The Robisons station wagon pulled up to the infamous Nightingale Manor. The old mansion had a very strange design, unlike anything the family had seen before. It looked like it had multiple towers at the top, and the walls seemed curved in on each other. The railings outside the many windows of the house also looked weird, like oversized bones. Even the windows were weird, with some kind of stained glass design.
"Wow," Katherine said in awe. "This already feels different from usual. Isn't it great, Dean?"
"If you're Stephen King," Dean muttered, trying not to show his own amazement. He often tried to play the part of the stoic teenager.
"Let's get our stuff down and... oh, that must be our caller," Katherine said, motioning to an approaching car that almost seemed like it had been waiting for them to arrive before it appeared.
The doors opened and Miss Kress stepped out, along with Penny. "Hello!" Kress said in a cheerful tone that made Dean flinch with how fake it sounded. "You must be the... experts we were hoping for."
"That's us," Katherine said happily, apparently oblivious to the woman's tone. "Kathleen Kress, right? Pleased to meet you. I'm Katherine Robison. Paranormal investigator... of sorts." She laughed.
"Yes... of course," Kress said with a grimace, lighting a cigarette. Penny frowned at her. "Oh, yes. This is Penny, my personal assistant back at the office."
Penny shook Katherine's hand with a much warmer smile. "Penny Smith. Pleased to meet you. It's a truly marvelous house, isn't it?"
"We were just admiring it! You must be so proud to own such an artistic marvel," Katherine said to Kress, who just smirked. "Oh, and this is my son, Dean."
"Her personal assistant around the country," Dean quipped, forcing a smile.
Kress rolled her eyes, but Penny nudged her. "Say something nice," she whispered. "Be welcoming!"
Dean's smile faded as Kress gave him a big smile, which was somehow creepier than the one before, and she walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"So very nice to meet you, Dean," she said, breathing smoke in Dean's face.
"Very nice," Penny added helpfully as Dean coughed.
He forced another smile. "Uh... thanks-mmph!" His cheeks were suddenly squished as Kress took his face and looked at him closely.
"Well, aren't you just the cutest thing," she said, looking to Katherine who was getting her bags out of the car. "You must be so proud to have such an adorable son, Miss Robison."
"Very adorable!" Penny added again, pulling on Kress's wrist lightly to turn Dean's silly face towards her.
Katherine chuckled, still looking through the car and oblivious to Dean's annoyance. "Very, indeed! He's my pride and joy."
Dean rolled his eyes and Kress turned his face towards her again. "We just can't tell you how grateful we are that you've come all the way out here to Friendship."
"Okay, you're overdoing it a little," Penny whispered again.
"And you're kinda hurting my face..." Dean muttered.
Kress rolled her eyes again and released him. "My apologies." She brushed past him and started to speak to Katherine again.
"Sorry about that," Penny said sympathetically to the weirded out teen, smiling at him as he rubbed his aching cheeks.
"It's... it's cool," Dean said, feeling his cheeks get a little warm. Penny was a lot more attractive than Kress, that was for sure. Definitely helped that she was way younger.
"So you try to remove ghosts from these places they haunt, right?" Kress asked Katherine.
"Well, if at all possible, we'd like to think we can help them find peace with whatever they feel they left unfinished on this Earth."
"Right..." Kress muttered. "And how much time will that take?"
"Well, it really depends on the spirit. Sometimes they're so bonded to a place or a time that they refuse to leave."
Kress looked a bit pale at that. "Well, for the sake of what I'm paying to rid this place of those monstrosities, I really hope you have what it takes to get the job done," Kress said warningly. "Otherwise, you'll have made this trip for nothing at all."
"Of... of course," Katherine agreed. "I'll put my all into this."
"See that you do." Kress nodded her head in a silent goodbye and turned and stalked back to her car.
"Good luck," Penny called, following her boss into the car.
"I think I made my point rather well, didn't I?" Kress said smugly.
"You did," Penny said hesitantly. "But... I probably should have mentioned that Dr. Robison isn't exactly a poor woman. So... she probably won't notice all that much if she doesn't get paid for this..."
Kress took a deep breath, clenching the steering wheel. "You are useless," she muttered.
"I'm sorry," Penny whimpered.
As the two women began to drive off, Katherine turned to Dean. "Well... she seems rather lovely, doesn't she?"
