Chapter 8:

Tale Three: Painless Porcupine (3)

SupraNatural


I could almost feel Ellie sneering at me from behind, her voice resonating in my ears.

“Pfffft! Such a massive copout, man! You’d put the consistency and believability of the whole Tale in such a dangerous position just to keep playing your little detective game? Why don’t you just go ahead and admit it, friend? Admit everything, repent for your sins and everyone will gladly forgive you! Wahahahaha!”

Of course, nobody was there.

It was just my imagination.

A mirage, a falsehood.

How ironic.

Still, I had no time to waste thinking about such trivialities.

I immediately got to work –

To create a supernatural creature.

Through the power of fiction, I would conquer this Tale. Just watch me do it, Ellie! Watch and learn!

“For him who cannot feel pain… For him whose body is but that of a doll, the Painless.”

I murmured as the images started appearing on my mind. I needed to believe in what I was doing, what I was creating.

So that the lie becomes truth and the fictions turns reality.

“And what animal form shall I give you? Hmm, a tricky one… Oh, never mind. I got it. For him who longs for contact, but in doing so only hurts himself… For him who hurts other as he hurts himself… the Porcupine.”

I said, and as I did, golden petals coming out of my open hands, the lies and false beliefs came together to form a being.

A being of the supernatural.

A being of fiction.

Through lies, we shall reach truth.

Through magic, we shall reach mystery.

It wasn’t long before the golden porcupine had taken full form in front of my eyes.

The Painless Porcupine.

As I extended my right hand, the porcupine floated through the air in that direction, effortlessly going through the door that led to the room Oliver was in, still unconscious.

I let it do its job.

It needed no instructions, no commands.

After all, it was a fictitious creation of my mind, and as such, me being able to mind control it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Nothing worth batting an eye about.

It had barely been a few minutes since I had sent the Porcupine inside Oliver’s room.

Any moment now…

“Excuse me. The patient has woken up, and you may visit him now.”

A middle-aged doctor came out of the room and told me. She went inside again, and I followed behind her.

Oliver was laying in the only bed inside the room, apparently still too weak to sit.

He was heavily injured all over his body, and on top of that, he was heavily dehydrated. It’s a miracle he was even conscious when you got to him. If you hadn’t called the ambulance then, he would probably be a lot worse off. So you should be proud. You saved a young man’s life.

So said the doctor.

Truly, if we took that into consideration, it truly had been a lucky situation.

As much as I might have hated getting involved, as much as I wish I had never taken that shortcut back home… Oliver’s life was much more valuable than my – in comparison – minuscule pain.

… If he was here, he’d probably laugh.

Tell me I’m a chicken, that I shouldn’t have doubted it for a second.

… If she was here, she’d probably comfort me.

Tell me I was right to be afraid, but that I had certainly done the right thing.

“Hey, man. Thanks for helping me back there. Might’ve died if it wasn’t for you.”

“No need to thank me. Did what anyone else would have. You just need to worry about healing now.”

“Thanks…”

“…”

“Actually… can I ask you something?”

“What is it, Oliver?”

“Have you learnt anything about… my curse? The ghost that haunts me and doesn’t let me feel pain?”

“Actually, yes, I have. I know exactly what creature is cursing you.”

“Oh?! Can you tell me, please? Cough, cough!”

“Y-yes, of course I will, don’t worry so much.”

“O-okay… So?”

“The creature afflicting you is… the Painless Porcupine. A being who longs for contact, but it hurts others in doing so. And the way it hurts others is-”

“… Making them unable to feel pain?”

“Yeah. Or more accurately, making them unable to feel contact. Pain, touch, the sensation of temperature… they’re all just the same thing, really. And this creature has taken them from you.”

“Okay, I think I understand. Yes – I really do understand. So this is why… And how can I get rid of this? How can I get my pain back?”

I thought.

I thought as hard as I could.

Time seemed to freeze around me.

And then I saw it again.

The Porcupine I had created, which had woken up Oliver, was right there…

When it noticed my glance, it came close to me again, still glowing gold.

Oh Porcupine, you who transcend all logic and reality, please tell me…

What is it that afflicts this man in truth?

How can I give him back his lost pain?

And then I saw.

Those flashes of light invaded all my field of view, and within them lay the truth to this case…

Oh! So that was it!

Fool. You’re feeling so much pain it has made you numb…

Such suffering, it’s unbearable…

I can’t keep watching this! It must stop!

Oliver, I promise you…

I promise I’ll bring you peace!

Even if it was just my selfish desire, my inability to see others suffer, I would-

“You egotistical self-centered piece of shit.”

Those words resonated in my mind, bringing me back to earth.

Or rather, back to my original train of thought.

… All that was left now was to bring this tale, so sudden in its beginning and its solution, to a peaceful end where everyone could live happily ever after.

Or as happily as humanly possible, anyway.

Though that was the one part I’d have to figure out as I went.

“Oliver- I promise I’ll get you your pain back. You don’t need to worry about the method or other little details – at least for now, that is. Focus on your health. Though I may need to ask you a few questions along the way, so yeah, I ask that you answer those for me.”

“Of course, of course. I’ll do anything you need, friend. I appreciate your help, I really do…”

I hadn’t noticed before – I had been too absorbed in my thoughts as to notice, but he still looked and sounded extremely tired. It would probably be for the best if I left him alone for a while.

I doubted he would go back to sleep, but still, some peace and quiet couldn’t hurt.

And so I went out of the room again.

But this time around, I wouldn’t just stay in the waiting room immersed inside my own mind.

Without a doubt in my mind or a stutter in my step, I headed straight out of the hospital.

And I ran.

I invoked the Porcupine once more, so that it would guide me to my destination.

It floated ahead me, its g

olden glow signaling the path I ought to take.

And a good twenty minutes of moderate running later, I suddenly stopped.

I had arrived.

At Oliver’s house.

I still had much to do inside this place, and of course, back at the hospital.

However, with the events already at this stage, the existence of the Porcupine wasn’t needed anymore.

With the same ease I had told it to go wake up Oliver mere minutes ago, I ordered it to disappear forever.

Now, no trace of it would remain in this world. After all, it had never really existed.

As for logic would inevitably disprove supernatural beings, and with that being forever true, even the detective is free to invent as much fiction as he likes in order to defeat his enemy – the mystery.

And to solve that mystery – the detective will no doubt do whatever is needed without any semblant of hesitation.

Lest he succumbs into the depths of oblivion as the unworthy one, he who dare call himself a detective only to fail miserably at his only task.

I rang the doorbell.

Ding-dong.

… Nobody answered.

Ding-dong.

Still no answer.

Ding-dong.

“What is it at this hour? If it’s not important, please go away! We don’t have time for this shit right now!”

I heard a middle-aged man shout inside the house, his message clearly directed at none other than me.

But when he opened the door, his expression turned into shock.

“Hm? Who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“I’m Oliver’s classmate.”

“… Oh. Sorry for shouting at you like that. He’s not home. He’s uh… got into an accident. They just called us from the hospital. So if you don’t mind coming some other day-”

“I know. I was the one who called the ambulance for him.”

“Oh! Really?! Thank you so much, boy! You’ve saved his life, you’ve-”

"I did nothing, really. Anyone would have done the same."

"That's not true. No, even if it was, really... Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"Please don't worry about it. Though there is a favor I'd like to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Oliver asked me to pick something up for him in his room. Could I come in and look for it?"

"Uhh, yeah of course. No problem at all. Please come in."

And so I was finally here.

The Afflicted's house.

My true investigation could now begin.