Chapter 12

December 2011.

I wandered around the basement with nothing to do, Maia was at school and I had nothing to do without her. 

The basement never had anything exciting but neither did the rest of the house when she wasn't home. 

I then discovered a truck on the ground, a little metal truck that 5-year-olds play with in the mud or the dirt. 

I didn't know what I would do with it but it was a nice discovery. 

As I picked it up and inspected it, I heard someone crying from down the hallway. It sounded like a woman who was heartbroken, probably Nora. 

I walked into the dark room at then end of the hallway to see Nora sitting on a wooden table with her head in her hands crying hysterically. 

As I stood by the doorframe she looked up, she must not know who I am. 

"Who are you?" 

"It's me, Tate." I said as I held the little truck in my hands, "Life's too short for so much sorrow." 

"You're wrong." she croaked, her voice was rough and she sounded congested, "It's an eternity. Just endless days and nights of longing. Where's my baby?" 

I put the truck down carefully, I had an idea of what she could do to get her baby back, 

"That's what I want to talk to you about." 

"You...you promised me. You...you made one with her, the, the lady of the house." she pointed upstairs, she was referring to Vivien. 

"Vivien. That's Maia's mother. And I can't give you that baby anymore. Everything's changed, Nora. I'm in love with Maia." 

"I see." 

"I just can't take her brother away."

"But I can. And I will." she came towards me and caressed my face, "That baby is mine." 

I'm not letting this happen.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Dad, I'm not a dog. I told you, I don't feel well. Just leave me here." 

My dad gripped onto my arm and led me down the stairs with every intention of bringing me to get my mom. 

"I don't trust you anymore, and I don't trust Tate." 

"Tate? I haven't seen him in weeks." 

"No more, Maia. Your mom's coming home, and you're coming with me to get her. Violet's already in the car, now let's go." 

"Dad, please, I don't feel well." 

"You can lay down in the car. And when we get home, pack up your things. We're leaving this house for good." 

He held onto my arm and was dragging me to the car, I knew what would happen if I went with him which was why I was trying to convince him to let me stay. 

"What? You two are back together?" 

"I don't know yet. Your mom wants to go to Aunt Jo's to give birth, and I'm supporting it." 

"No, you don't want to do this." 

I stopped so I was standing face to face with him. He let go of my arm and put his hands above his head, 

"Maia, your mother has been locked up in a psych ward for weeks. I won't let her stay there for another minute. Are you gonna get in the car or do I have to make you?" 

His voice was loud and annoyed as I stood planted with my arms crossed, his demeanour shifted to frustration as he threw his hands up again, 

"My God, Maia. What is wrong with you? Get in the car. Your mother wants to see you." 

He opened the car door and shoved me in by my arm, I sat in the backseat as Violet was in the front, he closed the door forcefully as I shouted at him, 

"I'm gonna throw up, Dad!" 

He got in and started the car, 

"Fine. I'll lay down." 

I laid my head down on the seat, the engine started and my dad pulled out of the driveway. 

I looked at the house from an odd angle as I laid down, I could see it getting farther and farther as we pulled away. 

Then, I was back.

I looked out from my window and watched the car drive down the road, I sighed and turned to Tate who was doing something on the computer. 

"What's gonna happen when they get back? What do I say?" 

I walked towards him on my bed, he was typing something as I looked at him for support. 

Then I noticed he was typing something rather odd, 

"It's not U-tube with a 'U'. It's YouTube. Y-O-U." 

I smiled at his cute mistake, he wasn't raised with YouTube so I didn't expect him to know how to spell it anyway. 

"Oh." was all he said as he fixed it and continued typing. 

"If they find out I killed myself, they'll go insane. Literally. For real this time. They can't know." 

He finally looked up at me and spoke, 

"Well, you can't control it forever. I mean, it is what it is, Maia." 

"One of these days, this computer will be obsolete. People will have microchips implanted in their brains or something. We won't be able to watch YouTube or anything. We'll be like all the others here. Prisoners in a windowless cell. Who's gonna show me the new ways of the world?" 

He looked at me as I spoke with such sensitivity that it felt like I was overthinking every single little detail that I've ever known about the world, 

"Nobody here is happy, Tate." 

