The whole week of Halloween, I posted excerpts and real ghost stories on my friend's Halloween Blog. That blog was set up for that theme only, and is no longer there. But, I decided to post excerpts from that same story, here.
I'll tell you what inspired that story. When I lived in an apartment in Belleville, Michigan in 2001, there was a ghost there. He was about 19 years old, and wore a baseball cap cocked to the side. My roommate at the time saw him, but I never did. He spoke to me one night, saying my nickname, which I won't repeat here... He said, "_____ are you awake?" It was my roommate's voice! He worked the midnight shift, and this was in the wee hour of the morning, so I thought he had come home. I was asleep on the couch, and jumped up. No one was there. Talk about freaky! Another time, I was at work, and the roomy was asleep. The ghost spoke to him. He said, in my voice, "Wake up, it's time to get up!" Well, I was at work, and that's when he woke up and saw the ghost guy standing in the doorway. He called me at work right away. He was totally spooked.
When I was alone, I could sense him near me. At night I would pretend to be asleep, but I knew he was there. Sometimes he would stand right beside the couch in the dark. I think if I had reached out I could have touched him. He'd bump against the back or side of the couch. (The back faced the dining room, so you could walk around the couch.) When I slept in the bedroom, there was a master bath that I could see from the bed, and I know he was there in that hallway, watching. I was never so frightened, so often, as I was when I lived there. Only one time did my fear scare me away. I had to leave the apartment, and it was broad daylight. It was such an eerie, scary feeling I had that day.
Before we moved, I told him to find his peace and go to where he was supposed to be. I hope he did. So, that brings me back to the story I wrote. Some of it is true, like the young couple with the infant who sub-let the apartment to us. The traffic that never stopped was real. Terribly loud ALL the time. I let my imagination run away a little with this, and I could expand on it if I wanted to, but I don't know yet if I will. I had to make the decision for my character to stay with her husband or go with the ghost. I'm satisfied with my decision. I'll go back through it to see if there's more to tell. Come back to see what I decided.
Now, that first excerpt:
glitter-graphics.com The Accident
A Free Read by Mary J. Dressel
(Protected by Copyright)
Adult Rating
If you're under 17, please
proceed to a different page.
I don’t know why I chose that place, or what made me cut the ad out of the newspaper. Standing out front sent terrible chills through me, but something deep in my psyche told me that I had to look into this apartment. Even though I accounted the chills to it being cold outside, something inside me knew it wasn’t true. The tenants were very friendly. They had a cute little baby. She was three months old. Their apartment was large for the money they paid. I wondered why they wanted to sub-let after only living there six months.
"We’ll take it!" said my husband, Pete.
"Great," said the young dad.
"How soon can you move in?" asked Sue, as she rocked her baby in her arms. "We’ll be out by the first of the month."
"Okay, that works for us," said Pete, glancing over at me for approval.
I nodded that it would be okay. Later that day we talked to the leasing agent, signed the contract, and went home to pack. Pete and I were still considered newlyweds, being married for only nine months, and we still lived with my parents. We were so excited to finally be out on our own, but I still wondered why they wanted to be out so early.
It wasn’t until we moved in that we realized the highway noise. Why didn’t I notice that when I stood outside trying to make up my mind. When I walked to the patio to look at that side of the yard, I didn’t notice it, maybe because of the chills that spread over me, the fearful feeling inside. No wonder the rent was so cheap. One of the busiest highways in the state was right past the parking lot. The sounds of engines, brakes, big rigs, and sirens never quit. It gave me such a shudder to hear it. For some reason, it made me fearful, and I don’t know why. But I soon learned the traffic wasn’t why they moved.
I was the first to realize it. I don’t remember the first incident. Maybe it was the feeling of being watched, or the icy touch on my cheek at night. It might have been the feeling or the bumps in the night, or the dreams of someone pressed against my body. I hated for Pete to work the midnight shift. Even before the voice began I hated being there alone. Even on the weekends he worked late at a second job. It was because he liked it, he said. I was a newlywed and lonely. The sounds and bumps in the night unsettled me, but I took it as being something on the highway, or the neighbors in their apartment. When I felt the pressure of a kiss on my lips, or woke up wet with arousal, I ignored it, and brushed it off as missing my husband.
On our one year anniversary, I lit candles and dropped rose petals along the hallway. My favorite perfume spread through the bedroom as I waited for Pete to come home. My sexy black nightgown fit my slim body just right. Slick and tight!
That night before he got home, I drifted off to sleep. When I felt the bump against the bed, I turned and stretched. "Mmm, Pete, I was dreaming about your hot body against mine." His hands felt so good on my thighs, then his fingers higher, probing my tender parts. There was no answer when I hummed his name. I opened my eyes, looking around for him. "Pete, where’d you go, babe?" I got out of bed, searching the apartment. He wasn’t there. That’s when the phone rang.
"Hi, hon, I’ll be home shortly, I had to stop at the store."
"No!"
"Huh?"
"I mean, no, you aren’t at the store, you were just here."
"No, I wasn’t, I’m driving on the highway."
I jumped back into bed, pulling the covers up tight against my chin.
"Babe?"
"I’m sorry... Hurry, I’m frightened."
"Calm down, Sarah, I’ll be there soon."
"Okay. Love you! Hurry..."
"Okay. Oh, happy anniversary!"
"Thank you, same to you."
I hung up the phone and stayed under the covers. I still felt the chill. I closed my eyes. "That touch was so real." My eyes popped open when I heard a moan. It sounded like Pete when he was hot and horny. It wasn’t Pete.
"Who’s there?" I asked aloud. Again I felt the bump against the bed. "Go away, you’re frightening me!"
Come back and check for another excerpt tomorrow.
Posts
