THE GHOST

I gave you all of me,
my blood, my sweat, my heart and my tears.
Why don't you care?

***

CHAPTER IX

*****

NOTHING HAD CHANGED much in two years. The road back home was the exact same as I remembered it, and if I wasn't with Daniel, I probably still would've been able to find my way on my own.

When Daniel had said the driver was here, he meant the driver was there for me. All he did was guide us towards the black range rover before walking off in a different direction and getting into the driver's side of a different black car.

I remembered then how he didn't like being driven places when we were together. Again, nothing had changed.

Teo continued to sleep during the car ride. His face was pressed to my chest and he held on tightly to my top as he always tended to do when he slept on my body. This time, his grip was extra tight, pulling my strap down my shoulder but I couldn't find it in me to make him let go.

He had been through so much.

The driver didn't talk to me which was good because I didn't want him to. The whole two hour drive was filled with silence and the occasional whimper or snore from Teo.

I took that time to reflect on what I was doing, what I had done and what I was prepared to do. I really couldn't trust that Daniel wouldn't hurt me while I was with him but I had to choose between the lesser of two evils.

Daniel was the devil I knew and whoever was after me was the angel I didn't know so it only made since. And this angel was turning out to be a devil. At least, in some way, I had been with Daniel long enough for his actions to become predictable. He didn't get angry easily, but if he was that was when I needed to leave.

I needed to be on my 'best behaviour' because if I wasn't, I would have to resort to using Teo against him and that was the last thing I wanted to do. I knew Daniel needed Teo since he was his only son. It took a lot of stress of finding a wife off him. If he was willing to be there for his son, then I wanted Teo to enjoy having his father around.

Even if his father was the worst human to roam the earth. I would suck up my resentment and pretend it was okay because as much as I liked to deny it, he did have a father and he was very much alive. As long as he was willing to cooperate, I was willing to give co-parenting a try. Forgiving him for what he had done to me was a completely different matter that I wasn't even going to address.

The car rolled to a stop, effectively drawing me out of my thoughts as I looked out the window. The house before me looked very familiar and only brought a feeling of dread to my stomach even though this was the place that I called home for six years.

Now that I looked back, Daniel and I weren't the only toxic people here. It was like a curse had been placed on the estate.

I didn't believe in superstitions, but I still couldn't help but hold Teo to me a little tighter as I stepped out of the car. Even though nothing was different in the way things looked, I hoped and prayed that everything had changed in the way people acted because I had surely changed in my time away.

And I hoped for the better. But if assholes could still get the best of me–

“Am I seeing ghosts or is this real?” A low voice had broken me out of my reverie. I stood up straighter and turned around to meet the eyes of Margeretta who was staring at me with an expressions of shock on her face. “It can't be... Is that Araceli?”

A slow, genuine smile spread across my face and the short plump woman began making her way towards me with large strides.

“Margeretta.” The calmness in my voice surprised me. I was so used to addressing her with disdain or fear, 'La Bruja' always remaining on the tip of my tongue and "what did I do this time?" being the question running through my mind.

An overwhelming sense of happiness washed through me. Like seeing your best friend in school again after not meeting up during spring break. Or returning home after an awful day at school and seeing your mom, or your dad, or your grandma or your favourite aunt or uncle.

That was how I felt seeing Margeretta again. And when she walked up to me and wrapped me in a hug, I couldn't help but let her. I wrapped my free arm around her and hugged her back, clinging onto every moment of having a motherly figure in my life the way Mateo clung onto me.

At least I knew where he got it from.

“Oh child,” she muttered, pulling away from me slightly so she could look at my face. “You've been away so long without reaching out, I thought you  - oh God forbid,” she briefly made the sign of the cross, “I took you for dead. Where have you been?”

“I...” my voice caught in my throat as tears brimmed my eyes and I struggled to find the words to match my thoughts. “I've been away,” I shrugged.

I guess I had always sort of been the emotional type anyway. And I guess Margeretta had always sort of known that because instead of acting surprised and awkward at seeing me cry for the first time instead of immediately resort to anger, she only pulled out her handkerchief and dabbed away at the tears that had slipped down my cheek.

“You've grown so much,” she aid, taking a step back to fully take in my form. “How old are you now?”

“Twenty-three.” I gave her a watery smile, relieved with the change of subject.

“Oh forget that,” she said, waving a dismissive hand. “You're still only a child.”

It was at the mention of child that she seemed to realise that I had a smaller human being clinging off my body and snoring lightly against my chest. Upon that realisation, her eyes had widened and she took a step closer.

“When last I saw you, you were pregnant... Is this... Is this your...”

“Yes,” I answered without letting her finish. “He's my son. His name is Mateo.”

I looked at his sleeping facing before placing a kiss on his chubby cheek. His lips quirked into a small smile, the gesture being familiar to him as he let go of my strap only to grab it again.

“He's a sweetheart,” she muttered, his silly actions not going unnoticed by her. “He looks just like y–” but the automatic phrase 'who looks just like you' died on her tongue and it didn't take long for me to figure out why.

Mateo didn't look exactly like me. Sure, he took some of my features, but anyone who knew Daniel would say that Mateo looked exactly like his father. And Margeretta was no different.

The sound of footsteps filled my ears and I snapped my head up to see the reason behind our sudden silence along with his accomplice, Guillermo, approaching us. My mind began to reel and I immediately analysed the situation, trying to find something I was doing wrong so I could fix it and he wouldn't get angry.

There was nothing wrong - or at least not to me, but that revelation didn't put me at ease. Margeretta seemed to have sensed my discomfort and she wasted no time in grabbing my free wrist and turning me to face the house.

“Come on,” she said as she began pulling me towards the place I dreaded the most. “Let's fix you something to eat and get you settled.”

***

There was something about familiarity. Something about routine that messed with the human mind.

No matter how fucked up something could've been, no matter how fucked up it was, as long as a certain amount of time had been spent there and a routine had been established, there was always relief in going back to it.

Stepping through the rich beige walls of the estate I had spent a good proportion of my life working at, there was no denying that it was amongst my most scary nightmares. And yet, as I walked through, a sense of familiarity came over me and with familiarity came fondness.

I had a special place in my heart for the memories of my life in this house. A dark, hard to reach place but it was there.

Margeretta sat me down in the special tearoom that, as a maid, I was never allowed to enter. Not even to clean. I always considered it discrimination but now I knew why.

The place was delicate. I didn't know how far back the Reyes estate dated, but this place was the least modern of the entire mansion. An entire wall had been taken up by clear, glass window panes that looked out into one of the gardens. It wasn't one I was particularly fond of because there was nothing interesting about it, but after I while, I realised it was the same garden that Daniel's balcony looked out onto it.

And after standing there, watching it, I understood why he liked it.

The tranquility.

Inside the tearoom was nothing short of fragile and delicate. Like the windows, everything seemed to be made of glass. Even the porcelain floor shined brighter than the sun hitting off of a mirror.

The walls were a rich shade of brown and littered in random places around the tearoom were different glass display cases filled with unique and delicate China ornaments. I couldn't help but chuckle as I looked around again.

“I surely would've broken something in here religiously if you had let me in.”

Margeretta loudly laughed and placed her cup of tea on the wooden coffee table - the only thing that didn't seem to be so fragile in the room. Even the brown armchairs we were sitting on creaked like it was going to collapse whenever I crossed my legs.

“You hated me for it but one day I knew you would understand.”

It was such a shame that that one day had taken so long to come. That I would have to lose so much to finally reach that one day. Reach the point I was at now when I was no longer a silly teenager that thought the world hated me or based my value off of the amount of people who liked me.

If only I didn't have to lose so much to grow this much, but I guess we live and we learn and in the end, I was happy with who I was becoming and what I was doing.

I looked at Margeretta and smiled and then I frowned, but then I smiled again because I didn't want her to know that I was actually frowning.

It seemed like I had judged her poorly. For the longest time I had believed that she hated me just as much as I hated her, but there was no hate evident in the way she was treating me now. Not even the slightest bit of indignation towards my character and looking back, I realised that there never had been.

Coming into this house, I was a teenage girl who had just lost her mother, attempted to commit suicide and was hopelessly in love with a boy I had no chance of getting. All Margeretta had was love to give, but her love was the motherly type and I didn't want somebody to replace my mother.

I didn't want somebody to hurt me again.

And maybe my anger towards her was reciprocated for a while, but after that she left me alone and I had resorted to accusing her of treating everybody better than she treated me. And maybe it was true but it was only because everybody else treated her better than I did.

I opened my mouth, ready to start apologising but she had spoken up and as soon as the perfect moment had come, it had slipped away from my grasp like oil.

“Emilia used to love this place,” she commented, looking around the tearoom fondly as I tilted my head to the side. “Me and her spent the most time in here.”

“Who is Emilia?” I asked curiously and she looked at me with shock, as if only realising where she was.

“Daniel's mother,” she said, making me raise an eyebrow because nobody ever heard about Daniel's mother. She remained a mystery that still lurked within the walls of this house. “She...” she trailed off, seeming reluctant to continue. Her eyes glittered down to my chest before she met my eye again. “He's awake.”

I stared down at Mateo in confusion before finally realising what she meant. Two wide, brown eyes peered up at me, his alertness letting me know that he had probably been awake for a while now.

“Hello, handsome.” He giggled and buried his face in my chest, trying to hide is reddening cheeks as he kicked his legs and almost winded me in the process. “Do you want to say hello to aunty Margeretta?”

He turned around and peered at her curiously before burying his head in my chest and giggling again. That was funny; Teo wasn't usually the shy type. But then again this was his first time meeting new people in a while so I couldn't really say anything if he was just shy around strangers.

“Say 'hi' to auntie Margie.”

He giggled again and briefly turned to wave at her before turning back to me and snuggling into my body again.

“Aww, bless him,” she cooed as I stood up and walked closer to her. She took his small hand in hers and tickled his palm, making him laugh and pull his hand back.

Slowly, he outstretched his hand for her again and she took it and tickled him a small bit and laughed and pulled back again. Then he outstretched his hand and the next ten minutes after that were predictable.

***

Amidst all the familiarity, something had changed.

Walking into Daniel's room, I couldn't help but make note of the fact that he still didn't lock the door. I had prepared myself to meet the image of him sitting in his armchair on his phone, but was surprised to see it empty.

He was always here.

I stepped inside, closing the door behind me and not moving away until the soft click resonated around the empty walls of his dark room. I made my way almost instantly towards the glass doors that lead to his balcony and pulled the handle open. The warm breeze fanned over my face, reminding of how far away I probably was from New York.

New York.

Suddenly, everything hit me. This wasn't a break or a vacation. I still had responsibilities and obligations - most of them being in New York. I needed to find a way to contact Rhys like he was probably expecting me to.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I decided that a quick text would do but then a voice had spoken up from behind me and I froze in fear, staring at my lit up lock screen until the five seconds had timed out and I was surrounded completely in darkness.

That was when my senses returned to me and I quickly turned around and looked into the dark room as if I was actually going to be able to see Daniel.

“I was looking for you,” I spoke up quickly, not wanting to waste time. “I just wanted to know what the sleeping arrangements are.”

There was silence for a long while and then the sound of light footsteps - shoes against hardwood - filled my ear until a low 'click' was heard and, suddenly, we were surrounded by the warm glow coming from his bedside lamp.

I could see him now. All of him.

From his hair to his feet, but his eyes still seemed to blend into the darkness that the light couldn't reach. The darkness that lurked in the corners.

He was looking at me, but it was like he wasn't at all. He looked like he was searching for something, but like he didn't know where to start.