"Yeah, but they're not like us. They're lonely. We have each other." he put the computer on the bed and pulled me onto his lap. 

"We'll never have kids." 

I laid my head on his chest as he played with my hair and rubbed my back. 

Just then there were sounds that seemed like they'd come from a nursery, the low instrumental music that puts babies to sleep. 

I lifted my head from his chest and we both got up to see where the noise was coming from and why. 

We opened the door to the new nursery to see the two gay men painting the walls and dressers. 

The one stood up to face us as the other just looked at us with disgust. 

Why were they painting my siblings nursery? 

I stood in the doorway with my arms crossed, in complete shock that there were two strange men in the house when nobody ever dared to step foot in it. 

"Who asked you to decorate the nursery?" 

"Let me break it down for you, sweetheart. This is our house, and we're having twins." 

"Who's your surrogate? One of those nurses in the basement?" 

"No. No." 

He stepped off the step-stool he had been standing on to paint and stood in front of me, 

"A very, very human surrogate, Elvira. Your lovely mother." 

"You think you're gonna steal those twins? You pathetic homos couldn't steal the shit out of your own ass." 

Tate spoke up and yelled at them, what did they think they were doing stealing MY siblings?

They chuckled and I crossed my arms, 

"You know what? It doesn't matter. As soon as my parents get back, we're leaving here. They're leaving. So knock yourselves out." 

"Honey, your parents aren't going anywhere as long as you're stuck here." 

"Don't you get all snotty, little sister. You'll be begging to babysit. As big as this place is, it does get very, very lonely." 

The other man spoke up. I'm not babysitting my 'siblings' if they're the ones raising them. 

"It could get ugly though. Were you a C-section? Is there an existing zipper we might use." 

He taunted me, Tate had his arms crossed as he gave the man a death stare. 

"Watch it, you Goddamn queer." 

He gritted through his teeth as he stood with his arms crossed, the man turned towards him and looked jokingly afraid. 

"Oh, I am quaking in my loafers. What are you gonna do? Murder me?" 

He stepped back and got back on his step-stool to continue painting. 

I turned around and walked out of the room, I was so annoyed that these men were dead set on stealing my siblings, as long as Tate and I are around, I can guarantee it won't happen. 

***

Tate said he had some 'stuff to do' so I sat at the counter with a glass of water, I was bouncing my leg up and down while picking at the skin on my lips. 

The side door opened and I heard Constance's voice through the hallway leading to the kitchen, 

"My brown betty turns to black betty in 20 minutes. So tell me what this is all about." 

She walked into the kitchen and stood by me at the island, 

"I need help. Do you remember those two guys that lived here before us?" 

She chuckled and grabbed a cigarette from her purse, "Frick and Frack? How could I forget?" 

She lit it with a lighter as I continued, 

"So, they're upstairs and they're planning to kidnap my mother's babies and raise them themselves." 

She blew out some smoke, "Well, let me assure you, that is never going to happen." 

"My mom's on her way back from the hospital today. And I don't trust them. I called 'cause I wanted to talk to the psychic lady, the craigslist one."

"Billie Dean? About what?" 

"Getting rid of ghosts. There must be a way." 

She sighed and looked down, 

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it." 

*** 

"So much longing and regret." 

Billie Dean took slow steps around the living room with her hands out to her sides, she was 'feeling the energy' of the house; whatever that means. 

I sat on the couch with my arms rested on my knees, I was lowkey kind of stressed. 

This woman was really trying to figure out every inch of this house when she had no idea the full story of everything that happened. 

"Fear. Sadness. Guilt." 

She stood by a table and rested her hand on it. Constance rubbed her forehead, I don't think she fully believed this bitch either. 

"And perversion." she stepped around the table, "Now, can you ferret out the fairies for us? I mean, that's our main concern at the moment." 

"Targeting a particular spirit is going to be difficult.", she came towards me as I looked up at her. Her eyes were serious as she stared down at me, "This is a very crowded house." 

"You were so young. I'm so sorry." 

I heard her voice in my head as she turned away from me, her lips didn't move and she averted her eyes from me. 

"Oh, God. Please don't tell. They can't know." 

I said to myself even though I knew she could hear me. 

She turned to face me rapidly, as if she was stunned by what she heard. 

