“Get off your ass, young man. Stand up. Never let your opponent see you in a state of weakness,” Archibald sneered, as he looked down on the younger man and crossed his arms over his chest.

Justin got slowly to his feet, as his senses gradually returned to normal. Standing at the foot of the bed, he asked the only question in his mind, “You’re… are you Archibald Brackleburn?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered and took two steps towards the bed. “I am here to show you why I had to punish my wife.”

“Punish her?! Punish her?! Damn it, man, you ‘punished’ her to death!” Justin exclaimed.

“She was mine!” Archibald screamed. “She was mine and she always disobeyed me in everything.” He paused to regain his composure, before continuing. “Your wife, there,” pointing his finger at the time suspended Susan, drawing Justin’s attention back to his sleeping wife. “She is as willful and disobedient as her ancestor. They are the same.”

For several moments both men stared at her unconscious form before Justin asked, “Just what exactly is it that you have to show me?”

Seemingly awestruck for a moment, Archibald looked longingly at the young woman. “She looks so much like Emma, so much like an angel. Always so perfect when she slept, I could almost forgive her anything while she slept.”

Turning to look at the other man, Justin finally realized Archibald had truly loved his young wife. He spoke, breaking the other man’s thoughts. “Let’s get this over with; I don’t want Susan left like that longer than she has to be.”

Archibald turned away from the bed and moved toward the door. “Come along, young man,” he said, and he exited the room without verifying that Justin was following behind.

Justin leaned over, pulled the comforter up, tucked it securely around Susan and kissed her on the cheek. “Looks like I’ll have a story to tell you in the morning, baby.” He brushed her hair away from her face, straightened and followed Archibald out of the room.

When he left the bedroom, Justin saw that Archibald was waiting for him at the head of the stairs. With a quick look over his shoulder as if to insure Susan’s safety, he hurried to join the elder man. Together, they began to slowly descend the staircase, the younger man slightly behind the other. Looking to the foot of the stairs, Justin noticed that a fog similar to what he had seen in the bedroom was covering the last few steps and lay thick as a blanket over the floor, hiding it from sight. Seeming to divine the other man’s unspoken question, Archibald said, “It is but the mist of time, which will allow us to travel back and observe the events you need to see.”

The men fell silent, until Archibald spoke as Justin’s feet touched the floor. “First, I will show you the day that Emma and I wed.” Suddenly the room was flooded in bright, summer sunlight and the previously faded wallpaper appeared as if it was new. Moving forward into the center of the front parlor, Archibald spoke again in a far away, wistful sounding voice. “I desired her from the moment I saw her and I knew that no matter what, I had to possess her. Emma was absolutely perfect; even as a young girl her beauty outshone young ladies years her senior. When I acquired the means of fulfilling my dream to have her, I jumped at the chance.”