Orpheus - Haunting the Dead.pdf - Dice

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CORRIDORS
The woman gives the baby a shake, as if she’s
snapping the dust off an old towel.
Ed can’t be sure what he’s hearing, the howling of
the vacuum cleaner or the shrieking of the baby,
because the blood thumping behind his ears is pounding
so loudly and mixing everything up. He sees the
infant dropped into the crib like a coin into a wishing
well, and then he’s running, running, breathing too
hard to cry, just wanting to get out, away from dark halls
and empty shoes, out where the sun is shining. When
he’s in the courtyard, and the pathetic animal comes
loping toward him, weak and friendly and stupid, he
knows that he can either be weak or strong, angry or
afraid, and he’s already swinging the heavy pipe before
he realizes he’s made a choice.
Blue Palace Hotel, Basement, Service Corridor #3
September 20, 11:55 p.m.
“It’s like Jell-O,” Tina whispers. She presses her
hand against the cold membrane and it quivers. “What
is it?” After a few seconds the cold is so strong that she
has to pull her palm away.
“I don’t know,” Green says, frowning. “Are you sure
he was in this room?” The translucent ooze fills the
doorway; they can make out shapes moving on the
other side, but no detail is visible.
“Mmm-hmm.” Tina raises a finger to it, but doesn’t
touch. “He was talking to that lady. This stuff was here
too, but you could see through it.”
“Can’t we… you know… go through it?” Karen
asks. “I mean… like we did with the walls.”
Green shakes his head. “I wouldn’t recommend it.
This is not-of-this-earth stuff, know what I’m saying?
But maybe we can find a way to break it…. Hey, kid,
what are you doing?”
Tina has taken her doll in both hands and pressed
its body against the membrane. Now she’s pushing, and
very slowly the vicious gel is yielding, absorbing the
doll into itself. “Franny wants to go inside,” Tina says,
HAUNTING THE DEAD
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