The Green Thorne Bed and Breakfast

[Saint Tribs]

Noah had stood there a little stunned throughout the revelation that the young man was someone he knew. Someone he was related to. He blinked. Why was Rich out and about like this? It certainly was odd. The howl of the wind and sleepy squawk of Gandolf broke him from his train of thought and he gave a sheepish smile.

"Richard? You're... so much bigger than I remember!" Noah wasn't sure how Rich would deal with him, most of the family had objected when he had left and for the reason he had left. Richard was younger than him, much younger than him... There was a chance he didn't remember the drama of Noah's departure. "It's good to see you too." He raised a hand and squeezed Rich's shoulder. "Come on, get into the shower. We could lose power at any moment from the storm." He listened to the storm for a second. "There's no lightning at the moment so you'll want to hustle. Clothes and clean towels are at your disposal and there's hot soup and coffee for you down stairs. You can come down when you're ready." Noah let go Rich and took a step back. "See you down stairs."

Noah rushed off, he had guests to check on and he had to be a good host. Long lost cousin or not.


The house creaked and groaned under the heavy winds that howled around it. There was the sounds of Joshua cooking quietly in the kitchen and the hushed whisper and then laughter of the guests. Gandolf squawked to himself, he was tired and honestly ready for bed. The storm was lashing the roses and the other blooming plants, tomorrow the wet yard would be strewn with petals of all shades and shapes. For now though, the storm raged on.

 

[Cerulean]

Rich had his head down and smirked during the exchange. I had an idea of what was going on when Noah had enough. He remembered it being a little scary, at least from a little one's perspective. The best course of action would be to take that shower and he did. Fabric felt weird trying to take it all off. He laid the clothes over the curtain bar. Hopefully, the heat would dry it some.

The shower went by rather quickly. Rich didn't like to mess around, when it comes to things like hygiene. Noah's clothes actually fit him well. They were family, alright. He just put his stuff by the nearest heater. It could dry and get picked up tomorrow.

"So what is going on here?" he called, coming down the stairs.

 

[Saint Tribs]

Noah left Rich and had went down stairs. The guests were fine, perhaps a little nervous because of the storm. "We'll weather it just fine." He gave a wink at them. "Don't worry, we've seen much much worse." Another cheery smile had Noah off towards the kitchen and to his Cook.

He briefly wondered if when he said 'we' if he meant him and the house, or perhaps him and Joshua? That thought made his cheeks burn under his tan and the neatly trimmed beard. "Joshua?" He walked up beside the cook and pressed his face into the glass, staring outside at the thrashing forest and the garden that was going all to hell. "We'll have a mess to clean up tomorrow. At least the storm got us some help." He gave Joshua a smile. "Do you need some coffee too? I-" He was cut off as Rich called down the stairs. Noah gave a chuckle. "And the man of the hour..."

Noah waved Rich into the kitchen, not minding the interested looks from his guests as he wrapped an arm around Rich's shoulders and gave him a hug.

"Joshua, I'd like you to meet Richard."

 

[Dawn]

The pain had pretty much subsided by the time Noah joined him by the window, aiding him in fogging the glass up with hot breath. The small physical contact they shared through their shoulders touching was enough to settle the cook's nerves. Everything was fine. There was no reason to turn and run. Well, maybe tomorrow he might want to run away from all of the yard clean up that would be required.

At the mention of the coffee, Joshua pushed away from the window, pausing to draw a happy face in the layer of moisture on the glass before he got back to his duties. He'd told the guests about the coffee. They'd have to come get it themselves if they wanted it, especially since he was busy with the soup again. Some last minute additons were made to the broth, then he turned off the burner and shifted the pot and it's steaming contents to the cool side of the stove.

Noah was speaking again and Joshua glanced up from his task of dishing the hot soup into a bowl with a ladle, his calm stare taking in Richard's appearance. Several things about the young man irked him, like how Noah had his arm around him, though he kept his face from tattling about his emotions and instead nodded. "Joshua...as Noah stated," he voiced, turning back to his task. He realized that seemed a bit cold, and since Noah appeared rather fond of this Richard guy, he forced himself to say a little more. "Storm washed me up on these steps too. Noah will take good care of you, don't worry."

