Nora walked in her room and Poppy was watching TV. "What are you watching?" She asked as she put her bag down on her desk.

Poppy didn't look away. "The Lloyd Brothers, the spectral hunters. I love this show and my parents don't let me watch it. I love these guys. They are the best."

"Who?" Nora didn't watch a lot of TV.

Poppy paused the show turned and gasped. "Please tell me you know who the Lloyd Brothers are? They are the best spectral hunters."

"I hate to say it but who are the Lloyd brothers?"

Poppy grabbed Nora and made her sit and watch an episode. Poppy recorded them. "And they are hot!" She sighed. "Oh, that is Soren and he is hot. Well, they both are. Soren is ruthless and oh, that guy is Ryker. He gets a lot of ghosts and lets Soren kill them, or whatever. Ryker's the oldest. I would settle for either one!"

Nora watched the two brothers hunt ghosts and actually send them to the other side or whatever. She was starting to sweat a little and they weren't in the room.

They were for real and Nora could tell that from just watching. If she met them at a house, they would kill her, without a thought.

That's when it hit her, they were the ones that hunted her in that old church building that she barely escaped from. She still had nightmares about that night and never went back to that building.

"Do you want me to leave you three alone?" Nora teased and took a breath. They were not in the room. Stay calm.

Poppy glared. "So, what do you think? They're hot, huh?" Poppy smiled.

This was Poppy's favorite show so Nora wasn't going to say anything bad. "Sure. Hot." Dangerous. She never wanted to meet them ever again. No problem. It was just a show, calm down. There was silence for a while as they watched the brothers stomp through the woods.

"So, what is going on with you and Hyde Higgins?" Poppy asked. Nora had been waiting for this. It had been about a month after Hyde and Nora began hanging out.

"Nothing. He is just a friend." Nora shook her head. She was waiting for this. There was no way to tell Poppy what was really going on.

Poppy smiled and winked. "Sure!"

"No. Really, Poppy. We are just friends. We have a couple of things in common and that's rare for me. I couldn't ever date Hyde." Nora smiled. "He's a friend."

"Okay. But if that changes you have to tell me. He's so hot. What's wrong with him?" Poppy was still skeptical.

"Nothing. He is really great. He has a wonderful personality, he's hot, he loves football, he's popular and he is fun to hang out with. He isn't the problem. I'm the problem. I don't find him attractive. I tried but nothing. He is a friend. Something is wrong with me!" Nora laughed.

Poppy joined her and agreed. She thought that Hyde was hot. All of the girls thought Hyde was hot.

Nora sat and watched a full episode with Poppy but she was thinking back to last week. She tried not to think about how close she came to dying. They would have killed her. She shivered.

Flashback to Nora's weekend...

Nora went haunting on a random Friday alone because Hyde had football practice. She wasn't spending the night but she was spending the whole day floating around.

This was how she relaxed and it was nice to be alone for once. She settled in and it was silent. She could hear birds chirping and bees collecting pollen and there was an angry squirrel somewhere. This was so nice.

She began to think about why she wasn't interested in Hyde and paired herself to him just to see how that would go. He would cheat on her with at least three girls in the first week. She laughed out loud.

He would never settle down and Nora wasn't looking for a relationship. She was actually comfortable with her relationship with Hyde. She loved having a friend that she could trust and she wasn't attracted to him which didn't make sense.

He was really hot. He was tall with a thin muscled frame. He looked like any quarterback. His face was nice and he had a great smile. Noar smiled and shook her head. Nope. Nothing.

Nora froze. Something was coming...no, someone. Two someones! She ducked into the wall and held her breath. Who would come to this creepy old church building in the middle of nowhere?

The dirt road didn't even have a name and she was glad right now that she parked and walked here. She always tried to cover her tracks. She was so scared that someone would find her.

Someone had.

A man appeared at the door, Nora heard it creak open. She watched from the ceiling. Inside the ceiling. He was armed and walked silently and the second man came through the door. They were hunting. She knew that stance. They didn't come to sight see or make out. They were hunting. There were no animals in this building and it hit her. They were spectral hunters. Shit!

"Are you sure that you got a signal?" The first one asked.

"No, Ryker! I just thought I would stop for kicks. Yes! I have a signal. Something is here." The second man stated. He looked around with his shotgun out. He looked alert and focused. He looked up at the ceiling and Nora thought she was caught but he looked away.

Nora was trying not to pass out. These were the hunters that she saw on that stupid show. The Lloyd Brothers. She tried to keep up with all of her possible threats. These guys were at the top of the list. This was bad.

Nora ran into spectral hunters before but never real ones. How could she trick these guys and get out alive? She could try to fade like ghosts do. They fade from one spot and appear in another but she never tried it. She would probably end up right in front of them.

She promised herself that she would practice more. Maybe they would get bored and leave. She knew that wouldn't happen.

"Go that way and we meet in the back." The first one ordered. Ryker. The second one must be Soren.

Soren nodded and walked silently. They were taking their time. Soren walked around to her side of the building and was right under her. She was going to try to slide down the wall and slide out a window.

