Thanks to everyone who decided to review and/or favorite/follow my story! I decided to try and make it a story, though I'm not sure how to add any action or angst or anything - and I don't like sappy romance stories either. I'm kinda stuck since Merlin is, well, dead. But at the same time that's the main mystery in the story - how did he die? Why didn't he reincarnate? What happened to Arthur? etc. etc.
Enjoy!
HAUNTED: TWO
Morgana ducked into her car ten minutes late: somehow, no matter how early she'd get ready, she'd always manage to be late. She hoped that Jamie would wait for her, instead of going into the restaurant on his own. Last time something like that had happened, her date had decided to order something for her. Which just happened to be something she'd been allergic to: Morgana had spent the rest of the evening in bed after a cold shower, frantically scratching her legs and arms until they were bright red. She shuddered involuntarily when she thought about that.
Luckily, Jamie was still outside the restaurant waiting for her. Morgana hastily exited her car, almost tripped over her dress, and managed to walk right through a puddle of muddy water, causing brown droplets to splash on the hem of her dress. She barely managed to contain herself as she saw this, for she'd wanted to stomp angrily like a child, pulling at her hair in despair. Instead she pretended like she hadn't noticed it, or at least wasn't affected by it, and made her way to Jamie with a big smile on her face.
'Hey babe!' Jamie said enthusiastically, when she'd finally reached him. He was taller than her, so she had to stand on her toes and he had to sink through his knees a bit, so he could give her a kiss. When she wanted to take a step back, she stumbled and Jamie narrowly caught her before she'd fall down in the puddle that she'd previously walked through. Morgana groaned about her own clumsiness and Jamie laughed.
'Come on. I got them to hold the table for us, but if we wait any longer we might find needles on our chairs.' he said with a laugh. Morgana grimaced, thinking of sitting down unsuspectingly on pointy needles. It sounded like something a ghost trying to be funny would do, and she could only hope that there weren't any nearby. I'm so going to check every chair when I get home. Morgana thought when Jamie ushered her inside.
Morgana liked Jamie. He was a good friend, and occasionally more than that, and he was surprisingly understanding about her ability to see ghosts. They'd met years ago, when Morgana first moved in to her apartment after getting a job as journalist: he'd been one of the movers. Jamie had asked for her phone number and called a day later, asking her out on a date.
Despite their dating history Morgana didn't feel like she should settle down yet. Luckily Jamie understood, even more so because he liked the occasional contact with other women. And then there was the problem of her house being haunted: not many men felt comfortable in her house or bed, not knowing whether they were being watched or not. Morgana dreaded the day that a deceased porn-movie maker would show up at her house. She shuddered at the thought alone.
Of course, she could move in with a boyfriend, if she ever did feel the need to settle. She'd just have to lie about the ghosts that would move in with her. And ignore Grandpa kicking things with his walking stick, and pretend that she didn't see Rose staring at her like a mad Poltergeist.
Jamie, like the gentleman he acted like sometimes, shoved back Morgana's chair and gestured for her to get in. Morgana laughed and took her seat. The menu's came and she studied it carefully, eyes on alert for anything that she was allergic to. Luckily, the restaurant was Morgana-friendly and she could order something that she actually enjoyed to eat.
'So, how're things going with your dad?' Jamie asked curiously. Morgana's fork hung frozen in the air as she stared at him.
'Uh… it's going well. He's still in Iraq, but he'll have leave in a few weeks, so he can see Mom.' Morgana said, after she'd swallowed her bite of food that suddenly felt very dry and tasteless.
General Uther, as her father often referred to himself jokingly, seemed to live for war and war alone. His hair was always military-style short, his face was always grim and frowned, and his eyes almost always narrowed. The only people he seemed to smile at were his wife - err, ex-wife - Isabel, and his friend-in-combat Gorlois. Who just happened to be Morgana's stepfather. Ouch.
Isabel had filed for divorce after she'd found out that Uther had had an affair with a female soldier during the war. And Gorlois, who'd always had an eye for the pretty brunette, had taken his leave immediately to comfort her. Which, of course, involved revenge-sex. Uther didn't know a thing about the affair, though. He just thought that Isabel wanted to divorce Uther because he was never there to take care of his family.
It was that assumption which drove Gorlois to switch jobs. Instead of being an active soldier, he was re-stationed at an office closer to home. Isabel and Gorlois married a few years after, without Uther knowing a thing about it. When Uther came home, he pleaded for his ex-wives' forgiveness, but of course never got it. For Morgana's sake, they pretended that they'd made up and were friends, something which Morgana easily saw through. But she liked Gorlois: he took time to play games with her, he'd allow her to sit on his lap – something which Uther never did – and overall he was just a natural parent.
