Chapter Twenty-One:

Chapter Twenty-One begins just a few weeks after Lexi and Wilbur got divorced.

(Just a couple of notes: One, everything that happens to the family is not staged. This chapter in particular was completely by accident. Two, this chapter contains a death scene. And three, I am not playing to the strict legacy rules; as in a ghost child can become the heir if Nora does not give birth to another child) Ok now that's out of the way, let's begin the chapter!

Petra knew she was different, she may be young but she wasn't stupid. She didn't look like her mother and father, or even like her cousins. But Petra was lucky; she had Ziggy. Her faithful companion since birth.

Mia and Niki were about to set off for boarding school. They were excited about the prospect of boarding with their friends, but they knew they'd miss their mum terribly. Especially now that their dad was gone.

Nora didn't agree with her sister's decision to send the girls to boarding school, after all they were only young. But she kept her concerns to herself and continued to raise her own special daughter with all the love she could.

Lexi had breakfast with her girls the day that they left for boarding school. She had breakfast with them everyday, but this day she was careful to switch off her work phone so she could really focus on her girls. Some tears were shed, by Lexi and her daughters. And before long Lexi's beloved little girls were whisked off to a better education at Smugglesworth Prep school.

As she got into bed that night, Lexi pondered how her life had got to where it was. Her plan had been to marry her high school sweetheart, work hard until she was at the top of her career, then have kids if there was time. Instead she was divorced, still working the grudge jobs at city hall, and had two kids. Lexi came to the decision that she wouldn't change it for anything.

Now that her girls were off at school and Wilbur wasn't in her life anymore, Lexi focused harder on her job. She was soon back in the groove and close to yet another promotion.

The weeks were streaming past so fast. Petra missed her cousins, but she liked making those half words that toddlers make into the phone when they called on weekends. At least Petra had Ziggy for her companion.

Even without Wilbur the adults in the house continued to get along great. Alvin and Nora helped out Lexi as much as they could, and knew that with every passing day Lexi's heartbreak over her divorce eased just a little.

Alvin loved his daughter more than anything in the world. He told her every day just how special she was to him. His hours at work were getting smaller the higher he got in the journalistic career and he used all those extra hours with his wife and daughter.

Petra's parents would tell her the story of how she came to be theirs. Even at her young age she understood the story; Mum and Dad wanted a child very much, because of that, one day the universe granted them this little special bundle of joy and Nora was pregnant with Petra. They left out the part about the chemicals until she was a bit older, still a little unsure of what her life woud be like as a ghost child.

With Lexi's girls settling in nicely into their new school, she spent time with her little niece. Whatever Petra's appearance, she grew up in a happy and welcoming family.

Speaking of family, Niki and Mia came home one Friday afternoon for the weekend, a few weeks after they moved into their dorms. It was an exciting day for them, it was near to Petra's birthday and they hoped they would get to celebrate with their little cousin before they went back to school on Monday.

Nora wasn't much for big celebrations, so she opted against planning a big party for Petra. Instead she decided to have a small cake for Petra on Sunday afternoon.

Nora decided to make the most of having her nieces around over the weekend, and while Lexi and Alvin were cooking dinner in the afternoon, Nora took Petra and the girls out the front to enjoy the nice weather and each other's company.

The girls had a nice time playing on the front lawn under Nora's nuturing gaze.

The afternoon wore on and the sun set. Petra loved playing with her cousins and Nora loved how much her little daughter's face lit up with happiness.

While they were playing outside, Petra grew up. Nora didn't like making a big fuss out of birthdays, and was quite happy with the way Petra's birthday had come around. The twins and their little ghostly cousin were having such a great time racing around on the front lawn that Nora let them stay out a little longer than she normally would have.

No matter how ghostly she looked now, Petra was still her mother's daughter.

The girls all traipsed back inside to have some of Alvin's dinner. The family went about their business for a little while, as Alvin was nearly finishing up the cooking. But when Alvin walked away from the stove for a moment, for one reason or another, life changed for the family forever.

The flames erupted quickly. So quickly the house was soon filled with smoke. Petra, Niki and Nora were closest to the door and raced out first.

Mia, Alvin and Lexi weren't so fast.

Alvin and Lexi tried to put the fire out; Mia was still inside with them and they had to find a way to buy some time before the smoke made it impossible to leave the house.

But the smoke was filling the house faster than any of them had ever imagined. Soon it was impossible to make out the front door as the flames spread through the kitchen. Alvin did his best to keep Mia and Lexi away from the flames, but soon they were running out of space, and clean air.

The flames were reaching higher and higher. The smoke was making it impossible to think clearly. Terror gripped at the hearts of the three still left in the house.

Outside the house the terror was gripping just as hard. Tears streamed down Nora's cheeks as she screamed for her husband, sister and niece. Petra and Niki held eachother and waited as far away as they safely could, trying not to hear the sounds of the crackling fire or the cries from Nora. The smoke filled the house and spilled out. The flames engulfed the kitchen, the living room and the dining room; pretty much the whole first floor.

Finally the fire died down enough for fire fighters to get inside to check for survivors. It was a grim sight. Nora pushed past the fire fighters as they came back outside empty handed. Petra and Niki stood stock still by the mail box as she raced inside the house, an almighty wail escaping her lips as she saw the kitchen where she should have found her sister, niece and husband.

Standing in the middle of the kitchen Nora's world collapsed. She had no other thoughts than those for her loved ones. The Grim Reaper took away three of the most important people in Nora's life and she knew her world would never be the same. In one foul swoop she had lost Alvin; the love of her life, the only man she loved, Lexi; her best friend and twin sister, the only person that understood her perfectly and Mia; her young little niece, such a bright young girl, with so much potential that Nora would never get to see turn into reality.

The graveyard had three new additions just a few days later. In one moment of carelessness three lives came to an end and three hearts broke. Will this family ever recover from the heart ache that this tragedy has caused?