Page 61 of Secrets That Bind Us

The Entity

Devil's Night

The house whispers.

Murmurs I'm not privy to.

Moments in time that are frozen for me, but continue out there, out there, out there.

Lapses.

Moans .

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, tick it goes as the murmurs speak and the whispers whissssper .

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, tick his 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, scribble his 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're they , 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.