Chapter 7: The Name Before Nia
“Nina.””
The little boy's voice floated down the staircase.
Nia stood between the two men wearing her husband's face, staring at the broken silver chain on the floor.
Nobody had called her Nina in more than twenty years.
Her mother had given her that nickname when she was little, back when Nia still slept with a stuffed rabbit and insisted that the closet door remain shut at night. After Denise died, the nickname had disappeared from the family's vocabulary. Even Marcus had never heard it.
Yet the voice upstairs had spoken it with the easy familiarity of someone who had known her before she learned to write her own name.
“Come home, Nina.””
Nia backed away from the stairs.
“Who's there?””
The two men exchanged a glance.
The man who had arrived last—the one with the rain-soaked shirt and the silver ring's matching scar on his hand—looked toward the landing.
The other Marcus grabbed his arm.
“Don't answer him.””
The newcomer pulled free.
“He already knows she's listening.””
“That doesn't mean you have to encourage him.””
Nia looked between them.
“Stop talking about me like I'm not standing here!””
Both men fell silent.
She pointed at the newcomer.
“You said you chose me before I was born. What does that mean?””
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then he lowered himself onto the bottom step, leaving several feet between them.
“My name is Marcus Carter,” he said.
“I'm your husband. The man you married six years ago.””
Nia let out a bitter laugh.
“Which one of you isn't?””
He glanced toward the man by the front door.
“He is also Marcus Carter.””
“That isn't an answer.””
“No,” he admitted.
“It isn't.””
The first Marcus folded his arms.
“Tell her about the boy.””
The newcomer rubbed his face.
“I was eight years old when I first saw him. It was winter, and I was recovering from a car accident. My mother was beside my hospital bed when I heard a child crying in the hallway.””
Nia looked down at the ring.
“The boy had my necklace.””
“Yes.””
“And he called me Nina.””
The man nodded.
“Because he knew you before you were born.””
Nia's stomach tightened.
“That's impossible.””
“I know how it sounds.””
“You're telling me some child knew me before I existed?””
“I'm telling you that the house doesn't experience time the way we do.””
The first Marcus moved closer.
“Don't dress it up in riddles. Tell her what you saw.””
The newcomer looked at him.
For the first time, anger broke through his sadness.
“You want me to tell her? Fine.””
He turned to Nia.
“When I followed the voice into the hallway, I found a staircase leading down beneath the hospital. At the bottom was a white room with a door on each wall. The boy stood in the middle, holding a silver ring.””
He paused.
“He told me that every person had a life that could be lost, and every lost life left an empty place. He said I could go home, but someone would have to fill the place I left behind.””
Nia felt cold all over.
“What did you say?””
“I asked him why.””
“And?””
“He told me I had already made my choice.””
The first Marcus shook his head.
“You don't remember it correctly.””
The newcomer stood abruptly.
“Don't you dare tell me what I remember!””
The sound of his voice made Nia flinch.
He immediately lowered it.
“I'm sorry.””
From upstairs came a small giggle.
The boy sounded delighted.
“Two Marcuses,” he sang softly.
“One door. One debt.””
Nia looked up.
“Show yourself!””
The giggling stopped.
Then the voice answered, “You first.””
The hallway light flickered.
Nia's mind suddenly filled with a memory.
She was six years old, standing in her mother's bedroom. Denise was kneeling before her, holding a silver ring attached to a chain.
“What's this for, Mommy?”” little Nia asked.
Her mother fastened it around her neck.
“It's a promise.””
“What promise?””
“That you'll always know your way home.””
Little Nia frowned.
“But I already know where home is.””
Denise smiled, but tears shone in her eyes.
“Sometimes, baby, home isn't the place you think it is.””
The memory vanished.
Nia grabbed the staircase railing.
Her mother hadn't simply given her a family heirloom.
She had given her something meant to protect her.
And someone had known she would need it.
“Marcus,” she whispered to the newcomer.
