Chapter 19: Who Lifted the Curse?

*Theo*

“Mom… Mama….”

The girl kept crying out in her sleep, sometimes for her mother, other times for her father. I thought it was a good thing that she was at least speaking, even if she seemed to be having nightmares while she rested.

It was a long night, but I stayed with her.

After all, she was asleep in my bed. Where else would I go?

Sitting next to her, I did my best to keep her calm, but it was difficult, and as the night wore on, I began to grow rather weary myself.

“Daddy!” she shouted, flinging both arms up into the air. “Daddy—no!”

“It’s all right, Ciana,” I said, smoothing her hair back and trying to get her to stop moving her arms so wildly. “It’s just a dream. You’re okay.”

“Daddy, please! No!”

The way she was crying out, I thought perhaps her father or her mother had done something awful to her at some point in time. But other times, the things she said made it seem like someone was hurting her parents.