"There are actually a few different ghosts here at the lodge. Though I've never personally seen anything, and I've been here for five years now. Ever since we started bringing this place back to life." The short, somewhat chubby blonde woman moved on, directing her last tour of the evening through the rest of the historic hunting lodge. The visitors' crestfallen expressions didn't go unnoticed, but she despised the Halloween tour groups. People after something they weren't ready to be a part of. Not yet, anyway.
She hadn't lied, not exactly.
Seen
being the operative word, the key difference. There was only one actual apparition at the lodge. At least, only one that had made themselves known to her. And she'd
felt
him plenty. Well, he'd felt
her
plenty.
Halloween seemed to be when he was most active, most able to manifest himself. That's when his touch went from an out-of-place breeze to a firm assertion. 'Him' wasn't as much of an assumption as one might think. She had initially assumed 'him,' given how he'd always touched her. Always cupping her curvy ass, an errant hand through her long curls, occasionally a wayward finger or two slipping into her well, filled-out blouse and tweaking an excited nipple. But she'd really taken to thinking of him as
him
after his amusements on her first Halloween. He'd rattled the fire poker in the drawing room where she often enjoyed the isolated ambiance while catching up on some research reading. He made just enough fuss to get her to stand and contemplate leaving before dropping the iron rod rather loudly. After placing it back in its stand, she returned to her seat, only to sit
on him!
Him and a rather noticeable protrusion.
Quitting wasn't an option. Restoring this place had been a passion project of hers. And the sizable grant she'd acquired to facilitate its revitalization needed someone dedicated at the helm. After that first year, and that obnoxious incident, she settled in and had become accustomed to the majority of his light touches and mischiefs. It was never anything too untoward. Except on Halloween. This nameless thing never bothered anyone else. After investigating, asking around, and finding no sources, no archives, let alone anyone alive that had any idea about him or his antics, she'd felt foolish. Or that she might be going mad.
Until last Halloween, when she felt a fully solid figure embracing her completely as she was closing up. She'd screamed before she knew what was happening, and it had backed off immediately. That was the last time it had bothered her. Though she did wonder whenever she felt a slight breeze brush by her cheek.
Chiding herself for almost missing the contact, she finished up the last tour of this Halloween evening. The visitors were allowed to wander for a time, and she smiled to herself listening to their hushed comments about feeling as though something was watching them.
She'd spent far too much time digging through every possible source of information, desperate to find out more about her nameless ghost. The purported others had histories, habits, names. But this apparition seemed to be a different entity altogether, her very own personal poltergeist, and she'd officially nicknamed him The Nameless Thing. For her, everything needed a name. Her car? Susan. Her bag? Reva. But this...
he