Morgana had always suspected that something was off about her Dad's parenting skills, and her suspicion was confirmed when Uther – in a fit of a rage – yelled at her that he'd never wanted children. For a second, Morgana had wondered about the use of plural, but then decided that she didn't care, packed her bags and left to live on her own.
'And how's Isabel?' Jamie inquired. Morgana beamed upon hearing her mother's name. She had a very close relationship with her mother, and Isabel – and Gorlois, too – knew about her ability to see ghosts and were fine with it. Uther on the other hand thought that she was delusional or pretending, seeking for attention.
'Mom's doing fine. She called me just yesterday to tell me that she'd sold five more paintings.' Morgana beamed. Her mother was artistic. She painted, wrote and drew all day long. When Morgana was little, she'd had a low-paying job at an administrative office, but later she'd finally been able to start her own business. She painted portraits, animals, nature scenes and what-not. Unfortunately, Morgana hadn't inherited her talents – she could only write well enough to write articles.
'That's great! Hey, Carl called and asked me if you wanted to come over tomorrow – we're watching the baseball game. He almost begged me to ask you if you could make the snacks.' Jamie said with a big smile on his face. Morgana laughed at his eager expression - she was sure that he would've been drooling over the thought of her snacks if they hadn't been in a restaurant.
'Hmm… Maybe I will. But maybe not.' Morgana said teasingly. Jamie stared at her in fake horror, his eyes wide open and his jaw hanging.
'But… but… your snacks are the most greatest in the world!' he said desperately. 'Our guys won't win without your snacks!'
Several people looked their ways. Morgana chuckled about his use of "most greatest" and ducked her head in embarrassment
'Okay, okay. Fine. You'll get your snacks.' Morgana said, because she couldn't bear looking at his big round sad eyes anymore.
X.x.X HAUNTED X.x.X
Right before Morgana and Jamie nearly tripped over the threshold to Jamie's house, a ghost appeared in the crammed hallway. It was a tall, slim blonde. At first glance, Morgana thought that she'd dip-dyed her hair dark red before she'd died, but when she froze and stared at the ghost, she realized that it wasn't a dye. It was blood.
'Hey,' Jamie said, obviously displeased that Morgana had stopped kissing him. 'What're you looking at?' he asked, while he pretended to peek over her shoulder, even though he was taller than her. Morgana opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped.
Her mind jumped to assumption after assumption, until she stopped her reeling mind. Ghosts popped up randomly everywhere. Morgana had even seen bloodied and bruised ghosts at the dentist. Thinking that they'd been murdered by the man that advised Morgana on what toothbrush and toothpaste was best to use was just paranoid.
'Am I being haunted?' Jamie asked, a slightly nervous chuckle following soon after. Morgana turned around and look him in the eye. He looked back at her, fake fear and despair etched on his face. Nah, he couldn't hurt a fly. She shook her head, laughed and launched herself at him for a surprise kiss-attack.
The ghost had probably lived here before: Jamie's house was pretty small and old, with antique tables and chairs still reigning the room. Or she'd just randomly decided to float through houses, looking for something to chase away the boredom of being a ghost.
X.x.X HAUNTED X.x.X
The first thing that Morgana did when she get home was wonder where Grandpa was. The elderly ghost wasn't in the hallway kicking the lamp as usual, which for some reason concerned Morgana. Making as little sound as possible, she opened the door to the living room, cringing when it creaked. I should really oil that thing sometime. she thought.
The living room was empty, too. It wasn't unusual for ghosts to leave a place after some time, but she hadn't missed Grandpa once. And Rose seemed to enjoy floating above furniture and playing a game that Morgana had dubbed: "Let's see how quick I can float to the ceiling!". Admittedly, the name was a little too long, but that wasn't important right now.
She tip-toed into her bedroom and almost freaked out. Rose wasn't there! 'Rose? Rose!' Morgana yelled, but of course she didn't get a reply. In the sixteen years that Rose had haunted her, the little girl hadn't said a word. And why was she freaking out over a missing ghost, anyway? When she'd been a teenager, she had wanted nothing more than for the ghosts to go away – some of them distracted her in class, others made her trip in the hallways, and one mysterious ghost had wracked her locker once – and now she felt bad because she couldn't find any.
Then she heard the laughter.
Morgana's head snapped to the curtains that hung in front of the door to her large balcony. She pulled the curtains to the side and nearly laughed in relief when she saw that all 'her' ghosts were there. She frowned when she saw what was going on.
