Lovers From Beyond Ep. 04

"For Sparta!" Kyu joined in, already having set aside his beer bottle and hopping up and down trying to remove his pants.

Katherine jumped to her feet, ready to race the others to the suites.

"Wait!" Martha halted them all.

They turned to look at the woman. With her face full of courage and determination, Martha yanked her teal mini dress over her head and threw in into Tony's face. Next, and without bothering to smooth over her disheveled hair, she removed her black leggings. These she threw at Byron. Martha missed badly enough that they landed directly on top of one of the candles and started to catch on fire.

Byron and Tony quickly put the flames out, as the maid ignored the commotion and continued to undress. Finally, Martha was nude, brazenly and boldly.

She took up the challenge for all of womankind when she said, "I am woman, hear me roar!"

Martha marched out of the ballroom with a steadfast purpose, and the entire horny group followed in her wake.

We return to scene of the ballroom some two hours afterward. At this time, we find the bedraggled and exhausted forms of the two oldest males in attendance. The butler and the medium are seen clad in their underwear and replenishing their vitality with energy drinks they'd recently appropriated from the kitchen.

"How goes the war, I dare ask?" Matty, who had raised the white flag half an hour earlier, made this question.

"The younger contingent is still putting up the good fight." Alexander commented. "But I fear we are on the losing end. Our enemies are like piranhas, unquenchable as they are in their sexual lust. To use a boxer's parlance, they fully know we are on the ropes now. They are circling about us like predators and getting ready to deliver the final, knockout blow."

"The women had begun turning on each other, just as I began my retreat." Matty recalled.

"Yes, as I said, piranhas. We men have now become mere accessories to them." Alexander nodded. "We've developed a loose sort of strategy, where we believe we can wear the women out by letting them expend their fervor against themselves. Perhaps we can rally together at the end and pull this log out of the fire after all."

The bellman joined them, wearing a plush bathrobe, and wiping at his hair with a towel. Casually, he draped his towel on a chair-back. Once he noticed what the older men were drinking, he reached out and snatched the can right out of Alexander's hand. Tony gulped down the energy drink until he'd finished it off.

"How rude!" Alexander grumbled. The butler responded by leaning over and snatching the drink from out of Matty's hand.

"Ah, Tony," Matty said. "You're just the man I wanted to see."

"I hope you don't mean that in a Byron sort of way." Tony joked. "Anyway, both of you guys need to get back into action, because we're hurting again. We're all trying to take time outs to freshen up a little, before we head back into the melee."

"I fear I may not be able to rise to the occasion." Alexander whined. "I am pooped!"

"Well, Claire has the other women doing the Black Bottom dance right now." Tony informed the two. "If the sight of all those bouncing butts doesn't get you guys going, I don't think anything will."

"We will endeavor!" Matty said.

"We will conquer!" Alexander agreed.

The older men gave each other high fives, before they strutted away.

Matty paused at the ballroom doors. "Oh, Tony, I almost forgot to tell you. There is a certain young lady waiting for you. She said she'd be in the room with a view. She said you would know what that meant."

Tony paused, as he realized that Matty was speaking about the third ghost. Before he could ask for more information, however, the medium was already gone.

The bellman stood there thoughtfully, wondering what this mysterious person would be like. Tony wondered what the ghost thought of him now, after all the fooling around he'd been doing with every woman he could get his hands on. Surely, the ghost wouldn't still want to see him if she disapproved of his actions. Thus, he took a calculated breath, and began a steady walk that would take him over to room fourteen. The suite sat by itself in a corner. Its large patio doors faced the ocean, giving it the best view in the entire hotel.

Tony paused at the door, uncertain if he'd brought along his room card. That's when he discovered that the door was already open by a crack. There was some hesitation, and some nervousness in his demeanor, as Tony gently pushed the door out of his way. He shut the door behind him.

The room was dimly lit. In its shadows, the bellman could see that everything was still in order. The curtains to the tiny balcony were pulled all the way open to reveal the darkness of the night. A single, womanly form stood there, facing the distant black waters. She was five-foot-two or so, Tony guessed, and sure enough, she wore a maid's outfit. The uniform was of a baby blue color, with short sleeves. Over it went a plain white apron with two straps knotted around at the neck and back. Kind of like an Alice in Wonderland look, he compared, but with a little less fluffiness.

