LOGINShare
Once
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56I think I got to frown. I’m not quite sure. If I did, it lasted less than a heartbeat, because his lips brushing mine melted it —and me— away. My eyelids fell, erasing whatever surrounded us, and I stood on my tiptoes to reach his lips better.
He broke our kiss a lot sooner than I would’ve wanted, and met my eyes with that warm smile that was my doom.
“Tell me again who’s in the Manor right now?” he whispered, his thumb tracing my parted lips.
A stray brain cell, sole survivor of his kiss, helped me answer. “The Blotters.”
“Three, four of them?”
“Six.”
“Six, wow. And your two friends, and Isaac, right?”
“Yes.”
“And a demon in the garden.”
“He’s not a demon.”
“Well, your hellhound pet in the garden.”
“Yes.”
He tilted his head and I knew whatever he
Related chapters
Haunter One Quiet Ride
“Everything set?”I saw Brandon nod, still pushing the backseat to a horizontal position, and headed to the guesthouse. Trisha followed me, cam in hand, while Isaac filmed everything from the middle of the garden. Nightfall was on us, and it was time to hit the road for the long drive to Pennhurst, where we intended to get just past midnight.“Kujo?” I called, crossing the living room toward the dining room.“Fran,” was the instant response.“Ready to go home, my boy?”I heard the shuffling under the table and crouched down.“Bring bag.”“You wanna keep it?”“Fran.”I nodded, chuckling, and picked up my sleeping bag. It was hot as an electric blanket.“C’mon, they’re all waiting for us,” I said, feeling the heat against my side, from my leg to my shoulder. “You and I are ridi
Haunter Homecoming
Brandon woke me up before one in the morning. I’d fallen asleep after our last stop at a gas station, at about ten. I sat up, rubbing my eyes. It was hot in the car.“Where are we?” I muttered.“Close,” said Kujo from the backseat.“Almost there,” Brandon replied, handing me his phone ready to make a call. “Dial Brett to let him know we’re five minutes away from Spring City.”I did. It was the first time I talked to this guy, and when I introduced myself, he seemed to have a whole lot of questions. Brandon heard him and signaled me to hold the phone between us on speaker.“Hey, Brett, we’re almost there. You’ll see yourself in a few minutes. Did you get any psychic or medium to be there with you?”“I’m a sensitive, Brandon, don’t you remember?”“Sorry, man. It’s been a while and a thousand places. See you in
Haunter It's Been a Pleasure
I was like a zombie for the next couple of hours, trying to process Kujo was finally free, back home, and on the slow lane out of my life. I knew I should be ecstatic and thrilled. For once in my life, I’d achieved what I’d set up to do. And it was no less than releasing a captive being back to its home unharmed, safe and sound. I’d had a lot of help, yeah, but I’d done it! That alone should’ve made me feel happy and proud of myself. Yet, I felt like crap. I’d grown too fond of Kujo for my own good, and now I felt like I’d just chopped one of my hands off or something like that.And there was something else scratching the back of my head. The next day I’d be back to Blotter Manor all by myself. No more adventures, no more thrills, no more one-night stands with dubious celebs. Everybody would go back to their lives, and I would go back to my silent, solitary existence, in which nobody, living or not, had any need of me.Ok
Haunter Some Sort of Normal
Trisha and Amy looked at me, at each other, and spared me any question or comment. I climbed into the backseat and fell asleep as soon as we exited the hotel parking lot, letting them drive the whole way back to Blotter Manor.We got there just before sunset. The three of us were wasted, and could only think of going to bed. And so we did. The next morning, we woke up really early, even Trisha, and decided to have a breakfast to cover for the dinner we’d skipped the night before. Looked like those two had been talking about me while I snored from the backseat. Trisha wore her regal smile of queen of discretion and asked if I would be okay with having her over a few times a week, on weekdays.“You’re gonna need help with the burns for at least a couple of weeks,” she said.“And I would like to drop by on weekends, if you don’t mind,” said Amy.I frowned, smelling rat. “I’m fine, guys, really.”
