Chapter 5 — What Lily Heard

Lily was a quiet child in the way that specific children are quiet — not shy, not withdrawn, but economical. She chose her words like she chose her steps: deliberately, with full attention to where they landed.She was also, Nora had long understood, perceptive in a way that occasionally felt like too much. She noticed things. She didn't always say what she noticed, which was arguably more unsettling.On Friday evening, the third week in the house, Nora knocked on Lily's door.Lily was doing homework at her desk, the small lamp making a circle of warm light around her. She looked up."Can we talk?" Nora said."Okay."Nora sat on the edge of the bed. She chose her words carefully — carefully enough that Lily, who noticed everything, would notice the care."Have you heard anything? At night. From upstairs."Lily looked at her with those even eyes. "The pacing," she said.Nora's stomach dropped slightly. "Yes. Has it bothered you?""A little." Lily turned back to her homework. A pause. "There are words sometimes."Nora kept her voice completely level. "What kind of words?""Not real words. Like — shapes of words. Like when Dad's on the phone in the other room and you can hear that it's words but not which ones.""Through the vent?"