The laughter that she'd heard came from Rose. The little girl threw back her head and laughed at… something. Morgana pulled back the curtain further and saw Merlin balancing on the railing like a cord-dancer. He managed to remain standing, and when he saw her he smiled and waved, almost losing his balance. He flailed with his arms clumsily to regain balance. Grandpa was kicking a pot with a deceased plant in it, shouting something. Morgana couldn't help but smile and opened the door, only to be whipped by the cold wind immediately after stepping outside.
'Hey! Where were you? We were starting to get worried!' Merlin yelled cheerfully over the raging wind. Morgana doubted that this was true: as far as she knew Rose never displayed emotion and Grandpa didn't speak any English. Unless Merlin knew German, he probably couldn't communicate with Grandpa, despite his thick accent that sometime sounded suspiciously much like Old-English. Not that Morgana knew any Old-English herself, it was just a guess.
'Of course.' Morgana said sarcastically. Merlin didn't seem to get the sarcasm, though: he just smiled at her.
'I was at Jamie's.' she said. Did she imagine it, or did Merlin's smile actually fade a little? His smile was back so quickly though, that Morgana decided that she'd just imagined it.
'Well, at least you're back now. Look at what I can- crap!' Merlin lost his balance and fell off the railing. He tried to grab the railing but his fingers just slid off the round surface. Morgana almost dashed forward in an attempt to grab him, worried that he'd fall on the ground and break something, until she remembered that he was a ghost and just waved at him. It was strange. How could she have forgotten that Merlin was a ghost? He wore clothes that looked like they came out of the Dark Ages. His name was Merlin for God's sake! And yet she'd almost believed that he'd fall and fracture his skull or something.
'Oh, great. I fall and you just wave at me with a smirk on your face.' Merlin's muffled voice said from somewhere just below the balcony. Morgana leaned over it, wondering where he was, until…
'Ouch!' Morgana and Merlin yelled simultaneously, as their heads banged against each other. Merlin forgot to float and dropped out of the sky like a brick and Morgana stumbled backward and leaned against the wall, while rubbing her forehead.
This wasn't new for Morgana, though: Ghosts could touch her. Just her, not anyone else, as far as she knew. Some of them enjoyed making her trip or fall for no apparent reason. Others liked the pinch her in the arm just as she was talking to someone, causing her to squeal in surprise. She always said that she got bit by a mosquito or something, even if it was the middle of Winter.
'Are you away from the railing?' Merlin yelled. Morgana couldn't help but grin a little and yelled 'Yes!' back. Soon enough, Merlin floated back and pretended to jump over the railing, break-dance style. With his clothes and cheery demeanour, it just looked ridiculous. Morgana tried to hold back giggled, but she failed. Merlin glared at her.
'I'm offended.' he said, his lips pursed. I just looked and sounded even more ridiculous, causing Morgana to break out in a laughing-fit.
Merlin eventually shook his head and floated through the opened door, Rose following him closely. Morgana looked at the stars for a few minutes, before she stepped back into her bedroom and locked the door.
X.x.X HAUNTED X.x.X
The next morning, when Morgana went to work, Grandpa was back in the hallway. Only this time he was shouting German words at her ceiling. Morgana frowned, tried to understand what he was saying, failed, and left her apartment and closed the door behind her.
She almost shrieked when she saw a stranger in the passenger seat of her Mercedes. She had locked the car, right?! But then again, if someone wanted to steal her car, why sit on the passenger seat? Confused, she advanced on her car. She didn't know whether she had to laugh or glare when she recognized the man.
'Merlin, what the hell are you doing in my car?' Morgana asked, after she'd opened the door and plopped into her seat. Merlin looked at her with an exaggerated innocent expression on his face.
'I just want to see where you work.' Merlin said, pouting. 'Can I come? Please? Please, pl-'
'Shut up!' Morgana snapped, a bit too harshly. She flashed him a smile to soften it.
'Sorry. I'm not feeling that well. Headache.' she muttered while she started the car and started driving.
'Try rosemary tea or oil. You can rub the oil on your temples when you feel a headache coming up.' Merlin said. Morgana looked at him, her jaw hanging ajar for a moment. He noticed her baffled look and shrugged.
'I learnt a thing or two when I was alive.' he said. Morgana muttered something under her breath and ignored Merlin until she got to her office. She stopped the car and turned the engine off, but didn't get out yet. Instead, she turned to Merlin and looked at him sternly.
'Don't follow me around. Don't make my co-workers trip. Stay off the heating, don't open doors, don't touch anything, and do not write on the whiteboard!'
Merlin nodded, seemingly a little frightened by her sternness and floated out of the car. Morgana sighed and climbed out herself. She really hoped that Merlin would behave, but she'd never had a ghost in her office - apparently, ghosts either avoided journalists or just hated offices – so she had no idea how this was going to work out.
