Beyond the Grave

I could remember only a little of my death.

It was dark, I was carrying a flashlight, then I was on the ground holding my hand to my stomach feeling my intestines slip through my fingers. The flashlight had rolled away and I was left in complete darkness. But my vision had gone completely red anyway.

That was all. I couldn't even remember the pain, although I assumed it had been painful. I couldn't remember who killed me. I thought they struck me from behind, although that didn't make sense because the front of my stomach was torn open.

It was chaotic, quick, and distressing to think about. I put the thoughts out of my head for what was probably the tenth time in an hour. Once again I found myself at the top of the stairs to the basement. Maybe every time I found myself distracted I wound up right back where I started.

If I had to put into words what was happening, I would say I'm a ghost. It fit the evidence, what with dying and now not being able to leave far from the site of my demise.

Damn, back at the stairs again. I need to stay focused.

Looking down at my body, it seemed surprisingly solid, not like the typical perception of a ghost. In fact, the only evidence I had for being dead at all was my memories and the fact of my rapidly vanishing ability to focus.

I can even interact with my surroundings,

I noted, picking up a broken bottle off the floor.

I tossed the bottle aside. It was messy enough in the hallway I didn't have to worry about placing it carefully.

Startling me from my reveries, I heard a sound at the front door.

"Are you sure this is the place?" a woman's voice started.

"It's where Google led us," a man responded.

I saw the doorknob turn and I stepped behind a corner out of sight as the door opened. I saw a man and woman step inside, illuminated in the meager light filtering through the brown windows. They were each 19 or 20 years old I estimated. The man was tall, I was guessing at least 5'11", and was fairly muscular and handsome. Definitely my type. The woman was shorter than me at my small 5'4", and had petite breasts, but the sort which could be called cute. Her face was wide and earnest with intense greenish brown eyes.

"It's about as dirty as I would have expected for a place like this," said the woman.

The man only nodded as they kept walking, quickly approaching my hiding place. I fearfully glanced around but there was nothing I could do: they were coming around the corner. I stepped out to meet them.

"Hi there," I began, trying to inject a confidence I didn't feel into my voice.

The woman put out her arm protectively in front of the man, looking at me with a measure of surprise and suspicion. We stood that way for long seconds, just staring each other down, not moving.

Finally the woman spoke, "Who are you?"

Stupid of me, of course I should have introduced myself.

"I'm ... Riley," I said, panicking for a moment trying to remember my own name. Maybe I was farther gone than I had thought. "I think I'm dead," I added, just so they had the full story.

The woman's eyes widened a bit at that part, but more in acknowledgement than in surprise. "Hello Riley, I'm Jessie," the woman responded, "this is Chris." Chris nodded a brief hello, smiling a bit at me. My heart would've skipped a beat looking into his eyes, but it hadn't been beating for hours anyway. I shot him a coy smile, flirting despite my present situation.

"I've been trying to make my way forward, uh, farther down into the house," I said, "But I keep finding myself back here and I don't know what to do."

"That's typical for ghosts in my experience," Jessie began, "they have difficulty going far from the place of their death. I don't know if this is an uncomfortable topic for you, but..., what do you remember of your death?" she finished.

"It's fine, I'm surprisingly calm. Maybe it hasn't really set in yet, my situation. I don't really remember much of how I died."

"Okay, don't worry about it. I was just hoping to get some more intel about what we're up against. That's why we're here today, by the way, just to gather information."

"And what will you do with that information?"

"Tomorrow, we kill a demon," she said, smiling, looking both excited and resolute.

"A demon? Is that real?"

"Indeed it is. Chris and I are demon hunters. We got word from someone in the neighborhood that there's a demon living in this house here." She looked strangely excited at the prospect. Chris, too, was almost without fear.

I, on the other hand, was terrified. "I came here to find my sister, she ran off into this house. Now you're telling me there's a demon in here? That's terrifying!"

Jessie and Chris exchanged a glance and he said something I couldn't quite hear. Jessie nodded. "Do you want to come with us? You could let us know about the area," Chris asked me. His voice was higher than his body type would have indicated, but not unpleasant. In fact quite the opposite.

