Part 12

He crouched low and held his breath... not in any overt attempt to remain stealthy, but to avoid the inevitable beating when the man woke up.

But he never did. The light snores continued undisturbed.

"...wow..." said David, unfolding his legs and standing straight. Now that the was closer, he recognized the sleeper as Raynold Heels... a man his father occasionally went drinking with, and who Lowell Vern cursed as a liar and a cheat even more frequently. Why had he parked himself outside Lowell Vern's window? And why was he sleeping so soundly that he didn't hear a boy climbing out of a window right next to him? There was no stench of alcohol about him; David would have surely recognized it if there had been.

Maybe he was sick?

David reached out with one finger, intending to poke Raynold Heels in the cheek.

"Are you... a fool?"

David gasped and spun. Seeing no-one, and realizing that he'd made a sound, he spun back. Mr. Heels still slept.

The darkness around the sleeping man bristled.

David blinked, unsure of.... unsure of everything. Why was he standing out in the dark talking to an invisible voice that he'd already run away from once? Why had all the women in the town come over just to feed him? Why had he just snuck out of his own parent's bedroom... where he shouldn't have been in the first place.

"I'm going back inside..." David reached for the window. He was undecided on whether he was actually going to climb back inside or not... but standing next to a sleeping man while the darkness called him names didn't seem very wise.

"The Hill," said the voice. David slowed... halted... "Remember the Hill? You have to go there now."

"I can't," David whined. "I told you."

"But if you stay here... if you don't leave soon... you'll never find my name. And bad things will happen."

"But the ghosts-"

"Can't hurt you."

David frowned.

"It's the living you have to fear. For now."

David's frown deepened.

"Are you... alive?"

To that, there was no reply.

"Are you a ghost?"

"I... don't know."

"How come you don't know-"

"Because I don't."

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"You tell me. Find my name, and I'll show you magic."

"With the colors? Like before, in the barn?"

"All the colors you could ever see."

"And the ghosts can't hurt me?"

"Not tonight. Not as long as you're looking for my name."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

David thought... he considered...

...he backed away from the window.

"Okay," he said. "But if I see a ghost, I'm running."

"Fair enough..." the voice sounded weaker... further away.

"And what happens when I get there?"

"You'll see...""