2. Ghost

Genre: Paranormal drama, romance
Type: Series
Characters: Leigh, Krimsyn, Krisis
Prompt: 49 - Ghost
Word Count: 1891
Warning: coarse language, some violence,
Rating:  PG-13
Summary: Leigh gets more than what she bargained for, Krisis sees a ghost from his past.

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Bridgeport
June 15, 2010 (Present Day)

Ashleigh Starlington fidgeted in her chair, and scratched her neck absently.

The things we do for money! She thought crossly as she tried not to think about the heavy coat on her back. It was Eloise’s, her best friend, and it was damn itchy and uncomfortable. She’d wanted to shed it off as soon as Eloise wrapped it around her, but she knew her friend was right; it did make her look professional.

She tapped her foot impatiently on the floor, and glanced at her wrist watch.

“Come on,” she groaned under her breath. She wasn’t there by choice, and she resented it. The sudden tension at home had sent her rummaging through the job’s section of Bridgeport Times, the town’s daily newspaper. Now here she was, twiddling her thumbs and waiting for the Frosts to show up.

 She chewed on her nails, and wondered what she was getting herself into. She had a degree in education, but not enough experience…She’d poured all her energy on her art gallery after she quit her teaching job, despite Devon’s firm protests. Not listening to her older brother had proven to be the biggest mistake of her life two years later when her business went belly up.

Bridgeport was not an intellectual town; the rich and famous were more concerned with partying and living it up. Once in a while though, some big star bought a masterpiece from her. But she couldn’t rely on that, and that’s why Tamsyn, Devon’s fiancé, had finally slammed her and told her to get a ‘real job’. Bills were piling up and they weren’t going to pay themselves while they all waited for some celebrity to buy her silly paintings. Yes, those were Tamsyn’s exact words and Leigh’s eyes still stung with mortification when she thought of their argument the week before.

 “You won’t have any fingers left at the rate you’re going!” A feminine voice broke through her angry haze.

She looked up and saw a tall redhead saunter into the room. She took a seat in the empty arm chair beside her.

“Ms. Starlington, I’m Krimsyn. That’s my partner J.D.” The girl smiled demurely as they watched J.D. retreat into the kitchen. As if he sensed he was being watched, he looked up and waved at them, and Krimsyn blew him a kiss.

“He’s a hell of a bassist, but not much of an interviewer, so I’ll be handling the meeting on my own,” she explained. Leigh noticed she was frighteningly pale, but still breathtakingly gorgeous. She immediately envied her luscious curly hair, and boyish frame.

Krimsyn looked like the type who could eat anything and everything and not gain an ounce. Technically she didn’t eat! The Frosts were Vampires, and Leigh liked to believe she wasn’t bothered by it since Bridgeport prided itself on being the first town to allow Vampires the same liberties and privileges enjoyed by humans.

Krimsyn had barely sat down when they heard the elevator doors open and close. Everything after that happened so quickly Leigh had no time to react. One minute she was on the couch, and the next she was flying across the room, trying to get away from the male version of Krimsyn growling at her.

“Who the fuck sent you? Who do you work for? Speak!” The man snarled, and bared his fangs.

“I don’t work for anyone!” Leigh screamed right back. The more she protested, the more agitated he grew.

“Krisis! Stop it. She doesn’t work for anyone. She came for an interview…For Michaela’s teacher. What is wrong with you?” Krimsyn demanded angrily and launched herself between Leigh and her brother.

“Look at her! She looks like her!” the man Leigh had just learned was Krisis spat out the words with such distaste she recoiled from him.

“It’s just a coincidence,” Krimsyn soothed him in a gentle voice.

“It’s not a fucking coincidence!” Krisis roared, and turned on Leigh. His translucent eyes flashed with unmasked fury. “It’s Beau isn’t it? He put you up to this. Tell him if he’s trying to drive me insane it won’t work!” With that he blinked from the room and Leigh was left stunned.

“What just happened?” She impatiently shoved her glasses in place and blinked back her frightened tears.

 “Ms. Starlington, I’m so sorry for my brother’s behavior. I don’t know what came over him,” Krimsyn apologized and gently led her to the couch.

“No, I have to leave!” Leigh insisted, but her legs were unsteady and too weak to carry her out of the room, and she crashed into the cushions.

She took the glass of sweetened water from Caroline, the Frost’s butler, and gulped it down as if her life depended on it. After a few minutes her breathing returned to normal, and she noticed her hands were steadier.

“What the hell was that about?” Leigh asked at last, unable to take the burning heat from Krimsyn’s probing eyes.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just that you do look like someone from our past…Laura Greene,” Krimsyn replied. The name sounded familiar but Leigh couldn’t place it anywhere.

“She was an actress.” Krimsyn filled in the blanks for her.

“Was?” Leigh frowned. She honestly didn’t want to be there, but she wouldn’t leave until she knew why the psycho brother almost tore her to pieces. Everything, especially her encounter with Krisis felt surreal.

