Harbinger Harry

Chapter 11-This Charming Man

11

" I would go out tonight

But I haven't got a stitch to wear

This man said, "It's gruesome

That someone so handsome should care."

The Smiths

" Where the hell is he??" Derek was agitated, Paul and Brodie had planned to meet at Barney's Burger and Shake House the night before but Paul was running late. They had coordinated their meet-up hoping to come up with an alibi and get their story straight for when the inevitable questions regarding Hooper's disappearance started circulating; Paul's tardiness was starting to make him noticeably anxious.

" Chill out. He'll be here." Brodie reassured him maintaining his cool.

Don't go making a scene idiot.

Brodie's demeanor was calm and unbothered, their actions from last night hadn't seemed to affect him in the slightest; the potential murder of one of his peers had been a thought that had admittedly passed through his mind from time to time, maybe it was due to his upbringing; his physically abusive, drunken father or his inattentive mother who'd spend her every waking moment sitting in front of the television set, invested in the superficial lives of sitcom families like the Tanners or the Winslows; to escape her unsatisfying reality. Over the years he had come to realize there was a every increasing rage brimming just beneath the surface of his usually cool and collected exterior; something dangerous and almost primal and as he grew older these urges would prove more difficult to control so much so that even his attempts to appease them with scraps of violent indulgence ( participating in contact sports, exceedingly rougher sexual behaviors, and even committing horrific acts of cruelty towards smaller animals.) was noticeably seeming to no longer be enough.

" How are you so calm?? I didn't get any sleep last night. I'm freaking out." Derek stood up, looking out the window alongside their booth erratically, dark rings surrounded his puffy eyes, It was obvious he hadn't slept at all the night before.

" I said to chill the hell out. Sit down." Brodie was starting to lose his patience.

Derek sat back down, taking a deep breath. " Okay. Yeah, I'm totally calm. What about the girls? Have you talked to them?"

" Cynthia's dad has been on her ass after getting back home late last night. Her and Erica are sneaking out later tonight. Everything is cool. You just need to chill the hell out."

The door swung open, causing the small tin bells overhead to chime loudly. It was Paul. He ran over to them in a panic sliding into the booth alongside Derek.

"I saw him! I just saw Harry Hooper!"

     ___________________

They had driven an hour out of the city and headed up a narrow road which led up the back side of a mountain trail, as their altitude increased Harry felt a mixture of both excitement and anxiety bundling up inside of his stomach. Harvey managed the winding trails with ease, no matter how exceedingly treacherous they became, they wove around loose gravel and through each sharp turn; at one point Harry found himself leaning only mere inches over the side of a cliff staring down at the canyon below, he held his breath forcing his body inward with each turn away from the five hundred foot drop lined with jagged rocks and boulders, finding his hold on Harvey's waist becoming increasingly tighter with every turn.

" Are you sure this is a good idea!?" Harry cried worryingly from behind.

Harvey laughed.

" Yeah, I'm sure! Almost there just hang on a little longer!" His voice so cheerful and comforting, he felt his worries being left by the wayside as they kept going, ascending steadily.