“What did you mean when you said you chose me before I was born?””
He looked toward the empty landing.
“The boy told me that one day I would meet a woman named Nia. He said I would love her more than anything in the world.””
Nia's throat tightened.
“He told you about me?””
“He showed me your face.””
“How?””
“In a mirror.””
The first Marcus closed his eyes.
Nia turned toward him.
“You knew about this?””
He didn't answer.
“Did you know about the boy?””
“Yes.””
“How long?””
“Since the night I brought you back.””
The words cut through her like glass.
She stepped away from him.
“You knew there was something in this house, and you let me live here?””
“I thought I could keep it away from you.””
“You thought?””
“I was wrong.””
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the foyer.
Both men stood still.
Nia's hand stung. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she didn't wipe them away.
“You let me believe I was losing my mind.””
“I know.””
“You watched me look at you and wonder if I was married to a stranger.””
“I know.””
“You could have told me!””
“I was afraid you'd leave.””
Nia stared at him.
“You were afraid I'd leave you?””
He looked broken.
“I had already lost you once.””
“And you decided that meant you could lie to me forever?””
He had no answer.
For several seconds, the only sound was the rain against the windows.
Then the newcomer spoke.
“There's something else you need to know.””
Nia turned toward him.
He picked up the broken silver ring from the floor.
“The boy didn't just show me your face. He showed me what would happen if I refused his offer.””
“What?””
“He showed me a world where you never existed. Your mother died alone. I grew old without ever meeting you. And the house kept opening its doors, taking people one at a time.””
Nia stared at him.
“So you accepted?””
“Yes.””
“What did you give up?””
He looked down at the ring.
“My first life.””
The first Marcus laughed without humor.
“You gave up a life you never understood.””
“And you gave up hers!””
The newcomer pointed at Nia.
“You brought her back, but you didn't ask what she wanted!””
The first Marcus took a step toward him.
“I was trying to save my wife.””
“You were trying to save yourself from living without her.””
Neither man moved.
Nia felt as though the air had been sucked from the room.
Because she knew, deep down, that the newcomer was right.
Marcus had always been terrified of losing her. Even before her mother's death, he would wake from nightmares and pull her close, checking that she was breathing.
She had once teased him about it.
Now she wondered how long he had been carrying the knowledge that he might one day lose her for real.
A soft sound came from the staircase.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Three small footsteps.
The little boy appeared on the landing.
He wore a yellow sweater, dark trousers, and the silver ring's chain around his neck.
His face was hidden in shadow.
Nia couldn't see his eyes.
But she recognized the shape of his mouth.
The curve of his chin.
The small scar beneath his left eyebrow.
She had seen that face before.
In the photograph.
The little boy from the snowy road.
The boy from her mother's old pictures.
The boy who had somehow known her before she was born.
“Who are you?”” she whispered.
The child tilted his head.
“You know me.””
“No, I don't.””
“You used to.””
He descended one step.
The first Marcus moved in front of Nia.
“Stay back.””
The boy laughed.
“You're still pretending you can protect her?””
His voice changed.
For a split second, it sounded like Denise.
Then like Marcus.
Then like Nia herself.
“You couldn't save her then,” the boy continued.
“You can't save her now.””
Nia's hands began to tremble.
The boy reached the bottom of the stairs.
He was no longer in shadow.
He had Nia's eyes.
Her mother's smile.
And Marcus's unmistakable dimple on the left side of his face.
Nia stared at him in horror.
The child smiled.
“Hello, Nina.””
Then he pointed at the man who had entered through the front door.
“That's not your husband.””
He pointed at the man beside the staircase.
“Neither is he.””
Nia shook her head.
“Then who is my husband?””
The boy's smile faded.
“That's what you have to remember.””
He extended his hand.
The silver ring lay in his palm.
“Come upstairs, Nina. I'll show you what happened the night you died.””
And behind him, the bedroom door opened by itself.
Inside stood Denise Carter.
May you like
Alive.
Waiting.