Go inside.
Go inside.
Oh shit. I press my hands to my temples, trying to stop the voice.
But no one is paying me any attention.
Go inside.
Perry and Ada are trying to argue with Atlas.
Go inside.
Jay is staring at Atlas like he wants to kill him, which is a bit of an overreaction I must say.
Go inside.
And then Atlas’ gaze goes to me. A hint of understanding in his eyes.
The voice stops.
“I think we should go inside,” I find myself saying. At least, I think that was me saying it.
Perry gives me a look. “Really? Without them?”
“We’re the ones who invited them. Well, I did. Harry never knew.”
“He just trusts you two,” Atlas says. “You understand that you’re being invited into his house, to talk to his wife? This is a situation of great reverence. Dex and Perry, you were chosen for a reason.”
All the right reasons.
Okay, holy fuck. What is that fucking voice?
I look at Perry and she’s staring at me, brows knitting together. It’s definitely not her. I glance at Atlas. I don’t think it’s him either.
Perry reluctantly tears her eyes off me and gives Atlas a sour smile. “Fine. It will be just us two.”
“Perry,” Ada says. “Come on, we can help.”
I expect Jay to say something similar, but he’s just standing there, still looking at Atlas like he wants to take his head off and bounce it around for a bit, maybe shoot some hoops with the basketball net on the other side of the street.
Finally, he clears his throat. “It’s fine, Ada,” he says, grabbing her by the elbow and pulling him toward him.
I have to say, if Jay had said this was a big mistake right now, I wouldn’t do it. I would give the money back and call it quits. But he’s not saying anything at all. Perhaps his sudden hatred for wannabe Johnny Depp is purely a jealousy thing, I mean, who fucking knows with those ginger bastards anyway.
“Okay then,” Atlas says. “Follow me.”
He turns and starts walking up the path to the house.
I grab Perry’s hand, giving it a squeeze, and then look over at Jay and Ada. “You’ll be right here?”
“Not fucking going anywhere,” she says. “And if there’s anything remotely scary, just call me.”
Jeez, when did Little Fifteen get to be such a hot shot in the ghost department?
We nod goodbye to them and then follow Atlas toward the house, going up the creaking front steps. Yes, classic haunted house fixings.
Atlas takes out a skeleton key from his pocket (another nice detail) and opens the interesting door. It groans loudly as he pushes it.
I look back at Khalessi and Outlander boy, who are watching us like hawks.
Atlas steps inside, and I swear the air around him shimmers, just for a second.
Perry squeezes my hand and I gaze down at her.
“Are you ready?” I ask her.
“I think so.”
“You gotta be sure, baby. If you don’t want to do this, I think this is our only chance to say no. To turn and go. If we walk through that door…I think we’re in it. Either we dive in. Or deflect.”
“We dive in,” she says, giving me a small smile.
We look back to see Atlas standing in the dim interior of the house.
We walk through.
I flinch as we go, expecting to feel the hiss and pop of the Veil, to feel ourselves pulled into a place without color or air.
But nothing happens. We just walk in.
“Mind if I close the door?” Atlas asks, pushing the heavy door shut. I watch as Ada and Jay disappear. “Don’t want this place draftier than it has to be.”
I lean over and flick the lights on, but nothing happens.
“There’s no electricity,” he says to me. “It’s been cut off for years.”
“That’s not true, I saw a light on in the upstairs window,” I tell him.
“Did you?” Atlas asks, with a raise of his brow.
I look at Perry. “You saw the light, right?”
She shakes her head. “No, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
Atlas pulls out a couple of small flashlights from his pocket and hands us each one. “Here, this will do. You know, back in the day I used to give guided tours of this place, so you’ll have to pardon me if I revert back into old ways.”
He starts walking down the long hall and we follow. “Now, outside you may have noticed the gables and archways as being stylistically medieval English Tudor, while the interior rooms combine elements from various historical styles including Moorish, Romanesque, Gothic, Neoclassical, and Renaissance.”
“Sorry, are we actually getting a tour right now?” I ask him, shining my light along the walls. “Because I have to tell you, whenever there’s a choice of having a tour guide or going on your own, I always pick the latter.”
“I figured,” he says with amusement. “I thought you would find it interesting.”
The thing is, he is kind of right. This house is batshit. It’s somehow larger than it looks on the outside with the hallway seeming to stretch forever, ending in a giant, cavernous room. A round arch supported by Romanesque columns frames the view.
“Wow, the ceilings,” Perry says in a hush, shining her light up.
The exposed beam ceilings and walls are intricately patterned with painted details, almost mirroring the worn rug that runs down the middle of the hallway. We continue down the hall, the dark room getting closer and closer.
“Where are we going?” I ask, trying not to sound afraid, but there’s something about that black, cavernous space that we keep heading toward which makes me feel like my head isn’t screwed on straight.
“I’m trying to take you to where my mother was last seen.”
“Your mother?” I repeat.
“Last seen? I thought she drowned,” says Perry.
He stops and we almost bump into him.
Turns and eyes me. “Yes, Dex, my mother. My mother married Harry after she had me.” He looks to Perry. “And yes, she
