Tragic Beginnings Chapter 19: Sweet Black Revenge Well, Almost, an ever after fanfic

Chapter 19: Sweet Black Revenge…. Well, Almost

Gwen was sleeping soundly out in the south pasture so Henry had to wake her up. It took a short while because she had the tendency to be rather testy upon waking. But Henry didn't mind. He had bigger, better things on his mind. He'd imagined a million scenarios in his mind. Thousands of different events, conversations, or situations that may have played out in the manor of Pierre Le Pieu that day, but nothing as dreadful as the truth. The truth his beloved Danielle had finally told him.

But beyond that lay a greater truth. In order for Danielle to move one, to not wonder what was waiting around every corner the source of her torment must be eliminated. So as he lay in her bed, his mind gripped in anger he struggled with the minute details. Mainly with the guilt of leaving Danielle. She had gone to sleep in his arms, and if she woke up and he was gone, he knew she'd be worried. On the hand, with them being on such good terms it would be a lot harder to disappear in the morning when she was awake. No doubt they would spend the day together. And he could go there, do the deed and come back before morning. He was sure of it.

His mind made up he got out of bed and pulled the comforter up to Danielle's chin. Pausing only to give her and soft kiss and tell her he loved her one more time, he walked out her room, down the stair and out into the south pasture.

It felt good to be on the road towards Le Pieu's estate, even if the rain was gaining strength. Visibility was poor, mostly because of the rain but Henry's eyes were clouded with determination, and it wasn't helping him. He and Gwen ran on instinct. Feeling the corners and anticipating the ditches rather then seeing and avoiding them. Faster and faster then charged on throw the rain and gloom of the night. Sunrise tomorrow was going to be sweet. Tomorrow, the past few weeks would finally be able to fade away as a distant memory.

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A draft woke Danielle from an otherwise perfect sleep. She sat up and realized that something was wrong but couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. She searched her memory and the words from that evening filtered back into her mind. Sunset, the kiss, the argument, the rain. It was all clear now. She looked around her room, now she knew what was wrong. After it began to rain she and Henry had returned to the house. They'd been laying in bed talking, but now, he was gone.

Danielle rose from her bed and made her way through the house to the room Henry's alter ego now called his home. She opened that door, and even though there was very little light to go by she new that the room was empty. Where could he be? Danielle felt her stomach roll. There was only one thing that could pull him away from her, especially after they'd finally bridged the distance between them, anger. Henry was a sweet man, and she loved him dearly, but even she knew that when he was angry he lost almost all reason and clarity.

The answer came in a flash. Before she knew it she was running through the rain in the south pasture. She found the fastest horse, and mounted him. Without a second thought she pointed Gemini in the direction of the manor of Pierre Le Pieu. He had to be there.

"Wake up sleepyhead!" Pierre Le Pieu opened his eyes and was startled to see a figure standing over him. He strained his eyes but could not properly identify the man.

"What the hell is going on here? This is private property, whoever you are, your trespassing! I demand you leave here at once!" Le Pieu sneered.

"I'll leave after I've gotten what I came for." The man replied.

"Which would be?"

"Sweet, black, revenge." Le Pieu shivered, and just then a streak of lightning light up the room, illuminating the face of the intruder.

"Your Majesty, is that you?" he asked. Henry's beard had obviously confused him. Henry snorted and gave the frightened man a twisted smile.

"I promised you that eventually I would find out what you did to Danielle. And as I recall I informed you that once I did, it would be your head. Guess what Le Pieu? I know. And I've come to collect my prize." Le Pieu gasped and jumped out of bed but Henry who had pulled out a hammer from his pocket blocked his exit. Le Pieu made a break for it, trying in vain to run past the Prince and out the door. Henry was too quick and grabbed the tiny man by the collar of his shirt and eventually latched onto his neck. The man gasped his hands clawing at Henry's as he struggled for air. Henry snorted. "Don't worry, I have plans for you yet." Henry led Le Pieu down the hall and into his Armor room. He sat Le Pieu down in a chair and once he had Henry knocked him unconscious with a blow to the head.

When Le Pieu woke up he was strapped to the chair. Everything but his left hand was tied down and immovable. Henry had tied a rope to his left wrist, and he was holding the other end of the rope tightly. He forced Le Pieu to open his hand, his palm pressing against the table so that his fingers were splayed out. With one hand Henry held the rope, with the other he raised the hammer.

"I'm going to personally see to it that you can never do to another woman what you did to Danielle."

"I did nothing."

"LIAR!!" Henry screamed and with that he slammed the hammer down on Le Pieu's thumb. Le Pieu screamed. It was the loud, soul-piercing scream of a frightened little girl. Henry laughed manically. "Are we having fun yet?" he spouted. "Now, since I'm a nice guy I'm going to give you another chance to tell me the truth. You brutally raped Danielle didn't you?"

"No Sire."

"Wrong again!" Henry again raised the hammer and it came crashing down on Le Pieu's pointer finger. He tried to scream but no sound came out. Instead his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he started to drool. "You held the woman I love down, and as she begged and pleaded you continued to beat her. YOU left all those marks on her body. Then when you realized she was just too strong for you, you took the cowards way out and suffocated her, didn't you? Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy knowing that there was no way in hell you could ever get a woman such as Danielle unless you raped her? You are a rapist! A dirty filthy pathetic excuse for a human being, are you not?! Answer me DAMN IT!" The hammer shattered Le Pieu's middle finger and he began to cry. His sobs grew louder but somehow Henry was not pleased. He thought he'd enjoy watching the man struggle in agony, but he didn't. Instead it frightened him. He felt dirty and was suddenly overcome with the urge to cry right along with Le Pieu.

