There were three more deaths and there wasn't any sign that Walter had appeared. This time he had killed two children and that made both Lily and John worried. They had were scared that he would be next. There was a total of eight deaths now.
"Why haven't they caught him yet? It shouldn't take this long." John complained to his wife. They were sitting at the kitchen table drinking hot tea while Henry slept. They were staying at their parent's house.
"Well, hopefully they will catch him in time. I can't believe that he killed those children. I'm starting to wish that I had listened to those old women years ago. They told me not to let him see Henry, but I let him anyway. I shouldn't have. I-"
"It's not your fault. You didn't know. Hell, I probaby would have done the same thing." John said taking Lily's hand to comfort her.
"Yes but he killed two children. In front of thier own house even. And he was at our house before he killed them."
"Come on. Let's get some sleep." John told his wife.
Ever since they found out that they were being followed by a killer, they had started driving Henry to and from school rather than him going by bus. And they had police patrol around the school. The police complied since the killing of Billy and Miriam Locaine who were classmates of Henry.
"All right. I'll be right there. I'm just going to check on Henry."
John nodded and left to their parents guestroom. Henry was sleeping on the pullout bed/couch that was in the living room. Lily checked around and found that the living room window's curtain was open. She closed it out of a certain paranoia. Then she crept over to Henry and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight sweetie." She whispered and left to join her husband.
Little did she know that she had just blocked the view of the boy to a certain blonde man that was currently ducked under the window.
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It was the middle of the school day and Henry was taking out his reading book. The class was currently reading a book for Halloween called "Which Witch." And they had to do reports on it.
"All right class, can anyone tell me where we left off?" called Mrs. Bell.
Half of the class raised their hands, including Henry. Mrs. Bell asked a girl to answer.
"Ms. Lenard."
"Belladonna just completed her magic."
"Thank you. Now, if you all turn to page 120, then we will begin."
All of the kids turned to their pages and began to read aloud. Henry was the last to read. He read without tripping over any words.
"Well done Mr. Townshend." was all Mrs. Bell said.
A few of the boys in the back snickered. "Hey Henry, I think you two should get married." one of them, a red haired boy sneered.
Henry ignored them. He was paying attention to his teacher. The red head boy, Stan, was always mean. He was known as the class bully and he usually was lanked by black boy named T.J and a brunette boy named Jordan. They always picked on Henry and stole his stuff. But Henry never lashed out on them. He wasn't afraid of them, but he didn't want to fight them either.
A bell rang letting them all know it was lunch time. Henry waited for Kate. He thought she was pretty but was to shy to tell her. She had long black hair and bright blue eyes. She always talked to Henry and the two of them ate lunch together. They were marched to the cafeteria, and sat down. Both always brought home made lunches, but Henry hardly ate anything.
The two were chatting happily when they were interrupted by a familar voice. "Hey Henry. Is she your girlfriend?" Stan said in a mocking tone.
"Go away." Henry muttered.
"Make me!"
"I don't want to fight."
Stan grabbed Henry's lunchbox and took off. "If you want this, meet me in the bathroom!"
Kate turned toward Henry. "No! They'll just hurt you!"
"But I have to get it back." And with that, Henry left.
Ten minutes later, the three boys were being dragged off of Henry who was unconcious and bruised and bleeding.
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Henry woke up in the makeshift bed. His head hurt and he was aching all over. He realized that he must be at home because his parents were both standing over him.
"Honey. Are you all right?" Lily asked concernedly.
Henry nodded and felt embarressed. He should be able to defend himself. Why was he so weak?
"What happened?"
Henry retold the tale about how they took his lunchbox and how he went to get it back. "And they all attacked me when I went in."
"Do you know their names?"
"Stan Kelsser, Jordan Nelson, and T.J Marko."
"We'll talk to those three."
"No."
Lily looked at him. "What?"
"I'll talk to them." Henry said. He knew that if his parents went down there, he would never live it down.
His parents looked at each other. Before they both agreed.
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Walter was furious. 'They coud have killed my Reciever! Those spoiled rotten brats!' Walter had been looking through a window and witnessed the whole incident. He had seen Henry being carried out by a couple of teachers who called his parents. The parents arrived and took Henry home.
