The Secrets of Darkling Manor

Twenty-five: Aleksander Morozova

Twenty-five: 

He hated the penthouse. First, because it was where he had spent his life being single. Second, Alina refused to sleep with him while they were there. After everything he had told her about the ghosts, and the deaths, and Mal dying, she didn't want anything to do with him. There were three guest bedrooms beside the one he used as his office, and she slept in one of those.

Every night, he would get home late from the office. He would check on her to see if she were coming to bed and find that she was already asleep in the guest bedroom. He hated it. In the morning, he took cold showers to give him some relief. At night, he jerked himself off to thoughts of her as he was alone in his bed.

He lay awake, staring at the ceiling, rubbing his cock as he pictured Alina there, in bed with him as he thrust into her pussy. She would clench her fists together and cry out his name each time. "Aleksander!!!!"

They hadn't even gone on the honeymoon yet like they were supposed to. Maybe it wasn't appropriate, given that her best friend had just died. But he wanted a week alone with his wife some place tropical and he wanted to fuck her until she couldn't stand. He wanted to fuck her until she had his seed in him, and she was pregnant, and could never, ever leave him.

Every day, he felt like the clock was running out. That eventually, she would find out the truth. But if she questioned their marriage, she hadn't once said a word about it. Instead, she acted as though everything were fine in that regard. They were husband and wife. They were in a fight, but to her, she didn't know anything different. Or that there was any reason to suspect that there was anything different.

Aleskander needed Alina back in his bed. If she weren't, he would lose his power over her. At that moment, he was staring up at the ceiling, trying to sleep. But he kept on thinking of the feel of her breasts in his hand as he massaged them, his cock in her pussy as he thrust into her, and then---

There was screaming.

Aleksander bolted awake, put a shirt, and ran through the penthouse. "Alina?" he called out. He looked out onto the balcony and found Alina standing there, in her pajamas, looking like she was about to jump.

He ran out to the balcony and pulled her back. "Alina!" he shouted. "Alina, what the hell were you doing?"

Alina looked up at him, fear in her eyes. "I don't know."

He shook his head. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean, one minute I was in bed....the next there was this woman's voice whispering to me, telling me to come out here. I didn't want to but it was like----"

"Like someone was controlling you?" he offered.

Alina nodded. She gripped hold of him as she sobbed into his chest. "I thought if we left the haunted house, we couldn't be haunted by the witch."

He shook his head. "The witch stays at Darkling Manor. I don't know how. But the other ghosts...."

"You don't think it was the witch?" Alina asked. "Who do you think it was?"

He took a breath. "Come with me." He held her tightly against his chest and led her back inside the apartment, closing the balcony door behind him. He led her to his room.

"Aleks, if this is just a ploy to get me into your bed---"

"It's not just a ploy to get you into my bed," he said with a grin, "although I have to admit, I've been having a lot of cold showers lately and I wouldn't mind it."

She scowled at him. "Don't try to be charming. Please help me make sense of...." She took a deep breath. "Whatever it is that's going on here."

He opened up his nightstand and pulled out one of his old wedding photos. "Is this her?" he said. "The woman that you've been seeing?"

Alina nodded. "Is that..."

"That's Luda," he said, "that's my first wife. She's been haunting me since she died."

"I don't understand," Alina said, "are the ghosts tethered to you or to the house?"

"I don't know," he admitted, "I've tried everything to get her to leave but she stays. The others too."

"What if it's the house?" Alina asked. "When I was younger, I used to read books on ghosts. They can get attached to objects or places. What if we----"

"I've tried," he said, "I've tried everything. When Luda died, I took a match to the place. It cannot be destroyed. It's as if it's protected by something."

"The witch," Alina said, "it has to be."

"We could always try my idea," said Aleksander, "filling the pond up with cement."

"Aleks," she said, "do the Darkling's appear anywhere else?"

He shook his head. "Apparently, they used to be all over England. But they started dying out in the Industrial Revolution and now the ones on the property are the only ones that are left. That's why I can't do anything with them."

"The Darklings are dying," she said, "there's something on the property that's killing them off. Maybe if we can figure out what that is, we can get rid of the ghosts."

"You think the birds are connected to them?"

"The witch has probably been there as long as the birds, hasn't she?" Alina asked.

"I never thought about it like that before."

"We need to go back," said Alina, "we need to figure out what's wrong with the birds. I think they're the key."

"But if I we get rid of the ghosts Luda will also be gone...."

"What does that mean?" Alina asked. "She's a ghost, Aleks. It's not as if she can come back. And we're married."

He took a breath. "Alina, I didn't mean----"

She stood up. "She's a ghost, Aleks. I'm here. I'm your wife."

"You don't understand. What Mal was to you, Luda was to me. And I failed her!"

"I failed Mal too!" she said. "But you don't see me hoping that his ghost is going to be alive to fall in love with me."

Alina started to walk out of the room.

"Alina, no!" Aleksander shouted, gripping her wrist tightly. Then, he pulled her to him, kissing Alina deeply.

She gripped Aleksander tightly, kissing him back. Then she wrenched herself away. "Aleks, I can't---"

"Please," he begged, "please Alina, I need you so fucking bad."