Scratching The Surface

Chapter 8

The next morning, Jason started work again and Piper was left alone in the early hours of the morning. As soon as she was sure her husband was gone, she got her phone and looked up the closest church. There was one about thirty minutes away towards the city, close enough to go and get back before Jason would be home.

Leo agreed to babysit the girls when Piper explained she had to go to the store. She didn't want to scare him or him to think she was insane, so she lied easily and set a reminder on her phone to actually go to the store when she was done. Once Leo was there and the girls were fine, she left quickly and started driving. She took Leo's truck, relaxing at the air conditioning that her and Jason's car didn't have. It was a hot summer with humid days and sticky nights, with fireflies and crickets. Fireworks were heard now and again as July approached and schools were out. She loved summer more than anything, but not having air conditioning at the house was a real struggle.

Piper pulled up to the small church with her heart hammering in her chest. How long had it been since she had been to mass? She and Jason used to take the girls there for holidays, but even that became too much in their busy lives.

She went inside quietly to not disturb anyone in prayer, looking around the dimly lit room. A couple of people were in the pews with their hands folded and their heads bowed, but mass wasn't going on. The priest was sitting by one of them with his hand on the man's back, talking in low whispers.

Piper sat in the pew behind them and set her purse next to her, not knowing how long the conversation would be but not wanting to rush it. She may be worried about her family, but she was still half convinced that she was insane. She wasn't going to risk interrupting real troubles for her fear of a nonexistent ghost.

She was half asleep when the priest sat beside her, his old face wrinkled and tired, but a genuine smile shone through the old age. "I'm sorry that took so long. That man just lost his wife and daughter in a car accident. The funeral will be tomorrow, and he wanted me to minister it."

Piper immediately knew she had made the right choice with not interrupting. "It's okay, father. I just had a quick question, if that's okay with you."

He nodded at her to go on.

Piper took a deep breath, picking at her fingernails to distract herself. "I just moved into a new house. Please...please don't think I'm insane, father. But my daughter came to me describing her imaginary friend. I looked up the house... Something's there, father. I heard it walking over the baby monitor and it moves things and... I'm scared for my family, father."

The old man's smile faded. "Ma'am... Are you sure your daughter hadn't seen this bit of news before?"

Piper shook her head. "She couldn't have. It's impossible. And I know what I heard, father. There are blood stains and old furniture and the walking and clapping...the basement." She whispered the last part to herself, having found the boards Jason took down back up.

"You know, you remind me of a young woman that came to me some twenty years ago," he mused, his hand rubbing under his small glasses. "She came to me, saying she heard things in the house. Her daughters would be playing with someone that wasn't there and they found bloodstains hidden around. I worked to do research for them, to figure out if what they were dealing with was real and dangerous."

"What happened?" Piper asked quietly. "Did you find anything?"

"Oh, I found something." he let out a small sigh, guilt washing over his features. "I rushed to their house to find it empty. Not a soul in sight. I called the police and they searched━we all searched━for days. Their bodies were eventually found in the lake out in the woods. Nobody knows how they got there."

Utter fear washed over Piper, the kind that seemed to stop your heart and stop your voice from working. She couldn't breathe, couldn't talk, couldn't do anything but stare at this man and think about what this meant for her family. Her babies.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. "What? What is it?"

Bringing a shaking hand to her face, Piper pinched her cheek a little to try and bring herself back into a talking state. It didn't work.

"Do you know who I'm talking about? The Jackson's?" he asked.

Piper mutely nodded.

A silent glance around them, a spark of fear in his holy eyes. "Do you...do you live in their house?"

Piper nodded again.

"Take me there. Take me there immediately." he stood up and helped her to her feet. "We don't have much time."

Piper looked into his eyes, and as fear took over, had a horrible feeling that she wasn't doing something right.

~~~~~~~~~~

Leo got Maddie in her highchair after ten minutes and then had to work on Katie being seated. By the time he did, Maddie was once again on the floor trying to crawl away. Piper never mentioned she could crawl out of it, but it made Leo's life ten times harder. Little kids just weren't his thing.

"I want to play!" Katie protested, throwing her fork across the kitchen. "Not eat!"

Leo narrowly missed being impaled, his face starting to pale. "Katie, come on-" He looked over to find Maddie out of her highchair again, his face turning red. "How do you keep doing that?!"

Katie's laughter echoed throughout the kitchen, her hair falling into the syrup on her pancakes (specially made by Chief Leo, thank you very much). "It's Nico! He likes making you mad!"

Leo shook his head. "It isn't the time for games, Katie. She could get hurt climbing down from there." He brought Maddie's chocolate milk to the table and lifted her back into her highchair, buckling her into it. "There, that should do it."

"I'm telling the truth!" Katie argued, grabbing Maddie's fork and holding it close. "He does it to make you mad."

"There's no one here except for me, you, and your sister," Leo replied. "Now, please eat your breakfast before your mom kills me. We can play afterward."

"I'm not lying!" her eyes filled with sudden tears. "I promise I'm not lying!"

"Woah, Woah, no crying." Leo held his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry, don't cry. Crying kids aren't ever a good thing."

"You're making Nico sad and that makes me sad," she mumbled, staring at her pancakes mournfully.

Leo tried to ignore the melancholy atmosphere, knowing very well that it was just his nerves getting to him. "Katie, I'm sorry. Who's Nico? You're imaginary-, not imaginary. Sorry, Katie. Is he your friend?"

She nodded. "He lives here with us. He's friends with Octavia outside. But he can't go outside and see her."

"'K," Leo gestured to her pancakes. "Eat, Katie."

She started to eat reluctantly. "Mom's are better."

Leo put a hand to his chest, gasping. "Katie! I put my heart and soul into that!"

Giggling, she pointed the fork at him. "Sorry, Chief Leo."

He grunted. "Apology accepted."

"Chief Leo?"

"Yeah?" he sat back in the chair. "What's up?"

She used her fork to point again. "Maddie got down again."

Leo turned around quickly, groaning loudly when he saw the little girl sitting on the ground, playing with a small ball. "Pipes, where are you?"