4-Set Her Free

Thoughts were dancing in my head, I wasn't sure where to start. "Nate how do you talk to her?" I ask, wondering how he's able to communicate with Nina. Nate pulls something out from under the bed, a brown board with the alphabet on it. "I used this, I thought it was like monopoly." He said, handing me the game. It was a Ouija board, it's used to contact the deceased. "Did she show you what I saw?" He nods his head, frowning, "yes." I hold him close, wiping tears from his eyes. "We're going to help her, set her free."

Setting the board on the floor, we both sit down. Nate closes his, eyes, taking a deep breath. "Nina, are you with us?" He asks. A few moments later, the piece begins to move. Our fingers glide across the board to the word yes, we knew Nina was listening. My heart pounds every time Nate asked Nina a question, she was responding. "Do you know where you are buried at?" The planchette moved across the board to the word 'yes,' then moves to other letters. Nate starts saying the letters out loud, and I write them down.

'N o t  h e r  I n  r o o m'

"Not her in room. Why can't Nicole help?" Nate asks, confusion on his face.

'I l l  k I l l  h e r'

"I'll kill her." Nate shakes his head, "no you will not. She's just trying to help you. Let her help, she knows more than I do."

'S h e c a n t h e l p.'

"She can't help." Nate looks down, upset that she thought his sister couldn't help. "Nina, I can help you. I'm sorry about what happened to you, and I want to fix this." I say, hoping she would believe me.

'P r o m I s e?'

"Nina, I promise. I promise we'll help you out of here, set you free." I felt brave, taking on a task of freeing a little girl from here. I look to see Nate slouched over on the floor, I touch his shoulder. "Nate? Are you okay, buddy?" The lights begin to flicker, books from the shelf fall to the ground.

Nate sits back up, the color black covering his irises. "Nate is gone for now, I told you that I'd kill you if you spoke." I bite my tongue in fear, blood drips down my chin. "I can help you, Nina. I care about you, please, let me help you." I swallow the blood filling my mouth, the aluminum taste sliding down my throat.

She looks out the window, "you were there the day I died. Why didn't you save me?" She said, tears falling from her face. "What do you mean?" I ask, not knowing who she was. "We were best friends as children, remember me now?" She asks, then I did. She was Nina Perry, the little girl with the rare autoimmune disease. She was rarely outside, due to the fact she could die from infection. "Come here." She demands, I slowly walk over to her. Touching my forehead with her hand, everything becomes dark. I fall into another flashback.

Seven Years ago:

I met Nina when I was ten years old. I was playing outside,  having fun with my friends. I saw Nina, alone. She had nobody to play with, so I decided to make a new friend. Come to find out, we were neighbors. I was excited to know she was my neighbor, I thought we'd see each other all the time. That night, I walked her back home and introduced myself to her parents. They seemed normal, like any parent would be.

Days go by, I hadn't heard from her. My mom suggested we make soup for her, to make her feel better. Mom put the soup in a Tupperware container, then sent me off. As I knocked on the door, I could hear loud footsteps coming. "Nicole, hello." Mr. Perry said, smiling at me. "Can I bring Nina some soup? I haven't seen her in a while, and I want to make sure she feels better." Mr. Perry let me inside, I hand him the bowl of soup. "I'll be right back, make yourself at home." I sat on the couch, waiting to see Nina.

I could hear loud noises up the stairs, it sounded like they were playing upstairs. I thought the soup made her feel better, and I was happy about it. I didn't know she was drowning in a bathtub, trying to escape. A few minutes later, Mr. Perry comes downstairs; his clothes were wet. "She's still not feeling well, I don't want you to catch what she has." He said, pushing me out the door. I never saw Nina again.

"Why didn't you save me?" She asks, I regain my vision. "Nina, I didn't know. I thought you were sick, I didn't know you died." The anger from her face faded, she took in a deep breath. "You didn't know? I thought you were just keeping my death a secret." She says, I drop to my knees. "You were my friend, why would I even think about Keeping that a secret? I would've told my mom right away if I knew, what they did was not right." I sobbed, letting my anger out. My mom convinced me that Nina moved away, she didn't want me knowing what happened to her.

