"You can't do that!" Nico yelled, his fists flying to his hair. "You can't show yourself to them!"

"Why not?!" Will demanded. "I was trying to help her!"

"What if she tells her parents?!" Nico asked. "They'll move out."

"So?"

"If nobody buys this house then they'll tear it down!" Nico explained. "What do you think will happen to us if that happens?!"

Will rubbed his sore throat. "I don't know... I didn't think about that."

"Exactly."

Will leaned back against the wall. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Nico, okay? I'm sorry."

"Just don't do it again." Nico looked up at the empty noose. Why hadn't they also taken it when they came for Will's body? "Promise?"

"Promise," Will replied, but his fingers were crossed behind his back.


"What's this game called?" Octavia asked after their first match of marbles. "It's really fun."

"Marbles." Will started to collect them back into the bag. "They're Nico's."

"Why doesn't Nico ever come?" Octavia asked. She laid on her stomach, wrapped in one of her blankets. "It's only ever you."

Will chuckled. "Nico doesn't want to scare you."

"He wouldn't scare me." she sat up with a small smile. "You don't. You're my friend. And you like him."

"I do." Will's smile dropped. "But...but you can't tell your parents about us, okay?"

"Why not?"

"If you tell them they might take you away," Will admitted. "You might have to move again. And I don't want that to happen."

"Me neither." Octavia decided. "I won't tell them. But daddy's gonna find out."

"Why do you say that?" Will asked.

She shrugged her small shoulders. "He found out that people died here."

Will felt himself stiffen. "Really? What'd he say about it?"

"He was talking to momma. Said someone died. But she said it was okay. It's okay, right?"

Will nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, it's okay."

"Then why do you look like that?" she asked.

"No reason." Will tied the bag closed. "No reason."