~The Hidden Man in the House~

After school hours, Adelina bade Dolores goodbye saying that she had work to catch up with. It had to do with her parents' arrival. She apologized for not being able to tag along but promised to make it up to her. Not to doubt her friend, but Dolores was starting to think the girl's parents wouldn't show up like always. It had been more than a week since they promised but they still weren't here.

Having promised a visit to Aurora, Dolores had no other choice but to follow through with her promise. She followed closely behind after Nicolas stepped inside his house. She dropped her bag on the couch prompting Nicolas to pause and look at her quizzically.

"What?"

"I don't know why you're planning to sit on that couch, but Aurora's room is right upstairs. I hope you know that."

"I know." She went towards the fridge to grab a cold drink for herself. She was burning up because of her sweatshirt which she didn't want to take it off in front of him.

"Dolores!" A high pitched voice sounded from upstairs.

She turned her head to the direction of the voice and gave a pleasant smile as Aurora bounded down the stairs with an excited grin matching hers. "You sent a text saying you wanted to see me."

"And here you are. Come here, we have a lot to discuss." She motioned for her to come near. "A friend of ours did something really special for you. We know that you didn't want to say anything about what happened but don't worry about it now."

Aurora's expression darkened with gloom. "I was actually planning on telling Nicolas about it."

"A friend of ours avenged you. It was hilarious as fuck. You needed to have seen the horror on the girl's face drenched in a rotten egg and milk combination. The whole cafeteria was stinking for hours." The excitement in her tone could not be missed as Dolores leaned into her, laughing.

Nicolas watched in silent admiration at how at ease Dolores made his sister feel anytime they were both in each other's company. It was a relief to him that she was no longer acting broody. It was finally her time to break forth from the unhealthy shell of loneliness she cocooned herself as a result of Selena's embarassment. After much efforts it took her, the same Selena wanted to push her back to the hell she had just emerged out of. It was one thing to mess with him but am entirely dangerous thing to mess with his sister.

"Why don't we go up to your room and we complete our conversation up there. You have to tell me about the boys you met at the party."

"You better not be speaking to my sister about boys, she's just fifteen."

"Fifteen and not stupid, Nick. Leave us alone." Aurora replied him with an eyeroll. She picked Dolores' bag with an arm and dragged it's owner with another, up the stairs and into her room.

The first thing that came to mind after their absence was to visit the one room he often didn't want to. The only movement in there was that of the medical man who came often to check up on him and the nurse who dropped by when they were out to make food and serve it to him. Nicolas didn't have much but at least, he could offer such services to him while they were still at his house.

The floorboards leading to the part of the house no one ventured to, creaked and groaned under his weight as he walked. Again, he stopped in front of the door hating the feeling of nostalgia that came when he was near the man.

He tried to knock like any normal person would but found himself rooted to a spot, unable to even lift a finger. It was not the first time such was happening but he hoped for the day when it would be the last. Whenever he felt a surge of determination to enter the room, voices of doubt and mockery seemed to haunt his mind. He always lost the battle to them.

When he could finally lift a hand, his fingers remained curled into a fist but as always, they had a mind of their own, suspending midair like he had no control over them.

'Just do this for your family. Make a move. He can't hurt you.'

The last four words resounded in his head over and over like the echoes in the darkness of his mind. There was a light shuffle then...

"Come on in, Nick."

The sound of his name coming from the man behind the door threw him off guard as he flinched away from it with his hands violently trembling. The sound  caused images of the past to play themselves in reels in his head. Images he had forced himself to forget. Toughening up, he pushed the door open to reveal a man with a very frail frame sitting up on the bed. Nicolas took a big swallow of nothing before he stepped in.

The man turned his head now powdered with specks of gray which lined throughout his auburn hair. His cheeks had sunken deep, creating a grave hollow in his face. So were his eye sockets. The eyes that landed on Nicolas were dead and void, causing an involuntary shiver to rack his body. His voice came out raspy like one that hadn't been into much use in forever.

"Nick."

It took Nicolas efforts not to run into the man's arms or break down in tears. But as he stood, he wanted so badly to do both. Instead, he hid his emotions as well. He knew better not to let any show as the Doctor always warned each time he came over to look at him.

He wanted to call the man by the name he knew him as, he wanted to sit next to him and tell him a lot of things he'd missed out on. He wanted to bring him out of this horrible room. Most of all he wanted to show him how big Aurora had become but his lips remained mute, his voice betraying him.

The croaky voice came again, "How is Aurora? I heard what happened with her. Is she fine?"

Miraculously, after a long while of muteness, Nicolas found his voice. It came out raspy. "How did you hear that?"

The sick man waved a bony hand in his face. "I wasn't dead, Nick, only unable to move for the longest time. Not to worry about that, Nick. How is your sister?"

Nicolas fumbled for words, looking out of place in the modestly furnished room. His outfit was a complete contrast to the setting of the master's bedroom which he was standing in.

"Fine." This wasn't how he had pictured his meeting with this man. His palm began an unwelcome process of uncomfortable sweat. He felt dizzy, wanting to faint.

"Are you alright? Come sit here." The man said, placing a bony hand on the space next to him. "Don't be scared boy."

That was exactly what he was; Scared. Instead of refusing his invitation, his natural instincts took control of his rational behavior, propelling his feet towards the man who studied him with tired eyes.

He gently dropped next to him simply before the man turned back to the window he met him staring at.

"I miss you Nick. How many years did it take you to walk in here to see me?"

Nicolas watched the efforts it took for the man to spell out each word. It appeared as though each inhale and exhale took place rather painfully. He knew the man was in his mid forties but the person he was looking at had aged beyond fifty. That was how deep illness, depression and loneliness had eaten into him.

Nicolas, short of words to say to the man, found himself calling a name he never dreamed he would. "Dad," he paused. "Dad, I'm sorry."

Slowly, the man's head turned and despite the wrinkles his face had developed from years of illness, his eyes crinkled as his chapped lips widened with the sheer joy of hearing his kid call him that after they'd almost lost him. His hand gently reached up to ruffle Nicolas' hair in a familiar action when he was a kid.

Too overwhelmed by emotions, especially the tears now blurring his vision, he threw his hands around the emaciated frame of his father. It was something he had always longed to do but he held back from it being so insecure about his father's health. He had no guarantee if the man was going to make it.

His father wrapped feeble hands around him as well but not in a really firm grip. He wasn't yet strong enough to do that. Silent tears filled his own eyes too. "Can I also see Aurora?"

Nicolas pulled away with a chuckle and a choked sob. Crying was never this thing but he didn't give a flying hoot even if a slob of snot were to be rolling down his nose at that moment. His father was safe and that, to him, was all that mattered.

"How did you even-- I forget you have been hearing all of our conversations." He wiped his tears hastily with the sleeve of his shirt. "I'll get her now. Hang on."

As quick as he could, he dashed out of his father's room all the way to his sister's. He couldn't wait to see how she would react when she once again set eyes on the one person that was her every moral support and meant the entire world to her.

~~~{•}~~~

If you were following closely from chapter one up till now, I'm sure you'd have noticed this special character locked up in this room.
W

ll, today's the unveiling. Ta-daaa

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~~Chignature~~