This part doesn't contain any sex, though future chapters may eventually have some. Many thanks to Emmeran and Ningyou Macher for helping me edit this.
Contains: some voyeurism.
I sat in my car, staring at the front door of my house. The trip to the grocery store had given me a chance to clear my head, and now I was feeling increasingly sure I was crazy. When Mel was right there, moving things around, touching me, I couldn't deny her presence, but an hour or so without her voice in my ear had given the rational part of my mind the strength for a desperate final stand.
Don't go in there, it told me. Go to a psych ward. Get help. She's a hallucination, and though she seems harmless now, what about later?
On the other hand... literally everything I owned was in there. And I had a tub of ice cream melting in my trunk. Hmm.
Hey Gwen.
"Jesus-" My head almost hit the roof of the car, and Mel giggled. "Don't- Don't do that..."
I can't help it. Like, literally, and also because it's fun.
I guess it was true that it was unavoidable, since basically anything that alerted me to her presence also startled me, but... so much for leaving before I started interacting with her again. I popped the trunk and got out with a sigh, grabbing two big paper bags full of groceries and arranging them under each arm.
Want me to help? I can't lift much, but one thing at a time isn't hard.
"Uh..." If she was willing to show herself - well, her poltergeist abilities - in public, it felt less likely she was a hallucination... though admittedly, that wasn't something I really knew much about. "It might freak out the neighbors, but can you carry the milk?"
Hmm... I'll give it a try.
The gallon jug wobbled, then floated off the floor of my trunk.
Fuck, milk is heavy.
It moved over my bumper, then slowly scooted towards my front door, only hovering an inch off the ground as Mel made tiny grunts of effort. I could imagine her bent double, straining to shift the weight with her fingers brushing the ground. I considered telling her to leave it, but she seemed determined. After a moment, I followed her, slowing my steps to match her struggling pace until I paused to unlock the door and she just dropped the jug on the welcome mat, breathing hard.
Shit... I'm out of shape...
she panted.
That's all I can do... Sorry...
"It's okay, but... out of shape?" I went inside to set the bags in the kitchen before retrieving the milk.
Yeah...
she said, still somehow out of breath.
It's, uh, complicated... Basically, if I practice, I can move bigger things...
"Huh." I went back outside to bring in another pair of bags, hefting them under my arms as I asked, "How big...? I mean, what's the biggest?"
After a few seconds, I realized I was talking to myself. Not just in the possibly crazy, 'what would the neighbors think if they could hear me' kind of way, but Mel didn't respond. I brought the bags in, pausing on the doorstep and cautiously calling out, "Mel?"
Yeah?
she said from nearby, and I realized she hadn't moved from the welcome mat.
"Oh." I was already used to her following me around and hadn't considered her staying in one place. "I was asking what the biggest thing you've moved was."
Well... when I was really into trying to get better, I lifted up the side of... y'know, one of the big box TVs. That was pretty heavy. But, uh... I'm gonna go sit down for a sec. I'll be on the couch.
Sit down and catch her... ghost breath, apparently. I didn't understand how that worked. I continued bringing in groceries, stocking the empty cupboards and refrigerator. I wasn't too hungry after the leftover pad thai, but there was something that I hadn't been able to get out of my mind while shopping.
"Mel?" I called, peeking around the corner into the living room.
Mm?
She sounded quite close to me, and I took a startled half-step back, trying to compose myself.
"Um," I began hesitantly. "This... is probably a really stupid question."
Oh, I'm all ears.
Suddenly even more self-conscious, I asked, "Do you... eat anything? Or drink? I should have asked before I bought stuff, but..."
I can't,
Mel said, her voice surprisingly gentle.
Thanks for the thought, though.
"Alright." I stood there awkwardly for a few moments, wondering what I should do now. The massive task of unpacking loomed over my head, and like a true adult I decided to procrastinate until I couldn't anymore. Trying to get the wifi set up so I could use the internet sounded marginally better, so I grabbed a pair of scissors and headed for the downstairs bedroom/office/room I had no idea what to do with but had dumped all the electronics stuff into.
"Do you know anything about wifi?" I asked, carefully slitting the tape on a box.
Oh, yeah.
I waited for more, but none seemed to be forthcoming. "What do you know...?"
That it exists.
"Oookay. Well. That technically is anything." I pulled a router out of the box and set it on the desk.
Oh, you meant, like, setting it up. Sorry, no clue.
"That's fine. You can help me with the wires if you want."
Sure.
I did this kind of thing all the time at my last job, so the setup for my router was familiar. It would've been a pain in the butt to run the cables behind the desk by myself, but with her assistance in floating the ends through the narrow gap, I managed to get things working without much hassle. I grabbed my laptop from its travel case and sat down, then hesitated as I looked around for Mel.
"Um, could you not watch me when I'm on the computer?"
Oh, sure. Got some personal stuff you don't want me to see?
I should have seen it coming, but I replied, "Yeah, I-"
She interrupted me with the most fake moan I'd ever heard, crying,
Fuck, yes, oh, oh, right there, oh my gaaaawd!
"Not
that
kind of personal stuff," I said, feeling my cheeks grow hot.
Oh, so you're more of a story type of girl?
Her voice was very close to me and an octave lower when she spoke again.
'Lilith ran her tongue up the smooth, warm thigh of her lover-'
I coughed and scooted my chair away, blushing furiously for multiple reasons - not the least of which was that I had something embarrassingly similar to that bookmarked in my browser. "It- It's not porn. I get emails from my family and stuff that I don't want you to look at."
Oh, okay,
she said, back to her normal voice like she hadn't just been whispering erotica in my ear.
Give me a shout when you're done.
