CHAPTER FOUR

"Sweetie, why don't you head on upstairs" her mom told her. "Your father and I need to talk."

"Why can't I stay?" the girl objected.

"Because your mother said so" her father replied.

"Fine."

The girl turned around and reluctantly made her way upstairs. Before she could reach the top of the stairs, she paused and sat down on one of the steps. She leaned forward just enough to be able to observe her parents, while still hiding from their view. Something strange was definitely going on here… and she needed to find out what it was, even if it meant eavesdropping on her parents' conversation.

"Honey, it can't be true" her father told her mother.

"You read the letter" she replied.

"I did, but I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this" he said, caressing her back.

"How can you say that?" she snapped, pulling away from him. "After everything we've been through, how can you just shrug this all off as fiction?"

"Because he never came back!" he shouted, immediately regretting his sudden outburst. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. It's just… you know Nick. If he was still alive, he would've found a way to get back to his family."

"Unless he really believed we were all dead" she whispered to herself.

"What did you say?"

"Oh my God… it makes perfect sense! He thought we were all dead! He had no reason to fight his way back to us because he was convinced he'd lost everyone he loved!"

Her mother started to pace around the living room, her head down as though trying to figure out what to do next.

"I know what you're thinking" her father said, undoubtedly reading her mom's mind, the same way he always did. "But you can't."

"We have to…"

"No, we don't."

"She needs to know!" her mother cried. "How can you possibly suggest we keep this from her? We are talking about her family, her own flesh and blood!"

"Because we don't know if he's actually alive! Do you really want to give her false hope?"

"No, of course not. But this isn't a lie, I can feel it. Kelly wrote this" she said, picking the letter up from the coffee table. "He's alive."

Her father walked towards her mother and grabbed her hand.

"Honey, don't you think we should make sure all of this is actually true before we go ahead and turn her world upside-down?"

"We can't wait… besides, we can probably use her help to find Nick."

"But if this turns out to be nothing but a lie, it could destroy her. You know how fragile she is. The last thing I want to do is hurt her."

"I fully understand that, neither do I. But we are talking about Nick here; the man who gave up everything to save humanity. We owe him our lives" she breathed, struggling to keep her emotions steady.

"Do we?" her father said after a moment.

"What did you just say?" her mother replied, clearly offended by his words.

"We don't know what the hell happened once he crossed over to the other side to find Zerstörer. We can't even prove that monster really existed."

"The letter said…"

"I don't care what the letter says!" he interrupted her. "For all we know this is just some sick, cruel joke!"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing right now… what's wrong with you?"

"There is nothing wrong with me; I am just being cautious. Years have gone by. If Nick was alive, we would've heard from him by now."

"That is not what you're doing; you're just too scared to face the truth. I know what all of this did to you all those years ago. The guilt… I feel it too. Every single day. Not one day goes by without me wishing I hadn't let him cross over to the other side. I could've stopped him, but I didn't. I was selfish… I let him go, knowing full well there was a chance he'd never come back."

"Honey…" her father said, wrapping his arms around her mother's waist. "You had every reason to be selfish; your priority was to protect your children."

She raised her head to look at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. The pain was clearly visible on her face; the girl had never seen her mother so distraught.

"But it cost someone else their entire life. I need to make things right."

"What can I say to convince you this is a bad idea?" he pleaded with her.

"Nothing… I'm going through with this. You can't stop me."

The girl could tell her father was upset with her mother's decision to pursue her plan to make things right, whatever that entailed. She noticed a sudden flash of anger in his eyes, something she'd never seen before. Afraid, she ran upstairs before she could see her father turn into a terrifying creature.