When A Ghoul Falls In Love - Volume 1 Chapter 143

I wake up to the sound of shoutings.

The door is still locked. I can’t go outside.

I press my ear on the door and try to listen. I can’t tell who is there with my mother, but my stepfather is trying to calm her down.

“Please, be reasonable, Ms Solomon!”

That’s Baek Joon Woo’s voice. Is he really here? I find my phone and check the time. It’s already eleven in the morning. It seems that he called me before coming here.

“Get out of my house!” My mother roars. “Nell won’t return to that school!”

Why is she treating him like this? He has done nothing wrong. I slam my hands on the door. “Dad, please let me out!”

My yells don’t affect them. Suddenly, there’s only silence. I guess Baek Joon Woo has left. I run to my window and look down. When I don’t see the gate, I realise that my window gives me a view of the backyard.

“Why I am an idiot?” I mumble while I call Baek Joon Woo on the phone. It rings twice before he picks up.

[Nell, I will call you later.]

He hangs up.

“…” Is he angry? I can’t say anything if he is mad at my mother or me.

I guess I have no choice other than running away from this place. But how do I convince Baek Joon Woo? Should all of us run away? The plan is stupid. Eight of us won’t leave this city. Killian can still follow us. I read that fae folks hold a grudge for a long time.

My stepfather comes into my room with my breakfast. He places the tray on the table, and then turns around to look at me. “Nell, have you thought about it?”

“About what?” I feign ignorance.

“Keeping the child,” He probes with concern. “I know that you don’t consider me as your father, and I don’t want to force you to accept me; but, Nell, I hope that you can still think of me as your family: you are like my daughter.”

That’s it. ‘You are like my daughter’ is different from ‘You are my daughter’. Our relationship is awkward, and he isn’t the only one who is like this. If my mother can’t think of him as my father, how can I think of him in that way? It’s too late to mend the relationship.

But he is right. Although I can’t accept him as my father, I think of him as a family.

“I want to keep my child,” I state my decision. “My mother wants to be a murderer, but I want to bring my child to the world. Baek Joon Woo also wants to marry me. Why is she acting like that?”

He sighs. “I will talk to your mother.”

“No need!” My mother’s sharp voice startles us. She eyes me coldly. “You made your decision. Now, you must listen to mine. If you keep this baby, you will see my dead body.”

My throat turns dry. I haven’t expected my mother to go this far.

“Isa, how could you say that?” My stepfather rushes to her side. “Nell is still a child, but you are an a.d.u.l.t. You are her mother. If you speak like that –”

“I have made my decision too.” She raises her hand. “If she doesn’t get rid of this child and leave this city with me, I am going to Switzerland to kill myself. I would rather die than see her ruin her life like this.”

My mother walks away with my stepfather trailing after her. This time, she doesn’t lock the door. I can tell that she is not bluffing.

I sit down on the bed and take deep breaths. The turmoils of my heart make me sick. The food also makes me queasy. Why is everything so complicated? It would have been better if I wasn’t her daughter.

Though I know that she has her reasons to be irrational, I can’t accept this. But there’s no way that I can live if she kills herself because of me. Carrying the guilt of causing her miscarriage is enough for one lifetime.

Should I kill my baby? Will it make everything alright? If I leave this city, will Killian leave my friends alone? Should I leave this city with Killian?

Both my mother and Killian want my child to die.

After locking the door and turning my phone off, I lie down on the bed, clutching my stomach. It’s daytime, and I wonder if the moon will listen to my prayers.

‘Dear Moon, if you are truly a goddess who looks after me, please save my child.’

***

Pangs of hunger and cold winds from the window wake me up. I check my phone and find that the screen is entirely black.

After I turn it on, my phone keeps beeping as the messages swarm in. I put it aside for a while as it hangs up when it’s overloaded.

The food is still on the table. It looks like nobody tried to wake me up for lunch. Maybe my mother wants my child to die from starvation.

I bring the tray to my bed and look at the egg rolls in silence. The tea is also cold and undrinkable.

But I need to eat for my baby. I am going to make sure that my baby is born with cute and chubby cheeks, whether someone supports me or not. I don’t need anyone, even if it’s Baek Joon Woo or my mother. I will kill that fae if he appears in front of me again.

Where do I get a cold blessed iron? Normal iron can’t kill the fae. Fae folks and religions don’t mix well. Perhaps, I should go to the church tomorrow.

Holy water is sufficient on demons. Would it work on the fae folk too?

To be safe, I should place my bet on a knife. A cold blessed iron knife can kill anyone.

According to Killian, cores and hearts are different from creatures, but it’s the same for humans.

All I need to do is find his core. If I stab every part of his body, it should be fine.

“I am sorry,” I pat my belly and say, “my baby, your mother is having violent thoughts. But I am thinking like this because I want to protect — Ugh!”

The tearing pain spreads in my lower belly as familiar warm wetness leaks between my thighs. Clenching my teeth, I look at the eggrolls that I have eaten. Did she mix something in my food?

It can’t be.

“DAD!” I scream. “Please save my child!”

Within a minute, I hear them banging my door. Blood soaks my panties and skirt. I can barely move my body.

“Nell, what happened?” He shouts. “Open the door!”

“She is probably not in the state to open the door.” My mother tells him, “Get the ladder. We have to enter through the window.”

“Isa, did you do something to her?” He bellows on her.

“I had to.” Her voice is without any trace of guilt. “She is my only child!”

SHE killed my child. I reach for my phone and call Baek Joon Woo.

[Nell, why was your phone turned off? I was trying to call you all day. I found a way to find your father.]

“She killed our child.” I croak as my vision becomes darker, “Joon Woo, our child… I couldn’t save our child.”

The phone slips from my hand and drops on the floor.

***

“You crossed a limit, Isa.”

“It was for her own good.”

“She is legally eighteen. How could you do that?” I realise that it’s my stepfather who is talking. “What if it harms her body?”

“I bought this medicine from a reliable source,” The woman, who calls herself my mother, replies coolly. “It won’t harm her body. She will be fine after a week of rest. Did you prepare everything?”

“It will take some time before the transfer is approved,” He informs her. “Isa, do we have to go this far? She is in the last year of high school.”

“It’s better this way,” She murmurs. “I know that she might never forgive me but…”

Her voice fades as I drift back to the darkness. I don’t know how long I stay asleep.

‘Nell…’

When I open my eyes, I see a pair of golden eyes before me. Though the man’s hair is longer, he looks exactly like Baek Joon Woo. How long did I sleep?

His eyes widen. “Nell, you are awake!”

“I am sorry.” I murmur to him, “I couldn’t save our child.”

Baek Joon Woo’s face whitens when he hears those words. “Child?”

“I am really sorry.” I can barely keep my eyes open. “Forgive me, Joon Woo.”

“Nell! Stay with me!” He squeezes my hand tightly. “Please, stay awake.”

Though I want to stay awake, I can’t fight back as overwhelming darkness pulls be back into nothingness.