#also i'm not 100% on mental illness laws of the UK in the 50s but... pretend I know what i'm talking about lolol

[oneangryscorpion]

Speaking of AUs...

I was recently inspired by a few older pictures the dear @yoel-o-fellow drew of a young Marvin and an even younger Jacob... and I thought of how crazy different things could be if the events leading up to Marvin’s departure were ever so slightly different. Little Jacob is overwhelmed at the thought of losing his older brother, so he snitches him off to their parents. Be warned people, this is gonna get dark.

AU where tiny 5-6yo Jacob couldn't handle the fact that Marvin planned to leave, so he spilled the beans about the scheme during dinner one evening. This infuriated their parents, and they demanded to know if it was true. Marvin, fearing what would become of him if he confirmed, denied. Jacob had been getting in trouble for his recent habit of telling childish fibs. And... well, we all know how anything that could even slightly be considered misbehavior was dealt with in that house.  His father, who had had a bit too much to drink, was boiling. "What have we told you about lyin’?" Papa Niccals growled. Jacob objecting only angered him more. He grew so rageful that he seized the boy... and strangled him to death. Marvin tried to stop him, but Mama Niccals, who was also a bit intoxicated, slapped him and made him sit back down, telling him to let his father finish punishing his brother. When it was over, reality hit Papa Niccals like a wave, but not because he just killed his youngest. His mind raced over what would happen to HIM if anyone found out. Marvin, tears streaming down his face, dared not make a sound (though tiny whimpers escaped without his control). His mother blinked, and then told him to go to his room. He wept silently in the dark of he and his young brother's shared bedroom until he fell asleep. Meanwhile, Papa Niccals sat at the table with his head in his hands while Mama Niccals paced around the dining room, desperately trying to think of a way out of this. The minutes ticked away as Mama grew more and more freaked out. Papa Niccals suggested they dispose of the body in a nasty way, but Mama refused. Her eyes watered as she silently reminded him that it is their little boy. She briefly thought of Marvin and how he must have been feeling... and then she got an idea. The next morning, Marvin woke slowly. For a moment, he expected to sit up and see little Jacob still asleep in his bed. But then the heavy ache of loss made itself known once more as the horrible memories flood his brain. He wanted to cry, but instead he got up and headed downstairs. On his way down he heard strange voices. Entering the kitchen, he saw his mother and father speaking with an... officer of some kind. "Oh, Marvin. We were just coming to wake you," she said. "This is [idk this dude’s name isn’t important]. He's come to collect you." "C-collect me?" Marvin sputtered. "Mum, what's going on? Why?" "Oh, my sweet Marvin, you're delusional! How could it have come to this?" She began weeping... but Marvin knew how to tell when she was feigning sorrow. "Don't be stupid, boy. Look what yer doin’ to yer mother," Papa Niccals growled. The stranger approached. "It's okay, Marvin," the man said. "We're taking you somewhere where you -- and everyone else -- can be safe." Marvin began to protest, but two other men grabbed his arms. "I-I don't understand! Mum! Pop! What's happening?" "He must not recall! It's worse than we thought!" his mother wailed. The man stopped Marvin before he could say anything else. "Son, you're having trouble remembering," he said. "We're taking you for the murder of your brother."

Marvin was taken to an asylum in Staffordshire, where he was to serve his sentence. His LOVING parents made sure he was deemed mentally ill and would be sent to a hospital instead of prison. He WAS their son, AFTER ALL. His original sentence was seven years, and he would be released at twenty years of age. Eighteen at the earliest, if he proved to be rehabilitated. However, he extend his sentence more than once during his time there because of continuous insane claims of seeing the ghost of his young brother. Marvin spent well over twenty years in the institution, constantly being tortured and mistreated in the pursuit of curing a mental illness he didn't have. Being punished for a crime he didn't commit, but that he blamed himself for all the same. His parents never visited, though they originally promised they would at least once a week. No one ever visited. In 1971, yet another new doctor was assigned to Marv. This doctor would have been Sebastian's beloved, if things weren't the way they were.

Marvin didn't open up to her at first. He didn't open up to any of his doctors; at least not after he figured out that when he told the truth it earned him more time. But this doctor was different. Over the few months Marvin worked with her, she proved to be extremely kind and caring, and she seemed to believe his claims of a ghostly Jacob visiting him. Of course she didn't truly believe that he had seen such things, but she was doing her best to steer him to sanity.  She planned on slowly trying to convince him he wasn't really seeing the dead boy. Her mind drastically changed during one session. "I know that ye don't think little Jacob is real," he said quietly. "Of course I do," the doctor fibbed. "Lyin' is bad," Marvin grinned. "That's what Mum always said." She was silent. "Jacob says it's time to cut the shit," Marvin continued. She laughed nervously. "What do you mean, Marv?" "He says ‘e wants ye to know that ‘e really is here. Says it's the only way we're gonna get outta here." The doctor blinked, and then decided it was time to call it a day with their session. She rose and turned to leave, bidding him a good afternoon. "Jacob says he likes yer family," Marvin said suddenly. She stopped. "He says there are four of ye, just like our family. 'E thinks it's pretty neat." The doctor turned to the man. "You have to stop this, Marvin. If you keep this up, they're never going to let you out of here." She went on to explain to Marvin that there was no possible way Jacob was there, and that she only had a family of three: herself, her husband, and her daughter. "Naw, Jacob says there's another of ye. Said, ‘'E knew death before 'e ever knew life,’" he quoted in a ghostly mimic. He chuckled and shook his head. “It’s probably nuthin. Jacob always was dramatic.” But she was frozen. A few years prior, the doctor was to have another child, but she had a miscarriage three months into her pregnancy. It was something that, save those of the hospital that treated the tragedy, only she and her husband new about. She wept and apologized to Marvin for ever doubting him.

She plotted with Marvin to help him escape the asylum. She said that she'd get him out the gates, but she would have to alert the guards of his disappearance after a small head start. Marvin was fearful, but he knew it was his only chance at freedom. In the dead of night, the doctor secretly lead Marvin to the outside and released him. He thanked her and said goodbye, and he ran. It wasn't long before they came after him. He had nowhere to go, and he had no knowledge whatsoever of the outside world but… he had one goal in mind. Once it was completed, it didn't matter if they caught him or not. After a few days of no luck, the asylum sort of gave up on finding Marvin.

A week after his disappearance, the police department of Stoke responded to a distress call from the elderly Niccals residence. When they arrived, they found Mr. and Mrs. Niccals' dead bodies lying in different places in the house. Both Mama and Papa Niccals had been strangled to death. Their killer was nowhere to be found.