Dr. Bonsanté shook his head in displeasure as he looked upon that small skull – face. Oh, those scratches and that black eye made it look even worse than it was otherwise. He was a doctor, so he examined both Erik and Mahtab with scientific interest, and he did not find them hideously ugly, yet he had to admit that neither the father nor the poor little thing met the European, or, to be precise, the whole world's beauty standards at all, to word it nicely.

The child said nothing. She sat obediently on the side of the table in the doctor's office, waiting for her injuries to be taken care of. They weren't too bad, thankfully. A little nosebleed, some not too deep fingernail scratches on her face and hands, some bite marks, and a black eye. The more serious issue was her tortured and troubled soul. She did not say a single word since they hurriedly arrived to his office with her siblings.

Noel, contrary to his usual fidgeting, seemed to be just as silent as his sister. His eyes reflected fear, worry and cluelessness. The boy had suffered some minor beating as well, but certainly Mahtab was in need of help, not him.

He asked the boys to wait outside while he treated Mahtab's wounds. The two boys obediently walked out to the waiting room and sat down on the sofa. Flo was uneasily hugging his school bag to himself, and Noel, not being able to wait there just sitting, started to walk around the waiting room in circles. Just as his father would do if he was there.

- Mahtab I need to call for your parents. – The doctor stated when he finished with the treatment.

- Please no! – She exclaimed in a sudden panic.

- Mahtab, I can't let you all walk home alone. You need at least one of your parents to take you home. Your father is at home. Right?

- I guess he is. – She whispered. – But for Heaven's sake, don't contact him, I beg you, Monsieur…

- And why do you ask this?

- I will get in trouble. And possibly, my brothers will too.

- Why is that?

- Because… Papa doesn't know I am here. And he doesn't know what had happened. That is why he isn't here.

- So you misbehaved, did you not? – The doctor sighed scolding her softly.

- I did. – She nodded. – And now I face the consequences. – She dried her eye from tears both from pain, sadness and irritation from the injury.

- I prescribe boric acid for your eye. – The doctor nodded. – It won't get inflamed if you use it properly.

He did not know what to do now. The child seemed to beg him not to call Erik in, but she sure can't either stay here all day or walk home alone. And he did not want to send the boys back to school all alone either, so that Erik will take them home as usual. Not only because they were young – younger children walked to school on their own as well – but because of their shocked state of mind. And how should someone allow them to carry a wonded, scared ugly child all alone? They can't defend her all protectively as it seemed like, and Mahtab walking all along Paris in this state would result in more conflicts. They lived in the suburbs. It was quite a walk from there. What to do now?

The boys were waiting impatiently and worriedly at the waiting room, Flo nervously sucked his thumb. Contrary to he was already 9 years old, he still sucked his thumb when he was extremely nervous. He just could not help it. Erik was scolding him for that and stated a real man doesn't calm himself with such a childish behavior. If Florian would have known the truth, that Erik did the same thing still after nightmares, and sometimes in his sleep… A tortured past sure does make people develop weird and shameful habits.

- What will happen now? – Flo asked.

- It will be all right. She just needs some rest. I bet she gets candy too. But she deserves it for comfort.

Though Flo was the older, Noel was the one who acted braver always. Flo often asked comfort from his little brother, knowing Noel is afraid of absolutely nothing.

- Candy? – Flo lifted his head up in hope. – I am hungry.

- Me too. – Noel admitted. – But they stole my lunch, the bastards.

- I will tell Papa that you cuss! – Flo whined. – And so to Mama.

- Tell it, you coward.

- Me not coward.

- You are. Only I did help Mahtab and you ran away. Shame on you.

In the exact moment, there was a knock on the door. A rather forceful one, to be honest.

- Who came here? – Flo found it a better idea to climb under the sofa.

- Coward. A patient. I open the door as the doctor's not here. – Noel sighed and walked to the door, opening it. - Good day, Monsieur, would you please wait a li…- He wasn't able to finish the sentence. He was shocked to see a tall and extremely thin man at the doorstep, wheezing from stress…

- What… are you… doing here..? – He asked with eyes widened from sudden realization.

- Papa…?

- Why are… you not… at school?!

- We were. – He explained. – But we came here with Mahtab.

- So is… she here…? – Erik was shaking from head to foot, dragging himself to the couch, where Flo had already collected his bravery to sit back on.

- Yes. – Noel patted his back to reassure Erik nothing was wrong.

- Hello there, other son of mine. – Erik groaned grumpily. – What on Earth had happened…?

The door to the treatment room opened and the doctor guided Mahtab outside. Erik instantly jumped up and ran to her.

- So you are here! – He grabbed Mahtab's coat collar angrily. Mahtab just closed her eyes, waiting for the new hit to come. He understood the gesture, and released the child, somewhat calmer. – Where have you been? Do you know what a horror you did cause for your poor old father, eh?

- Erik… - The doctor tried to calm him down a bit.

