Part Four

*A wrong choice, a hollow home, a truth told...*

### Content Warnings

Children in peril, child loss, war, auditory hallucinations, stigmatization of mental illness, animal abuse (cat), fire, knife violence, gun violence, entrapment, murder, body horror (decapitated head), blood loss, sounds of death (gurgling, etc.).

## Summary

Arthur and the Entity leave the mansion, reaching the road at the end of the driveway and following it to the nearest town. They find a safe place to leave the baby and hitch a ride with a stranger who agrees to take them to Harper’s Hill. Unfortunately for Arthur, the stranger turns out to be a dangerously unstable man who instead brings them back to his property in the woods, claiming he can also hear the entity inside Arthur’s head.

## Synopsis

Arthur chooses to spare the wraith, freeing her in exchange for directions to the nearest town. He cuts the chair to release her and she points to the nearest town.

They take the baby and leave, going back to the woods. Arthur suggests leaving the baby with the authorities, but the entity reminds him he is still wanted back in Arkham. Arthur brings up the incident with the woman and the unknown creature in the woods. The entity says that something was following them, and that he’s felt it since then. They also mention the typewriter in the basement, claiming that something larger is going on that feels ‘unfinished’.

Eventually they step onto a paved road. The entity a truck stop diner. Arthur wants to go inside and get something to eat, but the entity sees police inside. The officer talks to a distraught, wounded woman wrapped in a blanket. Arthur and the entity wonder if this is the baby's mother.

A delivery truck that reads ‘*Crawford Farm, Harper’s Hill*’ pulls up. Arthur decides to leave the baby on the stoop of the diner and ask the truck driver for a ride. Before he leaves the baby, Arthur asks the entity to describe her to him. He does: she has soft blue eyes, a curling smile, and long fingers, like a future piano player.

Arthur drops the baby off and waits until the police find her. The woman starts crying. Arthur heads towards the truck to ask for a ride. Unfortunately, in the interval, Arthur inadvertently walks to the wrong truck.

He asks for a ride as the entity tells him he chose the wrong truck. The driver accepts: according to the entity, the driver looks suspicious, wears a gas mask, and looks straight ahead. Arthur thanks him for the ride and the man introduces himself as Kellin Holeman. He explains he wears the mask because he was in the Great War and the chemicals injured his lungs.

The entity urges Arthur to leave. When Arthur shushes him, Kellin takes offense. He asks Arthur if he knows how to sing and tells him that it took him a moment to ‘realize what was going on’. Arthur is confused. Kellin explains the radio is out. Arthur is relieved until Kellin asks if Arthur minds if he sings. As he does, the entity again urges Arthur to get out. Arthur tries to ask how long the ride to Harper’s Hill is but Kellin shushes him.

Arthur makes an excuse to leave, offending Kellin. He demands that Arthur sing. Arthur begins to sing *You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love) by Russ Columbo,* but skips over the word ‘madness’, angering Kellin. He stops the truck on the side of the road and begins talking to himself. The entity frantically urges Arthur to run, but Kellin tells Arthur that if he moves, he’ll kill him. Arthur stays in the vehicle and Kellin begins driving again.

They arrive at a property in the woods. Kellin retrieves a gun from the glovebox, points it at Arthur, and tells him to get out of the truck. The entity urges Arthur to attack while his back is turned, but Arthur refuses. Kellin believes Arthur is mocking him.

Kellin leads Arthur to his home, revealing a hidden basement. As they head down, Kellin asks Arthur why he came. Arthur is confused, saying that Kellin brought him here. Kellin gets upset again and asks how Arthur got it to listen to him. Arthur realizes Kellin is talking about the entity, and asks if he can hear it as well. Kellin says he can and that the voices in his own head won’t shut up. The entity tells Arthur not to reveal his existence, but Arthur doesn’t listen. He tells Kellin that the entity exists and he can only listen to him, not stop him. The entity is angry, telling Arthur he’s an idiot and that Kellin can’t actually hear him. He calls Kellin’s mother a whore to prove it.

Kellin leaves. They discover a makeshift bed and a chain on the ground, revealing that Arthur is not the first person to be brought here. The entity tells Arthur to get the keys, steal the truck, and escape. They leave the basement and look for anything they could use against Kellin. They find a photo of two children, an article about a missing girl, and a rifle under Kellin's coat. Arthur takes the latter.

They find Kellin standing on a dock and head towards him. As they approach, Kellin tells Arthur about a girl who approached him because she also heard voices. He picks up a chain sitting by his feet and pulls a human head out of the water. He starts talking to the head before turning to Arthur and telling him that his mother was not a whore.

Kellin becomes upset, yelling that the head wants to be with Arthur. He threatens to kill Arthur, and the entity commands Arthur to shoot Kellin with the rifle. Arthur tries, but the rifle isn’t loaded. Kellin runs at them and Arthur flees until they find an overturned boat to hide behind.

They plan to use the boat to escape, but they need to distract Kellin first. Arthur decides to set his house on fire and they make their way back from the dock. He hears Kellin coming and hides under the bed, but Kellin finds them. As they struggle, Kellin stabs Arthur in the stomach while he’s distracted trying to set the bed alight. It catches and they manage to escape while Kellin is occupied by the fire.

They head back to the dock. Before they leave, Arthur tells the entity they’re going to take the head with them. The entity argues, but eventually gives up and helps guide Arthur back to the dock. As they’re retrieving the head, Kellin comes up behind them and attacks them again, but Arthur manages to cut Kellin’s throat. They get back into the boat and pull the head in with them, but it’s still chained to the dock. Before the smoke surrounds him, the entity sees Kellin unlock the chain and take off his gas mask.

Arthur floats out onto the lake, laying down in the boat until he loses consciousness. Before Arthur loses consciousness, the entity tells him “If this is the end, I’m sorry” and Arthur responds saying “You and me both”.

## Votes

* Chapter 16: **Ask for a Ride [7]** / Hide in the Back of the Truck [3]
* Chapter 17: RUN [1] / **STAY [7]**
* Chapter 18: **Tell Kellin About the True Voice in Arthur's Head [5]** / Lie to Kellin and say there is no Voice in Arthur's Head [0] / Tell Kellin that there is a voice in everyone's head; and it is called a conscience. [3]
* Chapter 19: **Pull the trigger and shoot to kill [6]** / Try to talk some sense into him [3]
* Chapter 20: no vote

## Additional Notes

* Kellin tells Arthur that his name is Gaelic, and that it means ‘slender’ or ‘thin’.

* The song Kellin sings is *Plastic Jesus* by George Cromarty and Ed Rush*,* it was originally written in 1957.