Page 5 of Insidious

“1, 2, 3, roll … 1, 2, 3, slide.”

Something lifts beneath my body.

The world tilts.

A baby cries again somewhere nearby, followed by a shushing sound.

My chest feels like an elephant is sitting on it. I don’t want the quiet anymore. I don’t want to leave her.

Amelie.

Then, blackness crashes back down.

***

A siren wails. It rises and falls like a strange, distant song.

A warm hand is holding mine. Someone is praying.

A thumb keeps brushing over my fingers.

Back and forth. Back and forth.

“Stay with me, Luna,” a voice murmurs. “Don’t leave me … Love, don’t leave me.”

I know that voice.

Isaac.

But that doesn’t make sense.

He isn’t supposed to be here.

He’s somewhere else.

Far away.

Dreaming about—

I turn away as the pain in my chest returns, obliterating everything.

The siren grows louder.

Then softer.

And softer.

Until everything disappears.

***

A Memory

My fingers smell like engine grease. I love the scent because it smells like Daddy.

Daddy’s old blue Ford sits in the driveway with its hood open, and I’m standing on a wooden crate beside him so I can see inside.

“Pass me the wrench, Lulu.”