Chapter 2


Chapter 2

Henry and Henrietta were able to wash off the sand, mud, and seaweed all over their bodies. There was an outdoor shower area nearby right on the shores with the public restroom stalls. Stripping off each of their clothes, both blondes rinsed all of that crap off and had fresh, clean bodies. They both still smelled of salt water, and they couldn't use any shampoo, conditioner, or body wash, but the shower was still able to get the job done.

Fortunately, no one had been there on the shores or the beach. The last thing they needed was to get arrested for indecent exposure, and nobody would've been interested in seeing two pre-teens shower naked.

After drying themselves off with two beach towels they had found outside the restrooms, and redressing themselves, Henry and Henrietta walked into town. They had stopped by a restaurant off the coast that caught some of Maine's finest lobsters. Fortunately, Henry's credit card wasn't damaged by the ocean, and even if it was, they were always replaceable. Henry ordered his usual, which was two lobster tails with a salad on the side. Henry was a growing boy, so his body required plenty of nutrients and protein. Henrietta decided to have some lobster bisque with a lobster tail on the side.

During lunch, Henry and Henrietta discussed the plan. They would sneak into the house from the back door. Once they both made it safely into their rooms, they would pack several pairs of clothes, toiletries, and money. Since they were going to escape, they needed to be well packed. But not too packed. It would look suspicious to Wallace and Susan that their eldest kids' clothes had just randomly disappeared right after their "accident". Just enough clothes they'll both need to survive over the next few years, and some toiletries. Henry will be waiting outside and will be on the lookout. Once she has everything packed in the bags, Henry will be loading up the bags in the shed. They will be sleeping in there for the night until tomorrow morning, where they will begin their search of finding a new home. Perhaps that old, abandoned mansion on the other side of town could work. Maybe there are more cabins, or abandoned homes that they could find. Wherever they end up though, they'll just have to live with it.

"Too fucking we can't just sneak into someone's mansion and just stay there," Henrietta said.

"Yea, I know. That would be fucking awesome if we could. I'd literally kill to live in another mansion right now."

"I know you'd literally kill for anything!" Henrietta replied back sarcastically.

"Pfft. You're one to talk." Henry shot back.

"Fuck off."

"Nah, go fuck yourself!"

Henry sighed, a blank expression on his face. "You're right about that, though. I really would kill to live in a mansion right now, considering the fact that we're literally homeless right now."

Suddenly, an idea just popped into Henrietta's mind.

"We could maybe stay at that abandoned cabin out in the woods. Nobody's lived in that place for decades, if ever at all. It's farther away from town, but it's still reasonable. We can hike around the woods to get to town, not that hard, considering how much we work out and shit," Henrietta said.

Henry considered that for a moment. "You know, that's actually not a bad idea. It's very secluded, it's farther out in the woods, so perfect place to go and kill and hide bodies. Hell, we could even commit carnage out there and nobody would suspect a thing!" Henry exclaimed. Henrietta cracked up laughing, which caused a few heads from the nearby tables to turn, wondering what was so funny those two kids were laughing about. After a while, Henrietta had composed herself again. "Shhh! You need to keep your voice down," Henrietta said playfully, her voice barely above a whisper. "Everyone else is going to hear you. Did you see the way they were looking at us?"

Now it was Henry's turn to laugh, although he didn't laugh quite as loud. "Yeah, dude that was so funny just now! They probably have no fucking idea what we're even talking about!"

"They better not," Henrietta said. Lowering her voice to just a whisper, she leaned in and whispered in Henry's ear. "I'll fucking murder the shit out of all these fucking bitches and bastards if they did."

Whatever Henrietta had said, it must've been so hilarious, because the twins busted out laughing once more. They had earned a few more stares from the people sitting at the tables nearby as the both continued laughing hysterically. Noticing a lady had looked at them oddly, Henry shook his head and politely apologized for laughing too loud, and that his "friend" had just told him a funny joke.

Turning serious again, Henry and Henrietta began discussing the plan again, this time with cheerful smiles on their faces, clearly in much better moods than they had previously been in.

"The cabin sounds perfect," Henry stated. "It's in pretty nice condition. Last time I checked, it's in very good condition, there's a shower and at least two beds in there."

"All right, we can just stay there for now until we have another place to go. We'll come back to the house tonight and pack our stuff."

