The Coming | The House of Voices #2

Twenty Four - Sorry

Sorry

 

October:

Ace told me that calling the Voices out loud wouldn’t make them come to me. I was confused. It had worked the first time, hadn’t it? Noticing my confused expression, Spade explained.

“The principle here,” he said, “is that the Voices do not occupy the same plane of existence that we do. They need to channel their essences through you in order to become a part of our plane. Since we don’t know anything definitive here, let’s assume that the Voices are unable to see or hear the things that take place on our plane of existence unless they are inside your mind – this means that calling them out loud won’t affect them in any way. Do you follow?”

“I think so…?” I nodded unsurely. Behind Spade, Ace rubbed her forehead in exasperation, shaking her head slowly at her colleague.

“Excellent,” he continued, oblivious to the disbelieving faces Ace was making at the back of his head. “Intent is the key here. Think about the Voices in your head. Try talking to them, or calling them – whichever works for you in your mind. They will hear you.”

I thought about this for a minute. Maybe Spade had a point. The last time I tried to call the Voices was when Dr. Larkson had forced me to on our last night at the Institute. Calling them out loud hadn’t worked even a bit, but they’d showed up just when I was thinking about them and praying they wouldn’t come. I assumed that it was because they just wanted to get me into trouble, but what if Spade was right and it was because they couldn’t hear me on “our plane of existence”?

“October?” Parish sounded worried. I turned to look at him, only to find that his frown had deepened and those chocolate brown eyes of his were swimming in concern.

When I’d entered the kitchen with Ace after she’d examined my bruised ribs and applied some of her special mint salve on them, I’d found Parish frowning at Spade in worry. It was clear that he didn’t approve of the plan, didn’t want me to call the Voices. But I had to try. I was tired of sitting around idly and letting them bruise and batter me and the people I cared about.

“I’m okay,” I told him smiling reassuringly. “I can do this.”

Spade took a few steps back and sat down beside Ace, who was perched on the arm of the sofa again and had her bare feet on the cushions. Parish stayed where he was, leaning against the large desk in the alcove by my side. Reassured by his presence, I closed my eyes and thought about the Voices.

Nothing happened. At first.

A second after I’d opened my eyes to give Ace and Spade a confused look, a glass shattering scream erupted in my head, causing me to cry out in pain and drop to my knees. It was a nails on a chalkboard sound, screeching and rattling my brain. I pulled my hands up to my head, trying to drown out a sound that was coming from inside me. I could see Parish trying to say something, but I heard none of it.

Just the screaming.

All the screaming.

“Make it stop,” I couldn’t hold back the tears. “Make it stop. Make it stop.”

Parish’s grip on my shoulder tightened. His mouth was twisted uncomfortably and I just knew he was fighting the urge to get angry. Luckily for all of us, concern for me seemed to be winning out. Inside my head the screaming was starting to die down, but it was just replaced by a loud ringing that made my eyes water.

Through the ringing, I could hear Spade telling me to hold them and Ace reminding me that I was in control, not them. Parish just kept silent, but his reassuring hand on my shoulder was what kept me from dropping my head to the floor and weeping from the pain.