“She died. Ten years ago. Krisis was there when she jumped off the cliff. She suffered from the ION syndrome, a rare genetic condition affecting the brain. Some of your people are born with the insane, over-emotional, and neurotic traits. Most live full lives with just one of the traits. But a presence of all three is crippling. Laura had all three, and she inherited them from her father…

Her condition became more noticeable three years before her death, and progressed rapidly. Within two short years it got so bad she’d forget where she was or who she was; half the time she didn’t remember us. The day she died she couldn’t even remember Krisis. And they were lovers…” Krimsyn stopped. She felt she’d said too much, and it wasn’t her place. But the poor girl had to know why he’d almost ripped her apart.

“I---I…” Leigh tried to come up with something comforting to say, but she knew, from her own parents’ death, that sometimes words were trite, and they did nothing to lessen the pain.

 “Enough about us!” Krimsyn continued quickly. She was determined to restore some normalcy to their day. “So what made you apply for the job?”

Leigh was still reeling from her encounter with Krisis, and finding out she looked like some small time actress, his lover, who’d committed suicide a decade ago didn’t help matters.

“Well?” Krimsyn clasped her hands, and glanced at her quizzically.

“My brother’s fiancé’s threatened to kick me out if I don’t get a ‘real job’ soon and start helping with the bills. But coming here was a mistake. I don’t think your brother can take seeing me every day. He already thinks I’m working for some Beau in a bid to drive him insane!” She stood to leave, feeling steadier and anxious to be gone, but Krimsyn’s steely look sent her back in her seat.

“How much do you know about us?”

By ‘us’ Leigh assumed she meant Vampires and she didn’t know much, except that they’d evolved some over the years. Now they could go out in the sunlight, but for limited periods, and they fed on plasma fruit, and plasma juice. Of course there were still others who fed on human blood, and she just hoped the Frosts weren’t part of that minority!

“Michaela was a pleasant shock, but a shock nevertheless. Vampire children start transforming when they hit their teens, and it’s a rough period for them, emotionally, socially and physically. My daughter’s just hit her sixteenth birthday two weeks ago. With her transformation still underway, the school’s noticed some changes in her behavior they are not comfortable with. So we agreed to home school her until she’s fully transformed,” Krimsyn explained.

“But I’m human, so won’t that affect her? Won’t she try to rip me apart, like your brother?” Leigh asked seriously. Not that she was considering taking the job. She’d made up her mind; she wasn’t taking it. The Frosts came with too much bloody baggage she could do without!

“A home environment is much safer than a public school’s. Besides we’ll always be around to keep her in line.” Krimsyn slipped a piece of paper in her hand.

“That’s how much we’re offering.” She smiled when Leigh’s eyes widened with disbelief as she stared at the paper.

“That’s insane!” Leigh cried.

“We’ll give an additional twenty-five percent if that’s not satisfactory,” Krimsyn frowned.

“No…I mean for six months…It’s a lot!” She explained quickly, and wished she hadn’t. Tamsyn would kill her when she found she’d gotten excited over the first salary offer.

“I’m glad you don’t have qualms in that department,” the other girl replied coolly. “When can you start?”

“Hold on! I didn’t say I’d take the job. As tempting as your offer is, I can’t. That scene with your brother…I know you are civilized and all, and you don’t drink blood anymore, you eat plasma fruit. But I was so sure he’d kill me. I was petrified. What if he tries that again?” She asked, fear and concern in her eyes.

“I assure you, Krisis is not a violent man. You caught him off guard, that's all. But you have my word, you'll have no dealings whatsoever with him. We’ll put it in your contract,” Krimsyn added quickly. “We can also get a restraining order if you want; I know you humans are fond of them.”

“I’m still not convinced,” Leigh shook her head firmly and stood up to leave.

“Ms. Starlington, please think about it. Bridgeport isn’t an intellectual town, finding a teacher for my daughter has been very hard. You have no idea how relieved I was when you responded to our advert. The school will have her for another week, but after that we are on our own. If it's Krisis you're worried about, I'll speak with him, set down some ground rules. Michaela is important to him, and I know he would never do anything to jeopardise her future, so he'll stay away from you if I ask him. Please reconsider?” Krimsyn pleaded softly, the intensity of her blue eyes mesmerized her, and she found herself nodding.

While she waited for the elevator she quickly glanced at the piece of paper in her hand.

With all that money and careful budgeting, she could open up a second gallery and maybe this time it wouldn’t fail. She could get her own place too, somewhere decent and as far away from Devon and Tamsyn as possible. Oh, how could she forget the eco-friendly Toyota Prius?

There was so much she could do with the money, and the Frosts, with the exception of the psycho brother, did not come across as dangerous. So maybe taking the job wouldn’t be so bad.

At last the elevator doors opened, and Caroline sprung out. She said something polite all butlers are expected to say to guests when they leave. Leigh paid her no mind; she was so caught up in the piece of paper with her promised land of milk and honey.

Was she insane for even considering taking the job?