"You wanted to see me boss?'S somthin' wrong with the GPS pack I scrounged up for you?" Henry asked while peaking in the door at his boss, Dr. Helen Magnus. His nervousness was apparent, as was the odor, akin to wild, wet dog, that followed him.
Gathering the technical gadgets for Helen's upcoming trip was the first time in days that Henry had left his room. His obvious lack of personal care would have somewhat upset Helen, normally. It didn't today because only recently had Henry decided not to go through with the surgery that would have cost her one of her closest friends and colleagues. He imagined she would have been upset if he had gone through with it. Only the rumors of the Cabal's recent activities in northern Canada, and the seriousness that goes along with those same rumors, had caused her to even think about disturbing him in his current condition. Only the most recent call from her contact in the Yukon wilds made her willing to disturb him again.
"No Henry, of course not." The slight look of nervousness on her face, and the scent that Henry was beginning to associate with discomfort caused his non-existent hackles want to rise. "I have just been made privy to some new information about what the Cabal was up to in such a remote area. With everything that you've been through lately, I'm hesitant to put any more strain on you..."
As her hesitation reinforced his earlier dread, Henry felt the need to hide and cower in his room. Helen was so very seldom this nervous, and only the potential of causing harm to those few friends around her would bring it out. "What is it boss?" The suspense was definitely bringing out his fight or flight instincts, especially the latter.
"George, my colleague in Canada, informed me a few minutes ago that he believes the Cabal may have raided a den belonging to one or more families of feral werewolves. Right now very little is known about werewolves. Most of the believable accounts were written in this very building, primarily about you."
With that simple statement told Henry far too much about where this conversation was going to go. If her nose was anywhere near as potent as his, she would have been overwhelmed by the immediate scent of panic, fear, and if she had known the smell, longing. Henry lived in his own body, and wasn't able to pick up those scents that were his own. His instant, uncontrolled terror prevented him from even noticing that particular emotion. "Helen, please don't ask...."
"Henry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even thought about bringing this up." Helen's uncharacteristic interruption and the sorrow on her face made it apparent that she was truly upset about the pain she had caused him. "I have no idea how hard things must be for you right now. I think I may have just let my insecurities about not knowing something get to me. Please, you have my sincerest apologies for even beginning to ask you."
"It's alright boss. I'm sorry I can't be there for you now, of all the times when your probably gonna need me. Don't sell yourself short, you wrote those books, not me. You know more about what rolls around in my head then I do."
As Henry turned to leave, his unnaturally, or since he was indeed a werewolf, naturally strong ears heard Helen whisper another apology.
As his emotions churned, ranging between incredible guilt over not being there for the woman he thought of as almost a mother, to fear about his inability to control himself, he did not pay attention to where his feet carried him. He didn't notice the elevator ride because of the readily identifiable scents in it that allowed him to identify who had ridden in this elevator for the past few days. He didn't notice anything until he found himself in the little corner of the shoe where he kept his computers.
He remembered how packing the tech for the others had almost been a form of meditation, how it had detracted him from himself. He honestly believed he was merely packing a spare for them to bring with them in the morning when they left for the airport and on to the Canadian wilderness. He only got caught up in what he was doing when he started to pack his personal data pad and laptop into the backpack.
"Well I guess that settles it. I'm gonna have to go now." Damn he cursed to himself. He needed to start paying better attention to what he was doing.
*****
Henry sat, staring at the plate in front of him. His mentor, practically his older brother in his weird adoptive family, had dropped it off thirty-some-odd minutes ago. The big guy had barely glanced at the backpack full of gear Henry had packed. If noticed at all, it would appear to anyone that he had intentionally tried to hide it. Considering that everyone who worked here was known for being especially observant, he figured it was a waste of time trying to hide the fact that he intended on joining Helen, Ashley and Will on their journey into Canada.
A slight clunking sound could be heard in the distance. Henry figured it must be Bigfoot coming back to check on Henry's progress with the food. Every day he went by with Henry only eating the bare minimum of the food brought to him made the light slap on the back of his head just a little bit rougher. The way things were going, in two weeks he'd end up in the infirmary with a concussion after every meal. That whatever makers existed, the big guy almost never left the Sanctuary.
Then again from the lightness of the steps approaching, he might have time to force the remainder of his dinner down his throat, since whoever was coming was clearly female. Most likely Ashley or Helen.
Since his sense of smell had started becoming overpowering, Henry had decided to redirect the ventilation in his office. The mansions filtration system, especially in the shoe and lower level, had been designed with the potential for biohazards, so it was relatively simple for him to so. Now the air flowed into his space from the vents, and then on out the door into the lab. As such his sense of smell gave him no warning as to who it was.
Further complicating the matter of guessing who approaching was the oddest noise. The noise was reminiscent of an out of tune violin being played by a toddler. It was a grating cacophony of high pitch squeals and low rumbling, and it had a synthetic quality to it that gave the impression of a recording. Whoever was coming closer had bizarre tastes in music.
With his curiosity spiking, Henry got up and crossed to the door, and was startled. It was Ashley, with her headphones plugged in to her ears. Usually she listened to the same things as him.
"Damn Ash, what's that crap you're listening to?"
"What are you talking about? It's Nirvana. You started me listening to the crap." Ashley was clearly confused by his statement. Henry almost never went anywhere without his music and was always listening to it. This was one of his favorite bands.
With that statement Henry was equally confused. This noise was in no way like the music he listened to normally. But the more he listened to it, as it continued to play on Ashley's headset, the more he could almost pick up background noises in it that could be his favorite band.
And with that realization struck. "Aw man. I hate my ears. I'm like a dog Ash, seriously, I'm hearing and the high and low frequency sound and it's ruining my favorite band!"
Ashley stifled a grin and giggle, but made the mental note to start carrying a dog whistle for when Henry started to get more comfortable with himself.
"Not that I'm changing the subject or anything," she said with another suppressed laugh, "But our wondrous chef ala Bigfoot is gonna be here in a couple minutes. Thought I'd give you some warning so you could quickly get that stuff fed to the nubbins or something. Me an' mom are starting to worry about concussions, man."
Giving her a glare that tried to convey the immaturity of what she was saying, Henry decided to use the advantage his ears gave him, as he had just heard the elevator doors open again. He figured the big guys ears were also sensitive enough to hear from as far away as he was, "The big guys is only showing that he cares about me and worries about my well being."
"Uhuh, sure thing mutt, you probably just heard the elevator or somethin'. Which is so not fair play." With that jab, Ashley's demeanor turned a little more serious, "I notice you have a bag packed Henry, I am really glad you are gonna come with us tomorrow. You should probably think about getting some rack time. Mom wants us to leave pretty early. Just don't forget to actually tell her that you're going with us, OK."
As soon as she got an "okay" from him, she left, leaving Henry to deal with an overprotective cook.