Читать книгу A Ghost's Story - Jenna Lynn Bretz - Страница 22

What could one say? I have asked all the questions. I have yelled and screamed, made demands. No one hears; no one answers. I am left with just me. I grow bored with my thoughts. Sometimes I find it easier not to think. I float aimlessly, hoping to get lost in a memory. To feel alive again as I relive it. Time doesn’t exist here. It is so odd. I feel like a child waiting for Christmas morning, anticipating an event that will never come. I wait in anticipation for nothing.

I feel like an animal in a cage, pacing back and forth but never getting anywhere.

This house is my reality. I roam through it, revisiting every memory it holds. It keeps me safe from the darkness that pursues me.

If only I could see Stanley again. I would find a way to make him hear me.

God help me!

How did this happen? I went to sleep one night and woke up to this ongoing nightmare. I wanted to stay with Stanley. I didn’t know I was dead. Just thinking these thoughts, I feel as though I am fading away. I hold on to my consciousness. What would happen if I just let it go? I feel myself floating away. A peaceful warmth wraps itself around me. I close my eyes and feel myself give in to this embrace.

A door slams. I am descending, falling! I grasp frantically at the air around me. I open my eyes, and I am back in our bedroom.

The front door? That was the front door!

A young woman with blonde hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. A young man follows behind her, struggling with a large box. I circle around them to get a better look. This is the couple that Amber brought here.

“Look at this place, Peter! It’s just beautiful. Look at all this potential.” She squeals delightfully as she spins in circles around the room. “We can take out this wall and open up this room.” She quickly heads off to the kitchen. “Peter! It’s even bigger than what I remember. This will definitely turn out to be one hell of a kitchen for you, my sexy chef man. Come in here and look at this!”

“Be right there, babe, just let me get the rest of these boxes off the porch.”

I look right into his face. The sprinkle of freckles on his nose matched the color of his hair. He had green eyes, greenest eyes I had ever seen. He favors Liam, how strange. I hadn’t thought about Liam until now. Really not much to think about.

“Damn! Babe, find a thermostat. We need to get the heat going.”

I watch the vapor rise from his breath as he speaks into the cold air surrounding him.

“Okay, babe,” she says, drawing my attention back to her. There she is standing in my kitchen with a big black marker in hand, sketching on my walls and drawing big black Xs on my cabinet doors!

I had to do something! I had to make her stop!

All the rage I was feeling flowed out of me toward her, then suddenly deflected into the pantry door. It slammed with such force that the walls shuttered! She screamed, then nervously turned to search the room around her. Her dark blue eyes were wide with fear. Her face drained of all its color as she stood there shaking.

“What the fuck, Jen? What was that?” he says as he runs quickly into the kitchen.

“That door just slammed on its own, Peter!” she stammered, still shaking.

“What? What do you mean, Jen?”

“I mean that fucking door just slammed on its own, Peter. That’s what I fucking mean!”

“Jeeze, you scared the shit out of me. I thought you fell or something.”

“Peter! Did you hear what I just said? That door slammed by itself! I am really freaked out right now.”

“Jen, it’s an old house. It was probably just caught by a draft or something.”

“From where, Peter? Where would a draft that strong come from?”

“Well, I did have the front door open, and it is windy outside.”

“I didn’t feel any wind, Peter.”

“Come on, babe. I think you’re just overreacting,” he said as he put his arms around her. “This really is a great kitchen. I am going to make some amazing food in here! Wow, you’re trembling, baby,” he said as reached out to her, rubbing both of her arms vigorously, as if to try and warm her up.

“I told you, Peter. That was really freaking weird.”

He pulled her close to him. He began kissing and caressing her. “You know what’s weird, I haven’t kissed you all day,” he said in a low, husky whisper.

She turned to him and kissed him back. He lifted her up onto the counter. They were both breathing heavily. They didn’t seem to notice the vapor of their breath floating upward in the air. He pulled at the button on her jeans with clumsy, excited fingers. She reached down to help him, both of them laughing at his uncoordinated efforts. He pulled off her jeans; she removed his shirt and yanked his belt off. His jeans slid down, exposing his buttocks.

I gazed longingly at the two of them. I watched as their bodies moved together. She was so much smaller than him. If I had to guess, I would say she was a little over five feet tall, but not by much. He looked to be around six foot at the least. He held her up easily, while thrusting himself into her body. I could see the pleasure on her face, her teeth partially bared into a faint smile. The deep red of her flushed cheeks. The little beads of sweat on his forehead.

Stanley and I made love in every room of this house. We made a point of not skipping one. It was our move in ceremony. Watching them made me feel that passion again. And although I cannot recall feeling envy for another person when I was a living being, I now feel the sting of envy for this young woman burning deeply in my soul.

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