Split

Freak - Ch. 15

"I found that movie you liked so much?" Henry's mom mentioned. "You were obsessed with The Princess and the Frog when you were a kid."

"Yeah, it's good." Henry mumbled, looking away.

Movie night with his mom, just the day after Isabel's party, and his incidental actions he took that night.

"You sure you are fine watching a movie?" His mom looked at Henry, who had his weight supported on his elbow that was on the couch's armrest.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm alright." Henry justified himself.

His mom looked at him from up to down, she had a sort of guilt in her eyes, and an expression that made him shiver.

"Son, I can tell you have a lot on your mind." His mom noted.

"Oh really?" Henry said sarcastically. "Now you wanna talk about my mind?"

The guilt in her eyes increased by the second, a memory of his father yelling at her shook his head, and he tried to think of anything else.

"I just noticed that you've been avoiding me all week." She explained.

"Maybe I was busy." Henry justified. "Or maybe you were too busy to notice me."

"Everything I do is to give you the life that you deserve, son." She started to lower her voice, and she frowned with sadness.

"And that's great, but maybe I don't deserve anything at all." He crossed his arms, and frowned, looking down.

"What do you mean by that?" His mother Paige asked. "You are a nice person, and you do deserve everything."

"Maybe I'm not that great, mom, maybe I hurt people." Henry argued back. "Maybe I mess around for too long and when I want to fix it it's way too late."

"Maybe I'm selfish, maybe i'm a freak." Henry continued to ramble.

"Henry, you've never told me these kinds of things!" She said, regret and guilt filling her voice, ending as a high pitch mess.

"I need you to tell me what happened, I can't help if you keep hiding!" She raised her voice.

"Fine." He said, coldly.

She stayed quiet, waiting for Henry to explain.

"Have you met Holden?"

"Huh?" She blurted out, widened eyes.

"I should just introduce you." Henry sighed.

Holden knew he was being prompted to swap in, so he obliged.

"What the hell Henry?!" Holden said between teeth.

"Is this some kind of joke?" She tried to call the bluff.

"Sorry, we haven't been introduced yet." Holden sighed, pinching his forehead.

"My name is Holden, and i'm your son's other self." He explained. "Kinda like an alter ego or a double personality."

His mom looked at him as if he was talking nonsense, frowning.

"If you think you can fake another personality just to say you've done something wrong, you would be very smart, but you can't fool me." She deadpanned.

"It's called Dissociative Identity Disorder." Holden explained. "I've been around since Henry was a kid."

"Peter had something to do with that." Holden said. "I can't really say what, but he did something to Henry." He sighed. "And that's why this condition begins, a trauma that leads to a separation of the identity."

"It sounds straight from a movie." She said, deadpanned. "I don't think you can excuse everything on a double personality thing."

"Well it's not everything."

"You should go to your bedroom, Henry." She ordered. "I don't want more of your lies for a day." She pinched her forehead.