It was like the weight fell off her shoulders, Nina was no longer mad. "I will let you help me." She grabs my hand and pulls me to the stairs, Lilly stops us. "Are you guys okay?" Nina turns, scaring Lilly with her expression. She runs down the hallway, screaming for Dane. "Something's wrong with Nate." Lilly yells, Dane calms her down. "It's going to be okay, just tell me what you saw." As she explained, Dane prepared. "Just stay here, I'll be back." He ran up to the attic, ready to help. Peeking through the crack in the door, he notices Nicole with Nate. "Nicole, this is where they hid my body." Nina points.

It was an old, rusty portable fireplace. Her bones were covered by the wood they stacked, nobody noticed. "My parents set my remains on the curb, and the owners of the house picked it up." I didn't realize how easy it was to get rid of the evidence, how easy it was for her parents to forget her.

I rubbed Nates shoulder, "Nina, it's time for a proper burial. You've been alone long enough." I smile at Nina, pulling her in for a hug. Pulling a blanket from my backpack, I lay it flat on the ground. Dane saw the bones I was laying out, he was nervous. "Nicole?" He says, pushing through the door. "What's this?" Nina pushes him, "go back to your room, Dane. We don't need you." He steps back a few feet, seeing the look in Nates eyes scared him. Gathering the last of the bones, we head for the garden.

Dane followed behind us, he wanted to make sure I was safe. "I need Dane to help me dig a hole, is that okay?" She nods her head, "as long as he sticks with the plan." Dane grabs a shovel out of the shed, he begins to dig into the soil. While he's digging, I run to my room to grab something.

The flower mom gave me was in my hands, dirt fell to my feet as Dane finished digging. "Ready, Nina?" I asked, she smiled softly, letting all of her anger go.

"Where am I?" Nate says, I smile at him and hand him the flower. "Let's free her." I whisper, setting all the bones gently in the grave. Dane flattened out the soil, leaving it to me to plant the flower. We all step back a few feet, "isn't it beautiful?" We all look in awe as butterflies swarm to the skies. It was Nina, and she was finally free.

"Fly high, Nina." All of us say, staring into the night sky.

  Sleeping has become easier, and nothing out of the ordinary has happened in weeks. Nate and I visit Ninas grave every night, we like to make sure she feels cared for and loved. As I laid in bed, my thoughts were getting the best of me. The adoption is happening tomorrow, and I was nervous. It's been a while, seeing a new sibling for the first time. I remember when we brought Nate home, I was scared he wasn't going to like me, but he ended up being my inspiration, all the kids are. They all have their own personalities that make them who they are, and I would never change that.

As I begin to drift off into a peaceful slumber, I'm bombarded by a noise. "Be quiet and come with me." I follow the voice to the garden, the light reveals someone I've never seen before. "Who are you?" I ask, he looks down at the ground. "I'm Leo, it's nice to finally meet you." He holds his hand out for me to shake, I hesitate. "Why were you in my room?" I wanted an answer, I wondered how he got in. I had locked all the windows and front door before I went to sleep.

"I've seen you around, and I wanted to make a friend. I'm an only child, it gets lonely at the cottage by myself." He explains, smiling at me. I clear my throat, "next time you want to make a friend, introduce yourself at the door." I walk back to my room, making sure all the doors were secure.

"Why is there dirt by the bed, Nicole." Dad asks, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Late night garden walk, I couldn't sleep." I say, shooting a small smile. "Just make sure you're being safe, I don't want anything to happen to you." He hugs me before leaving my room. He worries too much, it's not like anyone lives around here. There's just the cottage and trees.