Constance then spoke up, "So what can we do?" 

Billie averted her gaze from me once again, 

"Somehow, we have to try and dislodge them from the paramagnetic grip of this place." 

I got up from my chair and stepped towards her since she had taken a step into the doorway, Constance was by the fireplace but she was slowly making her way towards us aswell. 

"The what?" 

"The evil.", Billie's voice was monotone as she stood straight in the doorway, "It's a force just like many other, Maia. Pure physics. Real and powerful. Created by events. Events that unleash physic energy into the environment, where it's absorbed. Like the way a battery stores energy." 

She walked into the dining room and stood by the table, turning slowly to face me; 

"You'll see it all the time in places like prisons and asylums. Negative energy feeds on trauma and pain. It draws those things to it." 

I listened intently as Constance stood by me leaning on the doorframe as Billie continued, 

"The force here in this house is larger than the many individual traumas. And it has a need. It wants to break through. It wants to move in our world. It's using those trapped between this world and the next a conduits." 

As she finished, Constance sighed while rubbing her hands together in boredom; 

"That's very interesting. But what do we do about the gays. I mean, how do we get rid of them?" 

"Oh, there might be a way. I can't promise...He can't be here." 

She suddenly said in a stern voice, I looked over her shoulder to see Tate standing in the doorway with his hands by his side. 

He couldn't be here, not right now; 

"Tate." 

I said out loud, Constance looked around excitedly when she saw him and made it known to Billie that he was here. 

"Billie Dean, that's my boy. That's Tate." 

Billie turned around slowly not directly looking at him but not avoiding him either, she had her head in her shoulder and looked down. 

"I want to help."

Tate's face was innocent as he stood in the doorway leading to the kitchen, he looked so guilty but so innocent at the same time, I couldn't figure out what he wanted besides that. 

"You've helped enough."

Billie spat at him, I wanted to ask why she was so aggressive towards him but I didn't want to get in the way of her 'seance' so I just let go of the idea. 

Constance raised her arm and shooed him away then putting her hand on her forehead as if she was so done with this whole ordeal, 

"Not now, Tate. Go on.". 

Billie Dean turned her whole head to look at the doorframe as Tate walked off, his shadow now disappeared into the darkness of the now empty kitchen. 

She turned back while keeping her head down and her eyes full of confusion, I decided to ask something to understand more of their interaction, 

"What was that about?".

Constance chuckled as she waved me away and went to stand beside Billie Dean who's eyes were still glued to the ground, 

"It's just that, sometimes, when a medium meets a spirit so directly, it has a powerful effect, that's all. It's nothing to concern yourself about. Okay, so what can we do?" 

She turned to Billie Dean as she asked, I had no idea what the hell was going on. First Tate, now me and Constance seemed so chill about it. Billie Dean seems to know but I'm the same as Tate so why didn't she act like that towards me? She met me directly....

This whole 'being dead' thing was so confusing. 

***

We all sat around the dining room table, Billie Dean at the head, Constance across from me. Billie sipped her rum as she looked stressed, clearly being a medium was taking a toll on her. 

"It's difficult to banish a spirit but not impossible. The most successful attempt that I know of happened when America was known as the New World." 

I rested my hand on my cheek, "Are you kidding? That was like 500 years ago." 

"Spirits do not follow our physical laws. Nor are they affected by time. About the only thing they have in common with the living is their suffering. Regret. Pain. Loneliness. In 1590, on the coast of what we now know as North Carolina, the entire colony of Roanoke, all 117 men, women and children, died inexplicably. It became known as the ghost colony because the spirits remained. They haunted the native tribes living in the surrounding area, killing indiscriminately." 

She pushed her glass to Constance to refill as she continued, 

"The elder knew he had to act. He cast a banishment curse. First, he collected all the personal belongings of all the dead colonists. Then they burned them. The ghosts appeared, summoned by their talismans, but before the spirits could cause them anymore harm, the elder completed the curse that would banish the ghosts forever." 

I was so invested in this story, 

"How?" 

She stared at me with big eyes. 

"By uttering a single word. The same word found carved on a post at the abandoned colony. Croatoan."

"So, now you know what you have to do." 

I did. 

I knew damn well. 

________________________________________________________________________________

I paced her room, wondering what she wanted from me, what she needed. What if she didn't need me anymore, what if I was just there because I was forced to be. 

I overthought as I paced her room, I then heard footsteps and turned around to see my beautiful girl walking into her room at a relatively fast pace. 

"What did she say?" 

"We have to get something of his. Something important. An heirloom or a ring. Like a talisman. If we have the talisman and we do this special ritual, he'll be gone." 

This whole idea of trying to get the homos out of this house was bullshit, there's no way that it'll work; I've seen people try so many times to try and get spirits and shit out of this house and it's never worked. 

"That sounds like bullshit."  

I said and I turned around to pace again, I couldn't believe she changed her mind and decided to believe her, that woman held nothing but shit her little brain. 

"Billie Dean's for real. She studies this stuff. The bigger guy wears, like, a wedding ring, and normally wedding rings are on the left hand." 

"I don't trust her." 

I spoke loudly, her voice was calm and soothing like it always was but I was stressed out, this was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. 

"And why'd she say all that stuff about me? I did something bad, didn't I?"

"Let's just get the ring." 

I nodded as she explained to me the events that would be taking place in that nursery. 

The door was slightly shut as I crept in, the bigger man was on the ground painting as I walked in behind him. 

I decided this would be the best time to get his attention, 

"How does it work? Will the kid call you both Daddy, or is one of you the Mom?" 

He turned around and sighed as he gave me a look of frustration, I put my hands up in defeat as I stood in the doorway, 

"Just messing with you." 

I lowered my hands, 

"Seriously, though, are you ready for all this? I mean, you never really struck me as the diapers and midnight feedings type." 

He snapped at me without hesitation, 

"Maybe you should've taken a few minutes to get to know me before you stuck a fireplace poker up my ass."

He bent down again to continue painting, I thought for a second before agreeing with his statement; 

"Fair enough." 

I then needed to start convincing him, 

"Look...We're all going to be here for a long time, so maybe we can figure out a way to let bygones be bygones....and, you know....Cohabitate." 

"I'm dead because of you!" 

He turned and yelled at me, I was unbothered, I had to do this for Maia. 

"Well, there's got to be something I could offer you. Just because we're dead doesn't mean we don't have wants. Desires." 

He turned his head as he was intrigued, my plan was working so I continued as I walked closer to him with my hand on the crib; 

"Marriage looks hard. Especially to that guy. Always on you all the time. And never in the ways you want, right?" 

I stood right in front of him as he was still crouched on the ground, I was looking down at him, 

"It must suck to have to wait till Halloween every year to get a little strange." 

He then stood up and was face to face with me, there was silence for a few seconds before he punched me in the face, something I half expected him to do. 

I fell back into the wall as he was the one now looking down at me, "I can't kill you, but I can make you suffer." 

He punched me again and again, over and over.

My nose was bleeding, I knew 'cause I could feel it dripping down my face; he held onto my collar and pressed me more into the wall, 

"Best part is, when I'm done, you'll heal up, and I can beat the shit out of you over again." 

I smiled knowing there was no chance and he kneed me in the stomach and punched me once again. Falling onto the floor he was standing on top of me, "

Harder. I like it rough." 

I was trying to taunt him. 

"Not supposed to be like this." 

he shouted out as he kicked me in the stomach once again, 

"I'm not supposed to be here!" 

He kicked me out of the room and I fell into the railing of the stairs.

He pulled me up and held my head in his hands firmly, "

Look at me! Look at me! I was gonna get out!" 

He yelled again as he pushed me against the hallway wall and kept punching me kneeing me repeatedly.

He pushed me once again and I fell into a table in the nursery and dragged the cloth which was over top of it down with me, he once again stood in above me, looking down with pure hatred in his eyes, 

"I fell in love. God help me. I was gonna get out and be with him, and then you killed me, and now I'm stuck here with him!" 

He emphasized the last 'him', meaning he didn't want to be stuck here with his husband. 

I was on the ground as the buff guy stopped shouting at me, everything went quiet as I averted my eyes to see his husband standing in the doorway with a shocked and hurt expression. 

"Chad." 

The guy said as 'Chad' rushed away from the doorframe rapidly, the guychased after him leaving me on the ground by myself in the unfinished nursery. 

