Welfare and Warfare

Chapter 40

Day: 3374

Days Left: 2106

Lives Saved: 18

Sumit knew Henry's typical schedule by now, and found him at the food hall in the usual table with Rin for dinner. They both waved over at him, Henry smiling as Sumit and Kai approached.

"Hey, not got your food yet?" asked Henry. "I think they still have your favourite." His smile fell when he noticed the serious expressions on Sumit and Kai's faces. "Is something the matter?"

"Yeah, you look like shit," Rin said to Kai, who had massive bags under his eyes due to the nightmares.

"Uh, yeah, it's about that, actually," Kai said, though his focus was still on Henry. "As Rin put it so eloquently, I look like shit because I haven't been able to go to sleep because of some nasty nightmares."

"Nightmares?" said Henry.

Sumit studied his face, unsure how to read his reaction. Did it look naïve and innocent enough to vindicate him of being the perpetrator? He really hoped not, as Henry had become a constant friend of his, seeing him more often than his longer-acquainted friends. He wished that Rin had not been here. It would have been easier to confront Henry if he didn't have someone else in the conversation to hide amongst.

"What are your nightmares about?" asked Rin.

"They're um..." Kai cleared his throat. "I was hoping that Henry could help since his mask can create nightmares."

"I can try," said Henry hopefully. "I've entered people's dreams before."

Kai tried to hide his suspicion. In Henry's mask evaluation, he had stated he can create dreams and nightmares, and nothing about altering naturally occurring ones. Was it simply an accidental omission or had Henry been hiding a part of his powers?

"Do you think you can stop the nightmares?" Kai asked.

"I can alter dreams, I don't know about stopping them entirely. At the very least, I can experience your nightmares with you and find the cause."

"The cause?"

"Yeah, nightmares are more of a psychological ordeal. Something in your mind is causing these, likely stress, sadness, any kind of negative emotion."

Kai's nose scrunched up. It wasn't any of those; it was a real monster causing them, he was sure of it.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Henry chuckled slightly. "Sleepover at yours? Wait until you fall asleep?"

"Actually before you do, there's something we need to explain first," said Sumit.

After convincing Henry of the imminence of the issue, he followed them back to the language classroom where Calixte and Alfreda were waiting. Rin had also joined, being concerned about Kai's welfare. Sumit at first attempted to convince her to leave, but then decided to tell her what was truly going on, taking her aside and out of earshot from Henry.

"You think he's causing the nightmares?" she whispered.

"A lot of it lines up," Sumit whispered back. "Date wise and his powers."

"Kai started having nightmares when Henry arrived?"

"No... something else started the same day."

Sumit watched Henry closely, wondering if he would slip up and glance at the hound in the room but he never did.

Kai began the explanation about the black dog, when it first appeared, and the recent nightmares, Alfreda and Sumit adding their own experiences.

Henry chewed his lip in thought for a moment before saying, "so only you three can see it? Can you touch it too?"