"Hi." The bellman introduced himself. "I'm Tony."

The young woman's head turned partly to the side, in a sort of cool recognition. "I know your name."

It was almost an icy tone, the bellman realized. Perhaps she hadn't approved of his various romps throughout the night after all. "I don't know yours."

The ghost maid turned back to the window, to continue staring outside. "Consuelo. The people I worked for, they called me Connie, but I never liked that name."

Tony stepped to within five feet of the woman, when he felt the coldness of her aura. He felt as if he were standing next to an iceberg.

"I know why I am stuck here, in this place between the living and the dead." The maid said, her breaths coming out as little, icy clouds. Tony could feel the entire suite getting colder as she spoke. "It is my own bitterness that is keeping me here. I try to go against it. I do forget about it sometimes, when I play with the women that work here, and when I tease you also, but it always comes back. My bitterness is the only thing that matters."

"What happened to you?"

Consuelo laughed at the question, but it was a black laugh. "I was so stupid. I had a man who loved me, but he was a simple man with modest dreams. And the second man I met here, while I was working, he was much older, and rich. Like a dumb child I believed his fancy words. He made me pregnant." She bowed her head, as tears started streaming down her cheeks. "He promised me the world, and I was a fool for listening to him. When he was done with me, he cast me aside as if I was no better than garbage. Not even three days later he found somebody else to tell his sweet lies to. I tried to go back to the first man, the one who truly loved me. When he found out that I was pregnant by another, he turned his back as well. That is why..." She shuddered and gasped, and her voice trembled with emotion. "That is why I killed myself!"

Tony stood there for several moments, numbly watching the woman's shoulders heave, and her mouth utter pained groans of despair. Slowly, it began to dawn on him what his role was, why destiny had led him to this precise location and time. He closed the distance between the ghost and him. Even though he felt shivers as he reached out, he placed his hand on Consuelo's shoulder.

The woman continued to release her long pent up sobs. Her cries increased into loud moans of anguish, as if she wanted the entire universe to share her distress. She continued to cry. In a slight movement that another, less sensitive man would have missed, the maid slightly, very slightly, leaned toward the bellman.

It cannot be fully explained why Tony perceived and responded to such a tiny motion. Perhaps it was the latent psychic energies Matty had concentrated within the hotel that night, or perhaps it was Tony's own intuition mingled with these energies. Another school of thought emerged later, that perhaps it was a form of celestial mechanics, seeking to correct a grievous wrong. Whatever the reason, Tony felt compelled to bring the incarnate spirit closer to his bosom. Even though it felt as if he were embracing a wall of ice, he set his arms around Consuelo in as tight an embrace as he could manage.

Tony trembled and emitted cold and raspy breaths, as Consuelo continued to expel the darkness from within her very core. The maid cried and groaned, and tightened her grip on the back of his robe as she quaked within Tony's arms. And then, finally, the last of her torment filtered away, and she was left an empty and void creature.

This was when Tony's heart reached out for her. He sensed Consuelo's desire for love, a desire that had been denied to the woman for many untold and haunted years. As gently as he could, he nudged the woman's chin upward, and he brought his lips close to hers.

Their first kisses were frosty and detached, as if unknown dimensions still separated the two beings. Tony persisted, however, as did Consuelo. The two sought to break the bonds of fate and disrupt the cruelties of the universe, if only for a brief moment. Around them, the cold began to dissipate, while the warmth of their bodies fought back against it.

As they continued to kiss, the heat of their combined flesh began to be replaced by that of their souls. As if sensing its imminent defeat, the cold fled away from them, to more comfortable places.

Daringly, playfully, Tony reached behind Consuelo's back and pulled at the ends of her apron's knots until they fell apart. Consuelo's kisses paused. In a state of wonder, the woman leaned back to look into his face. Her eyes were so alive now, Tony noticed, and so full of beauty, as they took him in.

She reached out and undid the similar knot keeping his robe together. Tony shucked his only piece of clothing from his shoulders, and left himself completely exposed to her.

