the ghost bride

Chapter 02: Sinful Whisper.

Super sleepy but I managed to get this chapter out. Thank you for your kind messages and positive feedback. I really appreciate it. Now, without any further ado, here's chapter two.

The blurriness that envelops her is almost blinding. Her head hurt and for all she knew, so did her bones. It was as if a truck had hit her in the middle of a lonely road. Fluttering open her eyes, the November Sun hitting her skin, she was surprised to find herself on the same recliner she had been sleeping in before-

The events of last night crash down on her like waves.

The clock striking midnight, her going up the spiral staircase, the piano, that man.

Her breathing hitched in her throat.

All too quickly, she pushes herself to her feet, instantly regretting when her legs give out, making her petite frame hit the hardwood floor. A hand flies to her head just as small brown eyes squint at a figure far yet too close to her. The frame of a man, still fresh in her memory, walks towards her. Gaining her thoughts again, Seri was in awe to see he was not really walking towards her, with his feet still midair a little. If she looked closely, she could see about a centimeter length of the distance between his leather shoes and the air.

Gingerly, she raises her head to see the scene for herself.

"I thought you'd never wake up," his handsome face was crouched down to meet her at level with one of his arms dangling from his knee. "How are you feeling?" his baritone voice is undeniably auditable to Seriʼs ears, even when she thinks she was still dreaming.

"It's been..." he stops, looks at the same golden pendulum from last night and then, faces her. "Twelve hours."

True to his words, it was noon.

Up close, she can see the golden specks that dust his bronzed skin. If this was a dream, Seri wanted to savor seeing a handsome man for as long as she could. She was thankful he let her catch her voice, which, at that moment, she had forgotten altogether. His tilted head is analyzing her. His bottom lip pulled in between his teeth. As for her, her the ability to even form a single coherent sentence was thrown out of the window- A man was inside her new house. He was playing the piano last night. She was sure she saw him. The same man is now sitting at eye level with her and asking her if she is alright.

She gulps audibly, letting the fear settle in. She had to be extremely cautious at this point. What if he was to hurt her? Or worse, kill her?

But a small voice in her head tells her that had he wanted to hurt her; he already would have. Had he intended to kill her, he would not have been sitting here and asking her if she was alright.

Because after all, that would be a shit intruder/murderer move.

She had to choose her words carefully. Her lips curl inwards, and her eyes glance down at the hardwood floor she is sitting on.

What did she ask him anyway?

Who was he? How did he get here? Is he the mysterious piano ghost?

The equivalent of all those questions would be a plain what the fuck, well, all of them except the last one, so she decided to go with that one first.

"Are you..." never in all her 32 years of life did she think she would be saying this but here she was, "Are you a ghost?"

In front of her, the man seemed to be deep in thought, stroking his chiseled jaw as if in deep contemplation. "If I say yes, will you scream and run out of this godforsaken place?" mirth dances in his eyes. Seri is thoroughly confused at this point. It wasn't enough that her head was hurting already that he had to make things over complicated with his little riddles. Taking her silence as a yes, he proceeds to laugh in her face.