A Mother's Second Chance

A Mother's Second Chance: Part III

The Return Visit

Gail gripped the towel around her naked body tighter while wondering what gift they might possibly have for her. Whatever it might be, she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it would be naughty.

"So what is my gift?" she asked quietly.

"Your gift Mom," William patiently explained to her, "is you have earned another challenge. Ali was very pleased by your performance tonight and is going to give you another chance to impress him."

Gail hesitated, looking at her son doubtfully before whispering, "Who is Ali?"

"Oh right, I almost forgot myself. You're still under the potion to make you forget things. Yeah, I think it would be OK to have the potion wear off like right about... now."

Gail blinked her eyes as her memories of the past eighteen or so months came rushing back to her.

"Wow," she said softly. "I really did forget what happened huh so I guess that was one wicked potion your friend gave me."

"Do you remember what we just did in the bathtub, Mommy?" Bobby asked sweetly.

"Yes... yes I do, hon, it was ahh... some bath... which brings up the question... the bath, that was my challenge right and I passed it I hope?"

William answered for them. "Yes you did and Ali is very pleased and hopes you are ready for your next challenge."

"I am, but how long do I have to wait this time. I hope not long, like before?"

"Just a few minutes this time. The fun and games will start as soon as you venture out of the bathroom but first you must take this."

He thrust a small plastic medicine cup in her hand with some sort of reddish looking liquid in it.

"What is this? Oh no, don't tell me another potion to make me forget things."

"Yes, but just enough to make you forget the past few hours, plus it will totally sober you up. Ali wants us to have a clean slate when we start playing with you again. Just like before your bath you will think it's just a mere four months after my death and you will be utterly sad and grieving and oh so lonely. After taking the potion your memory will consist of falling asleep on the sofa downstairs, coming up to take your bath, and then coming out of the bathroom with nothing but your towel wrapped around your naked body and from there things will proceed as they will."

He smiled before snapping, "Now no more questions, Mother as Ali is anxious to see if you can pass yet another challenge."

"What is my challenge exactly?" Gail asked despite what he said about no more questions.

"I can't tell you in any detail, other than once again you will be tasked with allowing us to have a bit of fun with you... make sure you burn that into your subconscious, Mom. Now drink the potion."

Gail sighed before bringing the cup to her lips, and just as she poured the sweet tasting potion into her mouth she noticed how they were both fading away before her very eyes. By the time she downed the elixir they were both gone - as were her memories of the immediate past.

After finishing her bath, Gail exited the bathroom, with just the towel wrapped around her body. Her best friend, an all-encompassing sadness that followed her everywhere since William's death, was at her side as usual, nipping at her heels.

After taking a single step inside her bedroom, she stopped.

"Jesus... what is this?" she whispered to herself as she peered about the bedroom.

Before her bath, as was her usual habit, she turned on both of the lamps sitting on the two nightstands flanking the bed.

Now they were off with the only source of light in the whole bedroom being a trio of small flickering tea light candles on the nightstand nearest to where she was standing.

Gail allowed herself a faint smile. There was only one other person in the whole world who knew she had a deep affection for candles: William. But he was gone, unless those quiet little signs she had been noticing more and more of late were an indication he really was not gone.

The signs were really nothing more than hearing a few muffled footsteps shuffling around upstairs when she knew the house was empty. Even more ominous though was the eerie feeling of being watched from time to time. Lately, in the past week that is, the feeling of being watched increased substantially, especially as she got undressed in her bedroom before going to bed at night.

Finally, just this past week in particular, she actually caught, on a couple occasions, faint whiffs of her dead son's favorite cologne. Again, this occurred especially at night, and especially in her bedroom.

And now this. Her heart skipped a beat as she took a tentative step or two into her bedroom.

Glancing about the room, she looked for any signs she wasn't alone. Finally, she spotted it. Placed on the bed was something, but in the muted light of the candles she could not quite tell what it was.

Crossing the room, she stopped before the bed.

It was a drawing. Looking at it, her knees nearly buckled. It was a simple crude crayon drawing of two stick figures--one big and one small. The small one was holding a flower out to the bigger one. Above the figure of the smaller one was a bubble coming from his mouth. The bubble, she remembered him pointing out to her so innocently those many long years ago, was what the little stick figure was saying to the bigger stick figure. "Pretty flower, for pretty, Mommy."

She remembered fondly how William had drawn this for her when he was all of maybe six or seven years old. Maybe even younger. Gail stashed it away with the rest of her keepsakes somewhere in her closet, but now it was here; sitting on the bed in all of its innocent glory.

She smiled faintly. Apparently, she was not so alone after all. Tears filled her eyes as the intense love she felt for her dead son flooded her heart.

Then she heard it, causing her heart to nearly stop. Footsteps. Small and muffled crossing the bedroom toward her. The picture slipped out of her hand, falling to the bed.

She wanted to turn around but was too stunned, or maybe scared to do so. Instead, she stood there, hardly breathing, listening as the footsteps, muffled by the rug, appeared to stop toward the foot of the bed. Gail listened intently, sure she could hear the sound of breathing by the foot of her bed.

She suddenly felt vulnerable; standing next to the only source of light in the whole bedroom her body, half naked, clad in just a towel, would be on full display for whoever was standing there in the dark, behind her.

Finally, she turned around. Her heart sank. No one was there. Still she thought she could make out the sound of soft breathing coming from just over there, a few bare feet away, near the foot of the bed.

The silence stretched out for what seemed to her an eternity before she finally spoke up.

"Who's there?" Gail asked tentatively. "Do you wish to speak to me? Show me something, anything, please a sign... if it's you William."

After a long pause with nothing happening, Gail was just about to repeat her plea when there came a whispered voice, so low she could barely hear it. "Close your eyes," it said.

