Haunted Souls

Chapter 7

No matter how much therapy, no matter how much prayer, Nico would never forget that day. He'd never forget the pale face of his daughter, her mouth open in silent sobs. Three scratch marks scarred her face, spilling blood all over the crib and the blankets. Her stuffed animal, a yellow bunny she had yet to name, was covered in red.

"WILL!" Nico picked Maria up and held her to his chest, trying to calm her frantic cries. How he hadn't heard over the baby monitor, he'd never be sure. But something had hurt his baby and it wasn't going to get away with it.

Nico ran from the room with a blanket against the scratches to try and hold the blood in. Will met him in the hallway, shirtless with his work shirt in hand. His hair was wet from the shower, spilling into his face in thick strands. "Nico, what's wrong?"

"Will!" Nico stuffed the baby into Will's arms. "Fix her up! Hurry, please."

Will's eyes swept over the baby girl before turning angry. "What did you do?"

"What?" he was unaware of the blood covering his shirt, covering his hands. "You think I did this? I ran in to find her already bleeding. Just...just fix her, Will! We can argue later!"

Will thankfully took the hint and ran for his first aid kit, leaving Nico alone in the dark hallway. He could swear he heard laughter, could swear that he wasn't alone. But he was covered in his baby's blood and he wasn't sure where his other babies were. So he took his shirt off and headed to the kitchen, headed for the kids that he could help. He would have to trust Will to take care of Maria.

Bianca was helping Ethan eat his breakfast when he came back, her long hair now in braids down her back. As she cut Ethan's eggs for him, he finished one of her braids before putting the hairband in.

"Are you both alright?" Nico asked after a moment of silence, his eyes having already judged that they weren't physically hurt. "Calmed down and everything?"

Bianca shook her head. "Why did you run out? You scared us half to death."

"Yeah," Ethan pipped up. "Half to becoming a ghost!"

Nico gave him a half smile. "Sorry, kid. I had to check on Maria. It turns out the baby monitor is...not working. I don't know why."

"Is she okay?" Ethan asked, concern written all over his face. "Did she get eaten?"

Nico couldn't help but smile at Ethan finally getting the grammar correct. "No...she didn't get eaten. She must have scratched her face or something. Will's fixing her up."

"Doesn't she wear mittens so that doesn't happen?" Bianca questioned. "Because that's what I remember."

Nico stared at her for another minute. "Why are you so happy to ruin my lies?"

"Lies?!" Ethan stood on his chair and pointed to Nico. "Liar! You admitted it!"

Nico sighed. "I'm not a liar. I just don't know what happened. Now sit down before you fall."

Ethan sat with a loud thump. "Is Maria okay?"

"She'll be fine," Nico promised. "Just eat your breakfast."

Bianca, who hadn't said much on the topic, stood up from the table with her face set in a serious expression. "Dad, can I talk to you privately for a minute?"

"Um...sure." he gestured to the hallway. "Ethan, stay in here and finish your breakfast. We'll be right back."

Ethan dropped his fork. "You're leaving me alone? With the ghosts?"

"There are no ghosts." Nico followed Bianca out of the room. "Just stay put. We'll be right back."

Making sure to close the door behind them, Nico kept his back to Bianca for a solid minute before finally turning to face her. His daughter was paler than usual but she wasn't scared. If anything, she was angry. "What is it?"

"What's the truth?" she asked. "Because I know you lied in there. You're a horrible liar."

Nico sighed. "Bi... It's something that I don't understand."

"Tell me anyway," she demanded.

Nico ran a hand through his hair. "Maria had three scratches on her face that drew blood. I have no idea where they came from. They were too deep for her to have done them."

Bianca's stern gaze disappeared. "Is she okay?"

"Will's fixing her up," Nico assured. "She'll be okay."

She started to pace, her hands moving to her hair just as he did when he was stressed. "What would have hurt a baby?"

"I don't know," Nico admitted. "Just don't worry about it, okay? I'm handling it."

"You're handling it?!" Bianca stopped in her tracks to glare at him, tears streaming from her eyes. "Ethan's scared to death! Maria got hurt! I'm bored out of my damn mind! This place is horrible and you're not handling it!"

"Language." Nico's eyes narrowed. "And I'm trying. I'm trying my-"

"You're not trying hard enough." Bianca snapped. "Not if we're still here, still experiencing this shit."

"Bianca! Watch your mouth." Nico growled. "You can't talk like that to me. I know we're all tensed up. I know we're all stressed. It was a big move. A big change of lifestyles. But you need to get used to it. We can't go back."

"Why not?" Bianca wiped at her tears. "Why not, dad?"

"We wasted all our money coming here," Nico answered. "Every penny. Now, Will is working so we can pay for the electricity and buy food and the water. And that takes all our money."

Bianca gestured around them. "Sell this dump!"

"It isn't mine to sell," Nico argued. "It's Will's."

"He's your husband! Ask him to sell it!" Bianca pleaded. "Please! It's hurting us! Think about what it did to your baby!"

"The castle didn't hurt my baby. I don't know what did." Nico denied. "Now calm down and go sit with Ethan."

Bianca crossed her arms. "You're in denial."

"Do what I said," Nico ordered. "I have to check on Will and Maria."

Bianca walked into the kitchen silently but didn't lose her anger, nor did Nico expect her to. Deep down, he was just as angry at himself as she was.