He looked lost.

“Are you high?” the words came tumbling past my lips faster than I could comprehend them, but after taking in his entire form all over again, I realised that it was so obvious.

My question seemed to snap him out of his daze and he stared at me with shock before shaking his head and turning away.

“The maids prepared the guest room for you and him to sleep in.” Him. “If you don't like it, then you can sleep in your old room. Nobody has touched it since...”

“Since you sold me to human traffickers.” I wanted to say, but I bit my lip and held back my tongue.

Obviously, some part of him was feeling shame for what he had done - even if that part was only small - and clearly he didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to know how he would react if I pushed the subject although I knew that some day we would have to talk about it.

“I asked you a question,” I said instead, watching him as he shook his head and walked towards his closet.

Slowly, he pulled off his shirt, revealing all of his muscles and abs and lines and all of his tattoos and something stirred within me.

“That's none of your concern,” he said, drawing my attention away from his broad chest to his face instead. “All you have to do is keep your head down, your mouth shut and don't piss me off.” He walked right up to me making me force myself to stare at his face and nowhere lower. “Then you'll be just fine, sweetheart.”

He patted my cheek once he was close enough to do so, only prompting me to scowl at him.

“Are you done insulting me?”

“But where's the insult?” he asked, a cheeky smirk in his face. “If you're smart, you would take my advice.” he then stepped away from me and made his way over to his armchair where he proceeded to stare out of the window. “Now go.”

I stood there, my mind racing with thoughts as a weird feeling settled in my chest. If I was alone, I would've placed a hand just above my breasts and rubbed the pain away, but I wasn't alone and I wasn't going to let him know his words had hurt me.

“Get out,” he said again, waving a dismissive hand at me. “Leave.”

I decided not to humiliate myself anymore and made my way towards door with no particular emotion on my face. I made my way towards the door, but before I left completely, I turned to him again. “You're being self destructive.”

“And you don't care.”

He was right. I didn't care. Or at least I wished I didn't. Truth was I did. But he didn't have to know that.

I slowly closed the door again, hearing the soft click before making my way down the hallway with no particular destination in mind.

***

In the duration of my short conversation with Daniel, I had left Teo with Margie to look after for a while. I found it funny yet strange that Daniel hadn't inquired about his whereabouts not even once.

I guess I couldn't blame him though. He probably wasn't used to having someone he needed to account for twenty-four seven.

It was the case with me for the first few months if Teo's birth. I had forgotten him in too many stores or at home or in the backseat too many times.

It wasn't a necessarily important observation. It was just one that struck me as odd. As a mother of a toddler, I would lose my mind if I didn't know where my toddler was. But that was the difference between him and I, I guess. I had a year and a half of experience to get used to this and he had a couple days. Maybe if he would just listen to me instead of being a dick for once, his relationship with his son wouldn't be identical to that between two strangers.

I was willing to put my hatred of him aside for a healthy father-son relationship that Teo could benefit from but very clearly, he didn't want it. To me it seemed like Daniel didn't care about getting to know Teo in the least.

It kind of hurt, but not enough for me to do anything about it so I continued on my way to the parlour where Margeretta was playing with my son.

Upon reaching the old-fashioned parlour, I realised that there were actually three people in the room.

My son, Margeretta, and my best friend.

Or at least I thought she was my best friend.

As soon as Anna-Maria set her eyes on me, the smile she had on her face slipped and the jovial atmosphere in the room was replaced by a cold one.

Her cold blue eyes stared intently at me, her lips set in a thin line of apprehension and in that moment I couldn't help but wonder if I had done that. I knew that I had left quite a few enemies behind after I left, but I didn't think Anna would be one of them.

Did I do something to hurt her? God, it felt like so long ago, I could hardly remember that moment in my life. I knew my bad memory had little to do with time passing and more to do with my brain blocking out the trauma, but I couldn't remember how I had offended her in anyway.

