The Perplexing Nosebleeds Of Ebonie Fantasma

Chapter One

 'I won't send her away, Mom!'

'Paige, this is best for her.'

'I am her mother! I can take care of her!'

'Ebonie needs help from a professional, someone more experienced than me. The negative power in the house has skyrocketed ever since Eric left.'

Ebonie paid no attention to the yelling downstairs. She was holding her bleeding nose. The nosebleeds had become more frequent ever since her father left. Even though she was only six, Ebonie knew that her nosebleeds were a warning of something bad. She grabbed the cross necklace she never wore from her bed with her free hand.

Then she saw it. A woman wearing a white nightdress covered in black dirt and dried blood. She was so skinny that her skin was nearly transparent. Large cuts were tattered across her legs. Her back was to Ebonie. Ebonie feared that the woman would hear her heart pounding in her chest. Tears welled up in her eyes as blood slowly dripped down her face.

The woman's bones looked broken, no, they looked shattered. The woman slowly turned around and saw Ebonie. Her eyes were lifeless, yet at the same time,e they were filled with rage. Mud covered her gray skin and her scraggly blonde hair. She opened her mouth to reveal insects crawling over her rotted teeth.

She tried to say something, but all that left her mouth and a low, dry groan. Ebonie finally cried out for her mother as a river of blood ran down her face. Both her mother and grandmother were in her room in a matter of seconds. The woman disappeared before they could open the door. The blood finally stopped coming out of Ebonie's nose as her mother ran over to hug her. Ebonie couldn't stop sobbing.

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Paige looked at the white prescription bottle on the table. 'It won't help, she's cursed, Mom.' Emmalyn shook her head. 'You think she's cursed. I believe the child is gifted.' 'How is any of this a gift? How is any of what you, me, and Ebonie inherited a gift? We're all cursed, Ebonie has it the worst.'

Emmalyn sighed and poured two glasses of whiskey. 'My mother,' She began, 'thought our family was cursed too. My siblings and I were forbidden to even speak of our powers.' She handed a glass of whiskey to Paige. 'That only intrigued me more about the supernatural. I read books about the subject in secret with my siblings. Eventually, I even stopped taking my pills. I talked to the dead in my house as if they were living, breathing people.'

Emmalyn paused for a moment and she took a sip of her whiskey. 'I left the night of my 18th birthday to become what I am today. A Spirit Talker and Healer.'

'Your point?'

'Suppressing Ebonie's power might not be the answer. She might have to learn how to live with it. The medications clearly don't work on Ebonie the same way they work on you.'

'We could talk to Dr. Smith, we can find another prescription. We could-'

'It won't help, Paige. All it will do is make her symptoms occur a bit further apart. If Ebonie doesn't learn how to live with seeing the dead it will corrupt her. I've seen and so have you.'

Paige pursed her lips. She knew her mother was right.

She knew her mother was right when she told her that Ebonie would communicate with ghosts.

She knew her mother was right when she told her that there would be no stopping the genetics that Ebonie would inherit.

She knew her mother was right when she warned her about moving into this house.

So why was she still hoping that this time her mother would be wrong? Why was she hoping that a different medication would help Ebonie? Paige got up and put her cup in the sink.

'Goodnight, Paige.'

'Night, Mom.'