The House Above the Sea

37.

There's a hole in the roof. Neo's not sure why, but that's the first thing he notices, a jagged stretch of open sky ten feet or so above his head, stars obscured by a mire of clouds. Then he lowers his eyes again, and finds the ghost in front of him.

    You'll do, says something in his mind. Neo wants to call it a voice, but it isn't. It's less sound and more image: the twinkle of glass shattered upon the floor, blue fingers, blood dripping from ivory teeth. Neo shudders.

    "Wait!" It's a hoarse cry, and a rumble of footsteps follows it. A shadow looms up before Neo, between him and the ghost, and it's the boy whose name he'd just forgotten. "This isn't fair, Whitaker. What are you doing? We had a deal."

    You're right, the ghost goes on, and as he does, Neo tries to drag himself to his feet, only to fall to the floor again when a sheaf of hot pain floods his ankle. We did have a deal. How does it feel, mind you? To have your identity taken away from you? I'm so very curious. Was it worth it?

    The boy's hands clench into fists. He says, "You promised you'd leave us alone."

    I said no such thing.

    "You have what you want now!"

    Do I?

    Neo manages to pull himself up into a sitting position, and glances around him in equal parts confusion and awe. The living room is in shambles. The air mattress is split in half, Joey's hand-me-downs tossed about the room like tornado debris. Slivers of cloudy moonlight arc down through the hole in the roof like a macabre spotlight, and some of the ceiling beams have come loose, suspended in the air like wooden icicles.

    He turns his head, and his heart jumps into his throat. One of the beams, in fact, has already come down, and lying beneath its weight is a person shaped oddly like Joey. Elsie's beside Joey, her face blotchy and tear-streaked, as she tries to heft the beam in her arms. But it doesn't move, and neither does Joey.

    A crack of thunder shakes the house on its foundation. Another beam groans towards the ground.

    Today is the day this old house finally gives up, not two weeks from now, when the construction team was supposed to take it down.    

    Neo has to stand. He has to stand.

    It's only fair, young one, says the ghost now. It's only fair that someone carry on my legacy here, in this house. I may have released you; that is true. But now you must elect someone to take your place.

    Neo watches the boy's back. His shoulders buckle; he shakes his head. "No. That's not fair."

    Life isn't fair, says the ghost, and neither is death.

    "I won't let you do this. Not again."

    But the ghost ignores the boy, his white-hot gaze sweeping the crumbling room around him instead. If not your lover here, then who? asks the ghost, a tinge of amusement in his tone. Your beloved sister? No. That would mean the sacrifice you made all those years ago would have been in vain. But how about the athlete? You don't care much about him, do you?

    As if on cue, Elsie's voice rises in the background. "Joey! Stay with me, Joey!"

    Now the ghost laughs. The noise reminds Neo of the boom of a gunshot; at least, it stirs the same amount of terror within him. Provided he's still alive, says the ghost, and looks at the boy again. Better hurry and choose. I'm getting impatient.