SUNDAY, 11:11 P.M.
Everyone else was asleep except Xander and David. They were lying in bed, facing each other.
“I don’t know . . . just a feeling, like in . . .” Xander thought for a moment. “Star Wars. You know, when Han Solo says, ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this’?”
“Didn’t they all say that?” David whispered back. “Luke and Leia and . . .”
“My point is the feeling, not who said it.”
The only light came from a sodium vapor lamp that illuminated the motel parking lot. It slipped in where the curtains didn’t quite meet and cut a shimmering line over the boys’ bed. It was almost too quiet to sleep. No car horns or sirens. No hum of the city, which you didn’t notice until you got away from it. Mom’s rhythmic breathing told Xander she was fast asleep. Dad’s slumber seemed less peaceful, and he didn’t quite snore, but his breathing was loud. Xander imagined lions sounding like that. Toria was a quiet sleeper except for an occasionally rolling over. He wasn’t sure which one of them was doing it. Something in the room ticked: not a clock, but like a car engine cooling down. Or like someone sitting in the corner of the room making noises with his lips.
For an hour Xander had had been listening to the subtle sounds, unable to get the house out of his head. He had tapped David on the shoulder and whispered his name. It had taken several proddings to wake him. Finally, the boy had rolled over to face Xander. Xander had asked him if he had sensed anything weird at the house. David had thought about it. He’d said it was a little creepy but couldn’t offer any specifics.
Now, David said, “So what, you don’t like the house? You don’t want to live there?”
Xander was torn. There was a lot to like about the house: its size, that it was so isolated in the woods, that it looked cool.
If they had to live in Hicksville, they could certainly find worse places than that house. But then . . .
“When I was outside, before we went in, it felt like someone was watching me . . . someone inside the house,” he said.
“You think it’s haunted ?” From the glow of the lamplight, Xander saw David’s eyes grow wide.
“I don’t know, but you know how in scary movies something is watching somebody or sneaking up on them, and the person feels it?”
David nodded.
“It was like that.”
“You’re scaring me.”
Xander looked at his brother. If scaring him would make David more aware, more sensitive to the house’s weirdness, he decided maybe freaking him out was a good thing.
“Remember Supernatural, that TV show?”
David nodded. They’d watched it together a few times.
“Those guys face off with vampires and werewolves and ghosts, but they’re not afraid, they just do it.”
“You think vampires live in the house?” The pitch of his voice had risen a notch. He was starting to sound like Toria.
“I’m not saying that.” He closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure what he was saying, what he wanted. A brother in arms. Someone to validate his unease. He hoped something more would come from waking David than just spooking him. “Listen, just keep your eye out, okay? If you see anything weird, just let me know.”
“Weird?” David paused a moment. He said, “You mean, besides you?”
Xander could sense more than see David’s smile. He wished he could be more like that, easygoing. But then, David hadn’t seen what Xander had seen.