The House in the Cerulean Sea(76)

* * *



That might have been an understatement.

Linus gasped awake, shooting up in his bed, hand clutched to his chest, his heart beating rapidly. He was disoriented, unsure of what was happening. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, and it took him a moment to understand what he was seeing.

The house appeared to be shrinking.

The ceiling overhead was much closer than it’d been when he’d gone to sleep.

“What on earth?” he exclaimed.

He heard a meow come from somewhere below him. He looked over the side of the bed, only to see that it wasn’t the house that was shrinking. No, the reason the ceiling looked so much closer was because the bed was floating five feet off the ground.

“Oh dear,” Linus said, clutching the comforter as Calliope stared up at him, eyes bright in the dark, tail twitching.

Linus had never been in a floating bed before. He pinched himself quite hard to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

He wasn’t.

“Oh dear,” he said again.

And then he heard a low, rumbling roar come from outside the house.

He pulled the comforter up to his chin as the bed swayed gently. It seemed like the safest option.

Calliope called up to him again.

“I know,” he managed to say, voice muffled by the heavy blanket. “It’s probably nothing, right? I should just go back to sleep. That would be best thing for everyone. For all I know, this is something that happens all the time.”

The bed tilted sharply to the right, and Linus barely managed to shout before he hit the floor, pillows and blankets raining down around him.

He groaned as he rolled over onto his back.

Calliope licked his thinning hair. He never understood why cats did that.

“Well, obviously I’m up now,” he said, staring up at the bed above him. “Might as well see what this is all about. Perhaps it’s just … an earthquake. Yes. An earthquake, and it’s almost over.”

He pushed himself up from the floor, knocking his head against the bottom of the bed. He rubbed his forehead as he muttered to himself. He managed to find his shoes, which thankfully still appeared to be anchored to the floor. He slipped them on and exited the bedroom, Calliope following close behind him.

The chair in the living room was floating, spinning lazily in the air. The portable record player flipped on and off. The lights flickered.

“I can deal with most things,” he whispered to Calliope. “But I believe I’ll draw the line at ghosts. I don’t think I much like the idea of being haunted.”

That rumbling sound happened again, and he felt it vibrate up through the floors. But it appeared to be coming from outside the house, and though he was loath to do so, he opened the front door.

The lights were flashing in the main house. He was reminded of the bright orange light he’d seen after Mr. Parnassus had left a few nights before, but it wasn’t the same. It looked as if something was happening inside the main house. And though he wanted nothing more than to shut the door against it and pretend none of this was happening, he stepped off the porch onto the grass.

And promptly screamed when a hand fell on his shoulder.

He whirled around to see Zoe standing behind him, a worried look on her face.

“Why would you do that?” he growled at her. “Are you trying to send me to an early grave? It’s like you get enjoyment out of frightening me!”

“It’s Lucy,” she said quietly, wings glistening behind her in the moonlight. She looked ethereal. “He’s having a nightmare. You must come at once.”



* * *



The children were downstairs in the main house, standing together, staring up at the ceiling. They were huddled around Sal, who had a frown on his face. They all appeared relieved when they saw Linus and Zoe.

“Everyone all right?” Linus asked. “Anybody hurt?”

They shook their heads.

“It happens sometimes,” Phee said, folding her arms across her thin frame. “We know what to do when it does, though it hasn’t happened in months.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s bad!” Chauncey warbled, eyes darting around. “He just … shakes things. Like our rooms. And the entire house.”

“And just because he can shake the entire house doesn’t mean he wants to hurt us,” Talia said, eyes narrowed.

Theodore chirped his agreement from his position on Sal’s shoulder.

“We know he wouldn’t do anything to us,” Sal said quietly. “And it might seem scary, but it’s not his fault. He can’t help who he is.”

It took Linus a moment to realize what they were doing: They thought he was going to use this against Lucy. Against them. That stung more than Linus expected it would, though he understood. While they might slowly have begun to trust him, he was still a caseworker from DICOMY. He was still here investigating. And this, no matter what it was, wouldn’t look good.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” Linus said, ignoring the pang in his chest. “That’s what’s important.”

Phee looked troubled. “Of course we’re safe. Lucy wouldn’t do anything to us.”

“I know that,” Linus said.

They didn’t seem to believe him.