Chapter 146 — What Elias Made
Henry's smile disappeared.
His body folded forward.
Brook caught him before his head struck the ground.
"Henry."
Henry's eyes rolled back.
Black fluid ran from the corner of his mouth.
Sera dropped beside them.
"Get him down."
Brook lowered him carefully.
Crowley stood over them, one hand raised.
A thin circle of light formed beneath Henry.
"Don't touch the Ectoplasm."
Brook looked up.
"I'm already touching him."
"I meant the black part."
Brook looked down.
"Useful advice."
Crowley ignored him.
The circle brightened.
Henry screamed.
Brook held his shoulders.
"Henry!"
The scream stopped.
Henry opened his eyes.
They were his.
For half a second.
Then they changed.
A smile.
Cold.
Cruel.
Brook's entire body tightened.
Henry's voice came out differently.
"Now you understand."
Crowley went still.
Shoyo stepped forward.
"That isn't Elias."
Henry's head slowly turned toward her.
The smile widened.
"Oh."
The voice said.
"The First Witch."
Sera looked toward Shoyo.
Brook didn't.
His eyes stayed on Henry.
"Get out of him."
Henry laughed.
"I don't live here."
The black fluid moved across Henry's neck.
Thin.
Alive.
Brook raised his weapon.
Crowley grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
Brook looked at him.
"Move."
"That's Henry."
"I know."
"Then don't kill him."
Brook's grip tightened.
The thing inside Henry smiled.
"Such loyalty."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
Henry tilted his head.
The smile vanished.
For one moment—
fear crossed his face.
Then the black fluid moved again.
And something else looked through him.
"I am what remains."
The sanctuary went quiet.
Shoyo's expression changed.
The king watched Henry carefully.
Crowley looked at him.
"What is it?"
The king answered quietly.
"Ectoplasm."
Henry laughed.
"That's what they call us now."
Brook stared.
"Us?"
The thing inside Henry looked around.
The dead.
The roots.
The sanctuary.
Then it looked toward Brook.
"You've met the dead."
Brook didn't respond.
The creature continued.
"But you've never asked what happens after."
Sera stepped closer.
"Henry."
The thing inside him looked at her.
Its expression changed.
It stared.
Then smiled again.
"Elias wants you."
Brook immediately moved between them.
The Ectoplasm laughed.
"There he is."
Brook's body went cold.
"Say it again."
Crowley stepped closer.
"Brook."
The Ectoplasm watched him.
"That's why Azael couldn't kill you."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
Crowley looked at Shoyo.
"What does it mean?"
The Ectoplasm spoke before she could.
"Elias needs things alive."
Henry's body shook.
His own voice broke through.
"Brook."
Brook dropped beside him.
"I'm here."
Henry's eyes focused.
For a second.
"Don't—"
The black fluid moved.
Henry screamed.
His body arched.
The king stepped forward.
"Hold him."
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
The king raised his hand.
The roots around the sanctuary moved.
They wrapped around Henry's wrists and ankles.
Brook grabbed his arm.
"Wait."
Henry's voice came through.
"Do it!"
Brook froze.
Henry stared at him.
"Hold me."
Brook looked at Crowley.
Crowley nodded.
Brook stepped back.
The roots pulled Henry against the ground.
Henry screamed.
The Ectoplasm began leaving his mouth.
A thin black stream.
Then it stopped.
The creature inside him laughed.
"You cannot remove what he has made."
Shoyo's expression hardened.
"What did Elias make?"
The Ectoplasm became silent.
Brook watched Henry's face.
The thing was afraid.
Henry suddenly began laughing.
But not cruelly.
Hysterically.
Crowley stepped closer.
"What's wrong?"
Henry's eyes opened.
They were his.
"Memories."
Brook leaned closer.
"What?"
Henry looked at him.
"I can see them."
Then his face changed.
Fear.
"No."
Sera grabbed his hand.
"Henry."
Henry shook his head.
"No."
The black fluid moved beneath his skin.
Henry screamed again.
And the sanctuary disappeared.
Henry saw a laboratory.
Not the one they had found beneath Remus.
Older.
Cruder.
Bodies hung from chains.
Some alive.
Some dead.
Elias stood among them.
Younger.
Human.
Or closer to human.
His hands were covered in blood.
A child cried somewhere in the darkness.
Henry turned.
Elias was standing beside a glass chamber.
Inside—
black fluid moved.
Ectoplasm.
But smaller.
New.
Elias whispered something.
The child screamed.
The black fluid entered its mouth.
Henry tried to look away.
He couldn't.
The memory continued.
The child stopped moving.
Elias watched.
Waiting.
Then—
the child's eyes opened.
Black.
Elias smiled.
Henry returned to the sanctuary.
He vomited.
Brook held him.
"What did you see?"
Henry shook his head.
"No."
