What in the hell had he done?
William was by no means a good man. He wasn't above murdering innocent children for no reason other than his own entertainment. Lying to Henry came easy, and so did butchering his supposed 'best friend's' daughter. Charlie was a quick kill; she had struggled and fought with every ounce of energy she had in her weak, tired little body. William had obviously overpowered the child, though. He was always able to overpower his victims. Children were weak and easy to trick; what better target could he seek out?
William had felt many things after committing his first few murders. There was a brief period of panic, then regret, then acceptance and finally pride. Taking lives was thrilling to the man, so he continued to take them. He had never been caught, and he felt invincible.
There was no reason to stop when there were no consequences.
Unfortunately for him, his newest victim had brought nothing but regret and pain to his life.
Henry was his best friend and had trusted William with his own life; so that's why when William took Charlie away from him, the feeling of regret he hadn't experienced in years came flooding back. It slowly began to creep in when Charlie stopped writhing on the floor, gasping and sobbing as blood pooled out from her throat that had been savagely sawed open.
As the life drained from her eyes and her little body stilled, William stopped smiling.
He stared at the child for several moments, watching as Charlie's warmth faded away and was replaced with the cold that death brought. He watched in silence for several minutes, then turned away from the girl. He could clean her up later. It wasn't like anyone was coming to search his basement….
Henry's first panicked phone call came around six in the evening that same night. It had only taken the man a little over an hour to realize that Charlie was missing from the backyard.
Henry was clearly distraught; rambling about Charlie having possibly wandered into the woods or down the road. Just like William, Henry lived in the country, away from most of Hurricane's prying eyes. There were no witnesses that saw 'Uncle William' pick Charlie up with the promise of ice cream and a sleepover with Elizabeth.
"Will you help me look for her?" Henry had sobbed over the phone; it was a shaky plea that made William feel… something. It was regret; William knew that.
"Yeah, yeah… Of course. I'll be over in five minutes." William had promised in a soft, hushed voice. When William hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket off of his coat rack, he had to swallow down the urge to vomit. What in the hell had he done?
William pulled into Henry's driveway five minutes later just as promised. The air was beginning to grow chilly as the sun slipped away for the night. The fact that Charlie was still missing, possibly in the woods at dusk was sending Henry into a panic attack. When the bigger man got into William's car, it became apparent just how bad he was freaking out.
There was sweat pooling down Henry's forehead and his flannel had been tied around his waist; he had clearly gotten too hot for it. He was continuously wiping his sweaty palms on his pants in a futile attempt to dry them. William looked at Henry in bewilderment, much like a deer in the headlights. He had no idea what to even begin to say to Henry. Tears were welling in the corner of Henry's eyes, and it was clear that he had been crying previously.
"...Henry…" William whispered out under his breath. Much to his own surprise, his voice was trembly and came out almost like a whine. Henry lunged forward without hesitation, pulling William into a tight hug. William tensed at first; completely thrown off by the sudden contact. It didn't take long for him to relax, though. He put a hand on Henry's back and rubbed up and down, attempting to soothe the much bigger man.
"We'll find her, Henry." He assured him in a small whisper. He had lied to Henry many times before without much of a second thought, but this time it felt horrible. Henry nodded but made no move to pull away from William just yet. William let Henry cling to him for a while before they set off down the road, driving slowly and keeping an eye out for the missing brunette.
Clay had been notified of Charlie's disappearance that same night and a search party was sent out. They combed the woods around Henry's property but could find no signs of the girl.
Mrs. Emily was mortified when she returned home with Sammy to find her husband sobbing into William's shoulder on their couch. William's eyes had drifted up to meet with hers; there was a certain sadness to them that made the woman fearful to find out why her husband was crying.
A fight had broken out as soon as she had found out that Charlie was missing. She had screamed at the top of her lungs at Henry; scolding him for not keeping a better eye on Charlie while she played outside. She blamed everything from the animatronics he'd been working on to him not truly loving his daughter. William had taken Sammy's little hand and guided the boy out of the living room and into the kitchen. The seven-year-old looked fearful as he clung to the man's side. His big eyes were downcast as thoughts of Charlie no doubt filled his mind.