With a lazy look, he handed Richard a tray complete with coffee, sugar and milk packets, bowl of soup, spoon, and crackers. He figured Noah would show the man to the dining room while he took care of the clean up. Once that was done, Joshua intended to relax a little in the sitting room before bed time. There was a book on his nightstand that had been neglected as of late.

 

[Cerulean]

Noah was treating him as if they were brothers, instead of 2nd cousins. He liked that there seemed to be a genuine heart, in that chest. Rich felt as though he could actually have a place here. Of course, not without work. However, if this was how we would be treated, there would not even be a start of a problem.

He went to wave but Josh's coldness stopped him. The impression given off was that the cook was already in a foul mood, or Rich's presence had turned off the happy switch. Nothing even saying a work to Joshua, and he seemed to make a choice to hate him. This was rather disheartening. If someone were to hate, Rich would have preferred to give a real reason. It was better than just walking into a room.

"T--Thank you, sir." he muttered, feeling rather dampened.

 

[Elyd]

Patrick gulped a bit as Lotte sat down and started talking to him. Ghost stories? Why did he want to listen to ghost stories? This house seemed like it could have been the setting of a ghost story. He wondered why she would want to think about ghost stories while sitting here in such a stately and grand house. "It sure is the right setting for ghost stories," he muttered, leaning on the window and staring out at the rain.

Her stories followed his line of thinking, and he sneaked a glance at Lotte when she started giggling. He grinned. It was good to hear the sound of a laugh after all of this. "That guy who owns the place, Noah, he has been pretty nice," Patrick said to her. "Now that I think about it, it's almost too good to be true. Maybe he is planning on eating us, or at least this old house is. Have you heard any of the floorboards creak? I swear, this house is the site of a horror story. I just don't like being the one in it." Patrick broke his gaze at Lotte to run his fingers through his hair and look out the window again. He was much more nervous than she seemed to him to be. After all, where was he going to go from here?

 

[Saint Tribs]

Tempest
Noah pouted at Joshua's sudden shift of attitude, taking it rather personally that suddenly the dark haired man was unhappy with him. He wasn't sure what he had done but it must have been bad. He let Rich free from his embrace and helped the younger man set up at the table with his food. "Eat up, Rich." He reached out, ruffling the boy's hair like a younger brother's. He missed his brothers being little... Not to mention talking to him. There was other things though...

Noah shook his head, walking towards Joshua and the little mess. "Hey Joshua, are you alright?" He managed to ask as the boom of thunder struck the house making the paintings, dishes, and doors rattle. There was the echo of an unhappy squawk of a disgruntled parrot upstairs. Noah grimaced. "That was loud..." He pulled away from the cook as the lights began to dim and flicker. "get ready everyone, lights are about to go out!" Noah called loudly, glad he'd already lit a few oil lamps. The lights dimmed again and buzzed and blacked out as a lightning strike lit up the sky like daytime, leaving a searing burn in anyone's eyes who were unlucky enough to look that direction.

"One Mississippi..." Noah counted as the thunder burst over them, the rain coming down even harder now. The wind was whistling angrily around the house, the trees whipping the stately white walls. The lights came back on with a hum before finally fading to black, taking all the electricity with them. The fans stopped moving leaving the air thick and heavy with the humidity. The windows were shut to protect the floors and furniture of course, no fresh air now.

The windows began to rattle again, seemingly everywhere. Every window rattled. Shook. Like someone pounding on them.
There was the faint noise of feet on the broad front porch. The tell tale scratch-click of dog feet. The back door in the kitchen shook loose, banging open and blasting Rich, Noah, and Joshua with a stream of cold air.
Noah moved first, hurrying to the door and shutting it and locking it.

"Quite a storm, isn't it?"

Eye of the Storm

 

[Dawn]

It seemed as though his grumpy mood had shown through, even despite his attempts to keep it hidden. Joshua sighed to himself while he cleaned, silently scolding himself for acting childishly. He had no right to be possessive over anyone. He'd lost that right a long time ago.

The tell tale sound of footsteps alerted the cook to Noah's return. Would he scold him? Probably not. Something like that really wasn't the boss' style. What he expected Noah to say was exactly what he got, and he paused to let the thunder subside before he nodded in reply, turning a soft smile on the man. "This storm has me on edge," he mumbled. It wasn't completely a lie; just the part where he was using it as an excuse for acting childishly.

