Nora grabbed what she needed and took off, twenty minutes later she was pulling up to the house. It looked creepy. She took her bag and walked into the house. Yep, it looked like a typical haunted house. Humans were easily fooled.

Haunted houses. Most of them weren't haunted, it was mostly imagination and crappy equipment or faked. They were a joke and made her chuckle. People were funny. Nora found a small room and changed. She loved being alone. This was the only place she could be herself

Hyde followed Nora. He saw her notes and she was going to a haunted house. She found one and he had no idea why this person was looking for a haunted house but he was going to find out. She seemed weird enough to help him. Maybe she was a ghost hunter. Clearly, he was desperate for anyone's help.

He knew this was crazy but he was getting desperate. He knew he was going crazy. He got in his car and followed a stranger out of curiosity. Why would she be looking for a haunted house in the first place? The only reason he could come up with was she lost someone in a haunted house too.

Why would this girl be looking for a haunted house? Was she looking for someone also? Maybe she could help him? He was grasping at straws but he knew he had to do something new, following this girl was something new.

Hyde was surprised that she stopped twenty minutes out of the city, he followed from a distance and parked on a side road and hiked to the house.

He watched Nora walk into the house like she lived there. She didn't even have a flashlight. This was weird. What was she doing? He sneaked onto the porch and ignored the creaking of the wood. He walked through the front door, cautiously and he didn't see anyone.

"Nora?" Hyde whispered. He had his flashlight on and an extra one in his pocket. He hated creepy houses since that night and had to keep his hand from shaking. This was stupid but he was worried about some girl he just met.

What was wrong with him? What was she doing in here alone? "Nora, where did you go?" He whispered.

He headed up some stairs he found and down a hallway. He stopped. He saw something move. It almost looked like...

"Pull yourself together, Hyde. Ghosts aren't real!" Hyde actually said that out loud. He took more steps and called for Nora again. He opened a door into a small bedroom.

There wasn't much in here just an old wooden bed frame and some wire hangers in the little closet. There was a small wooden chair in the corner and he saw a pile of clothes on the floor. Those were clothes that Nora was wearing. Those were her boots? "Nora!" He yelled and began to panic.

A silvery, blue form flew through the wall and Hyde fell to the floor. He was freaked out. He was on the floor in a panic. He closed his eyes waiting to die, waiting for whatever it was to kill him. He really hated haunted houses. His heart was hammering in his ears.

"Calm down!" The floating form said. "Hyde? What are you doing here? Are you okay?" The form asked. That was Nora's voice.

Hyde almost had a heart attack and then realized that was Nora's voice. Maybe he was mistaken and his fear led to delusions, that would explain the ghost he saw. He was freaking himself out.

There were no such things as ghosts. They weren't real. He opened his eyes and saw Nora but she was the silvery, blue ghost above him. He could see through her.

He was in another panic. He screamed and stood as he ran out the door and down the stairs. He tripped on an old rotten rug by the front door. He was going to die! He couldn't think right now. The ghost was coming at him and it stopped just after the last step.

He began to shuffle away from her before he thought about offending her. He had to figure this out.

What in the hell was going on? His eyes were huge with fear and he was going to pass out. He lost his flashlight but with shaking hands, pulled the spare from his pocket. He wasn't taking chances. It was stupid to come in here. He was never doing it again if he lived through this. He was swearing off haunted houses.

"Hyde. It's okay. I won't hurt you. It's me...Nora." The form sat on the floor even with him.

"What? Nora?" Hyde tried to breathe. He was trying to gather himself.

"Sorry. I didn't know you followed me here? It's okay. Please, calm down. It's just me." Nora was worried he would pass out. She hated to scare him but there was no other way to do this.

"Nora? Really?" He asked and she nodded. "Calm down? Really? How can I calm down! Are you a ghost?" Hyde was confused at that moment. He just stared at her. He was afraid to blink. "Did you die in this house?"

Nora laughed. "No. I'm not dead. I'm not a ghost, exactly. I'm a phantom. I'm still trying to figure it out. This is my true form. This is what I really look like, Hyde. I promise that I won't hurt you. I'm sorry that I scared you. I didn't know you followed me here."

She was worried that he wouldn't talk to her again. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were here and I can't change back yet. I tried to hide but you saw me and I didn't want you to be scared. I am so sorry!"

Hyde was starting to get color back in his face. "So, are you okay?" Hyde was still staring. Nora nodded. "For trying not to scare me, you scared the shit out of me!" Hyde started to smile. "I mean, how do you do that?" He took a deep breath and stood up.

Nora rose just a little so that she was even with Hyde. "Uh, I don't know exactly. Uh, I just do. Are you okay?"

"I think so." Hyde smiled and looked at the ghost in front of him. The phantom. He didn't feel like he was in danger.

Nora had marks on her arms and legs that looked like they had bright blue light coming from behind them and they shimmered. The marks were a dark blue against her light blue skin. Her hair was loose and seemed to float around her head like she was in water. She had some shorts and a tank top on but they looked silvery blue also.

"This is kinda cool!" Hyde relaxed a little more. This was his new friend, Nora, from the library. He could handle this. She was beautiful.

Nora smiled. "Really!" She cleared her throat. "Hyde. You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone. No one knows about this!" She was scared that someone would find out. She was afraid that he would tell all of his football buddies.

"No one?" Hyde stared at her. "Not even Poppy?"

Nora looked at her hands. "No. I have never told anyone about this. Hold on. I think I can change back." She touched the floor with her foot and her skin began to turn white and then look more human.

