So this was what his fifty-four years of life had been barreling towards – a death that for all means and purposes should have been a hell of a lot faster, a sputtering end where there should have been a crashing halt. Thaddeus surveyed the mansion before him. Rainbow colored Christmas lights twinkled beneath the dim sky, moving from navy blue to light purple. Thick shadows coated the side of the building. The winter had torn leaves from the surrounding trees, leaving their skeletons to shiver in the eastward wind. Though they remained green, the surrounding shrubs and grass looked thin.

"Uncle Thad! I couldn't believe it when Dad said that you were coming." Annabelle gave him one last tight squeeze before releasing him from her choke hold just as quickly as she'd pulled him into it. He breathed in the cold, dry air, embracing the chill that danced in his lungs.

"Well," he replied, not quite meeting her in the eye. His gaze darted towards the windows, through which he could make out a large tree and an arrangement of multicolored stockings. "I only recently found out that I could make it this year."

"And you're Will!" She pulled William into another hug. For such a lithe girl, she could break bones if she put in the effort.

"Can we do this inside?" Sid called, his face hidden behind the opened trunk of his Mercedes Benz.

Thaddeus looked towards the sky. Clouds had begun rolling in, blanketing what little remained of the thin sun. On the drive over, the weatherman had mentioned a heavy possibility of snow.

"All right," Annabelle replied, pulling away from William and hurrying towards the doors. "Hurry up everyone, I made cookies!"

Thaddeus looked towards William, but his face was already buried back in his phone. Between the ride from the airport to the hotel, and then the hotel to the Sivana estate, William had barely even looked at Sid. Whenever he asked the boy a question, William's usual response had been a grunt.

"Need any help?" Thaddeus asked as Sid slammed the trunk down. His brother's face was buried beneath a stack of neatly wrapped presents.

"Just hold the door open for me," he replied.

Annabelle was waiting inside for them by the doorway. She was lucky enough to look nothing at all like her father. She was slim, her body lost beneath an oversized black and gold Vanderbilt University hoodie and a pair of faded jeans. Though she was both shorter and lighter in complexion than her mother, her cheek bones and chin were most definitely not Sid's.

If the lights outside had made him raise an eyebrow, Thaddeus' jaw about dropped when he got inside. The tree and stockings were the tip of the iceberg. Every conceivable wall was covered in paper gingerbread men, trees, and reindeer. The living room alone had four trees inside of it, three in the room's corners and a small one on a coffee table. The top of the fireplace was covered in plastic elves, their beady eyes seeming to almost glow from the surrounding lights. Maybe his father had finally gone senile. Even as a boy, before the incident, his father had rarely put up more than a single tree. The less they put up the less that they had to take down, and he damn well wasn't going to have the help sort through his fifty-year-old collection of hand-commissioned ornaments every season.

"Do you like it?" Annabelle's eyes widened. "It was my idea. The place just didn't seem peppy enough."

All he'd need to do was throw on a fake beard and red suit and his father could have given the local malls a run for their picture and story-time money.

"And I was the one who got stuck helping to put everything up," Sid added as he placed the presents down beneath a tree. "Any hints on what you got me?"

"My lips are sealed." Thaddeus cleared his throat. "Sid, how the hell did you convince Dad to let you do this?"

"Oh, I begged and pleaded like a little boy," Sid replied, chuckling. "It took some cajoling, but the old man finally agreed, on the condition that the moment December twenty-sixth rolls around, this will all be thrown down into the basement. But it was all worth it. Wasn't it, Annie?" He stepped forward and reached a hand towards Annabelle's shoulder, but she pulled away, her black curls bobbing as she moved. Despite this, he continued speaking. "It's a shame that you can only stay until the twenty-third, pumpkin."

"And miss out on Auntie Ruby's sweet potato pie?" She turned away, motioning towards the kitchen. "The cookies should be about done cooling."

William's face brightened and he picked up his step.

It was only when they were gone that Sid's words finally settled on him. Begged and pleaded like a little boy. Even before the divorce had been finalized, Sid had been living in an apartment a few blocks from the Sivana Industries headquarters. Some six months after he and his wife completed their split, he'd moved back into the family estate.

"Dad won't admit it, but he needs more help these days than he used to." Sid had said over the phone.

What was it like, working all day with their father only to come back home and still be stuck with him? The idea made Thaddeus' empty stomach tighten. Did Sid not only like giving pain, but receiving it as well?

"Thad?"

Thaddeus' back stiffened. "Sidney?"

Sid came forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I just wanted to thank you for coming. It was a bit of a surprise, but Dad really appreciates it. He's really been wanting to see William."

