Devil's Attic

Chapter Sixteen

Eden's stomach continued to churn, and she threw up twice more before it finally settled. She wiped away her tears and carefully removed the knife, then rolled Henry onto his back. As she looked into his lifeless eyes, she begged for forgiveness. Jonathan stirred in his sleep, but Eden quickly closed Henry's eyes with a gentle touch and gave him a final kiss on the forehead before covering him with the tarp.

As she rose, Eden felt a hand on her hip and spun around to face Jonathan's stunned expression. Overwhelmed by a sudden wave of guilt, tears welled up in her eyes once more, and she struggled to compose herself.

"What... What happened? Is he... is he..." Jonathan struggled to find the words to express the shock and grief he felt. He gazed at his deceased friend and broke down in tears, sinking to his knees. "No, no, no, Henry, please, no. Wake up, please," he whispered, his hands resting on Henry's chest.

"Jo," Eden sobbed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Jo, I'm so sorry, but he's gone."

"No, no, no!" Jonathan pushed Eden's hand away, his emotions spiraling out of control. "Rutherfords don't die that easily. Please, Henry, wake up. I'll get you out of here. Please!"

Jonathan begged, his words a desperate plea before his voice trailed off into soft murmurs. Tears streamed down his face, unrestrained. Meanwhile, Eden rose from her position and stood a short distance away, joined by Paul. No words were necessary; the gravity of the situation spoke for itself. As Paul moved to approach Jonathan, Eden halted him with a gentle gesture and a shake of her head.

It took twenty long minutes for Jonathan to finally calm down enough for Eden to approach him. As he rose to his feet, he pulled her into a tight embrace, his hands tenderly stroking her hair and his lips pressing gentle kisses to her forehead. At that moment, Eden knew that she could never bring herself to tell him the truth about what had happened to Henry. She let him believe that Henry had simply fallen asleep and not suffered. Jonathan nodded repeatedly, his shock and disbelief almost tangible. "We've known each other since birth," he said in a monotone voice. "He was always there, for as long as I can remember. Always. And now he's..."

Jonathan couldn't finish the sentence; the pain was too much to bear. It was only now that he realized that not only Henry but also the other four were gone forever. He fought against a sense of helplessness, feeling himself slipping away. His thoughts raced wildly, and he struggled to focus on anything. Despite Eden's soft words, he couldn't hear her; his mind was flooded with memories of his childhood, of playing with Henry. His earliest memory was of the two of them stealing apples from Farmer Schumer's orchard when they were just six years old.

"We need to go, Jo," Eden said, placing her hands on his face and slowly bringing his attention back to the present.

He looked at her, his gaze unfocused, and nodded almost imperceptibly. "Okay. From now on, we travel light. We'll unpack everything we don't need, keeping only a change of clothes, flashlights, batteries, and water bottles. We'll discard everything else."

Once they had completed their preparations, Jonathan cast one final gaze upon his lifeless friend, planting a tender kiss on Henry's forehead. With a solemn promise to return and provide him a proper burial, he rose silently and made his way towards the tunnel, Eden and Paul trailing behind him in a deliberate, unhurried pace.

***

After nearly nine hours, they finally made it back to the cave with the eggs. They approached cautiously, peering out of the tunnel for any signs of danger. Seeing no movement, they crept along the right wall, their eyes scanning the shadows for any lurking threats. Finally, they reached the eggs and sat down between them to catch their breath and confer in hushed tones. "Alright," Jonathan whispered, "now we just need to climb up to the ledge and make our way through the... morgue."