Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Chapter 89

Chapter 89

"A Spirit Binding artifact?" Lionel’s tired eyes immediately brightened, and some of the weakness from being drained by the flesh-and-metal core seemed to disappear beneath renewed curiosity. He looked toward the still-pulsing mass and quickly understood Axel’s idea. "So instead of dragging this whole nightmare back with us, we extract whatever is actually valuable and destroy the rest."

Dr. Seth Brundle became interested again the instant he realized some research material might survive. "You could’ve led with that. I thought you two were about to destroy the most valuable piece of biological machinery I’ve ever seen." Axel Vance shook his head and replied, "If Holy Water had worked on the entire thing, I wouldn’t have trusted you enough to keep any part of it."

Axel began preparing a controlled Spirit Binding field around the surviving core, keeping the process focused on isolating its deepest supernatural component rather than trying to preserve the entire organism. He worked from what Paquita’s grandmother had taught him and what he had since learned through experience, while Lionel stood nearby as the only person who had already established a direct connection with the core. Seth watched from several steps away, with Carrie White beside him, both of them wisely leaving the actual supernatural work to the people who understood it.

When the field stabilized, Axel looked toward Lionel. "You’ll have to reconnect, but only enough to find the center. Don’t try controlling the whole thing again." Lionel gave him a wary look and answered, "Trust me, I learned that lesson the first time."

Lionel established a limited connection with the damaged core while Axel supported the contact through Spirit Binding and Psionic Power. The sensation immediately returned, but this time Lionel resisted the seductive feeling of having another body and focused entirely on tracing the internal flow. With Axel stabilizing the connection, the drain remained far more controlled than before.

Lionel closed his eyes and sank deeper into the sensation. In his perception, the mass became a chaotic maze of living tissue, steel, conduits, and violent energy pathways twisting through one another without any obvious beginning or end. His own spiritual reserve moved through that labyrinth like a thin thread while Axel’s support prevented the surrounding force from swallowing it outright.

"Don’t force it," Axel said quietly. "Follow the way the energy naturally moves and find whatever everything else leads back to." Lionel gave a faint nod without opening his eyes and continued tracing the internal structure.

Several minutes passed.

Seth and Carrie watched without speaking.

The dark red glow inside the core began flickering irregularly while its heartbeat-like pulsing accelerated. Lionel’s face gradually became pale again, beads of sweat forming across his forehead as the strain increased, but this time Axel monitored him too closely for the drain to reach dangerous levels.

Then Lionel’s eyes snapped open.

"Found it."

Axel immediately focused.

"Where?"

"Center of the whole thing. Everything feeds into it."

Axel strengthened the Spirit Binding field.

The invisible pressure surrounding the flesh-and-metal mass tightened.

Soft white light spread through the supernatural restraint and wrapped around the enormous core like a net, forcing its unstable layers inward instead of allowing them to expand. The creature reacted instantly, flesh writhing beneath burned steel as pieces of ruined machinery were pushed outward.

Seth took another step back. "That looks unhealthy."

"Stay back," Axel warned.

The core contracted harder.

A wet tearing sound came from its upper section.

Then the mass split.

Something dark red emerged from inside.

It was roughly the size of a fist and shaped vaguely like a human heart, glowing from within with a deep rhythmic light. Several thin remnants of organic tissue still clung to it as though the larger core desperately wanted to keep hold of the object.

"Lionel, grab it!"

Lionel did not hesitate.

He seized the heart-shaped core.

The instant his hand closed around it, the controlled connection between him and the larger flesh mass snapped. Axel felt the Spirit Binding field lose balance at the same time.

The remaining organism convulsed violently.

"Move!"

Axel grabbed the exhausted Lionel and pulled him away.

Seth reacted immediately, catching Carrie by the arm and dragging her toward the battered utility truck with them. Behind the group, the enormous flesh-and-metal mass began swelling at an alarming rate.

The red light inside it turned almost white.

Cracks spread across the surface.

