Ghost of a Chance

Greeting, fellow Lit readers. Well, from all the response I've received (here and in the forums), my 'writer's block' story seems to please folks, and some have asked for more.

Very well. You want more? You've got it.

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Tom's nervousness started to well up inside him when he pulled into the driveway.

It's funny, he thought, you've got nerve one minute, then the next your stomach's doing summersaults. C'mon, Tom; you had confidence yesterday. Let's see some of it now.

Two days ago, Tom thought his world was crashing down around him. He had lost his job, lost his fiancé, and was feeling picked on by the whole world as bad as when he was in school.

He found that his luck had changed when he dug up a box out of his yard that contained a pair of gold rings. The note left behind with them said that the rings would make the wearers invisible and gave them the ability to make things they touched invisible as well. All he had to do was to say the rings' inscription aloud and put the ring on.

It had worked, for he spend the day testing his newfound ability around town, having fun making things disappear, walking around town completely naked, and even saving someone's life, rescuing a woman from a rapist. The very same woman who owned the driveway he was parked in now.

She had dropped her wallet when she fled the scene of her attack, and Tom blamed himself for that. He rescued her while he was wearing the ring and she witnessed... absolutely no one beating up her attacker, then seeing the scumbag rapist disappear into thin air.

Tom wondered if he should explain what happened to the frightened woman, because he didn't want her to think that she had lost her mind. The only thing that bothered him about it was that he promised himself that he would tell no one about the rings or their ability. If the wrong people found out, they would stop at nothing to get the rings from him and use them for bad things, illegal things, and maybe even deadly things.

This was what was making Tom's stomach flip-flop. After what happened, he thought the woman deserved some kind of explanation for what she had seen yesterday. But could he trust her with the secret? She didn't seem like the type of person that would be manipulative or evil. Then again, he didn't have much of a chance to see her, much less get to know her; he was a little busy beating her would-be rapist within an inch of his life.

Tom startled himself back to the here and now when he suddenly found himself up the sidewalk path and standing in front of the lady's door.

"Okay," he muttered as he pushed the doorbell button, "Just say 'you found it in the parking lot and wanted to return it'. That's all."

The front door opened and the woman stepped into view, an annoyed look on her face. It changed quickly when she saw that it wasn't who she expected.

"Oh, hello. I thought you might be a detective or another reporter. You're not, are you? Because I've already given my statement to..."

"Uh, no; I'm not a cop or a reporter. Are you Brenda Delmont?"

"Well, I was. It's 'Johnson' now."

Tom handed the wallet to her, "I think this belongs to you. I found it in the supermarket parking lot. Everything's still in it. I know I should've taken it to the cops, but..."

Her eyes lit up as she took the small purse, "My wallet! I thought I'd lost it forever, or that creep took off with it!" She beamed a bright smile at Tom, "Thank you so much; you've just saved me a whole lot of time and trouble having to replace my driver's license and credit cards. Thank you."

"You're welcome; glad I could help... and I'm glad that skinny little punk didn't hurt you." Tom smiled back at her, appreciating the view of his grateful 'damsel in distress'.

She was almost half a head shorter than he was, with long brown hair and eyes to match; a very pretty face with a cute smile, the only thing marring her looks was a bruise on her left cheek.

Where that fucker slapped her, he fumed.

She looked to be about his age and the halter top and shorts she wore revealed a nice figure with a little baby fat she hadn't quite managed to drop in her youth.

Quite lovely, he thought, the tiny mole makes her look cute. She has the same type of birthmark mole on her upper lip like the one that supermodel has.

It also made her look... familiar.

But she gave him a confused look and asked, "How did you know what happened?"

Uh oh.

"Uh, I saw it on the news." Tom answered rather quickly. But he was getting the impression that she didn't believe him when she looked at him quizzically.

"Do I know you? You look familiar."

Oh shit; here we go. She must have seen... no, wait a minute. I was invisible; she couldn't have...

"Tom? Tommy Pierce, from Brentwood High School?"

"Yeah, that's me. How did you know I went to...?" That's when Tom's face lit up in a 'bingo' expression. She did look familiar, and so did her name when he finally thought about it and put two and two together. "Brenda Johnson? You were in my science class and the school's Music Club! I thought you looked familiar!"