"If you say so..."
Katherine smiled and picked up her bags. "Okay honey, let's go. I took your bags out too."
Dean nodded and picked up his bags from the ground, looking up at the house one more time before heading in. For a split second, he thought he saw something in one of the windows. A girl?
He blinked, and whatever he thought he saw was gone.
Wow, five minutes and I'm already getting spooked, Dean thought. That's pretty sad...
00000000
Vera glared out the window as Kress drove off. So she hadn't completely scared away that horrible woman. Not only that, but she was responsible for bringing the family here. How was she supposed to avoid them the entire time they stayed here?
But wait a second... Vera moved away from the window, deep in thought. Do I really want to avoid them? I mean, they're not really a normal everyday family. Their whole deal is looking for ghosts like me. Maybe they can help me... but with what? Do I really need help?
She thought back to the years of loneliness and how completely silent the manor was as she slept in it night after night. I mean, I always put up with it because I figured nothing would ever change. But now that it's about to change, why should I hide from it?
As if getting an idea, a lightbulb flashed on above Vera's head. She looked up in surprise as all the lights in the manor flashed on, and she realized Katherine must have turned on the basement generator.
"Well, that was easy," Katherine said as she marched up the stairs from the basement. Now that they could see the foyer more easily, the mother and son looked up at the massive hall. There was a big black swirl design on the floor, and the chandelier that lit up the great hall was massive.
"It's like some vacation home," Dean said in awe, not even trying to hide it anymore.
"And right by the water too!" Katherine opened a box and started to assemble one of her cameras, eager to start capturing everything on film.
"I'm gonna find a room," Dean said as he already started making his way to the stairs.
"Okay," Katherine replied. "Sure you don't want me to come with you? It's pretty scary, don't you think?"
"Almost eighteen, mom, not five," Dean said with a roll of his eyes, picking up his luggage and starting to walk up to the second floor.
Katherine chuckled. "Fair enough! Well, just watch your step!" She was looking up at him while walking forward, resulting in her stepping right into a suitcase on the floor and nearly tripping.
"I'll keep that in mind," Dean said, shaking his head at his mom's silliness.
As Dean made his way up the stairs, he didn't see the big pair of green, staring eyes in the middle of an old grandfather clock face watching him pass by. Vera concentrated for a second and turned herself invisible. Then, she began to follow him.
She couldn't help but float around him a few times to get a good look at him, up and down. Wow, he's even better looking in person, somehow...
His eyes were striking as ever, and the bangs of hair covering his eyes were quite cute. She could see that while he was thin and slender, he was also somewhat toned, like did some regular running. And he had a black T-shirt and blue jeans on. His face held some maturity despite his young age, and he appeared very observant as he looked back and forth and all around as he traveled the house. Vera felt like she could tell he was the kind of person who saw and thought of things others might miss.
Vera couldn't help but sigh, which caused a cool breeze to make Dean shiver suddenly. "Whoa," he said softly, and Vera covered her mouth in shock, fearful of being discovered. He turned around and looked directly at her, which gave Vera a fluttery feeling in her stomach being so close to him. It seemed like an eternity before he finally seemed to dismiss it and kept walking.
Vera shook her head at her own awkwardness. I'm the ghost here! I'm not supposed to be the one hiding and being afraid of humans. She turned to continue following him up the stairs, and it didn't take long before she was following his swaying butt as though she were hypnotized.
She shook her head again and slapped herself. Vera, snap out of it! What're you doing? He's a human! You're a ghost! You gotta be violating some kind of law somehow! I mean, yeah, laws don't apply to me anymore, but... why am I arguing with myself?!
Another thought came to her. Now that I think of it... I haven't exactly seen a boy in... probably years now? Not one that wasn't on TV anyway. Huh. Have I always been this pervy, but there was just no one to be a pervert over? That's kinda sad...
While she was caught in her inner thoughts, Dean opened a door to a room where there were three beds, and there were names carved into the headboards. "Lena... Stella... and Bertha?" Dean said quietly. He looked a bit closer to see something else scratched in next to their names. "Stinky" was next to Stella, and "Big Big Bertha" was next to that name.
