A Fucking Ghost Story

Shayna kneaded her temples with her thumbs. Words swam together on her white screen. Had his name been Carl of Clark?

She cycled a breath. Her small breasts rose and fell.

Cark. It had been Cark.

She flipped through her notes. Lewis and Clark.

Wind beyond her window let out a loud howl. The pane rattled. A heartbeat squall splashed against the pain.

The lights flickered. For a fractional second it was as dark inside as out. Shay smashed alt-f-s. Word's save progress bar proceeded slowly. Fortunately, the computer did not blink out.

She cycled another heavy breath and slid down in her chair until her feet tapped the wall under the desk. Her skirt pulled up under her buttocks. Her ass practically hung off the chair. She stared at her report.

Okay, Shay, I've just got to—

The lights blinked. Longer this time. Something smacked her window. The computer monitor darkened. An image appeared in its ghostly glow.

Shayna's heart thrashed within her breast. She jerked and her chair toppled. She shrieked.

Floor, as hard as concrete, kissed Shayna, hip, shoulder, head in three successive thuds.

"Ow."

Illumination snapped back.

"Ow."

"Shay?"

"Oh, ow."

"God, girl. What y' doin' on the floor?"

Shayna crawled to her knees. Her neighbor, Tiffany, stood in Shayna's door.

Tiffany's roommate poked her head over Tiffany's shoulder. "You 'k'?"

Shayna clambered to her feet. To ease the pull on her bruised scalp, she teased the scrunchy from her hair. Freed, chestnut locks dipped and bobbed before her eyes.

Really? Why can't I have straight hair, like, Sarah. And blond.

Maybe I should bleach it.

"Shay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Sarah. Just—" She paused. "—bruised."

Tiffany strode into the room. "You screamed, girl. And fell."

Heat kissed Shayna's cheeks. "I was startled."

"By the lights? Gee, that—"

Shayna didn't let her finish. "I thought I saw . . . something.

"In the monitor.

"A man."

Sarah had entered the room now as well. Her eyebrow climbed her scalp. "A man made you scream?"

Shayna blew out a breath that fluttered her locks. "It was on my monitor. Old guy. All white, like moonlight, or a black and white photo. Had crazy Einstein hair and a . . ."

"A?" Tiffany said.

"A lamp. A lantern. I think."

Sarah laughed. Tiffany's lips carved her face in a silly grin.

"You've been listening to Levi's ghost stories." Sarah laughed again. "I'm surprised your socks are still on."

Ghost stories? Why was Tiffany listening to ghost stories?

Had she hooked up with Levi?

"Okay - uh -

whatever

. I guess. I've got to . . ." Shayna waved at her computer.

"

Girl

, do you ever stop studying?"

"Not with midterms next week."

"Yeah, 'k' have

fun

with that."

The two girls left Shay's room. She sat and turned back to her computer.

Uh.

The lights flickered once, twice, thrice. There was a pop like a lightbulb imploding. Darkness slammed down. More than one girl's expletive filtered through Shayna's partially open door.

Well, that blows.

The wind outside howled in response.

Shay fished about her desk for her cell-phone. Light blossomed from the handheld monitor. She scrolled through a thousand apps looking for the flashlight.

Before she found it, a boy's tenor trumpeted. "Hey, ladies, come on. Party in the common room."

The response was immediate and gleeful. Doors opened and slammed. Beams of errant light flashed up and down the hall. Girls trooped, or ran, in groups of two or three towards the communal space where the freshman boys and girls wings intersected.

"Hey, Babe, you coming?"

The steel nubs of Shay's chair screamed against the floor tile as she twisted to face Jason. She lifted her eyes from her screen. Her gaze met a deep etched shadowed face, wild hair white hair, a lantern. The icy kiss of fear sucked the air from her lungs.

Shayna's chair toppled. Gravity asserted its hold. Before she hit the floor, she caught the edge of the desk. A cup full of pens toppled and clattered upon the floor like a handful of pick-up sticks. She yelped.

"Fuck, Shay." There was a hint of laughter in Jason's voice. He pointed his flashlight beam such that it no longer highlighted is face in stark white and black shadows.

She pushed herself upright. Her free hand clutched at her wildly beating heart. Her small breasts heaved with every rapid breath. "Don't do

that

!"

"What? This?" Jason pointed his cellphone flashlight at his face once more. "Boo!"

"Yes—" A pen rolled out from under Shayna's heel. It took her balance with it.

Adrenalin seared her veins. "—crap!" Her butt banged upon the desktop. A loud crack sounded. Pens, books and coffee cup jumped.

