I stared at the boy in my hands.
This couldn't be the murderer. This was a small, innocent, and loving little boy. Surely…?!
I felt my heart coming down from its high, as the small boy lifted up in my arms, kissing my cheek. His head then rested on my chest, a satisfied look on his face. I knew this couldn't be the bad Walter Sullivan. Perhaps, it was possible for two Walter's to exist. I pushed that aside as I walked to open the gate, propping Walter up on my waist with one arm while the other pushed the gate open. When I entered the next place, I saw a full grown man. He had long, scraggly brown hair parted down the middle. His face was aged, he had to be in his late twenties, but he was attractive. He wasn't looking at me, he was looking at Henry. Walter shifted in my arms, holding onto me painfully tight. Suddenly, Henry ran to the next gate exiting as the man laughed. The laugh sent chills up my shine.
Suddenly, he turned to me. My heart stopped and I backed into the gate. He walked towards me. I held the boy closer to my chest, protecting him from this man. If Henry was afraid of him, I should be too. He came to a halt, only a few yards away for me. He had something in his hand. It looked so familiar. He lifted it up, smelling it. His green eyes closing as he did. His eyelashes fluttering back open after a moment. He smiled at me.
I realized.
That was my jacket, the one I had given Walter. Who was this man? I inched away from him, feeling fear seep into me. The little boy in my arms shifted uncomfortably.
"Bad Walter…"
He muttered, his small voice whispering to me. Bad Walter? So, was this little boy the good Walter. This man, this man had to be the bad one. The murderer. My heart stopped. The boy struggled in my arms until he jumped to the ground, his arms out stretched. He has protecting me.
The bad Walter looked at him for the first time. He walked up to him pushing him aside like he was a fly and grabbed me by the waist. I was pushed close to him.
My heart pounded faster and faster and faster until I thought it would jump out of my chest. I felt a sudden searing pain in my back.
"Let her go! Let her go!"
I heard the good Walter scream and looked down to find him pounding on the bad Walter's leg. Bad Walter paid no attention to him. The searing pain, I soon realized, was him cutting into my flesh with a knife. I tried to push away, but his arms were like marble. I couldn't escape. He was too strong, I was no match. The good Walter started to sob when he finished cutting me. I shook violently with fear as Walter brought the knife into my site. Holding it by the face. He ran the flat side of the blade against my flesh, watching me closely. I didn't move an inch, suppressing the scream that wanted to escape my throat.
He took the knife away, letting his other hand cup my face. I didn't move. Then suddenly bad Walter was hit over the head with a pipe. I was so surprised I just stared at Henry as Walter fell to the ground. He was panting. I scooped up the good Walter and grabbed Henry's hand running. The small Walter kept crying even as I tried to whisper soothing things as we ran. After we'd gone past several gates, we stopped panting and out of breathe. Walter stirred in my arms, his arms wrapping them around me.
"Who's that?"
I heard Henry asked, pointing to Walter. I thought of how to answer that question, but found the simplest answer to be.
"A child."
Henry looked taken a back, but didn't question me farther. He just sat panting and trying to come off of his adrenaline high. Henry finally noticed the knife marks on my back, his breathe being sucked in.
"You have numbers on your back…"
I felt my whole world come crashing down. I felt my heart race into hyper-uber-drive pounding an un-nameable amount of times past what it should be. Henry read my horror aloud.
"121"
Little Walter began to sob. Henry just stood there, shocked as I sank to my knees. He immediately came to my side. His hand touching my shoulder as he made me face him. His eyes searching my own.
"We'll figure this out. You're not dead are you? You're perfectly fine, save the marks."
He said his voice soothing me only a little. Walter sat in-between us, his eyes blank.
"She's cut off from the real world…"
His small voice murmured to Henry, his green eyes searching Henry's for a reaction. Henry's face remained emotionless, as usual.
"How does he know that?"
I sat down, holding onto Walter with an iron grip. His small form, warm and comforting.
"This is Walter Sullivan. His good half."
As the words left my mouth, Henry ran a hand through his hair looking distressed. He sat down beside me, eyeing the child and breathing heavily.
"His good half. So the man I saw, he was the bad half?"
I nodded.
"He's bad…"
The good Walter murmured again clinging to me more, letting his head lean into my chest. Henry continued to eye Walter before he sighed standing on his feet.
"Alright, I'll allow this, but If he does one suspicious thing…"
Henry didn't continue his sentence for fear of frightening me, I guessed. He seemed to have more experience with this freaky world than I. He offered his hand to me and I took it getting off my bottom. I picked Walter up, and Henry started to lead us on. He was holding onto the pipe with an iron grip. He must have gone through so much in those days he was locked in that room, I noted. I had no idea what he'd seem, or what he'd experienced. I felt sorry for him.
We reached the end of all the gates, and there was that hole that was in my washroom. Henry looked at me, wearily. Then little Walter spoke up.
"She can't go through the hole…"
His voice sounded sad. It scared me. Henry ran another hand through his hair. He started looking around, pipe clenched in his hand tightly. Finally, he stopped in front of a shed. He opened it, and waved his hand at me. I followed him into the shed. He stood at the entrance, looking solemn.
"You'll have to stay in here. I'll give you my pipe so you can lock it from the inside. I think you'll be fine in here…"
He looked at me with sadness and worry. He looked with care and love. Much like a father would with his daughter. I had only dreamed my own father would do this for me. Put him in risk, for me. He'd never do such a thing.
"Alright…?"
He said after I hadn't responded. I blinked and nodded. He handed me the pipe then hesitated, before he shut the shed door. I set little Walter down on a clothe that I had lain on the floor. I put the pipe in the door, locking it from the inside just as Henry had said. I curled up on the clothe next to little Walter feeling his little arms wrap around me.
"I'll protect you…sister…"
I didn't hear him say the last word as I drifted off.