The Fall Read Online Free Page A

touch. Before I can lose my nerve, I take a deep breath and climb in. Sliding my legs beneath the half-open lid is the hardest part, until I feel the pillow touch my hair. The entire coffin is lined with velvet, and a moldy scent rises around me.
    Ignoring the smell, I soak in the horror of lying in a coffin. Roderick steps back, and the darkness startles me. But I savor the power. If I can be strong enough to control my fear, then I can do anything.
    â€œLet me try, Madeline.” He wants to have strength too, and how can I blame him? Fear is a hateful thing.
    I climb out and take the torch.
    â€œLook.” Roderick lets out a little laugh. “I’m dead. I’m a dead Usher, lying in my coffin.” He folds his hands over his chest and lies back. Seeing him in that position terrifies me in a way that lying in the coffin myself did not.
    â€œShut the lid,” he commands. I shake my head. We are good at sensing each other’s feelings, so he will know how much the thought scares me. But he looks at me with his liquid eyes, smiling, proving that he is far from dead. The lid makes a loud grating sound as I slide it forward and he disappears.
    â€œMadeline?” He calls out almost instantly, his voice muffled. “That’s enough, let me out.” And I feel his fear.
    I grip the lid with my free hand, but it won’t budge.

10
M ADELINE I S F IFTEEN
    M y feet make no sound as I slip from my bedroom into the corridor. Cassandra follows. I thought I heard Roderick in the corridor, but he is very obviously in his room. Even from here, I can hear the sounds of his breathing. Roderick’s door isn’t fully closed. Though he ignores the power of the house, he knows instinctively not to be trapped inside any of the rooms. I brush my hand against his door as I pass, pulling away quickly so the house can’t urge me to go in.
    The moon shines through the window at the end of the hallway, nebulous and green. Forgetting to be watchful, forgetting fear, I approach it. The windows here at the front of the house overlook the roiling waters of the tarn. I lean on the ledge below the arched window.
    A black curtain billows into my face. Silk slides against steel as the curtain unravels from the rod, pushing me to the thick carpet that muffled my footsteps moments ago. The cloth molds to my face, pressing into my mouth as I gasp, trying to draw enough air to scream. I tear at the fabric, but it wraps around my hands until they too are caught up in it.
    I can’t move, I can’t breathe.
    A growl reverberates through the hallway, and the cloth pulls away from my face. Cassandra’s paws are pressed against my rib cage, and she’s tearing the curtain away with her teeth. She’s saved me. From the house.
    The house knows that I was prepared to confide my fears, my discoveries, to Roderick. That I’m no longer eager to please it, that I know its true nature. That I’m learning more every day.
    I sob, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. I spit the last bits of fabric onto the floor. Unconcerned, my dog licks my chin. Laughing, cruel faces of my ancestors watch us from the dismal works of art that line the wall.
    Cursed Ushers. Did they manage to keep the house happy? Or did they live their lives in fear? The house rewards cruelty. It loves darkness and despair and death.
    And I am its favorite.
    Shuddering, I put my hands over my face. The house is angry. Roderick tends to provoke it, with his disbelief, his constant departures. But this attack was directed at me. Was it yet another warning, or was Roderick supposed to rush out of his room and save me? Would that have happened if I had managed to scream? And what would have happened then?
    He is here for three more nights. Only three nights. Somehow, I must keep both of us safe.
    I put my arms around Cassandra and let her pull me back to the safety of my bedchamber.

11
M ADELINE I S N INE
    R oderick screams from inside the coffin.