The songs "Let It Go" and "Almost There" along with the movies "Frozen", "The Princess And The Frog", and "Oliver And Company" belong to Disney. "Why Should I Worry?" belongs to the talented Billy Joel. :)

Chapter 6: Trying To Talk

A month had now passed since Emily had come to live with the Hauntleys and she had met Gregoria and Penelope. She liked the gargoyle and she would often give Penelope something to eat, which the plant loved and would nuzzle her cheek in affection.

One day while she was playing with Vee, Demi, and Gregoria, the four year old decided to try and speak. They were playing 'Truth and Dare' human style. "Okay, Demi. Truth or dare?" Vee asked.

"Dare! Oh, I love dares!" He exclaimed.

"Okay, you have to…spook Mama!"

Giggling, the little ghost quickly, but very quietly flew to the kitchen where Oxana was talking to Chef Remy about a human who was coming to the B&B and was a vegetarian. "I have never served a vegetarian before, but I will rise to this occasion, Miss Oxana," Remy said. "Perhaps it is a good thing I picked up a cook book of vegetarian recipes at that yard sale after all."

Oxana looked relieved. "I was worried it might be difficult," she admitted.

"Ah, Chef Remy has no difficulty, Madam. Our guests must be happy, oui?"

She chuckled. "Yes," she said before turning.

"Hello!" Demi chirped.

"Oh!" Oxana exclaimed.

Hearing that, Vee and Emily fell into a pile of giggles, which told Oxana that her girls and the ghost were playing a game and she went to the living room and saw both girls laughing and Gregoria was snickering. "Demi got you good, Mrs. H," the gargoyle said with a huge grin.

Oxana chuckled. "What are you all playing?" She asked.

"Truth or Dare, human style," Vampirina replied. "It's now Emily's turn."

To make this fair, Vee had prepared some handwritten truth or dare cards so that Emily could play and the young girl gestured to the cards and pointed to Vee. "I chose…Truth," the vampire said and picked up the card, handing it to Emily.

Emily looked at it and opened her mouth, an odd sound coming from her throat and she looked frustrated. The others looked confused before it dawned on Demi. "I think Emily is trying to talk," he said.

Sadly, the girl's voice gave out and her shoulders slumped, to which she looked saddened. "Emily, it's okay," Vampirina said. "You don't have to force yourself to talk."

Oxana went over to her youngest daughter. "Is everything alright, Emily?" She asked softly.

The young girl looked ready to burst into tears and Boris came in, along with Chef Remy. "What seems to be the trouble?" Boris asked gently.

"I think Emily was hoping to talk," Gregoria said gently.

They all knew that the young girl hadn't spoken in a long time, but she looked upset that she had tried to talk and it had failed. "Emily, it's okay," Demi said softly, gently touching her shoulder.

After a moment, the young girl turned and held out her arms to Remy, who accepted her from Oxana, looking a bit concerned why the young girl wanted him. "Chere, it's alright," he said soothingly, glancing at Oxana and Boris uncertainly, but the two gave him encouraging nods to continue comforting her. "Just give it a little more time. You'll be able to talk soon. Just be patient."

She looked up at him sadly before looking away and she felt him rub her back. "You know we don't mind," he said softly.

"Remy is right," Boris said gently and then he chuckled. "You'll no doubt talk our ears off, as humans say."

Everyone gently chuckled at that and Emily smiled a little, but then looked a bit afraid, but not as if she was afraid of someone, but of something. "What is it, Emily?" Vampirina asked.

Oxana then stood up in realization. "Emily, you don't think…?" She began and then paused before speaking again. "Are you afraid we're going to send you back as those people did?"

The young girl nodded. "Oh no, Emily," Boris said, gently accepting her from Remy and holding her. "No. You're not going back to that place."

"You're a Hauntley like us, sweetie," Oxana said, gently stroking Emily's head. "We would never send you back, honey. When we signed those papers, it was permanent that we wanted you as our daughter and weren't going to change our minds."

Emily rested her head on her father's shoulder and then pointed to a pen and a pad of paper that was where she had been sitting. Demi got it for her and they watched her write before she showed them what she wanted to say.

I want to talk, she had written down.

Boris then had an idea. "Emily, do you like to sing?" He asked.

Though curious, she nodded.

Oxana caught on what her husband was thinking. "Do you have a favorite song?" She asked.

Emily again nodded. "Maybe you can hum your favorite song and the humming could lead to singing and then talking," Oxana suggested. "It would give your vocal cords a chance to 'warm up', so to speak."

The young girl perked up at that suggestion and they all gathered around to look up music on the web before Emily gave a little jump in Boris' arms as the familiar musical strains of "Let It Go" began playing. "This one?" Boris asked and Emily nodded immediately. "Alright."

Vampirina gasped. "This is the song from 'Frozen'!" She exclaimed. "I love this song!"

Emily immediately tried humming along and to her delight and the family's delight, she could hum the song and they joined in to sing as she practiced humming it. By the end of the song, Emily was thrilled and happy. While it wasn't talking, it was a step up and she quickly began searching for more songs she could practice humming to, quickly finding more Disney songs, selecting the song "Almost There" from "The Princess And The Frog" and "Why Should I Worry?" from "Oliver And Company".

This not only helped her to practice humming, but also brought the family closer as they all were helping the young girl in small steps so she could gain her voice once more and filled her with hope that one day, she would be able to talk again.

Well, looks like Emily's on her way to speaking again. Next chapter: trouble comes along with some disturbing news. How will it affect the family? Stay tuned to find out. :)

And please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418