Days and nights of bitter grief
Our son had fled to New York City with his cello
The Lady and I slept in separate chambers
As Roxy lay dead in the vault beneath us
The dead can sing
Sleep will not come
There's a storm tonight
There's a storm tonight
The dead can sing
I gasped and struggled and bolted upright in my bed
The terrible wind
The song of the dead
The storm
The storm
My wife rapped at the door
Can you hear her?
Throw open the windows
Let the storm in
We don't need moons or stars or God
We have the wind
A terrible wind
My wife's madness had grown to epic proportions
The only things that soothed her were fictions
Stories from our vast library
Let me read you a story
Let me read you a romance
I will read
You will listen
And this terrible night will pass
Let me read you a story
Let me read you a romance
I will read
You will listen
And this terrible night will pass
I opened the book
Read the title
Book 7, Chapter 10
The tale of Pearl and the Pusher
And the Subway Driver, and the Photograph
Pearl stood on the platform
Playing a game on her phone
Trying to beat the boss at the end of the level
And there's a man on the platform
Screaming about the apocalypse
And behind her
Under the raving
She heard the echo of a footstep
And beneath me
Under the raving
I heard a footstep
In the house
In the game
On the platform
Pearl stood on the platform
Playing a game on her phone
Trying to beat the boss at the end of the level
And the boss was a bear
A great big bear
How will you defeat him?
Pearl went to the option menu
Selected the silver sword
And there's a man on the platform
Screaming about the train coming
Pearl raised the silver sword
Struck the bear on its side
And the bear shrieked
And the bear shrieked
A shriek so harsh and horrid and piercing
And beneath me
Under the raving
I heard a shrieking
My little girl
This has all happened before
Deep within the House of Usher
I heard a flashbulb rip
And the dead stood in the doorway
Roxy
There is blood upon my robes
And the dead girl leapt upon her mother
And her sister
And her daughter
And her lover
With the rage of four generations
And Lady Usher's heart burst
Exploded within her chest
Pearl stood on the platform
Battling the bear
The bear breathed fire
The bear had acid in his honey pot
And the train was coming
And the train was coming
And the train was coming
And the train was coming
And the man on the platform
Screaming about the apocalypse
The man we know as the Pusher
Took a last drink
Steeled himself
Got behind Pearl
And he got behind Pearl
And the Pusher
Couldn't help himself
And the Pusher pushed Pearl
Onto the subway track
Pushed me into the path of the screaming train
I fell onto the track
And everything slowed down
All the color got a little grey
(Do you hear it?
Do you hear it?
Her footstep is on the stair)
I saw the train
Howling toward me
Its light was dazzling
Blinding
I tried to climb out
For just a moment
But then I stopped
I stopped and listened to the train
(The heavy and horrible beating of her heart
She shrieks
I tell you she is outside the door!
We have put her living in the tomb!)
And then I looked up on the platform
And saw Rose
Back from the dead
Standing there with her camera
I lifted my head
And smiled
Smiled for the camera
You know that moment right before you die
Is such a gift
Because you get to choose exactly what goes through your head
What your last song will be
I thought of someone I love very much
Smiling in bed
Holding a teddy bear
And then
I let the train rip through me