Henry hated crowds. And he hated games.
He paid no attention to the speech of the school's basketball players, until the leader of the team mentioned his popular girlfriend, the cheerleader crowned the Queen of Hawkins High. Chrissy Cunningham.
Henry scanned through the crowd until he spotted a pretty face under golden hair.
He felt sick.
Henry was one of the first people to leave the building, but not even the open air allowed him to recover.
It's just human nature. He reminded to himself. Things flowing in his body affected his thoughts too. Puberty was worse than he ever imagined. He believed to be immune to certain emotions. But he never learned how to stop feeling.
He was used not being interested in anything of that stuff.
So why he couldn't stop thinking of the cheerleader? And of how she was wrongly matched to the most popular player?
He couldn't stop thinking of the secrets that were haunting her.
He felt an unexplainable need to protect her, to help her.
And he knew that her boyfriend knew nothing of her nightmares so he couldn't help her.
It took time before Henry surrendered to his weird ideas and bumped into the pretty cheerleader in the deserted corridors. She clearly looked upset, low shoulders, hugging herself.
"I'm sorry. I didn't see you" she said quickly after walking straight against him. She didn't notice that he stepped on her way on purpose.
She didn't even look up at him.
"What's troubling you?" he asked, but of course she wouldn't share her secrets with who was barely an acquaintance.
"I'm fine. I'm just in a hurry".
Henry grabbed her arm before she could stride away and said to her "It's alright not being fine, you know?".
She looked up with wide eyes "What are you talking about? It's just...female problems".
He tilted his head, knowing that she was lying.
It made her uncomfortable.
She marched away like a prey who sensed the presence of predator.
Later in his solitude, Henry picked his phone and got an idea.
He had no interest in socials, but now he was curious to check them, just to see Chrissy even when he couldn't meet her in person.
And he found out that it wasn't bad at all to get the chance to see her private pictures and save them.
He made an anonymous account and eventually messaged her.
"What a torn soul hiding behind that pretty face".
"Sorry, I don't accept spam" she replied hours later.
Henry smirked and typed "You don't accept truths about yourself. That's worse".
Later he couldn't access to her profile anymore.
She had blocked him.
It amused Henry.
He reviewed the pictures he had saved, fragments of her life.
She was a splendid actress.
And she looked like a delicious prey.
How could she not realise that?
Did she need to post that kind of pictures to pretend she was like everyone else? That she was confident?
When she was barely able to hold up the world that was breaking and crushing on her?
In the following days Henry kept an eye on her. He needed her. He needed to help her. Or just, he needed her for himself.
"It's not poisoned" he whispered to her ear when he got the chance to walk past her and notice how she struggled to eat her meal in the school's canteen.
He bet that she would faint at the next basketball match if she kept struggling with food.
She looked perfect. But what was the price of that perfection?
Chrissy dropped the sandwich she was holding "I have no appetite".
"Your body needs food. Can't you see how skinny you are?" he said undelicately.
"Leave me alone!" she exclaimed, moving her chair away from him.
Her friends at the table tried to catch his attention but he waved them off like they were flies.
"Hey! What are you doing?" a male voice addressed him with hostility.
Henry rolled his eyes at the annoying boyfriend coming to mark his territory.
"I'm talking to you, Henry Creep".
Henry clenched his fists to prevent his hands from grabbing Jason's neck.
"She's letting herself starve to be your precious, pretty doll".
"What?" Chrissy exclaimed.
"How dare you?" Jason said at the same time, menacingly stepping too close to Henry.
Fighting the stupid boy was a waste of time, but Henry knew that soon he would get his fun.
He looked down at Chrissy and nodded at her food.
Jason shoved him away "Stay away from her, freak".
Henry glared at him and held his stare. Oh, if he could use his powers and hear the sweet sound of his breaking bones...
But the little boy didn't deserve his attention now.
Henry was planning a bigger revenge. Using Jason's girlfriend.
It was unusual that Henry watched the games.
Watching basketball was far even boring because of the annoying leader of the school's team.
Henry paid attention to the cheerleaders' show.
Chrissy didn't faint, but she looked sick and empty.
Henry felt almost sorry for how that evening was going to end.
Jason couldn't remember how he stumbled, but he fell badly and everyone heard the sinister crack of his leg and then his shout of pain.
Chrissy ran to him after recovering from the shock that paralized all the viewers.
Henry looked away, torn between feeling amused and feeling sick.
Having Jason recovering at the hospital didn't help improving Chrissy's health.
Henry disapproved her choices when he learned that she asked for help to the other freak of the school, Eddie Munson.
Drugs don't solve anything. They just bring a lot of more troubles.
Troubles that Henry wanted to save her from.
He stalked her more closely, until he learned that she planned to meet the other freak in the woods.