When the lights began to flicker substantially, that same eerie feeling from earlier arose in his gut. He took a shaky breath and leaned his palms against the counter top. Noah was warning the guests now and Josh took to lighting the stumpy white candle he'd set on the counter earlier. The smell of a lit match floated on the air for a moment, and though Joshua would never admit it, he was rather fond of such a smell. It reminded him of home.

No sooner had the candle been lit did the power finally quit on them and for a moment he was blinded by a flash of lightning. He blinked several times, trying to rid his vision of the vein-esque streaks of light that had been imprinted there. When he could see properly, he gazed into the dimly lit kitchen to find Noah. Already his skin was prickling from the encroaching humidity, or maybe it was discomfort from how violent the wind had suddenly become. The back door slamming open startled him thoroughly. Without thinking, his right hand swiftly slid a knife from the wooden block on the counter, whirling himself around to face the opening.

Nothing but darkness.

Heart pounding in his chest, Joshua clenched his teeth and slowly returned the knife. Now Noah would ask questions, probably the same ones he'd asked when they'd first met. Probably some new ones too. But not while the guests were around obviously because the man had simply put on his usual happy face as he closed the door and asked a light hearted question.

Joshua could only hope Rich hadn't played witness to his paranoid actions.

"Should you or I go get the other two, Noah?" he asked, reaching for the candle. "Or should we all just gather in the sitting room?" It was better to remain together, at least until it got too late to stay awake.

 

[Revision]

Lotte looked up as the lights dimmed. "Maybe this house is going to be the site of a horror story," she muttered, much of her amusement gone. As the lights went out, she tensed, looking at the windows as they began to rattle. She moved to grab Patrick and pull him away from the windows, should she actually get ahold of him. "Let's get into the hall before those shatter." She ducked into the hall, looking around. The sounds were disturbing, and her earlier humor had dimmed. Horror stories aside, if the roof ripped off of this place, it would be very bad indeed.

She made her way to the kitchen, poking her head in and calling out softly. "Hey. Uh, do you have a cellar or something we can ride out this storm in?" Her hands went to her hair, which had gotten progressively frizzier as the night went on. She ran her fingers through it and leaned on the door, catching sight of a man she hadn't seen before. A peculiar look on her face, she straightened up and sauntered into the room. "Or are we all just going to sit around the table?"

 

[Shoshan]

Lila River had always been considered a bit strange. But being strange had never stopped her from doing anything before, so as she stood in front of the house in the pouring rain she seemed quite at ease; as if this was a situation she was quite familiar with and had been in on more than one occasion.
From a young age she had always been deemed "different" and "odd", so it was no surprise that she was lead here on a hunch -- a premonition, if one willed it -- and that the hunch had something to do with a certain tall, faceless -- but not nameless -- man.

For the last few weeks she had been plagued by dreams; ones of knives, dark hair, and the name of Joshua. Dreams that made her awaken in a cold sweat, clenching her hands into small but rigid fists and left her jaw aching with tension. As she made her way up the steps and under the shelter of the overway she shivered slightly against the cold -- and the feelings of dread and morbid curiosity that made their way up her spine; crawling like some sort of flesh or heat-seeking beetle as the realization dawned on her that this was the place she had been looking for. Pausing to fumble in her purse for a cigarette, she stopped to pray that they weren't entirely damp like the rest of her. "You would have to make your way out to the middle of nowhere just to follow an instinct, and end up looking like a drowned rat, wouldn't you Lila?" To anyone who would have peered through the door at that moment she would have seemed to be nothing more than a small, stately, and highly perturbed figure framed by long, dark, soaking wet hair. But if they had the opportunity to look beyond that they would notice a certain intensity and mysticism behind her heavily lidded eyes.

Shifting slightly in place she considered knocking. What time was it? Two? Three? She forgot to wear her watch, and what with the pouring rain it was damn near impossible to tell from looking at the sky. "Might as well suck it up and do it already." she said, pulling her thin, fur lined coat closer around her already huddled frame. "The worst they can do is laugh at you and turn you away. And that's if anyone is even home." Having already parked her car in the drive a little further down this wouldn't be a problem if they weren't, as she could just seek shelter within the confines of her 1957 Chevy Bel Air and wait it out until morning if no one was home or worse, she was turned away by a frustrated and disgruntled homeowner.

