TW: Infant death, murder, and blood. 

Fifteen years ago...

Once upon a moonless night, a little girl was sitting on a tree. She was nestled amidst the bare branches. Curled and cloaked, she sat highly seamlessly blending with the night. Her eyes peeked through the gap of the tree branches watching the woman with long dark curls and green eyes crying her name out into the empty street.

Caitlin McGrath was no ordinary woman but she was like every other mother when their daughter ran away from home, furious and afraid. Nora didn't look much like her mother, except for the same raven hair and crooked smile. The other physical features she assumed came from her father, the dull brown eyes and three tiny lunares on her cheekbone. Her mother loved them so much that she kissed them three times. But Nora knew she only kissed them because they reminded her of her father.

"Nora! Nora! NORA!" Her mother shouted as she stood under the buzzing lamppost. Her mother's patience was wearing thin but Nora was just as angry at her mother as she was with her. Nora had grown sick of her mother's lies. She couldn't believe anything her mother told her anymore and she didn't want to live a lie. She didn't want to hide and yet, she shrunk under the trees' branches.

Her mother paced back and forth with her hands on her hips. "I know you here, girl! Come out this instant!" Her voice almost cracked. She was desperate to find her. To know she was safe and unharmed but Nora hugged the tree bark tighter and if her mother saw her she would know she was defying her.

An older woman with brown hair and streaks of gray walks toward her mother. She carries a baby in her arms in a blue blanket, gently swaying him. Nora quickly recognized the elderly woman, it was her grandmother, Refugio, and she was holding her baby brother, Matias.

Oh, Nora was almost tempted to come down.

Ever since her brother was born Nora has not left his side, she could have been mistaken for a piece of gum. When her mother told her she was going to be a sister, she didn't understand what it meant. But the moment Nora's mother put her baby brother in her arms she immediately understood. Her heart spoke a thousand promises before she could say them. Still, she understood two things. She loved her brother more than anything in the world and she would protect him until the end.

"He misses his mother." Her grandmother carefully placed baby Matias in his mother's arms. She cradles him and all anger seems to melt from her face.

Mati, Nora liked to call him.

Her grandmother then says, raising a brow. "I see your daughter does not miss you so much."

Nora's mother sighs as she continues to hold Matias, possibly tighter, almost scared as if he would disappear too. "I don't understand why she ran away after I told her father was coming home. I don't understand why she is acting this way."

Her grandmother raises both her brows.

"How could you not see the problem?" Her grandmother's voice goes low and quiet, but Nora could still hear her. "Caitlin, you've been feeding your daughter your own wishes and dreams about her father coming home and he has not shown him—" She stops herself as she briefly glances down at the baby. 

She clears her throat, "He returned months ago, and then left again. He could've given his daughter the courtesy of a proper introduction. But he chose vengeance over his daughter."

"Introduction?" Her mother snapped. "Her father doesn't need to introduce himself to his daughter. Or did you forget he was part of her life for two years before they robbed us of the life we were supposed to live? Don't say it like she was abandoned. Nora was never abandoned by her father." She swallows and her eyes clouded with acceptance and defeat. "He did not choose vengeance. He chose his family. To protect his family."

Something passes between both women, dozens of emotions flickering through their eyes all of the same. They have bound themselves in a way no one should ever be bound. Her grandmother was the first one to reach for her mother, she squeezed her shoulder. Nora was too young to understand the cruelty her mother and grandmother had come to witness.

"But you must also remember that Nora does not remember those two years with her father, she was still a baby. Mi niña preciosa no sabe nada. She doesn't know what her father looks like or what her father's name is." She meets Caitlin's gaze. "She needs to know who she is."

Her mother lifts her chin. "And she will. Her father is going to teach her like I'm teaching her how to control the spirits in her head. My daughter is destined for greatness and she will achieve it. Once her father comes back home we will all help her become powerful." Caitlin's brows furrowed. "What? What is it?"

Her grandmother pursed her lips. "I fear Nora's magic has been subdued for too long. Although she is young her magic has been restrained since the moment she was born. I'm afraid when we awaken it she'll be destructive. Her magic will think of her body as a prison." Her voice hardens. "She needs to be freed."

"I need her to be safe first. If something were to happen to her I would—" Her mother's voice became thick. She didn't need to finish, it seemed her grandmother knew exactly what Caitlin McGrath was capable of doing if anyone dared to hurt her children. Almost as if she had seen it before. 

"Her father is coming home in two days. In three days we will be together like it was always meant to be. We'll be in Ireland in four days. We'll be a family once again." And she hung onto those words like the thread of hope.

Matias starts to cry softly, her mother brings him closer to her chest. "He promised me he'll come back home, Tia. You know Nicolás never breaks a promise." Matias cried a bit harder. Her grandmother sighs, "I sometimes wonder what my nephew did to deserve a woman like you. Go home, and finish packing. I'll wait for her."

