As soon as she got home, Sissy went straight to her brother’s room. It was empty. She circled around the bed uselessly then sat down on it. Her father followed after her.

She was calling Nate on her phone when he showed up at the door.

“You really think he's going to answer ?”, Peter sneered.

Sissy glanced at him but didn’t say a word. Her mind was a fragmented mess, she was trying to hold the pieces of it together. It felt like if she stopped focusing, she'd lose the exact memory of what had happened. She had no energy to spend to read her father’s gaze; he stared at her for a bit, then left. The call fell short.

So she called again.

Again, again, again, circle again circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circl-

The devil finally picked up.

“I saw it,” she said immediately.

The end of the line stayed silent.

“I saw it, it was near the ice cream shop -” Which one ? “Fuck !”

“You really think you can just call me up like everything's alright and I’ll play along ?”

“What ?”

“Don't act like yesterday didn't happen.”

“Who cares about yesterday ? I saw the dirty thing ! I saw it !”

She was crying. He laughed bitterly.

“I'm so disappointed in you right now.”

Sissy’s heart missed a beat, then stopped beating altogether. She stayed there, still as a statue, or maybe as a doll, as time stretched. Nate’s voice seemed so far away.

“Why did you need to tell dad ?”

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She said nothing to Peter.

“Were you really that hungry for his attention ? Because it brings nothing good. Remember mom ?”

Sissy was shaking. She remembered. She remembered the cemetery, the headstone. The bouquet. She remembered Marie - wiped away like a drop of paint, like her existence had meant nothing at all. Sissy dropped the ball on the floor of the museum.

It bounced back five times.

It sounded like: “I don’t want to die.” A strange echo, almost imperceptible. She realized way later that she had spoken those words.

Nate’s answer didn't come right away.

“Why are you so desperate now ?”

No, she wasn't.

“I didn't think you cared about us - whatever that meant to you.”

No, she was. She acted so smug earlier when she thought all of this would soon come to an end. But now she was hurting. It wasn't her hand, it was somewhere inside her, somewhere the dirty thing had tried to reach. Somewhere that should only be hers to find, for the rest of her life.

“I thought you wanted me to find it - the dirty thing. I thought -”

“Maybe it’s not that you found your conscience after a night of rest, maybe you simply realized that whatever I'm here or not, that man will never love you - because he doesn't love anybody but himself. I hope you enjoyed your ice cream.”

Nate hung up.

Sissy’s hand dropped and she stared at her phone’s screen blankly. Her whole body was shaking, her breath became rough. She was struggling, like the day she drowned. She understood nothing of what was happening, all she could think about was how short this existence had been and how quickly it would be erased - how this fish bowl of a world wouldn’t even see the difference. She was less than a fake sky, less than a missing puppet. Less than a house with no address. Less than a name, because the devil could always give the same name to someone else and have them play her part. Have them be Sissy in her stead.

She owed nothing, not even a headstone. Now she missed Marie. Did heaven exist for a soul that had been stolen ?

Her phone screen suddenly lit up again. Her vision was blurry with tears, but she still saw the caller’s name. She picked up the phone very slowly.

“... Hello ?”

Her voice was so shy. The devil was joyous.

“So you saw it.”

She was sobbing.

“I did, I swear I did…”

But maybe she should say she didn't, what if that's not what he wanted, what if -

“Great. Now kill it.”

“What ?”

“Find a way to kill it, I’m busy.”

Doing what ?

“Where are you ?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Sissy stayed silent for a bit. The devil was humming between sentences.

“Why were you mad earlier ?”, she finally asked - like she would a boyfriend.

“I wasn’t.”

“But -”

“I’m not anymore, anyway.”

“... Okay.”

“Just get rid of that thing.”

“How ?”

“No idea. I need to go, I'll see you later.”

“You're coming home tonight ?"

“Mmm no, later.”

“When ?”

“See you.”

He hung up.

Sissy stayed there, alone in this empty room in this empty house in this empty street in this empty block in this empty town in this empty world.

Empty.

Her hand was bleeding again.