Stranger Nights

Chapter 16

When Henry woke up he was entangled in Freddy's arms.His head and hands were on his chest. Freddy's and were wrapped around him making it impossible for him to move. On other occasions this might've made Henry feel hopelessly warm and light, but it did the opposite. His heart felt cold and heavy.

The night before still burned into his memory. Now that he was fully awake, the pictures of dead bodies and sounds of gunshots clouded his mind. Then of course there was the dream. His throat burned and his eye's were blinded by tears.

"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it! Something of the awfulness, even of Death itself, is referable to this." A voice read quietly out loud.

It was Charlotte. For the same reason's Henry woke up, Charlotte did not sleep. She instead read a Tale of Two Cities by the light of a dim oil lamp.

Henry untangled himself from Freddy and sat up. She was laying down on the small red couch. She looked over to him.

"Oh, you're awake." she whispered. Putting her book down, she sat up and peered down at him. He wasted no time scrambling over to where she sat and hugging. He buried his nose deep in her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist. She tensed at first,but soon after relaxed and slowly returned the hug.

"I'm really sore." he muttered.

"I know." she said making circles on his back. His shoulders started to shake and he started to cry into her shoulder. She still sat there and hugged him lightly touching his back and hair.

It was hours before he calmed down. By that time the lights flickered back. Freddy groggy awoke by the time Henry finished wiping his eye's.

Freddy was secretly happy he had not been cuddling Henry again. He was less happy when he saw how pale Henry's face was. He pretended not to notice though.

"How long have you guys been awake?" he yawned sitting up. Henry just shrugged in reply a faint smile on his lips. Freddy fell back down, sprawling out his arms and legs.

Charlotte turned off the oil lamp and got up, fixing her skirt a bit.

"I wonder if it's going to happen." Henry said suddenly. Freddy lifted his head.

"What?" he asked.

"Revolution."

"What?" Charlotte asked.

"Freddy told me that people are going to start revolting sooner or later." Henry explained. Before Freddy could get word out, Charlotte quietly hit him in the head with the book.

"Ow!" he yelled at her. "What the-"

"Do you know what would happen if anyone of the churchies hear you even saying that word?" She yelled. Both boys shook their heads. "They'd go straight to Minister Elliott and you would wind up missing."

They looked at the girl confused and she sighed.

"Minister Elliott is insane with power. Last night....people were going against his authority and you know what happened. If he is suspicious of you then you're already a threat."

"But he can't touch all of us. Freddy's his son-" Henry said defensively.

"That's ignorant Henry and you know it." she breathed. She sat back down and it was silent for a long time.