Chapter 456: Henry Tell A Story

The gang went outside, and by then, it was already dark. The moment they stepped out, their attention was drawn to the rooftop, where Henry stood like some kind of night vigilante, watching over the entire place.

Faye took a deep breath, trying her best to keep herself under control. It had only been two days without her girlfriend and pups, and she was already struggling to deal with everything happening around her. Now, on top of everything else, she had people to look after, and she was beginning to realize that she had somehow become the mommy of her own friends.

Honestly, she was getting tired of it.

"Henry, come down this instant..." Faye called out.

She did not shout. Her voice came out more like a mutter, but she knew Henry could hear her even from that distance, whether she spoke loudly or whispered.

Henry immediately jumped down from the rooftop, landing neatly on his feet as though the height meant absolutely nothing to him.

"Show-off..." Malo snorted, feeling a little jelly of the stunt Henry had just pulled.

Faye barely paid attention to Malo’s reaction before turning to Henry.

"What are you doing here, Henry? Aren’t you supposed to be at the shop?" she asked.

"Or with the basketball team, having a celebration party with Peamah and the others...?" Malo added, looking at Henry curiously.

"You did not answer my question," Henry said, directing his attention back to Faye. "If you have recently met a Lycan witch..."

"Henry, I already answered you. No. And even if I had met or seen one, I wouldn’t know because I don’t know what a Lycan witch is supposed to look like..." Faye replied, already growing tired of the same question.

Henry did not seem satisfied with her answer. Instead, he began looking around, carefully examining everyone standing there before suddenly leaning closer to Faye and sniffing her.

He then moved toward Malo and sniffed him as well.

"Okay, I know you’re weird, but not this weird..." Malo muttered when Henry proceeded to sniff his armpits.

Malo stared at him in disbelief, clearly wondering what had gotten into the boy. However, Henry seemed too focused on whatever he was trying to detect to care about how strange he looked.

After finishing with Malo, Henry moved over to Bambi and sniffed her too.

Then he skipped Sasha.

"I can perceive her scent on the three of you. It’s faint, but it’s still there, even in this place. I know she was here..." Henry said, his expression growing more serious.

Malo immediately leaned toward Faye and whispered, "See, Faye? He really is a Lycan..."

"Obviously, he is. Everyone knows that..." Faye replied before turning her attention back to Henry. "What if the witch was here? What does that have to do with any of us?"

Henry’s expression changed at her question. The seriousness on his face gave way to something more painful, and by the time he finally spoke, his eyes were already growing teary.

"She is a very, very bad witch. A wicked one... She hates me and my mommy, and she has tried to kill her many times so she can steal all her powers..." Henry explained, his voice carrying the hurt behind those words.

"Okay, that is new..." Sasha muttered, looking at him in surprise.

"A witch was here yesterday for the ritual. What if he’s talking about that witch?" Bambi suggested.

"Bambi, he said Lycan witch, not Were-witch. Plus, that witch is dead. Those Walkers killed her..." Malo pointed out.

"Did she tell you her name?" Henry asked.

"I think it was Elizabeth... We didn’t get her last name."

"That’s her name. Elizabeth Maverick..." Henry confirmed.

"Everyone, let’s head inside. I’m getting a bit dizzy out here..." Faye said, rubbing her forehead as she turned toward the gym.

Everyone followed her inside, where they settled down on a mat. With Henry sitting among them, they listened as he began telling them the story behind the witch he had been searching for.

"My mommy married this man. He was a very powerful king, and he already had a first wife and children, so my mommy was the second wife. But he loved my mommy more..."

Henry spoke with a strange seriousness, as though he were remembering something that had happened a long time ago. His eyes remained fixed on the people sitting around him as he continued explaining.

"Mommy wasn’t like the first wife. Everyone called her the weak one because she wasn’t born with magic. But mommy proved them wrong. She showed everyone that she was more than a weak witch. Mommy had the powers of the ancient coven witches inside her, and everyone feared her. Even Daddy and his wife feared her..."

He paused briefly before continuing, his expression becoming more troubled.

"And when my brothers burned me, mommy took me far away. Then the first wife started hunting us. She wanted to kill mommy and steal all her powers for herself..."

"You sound like you’re reading from a kids’ storybook..." Malo remarked, staring at the grown boy as he listened to the unbelievable story.

"Shhhh, let the boy continue..." Sasha said, clearly enjoying the story much more than she probably should have.

Henry continued without paying attention to their reactions.

"Mommy made sure she was never found. She created an invisible castle that not even the strongest witch could see with their eyes. Till today, she’s still looking for mommy..."

He stopped talking and looked around at everyone.

"The end..."

Faye stared at him for a moment, trying to process everything he had just said.

"That was a very... nice story, now I know why that place was invisible. But mommy is dead, so there’s no need for the witch to find her..."

"But her powers still live on..." Henry replied.

"In her ashes?" Faye wondered aloud.

"No. Before she died, she transferred all her powers into one of my toy trains... which is in the shop..."

Malo looked at Henry, then briefly glanced at the others.

"Okay, and I don’t think your Elizabeth is the same as the witch who died yesterday..."

"What if she was pretending to be dead?" Henry asked.

Faye slowly stood up, looking more exhausted than ever. Between being trapped in Kiara’s mind, worrying about her girlfriend and pups, and dealing with Henry’s strange questions, she had reached her limit for the day.

"Bambi, go get your bag, and let’s go home. I’m tired, and I need to sleep..."

"Huh?" Bambi muttered, looking up at her in surprise.

"Do you want to sleep here? Let’s go to the cottage. I’ll talk to Eriko, and he’ll let you live in the attic. Come on..."

Now that Kiara had dumped Bambi, the girl was practically homeless, and Faye could not bring herself to leave her sleeping outside with nowhere to go.

Bambi immediately stood up, looking much happier as she went to collect her backpack.

"Henry, go to the shop. It’s late. Sasha, go home. Malo, lock up before leaving..." Faye instructed as she prepared to leave.

"Why me? I’m not the only one who works here..." Malo complained.

"But you’re the last one leaving. Sensei isn’t back from his trip, so do his job..."

Faye did not wait for him to continue complaining. She simply walked out of the gym with Bambi, leaving Malo to deal with his responsibilities.

Once they reached the car, Faye tossed the keys to Bambi, and the two of them drove home.