Author's Notes: I was listening to "Brooks Was Here" from The Shawshank Redemption soundtrack as I wrote this. I had to work a little longer on editing this chapter, because I felt like I initially go deep enough into the details of David and Jacob's life under the thumb of Bill Abbot. I'm gonna have to take more time in editing the last 3 chapters, I was in too much of a hurry to post this thing after I finished the rough draft.

As the days wore on, David somehow managed to keep his composure and follow Bill's orders during the day, while working out the kinks in his escape plan by night.

His second day on the Abbot farm wasn't as terrifying as the first. Bill, his wife, and his son held a small service for the Old Man while David and Jacob worked nearby. A pastor came by the farm that day to read the Old Man's last rites, not batting an eyelash at the two beaten, starved boys working in the field just a few yards away.

Back inside the barn, there was a lot of ground to cover. Amid a century's worth of junk and debris David hoped to find bobby pins, tools, anything Bill might've overlooked that could help them escape. There were some tools in one of the drawers, including a hacksaw that was far too dull to cut through even the rusty iron chains binding their ankles. But it showed David that Bill had in fact been careless, tossing all this junk in here... which gave him a slight ray of hope that somewhere amid the detritus were the tools they needed to break their shackles.

In the meantime, Jacob shared what little he knew from his long stay with the Abbots. The first piece of information would be invaluable; apparently, Bill kept more in the armory than just weapons. He also had medical supplies and survival gear, which they would definitely need to get across the mountain back to Trolberg.

Bill also had stimulants among his supplies. Jacob knew this because Bill had given him a shot once, on a day when he'd been feeling particularly weak to "perk him up". Though they made him feel dizzy afterwards, Jacob said they worked, and both boys would need them if they were to have any energy to escape. Bill was feeding them only scraps, and Jacob was already suffering from malnourishment after months of Bill Abbot's abuse. Worse still, Jacob's earlier prediction was starting to come true; Bill was being more horrible to Jacob than ever. Every day, Jacob was being beaten worse and worse while David was mostly ignored, urged to keep on working by Billy-Boy while his father beat the other boy to a bloody pulp. At night, Bill would often "forget" to feed Jacob, forcing David to share his own meager rations with his new friend.

There was little variation in their daily routine for the first week. Each morning Bill would come down to the barn to wake them. Billy-Boy would watch his father's back, rifle in hand, as Bill Sr. unchained the captives and led them out into the yard. Every day was spent out under the hot sun, ploughing the field, tending the garden, repairing the fence around the property, patching up holes in the barn walls. They worked from sunrise to sundown, when Bill would gather them up and pull them by their chains back to the barn. Billy-Boy would guard the prisoners until Bill came back with food and water, then father and son would leave, locking the door behind them. This was their only respite from the days chores, except when Bill allowed them to use the outhouse.

It was seven days before Bill had them do anything different; unfortunately, he decided that they were go to be repairing the roof to his house. This was especially hard on David, whose fear of heights was worsened by having the chain on his leg dangling over the side. Bill caught on this quick and decided to further traumatize him by pulling hard on his chain from the ground, causing David to nearly fall over the edge. Father and son laughed cruelly as David scrambled back onto the roof after several minutes of clinging to the gutter.

Neither of them were actually allowed inside the Abbot's house, and David saw little of Bill's wife; a plain-looking woman with fair skin and dark hair that looked nice enough at first. David looked to her and wondered if she might be the one sympathetic soul in this blasted town... until she told her husband that she didn't want to see "those brats" near her house one day while fixing he and Jacob were fixing the roof. Jacob boldly suggested to her that she find someone else to use as slave labor. David was sure Bill would be the one to punish Jacob for that little sleight, but instead he had Jacob come down the ladder and handed off the belt to his wife. David watched in horror as the Misses whipped Jacob across his face as savagely as her husband would.

At night, when he could've been sleeping after a hard days work, David instead used that time to comb over every inch of the barn for something, anything he could use to break them out. After twelve days in captivity, David was getting desperate. Jacob wouldn't last much longer, and if David didn't find them a way out soon, he had no doubt that his friend would suffer the same fate as his predecessor.

