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Thomas Shelby did not come back with a bang. He barely came back at all.
The whispers were as loud as screams when he took his seat. The rumors had been that he said his goodbyes to family, excused his staff and traveled off to the countryside to die a gypsy's death. When he returned, somber and quiet, of course it made the parliament talk.
He kept his head down and didn't speak. His face was solemn and gaunt. Mosely watched him carefully, looking for an ounce of anger or knowledge of what he had orchestrated, only to see nothing; a quiet broken shell of a man where a monolith had been.
Mosely first spoke to Thomas in public, entering a group of officials that had encircled the man. They all tried to delicately pry answers from him on his disappearance and then his return, only to be left with nothing.
As time went on and Thomas's previous temperament never resurfaced, Mosely decided that Shelby could still be a use. He started with small favors and moved on to more heinous requests over time. Thomas was always compliant and never fought against even the most questionable requests. Mosely decided that the man was truly broken and there was nothing to fear.
When the workers started rebelling and came for the fascists' heads, the first place Mosely thought to escape to was Arrow House. He appeared on Shelby's doorstep with his wife and a handful of his closest comrades, Diana shaking under his arm as he asked Shelby to accommodate them during the uprising.
"You're one of them, Shelby," Mosely hissed. "They won't be knocking down your door."
Thomas's blue eyes glossed over the group before he nodded softly and shrank back from the door. He led them to his office, brushing the blanket off of the couch before he sat behind his desk.
Mosely frowned, squinting at the man as he noticed his disheveled suit. Had Thomas been sleeping in his suit in his office?
"We'll need bedrooms," Mosely said shortly as the others whispered among themselves and peered around the room. "Diana and I will take the master."
Thomas nodded.
"You'll have to excuse the dust," he said softly. "No one's been in there since Lizzy and my boy left. I haven't been able to hire new maids."
"You've been all alone?" Diane asked, raising her hand to twirl the locket against her throat.
Thomas's eyes gravitated to the woman's cleavage and a spark ignited in his eyes. Diana watched him, her eyebrow raising as a smug smile grew.
"Do you like it?" She asked innocently, holding the locket out. "My necklace?"
Memories flashed across his face as he grew pale.
Ruby raced across the yard and into her father's arms as he left the car. His legs were stiff from the long ride but he had to see his family. He missed them.
Ruby's weight was comforting in his arms as she hugged him and chattered on as only an excited child could.
"I've got a gift for you darling," he said as he sat her down and kneeled beside her.
Out of his pocket he pulled a delicate gold locket, letting Ruby inspect it closely.
"It's beautiful!" She exclaimed as she ran her fingers across the filigree.
"It's yours," he said as he gently clasped it around her neck.
The same locket gleamed at him menacingly from around the woman's neck. She mocked him with her smile.
Thomas stood on the steps of the hospital in the rain with his wife. He couldn't breathe. His head floated as if it was all a dream.
"I gave her your kiss goodbye," Lizzie said, crumbling onto the stairs. "She told me to give you this."
Lizzie pushed the locket into his hand as if it seared her to touch it. She pushed his hand closed around it. The weight of it sank him to his knees.
He had lost it, he thought. Had misplaced it in his office. A child had nicked it from his pocket while he was walking to the car. The caravan burned with it inside. Instead, it hung around this mad woman's neck, taunting him.
"It's beautiful," he said hoarsely as his voice broke.
Diana sneered beside her husband as he ignored the interaction completely to speak to another man.
"Take whatever rooms you'd like," Tommy said. "We'll sort it out in the morning. My doors are locked and the workers will be seen long before they get to my door."
"Who will stay up to watch?" Mosely asked. "You?"
Thomas nodded as he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his chest.
"As guests of my house, I'll watch to keep you safe," he said. "I don't sleep much these days."
The men and their wives left the room, wandering the grand halls of Arrow House in search of bedrooms. Thomas could hear every creak of the floors and murmurs through the walls as they descended upon his home. The clock in his study chimed ten o'clock. He closed his eyes for a moment.
