Content Warning: Contains depictions of suicide, murder, trauma, crisis-level mental health breakdown. Synopsis included at the end of the chapter.
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William Reed laughed in the darkness. He recalled the priest's words at his son's funeral.
—... the Ruler, in His infinite wisdom, has a great plan for all of His subjects.–
– His infinite wisdom…–
– …a great plan…–
The Ruler didn't exist. Or if He did, the Ruler had abandoned them all. –What Ruler would allow for, no, plan for, this man to murder my only son? –
Laughter escaped his lips again. In the cover of darkness, William stepped closer to his friend's forge.
–I promised you, Son. I promised.–
The man who took his son from him was not far. Robert had been housing the perpetrator, chained up in the forge, until the villagers could decide what to do with the man who had killed Anne and Samuel. The anvil was the anchor of the evil man.
–It should have been an instant eye for an eye, the moment the man confessed.–
William crept close to Robert's home, seeing no candlelight or lantern light. Darkness was his friend, and darkness had settled within him.
–It is not darkness. It is justice.–
William turned the dagger in his hands. The dagger that was recovered at the Hawthorne cottage. The dagger that was used to take his son from him. The hilt still had held Samuel's bloodstain, the last part of his son he still had with him.
–It is only right that what was used to take my son from me be used to set things right. –
William entered the forge, and saw the man asleep on the floor of the forge. He refused to speak the man's name. Acknowledging the man's name would give him humanity, a basic kindness that was not earned.
Henry Yarrow stirred, hearing the intrusion in the room. "Hmm? He…hello? Who's there?"
His mouth was quickly covered by William's calloused hand.
"Do not make a sound until I tell you to. I just want to know. Why did you kill my son? No. I do not want to know. I do not care. What matters is he is gone and he is not coming back. But I do care…I…I promised him I would come back for him, and I am joining him tonight. And you are coming with us."
Henry flinched, and the chains rattled as William's whispers reached his ears. No sooner had his sleep-addled mind begun to comprehend the words of the miller had the dagger slipped into his stomach, and harshly pulled across his abdomen.
"I would never do this to another human being. But you took my son from me. You are no human."
Henry's agonized groans were muffled by William's large hand, and soon ceased as the life drained from the coachman.
–...in His infinite wisdom…–
–...a great plan for all of His subjects…–
William dropped the dead man's body, achieving the vengeance his madness had demanded. A large smile etched across his face. Justice. The man who had taken his son had been taken from the earth.
–Sweet justice. What Ruler, with such infinite wisdom, would allow such evil to exist? What is the point in that plan? Where is the justice? The peace? No just Ruler exists. –
A brief moment of clarity passed over William, a respite of the shattered psyche that had plagued him since discovering his son outside of the burning Hawthorne cottage. He backed away from the corpse that was still chained to the anvil in the forge in his friend's home.
–...what have I done?–
William dropped the dagger from his bloodstained hands, and dropped to his knees. His hands flew to his head, staining his face with the coachman's blood.
"...no…I have become no worse than him…I am the same as him…he was someone else's son…"
The voices returned to William's mind, and the smile creased across his face again.
"But there is a difference. My son was good. My son died a hero. That man's son died a coward and a disgrace. I am not the same as him. I am far from the same as him. I have done right, I have set the world right."
–...a great plan for all of His subjects…–
"I promised you, Son. I promised you. I will be back with you soon, Samuel."
William stepped outside of his friend's forge, into the darkness. He stood in a field, looking up at the sky. There was a rumble of thunder, and three raindrops fell onto William's face.
-...in His infinite wisdom…–
"I'll be with you soon, Samuel. Soon."
William knelt, and traced the dagger through his throat, the smile failing to leave his lips.
–...a great plan for all of His subjects…–
William Reed found his peace.
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William sat up, feeling the freedom from his pain, from his mental anguish. He stood, leaving his body behind.
"I'm coming for you, son."
A black pathway made itself clear to William, and he began slowly treading down the path. The cold began to overcome him, and the darkness enveloped him. The older miller sat in the dark, waiting to see what would happen next.
After several hours of coldness and silence, William heard soft footsteps approach him in the darkness, and his senses heightened. A pair of red eyes soon drew close to him. A soft, snakelike male voice cut through the silence. "Greetings. You will Shift soon, you will become corporeal again. You will both be very cold until that happens. I will be back for you two soon, my master will judge you to determine your fate."
William became very confused. –Shift? Both of them? Who else is there in the dark with me? Why does this man with the snakelike voice know I'm so cold? And his master? Who is this master? And what was there to judge?– William pulled his legs to his chest, and found the other man's words to be true, he was slowly becoming corporeal again.
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Synopsis: William Reed, Samuel's father, can no longer handle his shattered psyche after discovering his son murdered. He sneaks off to the forge where Henry Yarrow, the murderer, has been kept, and kills the man responsible for his son's death. He thought the "eye for an eye" justice would bring him peace, and instead only causes him more confusion and frustration. Swearing to his son that he will be with him soon, William takes his own life, only to find the black pathway to the UnderKingdom waiting for him.