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asthma-michael-myers · 1 year

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The tragic Ballad of Hector Munday

3671 words

Warning metions of: (child) abuse, alcohol abuse, dead bodies, murder

This is long and English is not my first language, so I want to apologize in advance for any mistakes I’ve made.

Lucinda, Hectors mother, was initially happy to get pregnant. She thought that Clarence, her lover, would finally marry her since they expected a child together. However, as we know, he didn’t. He did a runner. Lucinda’s feelings regarding the pregnancy and the child changed for the worse. Lucinda knew that townsfolk would talk about her, an unmarried young woman having a child without a father. She began to despise the unborn child, but abortion was not an option for her; might it be for religious reason or being the time or because she was scared of the medical procedure. Maybe it was the hope that Clarence would come back to her, staying with her for the sake of the child.

After giving birth to Hector, she was more worried about the affect it would have on her social status, than about being a good mother or her financial situation.

She neglected Hector. She didn’t feed him, didn’t change his diapers, only had less physical contact. Well, until the day Clarence came back. Although he didn’t come back out of love for her, what Lucinda thought at first, but for her money. Clarence feigned interest in his son, promising he would be there for their little family from now on. He lied. He manipulated Lucinda so he could drain her savings until she was left with nothing except a baby and another one on the way.

Lucinda had experienced what it meant to be an unmarried mother, and with an additional child, her social status would only worsen. Still young and definitely overwhelmed with one baby already, she was in a dilemma. Neither did she want the child, nor did she want to have an abortion. If that ever came out it meant hell for her social life especially in that time.

Her dilemma left her in a stupor. Lucinda did not do anything, except try to hide the pregnancy the best she could. Her inner conflict, plus being used and left by Clarence again strained the relationship with Hector even more. Lucinda blamed Hector for Clarence leaving. In her opinion Clarence was a saint for trying to put up with her and her child again; not seeing that he only used her to get money. According to Lucinda, it was Hectors fault that Clarence didn’t stay, because he (Hector) was too greedy with his need for attention and love.

Of course, Lucinda also tried to hide that she gave birth to another child. Not considering that it could have been a possibility that her parents could have pretended that the new – born was their child; so to say, Lucinda’s sibling. But who would believe that, after her already giving birth to one bastard child?

Lucinda never acknowledged the new – born; always pretending as if it wasn’t there. Which was difficult since Babies tend to scream if they feel uncomfortable. So, was its pure luck the babies survived? A little, and the attentiveness of Lucinda’s parents. Seeing that Lucinda was phlegmatic and not caring for Hector, his grandparents took him in for some time. They also would have taken care of his little brother, if they had known he existed. Lucinda was caught up in her own world. She didn’t even realize that Hector was living with her parents; thinking the new – born was him. Reluctantly Lucinda took care of her child, since she thought it was the one people already knew about, and if that one would suddenly disappear, it wouldn’t reflect well on her.

Eventually Hector had to go back to his mother since his grandparents weren’t the youngest anymore and couldn’t handle a child anymore. As soon as Hector was there again, not that Lucinda noticed his arrival, her youngest son was disregarded. Lucinda genuinely believed she only had one son. It went so far that the children always had to share meals, because their mother only made food for Hector (if they were lucky). Resulting in the malnourishment of both children.

As Hector started to go to school, his little brother had to stay at home alone with Lucinda. He didn’t ever go to school; all he knows is because Hector taught him the basics, like reading, writing, some maths, and told him stories about the outside world. Still, the youngest never liked Hector. On the other side, he adored his mother and desperately wanted her attention. However, Lucinda didn’t acknowledge him. He told himself that it was because Hector was her favourite son, the one who came first not like him just being the second, the spare child; Hector got all her attention but never him, the little brother. The youngest didn’t see or understand that being beaten up and being insulted is no attention anyone wants, and that Hector actually suffered under this abuse. For the youngest it was worth striving for that.

