Veritas Vitae - "His Tenebris Moenibus" Spin Off One Shots

The Weirdo From Saint Valentina's

Getting as muddy as possible hadn't exactly been Henry's plan. Really, he hated being overly dirty. But the rain had started while he was sitting in the backyard to catch small insects to feed to his spiders in the attic. He closed the lid on the jar, watching a few small creatures squirm around on the grass blades he had tossed inside. Then it began pouring, soaking the grass and dirt. Mud began to color Henry's pants and sweater.

At that point, he knew he was asking for it. His mother wanted her children to be presentable at all times, clean and pristine even when they had no one to impress but themselves. Henry, of course, thought such a practice was stupid and unecessary.

Thoroughly soaked, Henry finally ran back inside, hiding his jar of new critters behind some books. He heard the sounds of his mother cooking dinner in the kitchen. His nose wrinkled, smelling Virginia's pork recipe. She threw on way too many spices and soaked the meat in a broth that reeked of fats and excessive amounts of rosemary. Most of Henry's food he took nearly completely plain. He made a routine habit of scraping sauces away with his fork or peeling off garnishes when Virginia wasn't looking.

"Henry Creel, what do you think you're doing, walking around the house looking like that?" Virginia poked her head around the corner leading into the kitchen. She had a wooden serving spoon in her hand. Henry opened his mouth to answer with a half-hearted excuse, but he was cut off. "Get cleaned up before supper, I don't want to see any mud, got it?"

"Yes, mother." Henry mumbled, walking past her on his toes to reduce the mud that would track from his feet. He climbed the stairs to his room, glimpsing his father seated in front of the fire place with a newspaper in his hand. Henry didn't bother to read the headline, knowing it was likely something boring.

The rain pattered against his window more aggressively with each passing second. Henry wiped away any lingering mud, making absolutely sure there was none left before changing into clean pants and a sweater. Henry sat on the edge of his bed, grabbing a jar stored under his bedside table. A single black widow crawled around inside it, spinning a web stretching from the lid to a twig Henry had shoved inside. Most of his spiders were stored in the attic, but he hid one in his room; Virginia would flip out if she saw it.

"Henry! Hurry up and set the table, please." Virginia called from downstairs. Henry let out a large sigh and hid the jar again. He knew her 'please' really meant 'right this instant.'"

The socks on Henry's feet dulled the sounds he made as he padded down the stairs and made a turn to the dining room. A stack of utensils, plates, and glasses in the middle of the table greeted him as it always did. Alice helped Virginia cook and Henry set the table. They were both supposed to clean the plates, but Henry usually was the one left to do it. Alice always made up a brand new excuse each time.

One plate per chair, one glass per plate, one set of utensils per glass. Henry went for the counter on the side of the room, pulling out four napkins. One at his father's seat, one at his sister's seat, one at his mother's seat, and one at...

Outside, something caught Henry's eye. Past the window, past the porch, past the road... a figure ran out from the bushes surrounding the playground across the street. It looked like a person, a child to be exact. Whoever it was, they slid under the slide connected to the rocket ship made of metal bars to hide from the storm. They curled up on the ground, clearly dripping wet and shivering. Henry almost paid it no second thought before he instead decided to get closer to the window to see the figure better.

It was clearly a girl. Her long hair was soaked, looking like brown sticks around her head. She was thin and her skin was pale save for the red on her cheeks due to the cold. All she was wearing was a black raincoat that was clearly way too big on her covering a long sleeved grey shirt also too large and brown pants that hid her shoes.