It started at her toe and spread up her body. She looked like herself. How she did when he first met her. Normal. "Okay. You okay?" Nora was scared about how he would take this.

"Sure. That was amazing! How do you do that?" Hyde asked.

"Well, it's complicated and I'm not sure I can explain it. That is just who I am." Nora didn't know how she did it.

"So, did you die and become this?" Hyde was confused and didn't understand anything. What was a phantom and was that the same as a ghost?

Ghosts were dead. He was sure of that but he wasn't sure of anything at the moment.

Nora shook her head. "No. I am very much alive. I'm not a ghost. I have a body and I haven't died. I know this is a lot to take in."

Hyde looked at Nora's arms. Those markings were still on her arms and legs. They looked like black tattoos. "Wow!"

Nora blushed. "Right. I have those." She held out an arm and one leg. She had elegant script like writing on one leg and some hieroglyphs on the other. They matched the ones she had on her arms.

They were pretty but he didn't know how to describe them. If pictures could be drawn in cursive, that would be what these tattoos were. He never saw anything like them. He didn't know what language the writing was but it was pretty as well.

"What are they?"

"I don't know for sure. It's some kind of markings but I don't know anything about them. I keep searching for answers and others like me but I haven't found anything or anyone yet." Nora looked down. She had searched everywhere. Even other countries. Nothing. Barely any real information.

"So you are a phantom?"

"I think. I was told that by an old medicine man in Brazil. That is all I know. They had legends about my kind but I don't know how much is true. He said that we were worshiped a long time ago. Something happened."

"Humans wanted the gifts and tried to kill us to take the power or something. Killed a lot of them off. I'm beginning to wonder if I am the only one. But I keep searching." Nora explained.

"That's sad. What about your parents?"

Nora didn't want to talk about her parents. She shrugged. "Why did you follow me here?" Nora couldn't help but ask and she wanted to change the subject.

Hyde sat down. "I'm looking for someone. I was hoping...I don't know, to be honest. I saw the books you were reading and I thought maybe you could help me. I'm searching for my brother." Hyde stopped and looked sad.

"Oh, I can't just find people, Hyde." She wasn't sure what she could do to help.

Hyde sat and slowly told her the story about Willem. It wasn't long because he didn't know much but he told her about that horrible night.

"Oh, Hyde! That is just so..." Nora had tears and wiped them with her hand. "I don't know anything about that! I have never...I could never take someone!"

Hyde nodded. "I just...I don't know. I really don't. I was trying to find anyone that could help. Anything that anyone might know. I don't know if you would have heard of something like that happening."

"I have scoured the libraries. There are a lot of things that can take a person like that but I don't know how to find the right one and I don't know if I will ever get him back."

Nora thought about what she had seen. "I don't know of anything that would take a person. Ghosts, I mean. Most places that people say are haunted, aren't."

"I have ran into ghosts but they are more interested in hiding than taking people. The only dangerous creature that I found are spectral hunters. I actually ran into a couple. I was terrified and somehow lost them.."

"Most spectral hunters or spirit chasers or whatever title they prefer... they don't know what they are doing. Most of it is human error. Mistaking sounds for ghosts. Figments of their imagination and that's all."

Nora was thinking about the abduction. "Hyde, are you sure there wasn't someone in that house that could have taken him?" Nora was trying to be gentle. "Have you tried a human aspect?"

"We tried every aspect, Nora. He vanished and I don't know. I have gone over everything in my head. Every second. I know we were the only ones there. I'm sure of it."

Hyde took a breath. This was the most he talked about that night and it was a huge weight off his chest. He finally took a breath and it was refreshing.

"Okay. Where is this house?" Nora stopped pacing and looked at Hyde who was sitting on a step.

"Uh, Why?"

"So I can go there and check it out, Hyde." Nora said like that was obvious.

"Well, it's six hours from here. In my hometown."

"Oh, so not tonight. Maybe Thanksgiving break. We get a week off. I will have plenty of time to check it out." Nora was already making plans.

"Really? You would do that for me? Why?" Hyde never had anyone do anything without a cost.

Nora smiled. "I would love to help people when I can. I have no hope that I will ever find my kind so, maybe I can help you find your kind. I want to help. Plus, you didn't pass out and you are the only one that knows about this. We are friends for life!"

"Friends? I have never been friends with a girl!" Hyde smiled.

"Of course you haven't! Probably didn't know that was possible huh?" Nora teased him.

Hyde chuckled. "Hell no! Never had a chick want to be just friends!" He winked. "Are you gay?"

"No? Definitely not." Nora looked confused.

"Just figured that was the only reason that you weren't attracted to me!" Hyde teased and laughed. Nora hit him in the shoulder. "So, how often do you do this?" He gestured at her.

"I try to go somewhere about three nights a week. I feel better when I can haunt something all night." Nora smiled.

"Okay. I think I can do that. All night? Can I bring books?" Hyde said like he was coming.

"What? No! What?" Nora was confused and she hated that. Was he coming with her? Here? Surely, he had better things to do?

"What? I need to find my brother and I don't want to leave you alone in a place like this. So, looks like you are stuck with me. I'm coming!" Hyde warned.

"I am perfectly safe in a place like this, Hyde. I grew up in places like this. My house is a place like this." Nora argued with him for an hour. She tried to reassure him that she was safe but he wouldn't listen. It became a regular thing.

They got away almost every weekend and Hyde even got a sleeping bag. Nora didn't need the sleep. Once every few days if she stayed in human form. Her human form would need sleep. Nora and Hyde began camping out there on the weekends. They just told Poppy that they were camping. She was getting suspicious.

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

I hope you are enjoying the story... It's about to get spicy!