บท 16: Chapter 16: The Truth
As the awakening was completed, Caspian, who was lying on the table, slept soundly. However, he had a somewhat daunting presence within him due to being awakened.
Suddenly, Abby heard footsteps approaching at high speeds and immediately transformed, preparing for any sudden attack.
As the footsteps neared, she saw Grace, and she breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down. But suddenly, Grace angrily grabbed Abby's collar as she shouted, "Didn't I tell you not to awaken Caspian!?"
"It… it was the only way…! If I didn't do it… he would've died! He was severely injured, and even doctors wouldn't be able to help him." Abby exclaimed.
Grace was breathing heavily due to anger, but she immediately had a worried look as she rushed to Caspian. Seeing his peaceful expression, Grace felt even more guilty as she teared up while caressing his face.
Grace then hugged her son tightly as he looked at Abby. Abby simply looked down due to guilt. However, Abby didn't expect Grace to hug her tightly.
Grace then said, "I'm sorry, Abby. Thank you for saving my son's life."
Grace then let go and looked at Abby with a bitter smile and covered her with her own coat. "It's improper to stay naked."
Grace then looked at Caspian once more as she held his hand. "We must bring him to the bureau immediately. An awakened must be registered at the bureau before they can do anything freely."
The others nodded as they carried Caspian out and headed to the car they parked outside. As they laid Caspian down, Grace spoke, "Lucia, Irene, clean this mess up. Make sure no regular human enters the premises and finds out about this."
Two of the four figures nodded their heads.
"Roger," a dark-skinned woman said as she scratched her short, disheveled hair. She looked at the surroundings with her sharp eyes, letting off a reddish-brown glow.
"No problemo~!" a blonde-haired woman with medium-length hair said as her red eyes glanced at the area. She immediately started carrying the bodies with ease despite her petite figure.
"Good, the three of you, accompany me to the bureau," Grace said as she sat in the driver's seat. She then stepped on the accelerator and immediately drove to an unknown location.
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A week had gone by, but Caspian was still in a deep sleep. Abby sat right next to him and looked at him with worry. She felt that it was her fault that Caspian got severely injured.
"Urgh!" Caspian's face twisted, which worried Abby, but she realized that he was just making sounds. She giggled as she smiled at Caspian bitterly. "I'm sorry, Caspian… for getting you hurt."
Just as she said that, Caspian's eyes slowly opened, his hazel eyes filled with tiredness. Seeing this, Abby excitedly said, "Caspian! You're up!"
Caspian rubbed his eyes and sat down. He then asked Abby in a husky voice, "What happened…?"
Abby then held onto his hand as she asked, "Do you remember anything?"
"Yeah… I got shot multiple times by those unkillable bastards…. How am I alive…? My body doesn't even hurt…." Caspian said as he scanned his body with his hands. As Abby heard this, she breathed a sigh of relief. Caspian then looked at Abby as he said, "You glowed and ripped someone's head off…. What the fuck is going on…?"
Abby then approached him and hugged him tightly. She then said, "Don't worry, I'll call your mom, and we'll explain everything to you, okay?"
Caspian nodded his head as he lay back down. He covered his eyes with his arm as he contemplated about what had happened. 'Getting attacked… unkillable people… Abby mercilessly ripping someone's head off… and I'm still somehow alive…. What the fuck is going on?'
After a while, Grace entered the door along with her four subordinates. Caspian looked towards the door and saw Grace rushing up to him to give him a tight hug. She then whispered as she kissed Caspian's forehead, "I'm glad you're awake."
Caspian returned the hug as he felt her mom's compassion. After a while, Grace let go, and Caspian sat down properly on the bed. "What the fuck happened? How am I still alive?"
Grace looked at Caspian and sighed. She then sat down near him and looked at the ceiling. "This is gonna be a long story, but… I hope you can accept something beyond the realm of your understanding."
