The Wailing Woman

42. The Skeletons in My Closet Pt. 3

TW: Infant death, murder, and blood. 

Fifteen years ago...

Once upon a moonless night, a little girl was sitting on a tree. She was nestled amidst the bare branches. Curled and cloaked, she sat highly seamlessly blending with the night. Her eyes peeked through the gap of the tree branches watching the woman with long dark curls and green eyes crying her name out into the empty street.

Caitlin McGrath was no ordinary woman but she was like every other mother when their daughter ran away from home, furious and afraid. Nora didn't look much like her mother, except for the same raven hair and crooked smile. The other physical features she assumed came from her father, the dull brown eyes and three tiny lunares on her cheekbone. Her mother loved them so much that she kissed them three times. But Nora knew she only kissed them because they reminded her of her father.

"Nora! Nora! NORA!" Her mother shouted as she stood under the buzzing lamppost. Her mother's patience was wearing thin but Nora was just as angry at her mother as she was with her. Nora had grown sick of her mother's lies. She couldn't believe anything her mother told her anymore and she didn't want to live a lie. She didn't want to hide and yet, she shrunk under the trees' branches.

Her mother paced back and forth with her hands on her hips. "I know you here, girl! Come out this instant!" Her voice almost cracked. She was desperate to find her. To know she was safe and unharmed but Nora hugged the tree bark tighter and if her mother saw her she would know she was defying her.

An older woman with brown hair and streaks of gray walks toward her mother. She carries a baby in her arms in a blue blanket, gently swaying him. Nora quickly recognized the elderly woman, it was her grandmother, Refugio, and she was holding her baby brother, Matias.

Oh, Nora was almost tempted to come down.

Ever since her brother was born Nora has not left his side, she could have been mistaken for a piece of gum. When her mother told her she was going to be a sister, she didn't understand what it meant. But the moment Nora's mother put her baby brother in her arms she immediately understood. Her heart spoke a thousand promises before she could say them. Still, she understood two things. She loved her brother more than anything in the world and she would protect him until the end.

"He misses his mother." Her grandmother carefully placed baby Matias in his mother's arms. She cradles him and all anger seems to melt from her face.

Mati, Nora liked to call him.

Her grandmother then says, raising a brow. "I see your daughter does not miss you so much."

Nora's mother sighs as she continues to hold Matias, possibly tighter, almost scared as if he would disappear too. "I don't understand why she ran away after I told her father was coming home. I don't understand why she is acting this way."

Her grandmother raises both her brows.

"How could you not see the problem?" Her grandmother's voice goes low and quiet, but Nora could still hear her. "Caitlin, you've been feeding your daughter your own wishes and dreams about her father coming home and he has not shown him—" She stops herself as she briefly glances down at the baby. 

She clears her throat, "He returned months ago, and then left again. He could've given his daughter the courtesy of a proper introduction. But he chose vengeance over his daughter."

"Introduction?" Her mother snapped. "Her father doesn't need to introduce himself to his daughter. Or did you forget he was part of her life for two years before they robbed us of the life we were supposed to live? Don't say it like she was abandoned. Nora was never abandoned by her father." She swallows and her eyes clouded with acceptance and defeat. "He did not choose vengeance. He chose his family. To protect his family."