Gaining Innocence

Mind Walk (CH:21)

CHAPTER 21:

WARNING: there is involvement of VIOLATION (during Herkus memory) in this chapter, so if that bothers you, skip that part.

Henrikas was generally not an emotion-driven type of individual, preferring to take his time to contemplate and behave like a civilized person, but between the disastrous incident with Hannibal and the last days of nightmare plagued sleep that shook him awake from a deep sleep Irritation flared brightly over every inch of her body. His throbbing headache had only added to the torment. To say that he was exhausted was an understatement.

He took a deep breath and stretched, trying to ease the fatigue a bit, and winced at the tension in the muscle. Henrikas sighed loudly through his nose.

In recent days, while Hannibal had been working in his office as usual, Henrikas had been hanging out and frequently visiting the park which took him for about eight minutes of walking.

Alexander had proven to be a great distraction. The older boy, only in appearance, was surprisingly helpful, making efforts to ease his distress or calm his nerves whenever his temper got the better of it, which was a recurring one lately. A part of him was annoyed at the thought of some stranger, who his brain had treacherously called a friend, acquainted with his detested behavior for attention, but he could not deny the usefulness of Alexander.

Henrikas tried to be nice about it, but couldn't communicate his gratitude to the older boy. He had enough trouble deconstructing his emotions. Fortunately, Alejandro didn't seem to be particularly bothered by her mood swings.

"I'm going out," Henrikas told Ms Kelly as she pulled a jacket over her body. He gave a brief glance at the old caretaker who was giving a very good impression of a lifeless doll. "I'll set you free when I get back."

Henrikas wasn't overly concerned about Hannibal coming home only to find Ms. Kelly's strange condition. The psychiatrist was busy now that he had to deal with the FBI; something about Hannibal helping Mr. Will profile criminals. Sometimes he missed the company of the older cannibal, but before he could regain his composure, Henrikas had promised himself not to go near Hannibal.

What worried him was whether Hannibal would keep his promise. Henrikas did not want any outsider to delve too deeply into his background. Even Hannibal, with whom he had the most favorable impression, was unaware of that information.

Henrikas had to find a way to eradicate his nightmares, the source of his problems.

The thing was, Henrikas couldn't.

He tried Alexander's method, but found that meditation was not as easy as he had initially thought. It was almost impossible to be that proficient in meditation in a short time, and what Henrikas didn't have was time. Henrikas highly doubts that Hannibal will leave him any longer, that fact had led Henrikas to an endless dilemma with no way out.

Without him realizing it, Henrikas found himself in a familiar place. It was strange being able to reach the destination with the mind absent. Henrikas bit his lip and studied the vacant park, giving it a long, considerate look.

Alexander was nowhere in sight, that was the first.

Henrikas ended up sitting in his usual place, his mind wandering far away. A soft bark made his stomach clench in anxiety before the sensation eased considerably at the sight of the familiar wolf cub gently padding him. She, she, looked at him expectantly.

He unconsciously smirked before softening it, "What?"

She - she - barked again before staggering toward him. The cub wagged his - his - tail, apparently excited.