Rat Song

Chapter 12

Father led William down a well-trodden path. The bruises on William's arms and legs throbbed in time with his quickening heartbeat.

Yet, despite knowing what was to come, William didn't regret speaking out against Peter and the other children. He'd warned his parents and Mr. Farnsworth as best he could, but who would ever believe children could be capable of such brutality? Even if they had by some miracle believed him, they would never understand what stirred inside the children's bodies, twisting them into something unnatural.

No, his only regret was that he could not yet fathom how he could help Emma and the others. The children could be saved—little Peter Farnsworth's muffled screams had told him that much—but how? If he discovered how to free them from the rodents inside them, would they return to the sweet children they once were, or would they forever be tainted by the creatures that lurked within them?

As powerless as William felt in that moment, he took solace in one fact: he had once again spared his mother and sister from the horrors his father would inflict upon him.

The Tantalus greeted them with its ever-present roar. What was so often William's sanctuary of solitude where he could play his guitar without fear of being chastised was also where Father took him whenever he didn't want anyone to hear what he would do to him.

"Pity you never behave yourself," Father sneered. "You set such a poor example for Emma."

"I know," William said softly. It was no use arguing, not if he wanted to avoid getting in even deeper trouble. As long as Father never laid a hand on Emma, he could bear whatever insults he hurled at him. "I'm sorry."

Father snorted. "Sorry's not good enough, boy. Turn around."

William did as he was told. Clinking metal quickened his heart as his knees started shaking. The soft shush of leather against Father's hands sent cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

Teeth sank into his lip. He wouldn't cry. No matter how much it hurt, he wouldn't cry.

"Not fun knowing someone bigger than you is about to hurt you, is it?"

"No, it's not." Agree with Father without question. Don't show fear. Don't talk too much or give any indication anything Father said upset him. These were the rules William lived by whenever Father took him out by the Tantalus.

Father snapped the belt. "Take your shirt off."

William eased his shirt over his head, carefully folding it and placing it at his feet. The chill wind nipped his bare skin, sending goosebumps racing up his arms. His body trembled, his teeth chattering as the coldness seeped into his bones.

"Look at how pathetic you are, shivering in the cold like a newly whelped pup. Say it."

"I'm pathetic," William said hoarsely, the words catching in his throat.

Father snapped the belt so close to William's skin that the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. "Louder!"

"I'm pathetic!" The raging Tantalus swallowed his words, but they rang in William's ears all the same. He truly was pathetic. How couldn't he be if he couldn't even protect his sister from a rat?

"Now kneel like the sniveling coward you are."

William got down on his knees, wincing as his bruises pressed into the mud. He screwed his eyes shut against the pain. Against his trembling legs. Against what he knew was coming.