The Flames of Amarra - DR STRANGE x OC - COMPLETE

BONUS CHAPTER - IN THE BEGINNING

Nora got out of bed, throwing the books she fell asleep with on the floor. She didn’t really care today. She wasn’t going to class, Eloise said she’d take notes for her. 

As she was getting ready for the day, she thought about the last time she talked to her grandmother. They were usually seeing each other once a year, called each other for birthdays and whatnot, but this past year, they’d talked much more than that. Not that it bothered Nora, she’d always loved the old woman. She was the reason why Nora followed her dreams and decided to study literature when she knew that the most likely outcome would be teaching. 

They talked a lot about books this year. Her grandmother wanted to know everything Nora was working on, and Nora was overjoyed to tell her. She also wanted to be sure that Nora was happy, and they surprisingly talked a lot about children. Nora never wanted any, and when she thought that a lady of her grandmother’s age would try and change her mind about it, she just said ‘Good. If that’s not what you want, I’m glad’. Nora was surprised, but she enjoyed her reaction, so far from her mother’s, who was a little less easy to talk to about that. Ethan would give her plenty of grandbabies. Nora would be the cool aunt, and it would have to be enough.

It all seemed so far now. 

Maybe she knew, Nora thought, looking at her reflection in the mirror. It was possible. Nora had been the last one in the family to talk to Isabella Keller. Her father was devastated. He wanted to know if she told Nora anything about potential health issues. Not to mention that the hospital remained very vague about the cause of death. It wasn’t a heart attack, it wasn’t an aneurism. They said she died of old age. How could a 62 years old woman die of old age ? It didn’t make sense, and that was all the Keller family was trying to do. Make sense of things.

Nora was closing the back of her dress when someone rang the bell of her apartment. She ran to the monitor next to the door. “Yes ?” she said, almost screaming in the mic.

“Miss Keller, I have a package for you,” a male voice said.

Nora sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m coming down. Just a minute.”

She grabbed a warm coat and quickly put it on. She’d always hated deliveries in the middle of winter. Which was a problem since her birthday happened to be in the middle of winter. It was probably just another birthday gift that got lost in the mail. Thinking about it, Nora smiled to herself in the stairs. At least her grandmother was there to see her turn 20. She looked happy. Only a couple weeks ago, she was happy. And now she was dead. 

Nora opened the front door of the building and closed her eyes for a second. No birthday gift was worth being attacked by the cold air of Seattle like that. When she reopened them, she looked at the man standing in front of her. He looked nothing like she expected. She had no idea how he got hired by the post office with clothes like that. Was he really wearing a dress ? These looked like robes, probably. 

She realized she was staring and cleared her throat. “Sorry. Where do I sign ?”

The man, probably in his forties, smiled at her. “No need.” He handed her the small package and took a last look at the box. “Sorry for your loss, Miss Keller,” he added before leaving.

Nora stayed there, looking at the man walking away from her. How did he know ? Her dress was black, but a lot of people were wearing black on a daily basis. How could he have known that she lost someone recently ? Nora added that to the list of things that didn’t make any sense recently and walked back inside. She’d be in the cold enough later. For now, she wanted nothing more than coming back in her apartment, protected by the warmth of her four walls.

She made it back inside and locked the door behind her. That man peaked her curiosity. She now wanted to know what was inside that package he was holding so close to him. She wanted to know who sent her a late birthday gift.