"Alright fine I did it," Le Pieu hissed, tears still running down his run face, "and I'd do it again too. It was good!! I loved every minute of it!!" Rage bubbled up from every nerve in Henry's body. All thoughts of pity and any regrets slipped away. All he wanted to do was to send the butt end of the hammer crashing into Le Pieu's skull. But that was to easy, and Henry thought that with all the pain Le Pieu was in, that's probably what he wanted. No, it had to be better then that, slower. In a fit of anger Henry broke the two remaining fingers on Le Pieu's hand then he threw the weapon across the room. It shattered a window and sent glass flying everywhere.

Before he knew what he was doing he began to untie Le Pieu. The rope that he used to bind him to the chair was tied around his neck. He held on to the other end, using it as a leash. "Come on, we're going for a walk." Henry sneered. He did not this as he led his captive through the house. Instead he let his anger blind him. When the two men reached the front door of the manor Henry opened it and kicked Le Pieu hard, sending him sailing into the courtyard. The rope tightened around his neck in response and he gasped for air. Not wanting to kill him yet, Henry loosened the knot allowing the rapist to once again breath freely.

He then searched for a blunt object and after a few minutes found a fence post lying on the courtyard floor. He lifted it and began to beat Le Pieu. In the pounding rain and violent thunder, Henry did not hear the sounds of an approaching horse and the screams of the worried rider.

Danielle dismounted Gemini and ran through the courtyard. On the far end she could see Henry. He appeared to be striking an object on the ground with a large stick. He was shouting but she couldn't quite make out the words. As she got closer her heart started pounding harder and harder. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be doing this. Not Henry.

Stop!" She shouted at him when she was within earshot. Henry spun around so that he was facing her. Danielle could see that his face was red. He was breathing heavy and his eyes were wild. Her presence only seemed to fuel his rage. Finally she was able to see what was lying on the ground. It was Pierre Le Pieu. Danielle's breath caught in her thought. Henry didn't say a word. Instead he spun back around and whacked Le Pieu a few more times.

"Henry stop!!" Danielle screamed again this time louder.

"Stay back Danielle!" Henry called back to her.

"Please don't do this!" She begged. At first she wasn't sure if he had even heard her, because he hardly flinched and only continued to take swings at Le Pieu.

"He doesn't deserve to live!" Henry grunted in between blows.

"That's not your decision." She answered softly. Henry stopped swinging, and let the stick hang idle. He looked back at her and what he saw amazed him. Sympathy. Sympathy for Pierre Le Pieu, who was now lying on the ground in a little ball, crying. He had brutally raped and beaten her, and yet she felt sorry for him. "I told you that you couldn't fix it, Henry and you can't. You can't snap your fingers and make it go away. You can't act like it never happened, and you certainly can't kill Le Pieu and expect anything to change."

"It's not fair," Henry whimpered. He took a few deep breaths and forced himself not to start crying. "You have to live everyday with the most ghastly memories imaginable. You have to change the way you live life, and the way you react to others, because of that filthy DOG!" Henry gave up on trying not to cry. His tears stung his eyes and tasted salty as they landed on his lips. And yet he was angry, hopelessly, bitterly angry, "and yet he can go on living his life, and just forget about you, while you are expected to carry him around every day. That's not fair Danielle."

"I know it's not. Don't you dare think that I haven't pondered those exact thoughts over and over again a million times through because I have. But Henry, I can live with that. It may be hard, but I know I can. I think I've made a descent start." Henry nodded in agreement. "But what I can not live with is the thought that my trauma took the man I love and twisted him into the same kind of monster that lays on the ground bleeding before him. If I had to live each day knowing that you murdered a man to defend me, Henry, I couldn't handle that." She cast her eyes to her feet. Henry let go of a massive sigh and turned to study Le Pieu. His head was bleeding and his hands were mangled and broken. He really did look pathetic and Henry felt his stomach roll with guilt. He could only imagine how bad it would hurt to know that he'd killed him.

Henry was startled when he felt Danielle's arms slide around his waist from behind. He felt her tug at the club he still held in his hand, and he let her take it without a struggle. She threw it far away so that there would be no more violence.

"Look at him Henry." She whispered after a long while

"I am." Danielle joined him at his side, and his arm was instantly around her shoulder. Her hand resting on his hip she let her head lean against his chest. Henry lowered his lips to her forehead and gave it a tender kiss. He was delighted to see her smile in response.

"No. I mean really look at him. What do you see?" She asked.

"I see a cold, twisted careless old man. Bitter and angry at the world. Pathetic." Henry replied, his voice full of spite.

"You know what I see?" He didn't, but he could only imagine.

"What do you see?"

"I see someone who's hurting. In order to derive joy from inflicting pain on innocent people there has be to some passed trauma that's eating away on his soul. I see someone who has money, and land, and plenty of people who work beneath him, and yet he has nothing of any importance. He has nothing Henry. Nothing. And I think when he attacked me he was searching for that missing something. He just didn't realize that it's something that can't be stolen."

"You're amazing." Henry murmured.

"No." Danielle whispered, "We are. We've survived under some of the most extreme circumstances. And I think we deserve to take credit for that." Henry took her in his arms. They held each other close for a moment.

"Come on, Danielle. Let's go home."