The Nightcolt Manor

(7)

About a week passed since Heath and Nadine's talk and Nadine was getting increasingly comfortable in the manor. "Alright Heath, I know you don't like people, but I need to get some actual electricians in here so I at least have some light while I'm working late." She said, pointing up at the chandelier above her in the foyer.

Heath gave her a flat look, his arms crossed in front of him. "Can't you do it yourself?" He frowned. Nadine was the one to give a flat look this time. "Well, unless you want a second ghost in this house, I'm not about to electrocute myself. And also, I've already called and they're coming this afternoon.."

Heath gave the living woman an exasperated look, "Whatever." He grumbled, walking off. Nadine rolled her eyes at the ghost, yelling as he walked away, "Just stay invisible!"

______

Later, the electricians had finally arrived.

Nadine ran up to the door, her shoes clicking on the checkered-marble floor of the foyer. She greeted the workers, the head electrician pulling her aside to go over the details of the job. "Your name, ma'am?" The older man said, his pen hovering over the clipboard.

"Nadine Vandame." She replied, the scribbling of pen sounding in response. "And you're a contractor, yes?" She nodded her head, already slightly bored with the paperwork. As soon as they were finished talking Nadine lead them around the house.

"Alright, first up, we have the main living room. The kitchen is on the other side across the foyer. Follow me upstairs and I'll show you the other rooms." Nadine said, gesturing to the group of four. It was a big house after all. They walked through the halls, Nadine naming the rooms. They walked down a particularly dim hallway.

"The master bedroom is around that corner-" she was suddenly cut off by a loud bang. The electricians all jumped, muttering surprised exclamations. Nadine laughed nervously, "Oh, don't worry about that! Air drafts.."

The four grown men all looked at her, offering up their own nervous smiles. She continued on, acting as though nothing happened.

"Alrighty, that's it. I'll leave you guys to it." She said, walking briskly away to go find that damn ghost. She opened the stained glass doors into the library, her hands on her hips. "Heath." She spoke, her hazel eyes looking around for him. Almost immediately the spirit materialized, the air suddenly cold. "Really? Didn't I tell you not to do anything?"

"Wrong. You told me to stay, quote, 'invisible'." He said, leaning on a bookshelf lazily. Nadine sighed exasperatedly, "Well, now I am. Smart-ass." She muttered the last part, trying to suppress a grin as she walked back out and into the living room.

She sat down on the old couch and opened the book she'd been reading. Her reading, however, was soon interrupted by the clearing of a throat. She looked up to see one of the electricians. "Oh, hi! Do you need this room or something?" She said, getting up to move. "Nah, nah, you're good." He said, still looking at her. Nadine nodded slowly, going back to her book.

"I'm Dave. What'd you say your name was?" He said, smiling at her. "Ah, Nadine." She replied politely, smiling. "That's a gorgeous name. Never heard it before." The curly haired electrician said, walking around the huge living room and swiping his fingers along the dusty fireplace. "Thanks.." She replied dully, now focusing her full attention on the man.

He turned around to look at her again and Nadine was growing more uncomfortable by the second. "This your house? Pretty creepy. Especially for a lady on her own."

"I don't actually live here. I'm a hired contractor. Just here to clean and do repairs." She said, fiddling with her fingers. Besides, I'm not actually alone at all. She thought to herself, a tiny smile on her lips. "Oh. I see. So you're working here by yourself then?" He asked in a straightforward manner.

Nadine's eyes narrowed just a bit, seeing what he was trying to do. "No. I have help occasionally," she lied before smiling, "and I wouldn't call myself alone. This house is said to be pretty haunted."

The man's eyebrows shot up and he looked around for a split second before saying, "Wow. Pretty brave of you. You have any encounters?" He joked, moving closer to her.

"Oh yeah. Plenty. In fact, y'know that bang you heard earlier? That was him."

"Him?" Dave said, chuckling. Course he thinks I'm joking. Nadine thought to herself. "Oh yeah. Don't you know the history of this house? It's extremely haunted. I've had so many encounters in the few weeks I've been here." She could tell the guy was getting on edge so she continued, trying to scare him off. "I've actually seen him too. The ghost that lived here. He's tall, pale with old clothes.. dark hair and the blackest eyes you've ever seen."

Dave nodded, nervously gazing around the room. Nadine could feel the air growing icy cold and she held back a smirk. Dave cleared his throat, "I-I should get back to work." He said before turning around to leave. Just before he got to the threshold to the foyer, he tripped with a resounding 'thud'. He got up quickly, practically running out of the room, the glass doors to the living room slamming shut behind him.

Nadine put a hand over her mouth but to no avail as she laughed loudly. Heath appeared next to her on the couch, an ankle crossed over his knee and a nonchalant look on his face. "Thank you." She said, still laughing. He nodded, "I can't stand those types of indecorous men."

She laughed once more at his old-timey choice of words. "Nowadays we just call them creeps and assholes."

His lip curled in distain at her language but then quirked in a tiny smile to which she grinned even harder at.