"Get up," David said one morning, shaking Jacob awake. "Bill will be hear soon... maybe he'll go easy on you if we're both up."

"That's a good one," Jacob spat, pulling his bloody, bruised body out of bed. "That assumes we're dealing a with a rational, logical human being, and in case you haven't noticed, Bill Abbot is none of those things."

"I'm just doing what you said; trying to keep us alive," David insisted. "Or would you prefer to lay down and die before we get out of here?"

Jacob had no answer to that question. But both boys were up and at the ready when Bill came to fetch them for another day of arduous labor, rifle in hand, and Billy-Boy at his side.

Bill wouldn't be watching them today, instead entrusting their security to his son for the day. David later saw him sleeping on the porch of the family home. David thanked the Lord for this small blessing; one day of Jacob not getting beaten within an inch of his life could buy him precious time... time David desperately needed if he was going to get both of them out alive.

David had never felt so much pressure on his shoulders in his entire life. He hadn't been this terrified since Hilda was turned into a troll. To have another person's life in his hands was terrible burden for the 11-year old boy... if he only he knew... it was nothing compared to what was to come.

Billy wasn't doing a very good job of keeping watch that day. He'd taken from the armory a lever-action shotgun, and had spent all morning shooting at squirrels in the trees beyond the fence. David kept a close on him, lest he got bored and decided to shift his aim in their direction. Counting every shell that was loaded, every shot that was fired as to not be taken by surprise.

Billy always loaded six shots; five in the tube, one in the chamber, before he resumed firing blindly into the woods. At one point, he stopped short of the final round; at to David's amazement, set the shotgun down on the ground next the box of cartridges, and announced that he was going to the bathroom.

David watched as Billy ran up the house, right past his sleeping father, and so the boys were left completely unguarded. A weapon and a box of ammunition lie tantalizing close. The neighbors wouldn't be fazed by the sound of gunshots, not after Billy had been firing off rounds like a maniac all morning.

It was almost too easy. The double-aught buck could easily break the chains holding them. They could wait until Billy came back, catch both him and his father off-guard, and steal the keys to the armory. They would take what they needed to get back to Trolberg, and make a dash for the woods.

David's heart slammed against the inside of his ribcage. He could barely contain his excitement. The key to his and Jacob's freedom lay just a few yards away, Bill and his son were too far away to stop them from taking it... it was perfect.

"Jacob?" David called softly over his shoulder. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Jacob?" David called again. "Jacob, can you hear me? Now's our chance!"

He couldn't see Jacob anywhere. Where could he possibly-

David lost his train of thought as something heavy and metallic collided with the side of his head, knocking him to the ground. He saw stars as he tried to get up, his head throbbing painfully as he looked around for what hit him; that's when he saw Jacob standing over him, a shovel in his hands and his chest heaving, with a mad look in his eye.

"W-what!?" David stammered. "W-what are- are you mad!?"

"Maybe I am," Jacob said as he advanced on David.

"Bill thinks he doesn't need me anymore," Jacob went on to explain. "He thinks he'll make do with you... but me? I don't want to die. I want to live! I want to go home and see my mum and dad again! I don't know how I'll ever get out of here... but I know I won't live long enough to find out with you here."

"I'm sorry," said Jacob. "But it's you or me."

"Jacob, wait- no-!" David pleaded.

Jacob raised the shovel over his head, bringing the flat end down like the blade of an axe. The blow was aimed straight at David's chest; but David rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the attack.

David scrambled to his feet, his chains clanking as he desperately sought to evade his attacker.

"Jacob, stop!" David urged in a hushed tone. "You have to listen to me! We have a chance- we can escape-"

But Jacob wasn't listening. He hadn't seen what David had seen, the loaded weapon lying so close, exactly what they needed to escape together. He'd lost all reason, too afraid for his own survival to think of anything but killing David. Only now, did it dawn on him the horror of what Bill Abbot had done to Jacob. He'd broken him completely, pushed him to the point where he was willing to kill a friend if a meant saving his own life, and there was nothing David could say to talk him out of it.