But he did have to admire the boy's courage. He went after them and even decided to grow up. 'He is perfect isn't he?'
Walter knew that he would tell them. The Reciever was too honest. He always told the truth, no matter what. Walter smiled at that. It wasn't everyday that you came upon someone like that. Nope. Henry was special after all. 'And you always save the best for last.' Walter chuckled at his own sick joke.
Walter left his hiding place (The abandoned house next door. Honestly, don't the police ever do their work correctly?) with a smile. 'Ah yes. It's time for the wrong to repent.'
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Henry got up and examined his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He had minor cuts and bruises, but other than that, he was ok. No teeth missing, no black eye, he must have been lucky.
It was almost time for school and he going to go into the kitchen when he heard his parents talking.
"No. I should go down there. They could have killed him. Or-"
"Lily, the boy has to grow up too."
"But he's only seven!"
"And soon he will be eight! What do you think will happen when he goes to high school? Do you think it wil get any better?"
"No! But-"
"Lily. He needs to experience this so that he can be prepared. He needs to know how to defend himself. You can't protect him all his life."
"I know! But-"
"Lily. It's ok."
Henry decided to interrupt so that they wouldn't argue again. "Good morning." He said quietly.
Both of his parents smiled at him. "Morning." was answered in unison.
After breakfast, his mom drove him to school. When they got there, Lily stopped the car and looked at Henry. " Henry, I'll talk to them if you want me to."
"No. I'll do it." Lily nodded at the answer and bid him a good day at school.
Henry walked to his class and waited. After ten minutes, he found Stan and his gang. Summoning up his courage, he went up to them.
"What you back for more?" Stan jeered at him.
"I want to talk to you."
"Well, I don't."
"Well, I do. You bother me all the time without me having to do anything. Why are you so mean to me?"
Stan pushed Henry. "Does it matter? Come on guys, let's leave the baby." They walked over Henry, laughing, and headed off to the bathroom.
The bell rang and Henry went to his class. Class had started and the boys were not back. After about an hour, Mrs. Bell was calling the pricipal.
"Have you seen them Mr. Callaway?"
"No. Are you sure thier here?"
"Yes, I saw them earlier."
After hearing thier conversation, a rather scrawny boy called Eric, spoke.
"They were with Henry earlier." He said as if Henry had did something wrong.
Both teacher and pricipal rounded on him. "Is this true?"
Henry nodded. "I'll go get them."
Henry shuffled out of the room with Mr. Callaway right behind him. He went into the bathroom and saw Jordan come flying towards him. He ducked and missed the boy by inches, then looked up. He froze in fear when he saw what was going on.
"And this is for nearly killing my Reciever." Walter snarled at Stan, throwing the boy where his friend Jordan lay unconcious. As he did this he spotted Henry and grinned at him.
"S-stop! Your hurting them!" Henry cried. He knew three seven year olds could not stand up to a full grown man.
"They hurt you. I'm not going to kill them. They are a waste of a Sacrament. And don't even think about screaming. If you do I might reconsider my thoughts. Now listen to me."
Henry nodded and stared at Walter. He edged towards the door but stopped when he Walter tsked and wagged a finger at him. He stayed rooted to his spot and bowed his head.
"Good. Now I have to tell you that soon, I shall die. But, I will come back and when I do, I will kill ten more times. You shall be my last. The Reciever of Wisdom. And you shall play a big part for Mother." He told Henry all of this as if he was a teacher. Teaching Henry how to be a Sacrement.
"I don't understand. Why do these people have to die? Why are you killing them?" Henry blurted out before he could stop himself.
Walter chuckled. "Don't worry about it right now. All you need to know is that you will die....later."
"No! I don't want to die!" Henry yelled.
Mr. Callaway heard Henry yell and burst into the room. All he saw was Henry standing near the door shaking like a leaf and three boys unconcious. He also saw Walter standing in the middle of the bathroom. Walter saw Mr. Callaway and ran past him, knocking him over in the process. The principal reached for his walkie-talkie linked to the police.
"He's here! The killer is here! I just saw him! He's hurt three boys, but spared one!"
