Chapter 2:
A weekend without work or ghosts had been a blissful one for Henley, and it showed. As she walked into the animal clinic bright and early Monday morning with a wide smile on her face, her boss couldn't help but tease her.
"No I didn't get any," Henley's cheeks grew as red as her hair. "Why does everyone always ask that?"
Michelle laughed and she tossed her blonde locks up into a ponytail. "Oh to be young and single."
"I didn't get any," Henley rolled her eyes as she glanced at their appointment book. "So Fletcher is coming in again today?"
Michelle grinned at the sudden change of subject. "You know how old Mrs. Finn is. She's afraid Fletcher is sick again. If she'd only just get him out of the house once in awhile…"
"She'd like break a hip," Henley pointed out. "And don't give me that look! I just had a nice peaceful weekend, okay? There was no getting any."
"Whatever happened to that pediatrician? He was drop dead gorgeous. Had an adorable black lab too."
Henley shot her a glare as she escaped into the back room to organize the already neat medicine shelves.
"Come on, you need to get out. When I was your age, I was…"
"You were dating George since you were sixteen," Henley pointed out. "You've never dated anyone since and you've been happily married for 25 years."
"Well I was at least happily with someone," Michele shrugged. "I just worry about you, kid."
"I date," Henley defended. "Jackson and I went out a few times; we just both got busy."
"Well why don't you call him up and go out again?"
Henley sighed as she turned towards the woman. "I'm perfectly happy with it just being Moony and I."
Michelle raised an eyebrow.
"I'm happy, that's all that matters," Henley shrugged, glancing down at her watch and relieved to find it was nearly opening time. "Come on, Mrs. Finn will be here soon."
Michelle nodded as she patted Henley on the shoulder before slipping from the room. Henley sighed as she leaned against a cabinet, rubbing her forehead as she felt a small headache coming on. It wasn't like she didn't like dating. Jackson had been gorgeous, cared about children, and was an animal lover. What wasn't to like?
But it always came back to the same thing.
Her ability - gift, curse, whatever it might be - made it impossible to have relationships of any kind. Sure she had friends, and had the occasional boyfriend over the years, but it was difficult to maintain them. She would always slip and freak everyone out. If they didn't run off screaming that she was a lunatic, they would gossip and spread rumours that she was troubled. She had had enough of that when she was a child; she didn't need it now that she was an adult. She didn't completely put off the notion of dating. She still did it occasionally. But nothing ever lasted.
It was just her and Moony, and she was completely fine with that for now.
It wasn't like she was alone anyways. Oh no, she had hoards of ghosts surrounding her at all times.
At the thought of ghosts, Henley snuck out of the back room and peeked around the corner into the waiting room. They were there again. The two damn ghosts that had been settled in the waiting room ever since she had accidentally spoken to them at lunch early last week. They wouldn't leave her alone. They never appeared anywhere other than the waiting room of the animal clinic, making it near impossible to avoid them.
"Crap," she muttered, only to curse under her breath as the two ghosts immediately began staring at the wall she was hiding behind. Ducking back into safety, Henley sighed a breath of relief. As long as the receptionist didn't need anything, she could stay in the back all day.
Just another day of avoiding the dead.
"I'm just going to get Mr. Richards to fill out the paperwork for Cruiser here, and then I'm thinking lunch is in order," Michelle slipped off her plastic gloves, tossing them in the garbage.
"Lunch sounds great," Henley agreed, petting the small schnauzer to sooth his shaking form.
Michelle grinned as she slipped from the room. Henley began to hum softly, distracting the dog until his owner came back to collect him. Her stomach was grumbling and she was doing her best to ignore it. This is what she got for skipping lunch this morning in favour of coffee. She was in the middle of making a mental note to go back to packing snacks when a chill ran up her spine.
Henley froze immediately, glancing down at her arms out the corner of her eye. She groaned when she found the goose bumps, when she felt the familiar tug at the back of her skull.
They were pestering her again.
Maybe it was the two in the waiting room. Maybe they had finally grown tired of waiting for her.
But Henley had a very sinking feeling that it was neither of the two. No, she had a very terrible feeling as to who was annoying her this time.
"Not you again," she grumbled under her breath. She didn't dare look over her shoulder where she felt the presence. She risked a glance up at the picture frame across for her, but knew there would be no reflection in the glass. The dead didn't have a reflection. Ghosts, anyways. She didn't know if Vampires had them or not.
"I need your help."
It was most definitely him. His accent was just so unique; she would always know when he was the one driving her insane.
"Still not going to."
"You are the only one that can aid me."
"Tough luck," a small part of her felt bad that she was refusing to help. This was a special gift, wasn't it? She was supposed to help these ghosts. Why else would she be able to see them? But after seventeen years of these ghosts, she just couldn't see it that way any longer. She did try to help them. She did try to embrace who she was. But at what cost? She was alone at 24 with absolutely no relationship prospects, with her only companion a dog.
"Why do you deny this gift you were given?" the annoying vampire ghost appeared before her.
The poor dog on the examination table could feel the shift in the room and began whimpering. Henley glared at the ghost and offered the dog comfort.
"You were given this gift…"
"Not a gift," she muttered.
"You were given this gift for a reason. You can aid those that cannot help themselves. I require your…"
"You can say it in whatever way you want, but the answer is always going to be no," Henley shook her head. "I'm done. I've dealt with you people my entire life. I'm tired of it. I just want to be left alone. Can't you understand that? Why can't you just help me for once?"
