Ghost!France x Reader

Chapter 4: More questions than answers

   The sun rays filtered in through the torn and dusty curtains over the window, turning in drowsiness I buried my head back into the pillow, beckoning sleep to come back. Sadly the sun was persistent and sleep wouldn't come. Sighing I sat up, raising my arms and stretching with a soft grunt. Pulling myself out of bed I slipped on my slippers and pulled back the curtains fully to look outside at the wilderness surrounding the area. Smiling softly I looked at the soft blue sky, white clouds littering the sky. Birds chirped happily in the morning air and the wind swayed the trees in their summer dance. Turning away from the window I looked at the rose on the nightstand, running my finger along the soft, red petals I smiled once again, remembering last night. There was something going on here, something that seemed out of the ordinary. Great grandmother never mentioned Francis, was it out of grief? Or was there something else that she didn't want to tell me? Either way, I have to figure it out. Going over to the dresser I picked up the diary of my great grandmother and flipped through the pages, looking for an entry with significance.

December 20th, 1936

I received a letter from Francis today, oh I am certainly the most happy girl alive! Francis wishes me well and that our first encounter certainly won't be our last. I am very glad of that, I hope I see him again soon, perhaps for Christmas he will visit? Oh that would be the best Christmas present of all. For now I shall contain my excitement to these pages, Father and Mother must not know of my feelings for this man, most certainly it won't end well if they were to find out.

   From what great grandmother told me, her parents were always strict, even with her siblings they were strict. Skimming through the pages I looked for another entry that would shed some light on this situation.

December 25, 1936

The Christmas dinner went well, Christine came over with her husband and daughter. How good it was to see them again, Christine and Roderick moved to England to start a family and for Roderick's work. How good it was to see them again, especially their daughter, Elizabeth. Nicholas was there as well, along with his wife and several children. Nicholas stayed in France with his wife, Audrey, a woman he met in Switzerland, to raise their children and stay close to mother and father. They have three children, Coraline being the eldest, she's 12. Jonathan, he's the middle child, he's 10. And then there's Robert, he's the youngest and he's 5. It has been a while since I've seen everyone, they are always so busy with their own lives but it's always so pleasant to see them together and home.

After dinner we exchanged gifts and everyone opened the ones hey received. My mother had gotten me two new dresses along with marching hats, my father has gotten me several new books to add my collection. They were mostly based around nature and mythological lore, mother never liked those books. Christine and Roderick had gotten me lace and satin gloves along with different sets of tea from England. Whenever they visited they always brought me tea. Nicholas had gotten me a pendent; an emerald carved in the shape of an oval with silver along the edges, the chain was silver as well. I was overjoyed with the pendent that I immediately put it on with glee. Audrey had gotten me, well made me, a woolen blanket. Audrey was simple like that, she liked to make blankets and shawls in her spare time and will send me a new shawl from time to time, this was the first time I had gotten a blanket from her. I thanked everyone for their gifts with a hug and kiss on their cheek.

After opening the presents I went up to my room, a content smile on my face. Although I haven't received anything from Francis or heard from him, I knew he was thinking of me and I hope I would hear from him soon.

December 26, 1936

Oh I am overjoyed! I received a gift in the mail today, Francis had sent it. Oh the Lord had heard my prayers and bestowed this wonderful first upon me! Francis sent a a beautiful pin for my dresses. It was a rose pin, the petals being made of real rubies and the stem being made of gold and leaves being made of emeralds. This is truly the most wonderful gift, I began to cry tears of joy. I mustn't ever take this off, I care not what my parents say, I will merely lie to them and say a close friend sent it to me. Oh this is the most blessed day.

   Closing the diary I set it back into the dresser. I pondered, Francis must have truly loved my great grandmother if he sent her that pin, she must've loved him too if she was willing to get into trouble for him. Smiling sadly at the diary I couldn't help but wonder what happened to Francis, how his life ended. Although I wish to find out,  I have to unpack more. Mystery solving later, unpacking the house is more important. Leaving my room I walked down the corridor and down the staircase to the living area. Stopping at the base of the stairs I placed my hands on my hips and looked around the room. The walls were disgusting, the floors moreso. Sighing I put my hair into a ponytail and went to one of the boxes, opening it and grabbing the cleaning supplies that were inside. Reaching into my pajama pants pocket I pulled out my phone and began to play music, what's cleaning an old house if you can't jam out too? Putting my phone one of the boxes I began the tedious work of scrubbing the walls and floors.

A few hours had passed and finally the walls and floors were clean of the dirt and other gunk that had accumulated over the years of inactivity. Wiping my forehead of the sweat that had produced I sighed and smiled tiredly, being glad that this didn't take too long to clean. I went over to the couch and sat down, leaning against the cushions and closing my eyes. A nap seemed to be appropriate. Stretching out across the couch I grabbed one of the throw pillows and tucked it underneath my head and closed my eyes again, letting sleep overcome me.

Cold. Everything was cold. It wasn't like the air on the summer nights, when the wind blew and brought forth those cool breezes. It wasn't like those times in winter when the snow came down in clumps, filling the air with cold chills and shivers. No this was different. This was being submerged into cold, arctic cold waters, falling deeper and deeper until all you could feel was your heartbeat slowly escaping you...and then nothing. Everything felt frozen.

Waking up with a start, I breathed heavily and looked around in fright. Taking deep breaths I tried to calm my racing heart, closing my eyes I rubbed my face with my hands and sighed.
"Fuck." I said aloud. "What was that?" Opening my eyes I looked around once more, making sure there wasn't anything there that could harm me. That's never happened before, of course I've had nightmares but nothing on that kind of surreal level. It was almost like I was there, as if I were drowning in a lake or a river...but why? Shrugging I got up and headed towards the kitchen, I had brought a small cooler with me with some food items until I had everything set up in the house. Opening the cooler I grabbed a bottle of water and some string cheese. Standing back up I felt a coldness at my back, phantom like hands on my shoulders made me freeze up like a board. A whisper, quiet and accented.
"It was so cold down there...so cold." Turning my head slowly I looked behind me and saw Francis, only he was dripping wet, his blonde hair was damp and clung to his face and neck, his clothes clung to his body. His lips were a dark bluish purple, his face stark white with dark blue around his eyes. Eyes widening I took a step back but he seized my wrist and kept me in my position.
"Don't let me be cold any longer....please." Looking down at his fingers around my wrist I pulled back but to no avail, somehow this Spector was stronger than he seemed.
"I...I don't know how to help." I finally said, struggling against his grip. "Just let me go, please." I begged with him and he loosened his grip so that I could escape. Stepping back again I held my wrist near my chest. He looked at me with distraught eyes and pulled his hand back to his side.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this." And with that he vanished, misted off into the air. He went as quickly as he came. Staring at the same spot where he was I hesitantly took a sip of water and leaned against the counters of the kitchen.
"What the hell is going on here?"