11 Crystal Heart
"That's so disgusting!"
"You're the one who's supposed to be doing this, you know? Instead of your old man."
"You're the real man here, Dad."
"And that's why your mother bench-presses more than you."
Gasp.
Ignoring his son beside him, Malachi stared at the object in his bloody hands.
Logically, after somehow managing to kill the monster dog rather than fleeing from it, the next course of action should have been to regroup with their family.
However, when Malachi cast a curious glance at the monster's corpse with his unique ability and noticed something still emitting a red light, curiosity got the better of him.
Malachi was well aware of the importance of rejoining their family for several reasons, but the idea that it would only take a moment consumed him.
Predictably, that moment turned into several moments.
Witnessing his father's curiosity about something in the vicinity of the monster's corpse piqued David's interest as well, leading him to follow in his father's footsteps to examine the creature's remains.
However, upon reaching the area, David didn't expect his father to be meticulously inspecting the intensities of the monster dog and cautiously delving his hands into it.
The sight of the corpse and the blood strewn around was enough to make David almost vomit, but he managed to keep it in check. Yet, witnessing his father thrusting his hand into a pile of intestines proved too much for David, and he couldn't hold back any longer.
David vomited to the side.
Malachi, too, wasn't feeling much better, even though he was the one who had initiated this macabre investigation.
Malachi was torn between wanting to return to his family to ensure their safety and the irresistible allure of whatever was emitting the red light.
Malachi couldn't quite explain why his body reacted so strongly to this unknown source of illumination, but Malachi had a deep-seated feeling that he would regret it if he abandoned this curiosity.
Malachi decided to act on his instincts swiftly.
Fortunately, his actions were manageable, owing to his prior experiences.
Perhaps others wouldn't find it peculiar, considering his relatively calm demeanour, which often contrasted his muscular frame—qualities he had developed from a young age when he grew up as a farmer in a local town.
He wasn't born in the town; Malachi had been brought there to live with his only family after his parents tragically died in a car crash when he was just 12.
Malachi was taken in by his mother's father, his grandfather.
Malachi's grandfather had a breeding farm and a slaughterhouse, and Malachi later worked there for several years to assist his grandfather.
When he grew older, his grandfather's health deteriorated significantly, leading them to sell nearly everything they owned to pay for his medical bills.
Unfortunately, his grandfather passed away, leaving Malachi with no one to depend on.
Fortunately, there was some money left from the properties sold, which would sustain Malachi for a while before he ventured into the profession of an author, a field where he surprisingly excelled. This became his profession up to the present day and the foreseeable future, assuming the world remained unchanged.
Due to his experience in the slaughterhouse, Malachi was in a better state to deal with the unsettling sights than David.
At this point, Malachi began to question why he was going to such lengths.
Malachi used his unique vision to locate the object emitting the red light within the pile of intestines and brought it out, only to discover that it was indeed the monster's heart, just as he had initially assumed.
After obtaining the monster's heart, Malachi deactivated his ability.
Malachi noticed his eyes were starting to feel itchy, but it wasn't the typical kind of itch he could relate to. He attributed it to his unique ability being active for a prolonged period.
Now that he had seen what he wanted, Malachi no longer needed to perceive the world differently and fixed his gaze on the heart in his hands.
However, this heart appeared distinct from what one would expect in animals, though it was a stretch to call the monster dog an animal at this point.
The heart in Malachi's hand was unlike any other he had seen; it was a crystal heart. It had a glass-like texture when touched and its appearance resembled that of a crystal.
"What's this?" Malachi wondered as he examined the heart in his hands. He knew it was a heart, but it was unlike any heart he had encountered before.
Although his mind was now burdened with even more questions, since he had acquired what he had been searching for, Malachi prepared to depart.
However, just as Malachi was about to rise from his squatting position, something unexpected occurred.
The crystal heart in his hand started emitting a faint red substance, hardly noticeable but eerily resembling the blue gas his wife and daughter had emitted from their bodies on the bridge.
The difference was that this substance was red.
Before Malachi could react to this sudden change in the crystal heart, the red gas being emitted from it rapidly flowed into his hand.
"Ugh," Malachi groaned as a warm sensation coursed through his body. The sensation was similar to what he had felt on the bridge, although this time it was more pleasurable than painful.
However, unsure of what was happening, Malachi quickly dropped the crystal heart from his hand. The warm sensation immediately ceased upon losing contact.
"What's wrong, Dad?" David asked from his side, watching Malachi's sequence of actions with concern. He wondered if the crystal heart had somehow affected his father in some way.
Just as David was about to start overthinking and ask his dad how he felt again, he saw Malachi pick up the crystal heart once more.
"Is something wrong, Dad?" David asked, growing concerned as he observed Malachi's unexplained actions.
"I'm just trying to confirm something," Malachi replied, and David's troubled heart relaxed slightly as he redirected his attention to surveying their surroundings.
The woods were becoming increasingly dark, making David feel quite uneasy.
Upon picking up the crystal heart once more, the red gas that had been emitted before didn't appear this time.
This outcome didn't surprise Malachi, as it was similar to what had occurred the last time he touched it. The crystal heart had started emitting the red light only a few seconds later.
Malachi wanted to see if the same sensation would happen again, the feeling it gave him was hard to describe and yet unique.
Although it seemed unreasonable to try something he didn't understand, Malachi decided to follow his instincts and give it another shot.
Malachi had never been an impulsive man, but since waking up, the gut feeling he experienced was much stronger than anything in his past, and it felt peculiar as well.
Just as Malachi had suspected, after a few seconds of holding the crystal heart, it began emitting a faint red gas that entered his body through his hands. The pleasurable warmth he had felt earlier returned.
The surroundings were considerably darker now, and although David could still see quite clearly without much trouble, his concern for his father made him pay extra attention.
Malachi finally noticed the red gas emitted by the crystal heart, which was somewhat more visible in the dark.
"Dad, what's that?" David asked, but his father didn't respond. Malachi appeared to be focused on something, with his eyes closed.
Worried, David gritted his teeth and decided to wait patiently.
After a few more seconds, Malachi opened his eyes and turned his gaze to the crystal heart in his hand. It seemed to have become a few centimetres smaller, and he wore an unusual expression on his face.
The red gas continued to be emitted and transferred into his body, with the pleasurable warmth persisting.
However, Malachi now understood the significance of this sensation.
To avoid jumping to conclusions, he activated his ability and employed his unique vision to examine the crystal heart in his hands.
Just as before, the crystal heart continued to emit a red light. Malachi noticed that as it emitted red gas into his body, its light grew dimmer.
Furthermore, he observed that the red gas entering his body moved from his arms to his chest region, where he felt the most intense warmth.
Malachi focused on the red radiating from his chest since he couldn't observe his heart like he did for David and the monster dog. He noticed that it was gradually growing brighter while the crystal heart dimmed.
Finally, Malachi reached a conclusion. The warm sensation he was experiencing now was a result of the red gas strengthening him. Perhaps the one on the bridge was responsible for his transformation.
With a sigh, he realised that things had become even more complex.
