Obscure Occurrences |C. BAREBONE|

☛ Twenty-Four ☚

• January, 1926 •

Credence didn't believe in magic. He didn't believe in God or any other merciful power. Instead, his faith was left to nothing, a bottomless pit that used to feed him lies.

It said Genevieve was no good, that she would run and never come back. It was right. Credence found himself seething with anger at the thought of her. However, that didn't stop his dreams or the memories of what the fragile boy used to think. Some nights, he laid awake just wondering where she was and would he be allowed to follow if he knew. The majority of nights were taken up by this thoughts. Mostly by thinking of Genevieve's each step toward freedom, he imagined it was also his own. Yet when he did this, the more his mind wandered and his barriers came down. It let the voice seep through the cracks and infest his mind with a deceitful truth. It felt like a lie, but Credence couldn't help but agree.

Credence didn't know where his loyalties laid.

After Genevieve had abandoned him
-probably already married to that man he saw- Credence continued his days as he did before. Leaflets were handed out with a feeble attempt and his hands were scarred all over again. Each time the belt came down he no longer wanted to be strong, he wanted to cry out. Sometimes he was silly to imagine that Genevieve would hear him, come running and take him far from the Second Salem church.

When he wasn't contributing to his Ma's rallies and feeding the children she pulled from the streets, Credence looked after Modesty. She was adopted by his Ma in June of 1925 and already her brain was warped into his Ma's ideas and beliefs of witches. Constantly, throughout their chores she would sing a lullaby Mary Lou had created for the young girl, hoping it would radicalise her child-brain. Mostly, Credence could tune out of the horrific melody yet sometimes he would find himself drawn to it. Still though, he never believed witches could be all bad. Genevieve was magical...

He still couldn't decide if she was a nightmare or a dream.

Once, while distributing the food to the homeless children, Credence recalled the vivid scene of Genevieve...

She was circling her fingers across his chest as she laid upon him. She could clearly hear his heart humming it's usual tune and feel his ribcage expanding with each shallow breath. Genevieve couldn't see him, but she could feel every inch. Meanwhile, Credence curled a long strand of her hair around his left hand, ring finger. Finally, he had seen it free from that short bob and splayed our across her bed sheets. He never thought he had seen something so alive.

"What are you thinking about?" She questioned from the darkness as he felt the weight of her head leave his body.

"You" he whispered. Unable to see the blush he was causing across her cheeks.

"What about me?".

"Y-You're hair... I've never seen it down...
A-And also about w-what we've done" he confessed quietly.

There was a silence following his words. At first he thought he crossed the line, maybe he was too forward? But not at all.

"Well I'm thinking about you too-" she said with a smile he couldn't see, "- in the same way".

"Credence!" Someone suddenly snapped, jolting him awake. His heart raced, his mind whirled... What had he done? Really, Credence didn't need to know. All that mattered was the glare Mary Lou shot his way as he stood beside her, small and hunched.

"The boy has asked kindly for his dinner" the corrupt woman seethed through a kind tone. Already, the boy knew she wouldn't hold back later. So he continued about his day, distributing the meals as Mary Lou's eyes buried into the side of his skull. Eventually, he knew his Ma would pick and pull the day apart, trying to scour twenty-four hours for a problem. A problem he had caused solely himself. If he'd done nothing. She would threaten to punish Modesty for some short, childish rampage every kid acted on.

She couldn't help it. Only he could.

For months he took the physical pain, layered it on his traitorous lover and neglect. Credence was falling in an ocean of chaos no one could control. Not even him, and it was his mind. Credence was so far gone he couldn't see the surface, only the remains of who he was meant to be. They were shards that cracked and fell due to the expansion of who he was now.

Nonetheless, Credence the coward would take Genevieve back anyway; despite her betrayal.