The Girl Without Eyes

Chapter 2: Into the Basement

Kit's face went slack and lost all color. Her eyes went blurry, and I thought she was going to collapse. She didn't, though. She swallowed hard and then shook her head. "No. No one would do that," she whispered.

Words lowered the metal thing. "The only people who I think would . . ."

I looked up. He was talking about The Boy with the Mirror Face, his brother The Boy with the Tangled Tongue, and The Porcelain Girl.

". . . aren't around anymore," he finished.

"Then who was it?" Kit said.

Words looked at her and then quickly down at his feet. Neither of them said anything for a long time.

Someone killed me. The words made sense but didn't feel right inside of my head. But who? And why?

Eventually, Words motioned weakly to Evry. "Should we ask—"

Kit shook her head. "No. Not right now." Evry's sobs had grown quieter, but her body still shook horribly. Kit turned back to my bed. "Do you think whoever did this . . . will hurt anyone else?"

Words jerked as if he'd been punched in the stomach.

"What if they do? Hurt someone else?" Kit said, her voice choked and wavering. "What if they hurt Legs? Or Boy?"

The Headless Boy with the Headless Dog, or Boy for short, was Words' seven-year-old brother. He'd chosen a figurine of a little boy with a dog, both of them missing their heads, at The Farewell. After The Transformation, his brother was missing his head, although he could see and talk just fine, and a headless dog had appeared and rarely left his side.

"But do you really think it was any of us?" Words said, his voice weak and wavering. "I don't think any of us would do that. What if . . . what if it was The Voice?"

Kit and I both looked at him.

"That might make sense," Kit said.

Words let out a long sigh, his body relaxing some.

Kit's eyes darted back and forth as if she were searching the air for answers. "We really don't know much about The Voice, do we? I mean, we know he can force us into the entryway closet."

Words shoulders hunched over. "And he can hurt us when we're in there."

"But it's not just that," Kit said. She turned to Words. "He dragged your brother all the way across town. You said it looked like someone picked up Boy and carried him out of your parents' house. But you couldn't see anyone actually carrying him, right?"

Words shook his head.

I stared, feeling dazed. All I had known of The Voice was him being just that, a voice in the entryway closet. No one ever wanted to go in there to talk to him, but he somehow forced us to go whenever he wanted. It felt almost like being reeled in like a fish on a hook. We called it being Compelled.

But The Voice left the house? And carried Boy across town? Why wouldn't they tell us that? I wondered, instantly knowing the answer. Because they're not even sure, and it would only have scared us even worse.

"I knew he did that to Boy, but I never really thought about it," Kit said. "Maybe The Voice isn't just a voice."

My head felt like it was filled with smoke. As terrifying as it was to think about The Voice being a physical being, it was also comforting. It felt better to believe The Voice had killed me instead of anyone else in the house.

Once again, Kit's eyes searched the air for answers. "I bet there's a lot we don't know about The Voice and what he can do."

Neither of them spoke for a moment.