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Even before she saw her figure in the doorway she could hear by the way the girl's soles hit the ground that it was Lucy. Spending so much time together she could recognize her footsteps in the hallway leading up to their bedroom.
A few seconds later she appeared sneaking into the room, bottle of whiskey in hand. Norrie was sitting cross legged on her bed with Lucy’s Fittes manual flipping through the pages and reading about the people who had made something of themselves. She was jealous of them. Looking at the pages with her brows furrowed she dreamed about how one day she was going to be on one of these pages.
Lucy sat down at the foot of the bed softly and unscrewed the metal bottle cap in the same motion as she flicked it off the bottle, almost like a party trick. Norrie looked at her for a moment before speaking.
”Oh god, maybe this is how it starts” She said with a slightly sarcastic tone.
“How what starts?” Lucy replied confused as Norrie leaned dangerously close to her face.
“How you end up like Jacobs, or any of the other sad sack adults in this shitty town. Drinking whiskey at four in the afternoon?”
“It’s just a sip! To celebrate.” Trying to act cheerful Lucy threw her head back and took a big gulp of the brownish gold liquid in the glass bottle.
“No! We can’t work for Jacobs till our talent fades. We can't let our parents piss our money up the wall.” Almost ripping the bottle from Lucy she continued, this time with a more serious tone.
“Let's go to London. Tonight. Get interviews at Fittes and Rotwell. Make something out of ourselves…” There was a slight pause and an almost slightly somber look in Norrie’s eyes as she glanced down at the manual in her hands and back into Lucy’s eyes.
“…Before our names end up on that giant gravestone in the square.”
Lucy immediately dropped the act knowing how much this meant to Norrie. She had never really talked about how terrifying this job was for her. Both of them were scared of ghosts, they were just kids after all, but Norrie was scared of death more than anything. Ghost-touch to be precise but because there was yet a cure for it how different could it possibly be.
Norrie broke eye contact for a short second. She put down the bottle she had taken from Lucy on to the wooden floor next to the bed they were sitting on before promptly going back to the conversation they were having. She looked her in the eyes again and this time Lucy could only see a glimpse of fear peeking from behind those brave eyes.
Norrie was the bravest person she had ever known. On missions she was the one to hold her hand and tell Lucy everything was going to be okay. Norrie was the one to encourage her even without knowing it and leading her through the terrifying corridors while all she could hear were agonizing screams from the dead they were trying to neutralize.
Yet here, in their small room, this room with ugly green wallpaper peeling off in every corner and a door creaking so loudly every time you’d touch it that it was impossible to enter or exit the room unnoticed. In this room where the curtains were barely able to keep out sunlight on those rare days where the weather was clear and with these walls so thin even whispers couldn’t travel unheard. In their small little room, Norrie could show how scared she actually was, and she was showing it to Lucy in this place they had managed to start calling home.
With a lump in her throat Lucy admitted that she couldn’t leave.
“I can’t. I haven't passed fourth grade yet. They'd send me back or put me on night watch.” It could possibly have been the hardest thing to admit out loud in the moment but there wasn’t much to achieve without passing fourth grade. Where were they going to go?
“So we fake the letters or bullshit our way in. It's the talent that counts, not bits of paper.”
“Yeah, then wait, until I'm fully qualified. It's not long. Just next year, and... then I don't need anyone's permission.” Feeling more optimistic by every word there was a smile creeping up on Lucy’s face. Imagining a future with Norrie was like a dream come true. Yes, it was something straight out of her dreams.
“And we'll meet with all the big agencies. There'll be a bidding war to sign us up. And in a couple of years, we'll be the most famous agents in the country. We'll be on the cover of every magazine…” She trailed off.
The brunette fidgeted with her nails as she slowly went silent and thought of how it would be running away to London. With her. With Norrie. Her dreams basically crushed in a moment as she remembered her mother. But even at that she didn’t get to dwell because the other girl’s words instantly brought her back to reality.
“The ghost of Marissa Fittes will come back from the dead and drag her raggedy arse out of her coffin. And beg us to sign up with her.”
“She'll beg!” Laughed Lucy in response, happy that Norrie was more positive about it all now.
Looking back she should’ve just gone with her that same night. She often thought back to how they giggled after the Marissa Fittes joke and how Norrie’s face had almost lit up. Maybe it had been the sun that was setting outside and those damn curtains that never managed to keep the light out but she wouldn’t know because was too busy admiring the girl in front of her. The way her eyes closed because of how hard she laughed and the way she finally let go of the manual in her hands to cover her mouth.
She remembers the way she herself laughed so hard she buckled over and had to hold herself up with support of Norrie’s knees in front of her.
They could’ve gone to London and made something out of themselves just like Norrie had always wanted.
Lucy had taken Norrie’s hands and turned them so her plans faced up. She had traced circles on her palms with her thumbs and continued up her wrists. Had thought about kissing her hands and telling her everything was going to be okay, wanted to help her feel just as safe as Norrie always made her feel. They looked at each other and for a moment it felt like nothing bad could happen. They were the only people in the world and they were here, safe, in their small shared room in the Jacobs&Co house.
As the sun set Lucy swore the girl in front of her only got more and more beautiful, convinced angels were real and that this world was not so bad after all.
“Your solemn and binding promise.”Norrie had whispered. More of a question than a statement, pleading almost.
“My solemn and binding promise.” Lucy had promised.
They were going to make something out of themselves. Yet here Lucy was at the foot of Norrie’s hospital bed listening to the heart monitor beep. No matter how many times she had cupped her face and announced her name in hope of bringing her back it had never worked.
Her sweet, brave Norrie lying on the hospital bed with eyes turned white and foggy from the ghost-touch. Lucy had picked up her hands and retraced those circles on her palms hundreds of times by now. Had kissed the back of her hand and wept with that same hand carefully placed on her own cheek.
She was going to make something out of herself. So she brushed Norrie’s hair out of her face for the last time. She walked over to the door with a heavy heart and the door did not creak when she opened it. Before leaving she glanced around the room. The curtains did not let any light into the room. When she closed the door it once again did not make a sound, and she knew this was not home.