Nora paced. She tried every excuse to leave but Janice wasn't having it. Nora was staying for Thanksgiving. It looked like the turkey wasn't the only thing getting massacred today.
The brothers were staying all week and Nora had done everything to stay away. She skipped some meals and left with Hyde to visit friends even though she had no interest in meeting new people.
Nora was in the Miller house trying to find anything about Willem. She didn't have much time because the hunters were around.
She was sure they were at breakfast so she had time. She floated to the room Willem disappeared from and still got nothing. She knew Soren was coming. She phased, threw on long sleeves and pants and walked to the stairs.
"Oh, Nora. What...Hi." Soren wanted to kick himself.
"Hi."
"What are you doing here?" Soren was surprised that Nora was here. He hadn't seen her all morning.
Nora began to walk down the stairs. "I was trying to see if there was any trace of whatever was here. I am trying to help Hyde. This is where his brother disappeared. He asked for help." She was at the bottom. "He doesn't like coming here."
Soren walked over to her. "Oh, that's nice of you to help. This place doesn't creep you out." She was gorgeous and he missed her. He had to calm down. He took a breath.
"Oh," Nora looked around. "No. Not really. It's just an old house. Nothing scary about that. They don't creep you out?" Soren was more attractive than she remembered and he was here.
Soren smiled. She was different. Most girls didn't like haunted houses and she was here by herself. "No. Never have. I don't get scared of very much."
"Sure. I bet you see a lot of scary things in your line of work. Probably immune." Nora smiled. She should go.
Soren laughed.
Nora was staying.
"Sure. I guess. That is a good way to look at it. There was a black dog we hunted for last year that gave me the creeps but it didn't stop me from hunting it." He never talked to a girl about his job and now he couldn't shut up.
"Oh, what is a black dog, exactly?" Nora couldn't help it. She was curious and loved the sound of his voice.
Soren smiled. She was curious about their job. "It is usually conjured by a witch or warlock. It's a demon, of sorts. They can be called for various reasons but they are hellhounds."
"Black dog is another name for them. They drag whatever cursed person to hell. We had to put a stop to one such beast. The witch got a little out of control and became power hungry. She began to kill because it was fun to watch the black dog work. She liked the sound of the people screaming for help. I guess."
"So, you saved some people?"
"Yes. We...some of the things that we kill are evil. I mean really evil." Soren explained because he didn't want her to hate him. "We do some good out there and we help good people. Some of them are in the wrong place at the wrong time." Soren sighed. "I'm sorry that my job offends you."
Nora just stared at Soren. "No, it doesn't offend me. I just...I'm sorry. I freaked out a little last night. I was rude." She looked down.
"There, was that hard." Soren smiled.
Nora smiled then laughed.
Soren laughed and looked at Nora.
Spectral hunter. Come on and pull yourself together. Nora cleared her throat. "Well, I should leave. Get back to the house. Let you do whatever you do." She needed to leave.
"You look like you are ready to kill something." He was heavily armed and he was sexy. She couldn't help but look him up and down. She cleared her throat that was dry right now.
Soren nodded. "Sure, I'm always ready to kill something. Thanks for the talk, Nora." Did she just look at him like he was food? He liked that look. He wanted her to stay so she could look at him like that again. He almost asked her to stay. What was he thinking?
Nora almost couldn't walk. Her legs weren't wanting to respond. He said her name and she was jelly.
"Nora?" He followed her to the front door.
Nora turned. "Soren."
"Oh, are you going to be at dinner?" Soren loved the sound of his name when she said it.
Nora smiled. "Yes. You?"
"Save me a seat." Soren winked at her.
Nora blushed, nodded and almost tripped out of the house. She smiled like a fool all the way to Hyde's house.
Dinner. She could do dinner. Nora was wearing a long sleeve dress that was long enough to cover her ankles. Anything to cover the marks. They looked like dark tattoos but they glowed when she was the phantom.
She didn't want any questions about her marks and she didn't want anything to be strange. She didn't want the brothers to figure out what she was and hunt her from across the dinner table. Nora knew that they would too.
