In 1670, the state of Virginia was ruled by the laws of Louis the XIV, still more than one hundred years before the independence of the United States. At that time, suicide was considered a crime punishable by death - whether the suicide was successful or not. As such, the family Richard Wyatt was charged after he killed his wife and children, and then himself. The family was also found guilty, as their lives were the property of God. After the sentencing, the townspeople tore the corpses apart, finally throwing them into an open grave when they had finished their violence.

In the present day, a family is moving out of their city apartment, hoping to finally get a house. Unfortunately, their movers have not arrived, and Ron and his wife are forced to do most of the moving themselves, with their children in absentia. Grumpily, the pair of them seek out their three children, Donna, Jackie, and Austin. Seventeen-year-old Donna is with her boyfriend, promising that she will love him forever. Unmoved, her parents urge her - and her boyfriend - to put her things into the truck. Jackie is occupied by trying to make the camera on her smartphone work. She is perplexed because a photo she took with it has rendered her family to look like skeletons. Not to mention, the photo will not go away, even with the phone turned off. Ron finds their son Austin outside, with a young boy near him. He asks the boy to go inside and help move, adding that the friend will have to wait. Austin is confused, as he was alone.

Finally, the family get packed into the truck and make the two hour drive to Fairfax County, Virginia, where their home waits. Unfortunately, it is currently being fumigated, despite the realtor's assurances that it would be ready. With nowhere to go in the four days until the house is ready, the family decides to go on the road in search of a hotel.

The family winds up in the desert, driving late at night. As their minds are occupied by their predicament, the truck slams into someone standing in the middle of the road, spraying blood all over the hood. Horrified, the family rushes out of the vehicle to examine it, but when they look it is as though nothing had happened.

Austin happens to notice that there is a hotel just across the road from them, and with some desperation, Ron heads inside. He arranges to get each of them their own suite at the price of just two rooms. Eagerly, they all pile inside, with Ron and his wife glad to be getting some alone time later. He passes them their keys, and urges them to come to his room in ten minutes' time.

As soon as Austin gets into his room, there's a knock at the door, and he complains that he was told it would be ten minutes. When he opens the door, however, he sees the same disfigured boy whom the truck had seemed to slam into earlier.

Notes
While the Wyatt's son is named as Owen in this issue, he appears as "Tim" in all subsequent issues.

---