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Memory enhancement mode. Playing condensed memories. Success rate of recall: 90%

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I stood there as the memories of all the things the Hag put me through ran through my mind. My hate for my parents built inside of me because everything that happened to me was their fault. All of it. Every bite, every cut, every hit, every cruel word, and every time the Hag feasted on me, made the hate build and grow to a size that I was surprised I wasn't covered in flames because it burned so hot inside of me.

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You have another critical choice to make. This will change how the story progresses significantly.

A) Do nothing. B) Thank her. C) Confront them. D) Run. E) Yell. F) Kill them all. G) Choose two.

I didn't even have to think about it. I choose D and C.

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I let Mrs. Hansen go and stepped back, anger clearly on my face. I didn't say anything to her as I turned away.

“David!” Donna exclaimed and reached for me. “Don't!”

I activated the vigilance technique, dodged her hand, and started to run.

“DAAAAVID!” Donna yelled from behind me.

I poured on the speed and ran back up the road to the garrison. It was in the field across from the Addams farm and I turned away from the gates to run down the well maintained road. They would never catch me before I got there. I saw that there was a nice sized house in the field by the water. I had passed by it several times and I had no clue that it was where I had lived as a child.

Several men were putting sacks of things into a cart and saw me running towards them.

“HEY! STOP!” One of them yelled when he saw the anger on my face. He picked up a pitchfork and held it threateningly towards me as the other man took a fighting stance. I almost laughed at the pathetic attempts to defend against me, since a jumping spider was faster than their reaction time and I had been handling deadly spiders since I was a child.

I was an adult now and easily dodged the first feeble attack by the pitchfork, slammed my elbow into the hand that held the handle and broke both, then tackled the other man to the ground. A quick slap to his chest left him gasping for air and I stood up.

“S-s-stop.” The man with the broken hand said.

I ignored him and walked over to the front door. I planted my foot into the center of the door and it splintered apart with the sound of thunder and fell to the floor of the nice living room.

“AHHH!” A woman screamed in fright and jumped up from the chair she sat in. It was Linda, Hope's sister. An older lady, I assumed was Margaret and my mother, sat on the nice plush couch across the room and hadn't even flinched at my entrance.

“What was that noise?” Hope asked as she ran into the room and then she gasped when she saw me. “James!”

“Why?” I asked the older lady as I stepped into the room.

“Leave this instant! You can't just break in...” Linda started to say.

“Hush, child.” Margaret said and stared at me. “You look just like him, even with the angry face and no hair.”

“I told you he looked like Dad.” Hope said and walked over to the couch and stood beside her mother.

“Get away... from Mom!” A man's voice said from behind me.

“I can break your other hand if you want.” I said without turning around and stopped walking halfway across the living room.

“Frank, drop the broken pitchfork. It obviously didn't work the first time.” Margaret said. “Come closer, James.”

“My name is David. David Drake.” I said and stayed where I was.

“No, your name is James Benjamin Addams and...”

“...you sold me to the Hag as a baby.” I interrupted and cut her off. “Slaves don't have names.”

Hope had tears appear in her eyes and she wiped at them. “James, I... I'm really sorry...”

“Why did you do it?” I asked the older lady and ignored Hope.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“We needed money to save the farm.” Margaret said. “The animal's water was poisoned and we were going to lose everything. You were constantly sick and we used up so much money and time trying to keep you healthy, until we found out that you had been drinking the animal's water.”

I remained silent as she explained.

“We called for help and then we made a deal with the Hag. In exchange for you, she gave us money, dug the irrigation ditches, purified the water, and then grew our crops in a month.” Margaret said, completely unapologetic. “Our family prospered so much after you were gone. We were well fed, had lots of money from growing the best crops, and everyone was so much happier.”

“Momma?” A young blonde haired boy about 12 years old came into the room. “What's going on?”

“Your older brother just came for a visit.” Margaret said and the boy sat down on the couch.

I stared at the very normal and healthy looking boy. She called me his older brother. I thought and then looked at the older lady. “How sad were you that the Hag didn't come by to buy another one?”

Hope and Linda gasped.

“Shut up!” Frank said from behind me and swung his still working fist at me. I stepped aside and grabbed his arm, pulled it up behind his back, then shoved him to the floor. His arm snapped as his head thumped into the rug and I knelt on him. I wasn't being as careful as I should have been.

“NO!” Linda yelled and ran over to him. “Let him go!”

I stood up and let his arm flop to the side. “He's not dead.”