Nora let her hair down for the night. She hardly ever did that and she loved her hair. Maybe she would wear it down more often. She didn't want people to notice her because if they paid attention to her, they would notice that she was different and begin to ask questions.
Just breath. She made it down for dinner and everyone was there. Aunts and uncles, godparents and parents. Spectral hunters. Great. This was a nightmare.
Nora sat in a chair and hoped to go unnoticed all night. She could do that. No one had noticed her so far. She was pretty invisible almost everywhere. No one really noticed her, she could do this. She was playing with her fork and someone sat beside her.
"You look nice. Didn't think you were going to show up for dinner." Soren pointed out with a smiled. He hadn't seen her since the haunted house this morning. He was hoping to run into her again but he hadn't until now.
Nora jumped. "Oh, didn't think anyone would notice."
Soren was taken by surprise. What was she talking about? She was gorgeous. "Trust me, everyone would notice if you weren't here."
He touched her hair. It was soft. He twirled the end of it in his fingers. He was glad that she wore it down tonight. He had thought about her a thousand times today and wondered how long her hair was. Past the middle of her back, it was beautiful. Nora was beautiful.
Nora stopped breathing and stared at him. "I seriously doubt that everyone would..."
"I would." Soren interrupted her. He just stared at her.
Nora got chills. No. This was the enemy! "I don't know what to say." She almost melted. Calm down. Breath. It will be okay. They were leaving tomorrow, in the morning. Just had to survive one night.
"Thanks would be nice." Soren sounded very sarcastic.
Nora tried not to smile. "Thanks." She sounded bored.
Soren chuckled.
Nora thought he sounded very sexy when he laughed. Someone kicked her under the table. She looked up. Hyde was staring at her. He shrugged and looked at Soren and back to Nora. He made a face like he got a hold of something fowl.
Nora shrugged. She had no idea what she was doing.
"What is his problem?" Soren noticed the look and thought it was jealousy.
"Oh. Nothing. He's just gassy or something!" Nora shrugged again.
Soren chuckled. "Good. I was told you weren't seeing anyone."
Did that mean that he asked about her? Did he ask Hyde if she was seeing someone? Hyde didn't say anything to her. Did Soren really ask about her? She was killing Hyde later. She could have used some warning.
Soren was flirting with her.
They were all passing food. Nora had missed a lot. She was sure there was a prayer and some words before the turkey was carved. Now, they were passing food. Fourteen more hours.
Nora took a breath. "No. I'm not seeing anyone. I don't want to. No other reason." She was stopping any further questions. "I'm not interested in being a one night stand or a notch on your bedpost. I'm not interested."
"Ouch." Soren felt that burn. "Well, thanks for the warning. I don't do one night stands just so you know. Good to know we're like minded." He couldn't stop flirting with this girl.
Shit! Was he flirting with her? He was flirting with a phantom and had no idea. She needed to get away from him. Nora looked up and saw Hyde glare at her. She just smiled and shook her head.
This was impossible. She started to giggle and had to suppress it. Just eat and survive. Thirteen hours and thirty-six minutes. She wasn't sure about the seconds.
Nora tried to be quiet. She tried not to talk to Soren. Even his name made her melt. Come on. Pull yourself together. Soren kept talking to her and asking her questions about herself. She was vague and changed the subject a number of times. Dinner was over. Everyone could go away. Go home.
"So, why so angry?" Soren asked.
Nora glared at him and he laughed. She smiled. Stupid. "I'm not angry."
"Sure you are. You don't answer my questions and you glared at me. Why?" Soren wasn't a beat around the bush kind of person.
"Well, you glared at me first. I thought that you hated me." Nora whispered.
Soren stared at her. She had the prettiest blue-green eyes, or were they greenish-blue? "No. I thought you were flirting with Ryker. I was upset."
"A little possessive, huh?" Nora asked and wanted to take it back.
"Maybe." Soren warned. What was he doing? He never felt like this about a person. A girl. A stranger. He didn't even know her and he wanted to spend more time with her. He wanted to know everything about her.
