darker_london | Happy Giftday, Have a Ghost! (Isabella, Reina, Kat, Ethan, Kali)

Esperanza had come and gone. She had done her duty well, trying to help Isabella through her grief at losing Felicity. Isabella was well aware that she was one of the only people she knew who liked Felicity, beyond Felicity's sister Sera. And Sera had killed herself after Felicity had died. Isabella had not just lost a friend, she had lost her one connection to that friend. It wasn't right.

It seemed as though every time these crusaders, or whatever they called themselves, went on a mission someone Isabella loved ended up dead. Alessa, her dear cousin David (living in Aly's head was not the same, no matter how determined Aly was to be okay with it) and now one of her closest friends.

Isabella had come to London because of her older sister. Reina had been sent here to dance with the Royal Ballet Company years ago now. Isabella had hardly known her oldest sister, being the youngest of seven. Reina de Vivero, who's real name was Clarisa Lianos, had left their home in Valencia when Isabella was only five. Reina had gone to Madrid to dance as a soloist, and she had been promoted to a principal dancer in less than two years. Reina had been a proud and beautiful woman and Isabella had wanted to get to know her. And then Reina's life had been cut short by the woman Isabella now knew as Amaris. A demon. A demon with the spirit of their own cousin inside. It was like the ultimate betrayal. Isabella had come to London because of her sister's death and since then she had practically known nothing but.

Isabella reclined on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She wrapped her arms around herself and though the streetlights from outside still illuminated her bedroom, she felt darker than black. Eventually, sleep claimed her, though it was restless and she tossed and turned.

At four o' clock in the morning, a sharp noise jolted Isabella out of her sleep. She let out a frightened gasp, curling up against her bedhead, covers pulled up to her chin. "Who's there!?" she called out to the dark. Somehow, the dim, buzzing illumination outside seemed to fade away, leaving her room as black as she felt inside. What was it she had heard? Why had she woken up so suddenly? The red numbers of her clock burned through the darkness and their blood-red numbering drew her eyes. She was frozen in her position, too afraid to move. Too afraid to stay here. What was going on? "Four O' Clock..."

"Izzy." The voice floated out of the black, sounding inhuman and horrifying.

It didn't matter what time it was now. Someone...something had said her name. Isabella couldn't help it. She screamed so loudly, her throat felt like it would split open. The foot of the bed moved, even though Isabella was frozen in place. Something shifted and the bed moved again. It was like some thing...some animal was climbing onto her mattress and Isabella's screams only worsened. She heard the covers move, even over her screaming, and she covered her face with her hands. Remembering. Isabella was remembering over a year ago when she was tormented with visions of her dead sister haunting her...

Isabella had felt the bed move then too. It was subtle at first. Just a tiny dipping of the mattress. And then the entire thing shifted. Isabella screamed and she came out from under the covers, only to see a figure underneath them, crawling towards the head of the bed. Right for her. "Stay away!" She shrieked and she jumped out of the bed as the figure continued to crawl forward. It's movements were inhuman, and Isabella backed away from it, her breathing quick and heavy. "Oh god, oh god...Reina please STOP!" She cried out to the lump in the bed. And then she felt a pair of arms circle around her stomach form behind. They pulled her back into the closet, and the doors slammed shut in front of her, plunging her into darkness.

The door opened and the lights came on. Isabella pulled her hands away from her face just in time to see her blankets collapse, as if they had had some form under there which had disappeared into thin air.

Ethan was staring at the blankets, his mouth hanging open in shock. "Izzy..."

"Ethan!" Isabella scrambled off of the bed and she flew into Ethan's arms, sobbing hysterically. "Ethan! Something was trying...something..."

"It's okay," Ethan soothed, though he didn't sound completely convinced. How could he be Beyond the door, Kat and Kali peered in to see if Isabella was alright.

*******

Two cups of tea and a lot of frantic whispers later, Isabella started to feel tired again. It was now 5:45, and she had classes the next day, though she had already decided to blow them off. Theo and Langford, the younger of the four children who lived in the flat were now awake, and Kali and Kat were seeing to them. Ethan remained by Isabella's side.

"I should try to sleep," Isabella said with a yawn. "I don't want to go back in there though..."

Ethan nodded sympathetically. "Would you like to sleep in our bed? Kali's in with the boys and I have to get ready for work soon anyway."

Isabella nodded, and then she smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you so much, Ethan. I was just...augh." What in the world had been crawling into her bed. "I'll just go wash my face." She felt sticky and puffy from crying. Isabella padded down the hallway to the bathroom and when she closed the door behind her, she heard it again.

"Izzy, don't scream."

Surprisingly Isabella didn't, though she gasped and jumped, slamming her back into the door. She was still frantically searching the bathroom for any sign of where the voice was coming from, when her sister appeared in front of her. "Clarisa!" Isabella's voice was heavy with pain and shock. "Wh...why?"

For weeks, she had been tortured by visions of her dead sister haunting her apartment. In those visions, Reina had never spoken a word to her. Now her sister was in front of her, her expression earnest, and she was speaking... Something about this was different. "Are you who keeps waking me up at 4 in the morning?"

Reina nodded and she stepped forward. "I wasn't trying to scare you, but I knew you had been shown visions of me... I was trying to be careful-"

"By crawling into my bed like a creepy thing!?" Isabella hissed.

"Like I did when you were a toddler," Reina said with a smile. "I used to crawl up into your bed and tickle your toes... Do you remember?"

Isabella stared at her sister, he mouth hanging open. No. She didn't remember. She barely remembered Reina at all. "You did?"

"I thought it would help you know it was me..." Reina looked crestfallen that Isabella hadn't known.

"Okay... Why are you here! Shouldn't you be...I don't know...somewhere else?!" Where ever it was people went after they died. The place Thomas called The Beyond. "I thought you were..."

"I got lost," Reina said sadly. "And now I don't want to go. You have a gift, Izzy."

"Oh yeah, whoopee, I see dead people." Isabella hastened to add, "though I am glad to see how. I...I'm sorry you got lost-"

"It's not relevant," Reina said, in her haughty way. "I'm going to be your guide. You can do a lot of amazing things, but you need someone like me to help you. And I want to help you."

Isabella stared at Reina for so long, she nearly screamed again when there was a knock at the door. "Sorry..." Isabella moved and she yanked the door open.

"Are you talking to yourself," Kat asked, though she looked like she wouldn't blame Isabella if she was.

"No. Sister." Isabella pointed in the direction of Reina's ghost, and Kat, who sometimes saw ghosts but not in the way Isabella did, just backed away.

"Ooookay then. You just carry on. I'll stay the hell out of it." Kat backed up, leaving Isabella with her sister. Who apparently wanted to bond now. After she was dead.

"My life is insane," Isabella informed Reina. "I need time to think."

Before the words were even out of her mouth, Reina disappeared. And Isabella found herself realising she felt more alone than ever.