Dance with Darkness - Ghost Dance

Chapter 4

A/N:  Hi!  Wow, over 200 reads on my story so far, I'm honored!  Thank you to everyone who's gotten this far and stuck with it!  I feel like I'm floundering a bit in starting the story, but I hope that it'll pick up pace.  This chapter has some important information in it, but I'm also concernecd it's a bit of filler...any criticism is welcome!  Again, thanks for reading, and don't forget to vote if you liked it!  :)

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“You are going to eat that?” I heard a disapproving voice comment as I sat down to my breakfast the next morning.  I gave a start, nearly spilling my bowl of cereal as I whirled around to find the source.

Nakoma was leaning against the kitchen counter behind me, arms crossed and a general expression of disapproval marked on her face.

“What are you doing here?” I practically screeched.  I had hoped to put the nightmare of the previous evening out of my mind for at least a little bit today and regain some sanity by fully immersing myself in the real world, sans hunters or ghosts.  Apparently, life had other plans.

“Assuage your temper,” she scolded.  “I received your address from the president this morning and came to observe how you care for your body.  As I suspected, your habits are unbefitting of a hunter.”

“Get out of here this instant!” I yelled.  “I’m not letting you float around and stalk me all day!  What I do is none of your business!”

Nakoma uncrossed her arms and drifted towards me, eyeing my cereal with disdain.  I drew back apprehensively, not wanting to have an unscheduled possession.

“As we will be sharing your body, I do in fact have a right to be concerned with how you treat it.”  She sat down across from me and rested a translucent elbow on the tiny table.  “You need energy from more than just sugared grains and dairy.  Eat some fruit and protein.”

“I don’t have time to make a whole Continental Breakfast,” I snapped, grabbing my spoon and shoveling a mouthful of cereal.  “And this cereal is healthy!  There’s not that much sugar.”  I took another bite and glanced at the kitchen clock.  I had sixteen minutes before I had to be out the door, thanks to my incapacity to be an early riser.  On normal days, I could usually still make it to work if I woke up late, but today was certainly not normal.

“An apple or banana does not take time to prepare,” Nakoma said flatly.

“No.  Time,” I enunciated, standing up and rushing my bowl to the sink.  “I’m going to be late for work.”

“That is another matter we must focus on,” Nakoma said.  “Your sleep cycle is atrocious.  A hunter needs a well-rested body in order to perform well.”

I froze.  “You watched me sleep?”

“Do not be ridiculous,” she scowled.  “I only arrived a few minutes ago.  But it is uncouth for someone to sleep so late into the morning.”

“It’s only six-thirty!  Isn’t that early enough?”  I ran to the bathroom to run a brush through my thick, tangled hair.  Nakoma followed me and watched from the doorway.  I noticed uneasily that her reflection did not show up in the mirror.

“When alive, I would rise with the sun every morning,” Nakoma said as I threw the hairbrush back into its drawer, annoyed with the ‘your-body-is-a-temple’ speech.

“Get out, I have to pee,” I said, turning and slamming the door in her face.  I had half a mind to just take off the ghost ring that I had accidentally left on from the previous night, but the idea that Nakoma could still be around and I wouldn’t know it unnerved me.  Even if she was a pest, I didn’t want to be in the dark if she was up to something.