"Not all heroes wear capes, sometimes they appear at your door with a cup of coffee in one hand, and a dollar store bag in the other."
Lou cracks a smile at that.
True to her word, she had appeared at his door that afternoon- looking as tired as ever.
Will rubs his eyes sympathetically. He had been sleeping until she'd barged into his apartment.
She hands him her styrofoam cup. The residue from her chapstick around the lip catches the light seeping from the kitchen window.
She barges past him, opening cabinets and loudly rummaging through them.
"Do you have a lighter?"
"Why would I have a lighter?"
While most of his furniture has been unpacked, the less necessary items sit in open boxes. Unpacking everything hadn't been the first activity on his list, what with the blind panic of classes.
The mess of packaged furniture and empty boxes probably aren't helping her energetic search for whatever it was she was looking for.
"Matches?" She calls again.
"Next to the oven."
"Grab some salt."
"Does a McDonald's spice sachet count?"
She gives a long sigh. Then appears in the hallway next to him a few moments later.
"So what happened, exactly? Did you play with a Ouija board or something?'
"Gods no. I'm not a white girl in a horror movie, Lou- despite what you may think."
"So is it activity in a specific room? You said creepy shit was happening in your bedroom?"
"I don't know. It's like.. it's following me or something. But only in this house."
"Well, at least you didn't try to mess with it or whatever. You're smarter than I thought," she smiles.
"Burn the sage, smoke out the rooms. Buy some proper salt and use that if things get worse. Call me if things get worse. Try not to burn your place down," she shoves the bundle of sage into one hand, and the box of matches into his other.
Then she leaves, as abruptly as she'd arrived.
Will sighs. He feels like an idiot, waving a bunch of flaming herbs around his house. But maybe it'll help put his mind at ease.
So he complies, hoping that things don't get worse.
It's stupid, but he feels safer.
He's exhausted from school and he's having trouble keeping his eyes closed. He drifts off into a peaceful sleep, for once not worried about school or his situation.
It's dark and his throat is dry when he wakes up.
Stumbling to the kitchen, he turns his back to pour himself a glass of water.
When he turns back around, there's a figure standing in his doorway.
He feels oddly calm, as if Lee had simply wandered into his apartment- instead of a real life, actual fucking ghost.
Will opens his mouth," Do- do you want anything?"
His voice is steady, even calm. Its tone is almost awkward, like there's a guest in his kitchen and he's been a bad host.
The figure smiles slightly. It looks out of place with his dark features. His hair is dark and messy, and his eyes are a little sad.
"There's a ghost in your house, and your first instinct is to offer it... a drink?"
He has a faint accent; not quite American. He looks about Will's age, if a bit younger.
Will realises he's been staring for too long.
He shrugs in response.
There's an awkward silence. He's having an awkward conversation with a ghost.
"So you're not a little girl in a white dress," he blurts.
He immediately regrets it.
"Are you...disappointed?"
"I just- I thought haunted houses were supposed to have little-girl-demons or angry Japanese ghosts?"
"You're basing this off of twenty-first century horror movies?"
His accent is just a hint of something else. Spanish? Portuguese?
He accepted this as his new normal; holding conversations with ghosts in his kitchen at three in the morning.
"So it's been you? All the weird noises."
He nods.
"Just you? What about all the rumours? The mob dad and his dead kids?"
"People usually don't stay here very long. I tend to... use whatever means necessary to drive them out. I don't like sharing my space."
"What about me?"
His expression is unreadable.
The room is quiet for a few minutes.
"Sorry about... creeping you out. I didn't mean to," and then he just disappears.
Will stands there for a bit, trying to process everything.
Finally, he takes his phone out of his pocket.
'So uh
Something just happened- Will.'
Finally, it's the ghost! *Jazz hands*
I know it took a while, but I didn't want to rush things.
Let me know what you thought!