Free Button Hill by Michael Bradford

pleases me is to take your place on Dayside. Which I shall do once I have your heart.”
    Cobb blinked, his pale eyelids briefly hiding the black marbles that were turning where his eyes should have been. Then he lunged forward, but instead of attacking Dekker, he dodged to the right and grabbed Riley’s wrist. She shrieked as she stumbled toward Cobb. Dekker grabbed her other wrist and pulled, but Cobb was too strong. Riley moved slowly toward the bed, where two sharpened soldiers stood at the ready. Dekker yanked Riley toward him. She screamed again.
    â€œNow!” shouted Cobb. “Do it now!”
    Dekker felt something brush against his cheek, and Harper was there beside him. She held Cobb’s knife against Dekker’s throat. He let go of Riley’s arm, and she fell onto the bed. The sharpened soldiers held her back.
    Cobb lunged forward and drove his shoulder into Dekker’s chest. Dekker fell to the floor, the wind knocked out of him. Cobb straddled Dekker and pinned his arms to the floor with his knees. His marble eyes stopped spinning, and Dekker could see his own face reflected on their surface. “So long, Dekker. It’s been fun.” He made one hand into a rigid claw, his fingertips like talons, and then he drove his fingers under Dekker’s rib cage.
    Dekker gasped. He felt as if he were being crushed between two immense stones. His chest burned as Cobb’s fingers dug deeper. He screamed. He heard his bones cracking, and his vision filled with a dull red light. The room narrowed to a small tunnel, and everything went quiet. Except for an intense heat in his chest, he couldn’t feel his body. Far away, he could hear Riley crying. The air smelled scorched, like an empty frying pan left too long on a hot stove.
    At the end of the tunnel in Dekker’s vision, he saw Cobb stand up and raise something small and golden above his head in triumph. Dekker expected the tunnel to close forever at any moment. Instead, the burning sensation in his chest became searingly cold and spread through the rest of his body, as if his blood had turned to ice. He began to travel through the tunnel back toward the bedroom. The room grew bigger, but all the color had leached out, and it was black and white. A pale Riley stood by the window, tears streaming down her face. Harper was frowning and talking angrily to Cobb. The smell of burning metal intensified and seemed to trickle down Dekker’s throat. For a moment he heard a clock ticking and felt a wind humming in his ears, like dozens of voices whispering. Just when he thought he couldn’t listen anymore, there was a snick , like the sound of scissors, and the voices stopped.
    Cobb held the music box protectively against his chest as he tried to wave Harper and Riley out the door to the landing. “You’ll get your precious box when I’m done with it.”
    â€œMy mom gave that to me—you don’t even know how to use it!” Harper protested.
    Cobb growled at her and pointed to the doorway. “Get moving, now. Our deal’s off if we miss that train.”
    Dekker labored to breathe. Then he realized with concern that he didn’t need to anymore. He only needed air for talking. He took a breath and called out as the others left the room. “Wait.” His voice sounded hoarse. He struggled to sit up. He reached for the bed and pulled himself to his knees. He swayed for a moment, trying to find his balance.
    Cobb stopped and looked back. He sneered. “So you survived. You’re tougher than I thought. Not that it will matter.” He faced Dekker. “Very well. Ask your question. What do you want to know now that you’re dead?”
    Dekker staggered forward. His legs felt like they had been dipped in lead. He leaned against the doorframe. “No, Cobb, you’ve forgotten how to play Finding Things.” He took another breath and tried to talk again. It felt like filling a balloon