If there was a crack, she could leave. She wasn't quite the same as a ghost. They could go through a wall. Nora had to find an opening, even a crack would work but not a closed wall. She could touch a wall and see through it when she needed but she couldn't fly through it and she had to be close to the ground to glide. Ghosts were better in her opinion. Well, right now anyway. She didn't want to be dead.

Nora was still because Soren stopped as he was about to pass her hiding spot. He looked up and she thought she was discovered. Damn it. He looked back down and kept walking. She slide over the ceiling and down to a window. The one window in this decrepit church building that was whole. No crack! She slide to the next one as the brothers met in the middle.

"What happened?" Ryker asked.

"I don't know. It was here and now...it moved. It's moving? It may have left." Soren glared at his brother. "Don't look at me like that, it's not my fault."

Nora moved closer to the cracked window and heard their meter go off. She moved faster and slid out the window. She still had to get to her car. She glided close the ground as she could. She heard one on them curse.

"Damn it! I lost it! Outside!" They both rushed to the door.

Nora was in the woods and down to her car. She phased and was driving away by the time they made it out to the woods.

She took a breath and slowed down. She didn't need to attract anymore attention tonight. She wasn't telling Hyde about this. He would freak out. Nora promised herself that she wouldn't go out without Hyde again for safety. She didn't need any near death experiences.

Back to being safe with Poppy...

Poppy was talking. "Hey? Nora? Are you even listening to me?"

Nora was back in her dorm room, safe. "Uh, no. Sorry, Poppy."

Poppy sighed. "What are you doing for Thanksgiving break?"

"Oh, uh...I don't know." Poppy didn't know anything about Nora's past. She didn't tell anyone that stuff.

"I'm not sure yet, really. Hyde mentioned something about me going with him. I know what you are thinking and you're wrong. We really are just friends. I promise."

"So, you are going to his parents house for Thanksgiving break and you are just friends?" Poppy glared a skeptical glare.

"I know how it looks but yes, we are just friends and he is seeing that one chick...Debbie or Darla or something. The blonde with big boobs." Nora smiled.

"Oh, I know. She is a slut!" Poppy's eyes got big.

"I'm pretty sure that is why he is dating her or whatever. I think you would have a shot with her!" Nora laughed. Poppy hit her with a pillow and they spent the afternoon talking about bad dates.

It was already Thanksgiving break. This semester flew by since she decided to stay out of trouble. Nora was riding in Hyde's car. He had a nice car. A Challenger. Sweet car. He refused to leave her alone for Thanksgiving and wouldn't take no for an answer.

"So, I have a question for you, Nora." Hyde didn't take his eyes off the road.

"Sure, what?"

"Well, how do you have money? I know you don't work but you always have cash for things?" Hyde had noticed that. He started working as a janitor at for the school but Nora didn't have a job.

"Oh, well. I own a haunted house in the town I lived in. I get some revenue out of it. Some of it I put back in. I have a couple that gives tours and I pay them. Halloween is a huge money maker for me."

"If I can, I go and haunt it a couple times a year, it keeps the tourists coming. I just bought another house a couple of states away. That one is really haunted."

"What?" Hyde just stared at Nora.

"Watch the road, please!" Nora smiled at Hyde. "What? It helps everyone. It brings tourists into the town and that is good for local businesses and people get to be freaked out. They love that, I don't know why, but they do and I get a paycheck."

"With this new house, the ghost agreed to help haunt it. He was lonely and now he gets to see people all the time. Everyone wins."

"Wow. Very good use of your gift!" Hyde smiled and shook his head. He was always surprised at how ingenious Nora was. She was smart.

They sat in silence for a while.

"You know that Poppy thinks we are dating." Nora pointed out.

Hyde laughed. "I know. I keep telling her no but she just winks and says sure. I don't think she believes me."

"I know. I gave up." Nora paused. "I'm excited about this." Nora realized that this was the last place that Hyde saw his brother. She felt terrible. "Sorry, Hyde."

"I know. You love haunted houses. I get it. It's okay. It's not like you took Willem." Hyde said without any expression. Nora couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"You may want to keep all of those marks hidden from my parents. They will freak. They are very religious and they might try to exorcise you."

Nora laughed. "I know. I keep them hidden to avoid questions and stares. I wear these ridiculous clothes. Glad I don't get hot or this would be miserable!" Nora looked at her long sleeve shirt.

"Do they hurt?" Hyde had waited forever to ask that.

"No. They don't feel like anything. Just part of my skin, I guess." Nora rolled up a sleeve and touched her arm. "When one first appears, it hurts. Burns. But then it's fine."

Hyde didn't know what to say. "Oh, my mom is going to think we are dating. I never bring girls home. She will think that we are very serious and probably plan our wedding while we're here. Just thought I would warn you." Hyde smiled at that thought.

"Great." Nora sneered.

"Hey. I am a catch!" Hyde defended himself.

Nora just laughed. 

Thanks very much for reading and please don't forget to vote! ;)