Hello, my little dungeon-rats! Ooh, how I missed you, my darling little Isaac board! Are we ready for a brand-new adventure? :D I did this story back during my Wrath of the Lamb binge over the summer, and now I think it's time to unleash it to the world. You guys know how it goes, let's find a trapdoor as our mother kicks in the door and plummet down into the unknown depths below!

Obtained Item: Disclaimers!
The Binding of Isaac, including all related characters (c) Edmund McMillen, because he's awesome.
Original story of 'the binding of Isaac' (c) Genesis 22, not that it applies.

Chapter 0: Prologue

Dr. Mattias Bossi never considered himself a miracle worker. He was a psychiatrist, a man who dedicated his life to helping others deal with their problems. He was not a magician, but a scholar, studying how the mind works and passing his knowledge onto others. He was a man of science, not a man of God. The mind was an internal labyrinth of memories, traumas, and experiences, but when the patient was on his couch, he was a master cartographer.

Still, their town was small, and also heavily-religious - most people ran to Father David with their problems before wasting their time on him. He was a man of experience and wisdom, but that did not make him a busy man.

In this case, however, his services were almost a necessity. Father David was the town's original choice, but he could only care for the child for so long before growing concerned for his mental health. God was not the answer, so science and psychology needed to step in. Trauma, especially one this severe, cannot be prayed away; it must be dealt with.

And so, Father David approached Dr. Bossi about his adopted son, Isaac. He was scheduled to arrive for his first consultation in fifteen minutes, which brought the scholar of psychology to this moment - overviewing all of the notes and paperwork that Father David had brought in for him to review.

The Peterson tragedy was one he remembered fondly, despite being nearly a decade ago. Abraham and Bethany Peterson were good people, although he had never met them in person. They volunteered at the church frequently and had a beautiful house on the top of Eden Hill, where they housed a dog, two cats, and a baby boy named Isaac.

Abraham disappeared when Isaac was eight years old: to this day, he hadn't been found. Bethany was clearly in mourning. She only left the house to attend church with Isaac, and neighbors say she wasted away in front of the television, watching Christian broadcasts all day. Without her husband, she had only God to turn to.

Tragedy struck in the night, and a neighbor called the police when she walked up Eden Hill to borrow some ingredients for a dessert. She found the Peterson pets torn to shreds in the front yard - all three were beheaded, and cat Guppy was also missing its tail and paws. Police investigated, finding Bethany Peterson dead at the age of thirty-one. The autopsy gave head trauma as the cause of death, as she had a large crack in the back of her skull. (Photos of the crime-scene also reveal a fallen shelf and a bloodied Bible. She was also holding a knife, likely as self-defense against the attacker.)

The son, Isaac, was found in the basement - cold, bloodied, naked, and alone. After intense questioning from the police, it became clear he didn't see the murder, or at least couldn't tell the police who did it. (The report notes that Isaac's only coherent answer was "God did it." The rest of his answers were panicked and nonsensical, at least as far as Dr. Bossi was concerned. Claims of sins and whatnot was better left to Father David, and Isaac's claims that she was trying to kill him were likely just fright and confusion.)

With Bethany dead and still no sign of Abraham, Isaac was now an orphan. Unable to track down any next-of-kin, the town unanimously decided that Isaac should be placed in the care of Father David. Since Abraham and Bethany were so devout to the church, it seemed the place where Isaac would be most comfortable.

The next part of the package was more-recent news - the notes he had taken during his conversation with Father David the other day, as well as things the pastor brought from his home. Isaac had adjusted well, at least as far as the town was concerned. He was a quiet boy who rarely got into trouble, other than the typical teenage rebellion. He did well in school, particularly in his English classes. He was an avid reader and a blossoming artist; Father David mentioned Isaac's aspirations to attend an art university and become an illustrator.

However, Isaac always had a dark side, ever since the first day he was welcomed into the pastor's home. To this day, he suffered from horrific night terrors, fighting through monsters in the basement where he was found, forever haunted by "demons". Father David warned him of a history of "mood swings" - most days, he is calm and quiet Isaac, but other days, he can be an entirely different person. Almost a dead giveaway that Isaac had developed some sort of multiple personality disorder to cope with the trauma of the Eden Hill tragedy.

Father David became concerned when he found a few of Isaac's sketchbooks, and brought them for Mattias to investigate. Although beautifully-done - Isaac had developed incredible skill with a pencil - the pictures were frighteningly-dark. Most depicted demons, all black with piercing eyes, crying tears of blood. Several had been mutilated, with wire coat hangers through their skulls and halves of their faces burned away and plenty more disturbances like them. There were mentions of the sins, of the Four Horsemen, of God, of Satan. There were pictures of fallen angels, trapped in skull cages or shining cathedrals.

Dr. Bossi found it wasn't uncommon for patients to cling to outlets where they could express their turmoil in private ways, without the judgement of others. These sketchbooks were Isaac's diary of sorts - all he had to do was figure out what it all meant.

Bzzt! "Doctor, Isaac Peterson is here. Should I send him in?"

Time flies when you're admiring artwork. "Yes, please, Abby."

A few minutes later, and Isaac timidly entered the room. He had grown significantly in the nine years that had passed since the doctor last saw him, which was on the news after the accident. Now a young man of seventeen, Isaac stood quite a bit taller (although still on the smaller side for his age, and not helped by his slouch and shrugged shoulders), but still retained the round face he had as a child. His head had been shaved when he was little, whereas now he had a thick, curly mop of brunette hair - brown like his father, wavy like his mother, as Mattias saw in the pictures. Isaac also inherited his mother's big, brown eyes, which seemed widened and tired at the same time, like someone who found themselves too scared to sleep. He was dressed in dark colors, nearly disappearing in his loose jeans and oversized black hoodie, which had his hands hiding in the front pocket.

Dr. Bossi gave Isaac a gentle smile, motioning to his miracle couch, the red-velvet lounge where the sickly became sane so many times before him. "Welcome, Isaac. It's nice to finally see you in person. Why don't you have a seat, and we'll get started?"

I've got a plate of cookies for all of you smart enough to figure out who Dr. Bossi is. ;) Anyway, next chapter, the exciting stuff happens! Whoo! Don't want to miss it? Tune in next time! :D Thanks for reading, guys!

§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §