Hide Away

She heard the commotion outside eventually, but before then her sobs took up most of her mind.

She had seen it! She had seen something reflected in the mirror that was not in the room! As much as Natalia had wanted to deny it, come up with some probable explanation, she could not. That Grecian from the City's image had moved. And Natalia knew that it was only a mirror.

Gupta had been crying as well.

Heracles was dead and was now a ghost.

That was as rational as her mind could take her.

Hiding her face into her knees, Natalia cried in utmost terror of seeing someone after death. She had never believed in ghosts before. But how did one explain that?

Outside the room, she could hear words, but she was not listening to them.

"For the last time, there is no gh–"

"Y-y-you heard it, d-d-d-didn't you?"

"Woah, do you really have a haunted house?"

"Toris, if you would not mind..."

"...I'll take care of it. Come on you two, let's leave Eduard to figure it out..."

Natalia blinked her reddened eyes as light came into the room from the hallway. It took her a few moments to realize why it was so bright, choosing to hide her face away instead of look to see who had opened the door. Shortly afterward, the door shut again.

"Natalia?"

"Shh!" she quickly uttered, repressing the urge to glance about the room. Would it have followed? Probably not, she did not know anything about ghosts. But she could not shake off the feeling she was being watched now by something she could not see and it terrified her. She heard Eduard's footsteps come closer.

"What is wrong?"

"He's dead! I saw him!" she nearly screeched before she could stop herself, clasping her hands over her mouth and burying her face back into her knees.

"What? Dead? Natalia..."

Jerking her head back up, she saw Eduard now sitting near her, looking concerned. How could she say this? How could she describe what she saw? "I saw his ghost! I was just helping, I was just helping Gupta and I saw it! It was in the mirror!"

"Can you calm down? Take some deep breaths, you're going to pass out."

Natalia had not even realized she was hyperventilating. Crying even more, she lurched forward and clung to him.

"Wa–"

"I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, I want brother!" Her mind gripped on to the familiar thought. Ivan could protect her, right? From a ghost? Did she want to burden him with a ghost? "It saw me, what do I do? What? What?"

If Eduard said something, Natalia did not hear it. Not at first. Eventually she found herself breathing more slowly, eyes blinking through drying tears, sitting in a chair with a cup of tea in front of her.

"Are you all right?"

Natalia stared at him for a few moments before she comprehended the change in position around her. Nodding, she grabbed her cup of tea, keeping it between her two shaking hands.

"I called Ivan and he said you could go to his house," Eduard informed her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Natalia perked up. "Will Kat be there?"

Eduard did not respond immediately, just looking at her for a moment. "...I don't know. Would you like it if I asked?"

She nodded and Eduard pulled out his cell phone, walking over to the other side of the room. Bringing the cup up to her lips, she sipped a bit of the tea. It was lukewarm. Her hands were still trembling.

Though she was scared, her siblings would protect her. They would understand. It would be all right.

Natalia shivered.

Notes:

Sorry for not responding to everyone's reviews, I am a bit swamped on this end. Especially this weekend. Believe it or not, when my classes start I will probably have more time. So just a warning: -I will try and keep up this weekend, but if my next update is on Monday, please no one be too upset. Not that it will bother me or anything, your own deal, I just thought I would give you all proper warning. If you have stuck around this long, a couple day break is probably something you will bear without complaint. I do have awesome reviewers.