Because I Could Not Stop For Death | Lockwood & Co.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑

— 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖓𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖋 𝖎𝖙𝖘 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐌𝐑𝐒. 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄'𝐒 home, the door creaked behind the two teens as Anthony made sure to shut it. The chill that had wrapped itself around the base of Eden's spine had spread to her arms and legs, though she couldn't tell if it was already chill or simply because the house hadn't been in use in a while.

Anthony confirmed her thoughts as he spoke, "Heating's off."

"No kidding," Eden replied, a small shiver wracking her body as they moved slowly through the house. "It's cold as hell in here."

"Well, technically, wouldn't hell be the opposite?" Anthony questioned, a wry smirk on his lips.

Eden glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "Just so I'm understanding correctly—you're allowed to be facetious and I'm not?" she inquired in return, gesturing to him and then to herself.

He chuckled, shaking his head as they stepped further along, coming up to a long, winding staircase. "You said that, not me," he remarked, causing Eden to roll her eyes playfully. He looked around the foyer, then to Eden. "Anything else?"

The base of her spine tingled and she felt pulses of energy fire through her veins. She licked her lips and nodded. "Yeah, I can already feel something," she informed Anthony. Looking over at him, she tilted her head. "Shall we?"

He gave a single nod and they stooped down slightly to drop their bags to the floor. Standing up straight again, Anthony breathed a long exhale as Eden closed her eyes and inhaled, waiting to connect to the energy in the house. As soon as all other sounds faded, she stood straighter. In her ears, a hollow, constant tapping echoed, though with everything so silent, she felt as though they might as well have been gunshots bouncing around her skull. Wincing at it, she hardly heard Anthony as he spoke, asking, "Hear something?"

Eden hummed. "Knocking or tapping, I can't be sure," she replied. "It's . . . It's loud, but I can't tell where it's coming from. You?"

"Death-glow," Anthony told her. "So bright I should have brought my sunglasses."

Before Eden could chuckle at that, the tapping turned into a thunderous boom and her eyes shot open as a man's scream echoed painfully in her ears. She gasped, bringing her hand up to her ears and her eyes followed a trail of sound. She could hear the man tumbling down the stairs, surprising her so much that she stumbled back into the nearest wall, and as her eyes fell to the bottom of the staircase, she could see the faint outline of the man's glowing corpse.

"Shit," she cursed, her ears ringing. Glancing across, Anthony had leaned against the wall opposite her, a chuckle on his smirking face. She shook her head. "It's not funny. I heard him falling, heard him . . . screaming. It . . . It wasn't pleasant."