J.T. McFadden was a brilliant and carefree young boy, who had recently celebrated his twelve birthday. He had always dreamed about becoming a scientist. One afternoon, he came back inside the house after playing with his dog in the yard. His older brothers were arguing about something in the kitchen.

"What did 당신 draw?"

"Show it to us!"

"NO!" Stretch tried to hide his picture behind his back.

"Aw, come on!" Stinkie and Fatso chided him as they reached for it. But Stretch shook his head and held his drawing out of their reach.

Fatso leaned over to Stinkie and whispered, "Let's get him."

And with that, they both walked over to Stretch and starting tickling him.

"AAAHHH! STOP! STOP!" Stretch laughed hysterically, and threw the picture at them.

Smirking, Fatso picked up the picture and looked at it.

"What in the world is THAT?" Stinkie wondered, gazing over Fatso's shoulder.

"It looks like some girl's feet," Fatso said, making a face. Then he and Stinkie looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?!" Stretch shouted furiously. He was blushing something terrible.

"Stretchy likes feet!" Fatso jeered. Stinkie made a rude noise.

"GIMME THAT!" Stretch snatched the sketch from his brother's hands.

J.T. decided to keep his distance, because he knew better than to get their way while they were fighting. But then, he froze when their father brushed past him and went into the kitchen.

Although they seldom saw him, Tadhg McFadden was verbally and emotionally abusive towards all his sons, especially when he had had too much to drink.

J.T. sat down outside the 부엌, 주방 door and cringed and he listened to his father yell at his brothers for making so much noise. Then everything got quiet for a moment, before he heard Tadhg demand an explanation about Stretch's drawing. Then the yelling started again.

J.T. pushed the door open a little and saw Tadhg crumple up the picture and throw it at an emotionless Stretch.

"RUBBISH!" Mr. McFadden bellowed, referring to his son's sketch. "IF I EVER CATCH 당신 DRAWING FEMALE BODY PARTS AGAIN 당신 ARE DEAD! DO 당신 UNDERSTAND?!"

"But I only drew her feet!" Stretch cried, as his cheeks grew red.

"BLAH! 당신 SICKO!" Tadhg screamed in Stretch's face.

J.T. continued to watch in horror as his father threatened and screamed at Stretch.

When it was finally over, Stretch stormed out of the kitchen, leaving his father still shouting after him.

"Go to your room and stay there! And remember, nobody likes you! NOBODY!" Tadhg's final words stung like Hell.

"Stretch, are 당신 okay?" J.T. asked, running to his oldest brother.

Stretch glared at him. "Get away from me, 당신 brat!" With that, he knocked J.T. down to the floor and went upstairs.

J.T. frowned and stayed where he had fallen – rubbing his sore backside. The dog trotted over to him to see if he was alright.

"Hey, boy," J. T. greeted him with a sad smile. The dog licked his freckled face and J.T. petted him softly in return. "Hey, do 당신 want to know what I'm going to do tonight?"

The dog stared into the boy's eyes and cocked his head.

J.T. scowled. "I'm going to kill my father."

OoOoOo

Now J.T. wasn't the kind of boy to go out looking for trouble, but he feared that his brother's life was in danger. His father could easily become a merciless maniac. The only thing J.T. could think of to protect his brothers was to get rid of their father.

J.T. decided that he would do it at night when everyone would be asleep. Since Tadhg was known to be a heavy sleeper, J.T. was pretty sure that the job would be easy enough. During 공식 만찬, 저녁 식사 that evening, J.T. kept glancing over at his father.

Tadhg was completely quiet at the evening meal, looking as though he were tired and had a hangover. He did look up every once in a while, just to glare at his sons. But that was it. Nobody mentioned the events from earlier in the day.

Eventually, bedtime came and Bertha went into the room that the boys shared and tucked them all in. "Sleep tight," she whispered. "And if 당신 see any bedbugs…kill them."

J.T. felt his stomach jump a little when she said that.