As Grace said that line, Caspian grew confused, but he just nodded his head.
"Remember the myths, legends, the supernatural creatures used to scare people?" Grace asked Caspian. "I know that this will be hard to believe, but… they are all real."
Hearing that revelation, Caspian's heart palpitated, "What?"
"Me… Abby… and you, we are not humans. Well, you are technically since you're half-blood. Abby managed to save your life by stimulating your bloodline with her blood. With that, your body restructured and healed all your wounds," Grace gave a wry smile as she laughed.
"I know it's hard to accept…. All regular people, if told the same thing, would not believe a thing I said unless given some type of evidence."
Although Grace spoke in a manner that's easy to take in, Caspian was confused… It's understandable; after all, who would believe someone when they say all the things that normal people think are not real were actually real?
But Caspian was open-minded, and he had great perception. He then said with a laugh, "If that's true, then those unkillable people would make more sense than not. And the fact that I'm still alive."
Grace and the others were surprised at how well Caspian took things. "I'm surprised at how easily you took that in… Normally, late awakeners would have an existential crisis before they accept things."
Hearing that, Caspian laughed as he said, "I guess I already went through that part before because of my work depression."
"Pfft!" Abby couldn't help but giggle at that running joke.
Grace then had a bitter smile as she said, "I didn't want you involved in this world… that's why I tried to stop you from investigating further about that murderer."
As Caspian heard that, a certain emotion roused his heart. "I guess I made you worried… I'm sorry, mom, for being so stubborn."
Grace then hugged, "It… look, it's not your fault, honey. I know that you have a righteous heart."
Caspian then looked down as he said, "...Maybe you're right. I need a moment to think so I can understand things better…."
Grace smiled as she looked at the others and beckoned them to go out. After that, all of them left the room, and Caspian sat there, leaning against the bed. He began to contemplate his insufficient knowledge of the world.
"I've really put myself in danger, huh…." Caspian whispered as he massaged his head. He knew confusion would just lead him nowhere, but it's the normal reaction after being presented with the information you never believed was real.
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After an hour, a person who wore a nurse outfit entered with a tray. "I brought a meal for you, Mr. Ashwood."
Caspian looked at her with curiosity apparent in his eyes. He knew that the person in front of him was no human. Seeing his gaze, the nurse laughed as she said, "Is it your first time seeing a beast-man?"
The nurse was literally a humanoid lizard. As Caspian nodded, she laughed while adding, "Well, that's a normal reaction considering you were not born a regular supernatural."
After the nurse placed down the food, she asked, "Mr. Ashwood, Mrs. Grace is outside waiting for you. Would you like her to come in?"
"Ah! Let her enter, please," Caspian smiled at the nurse. Soon she opened the door and let Grace enter the room.
Grace then smiled at the nurse while saying, "Thank you, Ruth. Oh, before I forget, your husband will be coming home soon. Do me a favor and give him a sucker punch for me. Bastard doesn't listen to my orders."
"Haha, no problem, Mrs. Grace. Enjoy your time. Oh, and about my husband, if he immediately goes to the range when he comes back home, you already know what I will do," the nurse laughed and left the room with a smile on her face.
"So, how was your first encounter with something you're only ever seen on TV?" Grace asked as she looked at Caspian with a laugh.
"It was nice; she was a nice person," Caspian chuckled.
"So, how do you feel? About the supernatural things and all," Grace asked while leaning against the chair.
"I… I don't know. I accept it, but it confuses me most of the time. If the supernaturals are real, then why are they advertised as fake?" Caspian couldn't help but ask.
Grace just sighed as she handed Caspian his food, "Eat first…. It was an agreement to keep both the supernatural and regular humans safe. Most humans would think of us as dangerous; if they saw us, they would immediately try to kill us. Because of that, the supernatural defended themselves and killed some people due to them not knowing what their prowess would do to humans."
