Father led William down a well-trodden path. The bruises on William's arms and legs throbbed in time with his quickening heartbeat.

Yet, despite knowing what was to come, William didn't regret speaking out against Peter and the other children. He'd warned his parents and Mr. Farnsworth as best he could, but who would ever believe children could be capable of such brutality? Even if they had by some miracle believed him, they would never understand what stirred inside the children's bodies, twisting them into something unnatural.

No, his only regret was that he could not yet fathom how he could help Emma and the others. The children could be saved—little Peter Farnsworth's muffled screams had told him that much—but how? If he discovered how to free them from the rodents inside them, would they return to the sweet children they once were, or would they forever be tainted by the creatures that lurked within them?

As powerless as William felt in that moment, he took solace in one fact: he had once again spared his mother and sister from the horrors his father would inflict upon him.

The Tantalus greeted them with its ever-present roar. What was so often William's sanctuary of solitude where he could play his guitar without fear of being chastised was also where Father took him whenever he didn't want anyone to hear what he would do to him.

"Pity you never behave yourself," Father sneered. "You set such a poor example for Emma."

"I know," William said softly. It was no use arguing, not if he wanted to avoid getting in even deeper trouble. As long as Father never laid a hand on Emma, he could bear whatever insults he hurled at him. "I'm sorry."

Father snorted. "Sorry's not good enough, boy. Turn around."

William did as he was told. Clinking metal quickened his heart as his knees started shaking. The soft shush of leather against Father's hands sent cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

Teeth sank into his lip. He wouldn't cry. No matter how much it hurt, he wouldn't cry.

"Not fun knowing someone bigger than you is about to hurt you, is it?"

"No, it's not." Agree with Father without question. Don't show fear. Don't talk too much or give any indication anything Father said upset him. These were the rules William lived by whenever Father took him out by the Tantalus.

Father snapped the belt. "Take your shirt off."

William eased his shirt over his head, carefully folding it and placing it at his feet. The chill wind nipped his bare skin, sending goosebumps racing up his arms. His body trembled, his teeth chattering as the coldness seeped into his bones.

"Look at how pathetic you are, shivering in the cold like a newly whelped pup. Say it."

"I'm pathetic," William said hoarsely, the words catching in his throat.

Father snapped the belt so close to William's skin that the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. "Louder!"

"I'm pathetic!" The raging Tantalus swallowed his words, but they rang in William's ears all the same. He truly was pathetic. How couldn't he be if he couldn't even protect his sister from a rat?

"Now kneel like the sniveling coward you are."

William got down on his knees, wincing as his bruises pressed into the mud. He screwed his eyes shut against the pain. Against his trembling legs. Against what he knew was coming.

The belt whipped through the air. William cried out as the buckle bit into his flesh. The leather's burning sting haunted his nightmares, but this, this was a searing ache with all the force of a hammer striking an anvil.

"Up to now, I've treated you like a child," Father said, lowering his voice. "You no longer deserve that. A child may hide from their mistakes, but only a true coward would harm someone solely to watch them suffer. What are you?"

"A coward," whispered. He bowed his head, bracing himself for the next strike.

"You are a coward." Slap! "Weak." Slap! "Worthless."

William bit his lip so hard blood dripped from where his teeth pierced his skin, yet he still couldn't stop the tears running down his face. With each blow ripping into his back, his father carved his deepest, darkest thoughts about himself into his flesh.

He was weak. No matter how many times Father did this to him, he'd always end up crying and curling in on himself until Father decided he'd had enough.

But regardless of how weak he was, he'd bear the pain like he always did. Better him than anyone else.

###

After Father's arm finally tired, William limped home. Father had gone ahead without him, leaving William to drag his battered body through his bedroom window. His back screamed as he hauled himself over the sill, but that was a meager price to pay to prevent Mother and Emma from seeing how badly Father had wounded him.

A plate of bread and cheese waited for him alongside a washcloth and a bowl filled with water. Though she couldn't stop Father from hurting him, Mother did everything she could to ease his pain. William whispered a quick thank you to the Lord for giving him such a kind mother. She was the only person who knew what Father put him through and was one of the only reasons he kept pushing himself to survive despite everything.

Yet, despite her love and compassion, there was only so much Mother could do to help him, let alone Emma. Until he spoke with the rat, William couldn't bear to eat a single bite.

Burdock slipped inside the room so quietly William didn't realize he'd entered until his tiny feet tapped across the floor. "You are hurt."

William shrugged, wincing as pain stabbed through his back. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before. We need to talk about the children."

"We can do that while you tend to your wounds." Burdock pushed the bowl of water toward him with the tip of his nose. "You must take care of yourself if we are to have any hope of saving your sister."

"I hardly see how wasting time on me helps her in the slightest, but fine."

