Page 97 of Secrets That Bind Us
Squeals of laughter.
I watch the boy from the closet as he draws, eyes blank, focused ahead, staring at the wall as his lips move and his head twitches.
Tick, tick, tickit goes as the murmurs speak and the whisperswhissssper.
Faster and faster his little hand goes.
"Noah?" His sister asks from the threshold, but he doesn't respond. Lost to the frenzy. No joy. Whispers, whispers, whispers of the dead.
Tick, tick, tickhis little head goes, listening to the madness. What do they say? What secrets do they speak?
"Noah?" She takes a step further into the room. She shivers, looking around. Can she see me?
Scribble, scribble,scribblehis little hand goes.
Savannah takes a step closer, face scrunching up in horror, and she shakes him by the shoulder. "Noah!"
He falls out of his little chair and onto the floor, blinking up at his protector. "Savvy!" He whines, holding his elbow, dropping the crayons, and getting back up. "Why did you push me?"
She points to the drawing. "Why did you draw this?! Who told you? Why would you draw that?"
Noah gets up and peers down at a masterpiece, only to glance back up at his sister. "They come and they go, Savvy." He sniffs, with what I'm sure are tears in his eyes. He's small. So weak. One push down the stairs could be fatal... "They tell me what to write."
"Who'rethey, Noah?"
"The people trapped here. They can't leave. Sometimes they're so loud. You know what I'm talking about. You feel them, Savvy. I know you do. That’s why you’re so cold all the time."
"What do they say?"
"We need to get out..." There's a moment of silence. A moment of understanding between the siblings. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" He asks. "I don't like tonight."
Savannah nods. "Yeah. I built a fort in the loft. We can sleep in there."
They leave, closing the door behind them. I rush past the toys.
I knew it was a masterpiece.
There sits the house aflame, a family of four, a man hanging from the tree. Sybil in the pond. Sarah in the tub. And the one that crowds my thoughts in the barn. Strong horns. It begs to be touched.
"We need to get out..." Noah said...
But they're mine.
And I'll never let them go.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Verity
Devil's Night
It’ssilent.
There should be thunder crashing along with the lightning outside of my window, but there’s no noise. Like all of it has been sucked out of the room. The pressure that was on my chest recedes, causing a numbing, prickling sensation that flows down to my legs… my feet. The blanket along with it.
“Come…” The Darkness calls to me, that looming shadow that watches from the corner of every room. Invisible but felt. “This way…”
I get out of my bed but it’s not my bed. Not really. It’s the one I grew up in. I’m in my old room. Upstairs. But that isn’t right. There’s a small groan but it sounds like it’s coming from the ground just outside the threshold. I know that kind of moan– heard it one too many times. My heart begins to thump wildly against my ribcage but it feels slow, all the blood draining to my feet.
