Chapter 7

Landon and I end up opening the bottle of wine.

He says he's had another long day on the farm, doing particularly gruelling jobs, so I offer to give him a glass of wine and I couldn't not have a glass myself. Then we walk up to the living room we were in last night with the wine bottle in one hand and Jinx in the other, and I feel like a teenager going to a sleepover. Although I never once had a sleepover as a teenager and certainly not with a good-looking guy.

Landon lights the fire again while I get wrapped up in a blanket, drinking directly from the wine bottle and feeling my headache wash away. I know it will be twice as awful tomorrow but right now I really don't care.

"Are you sure your Dad doesn't mind me stealing you for another night?" I ask Landon. My tongue already feels a little too heavy.

Landon laughs, moving over to sit by me and wrapping a blanket around himself. "I'm a big boy, Ember. As long as I work my hours on the farm he doesn't care where I am."

"You could be doing something a lot more fun," I say. I take another swig of the wine, watching him. It feels a little too good to be true for Landon to choose to spend the night with me.

He chuckles, shaking his head. "I don't think anything is more fun than sleeping over at the famous Windchime Manor while looking out for ghosts."

"What if we don't see any? I'm worried you'll think I'm weird." I wouldn't usually admit that type of thing to someone else, but of course the alcohol forces me to tell the truth. After tonight, I'm going to restrain myself from drinking any more for a while.

"I don't think I could think you're a weirdo," he says, lifting his own glass of wine to his mouth to sip. "Like I said, I often see things in the dark. It doesn't make you crazy."

I glance away, not entirely convinced as I chug more of the wine. I can't help but think of how this has been the worst introduction to someone that I could give. Drinking for two nights in a row, talking about ghosts and seeing things. It's a shock he didn't back away as soon as he could.

"I'm sorry for going a bit crazy last night," I say, fiddling with the label of the wine bottle. "I'm not usually like that. I haven't had a night out in... years."

"Oh trust me, I've seen worse. Anyway, it was fun," he smiles.

I nod my head. "Yeah. It was."

There's a small moment of silence before Landon sighs. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why do you live alone?"

Ah, okay. The dreaded question has been asked.

"I--" my voice wobbles through the word. I don't want to get into too much detail, because whenever I do the conversation turns awkward and it's always the moment that the other person realises that I'm carrying too much baggage. But I can't lie to him. I clear my throat. "My parents are dead, siblings have travelled elsewhere and I've never been very lucky with love."

"Shit," he mutters, drinking his wine. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents."

I shrug my shoulders, fiddling with a loose thread of the blanket wrapped across my shoulders. "Mum died when I was very young. Then Dad when I was six. So... it doesn't bother me any more." I don't tell him the deeper details. I don't tell him that what killed my father almost killed me, too. I don't tell him how my mother died. Even to this day, the idea of it all makes me feel sad.

"Where are your siblings then?" he asks, changing the subject a little.

"Samantha, my sister, is in London. Then my brother Alex is... I don't know. Tokyo, California, maybe Hawaii. He's seen everywhere."

"Must be nice to not be stuck in the same village your whole life," Landon chuckles. "I will travel one day, but my Dad could not handle the farm all by himself."

"I'd just kill for a holiday somewhere hot," I say wistfully, leaning my head back against the sofa. "Somewhere exotic where I can sit my a pool all day reading and drinking cocktails."

"You better invite me along," he smiles.

"I need to find a job first," I say. It would be an understatement to say that the stress of my decreasing bank account is slowly creeping in.

"You like books?" he asks me, tilting his head.

"Yeah."

He thinks for a moment. "Silverstones," he says eventually. "It's a book shop in the village, I'm friends with the owner. I'll speak to her and see if I can get you a job there."

I shake my head, laughing. "You need to stop being so nice."

"Why?" he asks. He seems genuinely confused.

"Because..." I start, pouting slightly. "I don't need taking care of. And I don't really have anything I could give you in return. You don't need to do anything for me."

"Em," he says, shuffling closer to me. "I'm not asking for anything in return. Meeting a new person in this village rarely happens and... I don't know, you seem like a nice person. I genuinely want to help you find your feet here."

I lean forward and kiss him.

I only feel a split second of shock before Landon pulls me closer to him and kisses me back. His hand delves into my hair, the other gripping my waist, and I return his passion with just as much. Running my fingers over the nape of his neck, nibbling at his bottom lip which elicits a small moan from him, it all stems from a new-found confidence within me.

I've kissed people before. Had sex a few times when the nights became so unbearably lonely. But nothing has ever felt this... real before. There's not one part of me that feels wary or uncomfortable. I don't give a shit that I only met him last night. It feels good. Fuck it.

His arms are strong as he holds me, a shield to the cold and darkness of the house. He smells of musky cologne and the grass that grows in the meadows during summertime and all of it is so comforting and lovely.

