Scratching The Surface

Chapter 15

Jason sat on the kitchen island, his eyes fixated on the stain on the kitchen floor. It had been there since they moved in and looked suspiciously like a blood stain. He hadn't voiced his opinions to Piper, not having wanted to worry her. Now he couldn't help but think that he had been right.

The wooden floor looked to have been through a lot, with chips here and there and some other stains. But this one was large, oddly colored, and right next to the wall where the wallpaper seemed to come undone. Jason didn't move to look under the wallpaper, but he imagined there was another spot there.

Jason could feel Nico appear behind him, feel his presence and smell the blood that seemed to cling to him. To Jason, that was all Nico smelled like. The heavy, sticky, metal scented blood. It made him sick.

"Is that where you died?" Jason asked, not moving to look at the ghost. The storm kept raging outside, not stopping to see them settle their score. The lightning lit their faces up, lit up the stains, darkened the shadows. The thunder rumbled, the wind howled, a dog barked madly in the distance. Nothing seemed calm like it had been previously. "The blood stain. I'm guessing there's some behind that wallpaper, too, huh?"

He could hear Nico take a step towards him, his bare feet tapping against the floor. "No, that's not where I died. But someone did die there, actually."

Jason scowled, wrapping his arms around himself. "Someone else died in this house?"

"A whole lot of people did," Nico admitted. He pulled himself onto the island by Jason, his feet swinging out before him. "You've got hundreds of years of history here. There's going to be some deaths."

"Is there any other ghosts?" Jason refused to look at the boy he was talking to.

Nico looked down, remembering... "It's been only me in the house for awhile. But in the woods, there's Percy and Annabeth and their kids."

"Percy and Annabeth... Who are they?" Jason asked. "Should I be worried about them?"

Nico shook his head immediately. "No. Never. If anything, you should be thankful. They'll protect your kids from drowning."

Jason finally looked over to Nico, giving in to the fact that he was talking to a ghost, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. "You knew them?"

"They lived here. 90's, I think. Perfect family, happy. I was happy with them. Percy didn't look through the things I hid and Annabeth was an amazing mother to her kids. Plus all the buildings she designed... It was a shame she died before they were built. You know the town hall? She designed that. Pretty awesome, huh?"

"I guess," Jason admitted. "So...so their spirits are in the woods?"

Nico nodded.

"And your spirit is in here..." Jason told himself. "God, I can't believe this..."

"I wouldn't bring the man upstairs into this," Nico advised. "Wouldn't be such a smart thing."

"That reminds me," Jason went to make coffee but sighed when he realized he couldn't with the power out. "Why aren't you in like...Heaven or an afterlife or whatever... Is there not anything after death?"

"Oh, there is." Nico insisted. "There definitely is. You could just say I'm in my...purgatory. Or Hell. But the good spirits... Yeah, they're with the man upstairs."

Jason shivered as the wind blew a window open, rain pouring into the kitchen as if a dam had broken. Lightning flashed inward, flashing through Nico as if he was nothing more than air. The storm seemed to be even more frightening with the talk of Hell and spirits, but Nico seemed as comfortable as ever.

"Stupid windows," Nico commented as he watched Jason try to close it. "They do that all the time when the weather gets bad." The tornado alarm went off again, breaking through the cries of thunder. "Your wife is worried about you, you know."

"I'll be fine." Jason got the window closed with a grunt. "Damn that thing. I'll have to replace it."

"I'll have to replace this, I'll have to replace that." Nico mocked. "What aren't you going to replace?"

"I'm making the house safe for my family." Jason shot back. "And new windows will help me."

"Whatever." Nico got to his feet, his eyes on the chandelier above them. It started to swing as if responding to his look. "You go back downstairs. I'm done talking to you. Too tired."

"No, no, no." Jason went to Nico and grabbed his arm, smiling when he didn't go right through. "I still have a question for you."

"I don't care." Nico pulled away. "I'm done for today. And your wife is worried sick. You should really go downstairs."

"Not until I-" Jason didn't get to finish his sentence, Nico having disappeared from sight. He sighed in annoyance but hesitantly made his way back downstairs, swearing to ask Nico the next time he saw him. He had to. If he didn't know everyone in that house, he wouldn't know how to keep his kids safe.

And from hearing Nico speak, he knew there had been another ghost in that house.