The knocks echoed throughout the empty old house, knocking bits of dust off from where they were and making the spiders in the corner skitter deeper into the dark corners where they had placed their homes. Edward knew this day would come, but wasn't quite sure when it was going to. He had been cold all those nights up here in this drafty house, no heater like in Kim's old home. He was both happy to be away from the leaking water matress and sad that he was unable to see Kim during this time. Though she had slipped him notes occasionally, his hands made it so he couldn't have written her back even if he had had access to a pen. But he kept every last one of them and posted all of them on his wall, making a sort of shrine to her.

The knock came on the door again and he started walking down the stairs quickly, afraid that if he waited too much time that she would leave him again and he would be stuck up here forever in his castle. It was dustier down here on the slightly less drafty first floor because the only time he ever came down was to prune the hedges. Recently he hadn't even done that because he was afraid the towns people would still think he was alive and ask questions he didn't want to answer. Always wanting him to chop their hedges and cut their hair and trim their dog's furr. Enough of what they wanted. And that one... the woman who threw herself at him. He had no interest in her. All he wanted was Kim. And he could see her on the other side of the door. He spoke loud enough to be heard on the other side. "Come in, I cannot open the door."