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"This is Haunt-Free Housing. How can I help you live?"
If the world was an open book, I’d favor the Heartford chapter.
Instead of a dial tone, smooth jazz greeted my ear. What the horror?
"Hello, thank you for calling Regent Retail! My name is Michelle, how may I assist you?" She spoke as though she’d had one cup of coffee too many. I could practically hear her plastered smile through the phone.
I offered my pinky for her to jab with a small needle. She smiled like a satisfied vampire. Whether she smiled for the enjoyment of causing me pain or for the blood that oozed from my skin, I couldn’t tell. “Alive and human,” she declared,
I had a layover in Mystery, but didn't see much from within the airport. What I did see didn't make sense. Their exit signs ended with question marks.
A tall blonde girl sat on the entrance porch bench and waved at me with a grin as big as an evil clown’s. Okay. Now I was officially creeped out.
"What is that?" I dropped my bag and pointed at the large symbol above the doorway. It was a curly ‘U’ with a line down the middle. "Oh—that's the Greek letter for 'Y'—pronounced as 'sigh'—welcome to the Psi Dorms!" she said. She set down my luggage to throw her arms up in the shape of a “Y” as she announced the title. "It looks like the Devil's pitchfork," I said.
“My name’s Pansy Finster.” Miss Appleton shrieked. I jumped and glanced around for Hauntings, but her blue eyes literally twinkled. “Another flower! My name is Miss Heather Appleton.
“MRS?” I asked. Emma leaned over her shoulder to explain. “Mrs. degree. Her mom wants her to get married.”
your fiancé died?" "What a terrible tragedy—Oh!" Heather squealed, and I quickly checked behind myself for Hauntings. Nothing. She squealed with excitement? "Romances almost always bloom after such tragedies!”
“I’ve never been in love, but Sean was my best friend, and we shared mutual trust and appreciation. That was all I wanted in marriage.” The two Romantics gaped. Emma recovered first as she put on a game face, like I’d just offered her a challenge. “Oh, girl, we’re gonna fix that.”
Heather pulled doll figurines from her luggage to arrange them on her pillows. "What are those?" I asked. "Oh, these are from Great-Grandmother Eyre. They are my prized possessions!" "They'll possess you, is what you mean."
Hank!” Brooke said to a guy in a cowboy hat. He was tall, with brawny arms, and had dusty brown hair with eyes to match. “It's super to see you! I wanna hear all about your summer job." "Howdy, Brooke! It was dandy!" he said, and swept her into a muscular hug that probably smelled like hay.
the medieval noble held out his hand to me, which I took for a handshake. Instead, he kept his hand still while the rest of his body bent in a deep bow. He swept his cloak behind himself to keep it from touching the floor. I got a good view of his thick, dark-brown hair, immaculately parted at the side. "Miss Pansy,” he said. “I am Lord Theodor Fromm, the Trusted, second son of Duke Konrad Fromm of Margen, Fantasy."
My mind barfed. Hauntings were meant for killing, not dating!
This phrase helped inspire the title.
she constantly wore the expression of someone who stood over a decayed body, enjoyed the smell, and dared you to question her taste.
A middle-aged man pushed himself from leaning against a tree and walked up to me. He wore a trench coat and fedora hat that shadowed his square facial features and greying dark hair. "He must be from Mystery,"
He was my first and best friend after Oz died. He helped keep me sane in the orphanage, fought a werewolf with me, and helped me defeat the poltergeist experimenter, Dr. Hyde. He was my fiancé, the only person to say he loved me and kiss me like he meant it, and the only person to make me wonder if I could fall in love. He was my inspiration to hope for a brighter future.
“How would you describe the poltergeist?” “Uhh…” I spaced, confused and annoyed by his disbelief. “It was a malicious ghost who interacted with the physical world. They’re known in Horror for levitating things, especially sharp objects.”
"His name is Mr. John E. Why can't that be his real name?" Heather giggled to herself. "Johnnie, how cute."
"East of Avon," Jake sang softly. To my surprise, Heather joined him. “Where my heart doth wander.” Jake perked up and they sang the next line together. “My childhood love grows ever fonder.” Theodor raised a curious eyebrow while I wondered how half our cart burst spontaneously into song like a corny musical.
"Have you ever been in the mountains?" “Did you want the literal sense of being ‘in’ a mountain?” he mused. “Regardless, my answer is yes.
Heather purposefully stepped wide to smother the fallen warrior leaves. They crunched beneath her boots and she giggled like an imp…whose eyes twinkled with innocence.
It wasn't until the end of each class that I realized how much new homework I accumulated. Like a horde of zombies, it just kept coming back.
"Theo is trouble. He seemed to point out every embarrassing and wrong thing about me." Heather squealed that weird squeal that made me check around for Hauntings. "How delightful!" Emma wiggled her mischievous eyebrows. "Mmm-hmm. He's gonna be trouble." "Wait." I paused. "How is that a good thing?" "He's gonna be trouble ‘cause obviously he likes you."
Then, the most bizarre thing happened. He smiled. The idea of him smiling at the situation wasn’t bizarre, but how he smiled. His expression expanded beyond his lips as it spread through his cheeks, lifted his ears, and enlightened his eyes. His determined grin showed off a hopeful ambition, yet as the expression reached his eyes, I saw a peaceful sweetness.
NaDell liked this
It was Sean's smile. My heart lurched. Were Theo’s lips as gentle and passionate as Sean’s? Oh—that was weird.
He smiled again, and my heart raced like the adrenaline rush of a Haunting. I felt alive and anxious for each moment. My mind whirled at different possibilities and analyzed every detail, yet connected nothing. The same questions raced through my consciousness: Why was this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? Every other time I’d felt this way, I’d also felt terrified for my life. Everything flipped upside down. For the first time, I wondered why something so nice would happen to me.
Who was that silly girl with the stupid daze on her face? And that smile…Like all of Novel could crumble to pieces and she wouldn't even care. She looked like a Romantic. Suddenly, I felt sick.
Supernatural condemnation, how the horror did this man have such an effect on me? What a weird Haunting…
"Condominium!" We jumped from Heather's strange cuss. “You mean condemnation?” I asked. “Oh,” she blushed deeply. “How embarrassing!”
"Remember that rule book I told you all to read?" "Yes," Heather said, squeezing her eyes as if to block out the memory. "Well, now we're going to break those rules."
"Are you alright, Pansy? Please say something to confirm your safety." "Like what?" "That works," Jake said
If you’re going to die, do it on your own time, not mine.” I smirked at his odd statement of concern. He really did care.
"You're the most trustworthy person I know." "Then trust me when I say this," he said. His voice lowered and choked up, like his next words were a sacred secret. "I never experienced Love at First Sight until I met you.
This was the weirdest Haunting I've ever had." "This was a fearsome Adventure," Theo agreed. "Indeed, a most peculiar Case," Mr. E added. "Most definitely," Heather concluded, "a haunted Romance."