“Anna–”

“I'm going yo go to bed now,” she declared to Margeretta, making me furrow my eyebrows at her cold treatment of me. “Bye, little one.”

“Buh-bye,” Mateo replied, waving at her as she gave him a delicate smile. She gave Marie a curt nod and then walked away as if I wasn't in the room staring at her.

She brushed past me, not even giving me something as small as eye contact before she turned down the hallway and continued to her room.

I stared after her retreating back for a couple of seconds, feeling my heart chip to pieces before shaking the sad thoughts out of my head and letting myself into the parlour.

“Momma!” Teo giggled, reaching his arms out for me and, for a moment, I felt all the sadness lift from my chest.

I walked over to where he was sat on the sofa and picked him up. In my arms, I spun him around before stopping and holding him close to my chest.

“I don't know what I would do without you, baby,” I sigged softly, pressing a small kiss to his cheek which only made him giggle and clap his hands. “Te quiero, mi amor.”

He leaned in and returned the kiss, making a huge smile fall onto my face at his actions. “Te quiewo.”

“You two have such a beautiful relationship,” Margie said, standing up and placing a hand on my shoulder as I turned to look at her. “You can see how much you love each other. Anyway,” she said, shaking her head. “You should go to sleep.”

“We should but I don't know at what point this one,” I poked his cheek, “is going to sleep at.” He giggled and kicked his leg out, making me place him on his feet so he could walk around with me. “Anyway, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, my child,” she said, pulling me into a hug as she did so. “You take care of yourself here.”

I didn't know if her words were supposed to have any kind of meaning. Explicitly stating 'here' kind of threw me of guard, but I only smiled and nodded after I pulled away.

I walked out of the parlour first, Mateo running out after me and following me down the hallways. He had to run to keep up with me and I found the sound of his fast steps against the floor amusing. Children were so funny in a stupid kind of way - it was adorable.

Finally, we stopped in front of the door that led to my old room. The room that I had spent six years of my life inhabiting. Usually, in the place, the longer you worked the better your room got. Older maids got to live in bigger rooms with their own bathrooms.

Six years was a long time but I had never moved. I had never liked change.

I grabbed the handle and pulled down, pushing the door open so none of my old life was blocked away from my view anymore.

When Daniel had said that nothing about it had changed, he was right. Nothing had been taken out and nothing had been brought in. Even the bedspread that I remembered waking up in was still there.

Stepping inside, a feeling of freshness had come over me. The room was clean, meaning that somebody came in here and cleaned it regularly. The duvet set was clean too so that meant that the room was deliberately kept the same.

Someone had ordered for my room to be cleaned consistently but that nothing should be moved out of place at all. And for some reason, I felt like that somebody had been Daniel.

Maube it was the guilt.

Teo ran past me and made a beeline for the bed, not wasting any time to start jumping up and down on it after he had climbed on. I sighed and shook the thoughts out of my head.

I had much more important things to be doing instead of trying to figure out who so desperately tried to keep the ghost of me alive while I was gone. Watching Teo jump with full energy, I realised that after the long nap he had taken, there was no way I was going to successfully coerce him into sleeping until at least three in the morning.

Well, I may as well start.

*****

Not really that happy with this chapter if I'm going to be honest. It's kind of low energy, but don't worry. We'll get to the action soon.

What do yall think of Anna? Are you trying to understand her or is she just being a bitch?

Anyways, I know this took a minute to put up. I was caught up with writing the next chapter and I kind of didn't prioritize right but I promise to do better, lmao. I would also like to say that I'm planning on changing the names of these books.

Once I complete writing this book and I begin rewriting the whole series, the first ever book (with Morgan and Derek) will be called 'Finding Emyra'. Then Araceli's book (the first one) will be called 'Owning Araceli' and the second book (this one) will be called 'Freeing Araceli' or something along those lines. I'm not 100% sold on the last title, but the first two I'm down with.

Anyway, that's all from me for today so I'll see yall next week. Stay hydrated ❤️