Scorching radiance poured from every opening.

Seth looked over his shoulder once and immediately ran faster. "That is absolutely going to explode."

"No kidding!" Lionel shouted.

The four of them barely reached the truck before the core reached its limit.

Axel shoved Lionel behind the vehicle while Seth pulled Carrie down beside them. A blinding flash erupted across the highway, turning the night brighter than noon for a fraction of a second.

Then came the explosion.

BOOM!

The blast tore through the wreckage with terrifying force.

A visible shockwave raced across the highway, carrying gravel, burned metal, and shattered mechanical debris directly toward the damaged utility truck. Seth instinctively covered his head while Lionel stared at the approaching wall of destruction and realized the vehicle was nowhere near strong enough to protect them.

"This is bad!"

The pressure hit.

But not them.

Carrie suddenly raised her head.

Fear had frozen every muscle in her body, yet something stronger pushed against that terror. She did not want to die, and even more importantly, she did not want Axel, Lionel, or Seth to die beside her.

Her telekinetic power erupted.

A translucent barrier appeared around the group.

It expanded outward from Carrie and curved over the battered truck like an enormous invisible dome. The incoming shockwave slammed directly into it and split apart, flowing around the protected area instead of crushing through them.

Burning fragments struck the barrier.

Metal bounced away.

Stones and shattered pieces of wreckage hit the invisible surface hard enough to send ripples across it, but nothing penetrated. Outside, the highway shook beneath the explosion while inside Carrie’s protection, the four of them remained untouched.

Axel immediately looked toward her.

Carrie’s eyes were tightly closed.

Her arms stretched forward instinctively while her face had turned pale from effort. The barrier trembled under repeated impacts, yet she continued holding it in place through raw determination.

This was different from the uncontrolled telekinetic outburst in the forest.

Carrie was frightened.

She was exhausted.

But she was choosing to protect them.

The explosion gradually faded.

The shockwave passed.

Burning debris finally stopped falling.

Carrie’s barrier flickered several times before dissolving into nothing.

Her knees immediately gave out.

Axel caught her before she struck the ground.

Carrie leaned against him, breathing hard as she stared down at her trembling hands. "What... what did I just do?"

Axel steadied her against the side of the truck. "You saved us."

Carrie looked toward the scorched highway beyond them.

Then toward Seth and Lionel.

"But I didn’t mean to..." Her voice began shaking. "It just happened again."

Axel understood the fear behind those words. Carrie had spent most of her life being told that anything strange inside her was proof of corruption, and every new manifestation of power threatened to reinforce that conditioning. He kept both hands steady on her shoulders until she looked at him.

"There’s no ’but,’ Carrie. That wasn’t a curse taking control of you." His tone remained firm. "You saw people you cared about in danger and used your power to protect them."

Carrie’s eyes remained uncertain.

Axel continued, "The power belongs to you. What matters is learning how to control it and deciding what you use it for."

Some of the panic slowly left her face.

Lionel gave her a tired grin from nearby. "For what it’s worth, I’m very happy you decided to use it for ’not getting us blown into pieces.’"

Seth nodded immediately. "Strongly agree."

Carrie almost smiled.

Axel then looked toward Lionel’s hand.

The extracted core was still there.

He took it carefully and examined what remained.

The organic tendrils that had originally clung to the heart-shaped object were gone. Its surface had become completely smooth, almost like polished stone, while deep red light continued pulsing rhythmically beneath the surface.

It no longer looked like flesh.

It looked like jade.

Dark, blood-colored jade.

Axel turned it slowly beneath the fading firelight.

"Not bad."

Carrie’s attention shifted toward the strange object.

Axel held it where she could see. "This is what we nearly got blown up for."

Her fear gave way to curiosity.

The smooth red surface reflected the distant flames while the light inside it pulsed like a tiny heartbeat. Carrie stared at the Blood Jade, and without realizing it, the trembling in her hands gradually began to stop.

:::

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