5.

On the day Nancy Ellis turned three years old, her father, Ben Ellis, noticed something very odd and if he had questioned things with some seriousness right from that very moment instead of waiting to do so much later, then he would have saved himself a lot of trouble. If fact, he may even still have his own life intact to see a coming of age if he had begun making his inquires on the day of his daughters third birthday.

Of course, on that day, the day of Nancy Ellis's third birthday, she, her father and her Aunt Sharon lived in the Ellis household and indeed by this particular day it is some time since Lacey Ellis has lived in the Ellis family home. Out in the back yard, off to the right-hand side and towards the very back there is an old oak tree, a large tree which has existed for many years before the house became a home to anyone with the name Ellis.

This old oak tree would become a familiar spot for Nancy but on her third birthday she moved over to it by herself for the first time and on this warm day coming close to the halfway point in the month of June she sat on the grass in the shade of that tree and was as content as any child could be just sitting in a spot all by herself. If either Ben or Sharon tried to move her then Nancy would kick up one heck of a fuss.

Eventually dad decided he wasn't having it, a little over a half hour of having plonked herself in her spot Nancy was taken up by her father and indeed she did kick up quite the fuss to the point that Sharon moved to take her in an effort to calm the little girl and this gave Ben a moment to notice what it is he would notice.

The ground, the little section of grass Nancy had sat upon had changed colour. It was not the vibrant green that the rest of the lawn in the garden was, rather it had turned a dry yellow in the center of this patch with an-inch-wide ring of brown circling it. The small patch of grass Nancy had sat on had appeared to have died. As far as fact goes, grass would never grow again on that small patch of ground.

If, however, Ben Ellis was to question this more than just ask himself how this could be, if he could have investigated and come to a conclusion that comes anywhere close to truth while his daughter was at such a young age then maybe some things could have been put in place, and then indeed further down the line he could have lived to see his daughter turn eighteen and maybe if things had been done a certain way then maybe Nancy could have become a very different entity to what she ultimately would.

Now Ben and Sharon never had any kind of romance going on between them no matter what accusations Lacey had ever thrown. Becoming pregnant threw Lacey into a world of her own and despite the fact Lacey has had a different place of residence for a few years by the time a daughter's third birthday came round, Ben remained true to his wife.

With that being what it is, Ben was grateful to have Sharon around. Yeah, she may be Nancy's aunt though what she does for Nancy on a daily basis means a heck of a lot to him and Ben is gratefully appreciative. One show of appreciation occurred or at least was attempted not so long after that third birthday took place. Ben had brought home with him a bouquet of flowers, lilacs and daffodils, something joyful that could brighten up any home.

Upon entering the home with flowers in tow, Ben could hear the sound of something breaking, something smashing within the kitchen. Sharon had an accident, a glass dropped, nothing serious and no harm done but Ben had put down the flowers before going to investigate. Indeed, all was well and good, except for the glass of course, so returning to the flowers brought with it cause for worry. The flowers were dead and decaying on top of a chair, a chair Ben had placed them upon before ensuring all was well ... all indeed is not well.

Nancy, just being a child, too young to understand much, found her father's reaction to the dead flowers to be quite amusing. She just sat close by with the cutest of smiles that it was almost ... frightening.

***

In her place of residence and not all so long from having given birth to a daughter, Lacey Ellis states over and over on numerous occasions 'she is going to kill him ... she is going to kill him ...' when asked about this there would be no response and it would be put down as ramblings of a mad woman.

Time moves on. Not long after and having yet to be informed of her husband's death Lacey Ellis would speak over and over 'he is dead ... she killed him ... he is dead ... she killed him'. It would be difficult to know what to make of this or how to respond to it. If Lacey had been speaking of her husband and their daughter, then she must have known he was going to die but how could she know of what would come?

Perhaps having carried a daughter of darkness for nine months in itself left behind an element of darkness or perhaps Darkness himself has been with Lacey Ellis just as much or as often as he has been and will be with each of the nine daughters he holds in such high regard.

The cause of Ben's death, obviously after its occurrence, would be deemed as a mystery though Lacey's sister Sharon would swear that it was the girl, she would swear that a soon to be teenage Nancy Ellis caused the death of Ben Ellis. Cause of death indeed deemed a mystery; no proof of any wrongdoing would be discovered.

At thirteen years of age, and at a time only days after the death of, days after the funeral of Ben Ellis, Nancy Ellis would be declared as being a missing person. She would not be noticed or seen again until such a time came when she, only having turned eighteen, would attend a ball with a number of other girls, a number of young ladies.

Aunt Sharon never had any intention of attempting to find her niece after the day Nancy went missing even with the fact that she was the one who reported her niece missing. Of course, an element of guilt would always remain with her of such and for what will come of it but Nancy would no longer be Sharon's problem.

People will die and Sharon knows this, but they are people Sharon does not know and will never know so her inaction cannot have blame laid upon her, if people die at Nancy's hands, well ... thing is too, Sharon had her own safety to consider.

For some time, there is suspicion upon Sharon from authorities in the case of a missing thirteen year old girl though nothing could be proven. In truth if Aunt Sharon was ever to have had anything to do with the disappearance of her niece then that should have been something to possibly occur long before Nancy Ellis could have ever become a teenager.

There is a memory from a year prior to the death of Ben Ellis that will never leave Aunt Sharon. Sharon has long since thought of her niece as being cursed and indeed on a particular day when Nancy was twelve years old something occurred that confirmed the presence or a curse or something akin to a curse.

With work occupying Ben's time, Sharon was called out to where Nancy went to school. A boy Nancy had been arguing with suddenly became violently ill and Nancy was to be picked up. It went unspoken but there was a definite fear of Nancy from many at her school, students and teachers alike. She had done something to that boy, Sharon was sure of it and she was sure that others knew of it too.

Sharon could never explain it. She knew a simple touch was all it took for Nancy to harm others. Sharon herself had never directly been threatened or hurt though she knew for sure that her niece was and is somewhat dark and thus felt it would only be a matter of time before harm may come her way. She had seen too much, and she could not pass on warning to others without being thought of as mad, sure any warning she could possibly offer others would only enhance her own suspicious position.

With the disappearance a problem became passed onto others and it would remain a problem but for others rather than Sharon herself. What could Sharon do other than protect herself? There had been many a time when Sharon would lock herself away when it had just been her and her niece home on their own fearing a loss of temper or the likes and what that could bring.

Yeah, Ben Ellis had died under mysterious circumstances not long before Nancy Ellis went missing and there was relief in the fact that Nancy was gone as Sharon had indeed feared for her own life no matter the lack of a direct threat. Her own life is intact. Could she always be sure as to if a threat would come back her way or not?

There are others ... seven others that make up the nine with which Nancy Ellis and Majella Smith are connected to ... though many other lives are also touched ... many who could never have had a say that they would be touched in their own way ... some like Aunt Sharon want nothing more to do with anything once any sort of darkness has passed them by ... some, once they become involved, will see it through to the end whether or not an end can come or even if that end is their own.