Her mother looked hesitant but Matais's cries grew stronger and finally, she nodded her head. "Thank you." She muttered as she walked quickly heading back home. Her grandmother turned over, the corners of her eyes wrinkling as she scanned her surroundings.

"Nora," She sang her name, sweetly. "Vamos para la casa a comer granadas y te cuento la historia de la luna." She knew how much the child loved stories, especially the ones that put her to sleep and seeped through her dreams smoothly like warm milk. It was like living in another world, where no one was afraid of her or hated her. She was much happier in her dreams. (Let's go home to eat pomegranates and I'll tell you the story of the moon.")

"Ahorita no lo entiendes pero la separación de tu padres no fue por—"

"Miss Vargas, it's nearly nine o'clock. What are you doing speaking to yourself in the middle of the night?" The nosey balding man, also known as Mr. Harold said. Her grandmother pulled her rebozo over her head and all sweetness left her body as she looked at the man with her lips curled.

Refugio showed her annoyance. "Good evening Mr. Harold, what I am doing in the middle of the night is none of your business. I wasn't speaking to myself, your sight must be getting worse."

The old man's cheeks went pink. "I heard you." Without missing a beat, Refugio said. "Then your ears must be full of wax."

Nora knew exactly what was about to happen, they were about to bicker like an old married couple. At least that's what she heard the other neighbors call them every time they argued. 

It infuriated Refugio, but Nora sometimes found their petty arguments entertaining but she wouldn't be entertained tonight. She would go home and apologize to her mother then get told a bedtime story and be kissed goodnight.

She reluctantly let the tree bark go. Slowly and quietly she climbed down from the tree but she misstepped her foot on the bark, slipping quickly and landing with a loud thud on the ground. 

Nora stood still expecting Refugio to come over but her argument with Mr. Harold had become more heated. She rolled over to her side dusting off the dirt of her white dress, her eyes widened at the smear and scraped knee.

Her mother might lose her temper now.

Nora walked in hurry, still cautiously as she sneaked past her grandmother and Mr. Harold heading straight home. She practiced her apology, fixed her words, and repeated them until she got them right. 

She thought about what Refugio and her mother spoke about, she didn't understand all of it but she knew one thing. They were leaving because her father was coming home. They would be reunited once again as a family, and Nora thought well if it's true then she should let the bubble of hope float.

A humming noise rumbled in her head, she halted her steps and winced.

Take one step north and you will face—

She clutched the sides of her head and she breathed in and out, steadily. She listened to her heart instead of the noise in her head. "Mind, body, and soul," Nora spoke in her mother's native tongue. "I am one. I am one." She finished with authority.

The noise quietened obeying her wishes and trickled into the depths of her mind. She imagined if her mother were here she would be so proud of her. She marched on, finally reaching her home. 

It was a small one-floor house, and enough for four people if her father ever wanted to come live here. She stood outside her house but something was not right. The lights were off, and not a single one of them was on. That's not right, her mother would have had the lights on.

Like a sudden gust of wind, an unsettling feeling rolls down at the pit of her stomach.

Nora cuts across the front lawn opening the gated fence. She walked the narrow path when she noticed her brother's window was open. The white thin curtain blew out in a taunting way like a wispy song. She pushed the window further up and grip the edge pushing herself up on the wall until she stuck her body halfway through.

She let out a raggedy breath as she saw the crib and the blue blanket draped over her brother's body. She pushed the rest of herself and landed on the ground again. She quickly got up, "It's okay, Mati. It's just me." She said.

But her brother didn't cry and he wasn't known to be a heavy sleeper. She walked over to the wooden crib and saw the blanket covering his face completely. She lifted the blanket away from his face and saw his eyes were closed, he looked peaceful. Nora smiled as reached her brother until her fingers brushed his cheek. She flinched.

He was cold. Unnaturally cold.

Her breaths started to come out short, she whipped her head toward the window. The window was open before she got here, maybe her mother opened it. Maybe that's why he is cold. But it seemed as if her heart was already beating to the drum of her worst fear. She ripped the blanket off and pulled her brother up from his crib, holding his head carefully and body. She pressed him to her body trying to bring him warmth.

"Mati, Mati, Matias." Her voice trembled as she swayed him back and forth, "Please, Matias wake up. Wake up."

She spun around, "MA! MA! Something is wrong with Matias! He won't wake up!" Nora shouted. "MOM!" She raced toward the door and swung it open, she sprinted down the dark hall. The humming noise came back, picking at her mind. "MOM! MOM!" She hugged her brother as if he was taking his last breaths but had Nora paid closer attention she would've noticed her brother had stopped breathing long ago.

Her fast footsteps entered the kitchen, suddenly her foot slipped on the floor knocking her down to the floor. She clenched her teeth as her head smacked the floor, at least her brother was still safe in her arms.

Just how many falls would she take today?