"Do you believe I wished for this fate?" his expression grew hard – or as hard as a ghost's expression could become. "I wished for a peaceful existence just as you do, and I was condemned to this world as a ghost, unable to aid my child."
"I'm sorry, but that's not my problem."
"But you have the ability to help me. You can help him," he stepped forward, pleading with her.
She averted his gaze; she hated their pleading looks, their begging. She always felt the worst when they begged her for their help.
And she would always cave.
She couldn't this time. She wouldn't let herself. She had caved one too many times.
"I can't."
The ghost's shoulders sagged before he vanished before her very eyes. Henley sighed heavily, her own shoulders slumping as she felt the headache from earlier returning. She had been happy and content after her peaceful weekend. Now she was left feeling terrible. Was she wrong for saying no? Was she wasting this gift she was given?
"So I'm thinking Chinese…" Michelle stopped in the doorway, her eyebrows furrowing. "Everything all right, Henley?"
"Yeah," Henley forced a smile as she lifted the still shaking dog and handing him over to Michelle. "I'm fine. And Chinese sounds great."
"You sure?"
Henley gazed to where the vampire ghost had only just been. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."
She just couldn't shake the guilt that she felt, however.
"Hey boy, miss me?" Henley scratched behind Moony's ears as she slipped through the front door that evening. She was exhausted and ready to drop. She was just thankful that Michelle had ordered way too much and all but shoved the leftovers into her arms as she was leaving the clinic. "Want to go out boy?"
Moony barked at the question, his tail wagging in excitement. Henley snorted as she shrugged off her coat and kicked off her shoes. She sighed in relief once her feet were free. All she needed now was to throw on sweats and her goal for the evening would be complete.
"Come on boy, let's send you out in the back so we can both…" she stopped short in the hallway, nearly dropping the bag of food in her hands.
It was the second time that day that she felt him before seeing him.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" she twisted on her heel and glared into the living room. There her ghost was, just standing in the middle of the room. "I thought I told you to leave me alone?"
"Perhaps if you understood the severity…"
"No!" Henley exclaimed, her hands beginning to shake as her frustration grew. She had spent the entire afternoon feeling ashamed that she sent this ghost away without helping him. She almost felt bad for him. She almost wanted to help him. But seeing the damn ghost waiting for her in her own home, that guilt immediately transformed into anger. "I don't give a crap. I honestly don't. I do, however, just want to be left alone. So leave me alone!"
"But my child is in…"
"I don't care!" she pivoted around and stormed down the hallway, hopeful that he would just disappear and leave her the hell alone.
She got her hopes up, however, as he appeared in her kitchen.
"Of for fucks sake!" she threw the bag of food down onto the counter, her fingers just itching to grab one of the dirty plates in the sink and throw it at him. It wouldn't do much good, as it would simply go right through him. But it would make her feel a whole lot less agitated. "Leave me alone!"
"I cannot. Not until you help me," he stubbornly refused. "You're the only one who can help my child."
"I don't want to help you. I don't want to help your whatever. I want to be left alone. Is that not clear enough for you? Leave. Me. Alone!"
He didn't disappear this time. He just stood there, staring at her, not budging at all. She sighed in exasperation as she turned around, her eyes squeezing closed as she tried to just ignore him. Maybe if she just pretended he wasn't there…
Henley could feel the air shift. Something had changed, and she was almost afraid to look over her shoulder in case this vampire had brought along some ghost friends. When she did peek her eyes open, however, she was rewarded with flickering lights and a shaking back door.
"Seriously?" she turned back around, raising an eyebrow at the ghost. "You think trying to spook me is going to work?"
She knew he couldn't keep the act up for long. It was difficult enough for spirits to energize themselves to even be seen. Whenever they tried their parlour tricks, they always tended to flicker away the next moment.
Henley was looking forward to that moment.
Only it never came. She waited patiently. She stood there, tapping her foot with crossed arms as she waited for that moment to arrive.
But he was still there, and the lights were still flickering. The kitchen window was now even shaking along with the back door. She had to admit; she was impressed with his strength.
"It's not going to work," she shook her head. "I can see ghosts, remember? A few flickering lights isn't going to scare me into helping you. So you might as well just go away."
"I will not give up," the lights ceased their flickering, the door and window growing still. "I will not sit idly in a waiting room hoping for you to find the time for me,"
Henley was taken back by his comment. "Well that answers my question on whether or not y'all can see each other."
"I will follow you every waking moment. I will not stop until you help me," he threatened.
"Threatening me isn't exactly going to make me want to help you."
"I won't stop. I will not leave you alone. You will help me."
Henley frowned. "I doubt it."
She couldn't help but feel a touch worried about his persistence, though. At least the ghosts in the waiting room at the clinic were polite. They were waiting for her. They weren't hounding her. They weren't following her every step. They were waiting until she was ready to deal with them.
She had a feeling this ghost wasn't going to wait at all.
"Were you this annoying when you were alive?"
The ghost suddenly appeared a bit too close for her liking. She tried to back away, not wanting to risk touching him again, but she found the counter trapping her in place.
"You will help me," his steely gaze caught hers.
"I won't," she insisted.
"You will."
He disappeared, but Henley knew she was going to see him again much too soon.
A/N: I'm seriously so happy that people are enjoying this fic! I know I shouldn't have started another story, but it's super encouraging to ignore that logic when people are liking it.