Scratching The Surface

Chapter 17

The next morning, Piper woke up to the power working and Jason asleep next to her. The girls must have been back in their room, the bed being empty besides her and her husband. Piper moved a little before kissing his cheek, talking to wake him up. "Jason..."

Jason groaned before cracking an eye open, his eyelashes crusted from the allergy season. "What...? What time is it?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Piper wrapped the blanket around her as a draft passed through the old room. "You got the power to work, I see."

Jason nodded as he closed his eye again. "Got back at like midnight last night, moved the girls to their room."

"Jason." Piper snapped in front of his face. "Wake up, we're talking."

Jason's eyes opened. "Hm?"

Piper sighed. "You're hopeless. I was trying to tell you something."

"Can't it wait until later?" Jason grumbled. "I'm tired and I have to get up for work in like fifteen minutes..."

"You're late, actually," Piper admitted. "Your alarm went off and woke me up."

Jason groaned in protest before rolling off the bed, landing in a heap of twisted limbs and blankets. He laid face down for a minute before sitting up, rubbing at his face to try and get the feeling back into it. "I'm up, I'm up."

"Good." Piper kept back a giggle at his movements. "You okay there?"

Jason smiled at her as he stumbled to his feet. "Never better. Do you know where my work clothes are?"

"In the dryer," she answered. "But-"

"I'm late!" Jason called as he ran out of the room, jogging down the closest staircase. Piper sighed in annoyance but got up to get the kids, first going upstairs to stop at Nico's room. The tapestry was still up, but the empty plate sat in front of it from when she brought him lunch the day before.

"Thanks for laying it out for me, I guess." Piper picked the plate up, twitching in annoyance as her voice came out sarcastic. "I'll just be your maid from now on, okay?"

She took the plate with her as she woke the girls up before taking it downstairs to wash, keeping the girls close to her as they played. Katie sat on the kitchen floor with a game of marbles set out in front of her, and Maddie played with an old doll she had brought down with her. Piper did the dishes in silence, watching out the back window for anything suspicious.

"Mommy?" Katie looked up after a couple minutes, having a dark marble between her fingers. "Is there a new friend here?"

Piper slowly looked towards her daughter, the once bright day now ruined for her. "What do you mean?" A bird chirped loudly, but there were no other sounds.

"Another person like Nico," Katie replied. "I thought I saw him. Why hasn't he come out to play before?"

"Like Nico?" Piper turned the sink off and went to kneel beside her oldest daughter. "You mean a ghost?"

Katie nodded. "Like Nico. But he wasn't Nico. Why didn't Nico tell us about him? He looked so upset, I wanted to hug him. But he went bye bye."

"Maybe you should ask Nico." Piper insisted. "He'd love to answer you. Just call for him, I'm sure he'll hear."

"I thought you said he's being moody." Katie wondered. "What if he's too moody to talk to me?"

"He won't be, I promise." Piper gave her a small smile, knowing Nico would only answer to Katie if anybody. "So just ask. It can't hurt to try."

Katie nodded once before looking to the ceiling. "Nico?! I have a question!" No response, nothing changed. The air was stiff with summer heat and perspiration. "Nico?!"

She went to look at Piper in disappointment when Nico appeared on the island, kicking his bare feet like a child. "Katie, you okay?" He didn't look at Piper, didn't glance in her direction. All his attention was on that little girl.

"Nico!" Katie ran to meet him. "I'm scared!"

"Why are you scared?" Nico picked her up and set her beside him. "Are you okay?"

"There's another person like you," she explained, snuggling into his side. "He seems scary."

"He won't hurt you," Nico promised, petting her hair. "He's just...confused. He hasn't been able to be seen by people like you in lots of years."

"Why? Is he okay?" Katie immediately looked worried despite her barely knowing the unknown ghost. "Is he hurt?"

"He was hurt really bad when he was alive, but he isn't anymore," Nico admitted. "He usually doesn't have a lot of energy. But that storm pumped up his energy for a little bit. He'll disappear again soon."

"Why doesn't he say hi?" Katie asked. "He can be another friend!"

Nico moved a hand to her hair to ruffle it. "He's scared, Katie. He's scared of people like you. So's his girlfriend."

"People like me?" Katie looked down at herself. "But I'm not scary."

Nico laughed softly. "You're too little to understand. We know you didn't do anything wrong. But he's just scared."

"Can I try to make him not scared?" Katie asked. "And who's his girlfriend? Is she here?"

Nico nodded. "But she's also scared. So if you see her, you have to be really nice, okay?"

Katie smiled. "Okay! Where can I find them?"

"They'll come to you," Nico promised. "Okay? Just remember to be nice when they do."

Katie nodded. "Okay, I promise."

Nico smiled at her. "Just yell if you need me, okay? I'm going to go lay down."

Katie pouted immediately. "Whyyyyyyyy?"

Nico sighed. "I've been in a bad mood, I'm sorry. I just get this way sometimes."

"Will you go back to normal soon? Momma missed you." Katie replied. "And daddy's been trying to talk to you."

"I'll be normal soon." Nico smiled. "Hey, how about I eat dinner with you tonight?"

Her eyes lit up. "Yes, please!"

"Okay, I'll be here for dinner," Nico promised before disappearing, leaving nothing to even show he had been there in the first place.