With a slight rap and an inhale on her French filtered cigarette she stood back slightly, waiting for it to open. "Five minutes." she said, exhaling nervously and with no idea of what to do, or say if the door did open. "I'll wait five minutes and that's all. If no one answers I'm high tailing it out of here."

 

[Saint Tribs]

Noah hadn't paid the slightest bit of attention to Joshua's paranoid actions. He'd been too busy with getting the door shut. Though the night was starting to wear on him, the sudden appearance of his cousin, the boy with the broken down car, and now there was the storm. He turned away from his Cook and Cousin and looked out the shaking windows, stroking his trimmed beard. He was getting tired.

"We'll go and get them, can't let them sit out the storm alone." Noah started towards the formal living room only to find himself staring at Lotte who had sauntered up to the kitchen door. He smiled at the woman and shrugged. "It should die down soon, Miss. Just a little summer storm, we don't get Tornadoes up here and we're far enough in from the coast that we don't have to worry about a hurricane..." He ran a hand through his hair and gave an apologetic smile. "But if you think you'd feel safer in the cellar, by all means, I can have Joshua take you down...."

He tilted his head and squinted his head, thinking he'd heard something. Unlike his guests, he was used to the 'active' summer at the House. He found himself wishing for one of his regular guests assistance... but he wasn't due for another month. The man found himself a little more wary as he went towards the front door in the same manner he had when Richard had been there. Only now the lights were gone and all he had was the lanterns that sat flickering around the house, adding to the wavering shadows.

Though Noah wasn't afraid of the house. It was the things outside it the man feared. He swallowed his fear and listened as another short rap hit the door.

"Hey Joshua, I think we have another guest..." He huffed slightly and opened the door, face to face with a woman. In a fur coat? Noah just blinked a little owlishly. She seemed a figure out of another time for sure.

"H-Hi... Can I help you, Ma'am?"

 

[Shoshan]

Lila was standing on the stoop counting down the seconds until she could bolt when the door swung open. "H-Hi..Can I help you, Ma'am?" came the voice. Spinning around she paused to glance at the figure in front of her, but with no light it was difficult to make out the features of her host. "Hi, yes, gosh. Do you mind if I come in?" she said, bustling in past the significantly taller man in front of her, not bothering to wait for an invitation. Shrugging out of her soaking wet coat she turned apologetically. "Look. Golly, where to start..." she sighed, welcoming the warmth of the air on the chilled skin. "I don't mean to be intrusive, you see, but I'm here for a Joshua. Maybe you know him? He's a bit taller than me, he's got dark hair, and he's in pretty big trouble..." At this her voice trailed off. "Smooth going, Lila..." she thought with a slight shake of her head.

"Look Mister," she said as she hung her coat on a hook near the door. "I haven't exactly met him but I know he's here. I need to see him pretty gosh darn badly and I can't leave until I do. You understand, right? And besides, what with this weather and you being a gentleman and all, I don't really foresee you turning a gal out into THAT mess out there, right?" Turning to meet the pensive gaze of her host she could see that no, he didn't understand fully, but the bemused smile tugging at the corners of his lips belied his interest at her arrival nonetheless. Stepping around him once more she ran a hand through her damp hair -- a nervous habit she had picked up long ago during her school-age days.

Now that she was further inside it was possible to see the glow of candlesticks coming from another room further down the entryway. Motioning with her hand she pointed to the dim light. "Is he in there..?" she asked, scrunching her face up slightly as the sudden realization that she was about to confront the man of her dreams -- literally -- in a soaking wet crushed velvet dress, wrinkled stockings, and not a clue of how the situation was going to work itself out.

 

[Saint Tribs]

Noah blinked as he was suddenly confronted with a woman. A talkative one. One that just waltzed right into his home and told him what he was going to do and not going to do. He just raised a brow, the friendly host smile vanishing. All he could hear in his head was that she needed to see Joshua. Joshua was in trouble. She was here for Joshua.
For Joshua.
For Joshua.

It took him a minute to regain his friendly demeanor before he turned around to the woman with a small tight smile. "Any friend of Joshua's is a friend of mine..." Though honestly all he wanted to do was to pluck his iphone out of his pocket and dial the town police to come and drag this girl out of his house.

"I'm Noah Thorne, owner of this Bed and Breakfast..."

