The Nightcolt Manor

(13)

Nadine rushed to the living room. "Heath!" She called, her voice a little frantic. Almost immediately, Heath appeared, a quizzical look on his face.

"There's someone here. I think it may be that weirdo ghost hunter from earlier." She said, her face creased with worry. Heath's black eyes narrowed dangerously, "Where did you see him?" He asked, pulling her closer to him.

"Around back-- in the garden." She replied quickly, pointing to the back of the house. Heath nodded, making his way to the backdoor, but not before stopping and pointing at Nadine, "Go upstairs."

Nadine nodded slowly, her brows raised at the ghost's assertive tone. She practically ran upstairs and into the master bedroom. She shut the door behind her and sat down in the window alcove that overlooked the back garden. She could still see the flickering glow from a flashlight down below.

I swear, if whoever that is breaks something to get into this house, I'll kill them. She thought to herself, her worry turning to anger at the possibility of having to fix another broken something in the huge manor.

Nadine waited a few more minutes, not hearing, nor seeing a thing. She was growing more anxious by the second, and finally, she got up, creeping into the foyer and peeking over the railing of the grand staircase that looked over the entrance. She squinted in the darkness of the manor, straining her hazel eyes.

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded from downstairs. Shit. She thought, crouching behind the railing. The foyer illuminated from the flashlight from earlier and with it, she could see the outline of two people. Ugh, where's my phone? She thought frantically, wanting to dial 911-- although she knew they wouldn't be here for a while considering the manor was a ways away from town.

She patted her pockets, suddenly remembering that she left her phone in the living room. Of course I did.

She hissed, getting up and tiptoing along the floor, the wood creaking under her feet. She could hear muttering from down the stairs, no doubt the two "ghost hunters" thinking she was the spirit haunting the old Nightcolt Manor. She internally groaned, looking around in the darkness of the bedroom for something to use as a makeshift weapon, but ultimately finding nothing in the barren and dusty room.

Nadine could hear footsteps coming up the marble staircase and she held her breath. Damn it, Heath.. Where are you? She thought frustratedly at the ghost man.

Her frustration was halted, however, when she heard a loud thud, a series of shouts sounding right after. She heard footsteps clambering up the stairs.. heading straight for the master bedroom, it seemed. Just my damn luck, Nadine thought, anxiety etching itself into her body, which shook involuntarily. She huddled closer into the corner of the room before a loud bang rang out from the door being thrown open.

She gasped, seeing the same older bearded man from earlier in the doorway. He hadn't noticed her in the pitch-dark room, luckily. The loud heaving breaths from him echoed in the large bedroom. He stood facing the door, taking another small step back fearfully. Nadine's Hazel eyes were wide and she tried to scoot closer to the wall, however, as she did so, the floorboards creaked beneath her.

Shit.

The bearded ghost-hunter'd head shot towards her direction and he gave her a terrified look, "Y-you!" He said in a half-whisper, half-shout whilst pointing a finger at her. He turned fully to face her, still standing a few feet from the dark doorway.
"You need to get out of here, this place is--"

He was cut off by something seemingly yanking his foot out from under him. He fell, hitting the ground hard with a gruff "Oomph!"

He yelled as he was dragged towards the door with force, his nails scratching on the wooden floor. Nadine could only look in horror as he screamed for her to help him. She watched as he was dragged out of the room by his legs. She let out a breath of air, her arms wrapped around her knees as her head hit the wall softly in relief. A few more minutes went by and she got up, peeking out of the window and seeing that the cars from earlier were gone.

She turned around, about to walk out of the master bedroom to find the ghostly knight in shining armor, before she stopped just short of slamming into the chest of the spirit. Heath only looked a tad disheveled, his normally perfect slicked back black hair falling over his forehead in places. He adjusted his ascot tie and diamond studded cufflinks, which Nadine hadn't noticed until now.

She looked up at him, a wide eyed look on her face. He suddenly stopped, "Are you quite alright, darling?" He asked in solicitude, tilting his head so that his hair fell over his dark eyes a little. Nadine gulped, feeling something unlike her in her chest, which still heaved from earlier-- only this time another feeling seemed to be creeping in as well. No, no, I can't. He's dead, I can't. She thought desperately, her face heating up a little.

But even she couldn't deny just how good this dead man looked when he was rumpled in this way.

She finally caught her words, looking up at him, "Ah-- thank you.. for saving me, I mean." she said quickly. His gaze softened on her as he looked her up and down, possibly searching for any injuries.. or so she thought, at least. She looked up at him, her mind screaming at her not to do anything rash in the moment. Her body fought her tooth and nail, however, and her hand reached up to comb through his messy hair.

His brows raised a little as he looked into her hazel eyes and his lips curled just the slightest bit into a half-smile. "Forgive my ghastly appearance," he started, before Nadine cut him off, "No, no, I like it when you look like this. You're usually so tidy all the time."

"You're the only person whom I should look tidy around." He smiled genuinely and Nadine chuckled lightly, "Because I'm the only person who comes here?" She said, her hands coming to rest on his grey waist coat. He smiled once more, leaning down just the slightest bit as he whispered, "Perhaps."