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“I’m sorry to leave you here like this, but I have got to get some sleep. Then I’ll be fresh and we can start over again.”

Yes.

“No talking in my head while I’m sleeping.”

Understood.

“And no waking me up at six in the morning.”

What if there’s an emergency?

“Fire or structural collapse. We’ve covered this.”

Very well.

I reach the door to my bedroom, then glance back. Rocky is still huge and stone, sitting in the middle of the hall. Ugly, gray and silent.

Except now I know he’s not really silent.

And for some reason, that makes the house feel a little less empty.

“Good night, Rocky.”

A pause. Then his voice fills my head. Good night, April.

I smile.

And for the first time since moving into Winchester House, I don’t feel quite so alone.

chapter

six

Gabriel

There is a woman singing in my kitchen. Badly. I have heard cats mating with more musical ability.

And yet, I find myself listening, and despite the fact that I am once again made of granite, I feel as if I’m smiling. Very strange.

April has been awake for approximately twenty minutes. In that time, she has managed to drop something made of glass and swear at the coffee machine. Then she began singing a song about a man named Jessie and his unfortunate romantic circumstances.

I have no idea who Jessie is, but the narrator might treat the girl better.

April.

The singing stops.

“Yes?”

What, precisely, are you doing?

“Making breakfast.”

And the noise?

“Also making breakfast.”

Must you sing?