So David did the only thing he could do; he ran. Jacob chased him back and forth across the field, through the stalks of hay, through the garden, trampling over Bill's crops as they did so. Jacob swung the shovel around like an madman, determined to take David's head off.

I have to do something, David thought as he sprinted back through the hayfield. If he could just disarm Jacob and get his hands on that shotgun, they would have their chance. But how could he get close enough to Jacob to disarm him without getting his head lopped off?

David did the one thing he could think of; he made a beeline for the discarded shotgun. Jacob followed, howling in rage. The noise was bound to wake up Bill sooner or later, David would have to act fast...

David surged out of the hayfield and scooped the shotgun up off the ground. His hand caught on the lever, pushing it forward as he whirled around, unintentionally twirling it around his fingers as he did so. This opened the breech, causing a spent shell to eject, and David caught a brief glimpse of the final shell's sky-blue casing as he pulled the lever back, loading the last shell into the chamber.

David lost his balance and fell to the ground. Gripping the weapon with both hands, David realized that Jacob was right on top of him, his weapon raised above his head, ready to plunge the sharp end of the spade into David's skull.

In that moment, David forgot that he meant to disarm him.

A deafening BOOM! rent the air as David's finger involuntarily tightened around the trigger. The weapon kicked against his shoulder as fire and lead erupted from the muzzle, catching Jacob square in the chest. His frail body was lifted into the air from the force of the blast, the shovel flying from his hands as he fell over backwards and landed in a bloody heap three yards back from where he'd been standing.

David just sat there, horror-struck at what he'd done. All plans of escape were forgotten as he gazed upon his friend's bullet-ridden, unmoving body.

Such was David's shock that he didn't even noticed Bill and his son running through the field towards him. Bill aimed a kick at David's stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and snatched the scattergun from his hands.

Billy-Boy, who was cradling his father's automatic rifle, was surveying the body of Jacob just a few feet away.

"How's he lookin', Billy-Boy?" Bill called out.

Billy sighed. "He's gone, daddy."

"How 'bout that?" Said Bill with mild amusement. "I was just thinking the other day about finally putting that miserable runt out of his misery... seems you saved me the trouble David."

David was doubled over in pain, his mind racing, struggling the comprehend to horror of what just happened. Jacob, his friend Jacob, was dead... and he, David had killed him. He'd shot him in the chest at point-blank range, torn the life from his body as sure as he'd plunged his hand into his ribcage and ripped out his heart. And Jacob, his one and only friend for the last twelve days, I tried to kill him.

"David?" Bill called out, snapping his fingers in front of David's eyes. "Earth to David? You still with me, partner?"

"I sure would like to know just what happened here, David," Bill told him with false sympathy.

Somehow, David managed to find his voice again.

"He tried to kill me," David whispered. "He tried to kill me!"

"Did he now?" Bill retorted. "And it seems to me you picked up Billy-Boy's shotgun and put him down, is that right?"

David nodded.

"Well... I guess that solves one problem," Bill said nonchalantly. "Billy-Boy, I'd like to have a nice, long chat with you about leaving your weapon lyin' on the ground..."

"I'm sorry daddy, I-"

"-don't want to hear it. Leave the rifle, and go back inside," Bill cut across. "Let your mama know everything's alright. I'll be up in a bit."

Billy handed his rifle back to his father and left him alone with David, his head hung in shame.

"Now then, David," said Bill. "It seems to me like you gotta another hole to dig."

David spent the rest of the day digging out back by the tool shed. Now that he saw it up close, David could see that four wooden stakes had been planted in the earth. Bill explained to him that each one marked the edge of a grave, citing his "problem with trespassers" as to blame. This allowed him to show David precisely where to dig. Where he would bury his former friend.

The process was much slower, digging alone. David didn't finish until near sunset, at which point Bill drug Jacob's lifeless body to the edge of the pit, and unceremoniously rolled him into the hole. Then, he ordered David to fill it.

