“She gets on my nerves, questioning everything left and right.”

Sitting on an old beaten crate with his arms supporting him, he let out a laugh. The sound of it so frail that I almost laughed myself. I held it in, for it would be a bitter laugh.

“You know, I remember a young Sam who acted the exact same way.”

“That’s not true, I’m a cultured sort.”

“Cultured?” he asked, a smirk plastered on his face. “…So be it.”

“You don’t think I am?”

“No, Sam, not at all. Your low appreciation of her proves it.”

“It proves nothing!” I yelled, crossing my arms over my chest.

He waved his hand. “Alright, it proves nothing, you’re as cultured as ever.”

“Damn right I am!”

He turned to me, squishing his thin brows together as he rubbed the wrinkles on his forehead. Raising his head after an agonizing wait, he pointed at the wall. Old and degrading, the bricks were a dirty brown, unclear that they were once a pristine white.

“Would you please put some enthusiasm into this. She is the key to the gate, can’t you see, we’re nearly there.”

“We’re not nearly anywhere, Oliver!”

“Sam, you need to settle down.” He put his finger over his lips. “Gray or Sophie could hear you.”

“No, they can’t,” I said as I tapped on the wall. Flecks of stone falling off after I tapped it.

His hands on his chin and a blank face, his voice monotone, he said, “Are you sure, my dear Sam?”

I clenched my fist and gave way to his argument. “…Alright, so the walls are brittle.”

“That they are,” he said, slapping the wall. “Now, about the gate. I’ve worked hard for th-”

“Hey, wait a second,” I said, interrupting him, “didn’t you just see what happened?”

He crossed his arms, contorting his brow, and a long sigh came from him. “Sam, I need you to focus.”

“Oliver,” I said, “of course I know you’ve worked hard for it. You shouldn’t have involved the twins though.”

“Sam! I’ve explained this to you countless times. The only possible way I could leave this benign house was to possess Ellie. I couldn’t do that without Sophie.”

“You’ve stained Ellie’s hands and hurt Sophie. That didn’t have to be done, it shouldn’t have been done at all.”

He punched the wall. “It’s hard enough as it is to be inside Ellie and what happened to Sophie was an accident, that wasn’t how it was meant to go.”

I flung my arms out, and pleaded for a soothing answer. “I care about them, don’t you? The gate isn’t that important.”

“Are you mad? Of course, I care about them, but I want to live again. If it requires my sanity and the sacrifice of others then that's what it will take.”

“I’m not mad, I just, just don’t want to do this. What we gain isn’t worth what we will lose.”

“But Sam, we could live again and then leave this place to live our own lives. Don’t you want to start anew together?”

He knows exactly what I want, tugging on my heartstrings, I thought with the slightest dilemma. “I do, I really do.”

“So, you’ll continue working with me?” he asked.

I looked at the window and thought of my past, the sea is one beautiful muse and I miss it dearly.

“Sam?”

“Huh?” I snapped out of my daydream. “Oh, yes! I want to explore the world again, like I did when I was young.”

He laughed and said, “You would choose the world over me.” Clapping his hands together he jumped to his feet. “You know what to do with Gray.”

“Yep,” my enthusiasm clear, “train her up and serve her to the beasts- I mean, guide her in the right direction.”

He formed a sly smile. “That’s what I thought. After all, I wouldn’t want my protégé to be hurt.”

“That’s ironic, coming from the one who brought her here.”

“Says who, not I, and neither you.”

“Sure. It’s about time I showed myself, so I’ll be going now.”

“See you later,” he said while waving me off.

“Later.”

I squeezed back into my natural form, well the form that most see. Floating above the dirty pile of clothes that had yet to be burned, I phased through the brick wall of the long-forgotten basement.

Once I was through the wall, I heard purring. “Ah, Phraze you’re always here to greet me.”

He pawed at the air, trying to reach me. In the time I’ve been in this house, you’ve been here, too. How long do you have left to live? Time means nothing to me, and as the years have gone by I’ve stopped counting, but I’m sure you’ve been with the family since Jason was young. I thought, worried over my precious friend, my one and only true friend.

“You want to play with my arms?” I asked and he replied with a meow. I blinked, and brought them out for him, swinging my left-hand side to side.

If a cat could smile, Phraze would be doing it now as he swatted at my hand.

“…Phraze, do you know how I’m going to stop Oliver?” I asked, but he didn’t say anything back.

No, you wouldn’t. You’re just a cat. I’m desperate to stop his crazy ambitions, so I need to think of a plan. But it’s hard… My spirits were dampened by my indecisiveness.

“Hey, Sam!” A voice bellowed from my side.

“Ah!” I jumped and my arms swirled around in the air. After settling my nerves, I looked to see who was laughing at my embarrassing stunt.

“Haaa, whew, Sam that was hilarious.”

“Gray,” I said, unamused by her reply, “you shouldn’t jump out of nowhere like that.”

“Ah, sorry, I was looking for you.”

“For what?”

“Well, Jason came home and he's been acting a little weird. I wanted you to come see him and tell me why.”

Such a headache, I thought. “Alright, let's go.”