Haunted Souls

Chapter 12

As soon as Nico got in the car, Bianca started again with complaints that made him want to run off the road. Finally, with nothing else to do, he put his fingers over his ears and laid his head against the steering wheel.

It took ten minutes for Bianca to pull his fingers out of his ears. "Fine, I'll shut up. I'm sorry. I'll shut up."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"You'll let me talk?" Nico asked. "Because I'm not going to start if you keep complaining."

"I'll let you start," Bianca muttered. "But why are we in the car?"

"I was going to take you to a cafe to talk." Nico started the car before pulling out of the parking lot. "Ethan and I are starving."

Bianca rolled her eyes. "Okay."

Nico sighed. "Why are you being so difficult?"

"Because I finally had a friend and you ruined it!" she quickly looked to the window to hide a tear that escaped. "We live in a fucking haunted castle that belongs at Disney. My baby sister was hurt. We moved away from the only girls I know and I started my fucking period!"

Nico paled. "I forgot that existed..."

"Dad-"

"Do you know how everything...works? Because I can explain-"

"Dad." Bianca held a hand up to his mouth. "I know because of Anna. So now you focus on getting this castle demon free, okay? And let me do my own thing."

"No smoking."

"I know."

"No drugs. No sex."

Bianca took her hand back. "I know. Did you and dad find anything helpful or was this whole trip for nothing?"

"We left when he finally found an article," Nico admitted. "But so far nothing."

"Maybe it's good but needs to tell us something." Bianca offered. "Because last night I felt comforted by it."

"If that was the case it wouldn't have hurt a baby." Nico dismissed. "She could have bled out. That thing isn't good, Bianca."

Bianca leaned her head on her hand. "Maybe you're wrong."

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Will's heart was in his stomach as he read through the articles he had finally found, not by internet but hidden deep within the old books of the library. After using Google translate, the actual history of the castle finally came to light.

The folklore. The legends. The myths. All equally terrifying, all equally horrible.

For the first time, Will truly felt like he couldn't go home.

Death. So much death, splattered over the pages of the book. Seven suicides. Seven different ways. Seven suspected demons. Seven deadly sins.

Suicide Number One: George Oscar, 22 years old. Shot himself in the head after shooting his girlfriend during sex. Lust.

Suicide Number Two: Chip Prescott, 34 years old. Literally ate himself to death. Gluttony.

Suicide Number Three: Sarah Rutherford, 19 years old. Threatened to kill herself when her husband refused to give her access to their money. Accidentally went through with it. Greed.

Suicide Number Four: Sal Graham. No exercise, no movements. Didn't even move from the couch to go to the bathroom. Died in that pile of human waste. Sloth.

Suicide Number Five: Joey Wells. Killed his wife before killing himself after finding out that she had cheated. Wrath.

Suicide Number Six: Andy Williams. Wanted his brother's wife. Killed his brother, killed the wife when she didn't want him, killed himself. Envy.

Suicide Number Seven: Perry Cannon. Too prideful to admit that he was sick. Snuck some pills when he thought no one was looking. Those pills killed him.

Seven suicides. Seven deadly sins. And as some speculated, seven demons.