Consuelo took in his face, his chest, and the rigidity of his cock, before she quietly took the apron off and draped it on a chair. The maid bowed her head, as if shy, while she unbuttoned her work uniform and removed it. Once done, Consuelo also set this item on the same chair. She stood there, clad in a bra and a simple white slip with a lacy strip along the top and bottom, keeping her head low and avoiding Tony's eyes.

The maid seemed to be waiting for Tony to finish undressing her, prompting the young man to step over and help her remove her final garments. Tony next took her by the hand and led her toward the bed. After he'd pulled the covers aside, he lay her down and took a spot beside her.

After all the tumultuous bumping and grinding from earlier, Tony was more than willing to allow Consuelo to set the pace for them, and she did. She was inquisitive and explorative as she ran her hands all over his body. Consuelo allowed Tony to reciprocate in a like manner. She kissed him on the lips, and down around his neck and chest, but she seemed hesitant to go any further. The lovemaking between them stalled, until some sort of courage welled up within her. She moved away and enveloped Tony's cock with her mouth. Tenderly, her lips and tongue caressed it, and played with it.

Consuelo withdrew her mouth, leaving Tony to feel her hot, harried breaths upon his cock and abdomen. After a moment, the woman began to trail kisses back up to his mouth. She mounted him then, moaning at the ceiling as she took him in, and afterward bringing her eyes down to gauge her lover's approval.

Tony brought her head down, close enough to kiss her again. He set his hands at her waist, just at the beginning of the swell of her hips. Tony hoped that by this way, by pacing her movements, he was letting her know that this wasn't merely a carnal romp, but something that would be more meaningful for the two of them.

As her hips began swirling, the woman savored the feel of Tony within her. She had to break the embrace of their lips to release her steam. In response, Tony lifted his neck and brought her modest breasts close to his lips. He kissed them, sucked at them and enjoyed them. Consuelo's neat hair started unraveling and draping down over her face.

Her fervor increased, causing her to sit up with her hands on Tony's waist. He brought his hands up to manually explore the parts he'd been avoiding. Her breasts were no longer cold, but hot to his touch. Her nipples beckoned him to investigate them fully. Tony's fingers eventually slipped down to caress Consuelo's thighs, and the tight swells of her ass. This time, her rising cries weren't born of anguish and despair, but of passion and love.

Consuelo was brought to climax, and sought to prolong her pleasure by enacting short bounces on Tony's middle. She kept these going until her tremors finally faded away. Tony took over the lovemaking then, by prodding her to lie down beside him, as he moved into a position to mount her.

They made love, time and again, this way and that, until finally Tony succumbed to his fatigue. At the end of it, he simply rolled over and let the last of his pants of pleasure drift up toward the ceiling.

Beside him, Consuelo sat on the edge of the bed, and appeared to be staring at the ocean again. "I can feel it now." She said, simply.

"Feel what?"

"The other place." She replied. "The place I'm supposed to go next. It's calling to me."

"What does it feel like?"

"Warm... and beautiful." She turned, to gaze into his eyes. "Like you. I wish I could have met you, back then. When I was alive."

"You're alive now." Tony said.

"That's true, I suppose, in a way." Consuelo stood and went over to the chair to retrieve her items. "I don't want to go to the other place without any clothes on. I wish I had something better to wear than my stupid work uniform, but I guess that's my fault for... For doing what I did while I was wearing it." She quietly got dressed, and even went and tried to fix up her hair in the dresser mirror. After, she came back and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm leaving now. One last kiss, before I go?"

Tony kissed her once, then twice, then ten more times.

"You're making it so difficult for me to leave." Consuelo laughed, when they broke contact. She reached into her uniform pocket, not to the apron, but below, into her dress. She pulled out a pendant, with a tiny ruby heart inlaid on silver. "I didn't steal this, I found it in a room I cleaned up, at the hotel right across the street from this one. I know I should have turned it in, but it was so pretty that I wanted to keep it. I used to carry it around with me all the time, in my pocket. I want you to have it so that you can remember me."

Consuelo placed the shiny pendant in Tony's hand, and curled his fingers over it. She curled her fingers over his. "Do you think you could ever love a girl like me, after everything I did wrong when I was alive?"

"Yes."