"Wow, talk about cruel parents," Dean joked to himself. He shut the door and continued on his way down the hallway, taking the time to admire the strange, almost surreal architecture of the swirling gray pillars and the curvy ceiling that went down the hallway.
Vera, meanwhile, snapped out of it and followed him down the hall as he looked through each room, until eventually settling on one at the far end of the hall. That's my room. Or at least it was my...
Vera's eyes widened. Whoa... did I just... remember something? Something from my past? Since when was this room my room? Pushing aside her confusion, Vera floated in after him.
Dean inspected the new room, seeing only a single bed without a name in it. He shrugged, letting his luggage fall to the floor. "Found my room, mom!" He called, taking a closer look around. There was a bed, a bedside table, and a dresser, all very old and not in the best of shape anymore. Still, there was a decent mattress, and Dean sat back on it, glad to have something soft to lie on after the long drive.
There's a boy in my bed... Vera thought with a smirk. That's awesome... damn it, knock it off, Vera!
After testing the softness of the mattress, Dean sighed and prepared to fall back onto the bed.
Acting on instinct, Vera suddenly flew forward, still invisible, and her unseen body suddenly transformed and took the shape of a soft, square pillow for Dean to rest his head on. She looked like a rectangle with a face.
Wow, he has such perfect hair, Vera thought to herself with a small giggle as he laid back on her.
Then suddenly, Dean started to repeatedly bounce his head upon her, apparently uncomfortable with how soft it felt. Thinking it was the bed itself, Dean started to push and punch at it to even it out.
Oof! Ow! Ah! Ack! Ow! Vera thought to herself, trying to keep herself from letting out gasps. Of course, she couldn't feel any pain, but getting punched right in the face when she was solid still didn't feel good! When the beating was over and Dean was satisfied, Vera felt like birdies were flying around her head and she sighed softly in annoyance. Well, that wasn't very fun...
Dean sat up, and Vera panicked for a second, thinking he'd heard her. But instead, he got up from the bed and made his way towards his suitcases, ready to unpack. Bending down, he unzipped the travel bag and started to look through it.
Vera took a breath and turned herself back to her normal form and made herself visible. No more hiding, no more silly games. He was here now, and whatever happened was gonna happen now.
She approached Dean cautiously while he went through his suitcase of clothes, messily tossing articles of clothing about. Apparently, he wasn't a very neat person, which made her smile. Somehow, all of his quirks seemed charming to her.
The ghost girl opened her mouth to say something, and suddenly realized she never planned on how to introduce herself. 'Oh my god, I'm so awkward...' She slapped herself in the head and thought for a second or two. 'Okay, okay, just keep it casual... Hey, how's it going? I'm a ghost! No, that's garbage. Hey, give me five! Wow, that's pathetic.
"Um... Hi, I'm- mmmf!" Vera gasped as an old rolled up sock was thrown right into her mouth and stifled her greeting. "Plegh!" She quickly spat it out. Smack! Her eyes widened as the sock bounced right off of Dean's shapely butt!
The boy gasped and stood up in surprise. He whirled around in confusion, and his eyes widened when he came face to face with the ghost girl.
"Um... hi?" The ghost girl said awkwardly. "I'm Vera! And you are?"
She watched as Dean's beautiful blue eyes went into a goofy crosseyed expression as he fainted to the floor with a loud bump.
"Oh, great..." Vera groaned, looking around, unsure of what to do. "God, I hate being a ghost..." She flew out into the hallway and entered the upstairs restroom. She flicked the faucet on, and gathered up some water into her hands.
Flying back into the room, she held out her hands above the unconscious boy, and splashed his face with the water.
Coughing, Dean stirred from the cold water, blinking droplets out of his eyes. He looked around in a daze and then looked up to see the concerned looking ghost girl.
"Better?" She asked hopefully with a smile and a giggle. "I guess I could have made a better first impression..."
The boy suddenly screamed out loud, which made his mother scream somewhere in the house and drop a plate that she had been holding with a crash, which made Vera scream in fright as well. Hearing the rapidly approaching footsteps of Katherine going up the staircase, Vera quickly flew right at Dean.
Dean screamed, covering his face with his hands and shutting his eyes, feeling a sudden freezing cold envelop him. Then it was gone and he opened up his eyes. Nothing had happened, and the ghost girl had vanished somewhere while he hadn't been looking.