Ghost Kisses

Haphephobia

"Well don't you look chipper." Impulse retorted as I walked through the door. I rolled my eyes at him as I discarded my coat and shoes in the entryway.

"Ha ha. Very funny. You ever consider being a comedian Impy?"

"Lighten up Tango! It couldn't have been that bad of a first night on the job."

"Whatever. I'm going to bed." Impulse laughed.

"But Tango, it's 5am. That's when people wake up."

"No, that's when YOU wake up. Normal people sleep until 9." I shuffled past Impulse toward my room.

"What's that?" I stopped as I felt impulse poke the back of my neck. I started to turn around to face him but he lightly grabbed my shoulders and stopped me. I was confused, but I just let him carry on.

"Tango... did you get into a fight?"

"No?"

"Then why the heck does it look like someone was trying to strangle you?"

"W-What?" I turned to face Impulse.

"Dude, if you got into a fight just tell me. I won't be mad. I'm just a little worried..."

"I didn't get in a fight Impulse."

"Then what the heck is the handprint on your neck?" I was 90% sure Impulse was messing with me.

"This isn't funny Impulse. Stop trying to scare me."

"I'm not!"

"Sure... a handprint on the back of my neck? No way. Nice try though, you're a good liar. I'm going to bed."

"Tango..." Impulse grabbed my wrist as I started to walk away. He looked at me in that signature Impulse way. Worry, sympathy, and love all mixed together in his eyes. He pulled me to the bathroom and started rummaging in the cabinets.

"If ya really don't want to tell me what happened that's fine Tango. But at least let me help ya out." I was still thoroughly confused. What on earth was he talking about? At this point, if it was a joke, he would have stopped. I turned to look in the bathroom mirror, tilting my head. There, on the sides of my neck, I saw small red marks. It looked like the ends of fingertips. My eyes widened. I hastily pulled out my phone and held it up to the back of my neck to take a picture. Looking at the picture, my stomach tied in knots.

The clear silhouette of a hand marked my neck. I held my breath so as not to scream. When had that gotten there? What in the ever living void was going on?

Impulse seemed to find what he was looking for in the cabinet and turned back to face me. His smile fell as he looked at me.

"You ok? You look like you just saw a ghost." I shuddered. Ghosts. Suddenly, the events of last night flooded my brain. The Emf ghost detector, the cold, the graves, but most importantly, the feeling of the hand pressing on my neck and side. Wait... my side.

I pulled my shirt up and stared at my waist. I heard Impulse gasp. A second clear handprint marked my side. I wanted to scream. I felt dizzy.

"Tango... tell me what happened buddy." I didn't answer. My heart pounded in my ears. This wasn't real. I had to be sleeping. I sat down on the floor of the bathroom, shaking. Impulse sat next to me calmly. He reached out a hand to comfort me but I jerked away. I didn't want to be touched.

"T-Tango?" I stood up, ignoring Impulse's concern. I didn't look at the mirror as I left the bathroom. I needed to get out of there. I ran to my room and shut the door, locking it behind me. This had to be a dream. This wasn't real. I was sleep deprived and hallucinating. That had to be it.