I barely hit the courtyard before the first window blows inward Glass across stone Something black comes through with it Then three more Too fast to count I reach for the old sword A hand catches my wrist Not stopping me Helping Different coat ring I've never seen He looks at the blade Then at me "About time." No clue who he is No time to care Across the yard someone throws a strip of paper into the air The ink lifts off hangs there turns Everything coming at us turns with it Okay So we're all doing weird shit now Different hands same damn line Different roads same place tonight No introductions no time for names We just move when the stone starts shaking Steel in one hand fire in another Somebody screams "Hold the middle" And every one of us moves The east wall bends Not breaks Bends Like something huge leans against the other side A man drops hard both palms to the floor Light tears out between his fingers runs through the stone The wall snaps back Something screams behind it A woman beside him drives a key into empty air Turns A doorway flashes open Something reaches through She turns back The door takes the arm with it Yeah Not asking The old sword pulls left I follow Three steps duck swing Nothing there Then two pieces hit the floor Now I can see it Wish I couldn't HOLD DON'T CHASE MAKE THEM COME PAGE UP KEY TURN STONE DOWN STEEL THROUGH LEFT SIDE MOVE MOVE KEEP IT OFF THE CENTER IF THAT FLOOR OPENS DON'T— It opens Black water punches through Same smell Same cold My stomach knows it first Paper catches fire Key turns twice Hands hit stone The sword starts humming Right through my teeth Something under the water moves Big Too big The man with the burning page shouts I can't hear him Doesn't matter His hand goes down Mine does too Then everything we're holding answers at once Different hands same damn line Different roads same place tonight No introductions no time for names We just move when the stone starts shaking Steel in one hand fire in another Somebody screams "Hold the middle" And every one of us moves The water stops climbing For half a second that's all we get The page is still burning without getting smaller The key won't stop turning The man on the floor has blood coming from both palms My sword is pulling down so hard I need both hands I look at him He looks at her She looks at me Nobody asks We already know Something underneath us just found the same spot Different hands same damn line Different roads same place tonight The floor burns white The black water drops Something beneath us hits the stone Once Hard enough to rattle my jaw Again Nobody moves Third hit The sword turns in my hands The key turns by itself The burning page unfolds One black line runs across it straight toward me Silence Then— one more knock Not below us Not outside Inside the house