- Don't hush me. You can't imagine where in Hell did I already search for her. I was at the police, at most of the hospitals, in the morgue…

- I was at school. – She admitted softly.

- She came with us. – Noel added.

- I hadn't seen her. – Erik shook his head.

- I was sitting on the back of the car.

- That is extremely dangerous. – He barked.

- Just as going to school is. – Mahtab said softly.

- What has happened? – Erik sighed, and guided the child comfortingly to the sofa and sat her on his lap.

- I don't want to tell. – She bit her malformed lips nervously.

Erik sighed again, and stroke her back comfortingly, and contrary to her being huge and heavy already, he sat her in his arm to carry her outside to the car. He thanked the doctor for the service, for which the good old man did not ask a centime of payment from the worried father, and then Erik gestured to the boys to follow him. Mahtab hugged Papa's neck and laid her head on his shoulder. She so wanted to forget this morning, but it haunted her.

The school was such a new and exciting thing in her life. She had never seen such a building from the inside, and was extremely happy upon running up the stairs to the classroom. She did not know which of the classrooms she should walk in, as she never attended school, but by her age, she should be at another type of school as she felt. None of the other children were as old as her. She just followed Flo, as he walked in a room and sat down next to him.

- Just sit like this and don't make noise. If you want to say something, raise your hand and wait for the teacher to point at you and then stand up and talk. If you don't do this you will get a hit on your palm by a ruler. – Flo explained softly.

They were a bit late, so the children did not really notice Mahtab as she sat down. They were busy trying to get ready for Math class. Flo's nightmare was about to happen. The bell rang, and the teacher walked in gracefully. He was a tall, quite thin man with short, evenly brushed black hair,a thin and pointy mustache and strict blue eyes. He instantly hit the desk with the ruler as he arrived to the room to silence the class. It was silence as in the grave, and poor little Florian Spöke was praying to the all gods of each religion to be left alone at that class.

The strict and scary demigod opened the book in front of him, looked through it, then pointed at a certain spot on the paper, loudly announcing:

- Michel Benoit.

His voice thundered through the room, as an order. All the boys let out a small relieved sigh, except the one who stood up from his place and walked to the teacher's desk. He was a short, brown haired and brown eyed, quite pale child, seemingly very nervous. His hands shook as he arrived to the desk. He lowered his head with the sure thought he was going to end his life right at that time and place.

- Twenty four times forty- five. – The teacher said coldly.

Mahtab did not understand this manner of speaking. She understood only that this boy should calculate the result, but why did the teacher not say "solve this please." , or "will you do it?" , as Papa asked of her always. Can't this man talk nicely? He isn't nice at all. If she just went to Papa and talked to him in this manner, he would scold her for being impolite.

- Tw-tw-tw-enty-f-f-f… - Michel tried to repeat the question, but his stuttering made it nearly impossible.

The poor thing did stutter. All the time. This fact was extremely funny to the other children and they instantly started laughing at the boy's attempt. Everyone but Mahtab and Flo laughed. The teacher hit the desk with the ruler harder to silence them again.

- I expect your answer, Benoit. Today. – He added, and looked at the child with a scornful look.

- Th-th-that e-e-equals… th-that e-e-e-quals…

- Time is up. – The man groaned. – Show your hand!

- Pl-pl-please… n-n-no… - The child prayed with growing fear.

- Your hand! – The diabolic figure ordered once more.

The poor little thing lifted his hand up to receive his well- deserved punishment and closed his eyes to at least not see the ruler, but then came the voice which spared him from pain.

- Don't hurt him!

It was an unknown voice, coming from a chair close to the wall in the back row. How the teacher hated the back row. There sat the talentless vagabonds. Children sat on the rows depending on their skill levels, and the strict man disliked even the idea to spare a blink at that back row. Charles Gautier, Pierre Ledoux, Florian Spöke, and… wait. Oh those little brats prank him again!

- Did you dress up the skeleton again and sat it beside the donkeys? – The man yelled out.

- Don't dare to call my brother a donkey! – Mahtab gasped and jumped up from her seat. – I insist you take it back, and apologize.

Flo knew that there will be a huge scandal out of this. Not only Mahtab dared to talk this way to the teacher, but the way she looks will bring trouble to them. He wasn't wrong. Upon realizing Mahtab wasn't a dressed up skeleton from the supply closet, but a living and talking thing, the teacher dropped the ruler in astonishment and walked to the new pupil. He leaned close to her so their nose would touch if Mahtab had one.

- Who the Devil are you? – He asked cautiously. – I had never seen a creature like you before.

- My name is Mahtab. – She announced.

- Mahtab? What kind of name is that?

- Persian. – She stated. – And the answer you were looking for is 1. 080.

- Add "Monsieur" at the end… - Flo wanted to warn her softly, but he shut his face instantly when the teacher looked in his way.

- So… this… thing said you were its brother. – He pointed at Flo.

- She is my sister, Monsieur. – Flo whispered.

