No Angels

Chapter 4

Standing in front of the mirror, trying to figure out what the hell to do with her limp hair, was when Heather realized that she had no idea what to even say to Erik. Dear god, had she just planned to burst in and say what, exactly? 'I see dead people.' 'Surprise, your mom's a ghost.' 'Your mother is an insanely determined woman.' This guy was going to think that she belonged in the insane asylum. Not to mention the fact that this could cause the poor guy even more sadness than it was worth.

What if he didn't even want to be found?

Perfect. Now that she was so close to finding Erik, her common sense was beginning to return. Heather let out a sigh, realizing that it was too late to back out, that she had no choice but to go through it. For Edie. For Erik.

Heather ran her fingers through her tragically straight brown hair, looking at it with resentment, before walking over to the bed to dig through her bag for a headband. Thinking it, she let out a victorious hum before returning to the mirror and put it across her forehead, pushing back over her hair. Tucking it behind her ears, she took a step back to examine her handiwork. 

She noticed the dark, heavy bags under her dark brown - so dark they were almost black - eyes and soon cursed herself for not remembering to grab some makeup or something to cover them up because she looked like she was suffering from a goddamn hangover.

Not to mention that her shirt looked like something the pilgrims would wear.

This was going to be a great day.

"Are you ready to go, liebe?" Heather had noticed Edie standing behind her, the mirror reflecting her thin face, and thankfully didn't suffer from a heart attack at the ghost's sudden appearance. "Yeah, yeah, I am," She said, turning to look back at the woman, "Just let me grab my bag and we'll be off." Edie simply nodded and waited quietly as Heather grabbed the bag quickly and exited the room, key in hand. The two were silent on their walk through the hallway, before Edie finally broke the silence. "So, are you nervous?"

"No. Maybe. Yes," Heather laughed breathlessly, "To be honest, I'm terrified. I'm - not good with people. After all, my company is usually either Joey or, you know, dead." Edie gave her a small smile, obviously not trying to laugh, "You'll be fine. Just try to be yourself - " Heather snorted at that, but Edie gave her sharp look, before continuing, " - And don't panic."

"What if he doesn't believe me?"

"I could always tell you some of his embarrassing baby stories. I feel like that would be very convincing."

Heather, surprised, choked a little bit at that comment, replying with "We'll count that as Plan B for now." Silence fell over them again, as they began to climb down the stairs, before she finally asked, "How can you be so calm?" Edie turned to look at her, the smile not fully reaching her eyes. "Oh, I am. Don't worry, I am. Just the possibility of seeing him after all this time, to see the man he's become - well, it overlaps the fear." Heather opened her mouth, stunned by the woman's words. That was - no words could really describe it. It made her almost proud to have taken the job, to give this woman and her boy together at last - 

"Plus I'm not the one that has to explain this all to him."

Great.

"I really wish you would have taken the car."

Heather resisted the very strong urge to glare at Edie as the two walked along a dirt road. "You don't even get tired," She snapped, "You weren't even here for the last 4 miles." The look Edie gave her said something along the lines of 'what's your point' and Heather just decided that it was pointless to argue further, dropping the topic quickly.

Edie suddenly stopped, her eyes squinting as she gazed ahead of them. "What? What's wrong?" Heather asked curiously. "There's a lane up ahead. 1407 Graymalkin Lane is the address we need, yeah?" Heather's stomach did somersaults, relieved and terrified to have found the damned place. "Yeah, it is. How much farther?"

"Not too far. Hurry up, let's go." Edie disappeared again and Heather growled - a noise that didn't sound intimidating, instead sounding like she was choking - as she continued to walk on.

Ghosts these days.

When Heather first saw the house - more like castle, holy shit - her jaw nearly hit the ground. Never in her life had she seen a house - that a president didn't live in - that looked so huge or so elegant. 'Damn,' she thought to herself, as she walked up the cement steps of the mansion, 'Erik found a pretty great place to live.'

She stood in front of the wooden doors for a moment, raising her fist slowly, hesitating, before banging it against the wood. 'Alright,' she thought to herself as she stepped back to wait. 'I'll just - talk to Erik, tell him the truth, then go home and curl up in a fuzzy blanket and mourn over my non existent social life,' she thought, trying to calm her breathing, 'Everything will be fine, everything will be fine, everything will be - 

The man answering was not Erik.

- Not fine.

The man was around her height, maybe a little shorter, but none the less around her age. He had wavy brown hair and the brightest blue eyes - like holy shit, man - and he was staring at her expectantly and oh my god, did she not think of the possibility that Erik wasn't alone? The man gave her a kind, small smile, but his eyes said 'why the hell is this girl on my porch not saying anything?'

Heather opened her mouth, but she was at a loss of words. 'Say something, you idiot', she shrieked inside of her head, 'Don't just stand there!' So she did. Or at least tried to. "Uh," she began, trying to find something not totally embarrassing to say, something that would smooth over the awkwardness, something that wouldn't make her want to jump off a cliff, "Uh, hi."

Where's the nearest cliff?