The Billionaire Soldier's Revenge

Chapter 6: Iris Troubles.

Nora couldn't stop her trembling hands as she turned the key. 

The empty street behind her felt off. Usually, it would be filled with customers holding pictures of dead loved ones and dollar bills. 

But nobody was at her home today, and that alone spelt a bad omen, as far as she was concerned. 

Though the day was still bright, none of the windows inside were open, and the house was lit by candles.

"So you are making headlines now?" came a voice.

"Wow! Publicly assaulting a billionaire; I never knew you had it in you, Mom." 

Jasmine said this with her legs crossed as she sat on the ground. Her head was twisted unnaturally with dark blood still pouring from her forehead from the car crash about five years ago. 

Nora felt hurt from seeing her dead daughter like this, but she didn't flinch. She had become used to seeing this every day, and it no longer hurt as much as the living granddaughter who had grown to hate and despise her.

"I simply warned him, the same way I should have warned you," she said as she set down her purse. 

"Maybe this time someone will listen."

The ghost laughed. 

"Don't fool yourself. It's just you trying to feel useful again. Nothing more."

The woman ignored what she just said even though it carried the same critical tone her daughter had when she was still alive. 

"Chasing after billionaires won't bring us back, Mom. Nothing will, and you know that."

She walked over to her reading table. The bleached animal skull sat there as always with a quill pen resting in its left eye socket. 

"I can't save you anymore. But I can save him."

There was no response as usual, and when she looked back, the spirit had vanished. 

Then she heard heavy footsteps coming from the wooden porch. Her face lit up with hope, thinking it was today's first client, someone who would listen to her warnings.

Instead, it was her granddaughter Iris stumbling through the door. 

Her school backpack was tattered and dirt was painted across her uniform.

"Mija, what happened?" asked the older woman as she walked towards her, but she stopped along the way. 

Raw scars were covering the girl's right cheek, and her left eye was swelling shut, turning purple by the minute.

As she tried to reach out, Iris jerked away. 

"Don't touch me, Grandma!"

The worried face quickly turned cold. 

"Who did this?" Her voice was sharp and clear, the same tone that always made her lying clients suddenly spill the truth in a way that seemed like magic.

"Was it because of what happened recently at Greenville? Did someone recognise you?"

Iris looked at her with a raised brow. 

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "It's not that; it's all because of this garbage."

She said this as she ripped off the silver charm bracelet from her wrist and threw it at the woman.

"And this worthless rubbish!" 

The teenager also pulled off her matching necklace, causing the oddly shaped beads to scatter across the floor.

Her grandmother felt hurt by this, as each bead took two hours to enchant and several prayers to sanctify. 

"Those beads are supposed to protect you," she said, but the girl laughed hard.

"Protect me? Are you joking? Three kids bullied me after lunch. They called me a freak like my witch grandmother, and when I tried to run... 

This happened!" She said this while touching her swollen eye.

"Your magic is fake, Grandma! It's stupid! It doesn't save anyone. It never has!"

The words hit hard. The older woman bent down to gather the scattered charms. 

"Everything I do is to protect you. I lost everyone I cared about. I'm not going to lose you too."

The teenager shook her head before screaming at the top of her voice until it cracked. 

"You are already losing me! I can't have friends because you make me wear strange stuff and chant weird things in public.

I can't sleep over at anyone's house because you claim they have 'dark energy,' and when you do approve, I go there only to get laughed at for having a Grandma who speaks to the dead in broad daylight."

The woman felt hurt once again with each word her granddaughter said but replied; 

"Terrible things are coming, Mija. Serious death and disaster. If I don't do anything..."

"Then let them come!" The girl screamed with tears running down her face.

"Maybe getting hit by a car would be better than this! At least I'll be free from your curse!"

Then the house fell silent. 

Not far from her was James Ronald, lying motionless on the ground with his grey eyes staring at her like he was alive. 

A young woman sat next to his body with an empty poison vial. Never before had her visions felt so real.

"No!" She screamed, running towards his lifeless body. 

"I won't let this happen again! Not like this!"

By the next second, she was back in reality, gasping in the living room. 

The teenager looked at her with a mixture of fear and disgust.

"You are doing it again," the girl said angrily. 

"I'm bleeding right in front of you and you are talking with ghosts."

She grabbed her backpack and headed upstairs. 

"I hate this house. I hate your magic. I would exchange you for my parents and grandfather if I had the chance!"

The bedroom door slammed shut.

The woman fell into her reading chair, clutching the broken charms until her hands trembled once again. 

Through the open door, she could see the empty streets leading to her house were still vacant, and now she understood why.

It seemed her clients were just starting to sense what she was just starting to accept. Her gift wasn't saving anyone anymore, but worse yet, might be making things worse.

She opened her eyes and saw the ghost sitting in the client seat right in front of her.

"I told you, didn't I? It's all meaningless."