Ghosts we leave behind

chapter 15; dreams

It didn't stop raining and Nora woke up with a headache. She lifted her head from the pillow and blinked, slowly. The room was much darker now and she could barely see beyond what the light from the street could reach. She wiped away some drool that had dried on the edge of her mouth and sat up so that her legs dangled off the side of the bed.

After a moment or two of regaining her senses, she reached for her phone and checked for any notifications. Elijah still hadn't responded. But instead there were a few memes from Patrick on Instagram. She sighed and closed her phone, getting up and turning the light on. She winced slightly before stretching. Her muscles ached and her throat felt scratchy, too.

Walking out of the room with her phone, she made her way to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Yawning without covering her mouth, she had a look over the items in the fridge and the possibilities for dinner. There was some leftovers from the previous night but it wasn't enough for both of them. She sighed and pulled out some frozen fish and left them in a plate by the sink. She would have to microwave it if she wanted dinner before midnight.

Dreading having to work in the kitchen, she pulled her hair up and re-did her hair before splashing some water on her face. The cold water woke her up and as she dried her face with a tissue, Eleanor appeared in the doorway. Nora nearly jumped but collected herself and straightened up, tossing the tissue into the bin.

"Hey," Nora said.

Eleanor looked drowsy. Her hair was messy and face more sullen than usual.

"I think I might be getting sick," Eleanor told her. "I slept through the day."

Nora swallowed, nervously. "I hope not. Maybe you just need some food in you."

"Hmm," she sounded unconvinced. "Are you okay doing dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Nora responded.

Eleanor walked out of the kitchen and Nora returned to cooking. It took slightly longer than she had wanted but eventually she had two plates of grilled fish and vegetables. Eleanor was on the sofa so she brought the food over to her.

"Oh, we can eat it there," Eleanor began to say, getting up from the sofa.

"No no, it's warmer here."

"Are you sure?" Eleanor was clearly uncomfortable eating in the living room.

But Nora didn't pay it too much attention and insisted that Eleanor stay put where she was. She sat down on the accompanying sofa and started to eat, slowly. Watching Eleanor from the corner of her eye, Nora couldn't help but feel slightly skeptical of her. Eleanor knew all too well that she had been sitting on a passage for anything and anyone to enter or exit the house. Why were they locking the front door when someone might as well just walk in through the basement?

Nora swallowed her last green bean and put the fork down on her plate.

She wanted to confront her, ask her if anyone else had known about the tunnel. But she didn't. That night, they both returned to their rooms without any ground breaking discussions.

However, after changing into her night clothes, Nora called her mother. Eventually, Charlotte picked up and Nora's shoulders relaxed slightly.

"I need to tell you something," Nora said.

"What happened? Is everything okay?"

Great. Now she had riled up her mother.

"Everything's fine. It's about the house," she began. "I found a tunnel in nan's basement today."

There was silence on the other end. After what seemed like forever, she replied.

"What?"

"It leads out into the fields," Nora explained. "Anyone can come in and out of the house, I don't even feel safe here anymore."