The Ghost Next Door Pt. 01

The young woman sighed as her father parked their minivan in front of an old two-story house. While she could imagine it being the subject of envy during its time, it was hard to ignore how run-down it now looked.

Its once red brick walls were now brown in places and moss-covered in others. The front lawn which, judging by the plant boxes, used to be bright and cheerful with colourful flowers was now so overran with weed and unidentifiable, dried-up plants that she wouldn't be surprised if snakes slithered in them. And its windows were so filthy that she doubted she would be able to see anything through them.

"Dad," she said, not bothering to hide her displeasure. "Of all places, why here?" she proceeded to ask, her eyes still on the house.

"Luna, we've talked about this," her father replied and though he tried to conceal it, he still sounded tired.

After all that had happened, the last thing she wanted was to add to her father's burden but it was hard when he'd decided to move into a small town in the middle of nowhere. She didn't grow up in a big city nor was she asking to live in one but this place just looked so detached from the modern world. It was like traveling back in time except that the structures didn't travel back with them.

After her mum was murdered and the killer convicted, they both decided to move out of the place her father called home for most of his life and hers all her life until now. They also agreed that a complete change of scenery would help them heal faster but she didn't expect this much change.

The village was a small, quiet one with houses just as old-looking as the one she was looking at now, if not older. She wished she could call it quaint, but no. The place reminded her of one of those horror movies where a the villagers were either cannibals or evil cults just waiting for the right time to kill them. She shivered at the thought.

She was nineteen. Her life was supposed to be revolving around socialising, partying. She could see neither happening. And she was still over a month away from the start of a new school year.

"I know it doesn't look much right now but once we've had it nice and clean, you'll see," her father assured her. She turned to face him and nodded, not because she actually believed him but because she knew that not much could be done about the situation. Not to mention the pleading glint in his eyes.

***

It took them only half an hour to unload and move their stuff into the house, thanks to their neighbours who, much to her relief, seemed to be really friendly and welcoming without being creepy. She was also happy to learn that the Internet worked there and that they had a decent movie house and supermarket-slash-video store just a short drive away.

They were even saved the trouble of preparing lunch as their new neighbours brough in different dishes. Grateful, they invited the lot to join them. Lunch was a cheerful affair and the food wasn't bad at all. By the time it was over, she had already made a couple of potential friends who offered to help her with the dishes while the rest helped her dad with other stuff. Before night came, they were mostly settled, leaving them with just a few boxes—their personal stuff—to unpack, and making the exterior look like a proper home exterior again. Again, the neighbours kindly offered to help but they declined saying they'd helped them more than enough already.

After dinner, Lorraine and Iver, her new friends, invited her to a night stroll and with her dad's encouragement, she joined them. They hadn't even gone far when she stopped. She didn't notice it before but there was a house beside theirs though it was in a worse state than their house had been. Where their house looked weathered, this one looked like it was ready to collapse anytime soon.

She was about to turn away and continue walking when she caught a glimpse of a very pale face peeking through one of the upper windows. She gasped and stepped back, bumping into one of her companions.

"Did you see that?" she asked and pointed toward the window but the face was already gone.

"See what?" Lorraine and Iver asked in unison, following the direction with their eyes.

"I saw a face," she said, her voice sounding breathless. Finally, she was able to pull her gaze away from the window, just in time to see the two exchange glances. "What?" she asked and the two dragged her away, stopping only once the house was out of sight.

"Looks like you've just been welcomed by the Ghost," Iver said as they sat on logs in a vacant lot, Lorraine nodding beside him.

"The Ghost?" she repeated, searching her friends' faces for any sign that they were kidding her. For all she knew, that pale face could be one of her teenage neighbours pranking her and Lorraine and Iver were on in the joke.

Lorraine nodded again and wet her lips with her tongue before she went on to explain. "That house has been empty for a long time. The people who used to live there were a married couple. The woman had a miscarriage and the doctors told her she could no longer conceive. Their marriage went downhill from there. They filed for divorce then moved out.

"Though abandoned, the house was quiet and as normal as an empty house could be. But about five years ago, people started seeing it—him. A pale figure of a man looking out one of the windows; one moment there, gone the next. Priests have been brought in several times to bless, even exorcise, the house but none worked. He didn't leave." Lorraine paused, as if waiting for the words to sink in.

Luna wanted so badly to not believe them. Ghosts weren't real, right? But she'd seen him, the Ghost. And now that she thought about it, it was unlikely that anyone would risk their lives just for a few moments of entertainment. It was a miracle that the house was still standing. It couldn't possibly still hold the weight of a fully grown man.