Until I feel like I'm being watched.

And I open my eyes.

And another pair are staring at me through the door.

"Oh my God," I breathe, pulling away from Landon. I'm afraid to look away in case the eyes disappear. But they're there. They're definitely there.

This time I can clearly see that they belong to a young girl. She's barely there, but the cold air radiates off her and seeps into the room like a bad smell. I scramble to my feet, wanting to take a closer look, but she runs off, the faint sound of footsteps echoing through the house.

She gasps too. The soft, ethereal whisper that I've heard before.

Without thinking, I chase after her. The corridors are long and dark and I can barely see where I'm going, but I keep running after the sounds of frantic steps rushing away from me.

"Ember!" Landon's voice calls from behind. "Ember wait!"

I don't wait. I need to see this girl.

I keep running, flying down the stairs as fast as possible. The girl rushes into different rooms and different hallways, leaving behind a trail of frozen air. It feels as if I'm sprinting through a snow storm, my body hot and sweating but my skin prickling with ice. My heart is pounding as I try to grasp at what might be nothing but a vision of my alcohol-induced state, but I can't stop. I'm drawn to her. I need to find out more.

My brain doesn't register Landon trying to warn me of something before I slip and fall and my head explodes with pain.

Then it's dark.

Then... a voice.

"Ember? Ember, are you okay?" The voice is muffled, distorting, slowly coming into focus as the room spins.

"Hey, Em? Can you hear me?"

I open my eyes, Landon's concerned face swimming into view. I instantly try to sit up, my only coherent thought focused on one thing, before the pain in my head shoots through every one of my nerves.

"The girl..." I mumble. My voice is a little slurred and Landon tries to lower me back down.

"Don't move too fast," he says quickly. "You've hurt your head."

"I--"

"You're bleeding," he continues. "Just take it easy."

"But... the girl," I say again. I weakly point up my finger down the dim corridor, but there's no one there. No girl, no eyes, no nothing.

Landon glances to where I'm pointing before turning back to me, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. It's the only thing anchoring me to reality right now. "I... I didn't see a girl, Ember."

"There was..." I almost feel like crying. "There was a girl."

"Ember," he says softly. It's the most sincere a person has been while speaking to me. "We need to get you cleaned up. Do you think you can stand? I'll help you."

I nod my head, the ache spreading through the front of my skull. Landon's strong arms help me to sit up and I bring a hand up to the wound on my forehead, my fingers sticky with sticky blood as I pull them away. I let out a shaky breath.

"What happened?" I ask as Landon helps me to stand up. He practically takes all of my weight as he wraps an arm around me with his other hand under my arm.

"You fell down those stairs," he says, nodding behind us. Turning slightly, I see a flight of four steps that I've never noticed before. In fact, I barely recognise where we are in the house. I don't know whether to be worried about my confusion or not. It's possible I haven't even ventured this far into the house yet. "I tried to stop you, but I don't think you could hear me."

"This is so embarrassing," I groan, leaning against him. "You've known me barely a day and I've been such a mess."

Landon chuckles, leading me into the kitchen and switching on the light. "I'm not judging. Besides, you've made my life a whole lot more exciting in the past twenty-four hours."

He sits me down on one of the stools, finding a small towel in the kitchen drawers and dampening it under the water from the tap. When he comes over, he lightly dabs at my injury and I wince.

"Sorry," he says. "Do you think you need to go to the hospital?"

I shake my head, which hurts a lot. "I'll be fine."

"But you might have a concussion."

"I don't want to go to the hospital," I say, a little too harshly. Glancing up, I instantly feel bad. He's only trying to help, just as he has been the whole time I've known him.

But Landon seems to understand. "There's a village doctor I can call instead?"

"Of course this village has it's own doctor," I smile, trying pathetically to make a joke.

"It actually has two. There's at least one available at all times," he explains. Then he digs into his back pocket and pulls out his phone. "I'll call one now. I don't want to take any chances."

I don't bother arguing with him. My head hurts too much and I'm exhausted and embarrassed and all I want to do is sleep. But that might be a bad idea if this injury is worse than I thought.

The phone answers after only a few rings and Landon speaks to the doctor, telling them what happened and where to go. It's not long before he pulls the phone away and ends the call, placing it down on the kitchen island.

"She said she'll be here in ten minutes. Her name is Hailey, you'll love her."

I smile gratefully, but I know it doesn't quite meet my eyes. Then Landon begins to wipe at my forehead again, being incredibly gentle as the towel slowly becomes soaked with a stain of blood.

My eyes flicker to the doorway and the girl is standing there again. She looks almost apologetic, but as soon as she notices me watching, she disappears in a gust of wind.

I'm drunk on wine and hit my head only minutes ago. I'm just seeing things, it's the easiest explanation.

I'm okay. Everything's okay.

WC: 2064