"Well, I know I could love a man like you." Consuelo smiled, and came in close to give Tony one last kiss. "I can feel my energy fading away now. I have to go. Please, tell me you love me. I just want to hear you say it, even if you don't mean it."

Tony hugged her close. "I love you and I do mean it. I know I just met you, but it's the truth. You have to believe me."

Consuelo's smile widened, and her eyes began to well up with new, happy tears. "I believe you." Her fingers slipped away from his. She said, "Goodbye, Tony. I love you."

A second later, she was gone.

Tony clutched at the pendant still in his hand. "Goodbye."

It was an empty room that answered back at him.

Tony left the bed and donned his robe, after which he glanced around at the suite. It wasn't cold, as it had been when he'd first entered, but it was abandoned, deserted.

"Consuelo?" He uttered, one last time.

With a sigh, he left the room and went to see what the rest of the gang was doing.

The doors to suites six and seven were both open, as they had been ever since the battle of the sexes had been announced. Tony stepped into the first suite. In the low glare, he could see the two beds. Martha and Peter slept in one, while Victoria and Alexander slept in the second.

Tony went into suite seven. He saw Katherine curled around Matty with Kyu beside her. On the bed further away were Byron and Eleanor. Both Claire and Gabe were gone, as far as he could tell. There were no ghosts left.

Since he didn't feel like sleeping alone, and he was way too tired to drive home, he decided to squeeze in on the second bed, but definitely not on Byron's side.

A minor scene of chaos ensued the following morning, when several of the maids arrived and saw all the slumbering, naked bodies in the two suites, and the general state of bedlam in the entire hotel. The hotel manager, Darina, had arrived at the same time as the maids. The entire lot of them started taking pictures on their cell phones, so they could tease and / or blackmail the participants later.

Victoria was the first one up. Her initial impulse was to drag one of the new women inside, and to continue the antics from the night before, but the manager and maids all fled before she could get a firm grip on one.

Eventually, the entire bunch of lovers got up and bathed, sometimes in tandems, sometimes in threesomes. They got dressed, and later congregated in the ballroom.

"Our friends are gone." Eleanor pouted.

"I'm sure there are other haunted houses in the neighborhood." Victoria consoled. "Who knows? Maybe we'll have a sequel."

"I will miss my little Gabe, though." Katherine lamented.

"So will the rest of us." Eleanor agreed.

Peter had been on the phone for a few minutes, but soon finished up the call. "Good news, everyone. I've been calling some of the archivists in the Historical Society. I gave them the names that Claire wrote down. As it turns out, our own dear Martha Sturgeon does in fact have living relatives here in La Jolla. Of course, some credentials need to be confirmed, but the family has already stated that if genuine, they will welcome Martha into their fold with open arms."

Byron, Kyu and Tony had been shuffling around the room, helping clean up the mess they had a hand in creating the night before. When the announcement was made, and when the rest of the group started applauding, the three of them went to join in.

"A spectacular ending to a spectacular night!" Matty declared. "Wouldn't you say so, Alexander?"

"Oh, indubitably." The butler nodded. "Since Martha is now among the La Jolla elite, the hiring of a new maid appears to be in order. Young master Brunswick, might I suggest something along the lines an Asian girl with blond hair and C cups, and big, big pouting lips?"

Peter grinned.

"I see what you're doing there." Victoria winked at her lover. "And I'm all for it."

"Let's all give Martha a big hug!" Eleanor called out.

Although thoroughly embarrassed, Martha allowed everyone the opportunity to hug, pat, pinch and squeeze her all over.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Eleanor quipped. "This sudden ascension into our exclusive ranks?"

"That we're no longer a threesome?" Katherine asked.

"That's right." Eleanor nodded. "We're a quartet now." She gave their new associate a peck on the cheek. "Welcome home, Martha." The beautiful blonde turned toward the three men cleaning up the ballroom, and jingled her car keys at them. "Now, which one of you studs wants to run downstairs and bring my car up to the elevators, so they can drive me and my girlfriends back home?"

As you can imagine, another episode of chaos erupted within the ballroom. It is upon this scene that we will draw a close to our tale. Suffice to say that the entire cast lived, ahem, and slept (translation: screwed), happily ever after.