"So my closest neighbour is a ghost," she said barely over a whisper and took in a deep breath. "How fucking great," she then added, louder this time.

***

It had been almost a week since the night she saw the Ghost and she hadn't again seen even just a sign of his existence since then. She was starting to think that though no one was pranking her, it was possible that it was just a figment of her imagination. After all, she was tired and upset that night. Still, how could she explain the accounts of other witnesses? Even some of the more elderly residents swore that the Ghost really did exist.

Little did she know that she was soon to have another—closer—encounter with him.

It was the first time she was left alone in the house. Her dad had to return to their hometown to take care of some legal matters regarding their old property. He offered to take her with him but she assured him she'd be alright. She had forgotten about the Ghost and with the new home security her dad had installed, she felt completely safe.

After dinner, she made sure the alarm system was properly placed and set then headed upstairs to her bedroom where she watched movies on her laptop until she felt tired enough to sleep.

Next thing she knew, she woke up to the sound of her bedroom door slowly opening. She sat up and reached out to the side of her bed for her night lamp. "Dad, is that you?" she called out just as her hand found the switch. He said he wouldn't be home 'til after lunch the next day but she didn't want to scare herself. And maybe whatever business he had to take care of had been handled quickly.

But when her finger pressed the switch, she gasped as the faint light revealed a tall, pale man standing at the foot of her bed. She opened her mouth to scream but the man—the Ghost—was quick to clamp his hand over her mouth, effectively muffling the sound.

"Ssshhhh! Be quiet. I won't hurt you," the man whispered, his face barely an inch away from hers. Despite her terror, she couldn't help but note how warm both his hand and his breath were.

'Warm?' she thought. How come he was warm? Dead people were supposed to be cold, weren't they? But that wasn't really important at the moment. She had to get away from him.

With him straddling her legs, her blanket pinning them to the bed, she had no other choice but to use her hands. She tried to pry his hand off of her mouth but she caught her hands by her wrists and held them against her chest, forcing her to lie back down.

"Listen, you're in danger but not from me. I'm here to protect you. I know you don't know me and that I look... frightening," he said, faltering on the last word. Was that pain she sensed? But before she could analyse it, it was gone. "I will let you go but, please, be quiet and follow me, alright?"

Luna bit his hand and was about to scream when the alarms blared followed by what sounded like the front doors being kicked open.

The Ghost's eyes widened and his voice became more urgent. "They're here. Luna, please, trust me."

Luna nodded and with some hesitation, the Ghost let her go. "How did you know my name? And who are 'they'?" she asked, fear and confusion evident in her voice.

"I don't have time to explain. How about we get out of here and once we're safe, I'll tell you everything?"

Again Luna nodded and the Ghost took her hand before practically dragging her out of bed. She nearly fell as the sheets tangled with her feet but the Ghost caught her and freed her.

The Ghost led her straight to the next room, the one with the fireplace and the one her dad planned to convert into his studio (he was a sculptor). The Ghost locked the door and she helped him carry a heavy table over to barricade the door, making as little noise as possible. She could hear voices from downstairs, both angry and urgent, but her heart was pounding in her ears that she could not understand them.

"Here," the Ghost called. He then crawled into the fireplace and began climbing up. She followed him, carefully holding on and stepping on the bricks which were sticking out at regular intervals, surprised at how much room the chimney actually had compared to what was suggested from the outside.

Soon enough the Ghost stopped climbing and opened a small metal door then climbed in. Every moment that passed, more and more questions burned in her mind, but she pushed them off for later.

She followed him through the door and into a space wide and high enough for a large man to comfortably crawl through on all fours. They took several turns, the Ghost silent the whole time. Just when her knees and palms began to ache, she saw a square of faint light up ahead and the Ghost dropped from it. When it was her turn, he easily caught her, their bodies pressing together.

The contact was brief as he quickly let her go but it was enough to incite a reaction from her body. A delicious warmth spread all over her, making her nipples strain against the silk of her nightie. It was then that she became aware of how little clothing she was wearing.

'Unbelievable,' she thought. How could her body react in such a way to a stranger and in such a dangerous situation? Again, she pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind and forced herself to focus on her surroundings.

They were in a rather big room with several empty shelves pushed against the walls. An old mattress lay in the middle of the room with folded clothes that looked like they doubled as pillows, and a tattered blanket. The room was illuminated by several gas lamps set in each shelf. There were tiny windows high on the west and north walls. Other than those, the room was empty.

"Where are we?" she asked him. He was busy packing stuff into a knapsack.

