Arthur breathes in, and then out, and then nods, slow but decisive.
"All right." But he doesn't launch into it straight away. Where the hell does he start? The book? The basement? The case that turned out to underpin it all?
Abruptly, he takes in a breath and says: "My own stupid fault. Peter and I... Peter Yang, that's, that was Parker's professional name. He and I were investigating the- the disappearance of a girl, Emily MacFarland, and the search led us to an abandoned house with... well, with evidence of cult activity, though I had no idea of the extent of it until later on."
His voice is low. He rolls the bedsheets restlessly between his fingers as he speaks, remembering.
"Peter didn't like it. He was... particularly unnerved by a symbol carved into the basement door -- sort of angular, overlapping lines. He thought we were being watched, so we called it in to the police, and- and that's when they told us they'd already found her body. So we went home. And then... a book arrived on our doorstep. The same symbol was drawn on its cover."
And though he's speaking pretty tonelessly, there's still anger and frustration with himself in there when he says: "I insisted on reading it."
He laughs under his breath, short and mocking.
"Idiot. He was trapped inside. I-I-I let him out, I let him straight into my head. And the first thing he did-- the first thing-- he--"
Arthur struggles on the precipice of the confession. But he has no right to hide from his mistakes. Crichton deserves to know just how badly Arthur fucked up, the kind of collateral damage he leaves in his wake with every impulsive and poorly-chosen decision.
In a rush: "Parker. He ki- he killed Parker."
He has to stop there, give Crichton a chance to answer, to ask, to judge, to shout, to leave in disgust if he has to.
no subject
"All right." But he doesn't launch into it straight away. Where the hell does he start? The book? The basement? The case that turned out to underpin it all?
Abruptly, he takes in a breath and says: "My own stupid fault. Peter and I... Peter Yang, that's, that was Parker's professional name. He and I were investigating the- the disappearance of a girl, Emily MacFarland, and the search led us to an abandoned house with... well, with evidence of cult activity, though I had no idea of the extent of it until later on."
His voice is low. He rolls the bedsheets restlessly between his fingers as he speaks, remembering.
"Peter didn't like it. He was... particularly unnerved by a symbol carved into the basement door -- sort of angular, overlapping lines. He thought we were being watched, so we called it in to the police, and- and that's when they told us they'd already found her body. So we went home. And then... a book arrived on our doorstep. The same symbol was drawn on its cover."
And though he's speaking pretty tonelessly, there's still anger and frustration with himself in there when he says: "I insisted on reading it."
He laughs under his breath, short and mocking.
"Idiot. He was trapped inside. I-I-I let him out, I let him straight into my head. And the first thing he did-- the first thing-- he--"
Arthur struggles on the precipice of the confession. But he has no right to hide from his mistakes. Crichton deserves to know just how badly Arthur fucked up, the kind of collateral damage he leaves in his wake with every impulsive and poorly-chosen decision.
In a rush: "Parker. He ki- he killed Parker."
He has to stop there, give Crichton a chance to answer, to ask, to judge, to shout, to leave in disgust if he has to.