The Tombs of the Unknown

Chapter 9

"Daddy!!!!!!!" We shouted.

"Oh, Girls." Dad said as we all embraced.

"How did you know we were here?" Haley asked.

"Well, when I woke up and saw that none of you were in your beds, I figured you went to Michelle's party without my permission. So, I went over there, but no one was there. I remembered that you guys came here before, I panicked, and called the police."

"Dad, I'm really sorry." Haley said.

"We can talk about that later, right now, a couple of police officers are going to ask you guys some questions."

We told them the whole story. I couldn't tell if they believed us or not but they did go into the house to find the other kids. Soon some of the kids came out of the house and hugged their families and we started to leave.

"Daddy, guess what?" I asked.

"What?"

"I saw Mom."

Everybody stopped walking and looked at me.

"What?"

"Dad, don't listen to her." Haley said.

"Yeah, she's hallucinating, we were in there awhile." Miranda said.

"No, I'm not, you saw her too."

"Sweetheart, I know you miss her, we all do; but she's not coming back. She will always be in your mind and heart but she can't be there physically."

"But..."

"Let's get home, I'm sure you guys are tired, we'll all talk later."

"Paul?"

We turned to the voice we all knew.

"Beth? I...I...I thought you were dead."

"Yes, I know. While I was in the hospital, even though I was in a coma, I could hear someone telling me they would make me pay for what you did."

"For what I did?"

"Let me finish. The night of my funeral, that same voice I heard in the hospital, dug up my grave and took the casket here. She brought me back to life and told me she wanted to kill me again in a more gruesome way because you couldn't save her grandson."

"But I tried to, Beth, I tried to save all of them..."

"I know, Paul. I know you did. I tried to tell her but she wouldn't listen. She was able to kill my physical form, but not my spirit, and that's all thanks to you, Roxanne."

"Me? What did I do?"

"Your love for me and belief that I would come back one day is what kept my spirit alive. You have a gift, Roxanne."

Suddenly, a yellow ball of energy formed in the middle of Mom's stomach, it spread through her body and exerted through her fingers and toes. She was no longer a ghost-like figure, she was real, she was Mom.

"You're human again!!!!!!" Miranda exclaimed.

"So, you're alive now?" Haley asked.

"I....I....I think so." Mom said as we all hugged.

"Will you come home with us?" Dad asked.

"Of course, there's no place I'd rather be."

We didn't notice at first, but while Mom was explaining what happened to her, more ghost-like figures came from the house. When our mom became human again, so did they, but they weren't grown-ups, they were children. When they recognized Dad, they yelled "Paulie" and ran up to hug him. Since Dad wasn't able to save them from the fire all those years ago, he thought this was his chance to make it up to them. So instead of the kids going to foster care, he took all 50 of them home with us, until we could find their families. My sisters, Mom, and I didn't know that tucked away in the attic, Dad kept the list of names, ages and family members of all the children that were in the factory.

One by one, we were able to reunite them with their relatives or friends of the family, except for five of them. They permanently became apart of our family when Mom and Dad legally adopted them. One of the children left was Helga's grandson.