A/N: I decided to try out a new story. Hope you enjoy reading it. Feel free to leave me a comment about what you think.
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Chapter One
Tendrils of thick ominous fog curled and clung to every delicate flower, every blade of grass, every stone within it's icy grasp as it slowly crawled up the steep, barren hill towards our house. The veil of fog was so thick it was impossible to make out the town that sat below us; not even the outline of the aged oak tree that rested at the end of our garden could be seen, no matter how much I squinted.
Thankfully the inside of the house was basked in warmth and soft light as the roaring fire ablaze on the hearth never once ceased to spread waves of warmth across our living room.
I sat on the wooden ledge, having nothing better to do than to stare out of the window towards the morbid weather we had been graced with this present evening.
If I strained my ears hard enough, I could hear the familiar rhythmic clinks coming from the old plumbing system we had in our new home and the soft scratch of pen gliding across paper as mum completed her paperwork in the kitchen; a large mug of tea beside her, I would imagine.
Plain brown boxes of all sizes were strewn across the floor, taking every available piece of space on the floor. We had yet to unpack and get settled into our new home. I suspected I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow. For now, I would do nothing but sit on the sill and daydream. The was nothing much that I could do at that given moment of time as nearly every room in the house was bare, aside from the kitchen and living room.
''Zei, have you picked out your new bedroom yet?'' Mum called from the kitchen, her voice laced with exhaustion.
I had a brief look around upstairs earlier in the afternoon and it was pretty much identical to the rooms downstairs aside the fact of beds replacing the furniture.
''Not yet.'' I called back, stifling a yawn that threatened to escape.
I turned my head from the window towards the slightly ajar door; where the hallway cloaked in inky darkness that awaited me. The corners of my mouth were pulled down with unease, for the dark had always been my childhood fear. Even at the age of seventeen, the fear hadn't diminished. It didn't help that mum didn't stand for wasting electricity.
''You may as well find a bedroom and go to sleep. We have a lot of unpacking to do tomorrow, and the more sleep you get, the better.'' She said, coming into the living room, her long pale fingers running through her unbound auburn hair which traveled in long cascading waves down her back.
She gave me a small, tired smile before assessing the small living room with her light brown eyes.
Having done her survey of the room, she strode towards the door and yanked it open before going into the hallway, where a second later it flooded with light. Mum knew about my fear but never said a word about it to me. It was like we had an small unsaid agreement between us: I never spoke about my fear and she pretended it didn't exist. It had always been like that for as long as I could remember.
''Close the light when you're in your bedroom.'' She said, reappearing into the room again. She ruffled my short hair affectionately, going in the kitchen again; but not before calling out a goodnight.
''Night mum.'' I replied, slipping of the ledge with an inaudible sigh and walking out of the room. The wooden floorboards in the hallway were at an arctic temperature, sending tides of chills up my bare feet. I slowly walked up the staircase, holding onto the banister. It seemed like the house was frozen for everything I had touched was cold.
The walls themselves were plain, the colour blue painted upon them; so faded, the colour could easily be mistaken for white in the darkness. The last couple of stairs creaked slightly under my weight before I stood in another narrow hallway. Having already explored the four rooms: two which held large four poster beds, one clearly the bathroom and the smallest room which held nothing but layers of dust that had accumulated over the years. Mum had announced she would turn it into her small office. She had always wanted one.
At each end of the hallway was a medium sized window overlooking two vastly different scenes; one with lush green rolling hills with small houses cluttered together snugly whilst the other one was one of dense wood, going as far as the eye could see. Only now they were choked by oozing fog.
I decided to choose the bedroom next to the window facing the woods only because it was smaller and had its own small fireplace on the wall facing the bed. My eyes roamed across the room as I took a step in; not before turning the light on: a pathetic bare bulb, attached to the ceiling only by a a thin wire. I prayed it wouldn't blow and flood the room into darkness.
I was grateful mum had already made the bed up with fresh, crisp sheets. The walls were crawling with cracks that spidered from various places on the greyed surface. Everything felt so aged and tired. The only other source of light was from the large window with a wide ledge jutting out; the milky rays of the half moon glimmering through my window. Although the window was shut tight and seemed to have been so for many years, there was still a heavy chill settled in the room. I wrapped my arms around me, trying to keep in the shivers.
''It would do good as a sitting place.'' I spoke to myself out loud, looking at the ledge.
''Too bad. It's taken.''
My initial thought was that the voice coming behind me was my mums but as my thoughts caught up with my previous shock, I realized with growing dread that it was far too deep and masculine to belong to her.
I quickly whipped around only to find myself facing a man, leaning against my door frame, arms crossed over his broad chest. On closer inspection, the man turned out to be a teen aged boy looking no more than a few years older than me with an extremely handsome face. Although I didn't focus on his cold, forest green eyes nor his stark white tousled hair that sat artistically on top of his head, nor even the downward tilt of his lip which expressed distaste, but only found my eyes glued to the door frame I could see through him.