Without moving a muscle on his part, Thaddeus could have broken every bone in his brother's hand. The old anger that always hung over him like a blanket now burned, an itch desperate to be scratched. It would have been so easy, taken shorter than the time it takes to blink an eye, and Sid could have been a groveling mess on the floor.

But no, that was too easy for him. What Sid needed was longer, harder, something that he would carry with him to his grave and never quite be able to break away from.

The sins were silent. Whatever suggestions they might have they kept to themselves. This was his brother, his life, his plan. His to make the most of.

"Oh, Sid, it's my pleasure to come."


Why did anyone need a house this big? Even some of his classmates, who had anywhere from five to eight siblings, didn't need this much space. The curving, polished wood stairwell rose over twenty feet, leading into a hallway that held six doors on each side. The cream-colored walls were covered in Greek paintings. Potted plants – which Billy could tell were fake without even having to touch them – covered various small tables that were set against the walls.

Annabelle entered the third door to the right, holding it open for Billy as he stepped inside.

"So tell me more yourself, Will," she said. She bit into a chocolate chip cookie, crumbs spilling onto her hoodie.

"It's Billy," he responded.

He surveyed the room. For a place that she would only have been living three weeks in, it already looked well lived in. A suitcase and cello case were both laying face down near her bed, which was covered in a wrinkled neon purple comforter. Against her matching colored pillows was a worn blue teddy bear missing one plastic eye. Her bookshelf was covered in thin paperbacks and framed photos. Several of them showed girls who looked to be about her age, while many others depicted a tall, well-dressed black woman that he assumed was her mother. A nearby desk held a laptop covered in stickers and a plastic vase holding an array of synthetic lilies.

She'd filled him in while the two were in the kitchen and heading upstairs. Annabelle, or Annie as she preferred to be called, was twenty-one years old and a year away from graduating with her music degree. She hoped to be a cellist in an orchestra. Outside of her studies, she enjoyed volunteering at local elementary schools and had considered becoming a music teacher.

"I'd probably only give private lessons though," she had admitted.

Though she lived in Nashville with her mother, as soon as she'd taken her last final, she'd jumped on a plane for Philly. The last few days had been spent touring Sivana Industries and going to museums.

"Because my dad has no idea what else to do." She'd rolled her eyes. "I swear, you see these places once and you've seen them for life."

She hadn't mentioned much about her mother and her eyes narrowed when she discussed her father. Billy made no comment.

"Well," Billy said, sitting down at her desk's chair. This was the first time he'd ever been inside of a girl's room, cousin or not. He imagined Cissie's must have looked a lot like this before she'd moved away in the middle of their freshman year. She'd loved flowers and tried more than a few times to genetically modify her own during their biology classes. He half considered bringing her up but decided his pathetic excuse for a love life was better left discussed another time. "I'm a sophomore in high school. My dad and I live in California, so I swim a lot, even when it's not swim season. Some friends and I like to go to the beach sometimes to swim in the ocean. If you don't go out when the tide's bad, it's really fun. Besides that, I read the announcements at school and take part in the trivia team. I also love playing video games."

"Tell me about your dad." Her voice rose as she spoke. "You know, I haven't seen him since I was a kid."

"I haven't seen yours since then either." Again, there wasn't much to say. "My dad can be a bit naggy and takes grades pretty seriously. Even when he's home, he works a lot."

"Tell me what I don't already know."

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful. My dad's really a pretty chill guy." Billy wasn't sure why the next few words came out, but somehow it seemed wrong to not speak them. "I really do appreciate the time that I get to spend with him. Without him, I can't even imagine what my life would be like."

Annie smiled. "You're really lucky. You know that?"

"Of course."

The two continued eating cookies in silence. Billy finished before Annie did, who licked her fingers clean of frosting.

"You want some more?"

Billy nodded. "If it's no trouble."

"Ha! I've been living off these things since I came home."

The walk downstairs was just as disconcerting as the walk upstairs. As big as the place was, and no matter what was set out on the walls and floors, it seemed empty. It was more like a museum exhibit that someone could walk through than a place that someone actually lived in.

"Why are you leaving on the twenty-third?"

"To be back home in time for my mom's big Christmas feast. Every year she goes all out. If you think this place is Santa Land, you should see her house!"

Billy's father and uncle were talking in the kitchen when they got downstairs. His father gave him a quick nod before looking back to Uncle Sid.

Annie grabbed a paper towel, and Billy helped to place cookies upon them. She motioned back towards the open door they'd come in through, and the two headed back towards the stairwell. They were halfway up the first flight when Annie froze on the steps.

"William, is that you?"

Billy turned, looking down. Near the base of the stairs was a white-haired, tired-eyed man in a wheelchair.

"You've grown so much. I almost didn't recognize you."