William arrived home that night, sweating and shaking uncontrollably.
He wanted to throw up and cry, but he knew that an excited phone call from Henry would be coming in soon if he hadn't called already. As soon as the man pushed his front door open, he heard the distant ringing from inside the kitchen. William hurriedly closed the door behind him and rushed into the kitchen. He didn't care about the mud he was tracking everywhere; it would be cleaned later. As William barrelled into the kitchen, the sight of the phone on the wall made him cringe. He knew the voice that would greet him once he answered; Henry would be filled with relief and joy that his only daughter had returned home, safe and sound.
As Will's long, slender fingers wrapped around that phone, he braced himself to put on a sickeningly fake joyful voice and feed Henry even more lies.
"Hello?" The man greeted in a soft, tired voice.
"Will! Oh, William! She's back! She came home! I-"
Henry's words seemed like meaningless noise. William gripped onto the phone much too tight as his body trembled and anxiety washed over him. What in the fuck had he done?
"Oh, come over tomorrow, Will! We need to celebrate somehow-"
William's hand found its way to his mouth as he swallowed down the rising taste of bile in his throat. He wanted to vomit right then and there, but he had a phone call to finish.
"Yeah, Henry. That sounds wonderful." William lied. He managed to put on a convincing voice, so Henry suspected nothing out of the ordinary. Will stood in the kitchen, shaking like a leaf while Henry rambled on with his happy report. The voice of Mrs. Emily echoed in the background, and Henry muttered something in reply to her that William didn't quite catch.
"I need to go, Will, but I'll see you tomorrow for dinner. Will your family be back in town by then?" Tears streamed down William's face as he swallowed down the urge to let out a pathetic, broken whine. The man sucked in a deep breath through his nose before mustering up a response.
"Possibly…" He barely managed to get the words out without giving away the fact that he was crying. His legs felt too weak to stand any longer, and with a sniffle he sunk down to sit on the floor with his back pressed against the wall.
"If they are, bring the kids and the Misses! I'm sure Charlie would love to see Elizabeth, and I think Sammy enjoys playing with Norman-"
William's legs were shaking uncontrollably as chills ran through his entire body.
"Yeah, yeah. If they're back, I'll bring them." William promised, and for once it wasn't a lie.
Mrs. Emily faintly called out in the background again, and the sound of two excited squeals rang out. William knew it was from Sammy and that… thing. It wasn't Charlie, and it never would be.
Henry said his goodbye's and William said his, then the killer was left to wallow in his regret in silence. The quiet of the night was deafening, and the ambient noise of rain pitter pattering on the roof made him feel like he was trapped inside of a little box with no way out.
He had betrayed Henry, but the guilt wasn't solely because of that, anymore.
William realized with a broken sob that he regretted hurting Charlie.
She had trusted him, and he had been like an Uncle to her.
Why in the hell had he chosen her? Why couldn't he have shoved down his dispicable urges for just a while longer and targeted another kid? Why in the hell did it have to be Charlie?
William laid on the floor for a while, just sobbing and clutching at the cold tiles under him.
Somehow, eventually, William found the strength to push himself off of that cold kitchen floor and stumble down the basement steps. His entire body felt weak and his head throbbed.
The lingering taste of vomit still tormented him, but he would wash his mouth out later.
His wife and kids could be coming back in the morning, so he couldn't waste any more time.
Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, William stared ahead with a blank expression at the freezer that had been generously keeping the real Charlie preserved. The air down there was freezing, and even though William was wearing a thick flannel, he still shivered. He could only imagine how cold poor little Charlie would be if she could still feel…
She would never feel anything again, though. The girl would never feel the warm embrace of her father or the playful shoves from her twin. She would never feel anything ever again, but William would forever be plagued with this horrible, suffocating guilt.
William continued to draw closer to the freezer despite the nausea that was creeping back in.