It was bad enough that he'd already got the kid, Patrick who probably had no money and then his cousin had shown up and honestly he didn't want to ask Richard for money and now... Now there was a strange and slightly bossy young woman who was right out of some 1950's movie. Noah was getting more and more tired by the minute.

"Hey Joshua." He found his voice unusually sharp and snappish. "There's a lady here who needs to see you. Will you assist her with getting dry?"

Noah gave the woman a curt nod and off he went to attend to the other guests and to Richard, making sure he was still eating and everything was alright.

"I think I'm going to hit the hay everyone... If you need a lamp or a candle, you can just grab one on your way up to bed but I bet the electricity will be back on by the morning for breakfast." He gave them all a warm but tired smile that was wearing away at the edges.

"If you need anything, just ask!"

 

[Shoshan]

Dropping her bag onto the floor with a thud, Lila paused to inhale; as if breathing alone could ward off the tight, strangled feeling creeping around her chest. She knew that Noah's hospitality was begrudging, at best, but she also knew she couldn't leave until she had seen Joshua and figured out what she was going to do. And if the frosty greeting was any indication of her time spent here it was going to be a long and trying time indeed. Stooping for a moment she paused to rummage in her bag, extracting an envelope of money. She had researched the bed and breakfast before arriving, so if her calculations were correct the sum in the envelope should be enough to cover three months of renting and household expenses -- though she was sorely praying it wouldn't have to be nearly that long. In her line of work, though, the unpredictable had become quite predictable in its nature so it was better to plan ahead in these types of situations.

Righting herself once more she placed the envelope on the entryway table and placed a paperweight on top of it. Nothing about the people in this house -- and she could clearly sense at least four other men and women -- gave her any impression that it wouldn't be safe to leave it out. Hopefully Noah would find it before too long and unwind a little when he realized that she wasn't here looking for a handout. Just to help Joshua from whatever danger is lurking in the house.

And the house... "Gosh..." Lila thought. The house... It seemed to pulsate with an energy, almost as if it had the desire to make itself known and make it known that she, of all the people residing there, was the most unwelcome.

 

[Cerulean]

Up until a certain point, Rich just continued into the nice little meal. There was not really a point in panicking. Not to say that a little shivering took place from the sneaky wind. Thunderstorms were not the worst thing to happen. Electricity going out was a common thing. Windows shakes and cold winds were almost worthless. So there hasn't a point in panicking. He didn't make another move, until the lights finally died out. Not because of some sudden fear. It was because the cold cook had made motions in the dark. The outlined seemed to blur while the pupil tried to gather the undetectable motion. Deciding it wasn't worth a mention, he felt around and determined that everything was finished.

"Sure thing, Noah. I can give any help, if need be." he almost jokingly declared

It was time for him to clean up a bit. Using visual memory, Rich gently placed the items. Now he just hoped he didn't put the dishes on the wrong side of the sink. That was about the time two new darkened faces made their way to his location. A hidden shrug was given to the whole situation. Weather seemed to give some a little jerk here and there. Luckily, Noah was a knowledgeable, reassuring host.

He began to feel his now messy, yet dry, hair. A hope for a dry fedora had now welled up within him. That could wait though. Certain materials took longer to dry, anyways.

 

[Elyd]

Patrick followed Lotte, caught up in her worry about the storm. It certainly thrashed against the windows. He couldn't even see outside anymore. Did he even have a couch to sleep on here? Maybe he'd just stay up all night in one of the sitting rooms. Noah seemed pretty laid back about the storm, though. "I don't think we need to go down to a cellar, do you, Lotte?" Patrick asked as Noah moved away to deal with other guests. "I'm not sure if there's a place for me to stay the night, though. I might sit up in the living room for a while, away from the windows. Know any good ghost stories to tell me?"

He looked around the kitchen again. "Huh, you guys weren't here around dinnertime, were you?" Patrick asked. "It's the right weather for it. We could take some candles that Noah said are in here and tell ghost stories in the dark. Scare ourselves." He tried to act tougher than he was, especially since he was pretty spooked with the place to begin with. Maybe with a few ghost stories in him he'd be immune to the random noises and the lights going out.

 

[Dawn]

Josh was content to stand back and let all questions be answered by the boss. After all he was really just there to cook and do maintenance and look pretty. Dealing with guests hardly ever fell to him and he was thankful for that, considering how socially awkward he seemed to be.