As they got older, the youngest began to resent Hector more and more. As much as his brothers hate for him grew, Hectors guilt did. Hector was blamed by his mother for every failure regarding her love life. In Lucinda’s distorted view, every relationship that didn’t work out was because Hector, scaring of lovers with his outrageous greed for affection. Mother and the youngest son were not so different after all, you see. Anyway, now his little brother also started to openly show how much he despised Hector. And he knew exactly why. Hector had everything his little brother could only dream of, going outside, having a life with friends, seeing the world. Little did he know that Hector didn’t really have friends. He was reclused and distant. That one time he tried to make friends in ended in violence, since Hector thought hitting someone was a sign of liking someone. When it was explained to him that hitting people is a bad thing, he began to understand that his mother had not the best for him in mind.

When the teachers and doctor slowly realized that Hector was abused, Lucinda was not only enraged by that accusation (no matter how true), but also afraid that anyone could uncover her secret. Even if she was not really sure anymore what it was, she knew no one could find out about it. With claws and teeth she kept concerned people away from herself and her children.

Meanwhile her youngest child wanted to get on the good side of his mother, and by that finally some recognition. He started to help in the household; mostly repairing defect devices, changing lightbulbs and cleaning. And he got her attention, but not like he expected nor wanted to. All the time Lucinda referred to her youngest son as Hector.

As much as he loved being acknowledged by his mother he hated to exist only as his brother. One day it was enough for the youngest so he forced Hector in front of their mother, and barely controlling his anger he explained to her, that he (the youngest) is not Hector, that he exists and not just as the shadow of his older brother.

Being confronted with something that Lucinda suppressed so long, that she actually believed she had only one son caused a psychological discrepancy. She shut down. As did her youngest son. Realizing that it wouldn’t change a thing if he kept talking, the youngest decided that this would be the last time he talked. What difference would it make? He has nothing to say anymore. He would never leave a mark on the world since no one ever knew he existed.

For some time, Lucinda didn’t do anything, just sitting there staring into the void of her own soul. During that Hector and his little brother took care of everything. It took quite some time until Lucinda began to talk again, well and Hector could have done without it as Lucinda only began to spit out insults against Hector. No nice word left ever her lips again.

When Hector finished school, he and his brother made an agreement. Hector would leave, studying psychology. In return, his little brother could eventually get what he always wanted, their mother’s attention. However, that came for a price; he had to be referred to as Hector and take care of her, dealing with her rapidly declining physical and mental health. To communicate with her, like asking her if she is hungry or needs anything, the youngest used a tape recorder to replay snippets of conversations he had recorded.

Fast forward to Lucinda having to be put in a senior home. Hector Munday was quite happy with his life and his achievements as an FBI profiler. Well, until his brother contacted him one day. He couldn’t handle their mother declining health any longer. Hectors suggestion of putting her in a senior home was not well received by the youngest. Mostly because he was unsure of what would happen to himself (the youngest). He didn’t earn money; so he couldn’t afford a home, he wouldn’t have a place to stay then. But what else to do with their mother?

When Hector assured his brother that he could stay with him, their mother was put in a nursing home, and the youngest started to live with Hector. Of course, his little brother blamed him for the whole situation. Hector just abandoned them. Visited rarely, didn’t send money, actually for his little brother Hector did never do anything useful.

Like it is in such situations, the stress affected Hectors work. Which resulted in Hector making a grave mistake. In the end two people died. Too late, he saw the connection between evidence. They have always been there, right before his eyes but due to personal problem that strained his mind, he couldn’t draw a conclusion on time. It was his fault.

How should he handle all this? Being the reason, his brother never could develop a life of his own, being the reason his mother never could be happy, and now the knowledge of causing the death of two people? If he just could undo his mistakes.

What did he have to do to reverse time? Oh, he couldn’t do that.

When he couldn’t bear his guilt anymore, Hector began to get drunk more often. In his dazed state, his mind went to the two dead people over and over again. He could think of one possibility to undo his mistake. As a child he played with old dolls, presents from his grandparents. Back then he created alternative scenarios, a happier world with, for a short time. So, what if he had dolls of the victims? Miniature selves of the real persons. Of course, they would never be alive again. So that brought nothing. It was pointless. Hector would drink as long until he couldn’t grasp a clear thought any longer, being afraid of the places his mind would take him.

