"That's no way to talk to someone who just agreed to become an ally," Nicholas growled, though his adrenaline was pumping harder upon voicing the mild threat. Who was she to talk to him like that? Still, he felt the need to shake it off and let it go. It would be no use making living enemies - there were enough undead ones to handle.

"There's a hardware store and a convenience store side-by-side about five miles from here," he said. "Which, as you can tell, is almost the middle of nowhere. I- are you from around here? Oh, [i]God,[/i] how rude of me. I'm Nicholas, but everyone calls me Nick."

It was a spontaneous question, but Nicholas couldn't shake the feeling that he'd met this person before. His eyes squinted in confusion as he stared at her just a little too long before he shook his head and looked away. There was no way he'd ever met her before in his life, yet he felt almost emotionally connected with her. As if they'd been through [i]a lot[/i] together.

How stupid.