The sound of screaming was muffled as William shut the heavy wooden door of the kitchen and paced over to the dining table. William sat Sammy down in a chair and turned to rummage through the cabinets. "Where do your parents keep the cookies, kiddo?" William had asked with a softness that was typically reserved for his own children. Sammy sniffled and wiped his eyes, refusing to look up at William as he instead stared at his red and white shoes.
One of the laces were undone, but it wasn't one of his more pressing concerns right then.
"Where's Sissy?" Sammy asked in a small sob. William stared down at Sammy as another pang of guilt washed over him. A lump formed in the man's throat, making him want to leave the room and Henry's house altogether. How dare he kill Henry's daughter and come into his home like he still belonged? He had never belonged; he had just never given Henry a reason to hate him.
William bent down in front of Sammy and gently tipped the kid's chin up with the tip of his finger.
"Wherever she is, I'm sure she's safe. She'll be home soon, Sammy… Okay?" Another lie.
A few tears slipped down Sammy's face and a soft sob was barely heard above the muffled screaming from the other room. William wanted to go in there and shut that bitch up; It wasn't Henry's fault that Charlie had been taken. Hurricane was a small town that had been seen as safe; why would Henry need to keep a closer eye on his daughter on this particular day?
William had never taken a child from Hurricane, so there was never any reason for the town to watch their children like hawks. William hadn't used the restaurants as a trap for his victims yet, so Hurricane had known no real tragedy. Kids were let outside to play in their yards unsupervised all the time without incident. While William could understand how he'd feel if one of his own children turned up missing, he'd never turn on his wife like Henry's wife had so easily turned on him. Sammy's soft sobs grabbed William's attention. "Sammy," William whispered out.
Sammy looked up at William with teary eyes. William cupped the side of Sammy's cheek, attempting to comfort him in the same way he comforted his own son.
"She's coming back soon… okay?" The words, despite being empty lies, were enough to calm the crying boy. Sammy gave William an understanding nod. William gave the kid the best smile he could muster before standing back up and making his way over to the cabinets. After rummaging around for a few minutes, he found what he was looking for. A box of cookies was quickly pulled out and handed to Sammy. William wasn't the best with emotions, but cookies had usually helped comfort his own children. "Eat as many as you want."
Sammy didn't have to be told twice. William pulled out a chair and sat next to Sammy while Henry and Mrs. Emily fought in the other room. The only voice William could hear was Mrs. Emily's. Henry was no doubt sobbing to her; quietly trying to defend himself as his wife took out her anger on him. Eventually, all went quiet, there was some shuffling and then Sammy's mother opened the kitchen door. She was clearly still fuming if the look in her eyes were anything to go by. William wondered how she could resort to anger instead of worry and grief first. Did she not realize how serious Charlie's absence could be? The child could be dead or dying in the woods and instead of worrying about her daughter, she was screaming at her already-broken husband. Sammy shrunk in on himself when her eyes fell upon him.
The boy hesitantly took his little hand out of the box of cookies and sat the box up on the table.
William raised a brow curiously at the odd change in the kid's behavior.
"What are you doing, Samual?" The woman asked in a stern tone. It sounded as if it was taking everything in her to not scream at her son as well.
"U-Uncle William said I could.. have some-" Sammy fell silent; he was trembling now and his eyes began to water again. William's eyes were wide in surprise as he glanced between the mother and son. Why was Sammy acting so upset again?
"Did I say you could have them, Samual?" She questioned in a low voice. Before Sammy could begin crying, William stood and brushed his jacket off.
"I gave them to him. If I wasn't supposed to I'm so-" Before William could finish, the woman cut him off. "You need to go home, William."
William blinked in surprise. He glanced between her and Sammy, then nodded.
"I'll see you later, kid." William sighed as he ruffled Sammy's hair.
When William passed by Mrs. Emily, he could feel her glaring daggers at him.
He didn't see Henry on his way out, but he wasn't going to overstay his welcome anymore than he already had. William found himself silently hoping that the big guy was alright before walking out the front door, leaving behind poor, scared little Sammy.