Broken Dreams(146)

“Henry, are you okay? What’s he talking about?” I stepped in front of him and grabbed his shoulders.

“Anne Richards…” He repeated the name softly several times.

He snapped out of it when Kellan spoke again. “She didn’t want you anymore.”

“Shut up.” Henry’s voice was low and coarse.

“Oh, my god,” I whispered, putting my hands over my mouth.

“After your father was tired of her, he walked away. She needed money.”

“Shut up,” Henry repeated.

“She sold you into the program. It paid her handsomely then, and continues to. They staged her death, and dropped your sorry arse off at the orphanage. They offered her safety in case you went after her. So, you see…Luke, was it? She knows you are out in this big old evil world somewhere, and she has never once tried to contact you. Delicious, isn’t it?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Henry’s mother was alive, but sold him into this life? How could a mother do that to her own child? Kellan laughed through all of his pain. Henry pushed me out of the way, pulled his gun out of the back of his pants, and crammed the muzzle into Kellan’s ear.

“Where is she?!” Henry screamed. Kellan began looking more gray. Life was visibly draining from his face. All of us were terrified of what was happening. He grumbled some. “Tell me now, or I will kill you.”

“Fuck…” And before Kellan could say anything else, his body slumped over in the chair.

“Damn it!” Henry grabbed the end table and threw against the wall. It smashed into pieces. He growled in agony. I wasn’t sure if it was emotional or physical pain but, nonetheless, he was in agony.

“Henry!” I screamed. “Henry, calm down.”

“Calm down? You want me to calm down? Did you miss what just happened here?”

“No. No, I didn’t. I understand what happened. But you have to calm down so you don’t hurt yourself even more.” He ran his hands through his hair, over and over again. His jaw started to tremble. Within seconds, he dropped to his knees, leaning onto the sofa and he let go. He let go of it all.

I didn’t know what to do for him. I didn’t know what to say to him. I had never seen him that emotionally exhausted before. I couldn’t handle seeing the agony that he was in. The others just stood and watched the horror before them.

With extreme force, Henry rammed the couch into the wall. It was sickening to watch. He raged violently: throwing things, breaking stuff, punching, kicking, screaming. It was a solid display of raw emotion. My strong, stellar Henry had shattered in front of me. I grabbed him, trying to get him to stop.

“Henry! Henry, please! Henry! Stop!” I yelled, while clawing at any part I could reach while he continued to rage. He turned around and looked at me. He was lost. I grabbed his face with both of my hands. I whispered to him, “Henry. I am so sorry.”

“She threw me away. She sold me.” He fell into me. I held him as tight as I could while he cried. I brought him down to the floor. I sat and rocked him, consoling him and telling him how much I loved him; telling him I would never leave his side; telling him it would be okay, and we would find him the closure that he desperately needed.

Sophie walked over and knelt down. When he looked at her, the pain in his eyes cut through me. “Henry.” She took his hands. “I’m so sorry.” She reached for him, while looking for my permission to hug him.

I nodded and backed off, allowing her to comfort her longtime friend. Sophie kissed him on the cheek, and was talking in his ear. I couldn’t hear most of what she was saying, but she was doing her best to help him. If he wasn’t lost before, he surely was then.

I heard a grumble from Kellan’s direction. I looked over, and saw that he had opened his eyes. They were glazed over. His jaw snapped a couple times, biting the air. Then he snarled.

Claire had removed herself from the IV, and scrambled backward. Kellan was sniffing the air, sensing there was fresh blood close by. He began to rage in the chair, pulling and tugging at the restraints.

Nick yelled, “Let’s get him outside!”

Without hesitation, Thomas grabbed the back of the chair, and Nick grabbed the front. When they picked him up, Nick growled in pain. His arm was still hurting.

“We can switch!” Thomas yelled.

“No, just go!” They ran out the door with Kellan in the chair, snapping and snarling at the two of them. I headed to the door, but Claire grabbed me.

“Don’t. Let them take care of it.” She was crying.

“But Nick is hurt.” I was worried Kellan would overtake him, even though he was tied up.