The Nightcolt Manor

(5)

The ghost's brow quirked in interest before he wiped any sense of emotion from his face. "Hmph." He suddenly scoffed, turning to walk away down another corridor. "What-- hey!" Nadine shouted, following behind him until she stopped. "Heath!" She blurted, shutting her mouth as soon as the name had left her mouth.

He stopped. She took a step back, the floorboards creaking underneath her as she did so. He then turned, an unreadable expression on his face. He walked towards her, making her take more backwards steps to try and get away from his advancing form. Nadine yelped as her back hit the wall, she then turned, trying to get through the doorway when an icy hand grabbed her wrist. In an effortless yank, the spirit pulled her towards him, placing another icy hand on her waist to keep her in place.

Nadine breathed heavily, her chest heaving up and down against his as she stared fearfully up at him. He gazed down at her, the same unreadable expression on his pale face. "Say that again." He said quaintly.

Nadine swallowed hard, finding her voice, "H-Heath?" she said, hardly above a whisper. His lips quirked just a tiny amount, "It's been so long since I heard someone say my name.." He let go of her, his hand slowly sliding off her waist and allowing Nadine to take a step back. Nadine let in a breath of air as she staggered backwards, almost tripping over her own feet and falling on her bottom in the process. She gathered her bearings and spoke, shakily, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

She was cut off as Heath interjected, "No, I'm sorry. For touching you in such a way. However.. how did you already know my name?" He said, averting his gaze from Nadine in perturbation. Nadine too looked away from the ghost, saying softly, "I was researching the house and stumbled upon a newspaper clipping with your photo and name.. it said you passed from illness." She fidgeted with her hands infront of her.

Heath suddenly looked angered, "Get out." He said coldly, walking away and into a dark room. Nadine was left standing there for a moment before she turned, grabbed her things and walked out. As she shut the door she could a sharp bang and then a shout sound from inside. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and walked away, driving off soon after.

______

Nadine flopped onto her couch.

Gods. That didn't go as planned. She thought to herself, putting her hand over her eyes in thought. Fuck. What if he never allows me back in? He's like a poltergeist-- could definitely do harm if he really wanted to. Nadine shook the thought from her mind. "I need to get out of here."

She picked up her phone and called her best friend, "OMG! What's up Nadine?" Shannon practically shouted into the phone at her friend calling her. "Hey Shay, I was wondering if you'd be up to dinner tonight?" Nadine replied, feeling her stress already melting away at Shannon's neverending enthusiasm. Her friend gasped, "What a coincidence, me and some coworkers were gonna go out to this nice restaurant if you'd like to tag along?"

To Nadine, that sounded like a social nightmare, but at that point, she needed some contact with living people and not ghosts. "Sounds good." Nadine replied. "Okay great, I'll pick you up at seven!"

Nadine had about two hours until then and hopped in the shower to rinse off the days work. Everytime she shut her hazel eyes, however, she'd recall Heath's pale face looking down at her. Goddamn it! Get a hold of yourself! Nadine scolded herself. As soon as she got out of the shower, she threw on a brown plaid above-knee dress and slipped on some warm tights underneath to fight the autumnal chill.

Soon enough, her friend came to get her and they were off. "So, there's this guy, so cute, that I think you might like," Shannon said eagerly as they drove. Nadine rolled her eyes and smiled, "Really? I swear, you've been trying to set me up with guys since eleventh grade." They both laughed and Shannon continued, "Well, if I don't set you up you'll never meet anyone!"

"Awh, come on." Nadine laughed. "C'mon, you're gorgeous Nadine! Own it!" Shay said as the car stopped. They both got out, walking into the semi-nice restaurant that Shay talked about. The waiter led them to their tables. Her friend introduced her to everyone as well as they guy she had been going on about in the car ride. I guess he's alright.. Nadine thought to herself as she sat across from the man. He had blonde hair and dark brown eyes, Heath's are darker-- what the hell am I thinking about? She internally scolded herself at the strange thought until she finally noticed the guy had been trying to get her attention.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" Nadine said, shaking her head out of her own thoughts. "I said what's your name?" The guy said, a small smile on his face. "Nadine." She replied, taking a sip from her wine. He smiled even more than he was before, "I'm Michael. Do you uh-- do you have any hobbies?"

"I paint and read." She answered, planting a smile on her lips. "That's nice, I swim competitively," he then started going on and on about his swimming career and how he blah blah blah and at this point Nadine was growing bored with it all. Even though she had only been at the place thirty minutes, her social battery seemed to be draining rapidly. But even she couldn't deny, this was a nice distraction from the manor.

Another hour seemed to pass and everyone was ready to leave. "So, how'd you like the guy?" Shannon said in a sing-song tone, grinning at Nadine. She gave her a deadpan look and Shannon's face immediately dropped, "That bad? God, I'm so sorry!"
Nadine laughed and shook her head, "Yeah, all he talked about was swimming and bragging about his championships!"