My phone!

The cellphone tittered upon the edge of the desk. Shayna grabbed at it. Gravity caught it first. The crystal screen slipped past her fingers.

The phone landed upon edge. There was as sharp crack. A kaleidoscope of light cast by a million prisms danced across the floor and went out.

A cyclone of black moths within Shay's stomach lifted up an acid vapor within her. Her lungs, her throat, her eyes burned. A single sob escaped her throat.

Two full strides and Jason was before Shayna. Strong, muscled bands of comfort enfolded her. Shayna's fingers dug into the front of Jason's shirt. Her head fell against his collar bone.

Another sob escaped her.

"It's okay baby. I'm here." His hands ran over her back. His words turned the acid to something gentler. His hands massaged the moths down, down.

She sniffled loudly. "My report. My phone. The . . ."

"Don't talk. I understand. I'll get you a new one." He hands continued their slow strokes down her back. His fingers pushed at knots of muscle.

As each tangle untied itself, her flesh released a warm rush that drenched the moths' wings. The flock, born of sorrow, was baptized in relief. They metamorphosed to golden butterflies whose wet wings dropped them from flight. They fanned themselves, a million feathers, stroking her core.

Jason's hands followed her spine. On turned around and worked its way buck up when it reached the edge of her sweater. The other, though, continued its path down. When it reached her tailbone, Jason smoothed her pleated skirt over her rump. She flinched a little. A spark torched a few of the butterflies who went up in flame. Heat, and a slight ach, erupted in their wake.

Jason's hands froze. "Did that hurt?" There was a note of surprise in Jason's voice.

Shayna scrubbed her eyes on Jason's shirt. "I bruised my tailbone." She pulled back a little. "On the edge of the desk."

"Ah." His lopsided grin was all but invisible in the dark. "Then perhaps I should kiss it all better." His fingers ratcheted up her skirt, which was not particularly long.

"Don't you dare!" She clutched his shirt to prevent him from turning her around.

His other hand slid down her back to cradle her ass alongside the first. "Aw."

Fingers slipped under the cradle of her bikini panties. More butterflies went up in flames.

"Silk?" he said.

"Polyester. You keep stealing the expensive ones."

"What can I say? I'm a trophy hunter."

"You're a thief." She kissed him to take the bite off her words.

Jason held the kiss. His hands slid lower until they were completely underneath her. He lifted just enough such that when he pushed into her kiss she had no traction and had to retreat. He backed her into the desk, hooked his fingers through the crotch of her panties and pulled.

It was elegantly executed. The way his arms wrapped around, underneath and then between her thighs the motion slipped Shayna's legs from beneath her and sat her on the desk. He drew her legs high and pulled back to remove the garment completely.

Shayna followed Jason with her lips. She nearly overbalanced upon her seat. He caught her under her knees and pushed forward again. He leaned into her. First one, and then a second, of Shayna's hands left his shirt to catch her weight against the surface upon which she sat. He pushed her legs up and wide. He hooked the heels of her booties upon the lips of the desk.

Jason plied Shayna's mouth with his tongue. He drank the air from her lungs replacing it with a heady, wet warmth that seeped through her and ate away the last of her caution.

His hands moved away from her. The rattle of a loosed belt buckle chimed. Jason shifted. A heavy, hot weight fell between her legs to bounce upon the flesh guarding her womb.

A sharp gasp seized Shay's lungs. She broke their kiss, half fell and grabbed his shoulder. She hooked her arm around Jason's neck, pushed against the desk with her heels and raised her ass a finger-width or two off the surface. Jason manhandled his member into position.

Shay lowered herself. Jason pushed. His steel rod invaded her, bending as it forged a path along the back contour of her quench. Heat flooded her. She boiled.

"God." Shayna wrapped her other arm about Jason's shoulders. She buried her face in his neck. "Jason."

He pulled out slowly. She clenched, vainly trying to hold him within her. He extracted the length of his heat and then shoved it back in.

Shayna gasped. She cinched down. The ache between her legs escalated. He withdrew. He rammed her again. A squeal escaped her lips. She trembled. Her fingers clawed Jason's back. He grunted and a cauldron's heat splashed within her. Her womb clenched, opened and clenched again. She groaned.

After its sharp climax, the ache within Shay dissolved into a warm glow. She loosened her grip. Her lips longed for Jason's touch once more. She leaned back. Her eyes opened.

A knotted, twisted fist clutched Shay's throat. Every muscle stiffened to ice. The lantern light winked out.

