[ Murphy isn't sure how he feels about her dragging a chair over to sit across from him. He had been sitting, confessing, as she stood to listen to the story of what he's done.
The corner of his mouth almost flickers into a smile - something humorless - as he agrees there isn't anything she can say to change but he appreciates that she wants to try.
He breathes out and his shoulders lower that she doesn't judge him.
And he's quiet as he listens to what she has to say. ]
In Silent Hill, the town manifested him for me. He was... happy. [ His head gives a shake. ] I don't know if that was my projection, though. [ His eyebrows - or the ridges of his eyebrows - come together. ]
Honestly? [ As he is being honest? ] It felt good kill him. It wasn't just Charlie that monster killed. [ His face twitches involuntarily. ] But it didn't bring my son back to me.
And that piece of shit guard... he pinned another murder on me. [ He huffs out a laugh. ] He covered up me killing that monster and instead had me take the fall of the death of someone else.
Someone that he wanted dead 'cause that guy knew he was a fucking plague even if he helped me. [ A small weak sigh. ] And I accepted it. I figured... my life was already over.
[ The town had manifested his son happy. Sharon doesn't know what to make of that. As far as she knows, no one has ever stumbled across happiness in that festering pit of a place. Not without some catch. If the town had shown Murphy his son smiling, then there had to be a reason for it. But projection or not, he'd seen his son again. He'd gotten to see him happy. That was either a gift or something far crueler—a way to press against a wound that had never stopped bleeding, to tear it open just enough to keep it fresh. ] Does it matter?
[ When Murphy admits he'd felt good killing the man, Sharon doesn't flinch. Maybe once, she would've judged him for saying it so plainly. Maybe once, she'd have recoiled from the honesty of it. But now? Now she understands. How could she not? There is a particular kind of satisfaction in revenge, intoxicating in a way little else can match. The ugly relief of knowing one less monster is allowed to keep breathing. It doesn't fix anything. It doesn't give them back what was taken. But that had never been the point.
Nothing was ever going to bring his son back. ]
Jesus... that's so fucked, Murphy. [ Sharon mutters, her face twisting as her thoughts catch on the guard. That detail settles badly in her stomach. ] I don't understand why you'd just... Why take the blame? I get that you thought your life was over, but...
[ She can understand his quest for revenge, she can understand if he did awful things to get there—but to then take the blame for a different murder? This is what she can't understand. ]
[ His head is a mess when he thinks of the Charlie he saw. He knows it's because of being aware of Maria's existence. Was the Charlie he saw a living, breathing entity? Did he have his son's memories? Did he only exist for that short time before ceasing to be? Or was he still wandering that town?
It's worse to think he's still in that town.
But he already knows he wouldn't be able to take that Charlie home. It'd be nice until the horror would set in - having something that wears his son's face.
But that's the town's fault... not that Charlie's.
His hands shake and shudder before he fixes on her question instead. ]
Because all the signs were there that he wanted that man dead and I didn't do enough to save him.
[ It sounds like some excuse. Like some self-serving excuse and he hates it. ]
Coleridge. The man who died was Coleridge.
[ No need to name Sewell. ]
He was killed in front of me. I was ... right there! I was right there again! I wasn't able ... [ His voice started to rise before he quiets down. ] ... that guard that killed him was never going to go down for it.
All I could and can do was accept my guilt in not doing more... and let the family feel a little better a monster was killed.
[ Yeah, he was given the death penalty for Sewell's lie, and just moved to another prison until it was time to go. ]
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no subject
Date: 2026-05-08 02:26 am (UTC)The corner of his mouth almost flickers into a smile - something humorless - as he agrees there isn't anything she can say to change but he appreciates that she wants to try.
He breathes out and his shoulders lower that she doesn't judge him.
And he's quiet as he listens to what she has to say. ]
In Silent Hill, the town manifested him for me. He was... happy. [ His head gives a shake. ] I don't know if that was my projection, though. [ His eyebrows - or the ridges of his eyebrows - come together. ]
Honestly? [ As he is being honest? ] It felt good kill him. It wasn't just Charlie that monster killed. [ His face twitches involuntarily. ] But it didn't bring my son back to me.
And that piece of shit guard... he pinned another murder on me. [ He huffs out a laugh. ] He covered up me killing that monster and instead had me take the fall of the death of someone else.
Someone that he wanted dead 'cause that guy knew he was a fucking plague even if he helped me. [ A small weak sigh. ] And I accepted it. I figured... my life was already over.
Why not let it burn a little more?
no subject
Date: 2026-05-09 03:25 am (UTC)[ When Murphy admits he'd felt good killing the man, Sharon doesn't flinch. Maybe once, she would've judged him for saying it so plainly. Maybe once, she'd have recoiled from the honesty of it. But now? Now she understands. How could she not? There is a particular kind of satisfaction in revenge, intoxicating in a way little else can match. The ugly relief of knowing one less monster is allowed to keep breathing. It doesn't fix anything. It doesn't give them back what was taken. But that had never been the point.
Nothing was ever going to bring his son back. ]
Jesus... that's so fucked, Murphy. [ Sharon mutters, her face twisting as her thoughts catch on the guard. That detail settles badly in her stomach. ] I don't understand why you'd just... Why take the blame? I get that you thought your life was over, but...
[ She can understand his quest for revenge, she can understand if he did awful things to get there—but to then take the blame for a different murder? This is what she can't understand. ]
no subject
Date: 2026-05-09 03:56 am (UTC)[ His head is a mess when he thinks of the Charlie he saw. He knows it's because of being aware of Maria's existence. Was the Charlie he saw a living, breathing entity? Did he have his son's memories? Did he only exist for that short time before ceasing to be? Or was he still wandering that town?
It's worse to think he's still in that town.
But he already knows he wouldn't be able to take that Charlie home. It'd be nice until the horror would set in - having something that wears his son's face.
But that's the town's fault... not that Charlie's.
His hands shake and shudder before he fixes on her question instead. ]
Because all the signs were there that he wanted that man dead and I didn't do enough to save him.
[ It sounds like some excuse. Like some self-serving excuse and he hates it. ]
Coleridge. The man who died was Coleridge.
[ No need to name Sewell. ]
He was killed in front of me. I was ... right there! I was right there again! I wasn't able ... [ His voice started to rise before he quiets down. ] ... that guard that killed him was never going to go down for it.
All I could and can do was accept my guilt in not doing more... and let the family feel a little better a monster was killed.
[ Yeah, he was given the death penalty for Sewell's lie, and just moved to another prison until it was time to go. ]
But now I'm taking that from them.