I nodded my assent, but my motivations were far from wanting to 'let them know about the area.' I was still looking at Chris.

I took a moment to assess my motivations.

What is happening,

I thought,

my sister could be dead or dying, caught by a literal

demon

, and all you can think about is a hot guy.

It did seem like my sex drive was unnaturally high.

It's not like I was a prude while I was alive. I had my share of sex and I would masturbate quite regularly when I was outside of a relationship, but I'm not a nympho or anything. But, I resolved to just go with it.

I realized Jessie had been talking to me while I was thinking, "... and we'll come back first thing tomorrow when it's light out."

I gave another nod, pretending to know what she had been saying. As they walked by me to the top of the stairs, Chris held out his hand and I took it in my own. I pressed my body close to his as we walked, feeling the fine hairs of his arm against my bare shoulder and forearm. He smiled down at me, I could see he didn't miss my attempt at casual contact.

We made our way down the stairs. At the bottom was a dark stone room, very out of place in this dirty, but otherwise typical suburban home. I saw multiple alcoves recessed into the stone walls, and in one of them I could just about make out—

"Run!" Chris shouted, yanking my arm around as he pulled me for the exit. I could see Jessie sprinting along in front of us as I took the stairs three at a time, pulled along behind Chris. We didn't stop until we had exited the house, at which point both of my companions had to stop to catch their breaths. I noted that I wasn't even winded. A perk, perhaps, of being dead.

"Well, now we know what we're up against," Jessie said, "Now we know how to prepare. I don't know if you saw her, Riley, but I spotted someone down there, it could have been your sister."

I felt a great relief at the news, knowing still though that the situation wasn't much better. "That's great, but why did we have to run so suddenly?"

"Oh just that I got a glimpse of the demon," Jessie responded triumphantly, "It's a phallic demon, unless I'm mistaken, which means it can be killed the old-fashioned way. No need for magic; tomorrow we bring guns."

I turned that phrase over in my mind: 'phallic demon'. I'd have to remember to ask about the different kinds of demons later.

"Now, if you want to help us rescue your sister, come now to our hotel and you can fill us in on any helpful information you have," Jessie said.

"Okay, let's go," I said, gesturing onwards.

—————

As we were driving back through town in a rental car, a thought occurred to me.

"How am I able to be here?" I asked, "I mean, I thought I wasn't able to go far from where I was killed."

"That's just at the beginning when you're getting used to being a ghost," Jessie explained while driving, "but even now I'd be surprised if you were able to go more than maybe a mile or so from that house."

As we approached the hotel, Jessie briefed me: "Be aware, Riley, that you probably won't be able to be seen by many people. The reason Chris and I are able to see you is we've been doing this for about a year now and we know what to look for. But most people won't know you're there. Don't try to communicate with them. I mean, you can, but it'll just be confusing for everyone," she added.

And as we walked through the lobby I saw that was indeed the case. I even had to dodge an elderly couple who almost walked right through me.

Soon we were in their hotel room.

"I'm going to go buy some supplies. You two get familiar while I'm gone," Jessie said.

I felt a flush of emotion at her choice of words. I really needed to get a hold on my emotions.

"I'm going to take a shower," Chris said, giving me a look which I really couldn't interpret.

"Oh, okay, uh have fun," I managed to stammer out. Stupid.

He closed the door behind him and I heard the water running. I imagined him taking off his shirt and pants, maybe even running his hands over his sculpted pects. One hand reaches down to gently touch his penis, already hard. Maybe because he's thinking of me—

I realized one hand was down my pants and the other under my shirt grabbing at my breast. I could feel every sensation from the sheet of the bed on my back, my two fingers slid inside of me, even the clothes sticking to my skin with sweat and the gentle breeze of the fan across my skin. Every sense of mine was heightened as bolts of pleasure shot from my active fingers up my spine into my head.

I could hear the noise of the shower still. Emboldened by my apparent privacy, I slid out of my shirt, discarding it on the floor. Not wanting to ruin my pants, I slid pants and panties down to my knees, noting that they were already soaked and I was too late in my attempt.

With the preliminaries out of the way, I reached down and gently made a circle motion with my palm over my clit, feeling the sensations shoot through my lower body.