Hope stared at her older brother for a second and then stared at me. “Do you hate mom so much that you would hurt your brother like that?”

“He's not my brother.” I said and started unbuttoning my shirt. “I've learned a bit about family now and how they should be treated.” I pulled open my shirt and let it drop to the floor. “Family would never let this happen.”

“By the Son's Light.” Linda whispered as she looked up at my damaged and scarred body. Hope cried hard and Margaret's face became flat and didn't show any expression.

“You're really ugly.” The boy said.

“You... need a... healer.” Hope said through her sobs.

“It's already healed as much as it ever will be.” I said and she covered her eyes and her body shook as she cried even harder.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” Margaret asked and looked into my eyes. “Hurry up and take your revenge.”

“DAVID!” Donna's voice yelled.

I heard running feet and exhausted breathing as the others approached the house.

“Where's... Mr. Addams?” Alex said as he leaned against the open doorway.

“Dead. He died during the winter.” Margaret said without looking away from me. “If you wanted to kill him for what we did to you, then you're too late.” She said. “So, go ahead. I'm waiting. Do your worst.”

I stared into her eyes and wondered what she was thinking.

Hurry up and kill me! I can't stand looking at your ruined body any longer! Margaret thought. I did that to you, just as much as the Hag did! Please, please, kill me! I deserve it! “You can do what you want with me as long as you stop hurting your brothers and sisters.”

“They aren't my brothers and sisters.” I said as I knelt down and touched the floor.

Linda gasped and pulled Frank away from me.

“David, what are you doing?” Donna asked.

“I'm taking back what the Hag gave them for me.” I said and closed my eyes. I felt with my magic, which was something I had never done while using the vigilance technique before, and I pushed it out and into the ground. I felt the Hag's blessing on the land and the water in the trenches. I used my own magic to infuse into it and then cast the dispel spell.

The ground shook and the house settled down slightly and there was the sound of ground shifting outside. I felt the ground start to wither as the life giving water stopped flowing and pulled my magic back. My work of undoing the Hag's magic was done.

I stood up with my shirt and looked at Margaret. “Was it worth it?” I asked as I put the shirt on and buttoned it. “Was having years of prosperity worth torturing a child?”

Margaret didn't say anything and kept the same blank expression on her face.

Hope shook her head several times. “I lost my two year old brother and I missed him every single day since then.” She said and wiped at her eyes. “I've been looking for you in town all this time and I'm sorry that I didn't find you until last year.”

How could she have missed me? The Hag and I were all over town for years. I thought. Wait, I was two when she bought me? I thought in surprise and then wished that I could hear what she was thinking.

My heart's been broken every day that I didn't see your smiling and laughing face. Even when you were sick all the time, you would throw up and then just laughed it off like it was nothing. I miss you so much and I don't hate this new you, even though you're scary and angry now. You're not sick anymore, even though you look like you've been chewed up and spat out. I miss your laugh. I want to hear you laugh like that again. I really do. Hope thought and she smiled sadly. “Please, don't hate me for losing you.”

I opened my mouth to respond and Donna touched my shoulder.

“We need to go and finish the mission.” Donna said.

I gave the older lady one last look and saw that her face was still blank, so I turned around to leave. I ignored Donna handing Linda the healing potion and walked out through the doorway. I didn't glance around, because I knew what I was going to see if I did. I had felt the trenches collapse and the dirt churned and compacted into a hardened state, which made it practically useless as farming land.

By the time I reached the main road, Roy and Rich were there with the cart. I took over and we went back to Diane's place. I quickly cut up hundreds of planks, while leaving the choice cuts for Michelle's boat building business, then took the filled cart to the village. I had Diane's new store built behind her shack in only an hour, since using the potion let me make the walls as quickly as stacking them, especially with Roy's and Rich's help.

I harvested the door and windows from the shack and put them where Diane wanted them and then built her racks, shelves, and a new counter. Once again, it was so fast because of the potion, that I now had so much of, and it made it very easy to built things from wood. I even made her a pile of tables and chairs with the extra planks that I didn't use, so she would have more things to sell.

I left her to transfer everything into the new place and promised to cut up the shack when I came back with more things for her to sell, and we left the modified hand cart by the dock and went back to Diane's place. We climbed into my boat and I didn't bother pretending to pole the boat. I sat down and used the movement enchantment to leave that waterway, sped around the large dock of the village, and entered the other waterway to head home.

I successfully ignored the hollers of surprise from the dock, because I was far beyond caring what they thought about me now.