Haunter Breaking News
The Monday after Thanksgiving, Trisha landed past lunchtime, after Susan and Mike left, and didn’t give me a chance to even say hi.“Have you seen the news?” she cried, and smashed the phone in my face.I read the headline and frowned, trying to compute the words. Brandon Price is leaving Haunters after season ten. What the flying fuck?Trisha saw me gawk and pushed me to the east parlor.“May we?” she asked before pushing me in.“Of course.”Trisha made me sit down on the couch under the window and left me there.“Are you okay, Fran?” asked Ann.“Yes, yes, I’m just surprised,” I got to say before Trisha came back with both tablets and set them on the coffee table.“You guys need to hear this,” she said, browsing the whole article on her phone. “Hold tight. I’m gonna read it all.”&l
Haunter On a White Night
A week. That was the longest I was able to fight myself back. My conversation with Amy about Brandon worked like battery acid in my mind, corroding any intention and determination to find a Haunter-free life.It was Sunday afternoon, and the world outside every window was carpeted in the purest white I’d ever seen. It’d been snowing at least for a while almost every day since I’d come back from Pennhurst, and the one and only snowplow in charge of keeping Greenwich Road open was working overtime.After the fire at the guesthouse, Mike had called the best sweepers in all Massachusetts to make sure the Manor chimneys wouldn’t act out too, and now I was able to have heaters with little flames in the kitchen, the east parlor, my room and the study.So Sunday afternoon, white as far as I could see from the couch under the window in the east parlor. I praised the last work of art Charlotte had made on her magnetic board and bid the Blo
Haunter Countdown
Somehow, Trisha managed to get home before Monday sunset. She’d had to leave her car in Boston, take a bus to Worcester, another from there to Hardwick and then walk all the way from town to the Manor. But she made it, and I treated her to a lavish dinner, before sending her upstairs for a relaxing bath and a good night sleep in her warm, comfy bed.I was still excited about Brandon’s call, but I put it aside to hear about her crazy adventures in the snow. By Tuesday morning, when my friend found her way downstairs to let Susan have her way on the second floor, I was already calm and composed, and just dropped a casual comment about it.“Oh, he texted me last night,” she said, struggling to go from the standing-up state to really awake. “Just a line: let’s do it after New Year. You coming back from the party with him?”I frowned, thinking that was actually a good idea. If roads were open, maybe he would accept an invitat
Haunter Whole
Of course I was in the bathroom when the bell rang at Amy’s. Not any bathroom, but the one at the other end of the apartment. That’s my sixth sense for you. I scampered toward the front door, my heart racing. I stormed into the living room and hardly stopped to make sure it was him. A heartbeat later, I was jumping into his open arms.We didn’t laugh, we didn’t talk, we didn’t kiss. We just stood there, hugging each other as tightly as we could. And it was so weird. Because at that moment in his arms, my cheek against his chest, hearing his heart pound, feeling the light weight of his face against my hair, I felt that ever since I’d tiptoed out of that hotel room, I’d been lacking something vital I hadn’t noticed was missing. But not anymore. Now I was whole again.I don’t know how long we remained like that, a minute or a year. But he eventually kissed my hair and loosened his arms around me, just enough for me to
Latest chapter
Haunter The Third Time's the Charm
The traveling crews came back to Los Angeles for the holidays a couple of days later, and Brandon decided he felt brave enough to host a dinner for all of them at one of the restaurants they used to go to.It would be like his big comeback to society, leaving behind almost four months of reclusion and darkness. And to mark the occasion, he warned me that Cake had leaked the date and place to a few reporters.“Meaning my friends will be there?”“Guess so. The problem is that ban on you. I don’t want them to leave you out of the report. The other way around: I want everybody to know we’re together.”I looked up at him with a heartfelt sigh. But like it always happened over the last week, meeting his eyes focused on mine made me so happy, I couldn’t refuse. So I called Greta Arbosky, who said she would take care of letting them know about this one exception. I disconnected and faced him, raising my eyebrows.&
Haunter The Hard Way Back
Against all odds, Brandon was the easiest, most complying patient in history. I think the scare of almost losing all his sight gave a whole new meaning to this opportunity to restore his eyes to full health. He never complained about the awful cream he had to apply directly on his eyeballs, he never missed drops or meds time, he slept on his belly, and kept his eye shields on around the clock.The first week was the hardest, of course, while he still wore the dressings. However, his determination to walk the line, no matter how hard, annoying or frustrating, helped us find our way around it faster than I’d ever expected. Just like the doctor had said, Brandon had been so stressed up over the last two or three weeks, he was plain exhausted, so he slept a lot over the first three days.My hovering tendencies kept me always within a few steps from wherever he was. At first, I thought he would soon get sick and tired of my relentless watch over him, but it was actual
Haunter A Brand New Day
