"Oh hell," Nicole blurted out.
Nicole rushed over to where Sam lay flat on her back on the
ground. The redhead knelt down by the young woman's side, feeling for
her pulse. It thumped steadily against her fingers, and a cautious look
showed no other sign of injuries.
"Well, can't let her lay there forever," Nicole murmured,
getting one arm under her legs, the other beneath her shoulder. With a
grunt she hefted the smaller girl up, walking to the living room couch
and setting her down.
"I'm sorry," the familiar voice said softly. Laura looked oddly
insubstantial, her body more ghostly, even as the blonde gazed down at
Sam sadly.
"Why are people so scared of you?" Nicole finally had to ask.
Laura shook her head, straightening up as her skirts swirled
around her legs. "I don't know," she shook her head, "I never had." She
smiled, an odd little smile, "Maybe I should be asking you why you are
not afraid."
Nicole opened her mouth to reply, trying to find something to
say, but Laura was simply gone, no trace of her remaining. "Damn," she
muttered softly.
"Ohhh," Sam groaned softly, the brown haired young woman
bringing her hand up to her head and wincing in pain. "What happened?"
she asked.
"You fainted," Nicole offered.
Sam sat up hesitantly, her long braid swinging as she shook her
head. "I saw her," her eyes went wide as she said softly, "the ghost."
"She apologized," Nicole said with a quirky little smile, "right
before she disappeared on me again." She gave Sam a bit of space as she
asked, "Do you want me to get you something to drink? Some coffee or tea
maybe?"
"Coffee, please," Sam managed faintly, blinking her brown eyes.
"Could I ask you a dumb question?" Nicole called out from the
little kitchen as she made her up a cup of coffee.
"I guess so," Sam sighed.
Nicole carried the cup in and carefully set it down on the
table, "What scared you about Laura? I still don't get it."
Sam blinked up at Nicole a moment, then picked up her cup and
sipped at the hot fluid. "I felt so chilled," she said, "it was as if
someone had poured ice into me." She looked up at Nicole and in an awed
voice asked, "She doesn't scare you at all?"
"No," Nicole shrugged wryly.
"Wow," Sam blinked. Her cheeks went red, "Oh god, I can't
believe I actually fainted in front of my favorite author! I'm so
embarrassed!"
"I'm your favorite author?" Nicole smiled to herself wryly as
she tried to change the subject, "I'm very complimented."
Sam blushed cutely, "I've been following your books for years."
She looked up at her shyly, "Are you going to be writing any more books
in your series?"
Nicole decided to be safe and say, "Yes, I'm working on plotting
out the next book right now." She looked at Sam curiously, "If I wrote a
very different book than my romance novels, do you think you'd want to
read it?"
"Oh, yes," Sam beamed.
"Well, maybe I'll let you read that after I finish this next
book," Nicole offered with a smile. Sam's beaming smile was remarkably
cute, and not long after that Sam left after apologizing once again for
fainting that way.
Nicole watched the young woman's older car pull out, turn around
in the yard then bump and rattle it's way down the lane and out of
sight. 'Nice kid,' she mused. She left the living room window and went
back to the kitchen, unloading the 'Welcome wagon' box and stowing
things away.
Checking the kitchen shelves Nicole frowned to herself slightly,
noting she had managed to clear most of the food. "Guess I need to go
shopping again," she said with a sigh. She walked to the front hall and
grabbed her coat before calling out, "I'm going out!"
Laura watched her go silently, blonde hair curling around her on
the gentle breeze. A simple look at her had sent Sam crashing to the
ground, but Nicole... she was unmoved by the instinctive fear that Laura
roused in others.
"Maybe I don't have to be alone anymore," Laura murmured softly.
The ghost turned back to the interior of the house, looking over
her home. The furnishings that Nicole had brought in had changed the
look of the rooms, and to her that was all to the good. It no longer
brought forth those painful memories of what once had been.
Laura simply faded away, reappearing in an upper story room. The
bedroom had a different scent than the rest of the house, a bit of
perfume and deodorant. Nicole's room was neat, only a few items left
sitting out, the bed just a bit messy.
She hesitated beside the bed, Laura reaching down with a ghostly
hand to stroke the covers. "I shouldn't," she murmured softly. Laura
shifted, her clothing swirling around her as she settled onto the bed,
laying back there on the strange bed, sighing softly.
Laura curled up there, slowly becoming more and more transparent
until finally... she disappeared once again.
Nicole bumped down the rough lane, coming out onto the main
road. After that it was much easier to make her way to the town,
eventually cruising down main street. On an impulse she stopped in at
the library, getting out of her car and walking inside.
"Good evening," the young man stood at the front desk, beaming
at her happily. His sandy brown hair fell into his eyes, dressed in
white shirt and dress pants. He straightened up a bit, not recognizing
her and said, "Do you want to apply for a library card?"
'Obviously they don't have many new comers,' Nicole found
herself noting. She smiled at him, "Sure, why not." She produced her
identification, rooting around in her wallet for a current piece of mail
to confirm her new address.
The young man transferred the information to his computer and
Nicole smiled. 'Glad to see someone doesn't know who I am,' she thought.
"Here you go," he handed her the barcode marked card. "My name
is Daniel, it's nice to meet you Ms. Richards," he beamed.
"Thanks," Nicole took the card and put it in her wallet. She
frowned in thought looking around at the shelves of books, computer
stations and archives, "I was wondering... how did such a small town get
a large library like this?"
Daniel smiled cheerfully, unoffended by the question. "The
library was founded more than a hundred years ago," he explained, "by a
wealthy landowner. His daughter was such an avid reader he founded the
library for her sake."
"Whatever happened to them?" Nicole asked curiously.
Daniel sighed softly and confided, "The daughter died tragically
and the family moved away. Still, they set up a trust for the library
that's helped us keep it running."
Nicole felt that odd itchy feeling, as if she should have known
this. "What was the family's name?" she asked softly.
"Reid," Daniel said thoughtfully, "the Reid family."
'Laura's family,' Nicole thought to herself in surprise, 'of
course.' She smiled at him as she headed over to the shelves, "Thank you
very much."
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