The Last to See Me (The Last Ghost #1) - M Dressler Page 0,15

ghost does.

He asked it to play a question-and-answer game.

Are you here all alone?

Yes.

Were you left here by others?

Yes.

Was it an accident?

The jaw swung. The skeleton of an arm pointed.

Something hit you? In the face? Something crushed you?

The hollow eyes turned gold.

And now Pratt had to do the thing that no one wants to do to a child. Be cruel to it. He had to, because he needed to get it to hold its blazing anger still, all while reminding himself that this boy in front of him wasn’t a child at all, not any human thing, only a vessel for rage. Only an empty space filled with howling.

That is what Pratt believes our lasting is.

But you know, Pratt said to it, it was all your fault.

The ghost froze.

You must have been a very bad boy. Children who are bad, who are wicked, get exactly what they deserve.

The ghost contracted and let out a scream that filled the tunnel, shaking it, and pounded its head on a boulder, until Pratt could come so close to it he could see the tattered knit cap woven into the boy’s skull. And now his job was to change his tune and act as though he was sorry, he was very, very sorry, and croon as though he cared, as though he brought kindness with him as well as punishment. Pratt opened his mouth to say the words, It’s all right, son, and at that moment he felt a shock, and every light on his body went out.

“I can stop now if you want, Ellen.”

No, I think and hold to the weathervane. Go on. I dare you.

“No.” Ellen swallows. “You can’t leave it like that. You said you give them peace.”

I cling to the vane like a mast in a storm while Pratt looks up at the scudding clouds in the blue sky. Hold fast, Emma Rose Finnis, I will myself. Keep close, and learn all that you can about this man, and how he does it, and why.

In the blackness, he fumbled for the radio he’d been given, but it was dead. He reached blindly in the direction of the elevator, only to hear it close and ascend with a long shriek. Children. Always the cleverest with machines and devices.

He said to the boy in the dark, I’m glad you closed the door. Because I’m never going to leave you, now.

A soft, answering whimper.

That’s right. We’ll stay down here together, forever now. You and me. Just the two of us. What’s your name, little man?

A whimpering answer. Then sharp fingers, stroking Pratt’s hair. He felt but couldn’t see. He sensed rather than knew where the edge of the boy was, and the edge of his own body—it was as if he had become a ghost too and couldn’t distinguish between where he ended and the other began. So this is what it’s like to be nothing, he whispered to it. The darkness bristled with a tiny tremor of hope.

No, I’ve changed my mind, Arthur. He had learned, with practice, that this was the best way to arouse their anger: to say the name, softly. And then betray that softness. Swiftly and unexpectedly. You are nothing to me. Arthur, listen to me. I’m leaving you.

The ghost roared. He turned pure white. His rage flared like a torch in the dark. He showed himself. A boy in corduroy.

“And then you gave it peace?”

“I did.”

“Did it … hurt?”

“Of course not. You can’t think of it that way.” Pratt looks away from the sky. “It isn’t fleshly pain.”

“I have absolutely no idea what that means. But I see what you mean about forever being a lonely place.” She wipes her hands as if they’ve suddenly gotten dirty. “Can we go down now? We can see about the water tower.”

“If that’s what you really want.”

“Yes.”

“Are you all right, Ellen?”

“I’m fine. I think I understand you better now. I guess a few loose boards aren’t going to spook you, not if you’re used to offing kids.” She turns.

He stares, his jaw a little open as she passes him. Another fine jab of truth, that was. And all at once, I’m feeling safer. Lighter. Pratt hangs back before following her down.

I’m really beginning to like little Ellen, I think. I’m beginning to like her company very much.

I float off and watch them from high above as they wander over the back lawn. If only I could have been there in that mine with that boy. I could have protected him, hovered