"Shay?"

She pushed Jason away and jumped off the desk. She pressed by Jason.

He grabbed her arm. "Shay, what is it?" His other hand tugged up his pants.

"I saw him again."

"Him? Who?"

"He was watching us."

"

Shay

, who was watching us."

Shayna wrested her arm from Jason. "The old man. With the lantern." She hugged herself. "He was right here."

"What old man? Shay, are you sure you're okay." Jason reached for her.

She twisted away. "

Yes

, I'm okay," she snapped. "

God

, you don't believe me."

"I . . ." His gaze wandered the room helplessly.

Shayna wrested open a drawer. She dragged out a pair of panties from her dwindling supply. She was going to have to go shopping, or maybe panty raid Jason.

God, that's stupid.

Him and his fetish with her undies. "I'm going to the bathroom.

Don't

follow me." The door punctuated her departure.

Emergency lights glowed in the hall above the exits. The girl's bathroom was unlucky cat black. When the entry fell closed behind her, she went blind. She slammed her head, edge on, into an open stall door.

"Ow."

Ow! Ow.

"Shay?" Jason said, from the entry. He sounded sheepish. "You need a light?" He held his cell-phone. The flashlight app spilled its near blinding LED light across the floor.

"Yeah." She waved him over. She was crouched on the floor with her head in her hands. It really hurt. "Is it bleeding?"

He stepped over and drew her to her feet. "You have to move your hands."

She hesitated and then complied.

"Ouch." He paused. "No blood but—"

Her right eyebrow stung even with his most delicate touch.

"—that looks like it hurt."

"No

duh

."

"Then I should probably kiss it better." He pulled her into his arms.

"You're such a dork."

"I know."

His lips brushed her brow. She flinched. He pressed another kiss upon her. She let it linger. An aloe-vera balm spread from his touch. She leaned into his chest.

He pulled her tight. Once more his hands massaged their way down her back. One smoothed over her skirt. His fingers inched up its hem.

Shayna stepped out of his arms. "No." She swatted his face with her panties. "I've already fell for that once."

"

Aw

, but it was so much fun." He reached for her.

She dodged. "For you. Besides, I'm running out of panties."

He moved to catch her. "If you don't put them on, I can't take them off."

"Oh?" An eyebrow shot up. She sidestepped his grab.

"Yeah, if I don't take them off you, I can't keep them." He blocked her escape. "They're not trophies unless you're wearing them."

"Oh my

God

! You're

so

a dork."

He gave her a silly grin. "What can I say? It's like deer hunting, only better." He advanced.

Shayna backward into a stall and closed the door on his face. He grabbed the top to pry it open. She slammed the bolt home just in time.

"Hands off. I'm getting dressed, Bambie butcher."

"Whatever. You have to come out sometime. You put those on and those panties are mine."

"Uh huh." An ache, or the memory of an earlier ache, stirred like a languid cat stretching. "You have to get me out of them first."

"Oh, I will. It's not like we have anything better to do."

Cleaned and dressed Shayna slipped from her stall. "What? You think I actually like getting poked by that worm." She spun to avoid Jason's grasp. She laughed and leapt out the bathroom door, Jason close on her heels.

They piled into Sarah and Tiffany.

"Gee, Shay—" Sarah staggered back a step. "—there you are." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "We were coming to—"

Tiffany interrupted. "Were you two -

you know

- in the bathroom?"

"No."

"Yes." Jason pulled the wadded pair of Shayna's panties from his pocket.

"My God, Shayna. The

bathroom

? You did it in the shower, right? Not in a stall?"

Shayna slugged Jason. "We didn't

do it

in the bathroom!"

Jason raised his hands to ward off another blow. He glanced at Tiffany. "Actually, we did it over the sink. In front of the mirror. So she could watch."

"

Jason

!"

"Oh my God!

Really

?" Sarah said.

Tiffany covered her mouth with both hands. She was still unable to hide the grin that carved her cheeks.

"We did it in my room."

"But you did it!" Tiffany said.

Fire ignited Shayna's cheeks. Tiffany had been prying into Jason's and Shayna's extra-circular activities for some time now.

Jason slipped across the hall such that Tiffany and Sarah were between him and Shayna. "Yup, and I've got proof." He waved her panties at the girls once more.

"

Jason

." Shayna's voice was low and dangerous. She grabbed at her underwear.

Jason snatched it back.

"Give me!"

Jason grabbed Sarah by the shoulders and levered her into Shayna's path. "You lost them fair and square. Their mine now. I think I'll show everyone in the common-room."

