To Love A Beast | Gay MxM |

29. Up the Mountain

-Dante-

I was weirded out by the idea of having some kind of old spirits invade my dreams, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel hopeful. The respectful way Chase spoke about the House of Spirits gave me the impression that it was actually a legitimate way of getting help. Or at least to ask for it.

The annoying part was that the spirits didn't have all the answers. It would've been so easy if they just told us where to find the cure, but apparently, that was not how it worked. They could only find clues in the dreamer's memories and point them in the right direction, and it often happened that their help wasn't that helpful at all.

I still was hopeful. Something happened in that lab that made me change into the beast. Something that they did caused me to become this monster. I prayed that the spirits could find the answer, that small clue Aaliyah hadn't spotted during the brief moment she was reading my mind. I needed something. If the book Chase brought home couldn't help us, we had no other leads. I wanted to believe that Mrs. Cooper was right, and someone else had already translated the book, but... if there wasn't one... Before leaving, she promised us to call as soon as she found something, and the wait was killing me.

Part of me was eager to go visit the spirits already to get it over with, but we had to wait for a couple of days while the dwarfs were finishing up their job. I still wasn't strong enough to start climbing up a mountain anyway, so it was for the best to wait for a bit.

At least in my opinion. Chase was practically climbing the walls by the end of the first day, packing and repacking our bags, pacing around, asking King Gregor the same questions over and over again whenever the poor man stepped into his view... I tried to keep him occupied but waiting around really didn't suit him well, and it didn't help that it was raining heavily, so we had to stay indoors.

But the next day, Ben gave us something else to think about.

"I'm sorry to bother..." the old man spoke as he approached us in the living room where we had settled down on the couch after my second breakfast. "You're going to stay at the mountain for a few days, so I was thinking... Would it be all right if I start with the research while you're away?"

"Of course – the sooner the better," Chase immediately said. "You didn't have to ask."

"He needs my blood," I muttered when Ben gave me an apologetic look.

"O-Oh... Right," Chase breathed out. "Is it... Are you...?"

"It's fine," I sighed, looking away from both of them as the nasty swirls invaded my stomach.

"I can wait," Ben hurried to say, but I silenced him with a wave of my hand.

"You'll get your blood," I simply said. "How much do you need?"

"Five vials for starters..." he mumbled with an awkward expression on his face.

"Five?" Chase repeated.