David buried Jacob just as Jacob had done for Louis before him. The moment David had dreaded for the last twelve days had finally come to best, but it was a hundred times worse than David imagined; not only had he failed to keep his promise, but he, David, had been the one to end his life. It made him feel sick to his stomach as he shoveled dirt on top of his lifeless friend. In his mind's eye, David involuntarily pictured Jacob's body as Hilda's, then Frida's, and his nausea worsened.

David couldn't help but think that Bill meant for this to happen. This whole thing felt staged; Bill choosing to take the day off, Billy-Boy leaving his shotgun with just one shell in it for David to pick up... Bill had orchestrated the whole thing for his own sick amusement, and he knew exactly how to do it; he'd been watching the two boys working in the field every day, familiarized himself with them, saw David's kindness and compassion contrast to Jacob's initial hostility, and deliberately pushed his captive to his breaking point. He read Jacob like an open book, and realized the boy would go to any lengths to save his own skin.

David could feel the anger swelling within him as these thoughts took hold, and longed to turn around and swing the shovel at Bill's head... but that wouldn't end well, seeing as Bill was still pointing a loaded gun at his back.

When David finished, Bill led him by his chain back to the barn, securing the end to the wall and locking the door behind him without another word. Once Bill was gone, David sat on his bed, pulled his knees up to his chest, and cried. Guilt, shame, anger, and sorrow mingled together in his and created a venom that seeped into his veins and spread throughout his body. A virulent poison that ate away at his soul and left him empty and bereft of all hope.

Bill didn't come back that night to bring him any supper. But David wasn't sure he could eat anyway. Ignoring his grumbling stomach, David leaned against the wall, hugging himself tight as the nightly chill seeped into the barn. As he lie there, shivering and making not a sound besides the occasional sniffle, David noticed something upon the barn wall next to his bed that he hadn't seen before...

David wiped his eyes and nose on his sleeve and looked closer. There was fair amount of graffiti scratched into the rotting wood... tally marks. Dozens of them. They went up as high as David could reach, were he to stand up on the bed. Near the bottom, where the bed met the wall, David could see something written; just one word, a name. "Louis".

Louis... that was the name of the boy that'd been Bill's captive before Jacob, the one Jacob had seen beaten to death and subsequently forced to bury. Looking at the tally again, David could see that he'd been Bill Abbot's prisoner for almost as long as Jacob. Five to six months, at least. That meant that the hay bale bed David was currently occupying had once belong to Louis... scanning the wall, David saw that there were more tallies near the end of the bed, and another name scratched beneath them: "Dean".

Curiosity had taken hold of him, compelling David to climb out of bed and check the other side of the barn where Jacob had slept. Sure enough, there were more tallies, and two more names; "Edmund" and "Seamus". Jacob's straw pillow was propped against the wall, and poking out of the case David saw the tool they'd used; a broken half from a pair of scissors. David took it, and tossed the pillow aside, uncovering one last name.

Jacob Was Here

David choked up at the sight of this, and a few tears slipped down his cheeks. He could see that Jacob had not only left his name, but what was presumably the date he'd been kidnapped; some seven months ago. Some of the others had left messages as well, such as "Trust No One!", "No Escape", and "Abandon Hope". One message, which looked as though it were carved by Jacob, said "Kill or Die". This was Bill Abbot's legacy, the boys he'd broken, the lives he'd stolen. He'd worked them and beaten them until all sense of hope was crushed out of them, leaving nothing but their names and a few spiteful words for posterity.

David took the broken scissors back to his bed. Picking an empty spot on the wall, he dug the point of the scissors into the wall. Wood chips and sawdust accumulated on the cot as he scratched at the wood, working slowly and carefully as to not cut his hand on the edge of the blade. Into the wood he scratched twelve tally marks, one for each day he'd been on the Abbot's farm. Finally, he added his own name to the wall.

David Was Here

David ran his hand over the carving. Maybe one day Safety Patrol would find this place, and his parents would at least know what'd happened to him... as of now, that was all he could hope for.

Achievement Unlocked (50G) His Name Was Jacob

-Do what you must to survive.

Achievement Unlocked (50G) Broken Promise

-Buried a close friend.

Achievement Unlocked (50G) David Was Here

-Added your name to the wall.