- She? – The teacher raised his brows. – She doesn't really look like a girl… but if it is the case, you shall go home and learn to knit. This school, if you weren't informed, are only for boys.

- I AM a boy. – Mahtab stated. – I stay.

- No, you aren't. – The man caught her by the collar and walked to the door, pulling her. – You are not scaring the boys here. They need to learn and they can't concentrate because of your hideousness.

Mahtab found herself outside the room in a blink of an eye and she sat down on a bench sadly. She was waiting for the class to end and to meet her brothers again. She did not know what to do. She was wondering about those words the teacher used to describe her. Just like in an earlier memory of hers… she recalled a train… many people… running and hiding…

She did not realize the bell rang and suddenly many kids stormed out of the classrooms all over the school. Unexpectedly a bag hit her shoulder and she heard a loud gasp.

- God! What is this…?

- Look, that skeleton!

- Death!

- Ugh, how ugly!

She saw many kids around her in circles, shouting, laughing at her and a few of them poked her, hit her and… some of them spat in her face. They used disgusting words to describe her. Their voices rang in her ear as a chaotic symphony of hatred and malice. Everything happened so fast. She screamed in fright, and tried to run like a wounded animal, but they got in her way, closing all paths from her. There were adults walking around them, and one of them ran to help her, but as he saw her face, he gasped and ran in the opposite direction. Noel appeared in the crowd, kicking, biting and hitting the ones that were hitting Mahtab the most. Once a boy caught and bit Mahtab, then punched her in the face a few times.

And then…

She lost it.

Finally, she got enough courage to fight back, once in her life. She did not dare to do so earlier when people were hostile towards her… she only just wanted to run and hide, like a scared little animal, but at that very moment she understood why Papa told her to fight. If she doesn't do it, they won't stop. She collected her strength and sent a kick in the boy's stomach, causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards. He hit his head in a windowsill, and did not get up.

The children got horrified of Mahtab's aggressive reaction, and finally ran away to their classrooms. The boy got up as well, blood was trickling from a wound on the back of his head, and he walked away just like a dog who was beaten up.

She did not recall what has happened after that. She only regained her clear mind at the doctor's office. But why did she receive such a treatment? She did not even say a single word to hurt them. She only wanted to go to school to learn… just like her brothers. Why do they attack him when all she wanted to do was just to be like everyone else? Why did the grown up man not help her? Why? Why was it all right to hit her? Why can't she live normally?

She just did not go away from Erik's heels at home, clinging to his hand all the time. She felt insecure, scared and clueless. Erik hardly ever could get rid of her to go to do his business. That terrified little thing did seek for his emotional support more than she ever did in her life. He, yet Mahtab did not tell him what was going on, could figure out the happenings at school by himself, and later the boys informed him as well. He knew that Mahtab will have nightmares about the happenings, as he went through the same thing, many times in his life. He did not scold or punish the child any more, as he thought the incident at the school wasn't only enough, but too much of a punishment. He hushed the crying thing, rocked her on his lap, and let her sleep between him and Christine.

They were caring a lot more for her, Erik cooked Mahtab's favorite meals to balance a bit of happiness with the horrible feelings she had. Christine blamed herself a bit for the happenings. If all the children were homeschooled, as Erik wished it to be, Mahtab would not have felt bad about not going to school, and she wouldn't have been tempted to follow her brothers.

Well, the boys finished their schooling in that primary school as well, just as Mahtab.

The boy whose head Mahtab did accidentally wound told his parents about he met a horrid creature and that one did it to him. Thanks to the Math teacher, Monsieur Leblanc, some of the parents got the information that the Spöke kids brought the monster to school, and were threatenng the director they would take their children out from school, as they felt in a potential danger the creature might return to kill the boys. The director chose the easier way – he dismissed Florian and Noel.

Erik and Christine felt it an iniquitous act, but did not fight against it, fearing the parents will find Mahtab's location, and do terrible things, especially if they got to know Erik had the same look. They could set the house on fire, they could beat Mahtab up, and maybe kill Erik if he were to defend her. They really did not wish that to happen.

Yet Erik knew they have to go to another school to study. Really, if they wanted to go to University, they needed primary then secondary school. That scenario was so awkward, but Mahtab never asked about going to school again. She accepted her fate.

After a few days and night spent in constant angst and in endless nightmares, sometimes wetting the bed in fear, she finally started to get back to her old self. She was thankful that Erik did not scold her for bedwetting, she was ashamed enough of that. Erik knew exactly how she felt, and did not want to make the same mistake as his mother did with him. She would beat him up anytime he had an accident caused by his nightmares and made him clean up the mess he made. Those accidents did not cease to happen up until very late with Erik – he had them by the age of 8, when he finally ran away from home. They disappeared for Mahtab when she calmed down a bit after some days passed.

One morning, a week after the incident, she walked to Erik in the morning, looked at him in the eye with a sudden determination, took his hand and softly asked:

- Papa, please… teach me how to fight.