Chapter 39: The Weight We Carry

Chris POV

The lunar base had grown into something far greater than I had originally planned.

Massive drills continued to tear through the Moon’s surface while automated mining platforms transported countless tons of ore back to the processing facilities.

Construction drones moved in every direction, expanding the base with mechanical precision.

Watching everything operate exactly as intended filled me with a quiet sense of satisfaction.

That was when the Inhumans arrived.

Two men approached the mining site without the slightest hint of fear.

They ignored the machines surrounding them and walked until they stood only a few metres away from me.

One of them looked around before fixing his gaze on me.

“You are mining the territory of the Inhumans,” he said.

“Cease your operations immediately.”

I frowned.

“The Moon belongs to no one.”

“It belongs to us,” the man replied.

“You have no right to be here.”

For reasons I couldn’t understand, a surge of anger rose within me.

Before either of them had the chance to react, I disappeared from where I stood and instantly appeared in front of the speaker.

My hand shot forward without hesitation, tearing straight through his chest.

His eyes widened in disbelief as blood spilled from his mouth.

Slowly, I pulled my arm back, a still-beating heart clenched tightly in my hand.

The messenger looked at it for a brief moment before the light faded from his eyes, and his lifeless body crumpled onto the grey lunar surface.

The second messenger stood frozen in terror, his entire body trembling as he stared at the corpse of his companion.

I casually tossed the still-beating heart at his feet before looking him straight in the eyes.

“Take that back to your king,” I said coldly.

“Tell him I’ll do whatever I want.” The messenger didn’t utter a single word.

He simply turned around and fled as fast as he could.

Barely a minute had passed before the space in front of me distorted violently.

A giant black dog emerged from the distortion, and behind it stood five figures.

One wore a black suit with a strange tuning fork-shaped crest on his head.

Beside him stood a woman whose crimson hair moved as though it had a life of its own.

Another was dressed like a martial artist, while one of the men had hooves instead of feet.

The last figure remained silent, his emotionless gaze fixed entirely on me.

The man in black never spoke.

Instead, the woman stepped forward, her crimson hair swaying gently around her as she looked at me with complete indifference.

“This,” she said in a calm, emotionless voice, “…is the price of your arrogance.” Before I could respond, the giant dog slowly walked toward me with something hanging from its mouth.

At first, I couldn’t make out what it was, but as it drew closer, my vision finally focused.

My entire body froze.

It was Helen…

and Gwen.

Their bodies were soaked in blood, hanging limply from the giant dog’s jaws as though they were nothing more than lifeless dolls.

The giant dog lowered them onto the ground in front of me.

Neither of them moved.

Their eyes remained closed, their skin pale, and the blood staining their clothes spread across the lunar dust.

My mind went blank.

“No…”

I stumbled forward, unable to take my eyes off them.

“No… this isn’t…”

I reached toward them—

And everything shattered.

I shot upright in bed with a violent gasp, my entire body drenched in sweat.

My chest rose and fell rapidly as I struggled to catch my breath, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst from my ribs.

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking, and it took several long moments before I realised I was staring at the ceiling of my room.

“It was just a nightmare,” I whispered, forcing myself to take a slow, deep breath.

“Calm down… it was only a nightmare.”

Even after saying the words aloud, the image of Helen and Gwen lying lifeless before me refused to leave my mind.

I rubbed my face with both hands, hoping to clear the lingering fear, before reaching for the water jug beside my bed.

My fingers wrapped around it, but it was empty.

Letting out a tired sigh, I climbed out of bed and made my way downstairs.

The house was completely silent, the only sound coming from my footsteps against the wooden floor.

As I entered the kitchen, I immediately noticed Helen sitting alone at the dining table.

Her eyes were swollen and red, and the untouched plates from dinner still rested on the table, making it obvious she hadn’t been sitting there for only a few minutes.

I slowed my steps and walked over to her.

She didn’t even notice me until I was standing beside her.

“Helen,” I said gently.

“Why are your eyes red?”

Helen didn’t say a word.

The moment I looked at her, another sob escaped her lips before she completely broke down.

It was as though everything she had been forcing herself to hold together finally gave way.

Her shoulders trembled violently as tears poured down her face, and I suddenly realized there wasn’t anything I could say that would make this better.

So I did the only thing I could think of.

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her.

The instant I hugged her, she clung to me tightly.

Her cries grew even louder, like a dam that had finally burst after being held back for far too long.

I gently rubbed her back, quietly repeating that everything would be okay, even though I wasn’t sure I believed those words myself.

We stayed like that for what felt like forever until her cries slowly faded into quiet sniffles.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, the tension left her body, and before I realized it, she had fallen asleep in my arms.

Carefully, I lifted her and carried her upstairs.

