Page 10 of Cole
Chuckling, the man shook his head. “No. I’m not on the staff here.” He removed his coat and tossed it aside.
“What…?” Gabe frowned; the man had spoken to him like a doctor. “Then who…?”
The smile he gave him stirred a strange niggle in Gabe’s gut.
“We would have met sooner,” the man said with a smooth voice, “if Henry had invited me to the wedding.”
“Henry…?” Cole felt trapped in a disorienting dream; was this a dream? “Who… is Henry?”
The man chuckled low, a deadness in his eyes despite the creepy smile plastered on his face. “Ask your husband.” He started to turn away before pausing. “Oh, and you might want to ask him about Abel… and Maddy… and sweet, lovely Savannah.”
Instant alarm seized Gabe. “What about them? What… what are you talking about? Are they okay?”
Sighing, the man tilted his head. “I don’t know howokaythey are, but they are alive.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Gabe tried to shift and recoiled in pain. “Whoare you?” Panic gripped Gabe. “Did youdosomething to Abel and the kids?! If anything happens to them,I’ll fucking—”
“That’s entirely up to you,” the man replied dully.
“What…?” Gabe trembled, confused and unsure if this was even real. “What do you mean?”
“Talk to Henry.” The man smiled chillingly. “And listen to himcarefully… he hasplentyto tell you.” Chuckling with amusement, the man exited the room.
Gabe watched the door close slowly behind him as his heart stuttered in his chest.
Who the fuck wasHenry?
CHAPTER 3: BACK ON TRACK
“When is the cop going to get here?”Cole asked, panic tightening his voice. “I need to see Gabe.” He shifted between sitting rigidly in the chair and pacing the small, oppressive waiting room. The minutes dragged on—time felt like a cruel luxury they could not afford. With each passing second, Abel and the kids were deeper in the Mangler’s sinister grasp, their odds of survival slipping away. Just because the Mangler had given Cole until morning to decide on trading Gabe didn’t mean he would honor that deal. The thought lingered uncomfortably—had he already hurt them?
After a few passes back and forth across the room, Dane guided Cole back to the chair. “Sit,” his friend instructed gently. “Just breathe. Relax. We will deal with this, one step at a time, okay? We just need to…” He released a controlled breath. “… hold it together.”
Looking in Dane’s eyes, Cole admired the man’s strength. Dane was as terrified as the rest of them, yet somehow, he remained calm. If Angel were here and understood his younger brother's dire situation,hewouldn’t be so calm. He’d be losing his shit and rightly so.
“Cole…” Dane murmured in a tense voice. “You said he made you… help him.” He swallowed. “What… what do you mean? What did he make you do?”
Cole sensed the tension in Dane’s voice, as though he hesitated to hear the truth. Leaning in, Cole glanced at his hands as the nightmarish memories he had buried long ago surged to the surface like demons ascending from hell.
Henry walked into his homeroom class and sat in the last seat in the window aisle, located at the back of the room. He glanced at the vacant desk across from him—Ezra’s desk—and felt the emptiness within him grow. It had only been a few days since Ezra and his family had left, yet it already felt like months had gone by. The pain and loss were still fresh, and Henry wished he could curl up in a corner and cry until the hurt went away. He didn’t want to be at school or home—he simply wanted… Ezra.
His eyes burned, and he looked out the window, blinking back the tears. He still couldn’t comprehend Ezra’s absence. The love of his life—there one minute and gone the next. He didn’t know how to process that reality. It felt unreal… like a disorienting dream. His life didn’t feel real anymore.
What am I gonna do without you? Why didn’t you say goodbye?
That’s what felt the most unreal… that Ezra had left without saying goodbye.
He wouldn’t do that—he wouldn’t! Ezra would have found a way to see Henry one more time. He wouldn’t have gone without a word. And that’s what left Henry confused, his mind fragmented.
He thought about seeing his dad at Ezra’s place, going down into the root cellar, and locking it on his way out. The memory left Henry with an eerie feeling in his gut, and a part of him wanted to see what was down there. But he was too scared to look. He didn’t understand why he felt this way or where the fear originated, but it kept him away from Ezra’s house… away from the cellar.
“Henry?” Mrs. Walsh called from the front of the room.
Henry blinked and looked forward. “Huh?”
“You need to go to the main office.”
“Okay…” Henry slid out of his desk.