I heard a knock at the door, Dane answers it. "Who are you?" He questions, furrowing his eyebrows. He holds his hand out, "hi, I'm Leo Martin. I live next door, and just wanted to introduce myself." Dane shakes his hand, "dad, someone's here." He comes to the door with no expression, hoping to scare Leo. "How are you, sir?" Leo smiles, also shaking dads hand. "Great, what brings you by?" He crosses his arms, wanting an answer. "I noticed your family being so big, and I'm just here to make some friends. That's all, I promise." Leo holds up his hands, showing dad that he was telling the truth.

"If you want to see my children, I'm okay with that. But, if you so much as touch a hair on any of their heads, you'll never see another day." Leo nods, "of course, sir. I would never hurt anyone. I'm a gentle giant." I stand in the doorway, waving. "Let's go for a walk, I'll show you around the place." I smile, dad gives me the look. "I'm just being friendly, dad." He nods, letting me give Leo a tour.

"Your dad is protective." He sighs, "thank you for not telling on me, I didn't mean to scare you last night." I roll my eyes, "you didn't scare me, Leo. I just wasn't sure why you were in my room." I say, entering the garden.

"This is beautiful, how did you get so lucky?" He said in excitement, looking at all the flowers. "Our Gardner takes special care of the plants, which is why they stay so pretty." I say, gently touching the petals. "I didn't catch your name." Leo lightly touched my shoulder, "it's Nicole."

"What a beautiful name, Nicole." He grins, "thank you." As we finish walking around the house, Leo grabbed my hand. "Want to see my house?" I nod, following him through the field.

The wind chimes played soothing music as the steps creaked, hummingbirds feeding in the distance. As he opens the door, my jaw drops. "You have a gorgeous home, Leo." He smiles, looking over at the pictures on the wall. "Mother loved this house, she bought it in her twenties. When she met my father, they made it into a home." I thought it was sweet, the perfect love story in only a sentence. "Where's your parents?" I ask, wondering why he was alone. "Dad is out on business, and my mom," he held back tears. "She passed away two years ago." I hug Leo, "I'm so sorry for your loss." He grins, "she's in a better place now."

I smile, seeing how Leo thought. He didn't think bad of the situation, just happiness. I wished I could've met her, she raised a good son. "Last but not least, my room." He winks, pushing the door open. It was tidy and organized. A long bookshelf laid against the wall, hundreds of books next to one another. A medium sized rug halfway across the room, touching the bed frame. "I really like your room," I exclaimed. "Your room is better." He beamed, smiling ear to ear. I could hear my dad yelling for me in the distance, it was time for dinner. "Let me walk you home?" I nod, smiling as we walked back to the front porch. "Goodnight, Nicole." He caressed my hand, "see you around."

As we sit around the table, dad starts to bring out dishes. Corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken, and turkey. I licked my lips, everything looked delicious. "Did that Leo boy try anything?" Dad says, sitting down at the table. "No, dad. He was sweet, just trying to make a new friend." He smiles, "I like that boy, very respectful."

"I think Nicole likes the boy too," Dane sticks his tongue out, I throw a piece of corn at him. "I'm only kidding, chill out." He yelled in fear, holding his hands up in the air, surrendering to me. Finishing my plate, mom walks through the door. "Everyone, this is Robert." After we all exchange names, Robert sits down with us. I watched him stab is corn with a fork, he looked angry. "You okay?" I ask him, trying to be friendly. "Yeah," he smiles, "just nervous." I nod my head, letting him finish his dinner.

While mom and dad clean up, I show Robert to his room. "Is this okay?" I ask, wanting to know how he felt about it. "It's perfect, and I'm ready to crash. Goodnight." He says, closing the door.

I sat at Ninas grave, telling her my concerns about Robert. Maybe he was a good guy, but I'm not seeing it. He reminds me of Teddy, our old psycho neighbor. Teddy killed our cat when I was a kid, he thought it was funny. I pray to her for a while, wanting to bless the house before I drifted to my room.

Crawling under the blankets, I look around the room. The shadows in the night brought the fear out of me, my anxiety out of control. I held my head under the blankets for what seemed like hours, I was getting tired, my eyes finally gave up.