New Winslow S7E55
The kid was gone again, and the silence was getting more and more frustrating. Maybe it was because Noah could remember so specifically how it felt to drown, how it felt to be in Billy McBride’s skin as he boarded his ship and dreamed of going home. But the idea that he just wasn’t answering them was getting to him worse than it was apparently getting to Andrew or Iris. This kid and his memories were so ingrained in Noah, so how could Billy just stop making contact with them at all?
He was feeling both defeated and pissy as he and Andrew got back to the duplex after yet another evening of failed attempts. This was the second night in a row that summoning and tapes resulted in nothing but silence from the spirit. And yet, Noah was probably going to go to sleep tonight and dream about ocean storms until he woke up sobbing with fear. The helplessness he felt in the face of all of this made him want to scream.
And the most frustrating part was that he knew there was a possible solution, yet nobody would agree with him. If Liv had spoken to Billy when Noah sleepwalked, then Iris would be able to when Noah was hypnotized. It made perfect sense to him, but Iris and Andrew still didn’t think it was a good idea. Even as everything else stopped working.
“We should just try,” Noah argued yet again as he and Andrew made their way into the backyard, where Olivia had the grill set up. “If it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work. At least we’ll know.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Andrew insisted, his voice calm in a way that made Noah feel even more frustrated. “If you were hurt last time, I don’t want you getting hurt again. There are other ways.”
“It was a headache,” Noah said. “I’ve had plenty of headaches before.”
He knew he was crossing the line into petulant, but this just seemed like such a ridiculous reason for everyone to tiptoe around a potential solution. Especially when the danger of waiting was so visible to all of them.
“Hi?”
The tension must have been obvious from the moment they stepped into the yard, because Olivia looked warily from Andrew to Noah. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“We haven’t been able to reach him again,” Andrew said, his voice light in a way that just pissed Noah off more.
The way Olivia looked at him showed that she knew what Noah was thinking. “This isn’t working,” he said, not even caring how defensive he sounded.
“What if I tried talking to him again?” Olivia asked.
She turned to flip burgers on the grill as Noah glanced over at Andrew. “Like when he’s sleepwalking?” Andrew asked.
The urge to tell Andrew to stop talking like Noah wasn’t right fucking here rose up and he almost gave in to it. But Liv nodded, looking at Noah. “It worked last time, right?” she said. “He listened, even if he didn’t talk back.”
“But it doesn’t happen every night,” Noah said.
“No, but I was thinking about it while you guys were gone. I could maybe just stay upstairs with you for a little bit until it does. It happens often enough, right? Keep the doors open, and I can hear Mia no problem.”
Noah wanted to say no. He wanted to tell them all to stop being so delicate about this. But Iris and Andrew had still been adamant and this was at least a step forward. “Fine,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked over at the flourishing vegetable garden. “Yeah, we can try it.”
He stole a glance at Andrew, expecting a protest. But Andrew actually looked relieved, which made Noah briefly wonder if he was being played right now. He almost said something along those lines, something that would have been enough to blow up the night, when Andrew asked, “Do you feel alright with that?”
“I’ve already done it,” Olivia said with a little shrug that made Noah relieved he hadn’t said anything. “I know it isn’t ideal, but it’s worth a try, right?”
She knew. She knew what he wanted to do and how close he was to doing something reckless in order to convince the others it was necessary. “You don’t have to come up to my room,” Noah said, not meeting her gaze. “I’ll come to yours. If you want, I mean.”
Olivia shrugged again, turning back to check the burgers. “Sure,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll wake up if you get up or start talking or something, I sleep pretty lightly these days.”
She shouldn’t. She should be getting plenty of sleep, she had a kid and a business and far too many responsibilities. But if he continued thinking down that path, then he was going to start feeling too guilty to have her try this and that would leave him right where he’d been before this conversation: angry at the world and helpless to do anything about it.
“I’ll try it,” he said with what he hoped was a realistic smile. “Alright, what do you need from the house?”
———
Late the next night, Olivia jerked awake and lay still for a long moment, trying to figure out what had woken her up. She was in her bed with Noah for the second time in a row. Last night they’d both slept through the night, the first time she’d ever been disappointed to have that happen. As soon as they’d realized nothing happened, she’d suggested trying again tonight. He’d offered to take the couch tonight so she could have her bed back, which she found a little silly, considering how many times they’d shared a bed in their lives.
Now Noah was asleep beside her, breathing quietly, so clearly she hadn’t woken to him sleepwalking. And as she listened to the room around them, all she could hear was the sounds of the house settling.
“Liv?”
Noah was awake now, looking at her in the dark. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said. “I just woke up.”
She glanced at the clock and realized her alarm was going to go off in an hour. Night two and no sign of anything unusual. She’d almost think that Billy was avoiding talking to her as well if it weren’t for the way the sleepwalking tended to come and go with Noah.
“This isn’t working,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “We can’t just keep having you wait for me to sleepwalk.”
“What, you don’t want to cuddle?”
Noah laughed, crossing his arms behind his head. “Always,” he said. “But for real, you need to actually sleep. And I think we’re just psyching ourselves out right now.”
Maybe it was the darkness, or the quiet, but Olivia asked, “What do you want to do?”
“Tell this kid to knock off the shit,” Noah muttered. “I don’t want to do any of this anymore. But it’s not like I’m going to stop.”
“I know,” she said softly, running a hand down his arm.
“I know you don’t want me to, and I know why, but I want to try having Iris hypnotize me again to reach him. I think it would work. And we wouldn’t be relying on me to sleepwalk. I’m sure she could put out, like, a beacon for him and then they could talk through me so we can figure out what happens next.”
Olivia turned on her side and studied him. It was too dark to see his face clearly, even this close. And she was suddenly reminded of the night he’d seen her speaking to a ghost in here, after he’d drunkenly fallen asleep at the dinner table. He’d been hurting so badly then and now he was talking about risking getting hurt again.
“Did it hurt?” she asked.
The silence afterwards gave her the answer before he could lie. “I can’t tell you what to do,” she said into the darkness. “But if you have to do it, then do it. Just please don’t leave again.”
He took a sharp breath and she saw him nod. She wanted to say more, to beg him to listen to Andrew and her, or maybe to scream at Billy to please pull it together and talk to someone he wasn’t going to hurt. But instead, she curled up against him for the last few minutes before their day began.
———
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