hollow // credence barebone

07. silence before the storm

———

the next few days passed in haze for the new york citizens.

after some time since henry shaw junior's funeral, the newspapers and gossips gradually ran out of things to repeat. everything began coming back to their rightful place as life moved fast, bringing on an illusion of peace.

it is, however, a known feature in the natural world, that sometimes what announces the biggest of storms is the deafening silence.

———

something very feeble and barely noticeable has changed in credence barebone. he could tell things were no longer the same as he washed his face and looked at his mirror reflection. his eyes slowly trailed over his features, wondering when he managed to grow up like this. the last time he was aware of himself was years ago. all of that had been long drowned down. the last thing he expected was for this december to grab him by the throat and pull back up towards the surface violently. now he was struggling to catch a breath of air he had been denied for too long.

during the day, he'd do his job by mary lou barebone's side. he'd watch dozens of children enter the church for the daily teaching. he observed them take their bowls of soups, scanning each of their faces. no, he was not searching for an obscurial child. his mind might have been mudded, but he was born sharp and smart enough. he knew what percival graves wanted. unfortunately, percival graves was the one who didn't know what he wanted. he thought he needed a dangerous cursed child, but that cursed child was already grown up and becoming more and more aware. now that he was out of deep waters, his already watchful eyes permeated the surroundings even deeper.

so he watched each child carefully not to find the obscurial but to sense the magical aura elise told him about. she said it's like pure intuition except it is rarely wrong. credence had no idea what that meant, until one day when a small scrawny child entered the church. he had big, terrified brown eyes and a mess of dark hair on his head. his oversized clothes made him look even smaller and paler. credence looked at him and felt a tug somewhere deep inside his chest even before his mother's eyes also landed on the boy. she fell quiet, rising her hand slowly to the boy's cheek. on the right side of his forehead, a dark birth mark accentuated otherwise empty face. mary lou barebone stared at the boy as if she was trying to infiltrate his soul, and credence stared both at the boy and at the woman. the child felt the immense pressure of their attention as he croaked out shakily:

"ma'am, is it the witch's mark?"

credence sucked in breath in anticipation of mary lou's reply, but after a moment the woman gently smiled, "no. he's okay."

the boy had already trotted away with his body trembling, and credence's eyes followed his receeding figure. he knew his mother was not wrong now. there was nothing wrong with the boy and he was perfectly okay. but it did not mean he was a no-maj. one day this boy would be standing proudly in the world where he belonged and credence was sure of it. he wondered what mary lou would think if she could hear credence's thoughts.

she didn't need to know the betrayal in credence's heart to snap. he was slipping out of her control lately. on more than one occasion he'd walk inside the house when chastity was already done with the dishes after dinner. and although he bowed his head and handed her the belt without a word, the treatment was no longer proving effective. credence would be late again the very next day. she had started running out of places to hit, and credence out of white shirts unstained with blood.

mary lou wouldn't admit it, but a seedling of fear was spreading in her stomach. it came from the unusual weight to credence's silence when he bowed his head, as if not putting his heart to it anymore. and he was staring at her in a completely different way. she'd feel his eyes on her back, following her like a shadow. she'd notice his previously quick fearful glances were now longer and more deliberate. his attitude has shifted and his presence repulsed her more and more every day. he was a stain of filth on her clean white fabric, and he couldn't be washed off. she was lucky not to know what credence was doing after she'd hand the belt back to him.