"We might still need a backup plan," Henrietta stated.

"Yeah, you have a point, and even with enough clothes and shit, we can't just survive on our own without money. We need to come up with some way to make money, just in case we need to move out of state." Henry thought about this for a while. She brought up a very good point. They simply can't just go back to their family and tell them they've survived. He can not, and will not, get sent away to "one of those places," and he won't let his twin sister, the only thing he loves in this world, suffer from the same fate. They'd never see each other for years- if ever again, at any time in their lives. To just go back to their family would mean disaster, the loss of everything. As fucking clichéd as this was to say, failure was not an option. It was simply not something Henry could allow to happen. He and Henrietta will just have to live as a runaway pre-teens, and teens. Suddenly, a terrible thought just dawned on Henry. He might just have to leave Maine altogether. They could stay here for now, since they have nowhere else to go, but they mostly likely can't stay in Maine for much longer. They're now refugees, they're wanted criminals but without actually being wanted. It just isn't safe for them to be here this long. This was a very harsh reality, and even Henry is now starting to feel scared for the future, something he never thought he'd ever have to worry about. He can also tell that Henrietta was frightened by the ugly reality of the aftermath.

Maybe moving out of state is the only way to be completely safe. What other choice do we have? Henry thought. Henry's thoughts suddenly got interrupted. Goddamn it! Henry cursed in his mind.

"Henry? Henry? Earth to Henry!" Henrietta called out.

"What?"

"You alright? You spaced out there for a second."

"Yeah, I was just thinking about what you just said."

"And?"

"And I think it's a good idea. You're right, we can't stay here forever. As much as I love this place, and goddamn, there seriously is no place on Earth better than here, I've realized it's just too risky just stay around here much longer. We can stay here a little longer, maybe for a few more months if we're really careful, but we need a plan. Where the hell would we even go if we leave here?"

"Hmm… that's a great question," Henrietta said while thinking. "We could go to Massachusetts or New Hampshire. That way we won't be too far away."

"Nah, that's still too risky," Henry said. "Not a bad idea, but we just can't afford that."

"Well, we don't have to stay there forever. Just for a little while. Just consider it, okay?"

"Ugg! Fine!" Henry said annoyed.

"How about New York? Or California? I heard Northern California is a lot like Maine. Plenty of snow and trees. We could also go to Southern California. I heard the beaches there are soooo fucking nice!"

"Pfft, no SoCal for me. Florida beaches are way better." Henry said dismissively, then reconsidered, "Although NorCal doesn't sound like such a bad option though."

"Henry?"

"Yeah."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Thanks for always being there for me."

"I was glad too. That's why you're my brother." She said this while playfully ruffling Henry's golden blonde hair. She suddenly remembered the plan to leave Maine and sighed sadly. "I'm gonna fucking miss Maine so much," Henrietta said with a twinge of sorrow in her voice.

"Yeah, me too." Henry said sadly. "I really do love it here. There's no place in the world I'd rather be."

"It'll be a nice change of pace to get away from here, though. We don't have to leave right now. We can stay for another few months as long as we're careful."

"Good point," Henrietta said.

"So how does California sound?" Henrietta asked again. "Please consider it for me?"

"Fine. I'll consider it." Henry sighed.

The rest of lunch was spent in silence as the two continued eating and drinking their hot chocolates with extra whip and marshmallows, exactly the way they both liked it. They both thought about each other, about how grateful were to be alive and have the other by their side. At least he/she's okay, they both thought. At least he/she's alright.

"Hey Henry," Henrietta said, breaking the silence between the two.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're my twin, and my best partner in crime," she added with a warm smile.

"Me too."

After a yummy, decadent lunch that was very well deserved, Henry and Henrietta decided to go sightseeing around town some more until about 6:30 pm in the evening. They headed back into town decided to go out for dinner again, this time to another seafood restaurant near the coast.

The time finally came. Henry and Henrietta would be going back to their house, their luxurious, suburban mansion, for the very last time before leaving forever. As much as they weren't going to miss their annoying parents or their sister, Connie, Henry and Henrietta were definitely going to miss their nice house.