Nora rolled her head over, wincing as her nose wrinkled at the smell of pennies. Her back felt drenched by hot liquid. She got up as the scent continued to infiltrate her nose and the wetness slicked down from her hair and back. She blinked a few times until she saw the figure of her mother, sitting on the floor pressed against the lower kitchen cabinets.

Barely a fringe of light came through the window cutting on top of her mother's head. "Mom..." Nora whispered. Her mother slightly turned her head, Nora lowered her gaze and saw her hand clamped on her neck. "Staay..aw—." Her mother choked out, lifting a shaky hand. 

But it was too late, Nora saw the blood flooding between her mother's fingers. She rushed toward her pushing her knees through the pool of crimson. The dread she had been feeling had disappeared and a new emotion crawled all over her body, fear.

Still, she held her brother.

She stared at her mother's eyes, they looked glossier than green. Tears cascaded down her cheek and Nora mirrored her. She didn't understand what happened to her mother, she didn't know how her mother's throat was slit. "Mom...MOM! Please, Matias isn't waking up—" Her eyes widened drifting down at the baby in her daughter's arms. She brought her trembling hand over, touching her son's forehead. There was nothing in her daughter's arms but a dead baby.

She threw her head back hitting the cabinet as she gasped for air. Small painful but forceful shrieks came from her throat, there was more she wanted to let out but they took it away. Her ability to scream was reduced to short cries. 

Caitlin McGrath, the dying banshee, would not be able to grieve her son's death properly.

Nora's body shook like tremors as her heart shattered alongside her mother's heart. "Please," She begged with snot and sobs. "Tell me what to do, tell me!" Her mother could not. She turned her head toward the door, "Someone! Anyone! Help me! Help me!" Her pleas bounced off the empty house but she didn't stop.

She yelled for grandmother and shouted the words in Spanish and Irish too, hoping someone—anyone was out there hearing her. Relentless as she was, no one would come.

The humming noise went quiet then returned with an awful screeching noise. Razor-sharp teeth scraped Nora's mind. A bleeding heart must scream. Nora did not understand them, she barely understood what was caged in her mind. She spoke back to them out of desperation. "How do I help her? Tell me! Please, help me."

They pressed their against the walls of her mind, her heart bleeds but she cannot scream...too young to break.

Nora swallowed, "I can scream. I can do it, just please, help me save them." They quietened as she profusely cried.

They cannot be saved... relieve her heart, let her grieving heart be split and heard, They said back. Nora couldn't believe the voices, they didn't understand how much she needed them. Her mother and brother couldn't die. She couldn't leave them. She placed her brother in her mother's lap and grabbed her arm as she saw her hand bathed in red.

A bleeding heart must scream and yours should too.

Her head jerked back and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. You have power, unimaginable power...you can release your mother's pain...after all, you both share the same grieving heart. She felt her mother's nails digging into her skin. Screeching, searing, and collisions ripped Nora's body apart. Her mother watched her daughter's magic unleash Hell itself. 

The windows, the glass cups, and all breakable items shattered all over the house. Strong wind pushes through the house shaking everything inside like an earthquake. Her mother tried to shake her to stop her, but it was too late, Nora's magic spread all over her body. Nora tethered her heart and her mother's as one, she felt every single emotion her mother was feeling.

The uncontrollable anguish. The broken rage. The loss of her son and the feeling leave one behind. Take it. Take all of it. She pulled her mother's arm and she felt like a rushing wave had swept her and it was now drowning her.

A bleeding heart must scream.

Nora let out a blood-curdling scream and didn't stop when her throat tightened. Her mother's heart twined with hers and expanded her magic, she set the house on fire as the overwhelming emotions devoured every piece of her. By the time Nora stopped screaming, her mother had passed. All of Nora's power drained her, she hit the ground in the puddle of blood near the corpses of her mother and brother.

At the end she had done what her mother couldn't do.

The tears never stopped staining her cheeks. The two people she loved more than anything in this world were gone, she was left alone in a world without them. She would never get the chance to hear Matias speak or say her name. Her mother would never tell her another bedtime story. Her sorrow builds like the waves of the ocean, plunging her further down. This isn't real. This was a nightmare.

The growing seed of sorrow and unmatched anger planted itself in the depths of her heart as the roots clenched it. She closed her eyes. Praying, wishing, begging for someone to take away this horrible nightmare. The voices heard her thoughts. They said, like a feather being plucked from a bird, we could do the same for you. Whether it was pity or deceit, the voices were granting her a way not to feel what she felt right now.

Nora didn't understand them fully but like the naive girl she was, she trusted them. They were all she had left. A small piece of what mother was and what she was now. "Make the nightmare, go away." She said quietly.

And like a feather being plucked from a bird, the memory of this night would be erased but they decided to bury this feather. Along with it, they took her brother and the scarring look of her mother. But Nora would always feel this pain, she just wouldn't know why.

She slept without dreams or nightmares but only for tonight.