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"Quick, catch hiht be Ellie

"Don’t let him fall--"

"Chris?" A voice from the dark "Chris, answer ue was bloated, hishiain I’m under the trap

"N-no" When he tried to turn his head toward the voice, his

neck locked tight "Don’t k-kill ain P-please I don’t ant

to d-die"

"Shh Don’t be afraid I’ and sure, cupped his cheek "Open your eyes It’s time

to co "I d-d-don’t want to see" "You have to Noin the shadows" The voice was

calht anymore Come on Co, the darkness peeling away,

a fil to dissolve froht fog, like strong light bleeding through heavycurl and eddy as Peter’s face pulled together, the

pieces knitting from the neck up: chin and mouth, nose and forehead But no eyes Only blanks, smooth skin over bone

"Where are y-your eyes?" A fist of horror squeezed his heart

"P-Peter, here"

"Oh, silly me" And then the skin over Peter’s sockets peeled apart

"There Better?"

Chris felt the scream boil up his throat and try to crash from his

mouth Peter’s eyes were caves, not deep blackfast They brimmed in bloody rills that

oozed down his cheeks and leaked over his lips When Peter smiled,

his lips skinned to reveal a bristle of too e

"Peekaboo," Peter said Thick scarlet teardrops trembled on his

upper lip to drip directly onto Chris’s face and splash into his own

staring eyes There was a sssss sound, the hiss of a snake, the boil of

acid, and then the pain, and Chris was blind and he was screa--

"Huh!" Chris heard the cry bolt from his mouth

"Christopher?" Not Peter or Lena or his father, but an old man A

dry, cool palm found his forehead "Christopher, are you back with

us?"

Is this another dreahtmare? He was under a thick down coh someone had slipped on a pair of underpants There

was also so unfamiliar around his neck Cord?

"Christopher?"

"Y-yes," he croaked He dragged his lids up, wincing against bright

spokes of yellohite light jabbing through ts directly

opposite the bed He would’ve raised a hand to shield his eyes, but he

couldn’t move his arms Sheets were noosed around his wrists, and

his ankles were tethered to the bedposts

"There you are Welcohtstand, the old lass "Thirsty?" He was about to ask why he was tied down but then considered

that if a kid had grabbed his gun, he’d have done the sa an arm under Chris’s shoulders, the old man

propped him as he drank The water was clean and odorless and

cool as a balm He felt the chilly slide of its course from his tortured

throat down the middle of his chest and then the cold explosion in his

elass, the old man lowered

him, then settled back into his own chair "That should stay put We

fed you a bit of broth yesterday, so"

"Yesterday?" When he ran his tongue over his still-dry lips, he