I jumped to my feet when I heard Brandon move. His fingers flickered slightly and I covered his hand with mine, my heart hammering my chest. His head tilted a little toward me and his lips parted.“Hey,” I whispered. “Easy there.”He tried to speak and frowned.“It’s okay, Bran. The surgery worked alright.”He frowned deeper, trying to press my fingers. I took his hand to my lips to kiss it.“It worked, Bran,” I repeated, just in case. “You’re gonna be fine.”His shaky sigh told me he’d understood. His other hand came slowly up to brush the dressing covering his eyes.“That’s gonna stay there for a few days.”“Did it?” he mumbled, as his fingers explored the dressing further.“Yes, love. It worked. If we do what the doctor says, you’re gonna be fine in a few months. Maybe even better than before the inf
Haunter Better Angels
We woke up early the next morning. Brandon couldn’t have breakfast before surgery, but we were both too anxious to even feel any hunger. Cake arrived as we were coming down to the first floor, looking rested and ten years younger than the night before. On the way to the hospital, I took advantage of being alone in the backseat of the car to send a few texts. To Amy, to let her know I’d gotten to LA fine and everything was peachy. To Isaac, to let him know I was already in town, going with Brandon to the hospital, and I’d text him how the surgery had gone as soon as I found out. And finally to Harry, to ask him to remind Hugo to send all his light and all his angels to come lend a hand.“Who are you texting to?” asked the control freak from the passenger’s seat.“The press, obviously. Your NY Barbie and her gossiping friends will be waiting for us at the hospital.”He turned in his seat, frowning at me from behind h
Haunter Hold On Tight
I woke up at about three. Brandon was sound asleep, so much so that I was able to sneak between his arms without him even flinching. Back from the bathroom, I heard noises downstairs. Then I remembered the disaster zone the living area was when I’d come into the house. I got dressed and headed to the first floor, still trying to tie my hair in a ponytail.Guadalupe had arrived while we were upstairs, and her grin when she saw me threw me off. She and Cake had sort of cleaned up the living area, but the place still looked like the guys from A Clockwork Orange had dropped by to say hi. The kitchen was still a mess, with a lot of glass and smashed mugs all over the floor, wine and all kinds of things spilled on the floor. And when I say all kinds of things, I mean even mayonnaise. So I wore an apron, put on rubber gloves and set to clean up disaster zone number two.Guadalupe and Cake materialized in the kitchen, looking spooked. I faced them with
Haunter Shattered
I had a glimpse of the whole living area completely trashed, like a hurricane had blasted through it, but I couldn’t care less. I rushed to the stairs and up to the second floor, to storm into the master bedroom. I froze just past the doorway. My heart, which was about to crack my chest open, suddenly stopped, and everything spun around me.Because Brandon was lying on his bed, unconscious, a bleeding cut on his forehead that had sprayed blood all over him. Cake was right by his side, lifting his limp legs up to the bed.“He tripped in the kitchen and hit his head with the isle,” Cake managed to say, panting after carrying Brandon all the way upstairs.I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move.“Fran! Bring me a wet towel!”His shout made me snap out of my shock. I dropped my bag on the floor and ran around the bed to the bathroom, where I grabbed the first towel I
Haunter The Longest Hours
I sneaked out of the sleeping bag the moment Brandon left his seat.“Gina!” I called, crawling on all fours out of the tent.“What is it, Fran?”“Gina, I’m so sorry, but I can’t stay to come tomorrow night,” I said, wiping my tears away just to make room for more to rain down my face.“It’s okay, Fran. Don’t worry about us.”“Kujo protect,” he said, coming to stick to my side.“You guys sure?”“Yes. Go do what you have to do.”“Okay,” I mumbled, and got back into the tent to grab my phone.The first morning flight from Philadelphia International to LAX was scheduled to live after six AM. Shit. It was hardly past midnight. Whatever. Better late than never. I bought a ticket online, already doing the math. I could check in about five thirty, so I had to leave Pennhurst
Haunter The Redemption
Brandon walked across the Manor garden in the sunset, hands in his pockets, looking around absentmindedly as he spoke.“I had to watch the footage to actually remember what had happened, and her words shocked me. She called me a puppet. She knew what was going on. Back then, I only understood they wouldn’t let me get to her, especially when Isaac turned his back on me. I couldn’t believe it. He’d betrayed me! My best friend! How powerful could this demon be to turn the man who had been my best friend for the last twenty-five years against me? I was trapped, all alone. I might have to fight for my life.” He looked at the camera. “You must be wondering if I stayed. The answer is yes. Why?” He let out a bitter chuckle. “The truth is I have no idea.” He shrugged. “I was so out of my mind that night, I can count at least half a dozen reasons why I stayed. And none of them make any sense.”They cut back to the
Haunter The Demons We Breed
“Here she comes,” Brandon said, his voice reflecting exactly the same as his face. “The little witch comes to protect the demon. Not this time.”I felt Kujo brush his face against mine and realized I was holding my breath, still shaking from head to toe. His warm touch helped me snap out of it.Brandon kept taunting and provoking Kujo until I got there, trying to burn him with his holy water. And then he’d come at me, triggering Kujo’s reaction. After Kujo attacked him, hurting me in the process, I saw him jump back to his feet and try to fight Kujo with his bear fists, punching through him like a madman, almost stomping on me, ‘cause I was pretty much unconscious at his feet. Amy stormed down the stairs as Isaac managed to pull him away from me, and forced the camera into his hands to carry me up the stairs in his arms, while Amy kept Brandon at a safe distance.“Kujo mad.”“But y