As I looked up at the doorway to make sure I was alone, I held his ring in my hand and inspected it, a gold wedding ring with intricate designs all around. 

Maia's going to be so proud of me. 

I walked back to her room but she wasn't there, so I laid on her floor tossing the ring in my hands as I waited. 

***

I entered my room to see Tate laying on my floor, as I walked toward him and closed the door, he turned on his side and rested his hand on the side of his head, 

"What'd you get?" 

I had been in their room which wasn't far from the nursery and checked out all their heirlooms and prized possessions, I remembered he always wore a gold watch so that's what I had my eye out for. 

I found it on one of their nightside tables and put it in my hoodie pocket, I continued looking for anything else just for fun but there was nothing of interest or value. 

It had taken me a while to find out where they stayed since I hadn't known until now where they kept all their shit. 

Surprise surprise, it was in my parents room. 

I held up the watch to show Tate, 

"He took it off to paint. Why does a ghost need a watch?" 

Tate was about to answer when my dad's voice rang from the other side of the door, 

"Maia! Maia!" 

Tate got up from the floor and panicked, I motioned for him to chill when my dad's voice sounded from the other side of the door, 

"You disappeared on me. What the hell happened?"

He was pounding on the door and yelling at me, I didn't know what to do or say; I couldn't just tell him. 

"Maia, your mom and Violet are waiting in the car. We have a plane to catch.". 

I opened the door and did the only other thing I could think of, I pushed them away. 

"Good. Go far away. Just don't bring Mom in the house."

"What are you talking about? You're coming with us." 

he said as he grabbed my arm, I hit it away, 

"No! I can take care of myself. If you want to, you can come back for me later, but for right now, you have to trust me and get the hell out of here, and tell Mom I love her and good luck with the babies, and tell Violet she'll go to Harvard when she graduates in a few years." 

He pushed me into my room as I spoke and as I finished he held my head in his hands and forced me to look at him, 

"What's the matter with you? Huh? Are you high or something?" 

"I wish." was all I responded. 

"Maia, I stopped at a red light, and you were gone. Where did you go?" 

"Nowhere. I was right here." he sighed and let go of my head, 

"I wanted to come. I swear. I couldn't leave the house." 

"Stop it! You're lying. You're on drugs, I can tell. Tell me what kind, right now. Tell me!" 

Fuck it.

"I'm dead!" 

I screamed at him as he was still standing in front of me with a blank stare of disbelief. 

"Don't you get it? Once you die in this house, you don't get to leave. That's why you need to take Mom and Violet somewhere safe." 

A car horn honked and my dad sighed in contemplation, I think he believes me now. 

"That's exactly what I'm gonna do." 

My mom's voice echoed through the thin walls, 

"Ben!"

It was very subtle but loud enough for us to hear her. 

My dad gripped my arm, "You're coming with me." 

He was asking me questions as we walked down the hallway to the stairs, I decided to just fuck it and tell him what happened, I'm already dead so what's the worst that can happen? 

"I took some pills. My anxiety pills, I overdosed. I didn't mean to kill myself."

We stopped as my dad listened to my mom scream from downstairs, 

"Ben!" 

She was groaning loudly, letting out more sounds of pain. 

The babies must be coming. 

We made our way down the stairs quickly as Violet, Constance and my mom all walked through the door. 

Violet and Constance held her arms as she was halfway bent down in pain, groaning in agony. 

"What's wrong?" 

My dad was very concerned, he let go of my arm and stood by me as my mom was almost crouching. 

"The babies are coming." 

You'd think after two girls he would know by now.

He lept forward and pushed her towards the living room, Violet let go of her arm as Dad seemed to be taking control, she came towards me and we followed them into the living room. 

***

5 minutes or so later, Mom was laying down screaming in pain on one of the long chairs in the living room; she was screaming and saying how much it hurt as Constance talked her through it as Dad was trying to call people and come up with plans to help her. 

Violet and I stood by the sliding glass doors of the living room watching. It was hard seeing my mom in so much pain, much harder than seeing her being sent to a psych ward. 

Constance noticed us at the door and after talking to Mom, she came over. 

"She can't give birth here. It's not safe." 

I told her and backed up from the door as she stood by the stairs and faced me. 