"Because of that, people naturally thought of the supernatural as enemies. We didn't want war against mankind, so we hid our identities and learned to blend in with people. As time passed, people eventually thought of us as just a myth."
"That's… a lot," Caspian smiled wryly. Grace just laughed lightly and pinched his nose.
After a moment of silence, Caspian looked at his mom and asked, "Mom, what type of supernatural are you? I already have a guess…."
"Me?" Grace smirked as she crossed her legs and arms. She then said, "I'm a vampire."
"I managed to guess it. Wow… so that means I'm a half-vampire or a dhampir… That's kinda cool. Now I feel like a grade-schooler discovering something new, haha," Caspian was somewhat fascinated. He always thought that his mom was cool, but now she looked even cooler.
Silence permeated the room after that. After a while, Grace spoke out, "Caspian, I guess… I have to tell you the truth about your father."
Caspian smiled bitterly as he said, "If my guess is right, dad… he was killed by the same supernatural that has been killing all those people recently, right?
"How did you…?" Grace couldn't help but be surprised. Caspian just said, "I'm not that dumb, mom, haha. I already knew he didn't die due to an accident."
Grace had a guilty look on her face as she said, "I'm sorry for hiding the truth."
"It's not something you should be apologizing for, mom. You just wanted to keep me safe, and I appreciate it," Caspian opened his arms and reached for his mom.
Grace smiled warmly as she hugged her son. After a while, they let go of each other, and Grace faked a cough. She then said, "Well, I guess it's time for me to reveal my actual job, I guess."
Grace smiled while saying, "I'm actually a captain of a task force within the Bureau of Supernatural Beings."
"I knew mom was a badass," Caspian chuckled loudly, causing Grace to laugh. Grace then wanted to say something, but before she could say anything, Caspian asked with a solemn face, "But why did they target me…? Did they find out your identity and manage to connect your ties with me? I can't understand why they'd target me."
Grace smiled bitterly at Caspian's speculations as she said, "It's highly unlikely that they know my identity. But there's one thing for sure; they're targeting half-bloods. That includes you."
Caspian's face then turned solemn as he pinched his chin. Seeing this, Grace approached Caspian and patted his head. Caspian felt this and smiled while saying, "I'm not a kid anymore, mom, but this does feel somewhat comforting…. Regarding what you said, that means all the victims are half-bloods?"
Grace stopped patting Caspian's head as she said, "Based on the information we have, yes. All of them are."
Remembering the kid that died, Caspian was confused, "How about the kid that died? He had both parents…. And they all seemed human to me."
Grace then said with a laugh, "Does Abby seem like a supernatural to you? You won't be able to recognize a supernatural when they're in their human form. The kid's dad is a supernatural being, and we naturally helped him understand the situation."
"That makes sense," Caspian nodded his head as he calmed himself down. All the information that he had been bombarded with made him somewhat irrational, which made him not use his brain for a couple of minutes.
"One more question, is Abby part of your team?" Caspian asked curiously.
Grace couldn't help but laugh as she replied, "Yes, she's been a part of my team since she and you were little. I trained her from time to time back then, and now she's been a member of my task force for the longest time."
"So that's why she disappeared from time to time when we were little," Caspian said with surprise.
Then Caspian had a thought; he looked at Grace seriously and asked, "Since it's come to this…. Mom, how about I join you guys in the investigation?"
"What? No, you'll stay here in the bureau for the meantime until we find the perpetrator. I won't allow you to get hurt again," Grace said with a frown.
Caspian's brows knitted as he said, "But I could be of help to you guys! I can be the bait since, as you said, they're after me since I'm a half-blood. Look, mom, I just want to help!"
"NO, you will stay here! Here you are with your stubbornness again! This is why you got in danger in the first place!" Grace stood up in anger.
Gritting his teeth, Caspian clenched his fists. He knew his mother was right, so he calmed down and sighed, tired clear in his face, "I'm sorry, mom."
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