Who's ready for a plot twist? :D Too bad, last chapter, not getting one.

OH GOD NOT THE TOMATOES WHY WAI-

Obtained Item: Final Chapter! ...I mean final disclaimers?
The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, not that it applies.

Chapter 6: XXX

Case Study: Isaac Peterson, Day 28

Dr. Bossi hadn't gotten any further than his label when a fervent knock came to his door. Strange - his secretary should've informed him of a visitor, and Isaac wasn't due for another fifteen minutes. "Come in!"

It was Isaac, alright. He dragged in a golden-brown toybox, then stumbled over to the doctor's desk. "I'm sorry, doc, b-but I have to get out of town."

"Isaac, what are you talking about?"

"I-I...I can't explain, I just...they're after me, I have to get out of here and-"

"Isaac, calm down. Have you been taking your medicine?"

Isaac nodded, running a shivering hand through his curls. "Y-Yeah, but...but you don't understand! T-There's this...I-I don't even know how to EXPLAIN it, but..."

"Look, Isaac - take a deep breath, calm down, and just take it one sentence at a time."

"I killed my mom."

Mattias froze, taking a few seconds too long to process what he had heard. Unable to hold still, Isaac just continued his panic. "Okay, I didn't kill her, not EXACTLY. I-It was God, I swear! He sent down an angel and what was I supposed to do? She was going to stab me! I mean, what did I do? I didn't do anything wrong, not until that happened, anyway..."

He reached into his bag and grabbed the gray book, the one with the upside-down star on its cover, then pitched it to the side. "I'm so sick of this! All of this! I just want to take it all back and be normal again!"

"Isaac, please! Just calm down, you're being hysterical!"

Isaac dropped onto the couch, curled up like it was the first day all over again. "I had a horrible nightmare last night, doc. T-There was this...this cathedral, and there were screaming angels and stained-glass...but the glass had, like, crying faces and white crosses and..."

Isaac wiped his face of nervous tears. "I saw myself in that church; little eight-year-old me. He was bald and naked and crying and I didn't know what to do! What COULD I do? He was so sad and miserable and I just wanted to end it!"

The orphan sobbed. "I killed him. I killed ME. A-And then there was this toybox, this DAMN toybox...!"

Before Mattias could get in a single word, Isaac hopped to his feet and ran out. "I have to go, doc! I have to go back, back into the basement, back into the womb! I have to go back and end this before it ever gets a chance to start!"

SLAM. And that was it. Isaac Peterson was gone.

Curious, Mattias got up and approached the wooden chest. It was a beautiful toybox, hand-crafted and detailed with a fine shade of gold.

He opened it, then immediately dropped the lid in horror.

The toybox contained the strangled blue corpse of a eight-year-old boy.

xxx

It is now that I slowly begin to reevaluate all of the stories that I've recorded thus far:

- There is no cul-de-sac on Eden Road. The road ends at the pathway that leads to Isaac's house on the hill.

- There are no records of Mary Shiloh, or anybody Isaac's age living in the house at the bottom of the hill. This house was owned by Victoria Merlot, the young woman who was responsible for calling the police the night of the tragedy.

- Isaac's school doesn't have a basketball team. The funding for basketball equipment and expenses were cut in 1996 due to lack of interest.

- St. Rebecca's Academy is a Christian private school. There IS no guidance counselor, only Father David.

And when I approach Father David the next day, asking what had happened to Isaac, he gave me the look I can only assume all of my patients have seen. A look of confusion, pity, and most of all, horror.

There was no murder. Bethany Peterson is alive; perhaps not well, being treated for a case of extreme depression, but alive. The tragedy on Eden Hill involved another. A boy who was grounded to his room, thanks to his mother suffering from a manic-depressive fit. A boy who feared her emotions and took refuge in a toybox to save his life from her misplaced upset. A toybox that locked itself shut and ended his life.

Isaac Peterson has been dead for nine years.

...

Yeah, bet none of you saw that coming, huh? Aha, I'm so crafty. Anyway, I had lots of fun writing this, even though it was part of the Wrath of the Lamb binge from a million years ago, so I hope you guys enjoyed reading it just as much. :) Thanks again to everyone who's been following the story and leaving reviews! You guys are the best!

Now, time to burrow into a hole and take a nap. Not much to do 'til Rebirth comes out, am I right? XD

§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §

PS: For anyone who's looking for those cookies I promised in the first chapter, Mattias Bossi is the narrator of the "In the Beginning..." opening cutscene. :) But all of you little die-hard dungeon-rats knew that, right?