I fantasized again about Chris in the other room, now soaked from the shower, completely naked. I imagined him fucking me, thrusting in and out. I pushed three fingers into my wet pussy, thrusting in as I wanted him to do to me. I pulled my fingers out and tasted my arousal, licking my fingers clean.

A large part of me wanted him to come out now and find me like this. I was so aroused my critical thinking was out the window. I knew he probably wouldn't understand, probably wouldn't react like I wanted him to. After all, we had barely exchanged ten words. But I just couldn't help myself, and my greatest hope was that if he saw me like this, he wouldn't be able to help himself either.

I glanced at myself in the full-length mirror on the door, seeing my bare breasts and lewd expression. I imagined again Chris seeing me this way, and at the same time my hands steadily worked at my clit, one hand rubbing myself while the other pushed in and out through the folds of my labia.

I arched my back in pleasure, my orgasm fast approaching. I was unable to contain myself anymore and let out a gasp as I closed my eyes in preparation to feel myself come. As I came on my fingers my body fell out of my control and I moaned loudly and with intense emotion as I contorted and fell back on the bed.

I quickly came back to myself, slightly embarrassed that I had done such a thing with only a door between myself and a person I barely knew, but I was still very much aroused.

Chris turned off the water and I heard him drying himself. I quickly pulled back on my bra and shirt and pulled up my pants. I noted that my hair was not messed up at all, despite my rolling around on the bed.

Chris opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Oh, it's no problem. I wasn't bored."

He was wearing only a towel around the lower half of his body and I even make out the outline of his manhood through the towel, although that may have been my imagination going overboard. He rummaged through his suitcase before dropping the towel and pulling on a pair of pants and a shirt, changing right in front of me.

"So, tell me about your sister," he asked as he changed.

It took me a few seconds to understand his question, I was too busy staring like an idiot at his body. He looked back at me for my answer.

"She's ... the most special person in the world to me," I managed. "She's kind, smart, gentle, and earnest. Her name's Kim. She's 18 now, only a year younger than I am, or, uh, I was...." Chris gave me a smile, encouraging me to go on.

"When she left home this morning, she had been acting strangely, talking in incomplete sentences and saying things which didn't make sense, like not knowing what year it is. Suddenly, she ran out of the house, and I followed her. She was fast and I had to catch my breath a few times but she never stopped. I almost lost her multiple times, and I finally did once she entered that house. It's not far from my own house, maybe I was chasing for 5 minutes.

"I'm rambling, aren't I?" I finished lamely.

"No, this is important information, all of it," Chris said, giving me another smile of encouragement. "I can tell you really care about her." He put a hand on my arm as he spoke, causing goosebumps to break out across my arms and my nipples to perk up in excitement. "We'll all go there tomorrow and make sure she gets out safely," he promised, leaning in close to my face.

We were inches apart, staring into each others eyes. I broke the pause and went in for a kiss, putting my mouth over his in a quick and ineffective way of showing my feelings. After breaking the kiss, I looked to his eyes for validation. This energy between us, it wasn't just me, right?

He leaned in for a second kiss, assuaging my fears in a second. Our lips touched and I could feel his slight stubble rough against my cheek, his moist and soft lips moving gently against mine. I wrapped my arms around his body and pulled him down onto me.

"I don't know if you know this, but ghosts usually have a higher sex drive," he explained, "maybe you weren't aware why you're like this."

"Like what?" I asked, feigning confusion, "Don't tell me this happens with all the ghosts you meet."

"No, you're the first," he said, smiling.

I pulled off my shirt bearing my breasts for him. He put a hand on one while gazing intently at it, seeming to judge its authenticity with his eyes. He gave a small chuckle and leaned in for another quick kiss, this time while gently playing with my left nipple.

Soon my arousal built to a point where I couldn't help myself anymore.

"Fuck, I need you inside me right now," I breathed in his ear.

He gave me a smile of assent and pulled down his pants, his cock springing to attention. He was just as well-endowed as in my fantasy. I took hold of his dick with my hand, giving it a feel from base to tip. Finally, unable to wait any longer, I guided him to my dripping slit, pushing the tip through my labia until he was truly inside me.