Indeed, I soon found out that I wasn't facing just any guy but one that was transparent with an eerie blue glow surrounding him.
A ghost.
''Are you going to cease gaping at me any time soon?'' He asked, his voice rich and smooth with a slight hint of aristocratic accent behind his words.
A very rude ghost.
I only realized then that indeed my mouth was gaping open and a deep red flush coloured my cheeks as I quickly shut it.
My first reaction could have either been passing out right there and then or bolting out the room screaming bloody murder- and by one raised expectant eyebrow, I could tell the ghost had been expecting the same thing.
I would have done if I hadn't met ghosts in the past. Just small glimpses like fleeting birds. Although this was the first time a ghost had so boldly spoken to me, a clear indication he could see me like I could see him. The thought brought chills crawling up my spine and I had to fight down another shiver.
''W-who are you?" I demanded, taking a step black, my eyebrows narrowed.
"I believe that should be my question, little girl.'' He snorted, standing up straighter and taking a step towards me. He seemed amused as he watched me move along further into the room.
I didn't know if ghosts could actually touch or bring physical harm to humans as I hadn't been well acquainted with the undead but I wasn't willing to find out.
''I can see you trembling from here.'' He said, laughter swimming in his eyes as he took another step towards me.
"It's cold!" I replied indignantly, tapping my foot against the floor boards; a habit I had for when I felt nervous or scared. Of course we both knew I was lying but I refused to let the ghost intimidate me.
He cocked his head to the side as he ran his eyes over my form before flicking them back to my face.
"What's your name?" He asked suddenly, "and why is it that you can see me?"
My eyes lingered over the room, not meeting his eyes. I remained indecisive to what my course of action would be next. I couldn't call mum as she couldn't see ghosts nor could I run away as he was barricading the only route of escape I had with his body and I had no way in knowing if ghosts could come into physical contact with humans. I wouldn't take the risk in finding out that for sure.
Even if I did manage to escape; what then? I couldn't spontaneously ask mum to relocate somewhere else. Just thinking about the hundreds of questions she would ask made my head hurt.
I felt a slight pain on my forehead and came to the current situation with a start. I realized when I had been spacing out, the ghost had shortened the distance between us and used his forefinger and thumb to flick my forehead. I stumbled back in surprise and in my haste, tripped and fell on my back with undignified grace.
''Quite the clumsy creature, aren't you?" the ghost said
"You shouldn't sneak up on people. You'd give them a fright." I mumbled indignantly, ignoring the irony of my sentence as I hastily stood up.
"Who are you?" He asked again, a frown replacing his earlier smirk of amusement as he stared down at me.
I swallowed, taking in his tall frame. I decided to tell him just in case he decided to stop interrogating me and instead harming me in some way.
"My names Zei. What about yours?" I inquired.
"What an unusual name." He said, completely ignoring my question. I was starting to get annoyed with his arrogant attitude.
"I've told you my name. It's common courtesy to give your name in return." I huffed in annoyance, crossing my arms over my chest as I glared at the ghost in front of me.
He tilted his head to one side as his green eyed gaze remained steady on my profile, not a flicker of emotion anywhere on his too-beautiful-to-be-real face.
"What?" I asked, growing more aware of my unfastidious appearance. I had to curl my fingers around my forearms to staunch the urge to pat down my hazelnut coloured hair. The ghost shook his head slowly from side to side, dropping his icy green orbs to the bare floor, giving me a small sense of relief.
A stretched silence ensued as neither one of us spoke. I swallowed, my gaze flitting around the room, ignoring how odd the situation looked in every perspective, not knowing what to do.
"Cole."
My eyes returned to meet his, a ghost of a smile placed on his lips.
"Cole." I said, testing the familiarity of his name on my tongue.
"Yes." He drawled out, "As I've just said, Miss Parrot."
Clearing my throat, I raised my hand to my hair and swept it out of my eyes, overlooking his remark. In doing so, I had gained the sharp gaze of the ghost yet again as he scrutinized me.
"Can you stop doing that." I said, my eyes looking anywhere but at him. I couldn't quite comprehend with the full situation yet, finding it almost unbelievable that I was currently talking to a supernatural being.
"Doing what?" He asked, sounding genuinely curious as he pulled down the corners of his lips, confusion flitting across his handsome features.
"Staring at me." The coldness of the room had long since begun to seep through my clothes which consisted of baggy black trousers and a thin navy T-Shirt. I had long since abandoned my coat once the fire had been lit up in the living room hearth. I knew before long my teeth would start to chatter, and with the present company I had in the room, I knew it would be nothing short of embarrassing.
Cole was silent for quite a bit of time, so much so I raised my eyes to meet his, only to realize I was looking at an empty doorway.
He had disappeared. Simply vanishing into thin air.
I was left alone, standing in the middle of the room not knowing what do to.
A/N- Many thanks to QueenLaundry for the awesome cover/banner. :)
Update 12/12/2016- Editing cringe worthy spelling and grammar errors