The Ghost paused to look at her and after some thought, replied. "This is a secret room in your house. This is where I live," he said and resumed what he was doing even as he said, "We should be safe here for now but will move again first thing tomorrow."

"What's going on?" she then asked as she walked over to where he was. He stood near one of the gas lamps and for the first time, she had a really good view of him. His skin and hair were pale, making stark contrast against his dark shirt and pants. And his eyes, they were the reddish colour of wine. "You're not a ghost," she whispered her realisation, one hand over her heart. "You're an albino."

The Ghost who was not really a ghost looked at her once again, his head moving in a slow nod. Luna closed her eyes and stepped away from him, her fingers pressed to the sides of her head. She had finally unlocked an answer but with it, more questions rose.

All the emotions she held back now came rushing back and overwhelmed her. Suddenly it became difficult to breathe. She swayed as her vision blurred in and out of focus but Ghost was quick to catch her yet again.

"Luna, are you OK?" he asked, concern softening her tone like a carress. And once again, her body reacted, heating up. As if she hadn't enough to worry about already.

"Please, please tell me what's happening. I need to know," she said and turned to look at him just as tears spilled from her eyes.

Ghost guided her over to the mattress and lay her down. Through her tears, she couldn't help but marvel at how handsome Ghost actually was. Before she knew what she was doing, she had reached up to cup his face and traced the outline of his mouth with her thumbs. She felt him shiver as he closed her eyes and she smiled.

Despite everything she was feeling, she could only think of how much she liked causing him to respond that way. Heat spread like wildfire all over her body before concentrating between her legs. Even though she had never been intimate with man before, thanks to her overprotective dad, Luna wasn't exactly innocent. She'd pleasured herself numerous times with her fingers so she knew what the pulsing need between her thighs meant.

"Luna..." Ghost moaned, sending delicious shivers up her spine. She didn't know why but she wanted Ghost right here right now. Her hands moved down his body, making a beeline down the front of his pants but Ghost stopped her.

She looked surprised and hurt at her perceived rejection, her eyes welling up with tears again. She didn't know what was happening, all she knew was that she needed him to touch her. Either that or she would die.

"Ghost, please," she pleaded and raised her leg, rubbing it against the front of his pants. She moaned when she realised that he was just aroused at she was, his hard member straining against his pants.

With a strength she didn't know she possessed, she pushed him over to his back and straddled his hips, the hem of her short nightie riding up her thighs high enough to reveal her already wet panties. She bent over and kissed him, silencing the protest she knew was to come while her hand reaches between their bodies and cupped his swollen cock.

Ghost moaned into her mouth and she felt his hips rocked ever so slightly. He was still fighting it. She managed to open his pants with one hand and slipped it inside his boxers. Ghost moaned again and this time, his hips really arched from the bed. But once again, he pulled her hand away and she pouted.

Her disappointment was quickly replaced with pleasant surprise as it was her turn to be pushed on her back, his body pinning hers to the bed. She parted her legs and wrapped them around her waist, effectively pressing his hard length to her wet core.

She had always imagined herself engaged in a passionate foreplay before the steamy actual intercourse but this time, the need was so overwhelming that the foreplay would have to wait for another time.

'Wait, another time? What—' The logical part of her mind tried to reason but her body's need overpowered all logic.

'Yes, I will have Ghost again. And again. And again,' she decided and struggled to push his pants and boxers down with her feet. His cock sprung free, the shaft lodging between her panty-clad pussy lips. It was still far from the real deal but it was enough to make her cry out.

"Gods, yes!" she breathed and moved her hips so that she was rubbing against his cock. He groaned in response and soon enough, he was ripping her panties off of her hips.

He rubbed the head of his cock up and down her bare pussy and looked into her eyes as he finally stopped at her entrance. She nodded, biting her lip, and felt him slide in slowly. She felt a slight discomfort as his girth stretched her. After a few moments, he stopped and she realised he must've met the resistance of her virginity and was asking for her permission to continue.

She knew from her friends and the erotic novels she'd read that the first time was going to hurt but she also knew that the pleasure that came after would make the brief pain worth it. "Ghost, please," she urged him.

Ghost needn't be told twice. With a single thrust, he broke her hymen. She clenched her teeth, a hiss of pain managing to escape through them, while her heels dug into his back. Again, he paused and waited for her signal and when she gave it, he moved again, his thrusts starting out slow and gentle but soon increased in speed and urgency.

It didn't take long before their moans and grunts of pleasure filled the room, mixing with the wet sounds of flesh slapping against flesh. And when finally they reached their climax—together—their cries of ecstasy were like the war cries of a different kind.