Henry

Chapter 12

            …In the mind of Aggie…

            Henry’s eyes glared at Blake and I as he slowly took his long strides from the cave. Something was etched on his face, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. He came closer and closer until he was a meter away.

            “Henry… I told you, it’s okay. Blake is good. He won’t hurt you…” I said quietly, my grip tightening around Blake’s arm.

            He looked murderous, something I had never seen before. For the first time since I had met Henry, I felt scared… in danger.

            “Is this normal behavior?” Blake asked me in a whisper. “Aggie?”

            I didn’t answer him. I was too focused on trying to find out what was on Henry’s mind. But my thought process took too long. One moment the forest was quiet, the sound of crickets beginning to start their nightly routine of chirping. The next moment a long, piercing howl from Henry erupted and carried all throughout the area. And then he was suddenly advancing toward us, his eyes wide with fury.

            “Jesus Christ—run!” Blake bellowed. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the raging Henry.

            I knew running away wouldn’t help. Henry was at least twice our size and could catch up to us quickly. I tugged on Blake to make him let go. He turned and gave me a look as if to ask if I was crazy. I turned just as Henry approached us.

            “Henry, stop! Henry, control your—”

            He didn’t even look at me as I tried to communicate with him. He simply pushed me. I fell with a loud thump onto the ground, but I heard a faint crack, as well. I looked helplessly down at the knee that had just finished heeling to see that the jeans that were once covering it had been torn away and now it was bloodied up quite badly. I couldn’t see any sort of damage, but I knew that I had most likely re-fractured my knee.

            I shot my eyes back to Blake as he began to run away from me while Henry chased him. I got up, feeling a sharp pain in my knee, and raced forward. I knew there wasn’t much I could do, but I had to try because if I didn’t Blake would surely be killed. I followed the sound of Henry’s large footsteps to the river.

Henry’s deep and jagged breaths cut through the air as he chased Blake down the riverbank. My screams didn’t seem to filter through Henry’s head once he had cornered my fiancé by a wall of rocks. He let out a long yell from his primitive mouth as his hand rose in the air and came smashing down on Blake’s left leg. His mouth opened and attempted to scream but the pain had put a stopper on his lungs.

            “HENRY!” I shouted, running as fast as I could to meet up with the Sasquatch and my Blake. Tears were so welled up in my eyes that it was like looking through stained glass. I tripped every few seconds over various rocks. “Henry, please! Blake is a good man, remember! Please don’t—no!”

            Henry’s fist again came smashing down on the exact same spot. There was only one thing I could do…

            I scanned the darkening forest floor around me for a large rock. My worn sneaker kicked at a heavy stump in the earth. I knelt down, wiped at my watering eyes, and took the rock in both of my hands. My knees slowly pulled myself up to a fully standing position as my arms went to the back of my head.

            Before I could stop myself the rock had been flung from my fingertips and made for Henry’s head. There was a loud thump in the late evening and Henry’s movements ceased.