“We’re here sir,” the driver said.Henry slowly turned his head to the window and saw that he had gotten to the bus stop. He paid the driver and came down from the taxi, taking a moment to relish in the fresh air of a less busy street. He had wanted to trek home, but the wound in his lower abdomen would stretch and linger if he exerted his energy for too long, so he had opted for taking a ride that’d stop a mile away from his house.Henry walked slowly, merely out of perseverance than duty. He wanted to savor the moment, to enjoy nature. There were plenty of things to enjoy. The bark of a tree, the misty smell of grass and the flowers that seemed to spring back under his foot. Henry smiled; he knew he would be a romantic man.His surroundings started to phase out around him, like a slowly distorted shape, and he knew that he was being assigned a task. Henry stood still, waiting for his vision to change with the environment, to adjust to it. It used to freak him out before, how he’s o

Henry’s loneliness gnawed deep at him by the time he got to the foot of the mountain. He wanted someone desperate to speak with, so he started to speak with himself. He caught himself doing it a couple of times, and it amused him. Henry knew that it would take only take a matter of time before he got used to it completely. He climbed up the mountain with labored breath and wondered if he should get a dog. As soon as the thought came, he banished it. The poor thing would die of lack of affection. Henry wouldn’t have that.The path of the mountain was slippery, so Henry had to several times grab onto tree branches or tree bark to keep steady. He easily ran out of breath, and the cold air tested his patience.“It’s just for your daily task,” he told himself. “Remain calm, get there and get the tasks done.”“Easier said than done,” Henry said, mimicking an inner voice as he contradicted himself. “It’s like the whole fucking mountain is against me.”“I mean, that’s inky natural,” he replie

Henry closed the door behind him and leaned against it for a moment. The silence and loneliness again washed through him, but this time it was different. It wasn’t the sort of loneliness that came with being so alone that he usually delves into his blurred realities and imaginations. It was the sort that came with that echo of silence, a dead, mischievous silence. He was suddenly suspicious. Something was not right, and he knew.It may be his mediation session that had been attuned to his senses, or because he’d neglected everything at home for so long that he could not be able to decipher where the problem was coming from. Henry dropped his backpack on the living room cushion, and then slowly walked through the house. He made his steps as silent as possible, moving like a thief in the night, except at that very moment he felt like an invigilator that was about to uncover something unpleasant. He knew he would not like it, his instincts screamed so. The still air, the unnatural quiet.

“Louis, I need you to track down someone for me. Contact the tracker and have this done effectively.”“Yes sir,” Louis answered Henry. The voices in the background of his own end made him move to a quieter place so he could speak on the phone call. “What is the name of this person?”“Jerry Cavil. Check your message. I sent a detailed description accompanied with a picture of what he looks like.”“Yes, sir.”“Give me a positive feedback within four hours; he’s probably escaping the country and I want him captured as soon as possible.”“Are we doing the capturing, sir?” Louis asked determinedly.“No, leave that to me.”Henry cut the call and dropped his phone into his pocket. He had restless energy stored within him, and he needed to let it out. He contemplated asking Louis to send the tracker to him so he could handle this personally, but he didn’t want to be on a direct contact with the tracker. He sipped his coffee; more out of his devotion to it than the need to. Henry was distresse

Henry passed a plate of food under the bars of the dungeon to Mrs. Cavil. She hid her face away from him. Henry leaned against the wall as he looked at her pitiful stature. It looked as though he hadn’t seen her in ages, meanwhile he passed her food regularly. He wondered if it was because she looked dirty, hadn’t showered or had a proper meal. He supposed she deserved it. She had been too stubborn, too uncompromising, and she never took him in like he wanted her to. It was such a regret, Henry thought, that she would end up the same way as her son did.He just hadn’t gotten the idea of how to make away with her first, but he could endure a few decades or her being locked down below, away from the lights.“How are you holding up?” Henry asked her?She said nothing, hid her face instead and stretched out her hand for the food. She ate slowly, ignoring him and the cockroaches at her feet.“You’ve got company,” Henry mocked. “it’s funny, I used to have them too. I guess they’ve come to b