The children were evacuated except for Henry. The police decided to hold him in the school office and question him when his parents arrived. When they got there, a police man with short black hair and a rather small frame came over to them. Henry was sitting on a chair still shaking.
"Mr. and Mrs. Townshend, your son was found in the bathroom with the killer. He's okay, the killer spared him. We will ask him questions now." said Officer Young.
He approached Henry and knelt down by him. "Can you answer a few questions?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Henry recounted his tale of taking to the boys and them going off into the bathroom. Then he told them how they went missing for an hour and he volunteered to go get them. He also told them how he found Walter tossing them around and how Walter threatened to kill them if he did not listen to what he said.
"What did he say to you?"
"He told me that he was going to die, come back, and kill ten more people. He said I would be his last kill. He also said something about his Mother and something about Sacrements. He also called me his Reciever of Wisdom."
"Does that mean anything to you?"
"No. I don't know what he's talking about."
Officer Young shook his head and went to talk to Lily and John. The three of them started to talk in hushed tones. Henry caught the words "home schooled" and "better chance." But he didn't know what was going on. All he wanted was for the Stan and his friends to be okay and to go home. He wanted to be somewhere safe.
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Two more deaths were reported over the next two days and that made Henry's parents a nervous wreck. John would flinch at sudden noises and Lily looked as though she hadn't slept in a long time. Both were edgy and Henry's grandparents were constantly comforting them. They were talking about home schooling Henry if they did not catch Walter soon. Henry wished that he wouldn't have to be. He had seen both Stan and his friends. Stan had a broken arm and the others had small cuts and bruises. But both of them were nicer to Henry. Whether it was because they were afraid of Walter coming to get them again, or because Henry stood up for them was a complete mystery.
Many of the kids and teachers were treating Henry like he was a hero. They insisted on giving him things and Henry kind of felt embarrassed about it. Kate even kissed Henry on the cheek when he came back the next day and made Henry blush and grin the whole day.
Another day had passed and things were still the same..........Or until his grandfather came home whooping and dancing.
"Come on all of you! Come see the news! It's wonderful! After you see we're going out tonight!" His grandfather said excitedly. They all followed him to the living room with the t.v. and turned it on. The news was just starting.
"And on tonight's news, a terror is stopped. The alledged killer Walter Sullivan was caught by the police today. He was found inside of a park and was arrested by police after a wild chase. He was stopped by a man, Richard Braintree,on the street and pinned him down." A man with light brown hair and blue eyes wearing a funny tie came on. "Yeah he was running and I recognized his picture when he was running. I did the only thing I could think of."
The Townshends didn't hear the rest of the report. They were busy yelling and laughing, celebrating. It was all over! The only one who didn't join in was Henry. He was busy thinking about what Walter had said to him. He had a feeling deep down, that the man was going to come back.
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Two days had past since the news and was replaced with even better news. Sullivan had killed himself.
"Now that bastard'll never come near us again!" John said.
"John! Watch your mouth!"
"Sorry sorry."
It was Henry's birthday and he was turning eight. Henry was at home while his mom was running about in the kitchen making food for the family to celebrate his birthday. A few of his friends were invited. They were opening presents when his mother said it was time for them to eat. After dinner they played a few games with each other. Then they had cake and sang happy birthday.
The whole day was wonderful. Henry wished that it would never end. But as such it did. And one by one the guests left, until it was only his parents and grandparents left. Henry tried out his new camera out that his grandfather bought him. By far, this was his best present. He was taking a picture of his dad when someone knocked on the door.
"Hmmm...I wonder who that could be." Lily said going to the door.
"Someone probably left something." John said following her. Henry walked right behind them, curious to see if maybe it was one of his friends.
Lily opened the door and screamed causing everyone to come to the door. Henry squeezed by and saw a dead cat on the porch with a note pinned to it.
Dear Henry,
I told you that I would come back. It will only be a matter of time before I come back for you. Oh, and happy birthday by the way. I hope you enjoy your present. It has a deeper significance and I'm sure you'll understand.
Till then,
Walter Sullivan
Later that night, the police left the house baffled, suspicious, and alert. And the Townshends were now living in fear once more.