Getting up, he sighed long and low as he moved toward the door to shut it and turned the lights off. He walked back to his desk and turned his chair around before opening the curtains, sitting back down and propping his feet upon the window sill as he sat in the dark. Nothing moved outside.
Thomas's head cracked upward as the clock chimed midnight. He had fallen asleep at some point while staring into the black. He waited for his heart to calm down as he gained his wits and settled into his chair. Nothing moved outside.
His heart skipped a beat again as he heard the smallest shift on the floorboards outside of his office. He turned to see the door ajar with a pale hand slinking into the dark.
Thomas got up and silently went to the door and looked out into the hallway, seeing nothing but slivers of moonlight illuminating the house. The stairs creaked and he slipped out from his office to follow the noise. He went down the hallway and rounded the corner to look at the stairs, a tall dark shadow slipping away at the top.
He followed up the stairs, not making a sound as he moved through the house he knew so well. Whoever was moving through his house was not so knowledgeable. The steps were steady, a rhythm of that was almost the same as a heart beat. It unnerved him that he could not catch up to what sounded like a slow walk.
He made his way down the upstairs hallway, peering into bedrooms as he went. His guests had all left their curtains open, and the moonlight left ghastly images in his head. Every room was a desecrated scene.
The first bedroom poured moonlight upon two bodies glistening with sweat and blood. The couple were naked and entangled on the floor, blood erupted from their mouths as they gaped from the floor.
The second bedroom he peered in has a similar occurrence, but they were gripping their chests as if their hearts were exploding. The third couple were not quite dead yet. Instead they writhed in silent pain on his daughter's bed as blood pooled from their mouths. Blood and sweat were so thick in the house that you could taste it in the air.
As he left the room, he caught a glimpse of the shadowed figure slipping into the master bedroom and he ran to catch it at the foot of his bed.
His fingers gripped the shoulder and the thing turned to him, the black cloak revealing nothing. Thomas squinted in the low light to try to make out a face, but every time he tried to focus his eye sight seemed to blur more.
"Lizzy?" He whispered as he peered into the cloak.
"No," a familiar voice said. "I am no living woman."
Thomas squinted again, but the more he tried to see the figure, the less he could see. He licked his lips as his throat dried from a feared realization.
"Grace?" He whispered.
A soft laugh came from the figure. A sigh.
"No, Thomas," it said. "But you do know me. You've walked with me once or twice."
Thomas at once felt a chill and let go of the figure. A gasp behind them made him turn to the bed. What he saw he could not forget.
Diana lay above the covers in a thin white nightgown, clawing at her chest as the locket left a red welt on her skin. She clawed furiously at her neck and face before blood erupted from her mouth and rolled down her chin. Mosely was but a crumpled mess of a man beside her.
"Why?"
Thomas's voice was a hollow sound in the stillness of the room. He was the only living thing left in Arrow House, yet again.
The figure's robes moved, and a tiny hand came from the split in the fabric to tug on Thomas's pants. He looked down in horror.
"Did you get them, daddy?" Ruby said, pale face bright and clear in the moonlight.
"Is that you, darling?" He rasped close to tears.
"Did I help you get the bad people?" Ruby asked. "I didn't like that lady. She took my necklace from you."
Ruby frowned as she peered toward Diana, the locket now missing from her bloody neck.
Thomas felt the weight of it fill his pocket.
"Do you not want my gift?" He asked, a tear rolling down his cheek. "I could put it back on your neck to remember me by."
"I won't forget you, daddy," she giggled. "That's silly."
"Can I hug you?" He asked, his eyes darting up to the looming figure as he held his arms out. "Can I hug her?"
Ruby fell into his arms and he felt the weight of her against his chest as he took a ragged breath in.
"Just this once," the figure said. "While the veil is thin. Then we must go. I'll see you again, Mr Shelby."
Thomas squeezed his daughter, memorizing every inch of her, before finally letting go. He stood up and extended his hand.
"My Aunt Polly always told me what to do in these instances," he said as he clasped hands with the figure. "We shake hands with the devil and then walk past 'im."