from here [ x ] @imortallis
ใ โ ใ โ โโ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ of him, and at first she thought she was just being paranoid, or looking for a distraction to bury herself in. but when he came around the second time, nora's suspicions were only fed further.
she didn't know his name yet, he had merely been the blunt nephew of a decedent. and maybe if she didn't have her abilities she would've dropped it โ but whenever she had stepped near him the first time, there was a warm static that had caressed her otherwise chaotic mind. normally, she existed in a low level amount of anxiety every day, and even more so since the passing of her mother. spirits who knew that she could communicate with them always trying to overstep her boundaries she had in place to get a message through. but being near him, had he not been so outwardly abrasive in his conversation, she would've realized a lot sooner that she almost felt, calm. was he like her? did he have abilities? she wasn't quite brave enough to ask, especially not after their initial interaction.
to make a long story short โ nora didn't know all of the specifics of the mystery man who kept coming to funeral services. but she knew his name, and that he worked with and for people who shouldn't be messed with.
fast forward a few months later, she found herself in a position she never could've imagined, a gun pointed directly at her.
she was just doing her job, straightening up the place when she heard the clicking sound of what she now knows was the sound of the gun being cocked. she didn't think much of it at first, but when she turns around, the voice of the assailant telling her not to move crashes onto her like a ton of bricks. her heart immediately leaping into her throat and cutting off her air supply. she couldn't think or breathe in that moment, her eyes going in and out of focus as adrenaline takes over her nervous system.
nora felt as if her soul had been plucked from within, and was now floating above everything, watching as it all unfolded. watching as her body closes it's eyes in preparation for being shot, or maybe just hoping it was all just a dream, and that when it opened it's eyes again it would all disappear.
later she'd curse herself for giving in so easily, for not attempting to fight back, for letting her mind escape so quickly, accepting a fate in which her family would not only have to bury a mother, but soon a sister and daughter as well.
it's only when she's being pushed out of the way that she retracts back into herself like a rubber band being pulled into it's breaking point. her body crumpling onto the ground as she loudly gasps for air, her lungs aching. had she stood there any longer, she might've passed out. and whether that would've benefited her or not, she wasn't sure. where had he even come from?
the danger, for now, was no longer directed at her โ but it was directed at francesco, and she doesn't even have enough time to call out to him before the sound of shots being fired reverberate around the room, stabbing her directly in the chest as she watches someone she was growing to care about taking shots that were meant for her.
"NO!" the scream mixes with the continued round of shots fired, and she can hear each one meeting their target, a sound that would be forever engrained in her mind.
her eyes begin to burn with the tears that had been brimming at the edge of them for a while now, finally breaking the dam and spilling onto her cheeks. she looks desperately at cesco, expecting him to fall to the ground, for blood to be pooling beneath him, but it was just the opposite. he still stood tall, as if here were a statue built of the strongest metal. and she watches as each bullet now flattened plink to the ground one by one...
nora blinks away the tears that were blurring her vision, her mind racing. but she doesn't have time to piece a coherent thought together before the lights in the room explode as if they were struck by lightning, she briefly shields herself from falling glass, scooting back some on the ground, but her mind and body connection was still weak and what felt like a generous movement to the side was only just a couple of inches.
the room holds just enough light from the windows that she doesn't miss when cesco looks over at her, checking on her. and had the lights still been on, what she saw in his eyes might've been written off as a trick of the light โ there's a gleam in them that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than a spark of electricity.
she watches in both horror and awe as electricity surges from the broken lights and into the assailant with only a swift motion of cesco's hands, but before the man falls to the ground, she looks away, and back at the man who should've been killed by the shots fired only moments ago. so much was swirling around in nora's mind, she couldn't grab a hold of a single emotion, and that feeling only intensifies as he comes down to her level.
the warmth of his hands on her face grounds her some, and she wants him to look her in the eyes, wants answers. but who knows if after this he'll even stick around โ he was already guarded, and she feared that now she's witnessed this? he would run...
his voice feels loud and crass in her ears, but only because she could actually hear properly again, her heart beat no longer pounding loudly inside of them.
normally nora might've offered a chuckle at what he says, feeling accomplished that she'd gotten what she wanted. but all she wanted in that moment was for him to look her in the eyes, she wanted to make sure that she hadn't actually been shot and killed, and this was merely some sort of pre-death delusion.
her hand slowly, and shakily moves up to his shoulder, her brown eyes soft and rimmed with redness from her tears, silently asking if it was ok for her to just see if this was real, if he was really there.