Ptolemaea | Henry Creel

Story Time

HIII!!! SORRY FOR BEING GONE SO LONG!!!! I HATE SCHOOL AND IM GOING TO SET MYSELF ON FIRE IN FIRST PERIOD!!!!!!

no seriously tho school has been bending me over and fucking me for the past two weeks so thats hwy this chapter is out so late. I will try to keep up with my update schedule, but its difficult with all the added school work.

Whatever, i hope you guys enjoy this :) there's no henry, but there's alot of talk about him, and he will be in the next chapter!

~

I awoke the next morning with a pain in my head like never before.

My entire body ached in one way or the other. Someone's breath sounded all around, weak and trembling like a broken fan's hum. On and off. On and off. I listened to it for a short while, the only marker of time as it passed by. There was a space between each inhale and exhale, maybe five seconds. Probably more.

With each new breath, I became acutely more aware of my surroundings. Inhale; I was lying on a bed of some sort. Who's it was, I had no idea. Exhale; my head was pounding. I already knew that. I'd felt it the moment I came to, but with every new nerve that came to life, the pressure against my temples grew. Inhale; fuck, I was tired. Tired as in I could barely move my eyelids, as in the idea of turning onto my side seemed practically impossible. Exhale; the breathing had been mine this entire time.

I stopped keeping track of my breaths.

The events of yesterday flickered before my eyes. For a moment, I allowed myself to believe it had all been some awful dream. Steve and the others had never made the stupid decision of crossing through the gate. Dustin had never stuck that broom through the gate in Eddie's trailer. Henry had never attacked Nancy. I never had to—

Nancy.

My heart dropped into my stomach as my eyes snapped fully open. Shit, shit, shit. My memories came back to me quicker, after that. I recalled Henry walking up to me, that look of anger on his face. He had said something, some threat I didn't remember, then forced me out of Nancy's mind.

Everything after that was blank.

Without any regard for the state I was in, I pushed myself off of the mattress. The bedding was red. The sheets were red. I was still in Eddie's home. His room, specifically. The shirt I was wearing had once been white, but now it was stained red and brown. Partially from dirt, partially from blood. The latter collected around the collar, and I quickly gathered that the blood was mine. My nose must've bled and got all over me.

When I stood, my knees buckled beneath me. My breath caught as I very nearly fell to the ground. Loud, high-pitched ringing cut through my skull like a knife. I gritted my teeth and did what I could to steady myself against the wall. It didn't help much.

I stood there for another ten seconds. Maybe twenty. Maybe a minute, really. Whatever it was, it went on for far too long before the ringing eventually died down. I didn't move for a short while after that, afraid of what would happen if I did.

When thoughts of Henry and Nancy returned to me, I let those fears fall away.

I balled my fists and gathered my strength. After another few seconds, I felt I had enough strength to cross the room and reach the door. I did. By the time my palms pressed against the cool, steady wood, I was out of breath again. My entire body ached. With a swallow, I fought the urge to throw up.

My hands wrapped around the door knob. The wearied muscles in my arm twisted sideways, but the knob didn't move. I paused. Whatever had happened, it weakened me to the point of near immobility. After another few deep breaths, I tried again. And again.