Chapter 5: Colleagues
The next few days were the hardest ones in Henry's life. He told the other employees at the diner that he would not be coming into work for those days. They said that they understood but Henry wondered how they could. There were not many people who worked in the diner and most of them were young. None of them had children of their own. No, they could not truly understand what Henry was going through. Yet, as Henry thought about that he thought that there was one person who might have a chance to understand what he was going through- a person who might be able to provide some warm counsel to his cold heart. Henry picked up the phone that was hanging on the wall and dialed the number that he was surprised he memorized.
"Hello? Who is this," the voice on the other line answered.
"William, it's me- Henry," Henry said.
"Henry, my friend. Why are you calling," William Afton asked. There almost seemed to be a hint of fear in William's voice. Henry noticed it but did not say anything about it.
"I just need someone to talk to. It is about the… thing that happened," Henry said trying to choke back tears.
"What do you need to talk about," William said. Now the dear had turned into intrigue. Once again, Henry thought that was a strange reaction but kept that thought to himself.
"I just need someone to listen to me. I can't talk to my wife or Jen about it," Henry said. (Jen was the name of Henry's sister.)
"Okay. You can come over to my house. Clara and Michael are here," William said. Henry noticed that William did not mention his daughter, Elizabeth. Perhaps, she was out playing with friends or doing something else. It was not necessarily a strange omission.
Henry kissed his wife goodbye. She was sitting at the kitchen table holding a picture of Charlie. She had not said much for the few days since Charlie's death. While Henry was taking it hard, as should be expected, his wife seemed completely crushed by what happened to Charlie. She would not sleep, would not eat, and would not really do anything but breathe in and out. Even that sometimes felt like it was difficult for her. Henry wished there was something he could do but he knew nothing would ease the pain that she was feeling.
Henry got into his car for the first time since driving away from the crime scene. Turning the ignition on felt like it was the hardest step in closure so far. Henry felt like it could not even be called closure. As he drove away, he thought about what he would say to William. He felt stupid for not having thought about anything specific to say before. He just figured that the words would come to him but he knew if the past few days were any indication that would probably not happen. Henry did not want to arrive at William's house and to feel like he was wasting his and William's time. When Henry got to the Afton's house, he sat in the car for a few more minutes to collect his thoughts. It did not really help but those few moments alone allowed him time to breathe and be okay with whatever direction the conversation led into.
When Henry knocked on the door to the Afton house, he heard Clara Afton call out to her son, Michael. Michael answered the door and saw Henry standing there.
"Hi, Michael," Henry said, trying his best to sound jovial. Despite Henry's best efforts he could not fake being happy when he was actually miserable.
Michael hardly gave any response. He let out a grunt that sounded a little like 'hi'. Then the young teen walked away and let Henry enter the building.
Henry had been in the diner when Evan Afton's head was injured- crushed by the Freddy Fazbear animatronic. He knew the story as to what had happened and knew that Michael blamed himself for the whole thing. Henry supposed that a part of the blame did belong to Michael, but he also partly blamed himself. He should have put more safety restrictions in place. That was what led to the installation of the security puppet, which William nicknamed the marionette because of its strings.
"Is your dad home," Henry asked.
"I think so. I haven't seen him, though," Michael replied. With that Michael walked away and went to his room. A few seconds later, William came out of a hallway.
"Henry, that was quicker than I expected," William said as he put a strange tool on a table. Henry, even with all of his engineering proficiency, did not recognize it. Still, he did not come to the Afton's house to talk about work or anything related to the diner.
"Let's walk outside," William suggested as he opened the door, "Some fresh air might do us both good." Henry shook his head in agreement and followed William outside of the house.
The Afton's house was a lonely one up on a hill. William and Henry walked nearly all the way down the hill without saying another word to each other. Of course, William was the one who broke the silence.
"What is on your mind, friend," William asked as he stopped walking.
"I don't even know. Everything just seems so difficult. I figured you would understand that. I mean you went through something the same…" Henry said.
"It is not the same! Your child did not kill another one of your children," William said sharply. He looked back to see Henry. Part of Afton felt bad for how sharp his tone was but another- perhaps bigger- part of him did not care. 'Henry has no right to compare our pain' was the justification William thought of.
"Well, I mean, that is true," Henry said as he stumbled to think of what he should say next, "It's just that I do not know how to keep going."
"You need to find a reason to keep going, Henry. I have found one and it drives me," Afton insisted.
"What reason have you have," Henry asked.
William realized immediately that he had already said too much. He knew that he could not answer that question. His new purpose was nefarious, after all: making Henry hurt in an act of revenge. William could not give any clues to Henry that he was the one who murdered Charlie.
"Our work," William responded. It was not necessarily a lie. William had no problem with lying to Henry. He had done it several times before. What he did have a problem with was trying to think of a good lie on the spot. William figured that a half-truth was the safest answer.
"I just wish I knew why Charlie was the target. What could she have done," Henry said as he was thinking aloud. That was a thought that he had several times before but had never vocalized it.
"And why did Evan have to die? Sometimes in life the things that we do not understand because they do not have a good explanation happen. That's just the truth," William said.
Henry and William walked back up the hill without saying another word to one another. Henry could not get past the idea that something was different about William. He always was a little strange but now there seemed to be something more than that. It was not just 'strange' or 'sad' but Henry could not think of a good word to call how William was acting. 'Cautious' was the closest description but what did William have to be cautious about? That question repeated in his head as Henry drove back to his own house.