As the three official guests went about their conversations, Noah left the room mid-sentence. Eyebrow raised in question, the cook thought about following mostly because he was curious of the boss' sudden behavior. But that would mean leaving the guests unattended and without anyone to answer any more questions they might have. So he stayed, and maybe it was his imagination but he thought he heard Noah talking out in the hallway. The rain was rather loud on the roof, sounding more like an ocean wave in an never ending loop. If he closed his eyes he could almost smell the salty air and feel the cool spray on his skin... Conversation faded from existence as confusion overwhelmed him.

When had he ever been to the ocean?

This time he heard Noah for sure, calling to him even, and Joshua snapped out of his daze. He excused himself from the group and hurried out into the hall, only to pass Noah along the way. A woman? Here to see him? He was both nervous and curious. As far as he knew, no women were chasing him though he couldn't be certain.

As he stepped closer to the slender figure standing in the hall, his pace slowed and he leaned his head the slightest to the side as if he were peeking around a corner. In reality he was just trying to catch a glimpse of her face before she saw him. As the light from the candle he held washed over her, he felt a sudden longing for home. Maybe it was her clothes. Clothes he hadn't seen in a long time. Just her pale skin was enough to assure him she wasn't one of them. "Excuse me, Miss..." he said softly, his accent thicker than usual but perhaps only because he was still on edge and preoccupied with curious thoughts. "Do I know you?" he asked, his posture righting itself the moment she turned around and his brow furrowed a little in yet even more confusion.

He'd never seen her face before. Of that he was certain.

 

[Shoshan]

"Excuse me, Miss..." the voice came softly from near the hall door. "Do I know you?"

Turning to face the voice Lila nearly had to stop herself from clapping in delight. It was him. He had the same dark hair, the same eyes, the same smell. It was him. It was Joshua. Stepping closer to him she began to wring her hands nervously as she chewed on her lower lip in thought."No, you don't know me per se... but I know you. I've seen you before. Up here." she said, tapping a finger to her temple. "In my dreams." Laughing a little she stepped forward to take his hand, holding it in her own. The sudden flare of energy that sparked between the two of them was more than she had prepared herself for. She was used to reading people's auras through a combination of intuition and touch but this was most unusual. It felt as if there was a dark and menacing energy attached to Joshua; something lingering and wrapping itself around him, blocking her from reading -- or even sensing -- his own aura. "Interesting..." she thought, dropping his hand gently.

Peering up at him she could see the nerves, the confusion, and something near to recognition in his eyes. "Poor dear," she said as she smiled softly. "I must have given you a fright, bursting in here so unannounced and with all of this mad talk. Why don't we sit down and talk properly and get to know each other, as it were." Shivering slightly she once again wrapped her arms around her slight frame. "But first I'd like to go ahead and get changed and possibly indulge a hot beverage of some kind. Preferably something with alcohol. I'm quite sure I'm merely a stones throw away from pneumonia and I can't exactly work if I'm in ill health..." Cutting herself off she reached up to brush a hand across his cheek.

"It will all be ok." she whispered noting the pained expression on Joshua's face. She moved down the hall, silently collecting her previously discarded bag and coat. "I'll show myself to my lodgings. I will meet you down here shortly."

 

[Revision]

Lotte watched the goings on for a moment, alternating between watching those in the kitchen and those without. She listened to Patrick's suggestion with mild interest, but after the show with the doors, she didn't feel as interested in ghost stories. She suddenly just felt lonely again.

"I think I'm just going to go up to my room," she said, smiling to Patrick before heading upstairs with a candle.

The stairs should have creaked. She should have found at least one creaky floorboard, but luck was with her and she missed them all, which did more to set her on edge than the expected noise ever could have. She unlocked her door, slipping in and locking it again before setting the key and candle on her bedside table. She really wanted a bath, but that could wait til morning. Bathing in the dark was relaxing, but being in a pool of water in a lightning storm was just idiotic. The bride-that-wasn't perched on the edge of her bed, unhooking her sandals and kicking them off, stretching long legs out. She tried not to let her mind wander to where her former fiance might be. No, best to distract herself from that.

Standing, she made her way over to the little room's bookshelf. Frustratingly, her shadow cut off the line of light from the candle. She made a face, turning to take the candle from the table. She was curious about the books, after all. Maybe they'd give her something to read.