"Oh my God!" she laughed, "I didn't think anyone would remember me from school; I looked a lot different then." Brenda held the door open, "Come on in."

"Oh, no; I don't want to disturb you and your husband. You've been through enough, what with the attack, the cops, the reporters..."

Brenda shook her head, "Don't worry about my husband, or I should say 'ex-husband'. He's out of here; packed his stuff and left two months ago... and I really could use a friend right now."

Tom smiled and nodded, "Okay, sure; thanks," and entered the house. A nice place, though somewhat bare in spots.

"Don't mind the mess or the empty spots; half the stuff belonged to the 'jerk'. Want a beer?"

"That's okay. I went through something similar not long ago... and a beer sounds good right now."

"You're divorced, too?" she asked, handing him a bottle.

Tom shook his head, "Never even made it to the altar. She left me right after I lost my job and found out her 'gravy train' was no longer on the tracks."

Brenda's face hardened, "I'm so sorry. That's a terrible thing to do to someone like you. You were a nice guy in school."

Tom grinned sheepishly after taking a drink, "I'm afraid you're the only one who noticed."

Brenda walked over to the couch and sat down, patting the cushion next to her. Tom got the hint and sat down as well.

"I noticed that you were really shy," Brenda replied with her own grin, "I wanted to go up and talk to you, but... well, guess I was shy, too. The other girls weren't so shy around you in our senior year."

"That's only because of..." Tom stopped himself short, too embarrassed to say that the only reason girls wanted him in the end was because of the story circulating around the school about his large cock.

"...the rumor that went around?" Brenda said carefully, "I heard about it right before graduation. Don't let that bother you anymore, Tom. Those girls were real bitches, shallow and stuck-up, and if that's all they wanted you for, then they didn't deserve you."

Feeling a little better, Tom braved the question, "How come you never came up and talked to me? I wanted to get to know you, but you were always so shy, so reserved and withdrawn."

"Oh I wanted to, but the way I looked back then... I was a typical 'geek', thick rimmed glasses and all. I couldn't afford the nice clothes and make-up the other girls wore, so nobody noticed me. I didn't think anyone wanted to, so I didn't even try to attract attention."

"I noticed you... and I wanted to get to know you," Tom perked up, "I was the same way; too much of a geek, so I couldn't get up the nerve to talk to you."

"Well, you're here now," Brenda smiled, "Maybe it's fate. The two high school 'geeks' getting together, the way it should have happened ten years ago."

Tom nodded, "Maybe you're right; maybe it is fate." Lifting an eyebrow, he muttered, "There's a lot of that going around lately."

"Huh?"

Catching himself, Tom uttered, "Oh, it's nothing; just something that happened a little while ago. So tell me, do I know your hus... uh, I mean ex-husband?"

Brenda nodded with a sour look on her face, "Bradley Delmont."

Tom's eyes widened a bit, "Brad Delmont, the football team's place kicker?"

"The same," she replied after sipping her beer, "He showed up at the same college I was attending. He didn't recognize me at first..."

"That's understandable; I didn't recognize you, either."

"I changed myself around during the summer after high school. Diet, exercise, new clothes, make-up, contact lenses... the whole bit."

"Well, you look wonderful. I feel like such an idiot not having gotten to know you." He stopped when she started to blush, "I'm sorry; go on."

"Well, we dated for a while, and then got married after we graduated. And six months ago, I found out he was cheating on me with some woman he was working with at his office. For almost two years, he cheated on me and I never knew. He told me he was leaving me for her, because she was pregnant and he wanted kids. I found out that I would have a hard time getting pregnant; low egg production, something like that. He didn't even touch me for three months after I told him..." Brenda stopped her story to wipe a tear away from her eye, "I'm sorry; I shouldn't be dumping this on you. It's all my fault."

"Hey, don't you dare blame yourself!" Tom said, scooting closer and putting an arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder as he went on, her sniffling into his shirt sleeve, "It's all right, Brenda, and it wasn't your fault. He was a selfish bastard, just like Helen was to me. He doesn't deserve someone as sweet as you."

Brenda hugged Tom and said, "Thanks... and thanks for being here for me. It's been so hard, not talking about this to anyone."

"Well like you said, I'm here now," said Tom, smiling down at her. Getting more serious, he asked, "Are you okay? I mean, after what happened yesterday... did he hurt you?"