Shayna lunged. A finger snagged the elastic of her lost bikini but she bounced off Sarah and the elastic snapped back at Jason. He leapt back two paces, turned and ran.

Damn it. Boys!

She almost caught him at the common-room door. It opened in and he had to break his stride to fling it wide. He exited the hall a mere stride ahead of Shayna.

The room was packed. Girls and boys from all four wings of the freshman hall crowded the space. Two dozen LED beams tore the darkness with their stark white light. Blue monitor glow haloed nearly everybody's hands. It wasn't two heartbeats before someone pressed a beer in Shayna's hands.

Luke pulled the icy beverage back. "Oops, sorry. Girl." He traded the beer with a Michael's Hard Lemonade. He popped the cap. "Drink up before someone comes and takes our suds away."

A boy dislodged two girls dancing to their iPhone tunes and climbed up on top of the coffee table. "Listen up everyone."

Laughter, girly squeals and general teen chatter continued on uninterrupted.

"Quiet!"

There was a heartbeat pause in the brouhaha. A dozen LED beams centered on his face. He flinched. It was Kyle.

"Great. Next game! I've got a free cappuccino—" Kyle waved a coupon over his head. "—for the first girl to get laid and the bragging rights for the boy that can prove he did it!"

The announcement was greeted with several feminine shrieks and masculine howls.

Tiffany grabbed Jason's and Shayna's arms and thrust them in the air. "Winners!"

All LED beams turned towards the trio.

Kyle paused, mid stride, half on and half off the coffee table. "Proof?"

"Don't you dare," Shayna said.

Jason shot her a sheepish grin. He raised her thong like a flag in his free hand.

"Damn," Kyle said. "I wanted to win. Tiffany, you want to try for second place?"

Laughter erupted. Flashlight beams turned away and teens went back to their drinking. Even though he was only two paces away, between the boys congratulating her and the girls asking for details, Shayna had to fight to get to Jason's side. When she made it, she anchored herself to his arm. She hid her face behind his biceps. He cheeks burned so hot she thought they must be blistering.

"I can't believe you did that."

"Don't blame me.

Blame

Tiffany."

"Listen up everybody!" Kyle said from his coffee table podium. "Since Jason and Shayna have so cruelly truncated our entertainment. It's time for ghost stories!" He reached down and dragged someone from the crowd "Levi!"

Numerous teens scrambled for the few couches surrounding the dark TV and coffee tables. It was like a mad game of musical chairs although some kids went back to their drinks and private conversations. A lightless foosball game rattled away in one dark corner.

"Okay everyone. Lights out. Come on. Put those phones away."

Bit by bit, the room darkened. Shayna was struck by how black it got. Normally a galaxy of city lights would have been visible from the plate glass windows beyond the TV. Dornbecher Hospital was lit up by emergency power. Everything else was a black hole before which the campus trees twisted in the wind as if performing a primitive, wild, erotic dance.

Levi climbed up upon the coffee table. "Okay—" His voice was raspy from some childhood trauma. It was an effect he took full advantage of. "—everyone's heard of the secret tunnel in the admin mansion, haven't they? The one from the library to the mansion's old bedroom?"

There was a muted chorus of agreement. Someone, Kyle, Shayna thought, handed Levi a candle. The flame dipped Levi's face into cadaverous shadow.

Shayna's breath hitched. Jason put an arm around her shoulder. He drew her close.

"But does anyone know about the other tunnels? The ones Old Meyer dug from the mansion to the outbuildings. The old bathhouse and the gardener's shed. How about the ones to the stables?"

"The stables are gone, Levi."

Levi rotated his head to face the speaker. In the dark, it was almost disembodied by the candle flame. "Are they? Perhaps they're no longer stables for horses. The dorms are built on old foundations. Old Meyer had a path to his the tack room and the stalls of his favorite mares." Levi nodded his head towards the girl's dorm room wings. "They might've been over there."

In the pause that followed, Shayna could hear the couch squeak and groan as people shifted. Shayna gulped a swallow of her hard lemonade and pressed closer to Jason.

"Old Meyer gave the mansion and all the grounds to the school while he was still alive. He lived here, in the mansion. But nobody would see him for months at a time and when they did, he was strangely aged. Hair went white. It was never combed and stuck out everywhere. Very Einsteinian. Liver spots blossomed on his face.

"One day they found him dead outside the utility closet by the girl's bathroom. He'd been burned. Like a torch. By the oil from his lantern. There was a peephole in the closet. Right into the showers. You can guess what happened."