Elara's Point of View
"Get up."
Silas's voice was soft, but it brought me out of the dark.
I slowly opened my eyes. The room was still dark. The curtains were shut. I could feel the chair under me, but not my bed.
My head hurts.
Silas was on his knees in front of me.
"You passed out," he said.
I blinked. "Also, you screamed."
He nodded. "The house did too."
I sat up, and my body felt heavy, like I had been sleeping for days.
"What happened?""Please tell me," I said.
Silas turned his head away.
"That thing you said," I said again. "About us being tied. About dying together. Was that real?"
"Yes."
My chest got tight. "Then say it again."
He didn't want to. I could see it in his face.
"Silas."
He took a deep breath. "I only exist at night because the house lets me."
The words felt soft, but they hit hard.
"Allows you?"I said again.
"Yes."
"So you're not... free?""
He shook his head. "I'm borrowed."
I looked at him. "Where did you borrow it from?""
He shrugged a little. "From nothing."
That made my stomach turn.
"So when morning comes..."
"I go back."
"Back where?""
"Nowhere."
I got up too quickly. The room turned around.
"Be careful," Silas said as he reached for me.
"I don't want to be careful," I said. "I want to know the truth."
"This is the truth."
I said, "No." "This is what you didn't want to tell me."
He seemed tired. "Because it makes you stay."
"I choose to stay," I said.
Silas shook his head. "You stay because you're scared of losing me."
I opened my mouth to make a point.
I couldn't.
Silas got up and walked over to the window. Outside, the sky was starting to turn gray.
Good morning.
He said, "I don't want you to see me leave again."
"Why?""
"Because it hurts every time."
I walked over and stood next to him.
"So do you."
He looked at me and said, "Yes." But I'm dead already.
I took hold of his arm. "Don't say that."
"It's true."
"Not to me."
Silas smiled, but it was a sad smile. "That's the issue."
I checked the time on the wall.
6:10 a.m.
"I have to be at work in twenty minutes," I said.
Silas agreed. "Then you should leave."
I stayed still.
"Elara."
"I'm not going."
He turned all the way around to face me. "You can't keep skipping your life."
"I can do it for one day."
He frowned. "You already missed yesterday."
I put my arms across my chest. "They won't miss me."
"That's not true."
"Yes it is."
Silas looked at my face. "You don't talk about your job anymore."
"I don't care about it anymore."
"You did before."
I shrugged. "I care about you now."
Silas shut his eyes.
He whispered, "That's not good for you."
"This isn't good for you in any way."
The room got brighter.
Silas's outline got softer.
Not going away.
Just getting thinner.
He quickly said, "Elara." "I don't have a lot of time."
I reached out to him.
This time, he let me go.
"Stay," I said softly.
"I can't."
"Try."
He chuckled quietly. "I've been trying since the day I died."
My heart skipped a beat. "You remember now?""
"Not how," he said. "Just that I was waiting." "Like I'm waiting for you every night."
The room got colder.
Silas's fingers didn't feel as solid.
My chest began to hurt.
I said, "Please don't go."
"Elara—"
"I didn't work for you," I said. "I stayed awake for you." I lived for you.
His eyes got bigger. "That's not what I want."
"That's what I want."
The pain came back.
This time, slow down.
Deep.
Like my heart was worn out.
Silas also grabbed his chest.
"I can feel it," he said. "You hurt again."
"Then stay," I said softly. "If you leave, it gets worse."
He thought about it.
The house made noise.
The air changed.
Silas looked around.
"It's letting me stay longer," he said.
"Because of me?""
He nodded. "Because you're giving it something."
"What's going on?""
He stared at me.
"Time."
I swallowed.
"So the longer I stay with you, the more time you get?""
"Yes."
"And the more time I lose."
He didn't say anything.
That was enough of an answer.
Silas moved closer.
"I don't want your life," he said. "I only want you."
I smiled a little. "That's the same thing now."
He gently held my face in his hands.
He whispered, "You shouldn't be here." "Not like this."
"I don't feel bad," I said.
He said, "You don't feel anything." "That's how it starts."
The clock made a noise.
Seven o'clock in the morning
I was officially late.
I didn't care.
Silas was still there.
He said, "I can't believe I'm still here."
I chuckled softly. "Maybe the rules are changing."
He said, "No." "They're getting tighter."
I leaned against him.
His body was warmer than it had been.
More real.
My chest got colder.
"Silas," I said. "What will happen to me if I keep doing this?"
He took a drink. "You turn into me."
"A ghost?""
"Something in between."
I shut my eyes.
"I don't care."
He pulled away.
"I do."
The pain got worse again.
I gasped.
Silas took hold of me.
"Elara, you're shaking."
"I know."
My hands felt like they were asleep.
My legs were weak.
But he was strong.
Too strong.
I whispered, "You're getting more real."
"And you're fading," he said.
"I'm still here."
"But for how long?""
I looked at him with my eyes open.
"As long as you need me."
Silas's voice cracked. "I don't want to need you like this."
"Then don't go away."
He shook his head. "The house doesn't give without taking."
"Then take me," I said. "Just don't take you away."
The walls creaked again.
The clock stopped moving.
Silas stopped.
"That's not normal."
"What?""
"Time isn't moving."
I checked the time.
The hands were still.
7:13.
Frozen.
The room felt heavy.
A lot.
"It's borrowing more," Silas said softly.
"More of what?""
"Your time." Your future.
I laughed weakly. "I wasn't going to use it anyway."
Silas held my shoulders.
"Stop saying that." "You are important."
"Me too."
He shook his head. "Not like this."
The light went out.
Silas's face got sharper.
More solid.
More like a person.
My chest hurt.
"Elara," he said quickly. "You won't wake up one morning if this keeps up."
I smiled a little. "At least I'll be with you."
His eyes were full of tears.
He whispered, "That's the worst part." "You think that makes it okay."
The pain got worse.
My sight got blurry.
I could feel myself slipping.
Not sleeping.
Not awake.
Just... less.
Silas held me close.
"Don't go," he said.
I chuckled softly. "You are the one who should go away."
He said, "I can't do that anymore."
The house made a noise.
The temperature of the air dropped.
Silas looked around in fear.
"It's choosing," he said quietly. "It's picking who stays."
My breathing was slow.
A lot.
"Who did it pick?"I asked.
Silas stared at me.
Then he looked at himself.
Then he said the words that made my heart stop.
"I think it chose me."