"Just this," she replied, pointing to the small bruise on her face, "He smacked me a good one, huh? But no, he didn't... well, you know. He didn't get the chance; somebody grabbed him before he could."

"Well, that's a relief."

"The weird part is, I don't know how the other guy fought him and..." Brenda paused, as if she wasn't sure what to say next.

"'And...' what?" Tom urged.

She shook her head, "No; you'll just think I'm crazy."

"No I won't; tell me."

She shrugged her shoulders and continued, "Well... the other guy... wasn't there."

Tom purposely narrowed his eyebrows in mock confusion, "I... don't understand what you mean."

"I mean, he was there, but I couldn't see him. He was... I don't know, invisible. I saw the creep getting hit and then... he disappeared. He vanished right in front of me. One second he was there, and the next..." Brenda's face scrunched up as she sat back and started pouting, "See? You do think I'm nuts. The cops didn't believe me, either."

Tom took hold of her shoulders and stated, "I do believe you. I believe you saw what you saw, but you were reacting to a terrible experience. You were traumatized and confused and scared, but it's okay; anyone would've reacted that way to something like that, and it doesn't mean you're crazy. And you can believe me; if I ever see that sick, twisted fuck, I'll pound him into the ground for what he tried to do to you!"

She lifted a corner of her mouth in a grin and said, "Well, don't worry about that. He's in jail now, and by the time he gets out, he'll be old and..." Brenda paused and abruptly sat back, staring at him. "What did you say?"

"What, you mean about that creep? I said that if I ever see that sick, twisted fuck, I'll..."

Brenda clasped her hands over her mouth in shock and, when she released her lips, all she could say at the moment was, "...you."

Oh, shit.

Tom tried to feint confusion again and asked, "Uh, what are you talking about?"

"Your voice," she answered, "I've been trying figure out why it sounded familiar. I may not remember places or faces that well, but I've still got a good ear from Music class, and not just for musical notes. Your voice... the voice I heard outside my car," Brenda's eyes lit up as well as a smile, "It was you."

Tom started to smile and try to come up with some kind of excuse, but seeing the look on Brenda's face convinced him that nothing he could say would distract her from the truth. Giving up, he held out his hands in supplication and sighed, "It was me."

Unexpectedly, Brenda flung her arms around Tom's neck and kissed him. She then buried her face in his chest, sniffling, and hugged him.

"Thank you," she wept.

"You're welcome. Like I said, I'm glad I was there to help." he said, holding her close and kissing the top of her head.

After a few seconds, Brenda backed up, wiping tears from her face, and asked, "But how did you do it?"

"I just saw him attacking some girl in a car, and..."

"No, that's not what I mean. How did you do it without me seeing you?"

"Look, it was probably like I was saying. You were hysterical, you were..."

"No!" Brenda got up and started pacing the room, her fists balled up in frustration, "It wasn't like that at all! I am not crazy! I know what I saw!"

Tom gave up.

He honestly didn't want anyone knowing about his ability for fear they would use it for unscrupulous purposes, but he couldn't in good conscious let Brenda think she was losing her mind nor have others think the same.

He rose from the couch and stood in front of her, taking her hands into his.

"All right, do you really want to know how I did it?" After she nodded, he added, "You have to promise me that you will never tell anyone about this."

"You saved my life," she said, "I owe you one."

"Okay," Tom sighed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. "Promise me you won't freak out when you see this."

"I'm already freaked out by what I saw yesterday; go ahead and show me."

Tom closed his eyes and stepped back, "Watch carefully. Per is vox, lux lucis sinus." After reciting the ring's inscription, he slipped the ring onto his finger and winced at the sound of Brenda yelping in shock. She clamped her hands over her mouth and just stared at the now empty spot where Tom was standing, not knowing he was still standing there.

"What happened?" Brenda looked around with wide open eyes, slowly and cautiously, "Tom?"

He made her jump when he answered, "I'm still here."

"Where?"

"Exactly where I was when you last saw me; I'm still in the same spot." To prove it, Tom slipped the ring off, and made Brenda cry out in surprise again.

"How did you do that?"

Tom made her sit down and explained everything. He told her the whole story about how he found the box containing the rings, the note inside explaining how they work, and his little tests he had conducted in the supermarket and the park. The tests had opened his eyes to possibilities he never considered before.