"Well, then make it safe. You know what to do, Maia." 

 I stood for a second as she walked away to the kitchen. 

The ring. 

The watch.

"Vi. Come with me and don't ask questions." 

She nodded as we ran up the stairs and to my room, I gave her the watch and told her not to tell or give it to anybody. 

Grabbing the ring, we made our way to the fireplace and opened it up to reveal a fire already lit. 

Without hesitation I threw the ring in, Violet gave me the watch as I threw that in too. 

I felt relieved until I heard a voice behind me, a voice I dreaded not to hear. 

"What exactly do you think you're doing, girls? Is that my $12,000 watch that you're putting into the furnace?"  

Without thinking, I began yelling 'Croatoan' many times very loudly. 

Chad began seizing and almost collapsing to the ground but started laughing and regained his composure. 

What the fuck? 

"Ahh. So where'd you get that one?" 

He said as he stood back up straight and stepped towards us slowly, 

"That press-on-nail psychic who was here earlier? I mean, really? The Roanoke spell? Please, tell me you'll be slitting the throat of a chicken next because I've always found that very dramatic." 

We stood there in shock trying to process what he was saying, 

"I also quite enjoy the burning of the sage to rid the house of spirits." 

"It didn't work..."

The realization was hitting me as Chad stood in front of me with a sly smile on his face. 

"Of course it didn't work. It's bullshit. It's all bullshit. People make up these spells and chants in order to feel like they're in control. Well, guess what? They're not. Never have been." 

He snapped something against his thigh and threw it into the fire, 

"What are you doing?" 

"My own bullshit ritual. There's not gonna be any nursery." 

He bent down to pick up a piece of wood which was the railing bars of their cribs. 

He picked it up and turned back to me with a sigh, 

"We're not gonna be parents."

He broke the wood in half against his thigh and threw it into the furnace one again, 

"Your mother's babies are safe. From us, at least. I'm doomed to spend eternity with a man who doesn't love me. Of course, it could be worse. Your man does love you, but he'll always be a monster." 

"Maybe so, but I believe he's changed for the better."

I may be in denial as some would say, but maybe saying it out loud will convince me even more that he's changed. 

"Oh. When did he change? When he murdered me? When he murdered my boyfriend? Or did he change... When he raped your mother?" 

Rape? Tate wouldn't do that, that's an absolutely terrible and serious thing to accuse him of. 

"What? No....You're lying. He wouldn't do that." 

"Is it? Is it a lie?"

There were screams coming from the living room, assumingely my mom. 

I needed a second to process this, Tate's always with me...how....why? 

"I think you're about to find out."

Chad gave me one last look before Violet and I rushed downstairs. 

We made it to see my Dad sitting by her side and nurses and Constance huddled around her holding a baby. 

Only one? 

Violet and I went to stand by Dad who was telling Mom to stay with him as her eyes closed and her body went limp. 

"Mom?" 

I said as her eyes fluttered open again, she looked at me and Violet in a way only a mother could. 

"Maia. Violet." 

She chuckled lightly, I felt so bad we missed everything, we were never really there for her either and we always took everyone else's side and not hers. 

"Mom, I'm sorry I didn't go see you at the hospital. I wanted to, but I couldn't."

Tears fell down my face as I spoke to her, I didn't want to see her go but then I'd know she'd never leave me.

She spoke weakly as she laid on the makeshift bed, 

"You're here now. That's all that matters." she said in barely even a whisper. 

"Vivien. Listen to me. Concentrate on my words....." 

he started saying, I couldn't bare to listen anymore, I felt too bad. 

They didn't deserve anything we ever said or did to them, they were just trying to help and be there for us. 

I went up to my room to find Tate laying on my bed like a baby, he was in a feetle position and looked as if he was scared out of his mind. 

I stood at the end of my bed watching him, I didn't want to say anything but I knew it had to come to an end at some point so I just waited for him to notice me. 

I needed to end things, I could not date a rapist. 

Especially a rapist who raped my mother. 

My own mother. 

There was a limit, a murderer, I could handle, a psychopath, I could handle, but rape is a very serious crime and it's something that nobody would want to be apart of their life. 

I stood watching him when he finally noticed me, he sat up and looked at me with his innocent brown eyes that I fell in love with, but I had to start this, start the beginning to our ending. 

