Elara's Point of View
"Silas... "Close the door."
My voice was shaking.
The door behind me was still open, wide, and dark, as if the house was waiting for something to come in.
Silas stayed still.
He said softly, "Elara." "We shouldn't—"
I said again, "Close it." Louder.
He stared at me for a long time before slowly reaching out. Before he could touch the door, it closed on its own.
That scared me more than if he had shut it.
I gulped. "You didn't touch it."
Silas stared at his hand. "The house sometimes listens faster than I do."
"That's not normal."
He smiled a little. "Me neither."
I walked closer to him, my heart racing. "You told me I was getting cold. That my heart rate was slowing down. But you look like everything is fine. You don't take a breath. You don't eat. "You don't sleep."
"I am here," he said.
"That's not the same thing."
He didn't respond.
I put my hand on his chest and raised it.
There was a heart beat.
Slow. Weak. But it's true.
I could feel tears in my eyes. "You feel alive."
He gently grabbed my wrist. "Elara..."
"Then why don't you act like it?" I asked. "Why don't you go outside? Why don't you hurt when you fall? "Why do you only come out at night?"
His grip got a little tighter.
"Because I'm not a person anymore."
The words hit me like cold water.
"What do you mean 'anymore'?" I said it softly.
Silas turned his head. "I don't remember being anything else." But I know I'm not like you.
My throat got tight. "So, what are you?"
"An error that didn't go away."
"That's not an answer."
He turned around and looked at me. "I died here, Elara."
My knees were weak.
"You said you didn't remember."
"I remember enough to know that I didn't finish."
"Finish what?"
He shook his head. "Being in love with someone."
The room seemed smaller.
"So I'm just taking the place of someone?" I asked.
"No," he said quickly. "You're not a replacement." You're not the same.
"How?"
"You see me."
I laughed quietly, but it hurt. "She did too."
Silas didn't say anything.
"Say something," I said softly. "Tell me I'm wrong."
He looked down.
That was enough of an answer.
I took a step back. "You said the house takes what you love most." What if it took more than one person from you?
Silas came up to me. "You are the first person I don't want to lose."
"That doesn't make me feel better."
"Elara—"
I turned my back on him and walked to the little table by the window. My hands were shaking. I didn't even know why.
I took the glass cup that was there.
"Don't," Silas said.
"Don't what?"
"You're mad."
"So what?"
The glass slipped out of my hand.
It broke.
A sharp pain went through my palm.
I gasped. "Ah!"
There was blood on the floor.
Silas yelled at the same time.
He held his chest like someone had hit him.
"Silas?" I said softly.
He went down on his knees.
"I felt it," he said, breathing heavily. "I could feel you bleed."
My heart sank.
"That's not possible."
He looked down at his hands. There wasn't any blood. But his face was pale and his body was shaking.
He said, "I felt it exactly." "The pain. The heat. Everything.
I looked at my bleeding hand, then at him.
I said slowly, "You're not human."
He whispered, "No." "And you aren't either."
I wrapped a cloth around my hand and my mind was racing.
"So you hurt when I hurt."
He said softly, "And when I fade, you get weaker."
I said, "That's not love." "That's a curse."
Silas got up slowly.
"It's the house."
I shook my head. "No." It's us.
He reached out to me again. I jumped.
"Don't," I said.
"Why?"
"Because I don't know what happens when we touch anymore."
Silas's face broke.
"Me neither."
There was broken glass between us, and we stood there in silence.
"I am scared," I said.
He nodded. "Me too."
I said again, "You're not human." "But you seem real. I feel less real every time you leave.
Still, Silas moved closer.
He said, "Tell me to go." "And I will."
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
I told him to "stay" instead.
He shut his eyes.
"That word is what keeps killing you."
I weakly laughed. "Then don't go away."
Silas slowly and carefully raised his hand, as if he was afraid to hurt me.
I felt warm when his fingers touched mine.
Not hurting.
Not cold.
Just... warmth.
Silas's breath stopped.
"You feel warmer," he said softly.
"And you feel better," I said.
We looked at each other.
He said, "This isn't how it's supposed to work."
"I don't care about what I'm supposed to do."
Silas moved in closer, so that his forehead was almost touching mine.
He said, "The house rewrites us every time we connect."
"Let it."
He shook his head. "You're already wasting time."
"What do you mean?"
"You forget things." Little things. The password for your phone. "Your sister's voice."
My chest got tight. "How do you know that?"
"Because you tell me the same stories every night."
I was sick.
"No..." I don't.
"You do."
Silas put his hand on my cheek.
"You told me last night that blue was your favorite color." You said it was yellow tonight.
"That's not important."
"When the house is deciding what to delete."
My breathing got faster.
"So, what's next?" I said it softly. "What's my name?"
Silas didn't say anything.
That silence was the worst thing ever.
"I don't want to forget who I am," I said.
"Then you can't keep me."
I looked at him.
"You're telling me to let you go."
"I'm asking you to live."
My eyes hurt. "Without you?"
Silas nodded.
"I'd rather be by myself than see you die."
"I'd rather die than never feel this again," I said.
He held onto my shoulders.
"That's exactly what the house wants you to say."
I pushed him away.
"Don't blame the house for everything. You're here as well. You are also making this choice.
Silas looked sad. "I'm picking you."
"And I'm choosing you back," I said. "Don't act like you're the only one who's hurting."
The walls creaked once more.
Silas stopped moving.
"Elara... "It's reacting."
"Let it."
He looked around the room with fear in his eyes.
"It's teaching us."
"What does that mean?"
"It's copying us." How we feel. Our hurt."
The lights went out.
The air got thicker.
I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up.
"Silas... I can't see well.
He ran to me. "Sit down."
My legs gave out.
Silas held me, but this time his arms felt heavier than before.
Too real.
He whispered, "Elara." "Your pulse is barely there."
I tried to smile. "At least you're real now."
His voice broke. "That's not worth losing you."
The room shook.
Not hard.
Just enough to feel alive.
Then a voice rang out through the walls.
Not loud.
Not clear.
But it said one thing.
In unison.
Silas looked at me in shock.
"It's bringing us together," he said in a low voice. "Forever."
"What does that mean?"
He took a breath. "It means that if one of us dies, the other won't live."
I couldn't breathe.
The pain came back before I could talk.
Sharp.
Deep.
It felt like something inside my chest was pulling me.
I yelled.
Silas yelled too.
We both fell to the ground at the same time.
And for the first time since I met him, I felt something worse than being alone.
I felt like love had me stuck.