He purposely left out the part about the nude sun bather and the fact that he had anal intercourse with her without her knowing that he wasn't the lady's husband. He didn't want Brenda to think he was some kind of a pervert, using his ability to take sexual advantage of unsuspecting women. He had already promised himself that he would never do that again.

"...and when I got back to my car, that's when I found you and that dirt bag in your back seat. I couldn't just leave you like that, so I reached in, pulled him out, and clobbered him."

Brenda started to laugh a little and explained herself when Tom gave her a confused look, "No, I'm not laughing about that. It was sweet and brave of you to do what you did for me. I'm laughing about the part... you were walking around town, naked?"

Tom nodded, "No one could see me, so I thought, 'What the Hell'.

Brenda blushed a little, "I don't know if I could do that."

"But nobody would be able to see you," Tom countered. He helped her off the couch and said, "Let me show you."

He stood her in front of the large mirror hanging over the sofa and got behind her. "Now watch the mirror. Per is vox, lux lucis sinus." He put the ring on and Brenda's face lit up in surprise when he vanished from sight in the mirror. "Now, I'm going to touch your shoulder; don't get scared, but watch your reflection. Ready?"

"Okay; go ahead," she said, and jumped a little when she felt his hand on her shoulder. She stared at her reflection... and again yelped when it disappeared from view.

"Oh, my God!"

"Look behind you."

Brenda looked over her shoulder at Tom, "I can see you."

"Anyone within the ring's power field can see me, but anyone outside of it can't see either of us. Can you see a dim light around everything around you, like an aura?"

She looked around at all the things in her living room and nodded, "Yes, I can."

"Now look at your hands."

She did. "I don't see the light around them. I look kind of faded, though."

"That tells you when you, or anything you touch, are invisible. Grab that small vase on the coffee table."

Brenda picked it up and stared at it, "Okay, when does the aura go away?"

But Tom stared at it, confused, "It should have disappeared already." He had her move it in front of the mirror and, sure enough, the vase's reflection was in plain sight, almost seeming to float in place.

"That's weird," he commented.

"It certainly is," Brenda had to admit, seeing an object bobbing and floating in mid-air.

"No, that's not what I mean. Maybe... maybe since I'm the one wearing the ring, I'm the only one that can make things disappear. Anyone I touch and make invisible along with me... can't. Here, watch," He reached out and touched the lip of the vase, its reflection in the mirror fading, then reappearing when he let go of it, making Brenda gasp in wonderment.

"Did you see the vase as an outline, like the negative of a pencil drawing?"

Brenda looked more closely at the vase, "No, it just looked faded to me."

"Hmm, maybe that's another trait to the ring. I see things I make invisible as a negative outline, but others invisible with me can still see the whole thing."

"Maybe that's just the way it works, you know to help the person wearing the ring see what they're making invisible." Brenda offered.

Tom nodded, "That could very well be... and it's only inanimate objects that turn into an outline, not people."

He let go of Brenda's shoulder and she smiled in delight when she saw her reflection shimmer into view.

"This is amazing," Brenda blurted out, "You can make anything disappear?"

"Yes, as long as I touch it with my bare hand. I don't pretend to know how everything works with this ring; all I know is what I can do with it, after a little practice and a little trial-and-error. I can make specific things vanish, too. Want to see?"

"Okay, show me."

"You promise you won't be shocked again?"

Brenda gave him a scolding look and waved her hand at the mirror, "I've just seen myself vanish; nothing could shock me anymore."

Even though she couldn't see it, Tom had a mischievous grin on his face, "Okay; you asked for it. Ready?"

"Ready."

"Okay... it's done."

"What's done?"

"Take a look at yourself."

Brenda looked down at herself... and squealed in surprise and (she had to admit) delight when she saw herself standing in the middle of the living room, wearing nothing but her lacy white bra and skimpy panties. Giggling and blushing from head to toe, she tried to cover herself and shouted, "That's not fair!"

She looked again, and her clothes were back on her. Turning towards the laughter she heard, Brenda saw Tom shimmer back into view, holding his ring and chuckling. Unable to hide the grin on her blushing cheeks, Brenda playfully scolded him, "That wasn't funny!"