Henry couldn't help a slight chuckle that escaped his lips as he entered his spacious Seattle apartment in the wee hours of the morning. As he tossed the keys on the kitchen counter, he glanced briefly at his luggage stacked in the corner, before grabbing a beer out of the fridge and popping the top on it. That luggage stood as a testament to his ultimate test. In three weeks' time, it was going to be his turn. His actions would strike more fear into the hearts of men then his father's had done before him. Only Henry had an ulterior motive. Oh, his plans paralleled his father's for most of the time, but he had varied the ending. It was all going to end perfectly. He was going to have the girl of his dreams, they were going to live in happy seclusion where no one could bother them, and life was going to progress as usual.
Henry chugged the rest of his drink down and as he was doing so, his eye caught sight of his reflection in the decorative mirror on the wall in the living room. Startled by what he saw, he started choking on the beer. Spewing it out of his mouth, he charged angrily over to the mirror and lifted his chin again. A large spot of blood adorned his throat. How could I have been so careless? he mentally chastised himself. He tore his shirt off and scrubbed furiously at the splotch, watching it rapidly disappear. Even though the spot had gone, he still saw the benefit of taking a shower. Trish was due to arrive in a few hours and he couldn't have her stumbling upon anything prematurely. She'd find out in due time.
Stripping off the rest of his clothing, most of which were bloodstained, he climbed into the scalding hot shower. He leaned his head against the shower wall as the water cascaded over his body. When he had first got in, he had watched little trickles of red slide down his skin and swirl around the drain before disappearing from sight. It was a matter of seconds before the water was completely clear again. Grabbing a bath sponge he scrubbed himself clean before shutting the water off and stepping out. What he really needed now was a short rest before Trish got there.
It was only after he had turned off the water that he heard the faint ringing of his phone. Wrapping a towel hastily around his waist, he strolled down the hallway to grab the phone off of the cradle, only to hear silence. The caller had hung up. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned to his bedroom to get dressed.
Clean and freshly dressed, he emerged from his bedroom a couple hours later, after a quick cat nap. There was no sense in raising suspicions from Trish on his late nights. Thinking of Trish, he stole a glance at his watch. She should be arriving any minute. Well, while he waited, he'd whip up some breakfast for himself, maybe a little bit for her if she was interested. As he was mixing the pancake batter, his cell started to ring. Remembering the phone call from the middle of the night, he checked the name on his phone. Trish. He answered it ("Hey sweetie"). She was about five minutes away ("Alright. Just come on in. Door's unlocked"). The call ended and his thoughts turned to the other phone call he had received during the night. Somehow, he doubted it had been Trish.
Pouring some batter on the hot griddle, he left the kitchen to grab his home phone while the pancakes cooked. Scrolling to the last number, he felt a moment's elation at seeing Abby's name. That elation faded when he also saw the timestamp. 4:06AM. What was Abby doing up at 4 in the morning? A surge of emotion flooded his body. With only three weeks to the wedding, he was terrified that she was going to decline the invitation. While he was her best friend, there were also a lot of terrible memories on the island for her, so it was completely understandable if she chose to stay away. He had always hoped that the history they had and the love she bore for him as a friend would be enough to overcome the memories of events occurring several years before. He supposed that the plans he had could still proceed forward with only minor adjustments in the long run.
Henry was pulled from his troublesome thoughts by the sound of Trish's voice as she walked in the front door, "Is something burning?"