"What is she apologizing for?" Samuel muttered as he did not understand his sister. One minute they were arguing with each other but now she was apologizing to him? Was it for hitting him over the head, not being on her family’s side, or for bringing Aurora here to get rid of Minnie? "Don’t tell me they did something to..." his voice trailed off as he ran back to his parent’s room.

Samuel didn’t care about the small flames he saw making their way to the second floor. There shouldn’t be fire here as yet but as Aurora was involved, he knew some power had to be added to make the fire spread faster. There was also a sound as if a man was laughing.

"Mother, father. Are you two alright? What on earth," Samuel almost tripped when he entered the room and found his father on the floor looking lifeless while his mother was trembling. "Mother! Did Regina and that man harm father? Is he alright-"

"No!" Rachel grabbed Samuel’s hand before he could walk past her to check on Nathaniel. "Something is wrong. He said something was attacking him then he dropped dead. I-I think your sister was right. We have to get out of here."

"Regina? Do you mean with the souls being here? No way," Samuel didn’t believe his father’s lifeless body said otherwise.

Nathaniel laid on the floor with all color drained from his face. His face reminded Samuel of a flower that had become dried up by the sun.

Whatever had killed his father was not something he should mess with. Samuel noticed his mother was holding a bunch of papers in her free hand and considered that to be enough for them to leave with. "Let’s go mother before we end up like him and the fire traps-"

"How pitiful," Nathaniel said out of the blue.

"He’s not dead," Rachel smiled, relieved her husband was alright. "Nathaniel, I’m going to kill you for playing tricks at a time like this."

"Wait," Samuel stopped his mother before she could move to scold his father for faking this. The air in the room felt chilly unlike how warm it was before and how warm it should be with the flames all around the house. "I don’t think father is playing tricks. Something doesn’t feel right."

"My family loved each other," Nathaniel spoke again. "So much that none of us wanted to abandon each other when your relatives came in the night and started to slaughter us."

"What on earth is he talking about?" Rachel looked to Samuel for an explanation but she found him looking just as confused as she was.

"My wife was the first to die and then I was killed trying to save my children. All the servants were killed. After my last breath," Nathaniel slowly sat up from the floor. "I remained trapped here and watched your relatives use my children as sacrifices for your despicable rituals. We’ve been tortured to endure your kind enjoy the things stolen from us."

Samuel’s mouth fell open as he remembered what Regina had told them earlier. "That’s one of the people who originally lived here. That’s what Regina saw? A soul killed father?"

Nathaniel chuckled as he stood up. "Not killed. I have found how to replace his soul with mine. Now he will know what it is like to be trapped here for many years. You share the same greed as your relatives and you do not care for each other. We’ve grown tired of watching you. Give us your bodies," he reached out his hand to Samuel and Rachel. "You have to repay us for what was stolen."

"Mother," Samuel grabbed his mother’s hand and pulled her out of the bedroom. ’Was this what Regina was apologizing for?’ He thought as he ran with his mother right behind him. "Regina could see those things. She could have stopped them and saved father but she ran. She ran and left her family to die," he gritted his teeth.

He didn’t see why he felt sorry about Minnie wanting to throw Regina in a cell. She was a traitor who did not stick by her blood. Samuel was certain that somehow Regina could have prevented all of this but she chose to run.

Samuel and Rachel ran past the servants desperately trying to put out the flames.

"Ah!" Rachel screamed as she watched a maid fall to the floor just as Nathaniel had when they were alone. "H-How," she panicked. It was one thing to be tangled up with witches as she could see and touch them but souls were hard for her to fathom. She started to regret not listening to Regina and leaving while they had the chance.

"Fuck," Samuel cursed when he reached the stairs only to find them covered in flames. The fire seemed to be spreading faster than it should and the man’s laughter could be heard. It was as if someone was having fun setting the house on fire.

"Samuel."

Samuel and Rachel looked behind them where Nathaniel or the person who had taken control of his body was casually walking towards them unaffected by the smoke and fire. Behind him was the maid Rachel saw fall to the floor. The maid had the same lifeless look as Nathaniel.

"You’re judging us but you have hurt an innocent maid who had nothing to do with this," Rachel pointed out their hypocrisy.

"The maid will be given back her body once we are finished taking care of you. Give us your bodies and we will leave your servants," Nathaniel held out his hand. "You won’t do that. You don’t care about the people who have taken care of you each day. You two won’t make it out of this house. There are so many souls here waiting to steal your bodies. More souls than that girl saw. Where did she go? The one who saw us."

The soul inside of Nathaniel became more curious about meeting Regina than taking care of Samuel and Rachel. There were many souls trapped here to take care of them while he searched for Regina.