William pulled his shirt over his head, letting out a shuddering gasp as the fabric pulled one of his newly formed scabs free. Recounting everything that had happened with the children did little to ease his throbbing muscles as he washed the blood from his back. He didn't need to see what Father had done to him to know he'd take weeks to recover. What was one tapestry of reds and purples when his back so often bore those familiar hues? The pattern of the stripes left behind by Father's belt may have changed, but the searing pain never did.

At least, it had remained unchanged for many years until tonight. William's first encounter with the buckle of Father's belt left swollen lumps amid the patchwork of welts. Deep purple bruises darkened his wrists and legs where the children had pinned him in place. As William told Burdock everything they had done to him, his heart ached more painfully than his body ever could. What had those rats done to the sweet, gentle children he used to know?

Once he finished, the pair of them sat in silence while William ate the food his mother had set aside for him. At last, Burdock spoke. "It is as I feared. They are under the Piper's control."

"Who is he?" Although William had met his fair share of traveling musicians, he had never heard of one who was referred to by their title alone. None save the one Peter had said gave him authority over the other children.

"The Piper is a foolish, arrogant human who dares to corrupt the Hymn of the Whole by using it for his own gain." Burdock bared his teeth. "He has poisoned the Whole so that all the rats within the colony obey him. They are no longer a single unified Whole but a broken, subservient Many."

William shuddered. The children were not the only ones who were suffering because of the Piper. "So he is to blame for what the rats have done. Why would he make them go inside the children?"

"The Hymn of the Whole can bind the souls of those who hear its call, and that bond remains if a rat makes themselves one with another." Burdock twitched his ears. "By forcing the rats inside the children, the Piper gains servants who must do his bidding. Though their bond with the humans they inhabit grants my kind a lifespan that is greater than ten times what they usually possess, the Piper's power is more curse than blessing. Should any of the bound rats dare to disobey him, he will rip their souls asunder with the very music that made them open their souls to him."

Goosebumps broke across William's skin. His sister was no longer herself, held prisoner in her own body by one of the Piper's rats. But something still didn't make sense. "If his music is so powerful, then how were you able to resist its pull? You say the Piper commands everyone who hears this song, yet you remain free. I do not doubt that the Piper would not wish for you to reveal his secrets to me."

"My soul belongs to none save the Whole," Burdock said firmly. "Difficult though it was, I resisted the Piper's pull to search for someone who could free my brethren from his control. The Whole is powerful, but without the aid of an instrument, they cannot make their Hymn heard as widely as the Piper can."

"That's why you came to me," William said.

"Precisely. With your guitar, we can use the Hymn to draw the rats out of the children and free everyone from the Piper's control. Once we subdue the Piper, I will help my brethren reform the Whole, and your town's crops will never be troubled by my kind ever again." Burdock lashed his tail. "Though the Whole will be greatly displeased that I taught the Hymn to a human, I fear that I cannot defeat the Piper on my own. If we are to have any hope of freeing everyone from his influence, I require your assistance."

"What do you need me to do?"

Burdock made a soft squeak of surprise before flinching and listening silently for a few moments to make sure none of the household's other residents had heard him. "You must truly care for your sister very deeply if you are willing to face such a dangerous foe with no hesitation," he said. "To defeat the Piper, we must practice the Hymn of the Whole until you have mastered the song as well as your own breathing and investigate the town of Aerzen to ensure the Piper has not taught the Hymn to anyone else. Then, you will play the Hymn so you can separate the rats from the children and help them subdue the Piper."

"Aerzen is where Father goes whenever he needs to buy supplies he can't get in Hamelin. He's never taken me there, but I might be able to convince him to let me come with him. If I was to travel out of Hamelin with him though..." William's throat tightened, forcing his voice out as little more than a squeak. "I might not come back."

"Your father is far more aggressive toward you when you are alone." It was not a question but a statement, one that sent William's heart hammering as he nodded. "He truly is a fearsome threat," Burdock said, "but once you have mastered the Hymn, you could use it to dispose of him."

William's eyes widened. "I could never do that!"

Burdock darted out of reach with his fur bristling, only lowering his hackles when it became clear William's outburst was merely verbal. "The Whole would never tolerate one member poisoning the rest. Those like your father would be cast out or killed if they refused to stop endangering the group. Why would you not want to remove him from your family?"

"If I hurt him, I would be just like him."

"Harming a monster is not the same as harming one of your own, but if you truly do not wish to remove him from your life, I suppose we must tolerate him." Burdock flicked his ears as if he was shaking off water droplets. "Since your body and guitar must be mended, we will focus on investigating the Piper for now. Once we know more about any other threats we may need to address, I will teach you how to wield the Hymn of the Whole."