He didn't date very often and he never flirted with someone so much. He couldn't stop himself. What was wrong with him? He knew that Ryker was thinking that also because he kept staring at Soren and shaking his head. He knew he was answering some questions later.
Nora melted and hated herself. Enemy. He is the enemy. Calm down. He will kill you, stupid! Twelve more hours. Less than that. Eleven hours and forty minutes.
Soren wanted to talk to her without dodging Ryker's stares and he wiggled his eyebrows a number of times also. Soren wanted to be alone with Nora. He wanted to drag her to a bed. He didn't know what his problem was.
"You want to go for a walk?" Soren asked before he realized what he even said. What was happening to him?
Nora took a breath. "Uh." She looked around and everyone had broken off into little groups. Hyde was bonding with Ryker. They were talking about different weapons and things that could kidnap a person.
Nora knew that Hyde wanted to ask them for help. Ryker was ready to drag him out on a hunt. They were getting along a little too well for Nora's comfort.
"Sure." No! Nora was lecturing herself. Say no to the walk with a spectral hunter. Killer. Nora stood and followed Soren outside.
It was dark out already. They started to walk around the back yard. Nora smelled lilacs but didn't know if that was coming from Janice's yard. It smelled wonderful.
Soren tried to grab her hand and she jerked it back. She was wearing gloves so he couldn't feel her cold hands but she couldn't lead him on.
"Easy. I was just going to take your hand." Soren said. He had stopped walking.
Nora cleared her throat. "Sorry. I'm not use to being touch. Guys don't..."
"They are fools!" Soren said and smiled at her. She was just beautiful and he wanted to get to know her. "So, what are you studying in school?"
Nora sighed and began to walk again. "I don't know. A little of everything. I can't seem to nail anything down. I don't know what I want to be yet." Nora answered.
She wanted to be human for the minute. A normal human. "I love to learn." Maybe she should let him get to know her.
He could see that she was the same as humans. She loved and learned, hated and worked, worried and had hope just like everyone else. She had the same struggles.
"I was like that too. I am still not sure." He confessed. That took him by surprise.
"I thought you were a spectral hunter or whatever?" Nora was surprised.
"Yes but I really love to cook. I would love to own my own restaurant." Soren cringed. He didn't know why he just told her that. He never told anyone that before.
Nora was stunned. "Cool. I can't cook."
"Really?"
"Not even on a dare!" Nora smiled at him. He was so sexy.
Soren laughed. When had a woman made him laugh? Never. He sighed. He took her hand and refused to let go. "May I ask, why the gloves?"
Nora smiled. "Because I'm weird."
Soren smiled. "I like weird. Hell, I'm weird." Hunting ghosts was weird. They walked for a while without a word. Comfortable silence. Ten hours and fifteen minutes.
Nora tried to let go of Soren's hand but he held on tight. "Soren...I can't. We shouldn't and you should understand something." She had stopped walking. "There are some things you should know about me but I can't tell you." I am a phantom! Of course she wasn't saying that, he would definitely kill her.
"That is very cryptic, Nora." Soren watched her.
"I know." Nora took a breath and made a quick decision. "Well, first. I own a haunted house in a town I used to live in. Halloween is a big holiday for me. I have a couple of people that give tours. It's nice." Nora smiled.
"You own a haunted house?" Soren smiled.
"Yes. I figured you would be weird enough to like that." Nora smiled.
Soren laughed. "Yes. I love that. I like you even more now. What are the odds that we got to meet?"
Nora shook her head. "Zero, really. I don't get out much and meeting Hyde was a fluke. I only came here as a favor."
"Well, I am happy that you came." Soren wanted to say more but he was going to embarrass himself.
Nora blushed. "Thanks. I had a different ending to this evening in my head. This is a nice surprise."
"Oh, how did you think that this night would end?"
"Well, I don't know. Me, hiding in my room. I don't know anyone except Hyde so I didn't know. His mom and dad seem nice. I don't...I'm not comfortable around people." Being massacred by the Lloyd Brothers. That was how she really pictured the end to the night.
"Yes, they do seem nice. I'm glad that you hung out for dinner and went out here with me. Ryker is going to be asking me a million questions when I see him later." Soren smiled and tucked Nora's hair behind her ear.
