The ghost

The start of the fall

"Be quiet or else someone might hear you" Helen Taylor shushed her lover although she herself couldn't contain her giggles and excitement any better than he could. "Maybe one of my children is home!" She was sure her husband was at a congress for another 3 days but she didn't fancy having to fess up her little 'game' because they weren't careful enough.

Her lover Joshua couldn't care less though and his lust-driven eyes made that wonderfully clear for her. He wasn't a thinker, she knew, but he was perfect at doing things. Things she had never done with her boring husband or any other man for that matter. Besides, he didn't care about having a relationship with her.

All he did was hump and dump. Which was perfect for her.

Hurried, the both of them tried to make their way upstairs as quiet as possible but failed miserably when in a reckless frenzy he pinned her against the wall, frolicking at her clothes, an almost pleading glance in his eyes.

She wouldn't stop him. Heavens know she needed this as much as he did. She felt his hands roam her body and discover everything. Even if they had done this a hundred times already, she still couldn't get enough of the feeling. On the contrary she begged him not to stop, to continue. She never felt more alive than she did when she was with him. She loved every kiss, every touch, every way he made her feel like a woman... If he stopped now, she was certain she would die.

Suddenly, a noise was heard downstairs. She froze while her amazing Joshua was oblivious to her sudden halting. She pushed him away, quick and agitated. How much she liked him, she couldn't risk her marriage or her family. She had a reputation to protect and she would be dammed if she let it all go to hell because of one moment of carelessness!

She ignored his questioning eyes and pushed him in the nearest room, the guestroom. "Stay here for a while," She whispered to him, "I am going to take a look downstairs."

She swiftly corrected the clothing Joshua had undone before going to investigate. She was an important and rich lady and, if her expensive designer shirt and trousers were any indication, she would rather die than be caught in various stages of undress by someone. After all, it wouldn't be the first time some crazy paparazzi tried to break in the mansion of the Taylor-family.

"They are going to be in for serious trouble if it is indeed the paparazzi" she mumbled to herself, distressed and annoyed that she was bothered while being with Joshua. In her mind, she went over all the possible ways she would give that stupid and overzealous reporter hell if there was a reporter. She wasn't part of the most influential family for nothing and Helen had ways to make someone pay for their mistakes. She may have played to role of the nice and caring mother/wife in public, but her marrying the head of the Taylor-family wasn't a fortunate stroke of good luck.

Helen Taylor always got what she wanted. And right now, she wanted nothing more than go back to her lover. She wasn't to be stopped.

However when she took a quick look downstairs, she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. There didn't seem to be any form of life apart from the useless guarding dog that was supposed to stand guard. He didn't even wake up when she snapped her fingers in front of her face. Irritated, she went back upstairs, blaming everything on her hypersensitive nerves. Her children were god knows where and her husband was at a congress, which was probably an excuse for doing the same things she did. There was no one here but Joshua.

Yet, she didn't relax completely. She was certain she had heard a noise and for some reason, she couldn't quite shake it off as being "just the wind" or "just her nerves". For some reason, she felt a chill making it all the way to her spine, leaving her shaking in her own heels. The classy and modern interior suddenly felt like the perfect setting for the new horror movie.

"Joshua?" She whispered loudly, afraid of being heard by someone else than Joshua but still wanting him to hear her. She was being silly, she knew it. But being silly was better than ending up dead. Especially now Joshua didn't answer.

"Joshua?" She whispered a little bit louder, a little bit more urgent. "Joshua!"

Carefully, she opened the door of the guestroom where she had left him, cringing when the door made just a tad bit too much noise. In the pitch blackness of the room, she couldn't see him. But wouldn't he have answered if he was here?

Don't be silly Helen, She mentally slapped herself, How can there be anyone? You have the best security in town after that last reporter paid a visit. Nobody can come in here without you noticing.

She went to the light switch, much more calm than she was before. She was right. She had nothing to fear. However, when someone grabbed her from behind and pinned her to the wall just before she could reach the light switch, she still involuntarily let out a small scream. Her attacker covered her mouth with his hand and only then did she feel his familiar hands.

Joshua. She felt herself relax when she saw the cocky grin plastered on his face. "Scaredy cat much?" he asked her, pleased with him being in control of the whole situation. She was a little bit annoyed by his little trick but honestly, it was also a huge turn-on. "Do you want me to kiss your fears away, my fair lady?" He asked again, a hundred percent she would say yes. Which she did in the way he liked her best: no words, only physical contact.

She kissed him (or did he kiss her? Did it matter?) and suddenly they found themselves tangled, with no way of knowing where she ended and he began. They teased and explored and lusted after each other and before soon, they ended up making love until the both of them were satisfied and collapsed on the bed they had somehow ended up in. Drunk on the pleasure he had given her and the tiredness that threatened to overwhelm her, Helen looked at her lover with a happy smile and remembered thinking "If only ..." before succumbing to the sleep and the darkness.

By the time she woke up, Joshua had already left. This wasn't anything new, nor was it a surprise for her but she still felt a little sting. Of what she couldn't say. Disappointment, maybe? It could also be that second bottle of tequila they finished together.

"This is getting out of hand," she mused, "Maybe it would be best to stop this all."

She knew she wouldn't though. If her excitement for wanting to make a new 'date' or her contentment after last night had to be paid in lies and secrets, she would gladly pay it.

She slowly made her way out of the bed, picked her clothes up that left a trail across the whole room and went on her way to take a shower. Now that the kids were in college and her husband at a congress, she decided to take it slow and have a relaxing, long shower.

When she was ready, she decided to make some quick breakfast before checking in to work. Although it was a Saturday morning, she was a high shot lawyer who couldn't risk not having the best cases of her whole company. It would be a total shame to miss a good case – and thus, a lot of money – because of some good love-making.

While she stood in the kitchen waiting for her coffee to be ready, she suddenly heard her radio turning on. Grumbling about electronics that did weird things on random moments, she made her way to the lounge before completely freezing.

There was someone in the lounge.

Quickly turning on the light, she saw the figure of some boy reading a newspaper in her sofa. She immediately became angry. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

The boy didn't appear to hear her. This fuelled her fury even more. "How dare you intrude in my house! Speak up boy, who are you?" When he didn't answer that question either, she snatched his newspaper from his hands and started screaming again.

Only this time, it wasn't in anger. This time, it was in complete shock, disgust and fear. "This isn't a boy." She yelled in her head, while still letting out an ear-piercing scream. This was a corpse. A completely mutilated and disfigured corpse. As far as she could see, he had no ears, no mouth, no eyed and his throat looked like it was mauled by some angry, vicious animal. Everything above his waist was covered in scars, cuts and blood. Hell, there was enough blood to provide for some hundreds of blood-needing people.

Again, Helen gave in to darkness.