Charlie deserved this; this was the least he could do for his only victim he had ever had an attachment to. As soon as the freezer was pulled open, William was met with Charlie's stiff, frozen body. Her eyes were closed, and her once spotless clothes were now stained with her own blood. William stared at the corpse for a few minutes, unintentionally burning every little detail into his mind. It was definitely an image that would haunt him and appear in his nightmares.
The man's hand trembled as he reached out and touched Charlie's hard, frozen cheek.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart." He hissed out through a broken sob. Calling her 'sweetheart' made him want to pull himself away and vomit on the concrete floor. He had no right to call her anything affectionate; he wasn't her Uncle, and he sure as hell hadn't been her friend.
Charlie had trusted him with her life, and he had taken advantage of that.
None of his previous victims had ever meant anything to him, but Charlie had.
Thoughts of taking an easier way out ran through his mind, but he shoved them away.
He had a wife and three beautiful, living children… He had to keep up with making sure that the abomination he'd thrown at Henry's door didn't break.
William still had people to live for, and even though he had no desire to continually waste air himself, he had already proven to be selfish enough. He wasn't going to subject his children to grow up without a father or his wife to come home to a dead lover.
Henry wouldn't be forced to lose his best friend, and Sammy would still have his… Uncle Will.
William wouldn't ever be able to look into that boy's eyes without feeling guilt.
Charlie had been Sammy's best friend, and even if everything worked out in his favor and the boy never realized that something was wrong with his 'sissy', it would never be the same.
Charlie was right in front of William. She was lifeless, bloody, and cold… and it was his fault.
William scooped the girl into his arms with a shudder and turned to head back up the stairs as he held the corpse against his chest. The trip up the stairs and outside felt eternal, and even though William knew that the child's eyes were frozen shut, he kept glancing down at her with the expectation, or fear, rather, of seeing her staring up at him with a distant, dead look.
The mere thought of her cloudy, dull eyes made him want to run to his destination and get this all over with, but William held Charlie a little tighter. The man walked through the kitchen and pushed the back door open to make his way into the backyard.
The rain was still falling, and the air was freezing cold. William was already soaked after only taking a few steps into the downpour. Charlie needed to be put to rest tonight, though. He wasn't going to leave her sitting in a freezer any longer.
William gently laid Charlie down on the grass at the edge of the woods that surrounded his secluded country home. She had always loved to explore those woods…
He stared down at her body for a while before turning away with trembling legs.
His boots sunk into the mud as he made his way through his yard to his shed.
The door was pulled open without hesitation, and he retrieved a large shovel out of it.
Gripping the handle was an odd sensation; he had never buried any of his victims.
He had never regretted killing any of his previous victims, either.
Charlie was an exception, and it was a mistake that was making him think more about the previous lives he'd claimed. Would the guilt and regret finally set in for those murders as well?
William shivered from both anxiety and the cold as he plunged the shovel into the earth.
Charlie deserved to be put to rest, even if he was the only one who knew her real fate and final resting place. He slipped in the mud several times which sent him nearly toppling onto Charlie once or twice. The way her body was curled up in that awkward, stiff position made him feel an odd sense of fear. He didn't want to look at her, and so he did his best to keep his eyes on his shovel. Time had lost meaning, and William had no idea how long he had truly been digging. It was finally deep enough, though, and the squirming worms he kept unearthing wiggled and glistened in the rain. The sight of them made him sick as mental images of them burrowing into Charlie's corpse surfaced. He couldn't just throw her in there like that…
William glanced at the corpse by his feet as another horrible wave of fear washed over him.
It wasn't the fear of being caught for his crimes, but staring at the body was making him afraid.
Afraid of what? Even he himself wasn't sure.
William turned and made his way back inside, leaving Charlie's somewhat frozen body to thaw further in the downpour. More mud was tracked through the house as he paced into the hallway to fish a spare blanket out of a closet. The green fabric was soft and thick, and it was going to hug Charlie until it rotted away in the earth. It would keep her warm….
It would be much more comfortable than the freezer….
William stumbled back down the hallway and into the kitchen, then back outside through the back door. He halted as soon as he made it into the grass. Her body was in a different position.
