UPRISE

026

Though they had agreed to plan together the next morning, the next day is one of rest. The manor is humungous, so they spend the rest of the next day bumping into each other, and slowly the secret of the machine in the basement spreads like a wicked wildfire. By night, they all know.

It doesn't faze Corbin, who decides to hide out in the practice room. He sits down on the bench, which creaks beneath his weight. The piano is a grand piano, unlike anything he's ever had the luxury of enjoying. He plays the first note to a song he's been practicing for years, his fingers spreading across the keys.

The sound echoes through the halls. Pluto hears it from where she lounges on the landing, staring up at the glittering chandelier. She wonders if this is the life her parents had imagined for her and her twin one day. It pangs her soul, much like each sombre note.

She gets up from her spot and makes her way down the stairs. After rounding the corner, she is able to find the practice room. There, she finds Corbin, his shoulders hunched, and his fingers delicately tracing the piano. Pluto watches his hands dance, and she wonders if they would touch her as softly.

Not that she wants to be with him, but music just does something magical to her.

"Are you going to come out of hiding?" Corbin asks, glancing over his shoulder. He can feel her watch him, so he stops playing to stare at her.

Pluto steps forward into the room. The walls are scattered with diffusers, which is probably why the music seemed to echo so clearly. Someone has put great money into this room, which she doubts Edison used. He doesn't seem like the music type. Too stiff.

But then again, so is Corbin.

"It could use lyrics," Pluto says.

"I don't sing."

Pluto shrugs. "I do." She steps closer and rests her face against the cool side of the piano. There is a smile on her face.

"Why are you so happy all of a sudden?" Corbin demands, pulling himself away from the bench.

Pluto laughs. "I like music. Also, I made up with Jasmine, not that you really knew we were beefing. Everything is kind of falling into place."

"Lucky," Corbin reflects. His fingers lightly touch the keys, so as not to make a sound. He continues his tapping game, silently.

"What's wrong?"

Corbin sighs. He feels like his brain is going to explode, and he is done keeping secrets. At least, some of them. Whatever thick tension is going on between him and Harper stays between the two of them. Somehow, his past seems like an easier secret to divulge. "I accidentally killed my mother. I used to do graffiti to, like, forget about it, but there aren't really any opportunities for that kind of stuff here. So, piano it is, I guess."

"You play beautifully," Pluto says, and compliments about music don't come from her lips with ease. She means it though, she really does. "Play something that I would know. We can do it together."

"I don't know-"

"I insist," Pluto pulls herself up on top of the piano, lying across it. Her hair dangles precariously, only just missing the keys.

And so, Corbin plays. And so, Pluto sings.

~~~

Their echoes disappear the further away you get from them. In fact, from his spot in the library, Reagan can't hear anything. His eyes remain enraptured by the books on the walls, searching through the C's for his favourite author. There must be at least a thousand books. Reagan even climbs up the ladder to search shelf by shelf.