As time went on, the stress only got worse. Now Hector also had to find a serial killer, who seemed more determined than him at the moment. Additionally, his brother was disappearing from their shared apartment at night. Unbeknown to Hector, his little brother is already found the serial killer he (Hector) was looking for and stayed in contact with him. Sherman, who entranced the youngest with stories about H.H. Holmes, and his philosophy of life and death. Furthermore, he finally got something so important to him from Sherman, positive attention. Killing people was a small price for a reward like recognition of his chosen father figure.

On the other side was Hector, slowly succumbing to alcoholism. While his mind fixated on the only possible way, he could think of to correct his mistakes with each passing day. On a particularly bad day, he finally decided to do it. Hector decided to make little dolls of the victims he couldn’t save. However, it was not easing his guilt. What are little dolls compared to the actual lives he ended? He might as well take the rotting bodies and put try to bring them back to live. Well… Wouldn’t that be better?

Till Hector actually realized the next step of exhuming the victims’ bodies, some time passed. It was a day he got particularly drunk. With a numb conscience it was easier to pull through with it. Exhuming bodies was dirty work and trying to keep them fresh was even more of a mess. And for what? The makeup did nothing to hide the rotting flesh. And the stench. It was so awful that Hector had to vomit several times (which might also be because of his excessive alcohol consume during the procedure). All in all, Hector was not satisfied with the result.

Yes, it eased his guilt that he at least tried to bring them back. But this was not even close to alive. Where are their movements? Their voices? This was all wrong. They were barely lifeless dolls; using strings to let them move only turned them into marionettes always needing him to move them.

It took Hector a lot of research to finally find a way that would let the corpses move, more or less, on their own. And figuring out hydraulic mechanism was even harder. Creating voices was easier. Hector took inspiration from his brother who recorded conversations to communicate by replaying them. Hector used recordings of his colleagues, people in the supermarket, and also records of criminals he interviewed as voices for the animatronics.

Finally, the first animatronics was finished. It was not well made compared to his later works, but it was good enough for the time being. More important was the effect it had on Hectors mental health; it eased the feeling of guilt he had carried with him since birth. Now he could correct his mistakes, by creating alternative scenarios. With that in mind, he began to visit his sick mother in the nursing home more often and recorded their conversations.

Hectors more relaxed thoughts and the necessity for steady hands for his newfound hobby, lead him to consume less alcohol, however he never quit.

Since Hector was able to concentrate on his work again, his mind was able to figure out more about the serial killer who he had hunted for such a long time already. The problem was, he could not avoid drawing a connection to his little brother.

Catching Sherman eventually, uncovered what Hector feared; his little brother being involved with a serial killer. What should he do?

Never in his life would Hector snitch on his brother. Hector already did so many awful things to his brother, or at least he was blamed for doing so by his little brother. Maybe with Sherman behind bars, his influence on his brother would cease.

Well, that was a plan, that didn’t work out. Mostly because of Sherman. Manny Sherman refused to talk to anyone, except the youngest Munday. Now there were two possible ways for Hector. First, Hector pretends to be his brother (the irony of that). Since they look almost identical, it would be easy to impersonate his little brother. Or so Hector thought. As soon as Hector entered the room, Sherman knew, this wasn’t his protégée. Sherman did not answer one question.

The second possible way was one Hector didn’t want to take. His younger brother would have to talk to Sherman. For Hector it was sacrificing his brother against professional advancement. Could he reconcile that with himself?

Hector and his brother arrived at different times in the agency. Identification was no problem since they looked alike. His little brother could use Hectors pass, which he pretended to have had lost. Everything went smooth in that regard.

As Hector expected, the bond between Sherman and his younger brother only strengthened. It went even so far that the protégée brought his trophies to show Sherman. Although Hector heard what his brother did, how proud Sherman was of him and urged him to think bigger, Hector didn’t want to fully understand what all the trophies implied. To protect the image, he had of his brother, and by extend his own mental health, he refused to see it.

