down?” His mother’s loud voice was heard through the door once again, and Harold shouted back, “I know, mom! Sorry about that! I won’t do it again, I promise!”

“You better not make any more noise, mister!” His mother replied almost instantly and the conversation ended with that.

“Hah…” Harold let out a sigh as he leaned back onto the wall. He raised his hand close to his face and stared at his palms with a curious and nervous gaze.

“I guess I can now officially call myself a superhero, huh…” Harold said with a nervous smile on his face. Although they were already calling themselves superheroes, it was only Max who had a real superpower up until now.

Harold wasn’t sure whether everyone would receive superpowers, as it was weird that Max was the only one to receive the powers a bit earlier than others. However, with him finally receiving his powers now, it was clear that different people received their superpowers at different times.

“I have to tell the others about this!” Harold said with an excited expression on his face and he immediately pulled out his phone from his pocket. However, right before he opened the contact app, he remembered that he didn’t exactly leave on friendly terms today, which made him bite his lips in frustration.

“God damn it!” He threw his phone onto the bed, frustrated by the whole situation.

‘Should I go help them?’ The thought had sprouted inside his head once again. Harold now had awakened his superpowers, meaning he could help them out even more.

However, wouldn’t him returning to their side mean that he was indirectly agreeing with their actions?

‘No, no.. Focus on yourself for now, Harold.’ He said to himself as he shook his head. ‘You did the right thing. It’s them who should be asking for your help.’

Harold leapt onto his bed once again. He knew that he was right. However, right or wrong wouldn’t mean anything if Mr. Carrick truly does turn out to be a monster.

‘Ah, screw it!’ Harold said as he walked up to the window and slowly opened it without making any noise.

He then popped his head out through the opened window and looked around, making sure that there wasn’t anyone in the vicinity, and then slowly stepped out from inside his room.

—————–

Outside Mr. Carrick’s house.

“Are you sure it’s been thirty minutes?” Gerald asked as the three boys sneakily moved towards Mr. Carrick’s house, using the bushes near the neighborhood as cover and hiding behind them.

“How many times do I have to say it to you, Gerald?” Alphonso rolled his eyes and spoke with frustration as he pointed his watch at Gerald, tapping the screen while he continued, “It’s been more than thirty minutes. Thirty two to be exact. The guy still hasn’t come out of the shower. Something’s weird.”

“He could still be taking his sweet time…” Gerald mumbled under his breath, and Alphonso turned to give him a glare, which made him wave his hands in the air dismissively. “What? It’s possible! I’m pretty sure I’ve taken thirty minutes to shower.”

“Jerking off doesn’t count as taking a shower, Gerald..” Alphonso replied as he took a few more steps forward and hid behind another bush, and Max and Gerald followed him.

“Hey! I wasn’t jerking off, alright?” Gerald scratched his chin and spoke with a light blush on his face. He let out a cough and continued, “An- and speaking of jerking off, he could be beating his meat in there! You never know!”

Alphonso looked at Max, and Max returned the gaze. “Max,” Alphonso said as he shifted his gaze back to Gerald. “You told us that your hearing abilities have improved a lot, right?”

“Yeah, it did. Why?” Max asked, and Alphonso answered as he pointed his finger at Mr. Carrick’s house. “We’re pretty close to his house now, so can you listen closely and try to figure out whether you can hear any noise coming from inside the bathroom?”

He then turned his finger to another portion of the house and continued, “The bathroom is on that side.” He said while giving Max direction on where the bathroom was located inside the house.

“Alright. I can try..” Max shrugged his shoulders as he spoke and then closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. Both Gerald and Alphonso stayed silent and watched Max with their curious gazes.

After a few seconds of silence, Max opened his eyes and turned to the other two, who looked like they couldn’t wait to hear what Max had discovered.

“I can’t hear anything.” Max said as he squinted his eyes. “Not even the sound of water dripping down from the faucet. It’s as though no one is in the bathroom!”

—————–

“Are you sure he’s coming?” Noah said as he knelt down right next to a beaten and bruised Nelson.

“Of- of course he’s coming!” Nelson responded immediately with a nervous tone. “I called him and let him know of the situation! He- He’ll definitely come! I’m sure of it!”

“Well, he’d better..” Noah said with a frown on his face as he stood up. “I’m getting really impatient waiting for the King.”

Right then!

“Oh? For a second, I actually thought that you were stalling for time. But I guess you really were telling the truth..” Noah said with a smile as he stared at the entrance of the gymnasium.

He could hear the sound of footsteps getting closer!