Joachim woke, feeling strange, and found Williams laying on the cellar floor next to him. He looked down at his arms and examined his hands; even in this poor light he knew that they had grown more transparent, and less dense. He was beginning to fade away; something had sucked away some of the life he still had left in him.
He gave Williams a nudge; Williams snuffled, and opened one of his eyes.
“Why are we on the floor?” said the boy.
“You were attracted to something over there by the wall and had fallen asleep or unconscious, I couldn’t tell which; I just grabbed you, and this is where we ended up. I think, for once, we fell out of danger instead of into it.”
The boy stood up and straightened his uniform.
“I heard voices, Williams. Women’s voices, whispering and telling me things,
