I didn’t know you could get buried in your own silence

Standing in front of apartment 204, Noah was losing his confidence. He had come to the second floor to find Elwood Clark, the very-much-alive man who had promised to help Noah. In reality, it wasn’t even a promise, just Elwood saying “I think I can help you,” before being dragged away by a red-haired woman, but that was quite enough for Noah.

Now, Noah stood in front of Elwood’s apartment, hand poised in front of the door, ready to knock. He had been standing in this position for the past ten minutes, hoping his hand and Elwood’s door would magically connect. Noah hoped, fruitlessly, for 5 more minutes.

“This is stupid,” Noah muttered to himself and lowered his hand. “He probably thinks I’m crazy. And even if he doesn’t, how does he think he can help me?” Noah was now pacing the hallway of the second floor.

“You know what, he’s probably crazy. This was a bad idea. A bad, bad idea. I’m leaving.”

Noah turned to leave, ready to return to his own apartment, but while thinking of apartment 406, he was reminded of how alone he was, even when Seth was there.

And with that unpleasant thought, Noah returned to his original position in front of the door and knocked.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, the faint whisper of voices came from inside the apartment. It sounded as if two people were arguing. Noah leaned in closer to, curiosity beating the voice in his head reminding him that eavesdropping is wrong.

“Don’t you dare open that door, Elwood,” one voice, probably female, said. “We don’t know who it is or what they want. They could be the one who stole the puzzle box.”

“I’m just going to check who it is. Don’t worry about it,” the voice belonging to Elwood responded.

“Elwood no-” the woman started to say, but Elwood had already opened the door.

“Noah! I wasn’t expecting you,” he greeted the boy before turning back inside to shout to his companion.

“I told you not to worry Phoenix. It’s just Noah, the one who can see ghosts.”

The red-haired woman from the circus joined Elwood at the door of the apartment and surveyed the bedraggled boy standing before her. Wordlessly, she turned around and went back into the apartment. Noah and Elwood shared a puzzled look.

“Well, come on in Noah,” Phoenix called from inside the apartment. “We have a lot to discuss.”

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