A Brother's Sorrow [REWRITE]

Chapter 3

William had arrived home with the foolish child, searching for the second who he had locked in its room. His older child had been punished long enough, and now it was time to retrieve him. He'd probably complain about being hungry, but fortunately William wouldn't have to deal with that whining for much longer. After all, his son wouldn't need to eat soon enough.

William walked up to the door to Michael's room, only to see that it had been thrown into the hall, cracked in half with the doorknob missing. "Oh god," he hissed in shock. "No, no no NO NO!" He took off running towards the basement, knowing that the child probably found his way down there. If Michael had found out about what he had been planning he was screwed. Not to mention he had unwittingly armed a moody teen with a weapon to be used against him. He yanked open the door to the basement and took off down the steps, unaware of Chris uncertainly following him. He had to find out what Michael was up to. He had to find out...

The man froze, staring at the decaying corpse that had once been his son. The mechanical arm that William had "gifted" his son had been turned into a method of what appeared to be suicide, clutching the neck of Michael's head in its iron-clad grip.

"Weak," William muttered to himself. He leaned down, stroking the metal arm that was now coated in scarlet blood. He had no reason to fear the idiotic child anymore, he was long dead and far too weak to handle taking the life of another human being. Signing, he went to rip the arm off of his deceased child only to hear a hiccup sound from behind his head.

Chris was watching in horror, his eyes locked onto the headless corpse of his only brother. Michael had never been around, yes. When the teen had been around he took it upon himself to scare the shit out of Chris. Yet, Michael had been the only person that had still cared about him. Now, his brother was dead and his father was seemingly unaffected by it.

"Weak." The word his father had said when he saw that Michael was dead. No grieving, hell even the fear that had been present in his body motions was now gone, replaced by what seemed to be frustration and.... disappointment? Chris couldn't understand it, it was almost as if his father wasn't even concerned about the death of his child. Hell, his father had only cried when his mother died.

Chris was paralyzed in place as he let out a hiccup, tears streaming down his pale face. "Why do they all have to leave so soon? Why am I alone? Why didn't I just die?!" These thoughts swirled through the poor child's head as he stared at his brother's dead body. Another life taken away by robots. "No, I have to be strong. They wouldn't want me to give up, they would want me to live for them." Chris finally looked away from the corpse and turned to flee the room, only for a rough hand to grab him by the shirt and drag him backwards.

William was now determined. He would save his family from death, he wouldn't be left alone in this world! The boy....he would join his siblings. Chris would be reunited with his family in the cold darkness of a holding facility. In his deluded, crazed mind he desired for his family to be bound within the steel cages of immortality. He would eventually join them in the metal eternity when he had grown old and weary. As for now, the boy with him now needed to join his siblings. William certainly couldn't care for a kid now. Then, a devious idea entered his broken mind.

William would rescue children, bring them down in the dark for his children to have friends. They'd be lonely, after all. He couldn't just throw a NES down there as their new fingers were far too bulky for the controllers. No, it wasn't greedy. It was righteous! Those children probably had miserable lives anyway. Not like he'd care either way. It was the happiness of his family that mattered after all.

William finally turned, snatching at the boy's shirt as Chris turned to head back upstairs, throwing the child onto the work desk. He gripped a handsaw in one trembling hand, his face alight with manic delight.

"Don't worry, I'll put you back together son!" William rose the saw up into the air, letting it hang there for a minute before bringing it down towards Chris's left leg.

Chris rolled out of the way, falling off the desk and onto the floor. He then took off running, darting up the stairs before slamming the basement door closed, buying him a few extra seconds of life.
He quickly took off towards the front door, yanking it open before running off and down the street. He couldn't hear the maddened footsteps of his pursuer, fortunately, but the 8-year-old knew he wasn't safe anymore.

Chris needed to get out of town, before his father finished the job he had started.