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"Yeah," I said, looking at the thick sliver of wood sticking out ofone," he said "Here, let et the behind a hole in

E to cover it withdown at the thin line of flesh peeking through the black nylon like a seas," I whispered "Not the legs"

We both ether on the floor Startled, I ju a shower of dust onto our faces

I gasped, and for awent still as the dust coated our hair, our eyelashes, our shoulders Blinking, I opened ray powder as if he were the ghost of the farmer who’d owned the house "I’h, and we both collapsed onto the floor, laughing

"It’s inas I pressed them shut

"Here, let me see," Noah said I could feel him bend over me He touched rew shallow as he entle And then I felt soraze my lips It ar that I couldn’t tell if it was a kiss or just his fingers running across my mouth Except it was different than just a touch The ti hiainsttrickled down ht have been a tear; I couldn’t tell And then Noah’s hand was onit away

Neither of us said a word The roo When I openedin front of me, his hair coated in dust

But before either of us could speak, the te descend on us, as if frost were creeping through the entire house A cool strea vents Noah had felt it too, and was staring at the doorway, his eyes suddenly alert

I gazed out theThe water that had been dripping off the edge of the gutter had now hardened into icicles I‘d felt this before The Undead But this time, it wasn’t Dante

Soundlessly, I stood up and watched, as Noah did the sa We crept along the side of the rooes of his lips Had he kissedmy eyes, I looked at my face in the mirror It was dusty and hollow, as if it were an older me, an ancient me from a past life If it had been a kiss, it must have happened in a different world, ere both different people

Once in the hallway, I could hear voices co my eyes, I tried to count how many there were One by theOne by the door Another two at the kitchen table Four more outside, by the barn A handful o was left, down the hallway

Cautiously, I took a step, and then another, and another, until we reached a roo the knob, I pushed the door open and went inside, Noah at my heels

We found ourselves in a narrow, dank roo down the side Thefurnished like a proper room, it was filled with toys Worn toys, chipped and broken, as if they were lifetimes old Plastic trucks and Matchbox cars and marbles and jacks were scattered across the floor I stepped around the at the room What was this place?

I was about to lead us down the narrow staircase and out the door, e heardvent like frost I crouched down and listened There were dozens of theh-pitched and playful, almost whiny They were children; boys, no older than twelve, for their voices hadn’t dropped yet I tried to , but it was all chatter

I was about to turn ahen a deep voice cut through the in Latin It sounded like a boy--or rather a e, maybe older The room went silent My lip trembled as I waited, but when he spoke, all I could make out ords here and there:

"The Nine Sisters"

"Name in the mailbox"

"Hold her and wait for us to coThe Liberu Undead children to help thelanced out the here the taxi should have been waiting for us, but it was gone

"What is he saying?" Noah et out," I whispered, so softly that I wasn’t even sure Noah heard me

But how? We wereit, I backed away fro to distance otten that the floor was cluttered with toys, and loston a train set that wound around the room