"My mom is dead." 

He scooted up the the rail where I was standing and sat facing me, 

"I'm so sorry. I knew you were close." 

He put his hand over mine for comfort but I pulled away, I couldn't even look at him the same as I backed up and spoke. 

"Yeah. We were. My dad's down there all alone now." 

I backed up halfway to the door and when I finished speaking he climbed over the rail of my bed and walked towards me. 

"What about Violet? Isn't she alive too?" 

"I had just found out that she got murdered at school, some kid beat her up and there wasn't enough time to call an ambulance." 

"When did that happen?" 

"Beginning of the year." 

"Oh. That makes me sad. I like your dad. He was nice to me." 

"He's nice to all his patients. Even ones who lie to him." 

I had my arms crossed as I spoke with no emotion, no hesitation; he needed to understand what he did was wrong, and he lost me because of it. 

"What?" 

"Why did you start seeing him in the first place? Your mom thought you needed help." 

"I did. I do." he stuttered, he's getting nervous. 

"You knew you were dead though." 

"Yeah.", he came closer, I backed up. 

"Do you know why?" 

"The cops shot me. Right here in this room." 

"Why? Why did they shoot you?"

"I don't know." 

He shrugged his shoulders, I needed him to know that what he did was wrong. 

Everything he's done was wrong, and he needed to own up to his mistakes. 

"You murdered people, Tate. Kids, like us. The kids that came to us on Halloween." 

A tear fell down his cheek and he smiled a bit, he knew what he did. 

"Why would I do that?" 

He smiled but his smile turned into a sob, he sobbed and repeated it, tears falling down his face as he started shouting. 

"Why would I do that?" 

He raised his voice, I stood in front of him once again, with no emotion. 

"I don't know." 

He stopped sobbing and listened to me, 

"Why'd you kill those guys that lived here before us? Why would you rape my mother?" 

He put his head down and let out another sob,

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was different then." 

I raised an eyebrow, 

"I used to think you were like me. You were attracted to the darkness. But, Tate, you are the darkness." 

He shook his head, 

"No. Before you, that's all there was. You're the only light I've ever known." 

He came closer towards me until we were face to face again. 

"You've changed me, Maia."

I put a hand on his cheek, 

"I believe that." he smiled a smile of success, as if he had manipulated me once again. 

"I love you, Tate." 

He whimpered as I said that, as if he was shocked that I had said it to his face. 

"But I can't forgive you." 

I took my hand off his cheek and backed up, 

"You have to pay for what you did. All the pain you caused. All the sorrow. You murdered my mother." 

"No!" 

"You did! That baby, whatever it was, it killed her." 

He stared at me not knowing what to say, I backed up from him one final time. 

"I can't be with you. I won't be with you." 

He came towards me, he seemed as if he was going to shatter all over the ground; his body was so stiff as he tried to approach me. 

"What are you saying?" 

"I'm saying go away." 

His voice got higher in pitch as he sobbed, 

"What? No, don't do this." 

"Go away, Tate." 

"You're all I want! You're all I have!" 

"Go away!" 

We both screamed for a minute before everything went silent, I sobbed quietly while still having my eyes closed. 

After a second, I built up the courage to open them, and as I did...nothing. 

Nothing but an empty room. 

I stood alone listening to my breathing, what had I just done? 

I pushed away the only person I'd ever loved and who'd loved me back. 

It was for the best though, if only he hadn't murdered my mother, my father wouldn't be down there all alone with nobody to look out for him.

I stood there sobbing quietly, I then suddenly felt hands wrap around my shoulders and another hand holding my head. 

My mom comforted me as I cried into her chest and Violet laid her head on my back and rubbed circles on my shoulder with her thumb. 

We hugged for a second in silence before my mom spoke, 

"That was very brave. I'm proud of you." 

"Mom.. I'm so sorry, Mom." 

I sobbed into her chest as she held my head, 

"I'm sorry you had to die. I'm sorry you lost your baby." 

She shushed me and pulled away, fixing the hair out of my face and putting both hands on my cheeks, 

"But I didn't lose my babies." 

She softly said as she pulled Violet and I closer to her and hugged us as I sobbed into her chest, once again. 

At least I have them.