Stranger Nights

Chapter 17

Black was swarming in the corners of Henry's eyes . His breathing was harsh and hoarse. The only thing he could do was listen to what his friend were saying.

"What's happening to him!" Freddy panicked.

"I don't know." Charlotte said calmly. Henry's head lay in her bare lap. Charlotte was gently stroking his knuckles with her thumb and he did his best to focus on that, but his lungs still felt like they were going to collapse.

He gasped and shook and tears welled in his eye's. He was surprised he wasn't dead yet.

"A panic attack....." Charlotte muttered to herself.

"What?" Freddy yelled still not calming down

"A panic attack." Charlotte said louder this time, "They taught it to us in school once. It's caused by stress most of the time."

"What stress could he be going through!"

"Guess." Charlotte said coldly.

"Okay, I'm sorry." Freddy said calmly. "So how do we calm him down?"

"We need to get him to focus on something." Charlotte answered. "Henry? Focus on the sound of the river. Focus on it hitting the rocks, breathe with it."

He felt her hands combing through his hair and he did as she told him to, but nothing happened. So he looked up at the dark sky filled with stars. He wondered what it was like to go up there. He wondered what it was like to feel the sun or see a lilac. Soon he was unbearably sad and his breathing went back to it's normal pace.

Charlotte and Freddy looked down at him. The orbs were gone and the world wasn't spinning.

"What happened?" Freddy questioned suddenly. Henry bit his bottom lip and slowly sat up from Charlotte's lap.

"An asthma attack." Henry smiled weakly.

"But the inhaler didn't work." Freddy countered.

Henry didn't have a good lie for that and he just stared at his feet.

"What's wrong Henry?" Freddy asked his face contorted in worry. Henry smiled at him sadly.

"I'm fine." he said. Tears were slowly forming in his eye's.

"Henry. Tell us and we'll make you okay." Freddy said softly. Henry broke again. All of his tears came falling down at once. Freddy hugged him. He kept hugging him even when Henry's knees buckled out from under him. Charlotte took his hand and squeezed it.

Henry didn't really know why he was crying so hard. He had cried enough because of the night before. There are other things that could've made Henry cry. His being gay, his parents probably not accepting he was gay, and having to keep it all secret.

Those thing weren't what made Henry cry, well this time anyway, Henry was crying now because he was scared. No matter how much Henry told him self it was dream, he felt it.

Something was coming and he wasn't strong enough to withstand it.