It felt better than I had imagined. He looked down at me on the bed as he thrust in slowly until he was buried all the way down to his balls. I could feel the tip up against the entrance to my womb. I was barely able to contain all of him. He pulled out gently then trust in again, judging my reaction to see if he should proceed. I did my best to show my pleasure on my face.

Seeing my expression he began to thrust into me more quickly, our combined pleasure mounting as he pounded me repeatedly. Our bodies smacked together with a wet sound as he penetrated my cunt. I could see the thin sheen of sweat on his skin as he worked, looking into my eyes the whole time.

Quickly I found myself unable to hold back and I came violently, arching my back as he continued to enter me. I could see he wasn't far behind, and soon he exploded directly into my womb. As I felt his seed fill me up I came again, my third orgasm in the span of like 15 minutes.

—————

"Where's Jessie?" I asked, suddenly remembering the existence of this other person.

"I'm pretty sure she's giving us privacy on purpose. She'll be back later, she's buying ammunition and salt."

"Salt?"

"Oh yeah it's not as effective as a bullet, but demons of all kinds are repelled by salt. It's an easy way to make them think twice about attacking."

"Ah," I said. "What's your relationship to Jessie," I asked, suddenly wondering what should have been the obvious question all along.

"We're close friends only," Chris explained, "Sometimes the nature of our work requires things to get ... sexual, but the desire to get into a serious relationship has never been there on either side."

I thought of another question, "How did you get into this line of work?"

"That's...," he thought for a minute, "a story for another day."

"One last question, then."

"Shoot."

"How is it going to go tomorrow? Are you actually going to save my sister? Tell me the truth."

"We've been doing this for about a year now, and we've been up against creatures worse than this. It won't be a problem, you have my promise."

Reassured, I gazed up at the ceiling in pensive thought. We chatted about meaningless things until Jessie arrived toting several bags.

—————

The next morning, we set out for the house once again. Jessie drove us in the same car.

When we arrived, Jessie tried the knob on the door, but it was locked.

"Stand back," she said, and pulled a hammer from her belt. She struck the doorknob with the hammer until the entire lock fell from the door and it swung open.

We ventured inside. I was at the back, letting both of my companions lead the way. We took the now very familiar steps downwards, until we arrived in the basement. Before even my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I heard the roar of Chris's shotgun in the close basement, echoing across the stone walls. We all were wearing earplugs but it was still nearly deafening.

I looked to his target and saw something that looked frightening like a man. He held a hand to his ruined stomach, blood getting all over his hand and spreading from a dozen small wounds through his shirt. As I looked more closely, I saw that he was clearly not human. His eyes were black, only pupil, and his blood was congealed and too dark.

He stumbled forwards, almost shrugging off a wound that would have killed a human. As Chris reloaded Jessie let off a shot from a second shotgun, this time blasting his head. Bits of tattered flesh and bone spread from the creature's face onto the wall behind. Both of its eyes were ruined and I could see the brain through holes in the skull, yet still it came on.

Chris abandoned his shotgun and grabbed a pistol, firing at point-blank range into the creature's skull, this time leaving a hole directly through the forehead.

This was enough, and the creature dropped, motionless, to the floor.

"So, ... is that it?" I asked, apprehensive.

"Yep, we did it," Jessie said, high-fiving Chris. "Let's get your sister out of here."

We found Kim passed out, chained up against a wall.

"Can I wake her up?" I asked.

"You can, but...," Jessie replied.

Without waiting for the remainder of her statement, I took Kim's shoulder and shook her gently. It was enough to rouse her and she looked up with unfocused eyes.

"Kim, it's me! I'm so glad we found you—" I started, but before I could say anymore, she looked right through me to Jessie.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Kim, it's me. I'm right here in front of you," I pleaded, tears welling in the corners of my eyes. I shook her gently, but she didn't even glance at me.

Jessie gave me a sympathetic look, "Come on Kim, let's get you out of here."

We got Kim free of the chains, then called the police. To everyone involved, it was just a human serial killer, capturing a young girl to keep as his sex slave. Jessie and Chris said their goodbyes and accepted her thanks. I was still only just holding back tears as we left, my new friends unwilling to get mixed up with the police.