Brook grabbed his shoulder.
"Henry."
Henry looked at him.
"He made them."
Silence.
Crowley stared.
"The Ectoplasm."
Henry nodded.
"He didn't find it."
The black fluid inside Henry moved.
Angrily.
Henry continued.
"He made it."
Shoyo stepped backward.
The king's face hardened.
Brook looked at Crowley.
"That doesn't make sense."
Henry laughed once.
Without humor.
"Nothing he does makes sense."
The Ectoplasm moved beneath his skin again.
Henry grabbed his own head.
"Get out!"
Brook held him.
"Henry!"
Another memory hit.
A woman chained to a wall.
Elias kneeling in front of her.
She was crying.
"Please."
Elias smiled.
Henry felt her fear.
Then—
the black fluid entered her body.
Her screams stopped.
Elias waited.
The woman's eyes opened.
Black.
She smiled.
Elias smiled back.
Then the woman began screaming again.
The Ectoplasm left her.
Her body collapsed.
Elias looked disappointed.
He walked away.
Henry remained trapped inside the memory.
He saw more.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Failures.
People.
Creatures.
Children.
Soldiers.
Elias experimenting.
Changing them.
Destroying them.
Learning.
Henry returned.
His body was shaking violently.
Brook looked at him.
"Henry."
Henry whispered:
"He remembers everything."
Brook frowned.
"Who?"
Henry looked toward his own chest.
"The Ectoplasm."
Crowley understood.
"It carries the memories."
Henry nodded.
"Every host."
Shoyo's face changed.
Brook understood.
The Ectoplasm wasn't just a creature.
It was an archive.
A living collection of everything Elias had done.
Henry looked at Crowley.
"He's afraid of it."
Crowley frowned.
"Elias?"
Henry nodded.
"He made it."
The black fluid moved.
"But he can't control what it remembers."
The king stepped closer.
Henry looked at him.
"Elias tried to erase the memories."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"But he couldn't."
Henry shook his head.
"No."
His eyes filled with tears.
"They became part of it."
The Ectoplasm was moving beneath his skin.
Henry screamed.
Brook held him down.
The thing spoke through Henry.
"You cannot destroy him."
Brook looked down.
"Why?"
Henry smiled.
"Because he made us to survive."
Crowley stepped closer.
"And how do we stop him?"
The smile disappeared.
For the first time—
the Ectoplasm looked directly at Crowley.
And Henry whispered:
"You don't."
Silence.
Then Henry's eyes widened.
Another memory.
This one different.
Henry grabbed Brook's arm.
"I saw it."
Brook leaned closer.
"What?"
Henry looked terrified.
"Crowley."
Crowley stepped forward.
Henry pointed at him.
"Elias has something for you."
Crowley's face changed.
"What?"
Henry swallowed.
"A trap."
Crowley went still.
The Ectoplasm began laughing again.
Sera stood.
"What kind of trap?"
Henry's head slowly turned toward her.
His voice became quieter.
"Devil Trap."
Nobody moved.
Even Shoyo became still.
The king looked at Crowley.
Crowley whispered:
"No."
Brook looked between them.
"What is that?"
Crowley didn't answer.
The Ectoplasm did.
"A spell."
Brook stared.
Henry smiled.
"A new one."
Shoyo stepped forward.
"What does it do?"
Henry looked at her.
The smile disappeared.
"Anyone can use it."
Silence.
Crowley stared at Henry.
The Ectoplasm whispered:
"It doesn't matter what you are."
Crowley's expression hardened.
Brook saw fear in his eyes.
Real fear.
The Ectoplasm continued.
"Demon."
"Angel."
"Human."
"Witch."
The black fluid moved.
"Everyone can be trapped."
Sera looked at Crowley.
"What does it take?"
Henry laughed.
The sound echoed through the sanctuary.
Then he answered:
"Belief."
The ground shook.
Mórkr roared.
Closer.
But this time—
another sound answered.
Not Azael.
Brook looked toward the forest.
Death moved.
A lifeline.
Azael.
Coming.
Fast.
Directly toward them.
Brook stood.
Henry grabbed his arm.
"Wait."
Brook looked down.
Henry's eyes were his.
Clear.
Terrified.
"I saw something else."
Brook stopped.
"What?"
Henry swallowed.
"Elias isn't waiting for us."
Crowley looked toward the forest.
"Then what is he doing?"
Henry looked toward Sera.
His voice was barely a whisper.
"He's coming for her."
Sera went still.
Brook's expression changed.
Henry continued.
"And he's already close."
The black door behind them creaked.
Everyone turned.
Slowly.
It opened wider.
Brook raised his weapon.
The darkness inside moved.
A voice came from within.
Calm.
Familiar.
"Crowley."
Crowley's face went pale.
The voice laughed softly.
And Elias stepped into the sanctuary.
End of Chapter 146