(Editor's Note: If you have not yet read "Part One - Seven", please go to the Horror Archive and read those stories, first. Thank you, TDS.)

Justin stared down at the aging picture for a full minute before speaking. “That puppy looks like a younger version of the dog Archibald slaughtered,” he told his wife. “Emma must have given this picture to Jebediah when she knew they would be separated.”

Looking up from the photograph, Susan wiped her mouth with a paper napkin and said, “This has to be the picture John told us about earlier and he must have slipped it into the box when we weren’t looking.” Glancing down at Emma’s smiling face, she added, “She looks so happy. So happy and…” she wiped a single tear away as it spilled from her eye, “…in love.”

Justin scooted across the floor, wrapped his arms around her and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Are you okay, baby?”

Nestling her face into the crook between his neck and shoulder, Susan drew in a deep breath and inhaled the scent that was uniquely his. Comforted by the smell she would know anywhere, and with the strength of his arms around her, she lifted her head and said, “Yeah, I’m okay … I guess.” Returning her husband’s hug, she told him, “Their story is just so sad; it’s tragic really. Somehow we have to help them find peace.”

Cupping her chin in his hand, he brushed the pad of his thumb across her full bottom lip, and whispered, “We will. I don’t know how, but I promise, we will help them.”

They sat quietly for a few minutes, before Justin finally released Susan and broke the silence. “Well, baby, if you plan to be up for a bit, I’m gonna see if Family Trees ‘R Us has emailed the files containing the complete set of family trees, yet.”

“Umm,” she said, looking into the box. “I want to finish sorting the documents and books we got from John, based on the four couples, before I turn in.” Then she stood and moved toward the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “Do you want anything while I’m up?”

Justin accepted her offer as he took the laptop out of its case. “Thanks. I guess I could drink a beer.” While he waited for the laptop to boot up, she came back into the room, carrying a tall glass of water and his beer. Taking the beer from her, he chuckled to himself, thinking once more that she had the look of a teenager in the T-shirt and sweatpants she wore.

Placing her glass on the elevated flagstone hearth in front of the fireplace, Susan sat down next to the boxes. Carefully, almost with a sense of reverence, she began to empty the collected items from the cartons, meticulously sorting everything into four piles.

While she organized the documents, Justin logged onto their email account and after deleting numerous junk messages, he opened the one communication they had been anticipating. “Hey, baby,” he said, “’Family Trees R Us’ emailed the files.” He smiled, as his wife moved over and plopped down next to him. “So, shall we take a look and see what we find?”

Chuckling, she looked over at her husband. “Do you even need to ask?”