"G-Goodnight, Mother," he squeaked.

Bertha left the room and walked down the hall, towards the bedroom that she and her husband slept in. Soon the Trio was snoring just like they did every night. But J.T. kept his blue eyes wide open. He wanted to wait for awhile, just to be sure that parents were fast asleep.

After an hour, J.T. kicked off his blanket and lowered his bare feet to the cold, wood floor. Then he tiptoed out of the room and went downstairs as quietly as he could. He could hear the crickets chirping outside in the darkness.

J. T. lit a candle and stepped into the kitchen, his palms were sweating from the anxiety. He pulled out a drawer and selected a long, butcher knife.

He couldn't help but whimper at the sight of it. "Dear Heavenly Father…please have mercy on my soul."

Then he slowly walked back upstairs, his little 심장 was pounding furiously in his chest. His palms were drenched in sweat. He tiptoed down the hallway, towards his parent's bedroom. The floor creaked with every step he took, but it was unavoidable.

When he reached the door to his parent's room, he was so scared that he felt like he was going to shit his pants. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then pushed open the door. His parent's room always smelled weird – it was a musty smell mixed with his father's alcohol and his mother's cologne.

"I have to do this…I have to do this…," J.T. kept repeating that over and over again in his head. His parents were both fast asleep when he entered the room. Tadhg was laying on his back, one arm draped over the side of the bed.

J. T. swallowed hard and clutched the 칼, 나이프 with both hands as he raised it over Tadhg's chest.

Suddenly, Bertha opened her eyes. "J. T.? What are you…"

Without thinking, J.T. plunged the 칼, 나이프 into his father's body.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Tadhg screamed as he woke up with jolt of agony. He realized with shock what had just happened. He yanked the 칼, 나이프 from his chest and blood began pouring out. Bertha jumped out of 침대 and wrestled J. T. to the floor and slapped his face.

"ARE 당신 INSANE!?" she screamed at him. Then she threw the boy down and started holding 침대 sheets against Tadhg's wound. When the bleeding was under control, she bandaged his chest and left him to rest.

Then she dragged J. T. downstairs and threw him on the couch. "What's the matter with you?! 당신 want to murder your own father?!"

"He was going to do something bad to Stretch!" J. T. sobbed, rubbing the tears from his eyes.

"What are 당신 talking about?" Bertha asked, her voice was quieter this time.

J. T. sniffled. "He said bad things to Stretch today! H-He said that…he was going to hurt him. 당신 weren't there!"

Bertha lowered her eyes and sighed. "Son, your father doesn't mean half the things he says."

"But how do 당신 know that!?"

"Because if I thought he did, I would have killed him myself!" she exclaimed.

J. T. wiped his nose on the sleeve of his pajamas. "I didn't want to do it…"

"Well, just be grateful that he's going to be okay," she said, locking eyes with him. "Don't 당신 know what happens to people who have died a violent death?"

J. T. shook his head. Bertha knelt down in front of him.

"I'll tell you. Every year…on the anniversary of their death…that person's ghost has to go through their death again. They have to relive their brutal deaths over and over and over again."

"For how long?"

"Until they crossover 또는 until…"

"Until what?"

Meanwhile, Tadhg was going through the closet upstairs, looking for the gun he had given to his wife for self-defense. He found it and ran out of the room. "BERTHA! WHERE'S THAT KID?! I'M GONNA KILL THAT KID!"

But just as he started running downstairs, he slipped and tumbled down, breaking his neck in the process. Bertha screamed and ran to him as he lay at the bottom of the stairs.

"He's…He's dead," she said solemnly. "Your father is dead."

Dr. Harvey woke up with a jolt from a loud crash of thunder. It was pouring rain outside as he lay warm in his bed. A flash of white lightening lit up the room.

There was a thunderstorm outside, and Dr. Harvey had just woken up from another nightmare. But it didn't really matter. After all, he was getting used to it.