The walk back to their house from the downtown Bar Harbor area normally took about thirty minutes, but Henry and Henrietta took at least an hour getting back home. They had to be extra careful, they were pronounced dead not even a full day ago. Mark and Marcie were probably back in Arizona by now, but with Wallace, Susan, and Connie at home, they needed to be extra careful about not being seen. Connie normally didn't go to bed until around 8 PM, and the adults usually stayed up until around 11. As they starting approaching the house, Henry and Henrietta decided to linger in the woods right behind their house for a couple of hours, smoking cigarettes and talking about anything that came to mind while waiting for nightfall. As it grew dark, they each snuck inside the house through one of the windows on the first floor. Henry and Henrietta silently crept down the hall and up the stairs into their rooms. They packed several of their clothing items and toiletries in a few bags, being extra cautious about their movements once they were inside.

Henrietta wanted to take a shower. After all, the shower she and Henry took down at the shores could hardly be considered a shower. Sure, the shower did a good job at washing off the mud, the kelp, and most of the sand, but that's nothing compared to a warm shower at home, and with the Evans family being very financially fortunate, using her favorite designer name brand shampoo and conditioner brands, exfoliating body wash. Henrietta knew those products are supposed to be very good for your skin, and she prided herself in taking care of her physical health and appearance, hence her love for regular exercise and sticking to a mostly paleo-pescatarian diet. Henry was exactly the same way. Being relatively well-off, their parents never had a problem with spending a little extra money on quality skin and hair products. Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash were no exceptions to this. As desperate ad she was to wash off the stinky salt water stench and the remaining clumps of sand in her hair, Henrietta knew she had to wait. Combing a hand through her golden blonde hair, she cursed internally at the sand fall out onto the bathroom floor. Fuck. She bitterly thought. A fucking shower would be really nice now. This will be another fucking reason to kill them if they won't let me take a goddamn shower.

Getting a wet paper towel in the bathroom, Henrietta just wiped off the sand from the floor, vowing to take a shower once they got to the cabin.

At least the shower's there are just as good, if not better.

Once she finished packing, Henrietta grabbed her bags and tiptoed back into her bedroom. As she was heading towards there, she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. "Aaah!" Henrietta let out a gasp. Oh shit! Oh shit oh shit oh fuck! I've been caught! This is the end! She thought as she immediately spun around, but felt a huge wave of relief wash over her as she saw it was Henry standing in front of her, smiling warmly, slinging his backpack around his shoulders.

"Goddamn it, Henry! You scared the shit out of me! I thought you were one of the others!" Henrietta said, her voice barely above a whisper

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Henry whispered. He listened for any footsteps or sounds, but thankfully, he heard nothing at all.

"What the hell was that for?! You scared the shit out of me! I thought you were our parents, or Connie!"

"I just wanted to let you know I'm all finished packing. Are you ready? "

"I'm almost ready. I'm all done packing, I just need to put everything in my backpack, and I'm ready to go!"

"We got to get the hell out of here soon, like right now, before they wake up!"

"I got it. Meet me downstairs by the hall."

Henry started making his way downstairs, moving as slowly and as quietly possible so nobody will hear him. As he neared the bottom of the stairs, Henry patiently waited for Henrietta to finish up. They had to get the hell out of here as quick as possible without being heard or noticed. Not even a couple of minutes later, Henrietta quietly crept down the stairs, all packed and ready, a huge grin now on her face. "I'm all ready," she said in a whisper to Henry. "Perfect, now let's get the hell out of here," Henry replied back. They both quietly crept across the hall and snuck back out through the same window they entered from, then headed back out to the backyard. Mark and Marcie were back in Arizona, as they figured, or at least on their way back. Wallace, Susan, and Connie were sound asleep. They didn't wake up even once in the middle of the night. Everything was going like they had planned.

Henry and Henrietta changed their clothes in the backyard shed. It didn't bother either of them in the least as they both both stripped down to their underwear and put on the new change of clothes; both twins were entirely comfortable in the other's presence. Leaving their regular clothes stashed away in their backpacks, the twins headed out into the woods, soon vanishing into a warm night whose darkness was only interrupted by the light of the moon.

The hike to the cabin was maybe thirty minutes by car, at least twice that on foot. For Henry and Henrietta, the journey took over an hour and a half, due to the need to move slowly and use the greatest possible concealment. Excitement drove both of the twins on, though, and they both felt like the trip didn't take much time at all.