However, Hector couldn’t ignore his little brothers’ activities for much longer. After the death penalty was executed and Sherman was dead, his little brother was obsessed with to leave his own mark on the world. How long has he dreamt of that?

You could call it bad timing that around this time Lucinda died in the nursing home. Despite everything what she inflicted on both of them, it has taken a heavy toll on the brothers. Hector was not able to apologize for causing so many problems for her, and her youngest son could never proof that he also was worth of her love. While Hector coped by drinking more regularly again, his little brother followed his newfound destiny.

The time of the Shoeshine Killer began. And with that it also came the time for revenge for everything Hector had done to his little brother. The worst was, according to him, that Hector claiming all their mother’s love for himself, closely followed by taking away Sherman, his mentor he adored more than anyone else, from him. In his all his rage the youngest never saw that Hector was suffering just like him. Apart from the alcohol, Hector never was able to connect with people, always to afraid that he would burden them with his presence. And yes, Hector was envious of the relationship his little brother had with Sherman. They seemed to be on the same wavelength, no matter how vicious that turned out to be.

However, the youngest had to be smart about tricking not only the police into believing that an FBI profiler would become a murderer but also hide his actions long enough from his brother. The solution would be to leave obvious hidden evidence for the police to find, which would lead them to Hector. The murders had to be executed well enough to show that the killer knew of how the police worked, but not so good that there would be no clues at all. What would be left behind would have to point into Hectors direction, not like a neon sign, but more subtle.

And the youngest did well, Sherman would have been proud of him, he was sure of that. As the police was not the brightest back then it took them quite a while to finally realize who the killer might be. The reason for that could also have been that the police was blind for the possibility of an FBI agent, additionally a white man, could have been a murderer, despite the statistic reinforcing that.

Eventually, it all went as planned. The act of murdering a conscious person in Hectors apartment, was the final drop of a bloody trail that led them to Hector. No one could ignore any longer what the gathered information implied.

When Hector finally understood what was happening around him, it was too late. The only thing he could do was damage control. At first, he had to call his brother to reason. Hector explained to him that he would have no home, no money, and also no one who cared for him when Hector was gone.

In this moment it became painfully obvious how much Hector had underestimated his little brother. Of course, his little brother has considered how things could turn out for himself and took precautionary measures. Inspired by H.H. Holmes he earned money through fraud, forming relationships with rich women, some of them owned buildings or land, that he later inherited. He didn’t need Hector resources any longer. Taken by surprise Hector had to think of any reason for his brother to keep him around. How the tables have turned, haven’t they?

The only thing Hector could do which might be of value to his brother was building animatronics. He could bring back their mother or even Sherman. His little brother longed for conversations with his mentor again. He wanted to show him what he had accomplished. A decision was made, Hector would not be thrown to the pigs in uniform.

In the short time that remained until the cops would arrive, they developed a half – baked plan to cover their tracks. It was Hectors luck that his little brother already also planned measures if shit hit the fan. The plan was, setting the apartment on fire with one of the murder victims in it that was roughly the same height, weight and age as Hector. The problem was that the police would try to identify the corpse. Hector knew, if a corpse is burned beyond recognition and they have an idea who the person could be, they would use dental records to identify them. How could they fake that? Pulling out his own teeth and plugging them into the corpses mouth would not work. Faking his dental records? Well, a Hacker could do that, but he would need the radiographs of the deceased to replace them with Hectors. It also would be quite expensive and take some time.

Unbeknown to Hector, his brother already took care of it. Because had had to kill that person in their shared apartment, Hector couldn’t be around during that. So, there was a possibility of Hector not coming home before the police would have arrived. Still, they would have to find a corpse then. So, his little brother instructed a Hacker to fake Hectors dental records in advance as one of the safety measures.

As safety measure just like the way they would travel to reach their hideout. An old villa on a small island that he had inherited. It was old desolated and cold, but perfect for the plans the youngest had, killing 200 people, like the H.H. Holmes in Shermans stories. Finally he can leave his mark on the world.

The rest is history.

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