A logical side of his brain insisted that her body had simply thawed and shifted, but a weaker, fearful part of him wanted to turn and run. Horrible images of the corpse sitting up or twitching plagued him, and he was beginning to wonder if these thoughts would continue even after putting her in the ground. Despite his fear, William approached the girl with a tight hold on the blanket. Her eyes were still closed, thankfully, and she was completely still.
The large blanket was laid out across the grass, and then William scooped Charlie back into his arms. He had never had issues with handling corpses before, but even touching Charlie made him shudder and want to shy away. He quickly set her on the blanket and stumbled back.
The man trembled and gazed down at the child at his feet.
He could utter pointless apologies that wouldn't bring her back, or he could put her to rest.
William began wrapping the blanket around her with care, and once she was completely wrapped in the green fabric, he carefully picked her up and lowered her into her grave.
The shovel found its way back into his hands, and as William began burying the girl he once called a niece, tears mixed with the rain.
"Honey?"
William's eyes shot open in a panic. A familiar face greeted him.
Big, blue eyes and neat, short black hair. Freckles donned the woman's cheeks, and bright red lipstick was already applied to her thin lips.
William quickly sat up despite his exhaustion and blinked.
Memories of the night before were foggy, but he knew what needed to be done had been done.
Charlie was buried in the backyard and any traces of her death had been scrubbed clean.
"When did you get home?" he asked in a gruff, groggy voice as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. The woman sitting beside him in bed smiled as she leaned a little closer to plant an affectionate kiss on his cheek.
"A few minutes ago." she hummed. William felt a pair of slender arms wrap around him, and even though he still felt like puking, he returned the show of affection.
"Henry called," The woman informed her groggy partner as she hugged him a little tighter.
William tensed at that name. "What did he say?" He questioned.
"He told us about Charlie and how we were invited over tonight. Why didn't you call us and say something about all of this?" Mrs. Afton ran her fingers through William's hair with a concerned expression that he couldn't see from where he was nuzzled into her shoulder.
"I didn't want to worry you." He lied. The woman bought it, just like she always did.
"Oh, honey," She cooed with a gentle rub along his back.
William's mind was elsewhere; he should be smothering his wife with affection and rushing out to greet his children, but he couldn't push away the distant, foggy memory of a nightmare he was certain he had. Even though he couldn't fully grasp it, one image was burnt into his mind.
The half rotten face of a little girl, covered in maggots and filled with earthworms.
Her lips had rotten away completely, showing off broken, bleeding teeth.
Her eyes were cloudy, and her nose was nowhere to be seen.
William hugged his wife a little tighter and swallowed down the urge to vomit.
"I love you." He whispered out in an unsteady voice. It was one of the few things he didn't lie about.
Breakfast and lunch were uneventful. Micheal tormented his younger brother as per usual and Elizabeth was a beaming little ball of sunshine, showing her father the drawings she had made while she was away and rambling on about some dog she had seen.
William tried his best to pay attention, but as he stared into his daughter's eyes, the weight of what he'd done crushed him even more. He had taken his daughter's best friend from her.
Whether she would notice anything odd about the Charlie look-alike was yet to be seen, but William would always know, and it would always haunt him.
He wanted to pull Elizabeth close and apologize profusely, but he settled instead for nodding and listening to her stories about petting the little black and white terrier she had encountered.
The drive to Henry's seemed eternal, and as William neared that little farmhouse, the urge to turn and drive away was strong, but the happy chatter from his children in the backseat was a constant reminder that he wasn't going for himself. He was going to celebrate Charlie's return with his 'best friend'. Their children would play and mingle, and everything would be well.
William was noticeably quieter than normal, but considering that he overworked himself constantly and suffered from exhaustion frequently, nothing seemed out of place.
