He's real

7.

Henry was woken to his father yelling at him to get the front door. He was surprised Connor didn't wake up, but wasn't going to do it himself. The kid had a rough day yesterday, and needs the sleep for when he goes back home later today. 
So Henry quickly slipped on some jeans, his very worn down boots, and his red muscle tee he was pretty sure he's had since middle school. But hey it still fit so he wasn't going to complain. 

It didn't surprise Henry when he opened the door and saw Patrick. Disappointing sure, but not surprising. 
"I remember." Patrick says with a grin. 
"Remember what, weirdo." Henry crosses his arms.
"What I wanted to show you!" 
Henry sighs. "Alright, let me go get Con-"
"No! Just you! No Connor." Patrick interrupted him. "Just you," He repeats. "Not even Vic or Belch." 

This made Henry suspicious. No Connor. Okay understandable, whatever. But not even the other guys can come? What was he planning?
"Alright fine, whatever." Henry steps outside, gently shutting the door behind him. "Lead the way." 
Patrick grins and begins walking down the dirt road, Henry following closely behind. If there was one thing he was missing in this moment, it was Belch's car. 
"I need to test your loyalty to me." Patrick says over his shoulder.
Henry perks up at this, palms getting sweaty. 
Loyalty? What the fuck did that mean? He isn't his little servant boy! Henry was going to have to keep a closer eye on Patrick. Something wasn't right. He was planning something. But what?

Patrick leads Henry down to the junkyard, jogging off ahead, taking a shovel with him. 
Patrick just continues to confuse Henry more and more. 
The sound of Patrick digging at the dirt grabs Henry's attention. 
Henry walks over, hands gripping his pants, knuckles turning white, teeth clenched, prepared to make a run for it if needed.
But then Patrick pulls out some bones. Animal bones. Some were small like they belonged to squirrels or something like that. The skull he pulled out was a bit bigger, he thinks it belonged to a raccoon. 

"Cool, huh?" Patrick looks up, grinning, skull in his hands. 
Henry shrugs. "Sure is, Pat." Henry was used to seeing animal bones. His dad liked to go hunting in the fall with some of his work buddies. Usually it was just buck hunting, but every once in a while he would get a bird or some squirrels. His dad liked to keep the deer skulls and hang them up around the walls off the house. Especially his bedroom.
Hunting wasn't something Henry could ever get into. Maybe if someone else offered to take him, but there was no way he was going to go out into the middle of the woods with his father. Especially if he had a gun. 

Patrick sets the bones down and walks away with his toothy grin. 
"If you think that's cool then you should check this out!" 
Henry got up and followed Patrick towards a rusty fridge. He was surprised the thing was still standing it looked so rusted and rotten. Must have been sitting here for years. 
Patrick opens it up and immediately Henry doubles over, gagging and coughing from the stench. 
"What the... FUCK!?" Henry coughs out. He looks up. He wished he hadn't. 

Inside were the rotten corpses of many animals. Some big, others small. Some old, others... Fresh.
But what he couldn't look away from was a little kitten, neck twisted, dried up blood around its mouth, eyes glassed over. 
Henry gags and spews up last nights dinner onto the dirt. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He shouts, wiping away vomit from the side of his mouth. He wanted to run away and forget what he has seen. Sure he bullies people, but this... He wouldn't do this.

Patrick's grin falls, he slowly walks towards Henry. "I'm disappointed in you, Henry. I expected better from the only other real person." 
Henry slowly began taking steps back, not wanting Patrick to get any where near him. He didn't understand what Patrick was talking about, and he didn't want to. He had to get out of there. 

Giving one quick glance behind him, Henry bolted, kicking up dirt as he ran. he didn't get far, Patrick was fast. Faster than him. 
He tackled Henry down to the ground, pinning his hands above his head, and pressing his weight down against him. 
"Admit it, Henry! You're just like me!" Patrick said, a crazed look in his eyes. 
Henry struggled against his hold, trying to kick him off. But Patrick didn't seem to care. 
"I know you fee something, Henry!" He shouts. Henry's eyes widen. His struggling stopped. 
"I..." Henry sputters out. "I feel something, but not what you're thinking..." 
Patrick grins. "You like me, don't you?" He laughs. "Looks like the real fairy in the arcade was you." 

Without a second thought, Henry shoved Patrick off of him and quickly got up, leaving the boy in the junkyard laughing. 
Henry didn't care about the fridge anymore. 
Patrick knows now. And who knows who else will know soon. Hockstetter will probably blab off to everyone in Derry... Including Henry's father...