“I have… News! I don’t know if their bad or good, but I know Joss won’t like them! He’s dead, Mirabelle!... Your father is dead!”. William who was in the middle of fetching water froze on the spot. A small trickle from the bucket he held ran down onto his feet. It was numbing but not worth his attention.

“Are you sure that he’s dead?”, William asked Remony. Still not fully accepting this sudden truth.

Remony nodded and tore at his sleeve, “He is! That’s why we got to find Joss. I’m afraid it’ll affect him so much that he’ll do something stupid!”. William stood for a few seconds, processing what needed to be done. He threw away the bucket and ran with Remony towards the Castonale household. Of course, they wanted to be there if Joss should feel all alone and depressed. But they HAD to be there if he decided to pour his feelings into the deadly passion that is called: Revenge!

When they arrived at the wattle and daub house, they quickly noticed the sounds that seemed to come from behind it. So instead of heading inside, they went behind the house to its blindspot. There they saw a savage display of what a heart looks like when it’s crumbling apart.

It was Joss who stood on his toes with an axe raised high. Both girls could see that this swing, wasn’t the first to rip Vanessa’s head sculpt into smithereens. Joss continued to hack at the thing. Each swing was accompanied by an angry cry or grunt. His eyes were stained red and his cheeks had multiple floods running down them, into his shirt.

Remony flinched when the axe came to ruin the head. It wasn’t a pretty sight. For when the head bounced away from his force, Joss would chase it to hack at it some more. William stared at this outbreak filled with explosive emotions. Emotions that he couldn’t feel but understand.

He glanced at Remony to get her attention, before telling Joss, “We’ll be waiting for you inside the house… Come, when you’re ready”. Joss didn’t respond at all, even though he heard what his sister said. He was far too consumed by anger to listen to reason at the moment.

Although he didn’t respond, Willliam had a feeling that his message had come across. So he guided Remony into the house that was less lively compared to the last time he visited. After a little inspection, he could deduce that Jacqueline and her son were gone. Whether it was permanent, he didn’t know…

The twins were inside the room that belonged to the adults. They seemed frightened, which was only natural when you consider the turmoil that was going on, but they didn’t express any sorrow for the loss of their ‘father’. William went over to comfort them but as soon as they felt the touch of his hand, they screamed up, “Snakewoman!? She’s a snakewoman!”.

“Huh?”, William was beyond confused. Wasn’t a ‘snakewoman’, something that he had invented on a whim? How come they knew of this? And even accused him of being one!?

The two children acted like this because William’s hands were extremely cold. Hence, they called him a snakewoman. Yes, his spun up tale had come to bite him back! William withdrew his hands and touched them. They were clammy and cool to the touch. Probably because he was nervous at the moment.

Seeing the twins hug and shield each other as if they were a threat, William knew he had to settle this misunderstanding before approaching them, so he said to Remony, “I’ll warm my hands in the living room… Don’t worry. I’ll be right back”.

As he warmed his hands by the fire, he could hear Remony’s soft voice ask the twins, “Have you heard?... The news about your father?”. The children cautiously nodded their heads. They had heard the news but they were only concerned for Joss and Jacqueline. Talking about these two people, who meant the world to them, caused the children to cry.

Their wailing echoed throughout the entire house. Which made William’s mouth draw a big downwards ark. Obviously these kids needed their big brother to calm down…

So William went into Joss’ room to see if he was done acting up. Alas, there was not a soul to spot outside! “Oh god! His gone!?”, William croaked. He was about to head out to see if he could spot the maniac running away to who knows where, but was instantly met by said maniac in the doorway.

“Joss!”, William exclaimed. With a glance, he got to see the destruction that this news had brought his brother. Joss’ hands were spotted with blood and splinters. His face was wrung in pain with all sorts of liquids pouring out.

Seeing this… William was at a loss for words. So he stretched out his hand to give his brother some comfort but was instead shockingly pulled into a hug. “Wauw! Joss!?”, William yelped. A muffled reply soon came from Joss, “... I… I don’t want to be alone!...”.

William hesitated for a bit but decided to hug Joss back, saying, “You… won’t be…”. These words made Joss tighten his grip as he uttered throatily, “Slowly but surely… One by one they disappear… First mother... Then father… sniff… Are you going to leave me too!?”.

The shock of their father’s death was violently making a tour through Joss’ body. This, William, could clearly feel through his brother’s embrace. The poor creature shivered like a madman... The shock was in fact so great that Joss soon lost his grip on reality and accepted the darkness; losing consciousness while holding onto William. “AHHH!”, William screamed as he tried to control this useless lump of flesh.

He was just fast enough to help Joss avoid slamming into the floor, whilst he shouted out a: “Remony HELP!”.

Within seconds Remony was there to help carry Joss into his bed. Seeing her love in so much pain caused her to cry a bit too. Soon they were all gathered in Joss’ room. Since the situation was calmer now, William made some tea for them and said, “Don’t worry… I’ll convince Brice to let me have a month’s absence… To help Joss get back on his feet again. And to keep this household alive…”.

Remony caressed Joss on the forehead and asked, “Are you sure that-… Will you be able to take such a long break?... And I want to help too… But I’m afraid that I can’t afford to do so...”. William nodded and gently smiled, “Well, luckily I can… I’m sure Brice can survive a month with Rex’s help alone”. This assurance made Remony sigh as her eyes kept observing Joss in his peaceful sleep. While doing so a question lingered on her tongue.

Finally, after a moment of silence, she had the courage to ask, “Mirabelle… I don’t understand. You told me how your father mistreated you and would act out on small impulses. That he was a small man at heart and yet… Here your brother is… Barely able to function after his death… So… Ehm… Was your father really that awful?”.

William’s breathing stopped.

His eyes connected with Remony’s, who tried to shy away from the confrontation. He nonchalantly explained to her, “... It’s rather simple actually… Joss was his son but I was never his daughter… But who cares? He’s dead now… Whether he was awful or not doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”.

Remony glanced at him a few times; not able to read his expression. In the end, she had to admit this was as far as she got.