"Be very
quiet tonight."
"Why is that?"
"
Lurking. Moving.
Relentless."
"What?"
"Have you ever tried to go
upstairs?"
"No, why would I do that?"
"
Curiosity."
"Never really thought about it."
"Curosity killed the last
tenant. And his cat."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Sometimes you can hear it. Sometimes you can feel it."
"Feel what?"
"What it feels. What it thinks."
"What are you talking about?"
"You already know."
"I don't think I do."
"Would you like me to check the
boiler while I am here?"
"I thought that was why you came by."
"For the most part."
"I can assure you, even though I've been laid off I'll be able to pay the rent."
"I'm sure you will."
"I won't go upstairs if that is an issue. I only rented the downstairs apartment anyway."
"An
intelligent decision, but not necessarily
the right decision."
"I could use the extra room, I'm sure. I'd like to set up a studio to work on my paintings."
"I wouldn't advise you to."
"What exactly is the problem upstairs?"
"Something you'd probably rather not know about."
"Then why do you keep bringing it up?"
"Maybe one night we can
slip into something more comfortable and talk about it over a nice
chianti."
"I'm not real comfortable with that."
"You will be."
"How can you be so sure?"
"You have a
curious nature. You'll eventually go upstairs."
"And if I don't?"
"Eventually it will come to you. For too long it has been
trapped in a
prison of its own design."
"You are really starting to creep me out."
"You are young and tender and some things cannot stand to
resist temptation for long."
"Would it be okay if I asked you to leave now?"
"It is your home, but don't forget about upstairs.
I'll be back to talk more about it next week when the
parts for the boiler come in."