Haunted Escape | ONC 2022

.7.

Chapter 7

Landon and I end up opening the bottle of wine.

He says he's had another long day on the farm, doing particularly gruelling jobs, so I offer to give him a glass of wine and I couldn't not have a glass myself. Then we walk up to the living room we were in last night with the wine bottle in one hand and Jinx in the other, and I feel like a teenager going to a sleepover. Although I never once had a sleepover as a teenager and certainly not with a good-looking guy.

Landon lights the fire again while I get wrapped up in a blanket, drinking directly from the wine bottle and feeling my headache wash away. I know it will be twice as awful tomorrow but right now I really don't care.

"Are you sure your Dad doesn't mind me stealing you for another night?" I ask Landon. My tongue already feels a little too heavy.

Landon laughs, moving over to sit by me and wrapping a blanket around himself. "I'm a big boy, Ember. As long as I work my hours on the farm he doesn't care where I am."

"You could be doing something a lot more fun," I say. I take another swig of the wine, watching him. It feels a little too good to be true for Landon to choose to spend the night with me.

He chuckles, shaking his head. "I don't think anything is more fun than sleeping over at the famous Windchime Manor while looking out for ghosts."

"What if we don't see any? I'm worried you'll think I'm weird." I wouldn't usually admit that type of thing to someone else, but of course the alcohol forces me to tell the truth. After tonight, I'm going to restrain myself from drinking any more for a while.

"I don't think I could think you're a weirdo," he says, lifting his own glass of wine to his mouth to sip. "Like I said, I often see things in the dark. It doesn't make you crazy."

I glance away, not entirely convinced as I chug more of the wine. I can't help but think of how this has been the worst introduction to someone that I could give. Drinking for two nights in a row, talking about ghosts and seeing things. It's a shock he didn't back away as soon as he could.

"I'm sorry for going a bit crazy last night," I say, fiddling with the label of the wine bottle. "I'm not usually like that. I haven't had a night out in... years."

"Oh trust me, I've seen worse. Anyway, it was fun," he smiles.

I nod my head. "Yeah. It was."

There's a small moment of silence before Landon sighs. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why do you live alone?"

Ah, okay. The dreaded question has been asked.

"I--" my voice wobbles through the word. I don't want to get into too much detail, because whenever I do the conversation turns awkward and it's always the moment that the other person realises that I'm carrying too much baggage. But I can't lie to him. I clear my throat. "My parents are dead, siblings have travelled elsewhere and I've never been very lucky with love."

"Shit," he mutters, drinking his wine. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents."

I shrug my shoulders, fiddling with a loose thread of the blanket wrapped across my shoulders. "Mum died when I was very young. Then Dad when I was six. So... it doesn't bother me any more." I don't tell him the deeper details. I don't tell him that what killed my father almost killed me, too. I don't tell him how my mother died. Even to this day, the idea of it all makes me feel sad.

"Where are your siblings then?" he asks, changing the subject a little.

"Samantha, my sister, is in London. Then my brother Alex is... I don't know. Tokyo, California, maybe Hawaii. He's seen everywhere."