Ptolemaea | Henry Creel

Savior Complex

YALLL THIS CHAPTER HAS A SHIT TON OF HENRY AND SIXTEEN!!! ALSO ITS LONG AS FUCK WOOOOOOOOO

We'll reconvene at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!!!!

Alos shoutout to the chapter title and that song by phoebe bridgers-- WAKE UP AND START A BIGGGG FIREEE IN OUR ONE ROOM APARTMENT BUT IM TOOOO TIRED. TO HAVE A PISSING CONTEST ALL THE BAD DREAMS THAT YOU HIDE. SHOW ME YOURS. AND ILL SHOW YOU MINEEEE

Eleven and I stayed up talking for another hour or so, mostly about her life at home and the hellscape she'd introduced to me as the Upside Down. I'd been in the middle of telling her a story about something that was probably inconsequential when I realized she was asleep. I remember laughing to myself and then turning my gaze to the ceiling. Alone again, just me and the silence, I knew better than to try and fall asleep. My mind was always hyperactive, buzzing with thoughts of all that I could not control, and with what I had planned for the morning I knew there was no way I'd get any sleep.

Around eight in the morning, I gently nudged her awake. She groaned and turned away from me, and so I figured I could offer her another thirty minutes of rest.

Half an hour later, I woke her up. She was groggy at first, clearly exhausted from her less-than-ample sleep, but I reminded her we'd both get in trouble if she was caught in my room.

Now here I was, alone once more.

I sat on my bed until 2:00 pm or so, gathering the courage to reach out to Henry. I was anxious. Sometimes I felt that's all I could ever be. My morals and my common sense battled one another in my mind. I knew, on paper, it was wrong to go into someone's mind without their knowledge. I'd been in this same dilemma before, knelt next to 'Peter's' bed after the first night we spent together. I remembered it distinctly-- how his eyelashes brushed the top of his cheek, how his chest rose in a peaceful, soundless slumber. I'd gone in his head despite my better intentions, and even now, I couldn't decide whether I was better or worse off because of it.

But Beau was different-- I didn't love Beau. At least not like I loved Henry. I told myself, at the very, very least, things could never end as badly as they did at the lab. Back then, I didn't have much to lose, but now I had nothing at all.

I needed to know what Beau had done with Brenner, and I needed to know now. If his trust had to be betrayed then that's what I would do. And if I was right, if he was working against me, then that was that. I was done.

And so, with that single thought in my mind, I waved to the light switch across the room and watched as my surroundings fell into darkness.

Henry. I repeated his name over and over in my mind as my eyes fell shut. I harnessed all the energy that came with the word and used it to pull my abilities to the surface. I was nervous at first, scared to lose control like I had the day before, but that would only hamper my strength. So I turned that fear into fuel and devoured it one anxious thought at a time.

It wasn't long before I found myself where I wanted to be.

The moment my breaths could be heard echoing all around, I knew my task was accomplished.

My eyes opened, and there I was. Surrounded by an ocean of blackness, rising to my feet on trembling knees. My head pounded, confirming the fact that I wasn't strong enough to search Beau's mind on my own. If I couldn't even stand in the void without nearly collapsing, then there was no way I could do that.

"Henry?" I called.

No response. He was here, I could feel him. "I know you're here. Can we talk?"