As she picked the candle up, she frowned. She could have sworn she'd seen a flicker of motion outside one of the room's windows. A moment later, lightning flashed, and there was nothing there, nothing but water running down the windowpane. Perhaps that was all she had seen, too, and too many years of listening to ghost stories had gotten to her. She decided to forego the book for the night, setting the candle back down on the bedside table and going to rummage in her suitcases. She had no real gowns, nothing but lacy, sheer lingerie that left very little to the imagination. It was supposed to be her honeymoon, there wasn't supposed to be a need for pajamas. She picked the garment that at least covered the important parts before climbing into bed and pulling the covers up.

She was almost asleep when she remembered the candle and turned to blow it out. In the dark, she rolled over to her other side. Something was wrong. She narrowed her eyes at the window. Part of it seemed darker than the rest. Another lightning flash lit the outside world up. For a moment, Charlotte found herself staring into a pair of bright, glowing blue eyes. Her mind tried to tell her that it was a cat; their eyes reflected in bright light at night, after all. But that wasn't a cat shape. Cats weren't the size of men. They didn't have six inch talons that dug into window frames and, while they were covered in fur, they certainly did not have long, jagged looking horns with almost antler like offshoots.

Screaming, she tumbled back out of her bed, knocking the still warm candle to the floor and splashing her arm with sticky wax. She scrambled up to her feet, running to the door and struggling to get it open before dashing down the steps, still in her nightie, and almost falling in her haste.

"There's something out there!!!"

 

[Dawn]

"Wha--" The idea that anyone could know anyone else without having met them before was just silly, at least to Joshua. She'd claimed to have seen him in her mind, or rather, in her dreams. How was such a thing even possible? He was reminded of a crazy old woman from the village he hailed from, about how she would claim to be able to read minds. Really, she seemed like she was just good at extacting information without the victim even realizing it, suggesting vague things and letting her 'client' fill in the details. And Joshua was just about to ask this woman if she, too, were slightly insane, though the matter dropped from his attention the moment their hands met.

A jolt like water on electricity traveled up his arm and it was unlike anything he'd ever felt regardless of having, on a few occasions, actually electrocuted himself a little. This was unfamiliar, alien in sensation but it left a terribly anxious feeling in his gut. Confused and slightly taken aback, the cook could barely listen to the woman as she rambled on; he was tempted to demand answers from her that actually made sense.

However, she didn't seem like she was here to harm him, only stupefy him with her strange talk. He caught something about her needing to warm up and he remembered Noah's order to get her settled, his vision cutting to the thick envelope she'd been placing when he'd come to her. His guess was that the envelope was a generous sum of money for her stay here, which could only mean she planned to stay for a while. He didn't know whether this was a good thing or a terrible omen.

Suddenly a chilled hand touched his warm cheek and he unwillingly shivered a little, fighting the urge to be rude and pull away. For some reason, he both loved and hated her touch. And now that she'd stopped talking, he could finally get a word in. "Listen, Ma'am. I don't know what you've just gone on about, but if you're hell bent on showing yourself to your room, it's at the end of the hall on the first floor up. I'll wait for you in the sitting room."

Candle in hand, he picked up the package of money and moved through the house to aforementioned sitting room. It seemed everyone else really had gone to bed by this point and once again, being alone in the dark had Joshua feeling just a little spooked. He set the candle down on a nearby table, then moved to the safe behind a painting to place the envelope inside. Then he settled down on the window seat and took to looking out into the storm.

What was that feeling, that spark of energy all about? And how could she possibly have dreamed about him without ever meeting him? And...she'd mentioned something about this being her work... He decided then that that woman was just as crazy as the ones chasing him. The supernatural was just stories and myth, created to scare the weak of heart. No one had special abilites to read minds. It was all cheep tricks.

So why did he feel as if there were eyes on him, watching him from the other side of the window?

Between the rumbles of thunder, Joshua heard someone shout and snapped his head toward the entrance to the room. He heard footsteps thumping down the stairs and quickly hurried to intercept the scared client. He noticed the bouncing brown curls before anything else. "Charlotte!" he gasped, reaching out to catch her. "What's going on? Why are you.. u-umm..."

Well... The so-called nightie she was sporting left little to the imagination.