She barely stirred as I walked into her room and gently laid her on the bed before pulling the blanket over her.

Thinking she was asleep, I quietly turned toward the door.

“…What happened?”

Her soft voice stopped me just before I reached it.

I turned back with a surprised expression.

“I thought you were sleeping.”

A faint, embarrassed smile appeared on Helen’s face.

“I was,” she replied quietly.

“At least… I was pretending to be. I just felt embarrassed after crying like that. But I can tell you need to talk just as much as I needed to cry.”

Something about those words broke the last wall inside me.

I had planned to tell her—just not like this, not now, not like it was spilling out on its own.

I hadn’t even decided if I wanted to remember it, let alone say it out loud.

And yet the truth slipped out before I could stop it.

“I killed four people.”

The words lingered in the room long after they left my mouth.

Helen didn’t interrupt me.

She didn’t ask who they were or why I had done it.

Instead, her eyes slowly travelled over me, carefully checking every inch of my body as if she was looking for an injury I’d been trying to hide.

“Were you hurt?”

I blinked, caught completely off guard by the question.

“…What?”

“Were you hurt?” she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.

I slowly shook my head.

“No.”

A quiet breath escaped her lips, and some of the tension in her shoulders melted away.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again.

“…Good.”

I couldn’t understand it.

Out of everything she could have asked, the first thing she cared about wasn’t the four people I had killed.

It wasn’t whether they deserved it or why I had done it.

She only wanted to know if I had come home safely.

“…You’re not going to ask me anything else?”

Helen lowered her gaze before looking back at me with the same gentle eyes she had always used whenever she looked at Gwen.

“A few hours ago, I made a decision,” she said quietly.

“I don’t know what’s right anymore, Chris. Maybe I’m wrong for thinking like this… but after today, I only know one thing. You’re my family. As long as you came home safely… that’s enough for me.”

For several seconds, I couldn’t find the words to respond.

Every answer I’d prepared for disappeared.

I had expected fear.

Maybe disappointment.

Maybe she’d look at me the way everyone eventually looked at monsters.

Instead…

nothing had changed.

She was looking at me exactly the same way she always had.

Without saying another word, Helen slowly opened her arms.

I frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“Come here.”

“…No.” I answered so quickly that even I was surprised.

A small smile appeared despite her swollen, tear-filled eyes.

“Why are you acting like such a brat?” she asked softly.

“I remember someone saying he wanted to become Gwen’s stepfather.”

For one embarrassing second, my exhausted brain completely misunderstood what she meant.

Wait…

is she…?

The ridiculous thought disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.

You idiot.

Heat rushed to my face as I realised she was simply asking me for a hug.

I had spent the entire night convincing myself that after hearing the truth, she would never look at me the same way again.

Yet here she was, treating me exactly as she always had.

Feeling more embarrassed than I cared to admit, I quietly stepped forward.

She gently wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close until my head rested just below her chest.

One hand slowly ran through my hair while the other gently rubbed my back, and somehow that simple warmth made the knot in my chest begin to loosen.

“Now,” she whispered.

“Tell me what happened. You were so tense when you came home.”

I closed my eyes and took a slow breath.

Every fibre of my being wanted to break down right there, but I somehow managed to hold myself together.

“The four people I killed…” I began quietly.

“Before today, I always believed that if I ever had to kill someone, I wouldn’t feel anything. I thought I’d make the decision, do what had to be done, and move on like it was nothing.” A bitter smile crossed my face as I let out a quiet laugh.

“I was wrong. I felt disgusted. I was scared. Even after it was over, my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I don’t know if I can do it again.”

Helen listened without interrupting me, her hand never leaving my hair.

When I finally fell silent, she gently squeezed me.

“Then don’t,” she said.

“If you don’t want to carry something like that, then don’t. You don’t have to force yourself to become someone you’re not.”

I smiled weakly and shook my head.

“I don’t think life is going to give me that choice.”

“Maybe not,” she admitted as she gently cupped my cheek.

“But whatever happens, you don’t have to carry it by yourself anymore.”

Those words reached somewhere deep inside me.

The nightmare that had haunted me since waking up, the guilt that had been eating away at me, and the fear that I was slowly becoming someone I wouldn’t recognise all began to loosen their grip.

For the first time since opening my eyes that morning, it felt like I could finally breathe again.

A small smile found its way onto my face.

“I have one condition.”

Helen tilted her head with a curious smile.

“Oh?”

“You have to give me one of these hugs every day or two.”

A soft laugh escaped her lips.

“I think I can manage that.”

I wanted to tell her everything else.

About the nightmare.

About my fear.

About everything I’d been hiding.

But before I could say another word, exhaustion claimed me.

The last thing I felt was Helen gently running her fingers through my hair before darkness pulled me under.