It had been a week since the meeting. A whole week since I'd agreed to help the dead people in the house, and nothing had happened. I hadn't seen Elias, despite me trying to find him. Seth hadn't visited, either. I'd avoided Doctor Carver as much as possible; I assumed he hadn't bothered me because he was still so ecstatic about me agreeing at all. Every night I had the same nightmare: Kyle frying the prostitute. I could smell the flesh even when I'd woken up.
I lay in bed facing the wall, trying to forget. I turned around to pick up a candle from my bedside table - I would smell it every morning to try and get the flesh scent out of my nostrils - and jumped.
"I've been watching you, trying to comfort you." Seth smiled. "Sorry. I wanted to talk to you, I usually leave when I see you're waking up."
"Thanks..." I quickly grabbed my hairbrush. "It's quite inconvenient, though." I smiled and pointed at my hair with my other hand.
Seth laughed. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something." His expression became more serious. "Are you sure you can take it? I mean, we appreciate that you want to help us, but look how you're coping with just one of our deaths. How will you cope - for the rest of your life; by the way - with all of the memories?"
I nodded. "I've been worrying about that, too."
"Really, Tabbi. You'll need a therapist." Seth sat on my bed. "You don't have to do it. Elias and I could try to convince Will-"
"We won't be doing anything. I won't, anyway. This is her choice." Elias appeared in the doorway.
"Elias!" I jumped out of bed. "You were so angry. I was worried you'd never speak to me again." I hugged him, but he shoved me. "What?" I was shocked.
"Elias, be gentle." Seth walked over and stood so he was separating both of us. "Don't treat her like that. You're acting like a child."
"It was her choice! She chose this for herself."
"How was she to know you'd react so badly?" Their voices were becoming raised.
"I told her not to let Will know she could time travel! Obviously she could tell from that, that this is dangerous!"
"What? Wait..." Seth turned to me. "You already did it? Before Kyle?"
"Yeah. A drawing, in Mum's room." Elias closed his eyes and breathed out of his nose in one long, deep stream of air. His voice became more relaxed and less argumentative. "Yeah. But she didn't see us die."
"But-" Seth began.
"I know. She isn't around. Maybe that's why Tabbi didn't see Mum actually die. She only saw us leaving the house." Elias suddenly darted past Seth and hugged me. "Sorry." He muttered.
"Elias, you do realise what this could mean, don't you?" Seth continued with the conversation.
Elias - still attached to me - replied, "yes. She might still be around somewhere, just, for some reason, the power isn't strong enough."
"You've already been thinking about this. Right." Seth touched Elias' shoulder, making Elias flinch. "I'm gonna help you look for her."
Mum was itching to speak to me when I went downstairs.
"Tabs!" She screeched when I dragged myself sleepily into the dining room.
"Morning." I sat down, not registering the excitement on my Mother's face.
"Tabbi! Listen, listen, listen!" She slipped and fell when she tried to pull a chair out too quickly and it toppled.
I laughed and was about to help her up, but she jumped up herself, acting as though nothing had ever happened.
"So, you know how it's Halloween in two weeks time? Two weeks today?" She clasped her hands together in front of her face.
"Of course, it's my favourite holiday." I grinned, intrigued now.
"Well; I was thinking - since we're new to the area - why not host a Halloween party? I could invite my work colleagues and their children; you can invite your friends and their parents! We can get to know some more people and make friends in the area." She smiled widely. "And, of course, have a fun party."
"That sounds awesome."
"Yay! I'm off work today, so I'll go decoration shopping. We could even advertise the party around town!" She giggled like a child. "I mean, it's an old mansion with a gruesome history. It'll be perfect."
I lost my smile as she bounced into the kitchen. Her last two sentences reminded me of Seth's Father and his museum idea, reminding me that we weren't alone in the house. We were here with dangerous dead people hanging around, who could and would harm people if given the perfect opportunity. A Halloween party would be the perfect time and place, especially in this house.
"Seth?" It felt like most of my life had become me walking around the halls calling for people. Usually it would be Elias, but his mood swings had started to put me off.
"Hello." Seth walked out of a room I'd never been in before. He met me with the gentle smile he almost always wore.
"What were you doing in there?" I smiled back at him.
"This used to be my bedroom." He gestured for me to walk in. "It's still the same colour."
"Purple. That's my favourite colour." The carpet was grey, but the walls were a deep purple.
"Mine, too." Seth looked around. "Even though it's empty now, I still like to come in here sometimes. Just as a reminder that my family was happy once." He looked at me. "Because, of course, none of us noticed the changes in Dad until he actually murdered us." He laughed and it sent a chill down my spine. The fact that he could find it funny chilled me and made me sad at the same time.
"Have you been to see your Dad since he killed you?" I asked.
Seth looked away and shook his head slightly. "I almost did. I stood outside the prison he's being kept in, planning what I'd say in my head. Planning to ask why, and to tell him I was glad he wouldn't be sticking around when he died. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. The thought of seeing him after that was too sickening and upsetting."
I nodded and immediately felt terrible for asking. "Sorry."
"No, no!" Seth went back to his usual happy self. "It's good to talk about things. I might be dead, but it can still be unhealthy to bottle things up. I can hurt living people, after all. That's not something I want to do."
An unusual feeling started to come over me, but I quickly remembered why I wanted to speak to him. "Oh, Seth. What do you think about hosting a Halloween party in this house?"
"Bad idea." Seth immediately answered.
"There's gonna be a party? Oh, this should be good." Kyle had been listening in.