It worked. It had to have worked. Please, say it worked.
“Whatareyou doing?” Edward snapped, eyes wide as he took in the two pieces of the once whole board.
Exactly what you asked me to do. “He was… it was behind you.”
Edward didn’t hear William, or maybe he had but something was stopping him from taking it in. Instead, Edward clutched the board to his chest, cradling it, grieving over something with meaning. “To close the board, yes! Not destroy it. We didn’t close the board, William.” The use of his full name stung like the crack of a whip against bare flesh. “Youalwaysmust close the board.”
“What does it matter?” William shouted back. “This fucking house was riddled with sinister spirits before you ever got the fucking board out. And it worked, hasn’t it? It– whatever that was – is gone.”
Edward shook his head, eyes scanning the attic as if he didn’t believe a word from William’s mouth. The truth was William didn’t believe it either. But he’d rather face the unseen than experience that again. Seeing that entity, dressed like Archie – pretending to be Archie – all to taunt him.Thatwas hell.
“I was protecting you,” William said before Edward could continue his tirade about how bad his actions had been. “It was behind you, Edward. I saw it… it was going to touch you. I wouldn’t let it touch you…”
His last admission came out weak.
This time, Edward caught just how hard William had been hit by the experience. They locked eyes, and the connection was electric. His eyes widened, mouth drawing into a flat line. The colour of his lips broke apart as Edward dug a tooth into the pillowy flesh.
“Who did you see?” he finally asked the question, the one thing that William couldn’t fathom a reply.
There was no hiding from the question though. No running from it. Because as much as William wished to make excuses up, try and explain the hidden meanings or reasonings behind what the entity had shown, he couldn’t. His only option was facts. So he answered simply.
“It was wearing Archie’s missing coat.”
Of all the reactions William expected from Edward, sadness wasn’t one of them. Then he backtracked on his previous argument, laying the ruined board on the floor as though it no longer mattered. “Then you did the right thing.”
“I did?”
Edward stood quickly, the ground swaying beneath him. “We should leave.”
“The attic?”
Edward’s expression scared William more than any promise of ghosts or hauntings. “No, Hanbury. We should leave now. Together. No good is going to come from staying here a moment longer.”
“But it’s getting dark out. Even if we can make it into Stonewell, there’s no saying we can even call for a taxi.”
Edward was shaking his head, the action going more frantic by every passing second. “I don’t care. We have to go, we have to–”
It took a moment for William to work out why Edward had stopped talking. Beneath his heavy breathing and cantering heart, he heard something too – a scratching sound reminiscent of what he’d heard during his dream last night. Except this noise wasn’t coming from a door, like nails scored into the wood. It was coming from beside them. Hidden beyond the wall of boxes, from the direction the glass had smashed.
And the sound was getting louder and louder, hysterical and rushed.
William clapped hands over his ears, wishing to block it out. But it was as if the sound refused the world’s natural laws because it only grew louder. The sensation worked over William’s skin to the point that he wanted to undress himself right there.
It was never going to stop. That was what William believed, deep down. Edward must’ve felt it too, because he kicked his way through the boxes, knocking them over and spilling contents across the floor as he worked towards the noise to stop it.
Then, the torturous noise ceased on its own, as suddenly as it started.
Slowly, William lowered his hands. Edward had just stood over something in the dark corner of the attic. His neck bowed as he looked down at it.
“What is it?” William braved.
Edward didn’t respond. He didn’t move. William pushed to standing, legs weak and trembling. Perhaps the suddenness he rose with sent his head spinning, so much so that he clutched the wall just to steady himself.
Edward was before him when he opened his eyes, faking a smile. “It’s nothing.”
William didn’t believe him, but his headache and knees were nearly buckling. Even if he wanted to push past Edward to see what had entranced him, he couldn’t.
“You look pale, Will.”