He just seemed tired and groggy. William gripped onto the steering wheel tighter as he pulled into the rocky driveway and caught sight of Sammy and Charlie wrestling around in the grass. Even though William had designed not-Charlie to be able to endure the roughhousing that he knew she would be put through, seeing Sammy handle the artificial girl with so little care made him wince. Before he had time to say a word to his family, they were already opening their doors and heading up to the house. Micheal was trailing behind Norman and Elizabeth as they bolted towards Charlie and Sammy. A loud series of giggles and squeals followed, and Mrs. Afton smiled back at Will before getting out and heading up to the porch to meet Mrs. Emily.
William lingered in the car for a moment in a futile attempt to soothe his mind and calm his racing heart. Charlie wouldn't break, he tried to assure himself. There was nothing to fear.
The sight of a tall, bearded man walking towards the car made William tense a little.
He couldn't avoid Henry forever, and he knew that. With a shaky intake of breath, William reached for the door handle and pushed the door open The fresh air made him feel a little better, but the urge to spill his lunch still lingered as he stepped out of the car and was pulled into a tight hug. Henry was saying something to William, and for the first time in a while, Will clung to the bigger man with the intent of seeking out comfort. The contact was short lived, however, when Henry pulled away with a huge, toothy smile. William gave a weak grin in return but he didn't share Henry's joy. Even if he wanted to, he knew he couldn't. William, just as he always did, put on a fake smile and showed fake emotions. Under his grin was regret, but Henry would never know it. As William nodded and pretended to listen to what Henry was rambling on about, his eyes couldn't stay off of not-Charlie. He walked beside Henry up the driveway towards the house, but his focus was entirely on his newest little abomination. The brunette girl was conversing with his own children, but William couldn't make out what was being said.
Dinner came and went, and the children ran about the house like the little troublemakers they always were. William, just like he always did, helped Mrs. Emily clean up the aftermath from the children's messy eating habits. At some point, William ended up in the kitchen to place some dirty dishes in the sink alone. The other adults had probably gotten distracted and sucked into a conversation, but he didn't mind the seclusion too much. The silence was a welcome releif after being forced to converse with Henry and the girls so long.
As he put the last of the plates in the sink, a shifting noise from directly behind him left him spinning around in terror. His eyes were blown wide and his heart was racing.
There, standing in front of him, was Charlie.
The brunette girl looked up at her Uncle with wide, dull eyes.
Her cheeks were dirty from playing outside all day, and her hair was a frizzy mess.
She wasn't smiling, which was rather out of character for her. Her gaze was locked onto William's face, and as he stared down into her lifeless eyes, another wave of sorrow washed over him. William did his best to hide his discomfort and gave not-Charlie a smile.
"What are you doing in here, kiddo?" He questioned in a soft, steady voice.
Charlie tilted her head and blinked, but she didn't answer.
Fuck… Was she broken? William hesitantly reached out to her, but before he could touch her, Henry walked inside of the kitchen. "Will!" The bigger man beamed with a huge smile.
"We were getting ready to start some card games. Do you want in?"
William blinked and nodded without hesitation.
"Yeah! Sure, I just-" By the time he turned back to face Charlie, the girl was gone.
Her sudden disappearance sent chills down his spine, but he tried not to show his fear.
"What… What game?" William asked with a nervous smile as Henry wrapped a friendly arm around his back to steer him into the living room.
As soon as they made it through the kitchen and to the living room doorway, William's eyes locked onto Charlie, who was sitting on the floor next to Elizabeth by the coffee table.
Henry led William to sit on the couch in front of the kids, which put William directly in front of not-Charlie. He had no idea where their wives had gotten to, but he didn't feel like asking. Charlie stared at William with an odd gaze, but the look went unnoticed by everyone else sitting around the table. William stared ahead at the brunette with an anxious intake of breath.
He stared into her eyes, and something about them seemed just a little more lively.
That wasn't Charlie. Charlie was in his yard, under the soil he had disturbed.
Pretty pink and purple flowers would soon grow there; both as an excuse for the disturbed earth and a silent apology.
William shrunk in on himself a little as they played games throughout the night.
Something about the robot was different, but he couldn't pinpoint what. Whatever it was, she was certainly doing a good job of convincing everyone that she was the real her. If William didn't know any better, he would have thought that it was alive.