Page 227 of Satan's Spawn
I have a newfound hatred for folders, I swear.
All they’re doing is bringing on questions I didn’t ask.
“What was in the damn folder, Archer?” I try my best not to hiss.
“I think it’s best I just show you.” He reluctantly hands me the papers.
“What are these?” I ask as I retrieve the thick wad of paper.
“Read it.”
So I do, the first page looks like adoption papers of sorts…I get as far as realizing it’s for an eight year old kid named Isaiah Thatcher in 2013.
“What the hell, Archer?” I wave the form at him. “What does this kid have to do with anything?”
He retrieves the paper, pointing a finger at another name. Who appears to be the adopter.
Cillian Shaw.
I inhale a sharp breath, being bombarded with realization.
“You think Crayton is this Isaiah kid?”
Archer nods. “Looks like it.”
Okay, this isn’t terrible. So Crayton was adopted by Cillian and changed his name. It’s not uncommon and I’m not surprised, he looks nothing like his dad.
Things actually make more sense now.
“This is bad because?”
Archer’s lips tighten. “Check the next paper.”
I glance down at an article from the same year, the headline being “New York City mother found deceased in a neighborhood apartment building.”
As I read through the article, I find mostly details of the crime scene since it’s explaining how she was murdered.
My heart wrenches in my chest when I find out by who.
Her son.
“This is awful.” I shake my head as I learn how this boy was said to be drugged, isolated, along with physically and sexually abused by the woman.
I decide I’ve read enough when the nausea seeps in.
“Why are you showing me this, Archer? It’s horrible.”
“Next page,” he insists.
Begrudgingly I swipe the paper to the side, revealing another official form of sorts.
“It’s a police report from the murder.” Archer confirms as I try to decipher what’s before me. “Skip to the bottom half.”
When my eyes catch on a familiar name, the air seizes in my lungs.
Isaiah Thatcher.
His mother’s name was Miriam Thatcher.
