Charlottetown (Probably on hold forever. Or whenever I decide to update.)

Chapter Ten: William Tanner

Chapter Ten: William Tanner

                Who is William Tanner? No one has heard of him, especially in Charlottetown. Especially James Tanner. Definitely not Genevieve Tanner.  But William Tanner has heard of them.

                So who is he? A brother? A cousin? How about a son? To be exact, James Tanner’s son. William Tanner, or William Newston, as he is called in his hometown. William Tanner never knew his father, but had a loving mother. But now she’s dead. So now what?

                William Tanner wanted to meet the man who broke his mother’s heart, who left her in such a fragile state. And get revenge. So, he found love letters written to a certain James Tanner that were hidden away under his mother’s bed and he was off. He tracked his father to the city, then to Charlottetown. He also found out a few new things, things his father would pay for later. Like his pretty little wife, who happened to be his ever-absent aunt. His mother’s sister.

                This only angered William more, and motivated his decision to make James pay for his mother’s heartache and spiral downward into depression. As he stood at the crest of the hill above Charlottetown, he reflected on his mother’s words. Her insistence that he wasn’t to blame. That it wasn’t his fault. It was his fault, but his mother still loved him. But he didn’t love her.

                He marched straight down that hill and into that cursed town, and demanded the first person he saw to identify the Tanner’s. The man pointed to a mustard-yellow building in the center of the town, where a man was playing with a little girl. A woman was watching from the porch, most likely his wife. Anger surged through him as he crept up and got a better look at the happy family. That should have been his mother watching from the porch. That should have been him playing catch with his father.

                He stormed down there, pulled James away from his daughter and did what any man would have done in this situation.

                He punched his father in the face.

                People ran forward and tried to pull him off James as he continued with the punches. Genevieve watched with horror, and the girl started screaming. When they finally managed to separate them, James spat the blood out of his mouth and yelled, “Who do you think you are, coming down here and attacking a random man?”

                “What, you don’t recognize your son?” William replied scornfully. A look of shock passed over James’s face.

                “What? I don’t have a son.” He said, sounding certain of himself. But there was a shadow of doubt in his eye.

                “Yes you do. Remember Fiona? Fiona Newston? Your wife’s sister? Don’t tell me you don’t remember her. As it seems, you were pretty close to her. Maybe a bit too close, or I wouldn’t be here.” William said, his voice laced with cruel sarcasm and hatred.

                James’s face paled at this statement. The town square was completely silent as Genevieve pushed her way through the crowd now surrounding the arguing men.

                “My sister? You had an affair with my sister?” Genevieve said accusingly. James started to say something, but decided against it and closed his mouth.

                “While you were hiding away in this little town, my mother was working herself to the bone trying to support us, all while fighting the depression you inflicted on her! Do you know how she died, father?” William said through clenched teeth.

                James shook his head guiltily, and Genevieve watched him intently, tight lipped and angry.

                “She committed suicide.” This was still a tender subject in Charlottetown. The entire Chester family flinched at the word, and many others in the town.

                You could have heard a pin drop at this point. Genevieve ran into the store, and James fell to the ground.

                William was pleased with the reaction he had gotten out of this man.

                “Now you’re going to pay. Because my mother, she loved you until the very end. She cried every night, wishing you were here. So now you’re going to pay for every single one of her tears.” William turned on his heel, and left the entire town speechless as James cried, his tears staining the dirt road.

********************************************************************************************************************

So do you peoples like William? Or do you think he's kind of a jerk??

COMMENTS APPRECIATED!!

(so are votes!!)

--Eliz♥♥