Page 98 of The Corruption of Hollis Brown

“No. Finish it,” she said, holding up her phone higher.

“Are you recording me?”

Annie was watching the video from over Yulia’s shoulder. “That’s fucking terrifying.”

“I’m not that bad!” Hollis yelled. “You’re lucky I remember any of it at all!”

“No, your eyes kind of reflect like a cat’s sometimes now.”

Hollis scowled. He quickly finished the dance and crossed his arms.

Yulia glanced back at Annie for reassurance.

“Okay. We need some safeguards. When you’re talking, hold up one finger and when it’s talking it has to hold up two.”

That’s reasonable.

“He says he doesn’t mind that. Also please stop calling him an it; he’s a person,” Hollis said.

“I’m not doing it any favors,” Yulia said dryly.

“He didn’t ask for that, I did.” Hollis sat down on the couch. “He’s a person, and I care about him, and it feels like you’re calling me ‘it’ when you do that, so stop.”

Yulia scrunched her nose in distaste.

“You care about him?”

“He’s with me all the time. We wake up together and go to sleep together; he’s with me when I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner; when I’m sad and when I’m happy. In just hours spent together alone. I know him well enough to . . . to choose that.”

Yulia looked a bit sour, but she didn’t complain.

“Given the circumstances . . . and the whole . . . yesterday . . . ,” Annie started. “Has it occurred to you that maybe you could have dissociative identity disorder? It’s like when your brain decides to have multiple personalities and—”

“No.” Walt cut her off, raising his fingers like Yulia asked him to. “That’s a fine guess, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t spend much time pursuing it. I’ve spent a few years in a hospital because of that mistake, and I’ve no interest in going back.”

“Do you have any interest in getting out of our friend?” Yulia asked immediately.

Walt shook his head. “I made him that offer last night. Didn’t seem too keen on it, Hollis. Personal reasons.”

“We didn’t test him,” Annie said urgently. “We should test him.”

Walt stood up. “I can do a fair amount of things Hollis can’t. His dancing is abysmal. If doing a few steps will save me from a fortnight in your version of Bellevue, I’m willing to shuffle.”

He didn’t even need music.

Walt danced so much better than Hollis that it was as humiliating to him as it was vaguely arousing.

“It’s better with a partner,” Walt said, breathless. “But I’m not raring to touch either of you until I know that potion is done working. Not to offend, but your body doesn’t feel like home, Ann. I’m not looking to come back.”

“But Hollis’s does?” Yulia spat.

Walt shrugged and settled back down onto the couch.

“He’s taller than I am, but I like the room,” he said, merciless, then turned to Annie. “Who is Toji to you?”

“What?”

“Toji Watanabe, the guy you look like. I don’t know if he died before you could meet him or see pictures.” Walt sounded casual but Hollis could feel his heart racing.