Henry waited by the trees, listening to the natural sounds around him, until he heard her clumsy steps.
He focused and watched as her body was lifted in the air, he blocked also her jaw so she wouldn't scream.
He admired his job for a while, then approached his prey and propped her on his shoulder, marching to an abandoned glade where he had a trailer for his sinister hobbies.
He dropped the cheerleader on the floor of his lair and massaged his sore shoulder.
"You" she hissed when she was finally allowed to speak. Her wide eyes stared at him.
She could scream as much as she wanted and nobody was close enough to hear her. Except for Henry.
He prayed for her sake that she wouldn't force him to use his violent side on her.
"You" she repeated narrowing her eyes "What are you?".
Henry wiped the blood from his nose "I'm someone who understands you".
"What?!" she snapped and finding that her limbs were free, she jumped up to face him "You kidnapped me!".
"You gave me no choice. You wouldn't listen to me" he snarled at her.
"Listen to what?" her tone grew louder "You're a freak! That's all you are!".
He chuckled dangerously "You have a thing for freaks, it seems. Weren't you going to meet Munson? For drugs?".
Her shocked expression was amusing.
"I'm better than drugs" he said smugly.
"You wish" she snapped "You're insane, that's why everyone avoids you. How did you do that? I saw no ropes. I couldn't moved".
Henry smirked mockingly. Did she expect him to reveal his secrets to her?
He just wanted her for himself. And there she was, in his secret shelter.
He sat on an old armchair, letting his eyes linger on her, drinking her fear.
"Are you a criminal?" she asked with uncertainty. Around her she spotted many knives and other items she didn't want to know what their use was.
Henry chuckled and extended his legs, crossing his feet "That's not a polite question. Do you expect me to torture you and then kill you? Tell me what you expect".
She stared at him like a scared pet, her shoulders curved as she tried to shield herself from his stare.
She seemed to consider the idea of grabbing one of the knives to defend herself.
"Let me go" she tried to deal with him "If you don't hurt me, I won't tell anyone".
"I didn't waste my time catching you and taking you here just to let you go so easily" he mocked her "I asked you a question. What do you expect me to do to you?".
She breathed deeply, reading his expression. She grabbed clumsily a big knife and aimed it at him.
He laughed and stood up, walking slowly to her.
"Who's the criminal now? I didn't touch you now" he teased her.
"Stay back" she warned and moved away from him, soon blocked by the trailer's wall.
"You think I'm going to assault you" he said softly, tilting his head "You're forced to keep a perfect body shape and the result is attracting horny males like bees are attracted to the sweetest flowers".
"You're a phycho!" she exclaimed, but she was sweating and shivering.
"Am I now?" he took another step forward, letting the knife caress his neck. Her hand trembled, but she couldn't move it. She couldn't hurt him.
"I'm just giving you the truth. The awful truth you are running from".
"What truth?" she stammered.
"Your biggest fear" he whispered, his piercing gaze fixed on her panicking face "You are a prisoner in your own body. In your own life".
"What?".
He frowned with anger "How much about your body and your life is your choice?".
She gaped, unable to find a proper answer.
"Everything around you is toxic" he continued angrily "Your family, your friends, your boyfriend".
"That's not true" she leaned against the wall, her legs about to give up.
"It's killing you, Chrissy. You started to think of ending it yourself".
"That's a lie!" she shouted, but fighting the evidences and the truth was a losing battle for her.
The knife fell from her fingers and Henry looked down as it brushed his shoes.
He looked at her again, seeing how the walls she built around herself were fallen. And she was embracing herself, being so exposed and vulnerable.
"You lie to yourself" he said extending a hand to her "But I know you, Chrissy. I see how broken you are. You need help. You need to feel less alone in this world".
She breathed deeply, staring at him in shock, slowly disgesting his words.
"Let me help you" he whispered "Nobody else needs to know. But together we can face the troubles that you couldn't face alone. Let me be your friend".
Henry couldn't read through the storm of conflicting emotions in her mind.
He just waited patiently. And hoped.
After what seemed like an eternity, Chrissy took one last deep breath then looked at him with more confidence. Her hand grabbed his.
A/N
Tuesday 27th September 2022
I hope this wasn't the ending you expected 🤪
Henry just needed a friend 🥺
This started as a random idea when I commented about Grace's kind of stories on Instagram and friends encouraged me to develop this.
It took me a while to give a deeper meaning to the whole story, being more than the initial "imagine Henry stalking Chrissy on social until he decides to kidnap her".
Chrissy had real problems with her body, eating disorders.
So what if instead of just manipulating her, Henry decided to actually help her? 💓
Let me know if you enjoyed it or not 😊🙏
Anyway, I want Henry's phone number! 😬