BOOKS

Losing Penny

Henry stared down at the cold, lifeless body below him, breathe heavy and heart pumping. The knife was still held loosely in his hand, and blood was all over his clothes.

The snap of a twig dragged him from his thoughts, causing his bloodshot eyes to shoot up- only to make contact with another.

Penelope. Her beautiful blonde locks were out of their usual long braid, cascading down her back like long waves. She wore her favourite dark green hoodie and ripped jeans, her shoes the usual dirty, broken boots. But one thing stood out. Her face, crumpled into a look of utter betrayal, with fear radiating in her pretty periwinkle blue eyes.

"Penny-" Henry began, slowly standing up and taking a step closer to her. Penelope squealed, scrambling back quickly and stumbling a little on a tree root. He gulped, deciding it was best not to move any closer, especially since he still held his knife.

"You- you-" Penelope shrieked, wavering a shaking finger at him. "You said you changed!!"

Guilt began to curdle within his stomach, a feeling he wasn't familiar with as she closed her eyes, turning her head away in order to push back her tears, but when she opened them he could see they were teary and flooding with anger and betrayal.

"I did change," Henry said finally, voice cracking. "This one- this one's different-"

"Exactly how is it different?" Snapped Penelope angrily.

Henry opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out as he lowered his head in shame.

"You promised me you would never commit another murder again! You promised!" Sobbing her heart out, Penelope ripped the promise ring from her finger and threw it at the ground.

With that simple movement, he saw the years of their relationship being torn apart.

"He was different!" Henry yelled, panicking. "He was talking about you behind you back!"

"So? So what Henry? So what."

Henry gulped. So what? She had said, as she helped him up from the ground. So what they think you're different? Different is cool. She had told him, ignoring the bigger boys as they made fun of them.

"Murder is murder." Penelope said quietly, and his eyes widened as she pulled out her phone.

"No!" Henry screamed, stepping over the body between them. "No!" Henry screamed as her perfectly manicured fingers dialled 000, as if in slow motion. "No!" Henry screamed as he lifted his knife without thinking, watching as her eyes widened in terror, the knife inches from her. "No!" Henry screamed as he watched his knife tear through her body, her spine going limp and her eyes rolling back into her head.

And she was dead.

"What does that girl see in you?" The boy had smirked. "Sure, you're better looking than maybe a flea, or a cockroach- but I suppose thats pushing it-"

"Shut up." Henry had growled, teeth gritted.

"-but maybe she feels pretty next to you, I mean, even a plastic surgeon couldn't fix a face like hers."

"Shut. Up."

"Or do you give her food? Is that what makes her so fat?" The boy had sniggered.

"I said SHUT UP!!"

"Or what?" The boy laughed. "Will your little ray of sunshine come and save you?"

"I'll kill you." Henry told him angrily. "I'll kill you and nobody will care that you're gone."

So that's what he did. Just when everyone told him that he was getting better, that he was doing great, he'd gone and murdered him, on her behalf. Then he'd murdered her. The one girl who understood him, who cared for him, who had brought lunch and recess for him everyday at school, who'd washed his clothes when his parents had neglected him and made him dinner on rough nights. Who'd helped calm him down when he was angry and stood up for him in front of the whole school, even if it meant she was no longer popular. She was the girl who had seen the good in everyone, looked past their flaws, his flaws, and forgiven him for nearly everything that he did. She was the girl whose mother had died of breast cancer, whose father beat her every night and whose stepmother ignored her. She was the girl who stuck with him every step of the way.

But now she was dead. Because of Henry.