"Sure. I figured you did this all the time. Hit on girls." Nora wondered out loud.
Soren looked at the sky. The stars were really pretty tonight. "Why would you think that?"
Nora shuffled her feet. "Well, I don't know. I guess because you look like that type. Sorry. I shouldn't judge you before I get to know you. That is rude of me." Nora smiled. She was hoping he would agree with her.
Soren smiled. "Right. Never judge a book by it's cover and all of that junk. I tend to judge people a little harshly. It's a flaw."
Nora stared at him. "Oh good, you do have a flaw. Good to know." She blushed.
"Nora, I don't date or hit on women. This is weird for me." Soren wanted to deny that he was hitting on her but they both knew that was a lie. He was still holding her hand.
"Is that why Ryker was staring at you and shaking his head?" Nora was curious.
"Yes. Mostly. I didn't want to come on this hunt. I am not comfortable around people and don't usually flirt with random strangers, that's Ryker's job. I just hunt." Soren pulled her to him and kissed her without any warning.
Nora gasped.
Soren pressed his body to her's. What in the hell was he doing? Oh, this was amazing, Nora was amazing. He needed to let go of this stranger. She felt so good and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He should have let go but he had no interest in leaving her right now.
Nora wasn't going anywhere right now. This was hands down the best kiss in recorded history. She had never kissed a man but this was amazing. She knew she should run but her body wanted to wrap around Soren and she didn't stop it.
Nora felt Soren melt into her. She couldn't stop. She wanted him. She wanted to be part of him. He was a spectral hunter. Ghost. She was freaking out and didn't want to stop this. He felt so good. Nora could feel the tears. Damn it. Where did they come from?
Soren slowly let go of Nora. His forehead was on hers. He watched her cry. "Nora? Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry!" Soren felt horrible. Did he do something to hurt her or scare her? His body was vibrating from her touch. He wanted more.
Nora backed away and wiped her eyes. "Shit!" She tried to breathe and stop the tears. "I can't. This can't happen and I can't even tell you why! I'm sorry, Soren. I am. This was nice and I don't do this kind of thing. I'm sorry!" Nora took off to her room.
What in the hell was she doing? He was a stranger and a spectral hunter. She couldn't even be herself with him and he would figure this out soon, if he knew his job at all.
Nora threw herself on her bed and cursed. She cursed everything. What she was, what he was. She cursed school, meeting Hyde and coming to his house. Meeting Soren. Kissing Soren. Running away from Soren. This was miserable. It was impossible if it was anything.
There was a knock on the door. "What?" No answer but the door opened and closed. She figured it was Hyde.
"Look, I know what you're going to say. That was stupid and foolish. I don't need a lecture. I know better than you do!" Nora looked up. Oh, Hell! "Soren?" She stood up and backed to the wall, hard.
"Sorry. Nora. I just..I don't know. I'm sorry for making you cry. That's all I wanted to say. Why were you being foolish?" Soren just stood there. He didn't know what he had done to cause tears.
There was a little voice in the back of his head, warning him. It was shouting that something was off. There was something about Nora that needed his immediate attention but Soren was ignoring it.
Nora just stared. "This isn't because of you. This is me. Mostly. I am sorry, Soren. You don't know the half of this and I can't tell you but I am bad for you. Soren. This..."
She shook her head. More tears. She covered her face. He would kill her without hesitation. His arms were around her. She cried on his shoulder and he rubbed her back. He kissed the top of her head and kissed his way down to her lips. He couldn't stop himself.
Nora was intoxicating. She felt so amazing in his arms. "Let's not talk about it tonight. Let's just lay down and sleep. Okay?" Soren was tired and he just wanted to hold her for a while. Touch her. Smell her. He wanted to date her, buy her gifts, talk to her. He wanted to be with her. Only her.
Nora just breathed. Soren felt wonderful and she couldn't believe that she was agreeing to lay in bed with him. Soren curled up with Nora on her bed and he watched as she fell asleep and he followed her. He had never been so comfortable.
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