Chapter 2: The ghost

"...So then he's takin out this dagger, right? And I'm freaking out, I'm trapped inside with this assassin, and then he plunges it in my chest and-" he paused to pretend to choke, fall and die "-bye bye, Noah," the ghost finished.

"Wow..." Cody said in quiet amazement. "So that's how... but, uh, why were you assassinated in the first place?" he asked.

Noah looked away. "Secret. It's spy stuff, can't tell you that stuff."

"You're a spy?!"

Realizing his mistake, he looked around nervously. "What? No, it's just that-"

"Wow, that's so cool!" Cody exclaimed. "I live in the house of a ghost-spy-thingie!"

"'Thingie'?" He narrowed his eyes disdainfully. "I'm not a 'thingie', I-"

"Who did you work for? What things did you do? Did-" Cody's excited babble was suddenly cut off by Noah's hand covering his mouth.

"One at a time, please," he snapped.

"Wow, your hand is cold," Cody said randomly. Once he got going on talking, it was pretty hard for him to stop.

"No," Noah said. "Me, having cold hands? Impossible, what do you think I am, a ghost or something?"

"But so how did you become a spy? And what about your family? Did they know?" Cody asked, ignoring the ghost's sarcasm.

"That's two at a time, but I'll take it," Noah muttered. "It's a family thing. My great-great-great-whatever was an Indian spy, and apparently he passed down the heritage. Me and my other eight siblings eventually became agents as well, and then I did something, and my parent's got really pissy, and so I ran away." He then added, "But I still became a spy, I mean, who wouldn't want to be one, right?" He laughed slightly hollowly.

"Wow...uh, what did you do to make them mad?"

"Silence, Cody. I've told you that I was a spy, I don't need to tell you anything else."

"Okay..." Cody sighed. "And one more thing..." He paused.

"Spit it out already," came Noah's annoyed voice.

"Are you going to haunt me for the rest of my life?"

Noah blinked. "I have the choice not to, but I must say, I've been in silence for a year, with no one to talk to, and it gets pretty boring. So I may follow you around a bit," he admitted.

He blinked. "Well, I guess that's okay," said Cody. "I mean, you're a pretty nice friend, Noah."

The spirit grinned. "I don't get that a lot," he confessed.

The passing silence was interrupted by the clocktower in the distance, it's deep bellow proclaiming that it was 8 o'clock in the morning.

"Oh crap!" Cody exclaimed. "I was planning on getting a new job here, and the interviews are starting in a half hour! I gotta run!" He leapt up and grabbed his coat, Noah glancing at him hesitantly before following.

Smoothing his cowlicks in the rear view mirror while driving down the road nervously, Cody glanced around the unfamiliar town for the correct address. Meanwhile, Noah was sitting in the passenger's seat while staring lazily out the window. The fact that he was drumming his fingers on the armrest did not help Cody's stress levels.

"Will you please stop that?" Cody growled. "It's getting on my nerves." Noah looked up.

"Sorry."

He sighed. "It's okay." A pause.

"You know, one time I dressed up as a deer."

Noah blinked. "What?"

"A deer." Cody blushed. "I-I was walking in the woods, dressed as a deer. And I was eating some barbeque chips. So... I ran out of the chips and found some berries, and then I got mauled by a bear."

Noah burst out laughing. Wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes, he said quietly, "Sorry. But- why the hell were you dressed as a deer in the first place?"

"Uh..." Cody looked at the steering wheel as if it would give him answers. Why did he dress as a deer? "Oh, hey, look, we're here."

"What place is this, even? I don't remember it." Noah said.

"It might be new," Cody said as he got out of the car. Noah followed shortly after. They walked in silence to the front doors. When they were opened, they made way to a glorious sight. The floors were of marble, and there was a glass table with a vase of flowers on it. Behind the smooth, wooden secretary desk was a pretty raven-haired Asian looking girl about their age.

"Can I help you?" the lady said flatly. Cody noticed on a nametag that her name was Heather.

"Um, yes- uh- Do you know where I can find someone by the name of Gw-"

"Third door on the left," Heather cut off.

Cody grinned. "Great, thanks. Uh, You wanna go out for coffee some time?-"

"No."

"Sheesh," Cody muttered at her curt refusal. Noah only scoffed.

"Quit trying to flirt with every girl you meet and get on with it already?" Cody nodded and walked to the room of his future boss.

A/N: Oy, sorry I couldn't update this sooner. Snowdays, essays and exams *DUNDUNDUN* are being flung at me from all directions! This was supposed to be of the next chapter but I cut it in half... cuz I felt like it. Hopefully the chapters will be quicker though, I mean I'm grounded and can't draw now, and plus I'm entering a stage of depression (which of course is bad, but at least I write more!). But, um- yeah, see ya!