The voice, childlike, was too faint for her to say with absolute certainly if it was her William's voice. But still, it sounded like it could be his voice--or maybe this was just wishful thinking.

Deciding it might be best not to overreact or overthink things at this point, Gail obeyed and closed her eyes.

After a long moment, she heard a soft thud. It sounded as if something landed on her bed, down near the foot of it.

When no other instructions came, she opened her eyes. Glancing over toward the bed, she noticed a small dark shape there but was unable to make out quite what it might be as it was just outside the pool of light thrown off by the trio of candles.

She picked up one of the flickering candles, holding it out toward the bed.

Her pulse quickened as she saw the shoes sitting there, innocently, on their sides. It took her only a quiet moment before she gasped. "Oh my God. These are the ones."

Gail bought the shoes, a pair of classy looking, silver round-toed pumps, with four inch stiletto heels, just for him, just for his birthday, mainly because whenever she wore a nice pair of sexy heels he never failed to compliment her.

The shoes forced the memories of what happened four months ago to come bubbling to the surface as tears, again, filled her eyes.

The voice was whispering again, interrupting her thoughts. It was nearer this time, innocent and so childlike, it made her heart wretch. "Sit down on the edge of the bed Mommy, and relax. You must be good and in a minute you will put the shoes on."

A small hand, soft and gentle, brushed against her forearm, "Please." The whispered voice, all full of sweetness and innocence, sounded just like William's, but when he was so much younger.

She quickly maneuvered the flickering candle over toward the voice just catching the outlines of a small indistinct figure before it melted into the shadows beyond the light.

Gail wanted to first chase the figure down, it had to be William, and then upon catching him, she would proceed to shower him with hugs and kisses while apologizing profusely for what happened the night of his accident.

But instead she sat down on the bed-- knowing to give chase would somehow ruin things as would attempting to ask questions--breathlessly waiting for whatever might happen next.

The voice, behind her this time, was whispering sweetly again in her ear. It sounded still so young and innocent.

"Close your eyes again and don't try to look at us while remembering how close we were... how we almost were going to... how much we both wanted... it"

The voice paused as she obeyed and closed her eyes. The room fell silent for a long, anxious moment before there came a small rattling noise coming from the far side of the bedroom. Without disobeying his instructions and opening her eyes, she glanced across the room toward the noise. It was coming from where the mini bar stood in the far corner.

From across the room the voice said, "I have something that will help you remember."

Gail somehow resisted the urge to open her eyes while fervently wondering, why did the voice say "look at us"? She desperately wanted to know the answer to this question, but sensed any questions she might ask, or any disobedience she might display, would result in her being left alone. This she did not want.

She heard footsteps crossing the room, and then the sound of something being placed on the nightstand, nearest next to where she sat. "Here, hold both your hands up, Mother."

This time the voice speaking was wholly different. It was an older voice, firm and darkly commanding. It reminded her of what William might sound like if he was trying to speak-- like a tough guy maybe.

She obediently held her hands up making sure to keep her eyes tightly shut. She felt a pair of glasses, smooth and cool, being trust into both hands. She quickly ascertained they were wine glasses and both were full.

"Drink first one, and then the other. Down them quickly and no peeking," the older voice commanded.

The other voice, the soft and childlike one, was whispering in her ear. "Do what William says Mommy and drink."

Gail raised her right hand first, taking two large swallows of the wine, but when she started to lower the glass, she felt a hand pushing it up again toward her lips. "Drink more," William ordered her. "Quickly and until it's gone."

Bringing the glass back to her mouth, Gail finished the rest of the wine in three large swallows.

The empty glass was taken from her, just as she felt another firm hand pushing her other hand holding the second full glass of wine up and toward her mouth.

"Again," a voice commanded her.

Gail took a deep breath and quickly polished off this second glass of wine. It left her feeling dizzy and excited all at once. Obviously, them getting her drunk was a prelude to something... but what?

The second empty glass was removed from her hand. "Remember to keep your eyes shut, Mommy." It was the young, innocent voice again.

The harsher, older voice then hissed in her ear, "Yes, to do otherwise will ruin everything and we will disappear... forever. Now you don't want that do you?"

"No... no I don't." Gail answered truthfully.

"Then obey without question, if you care to make it up to us that is."

If only to make things easier she labeled this more commanding of the voices as William and the other sweeter, softer voice as Bobby. It was not surprising really, if she took the time to think about it, her using both their names. In the past, she had often called her son Bobby when he was doing sweet and kind stuff for her, but when he misbehaved and got into trouble she would call him William.

William was speaking again. "Here put this on. Both."

She felt something land next to her on the bed with a small thud.

"You can open your eyes in a minute to get dressed, and when you are done, first go to the bar, refill your wine glass, you can sip on this one, but don't ignore it, and then go to your vanity table, put on some makeup. We want you looking all pretty for us, Mother. Do all this, without questions or I promise we will disappear. When you have finished making yourself up and have finished your wine sit there and wait for us. We will come to you."

Gail opened her eyes before turning her attention to the bed. Laid out on the bed was a white strapless bra and a pair of matching thong panties, along with a white satin robe. She smiled, someone had dug deep in her underwear drawer to find this little used, but very sexy bra and panty set.

As she got dressed quickly inside the bathroom, Gail considered the implications of it seemingly being two spirits haunting her when it was only her son who died in the house that night.

It seemed to her, based on the tone and the inflection of their voices, one of the spirits was representing the sweet, innocent side of her son--Bobby-- while the other, the more commanding one, was representing William. Unless, of course, it was only one spirit changing its voice on her to maybe trick and confuse her.

If she had not just polished off two full glasses of wine-- back to back-- leaving her thoughts a bit disjointed she might have been able to focus on such questions, but focusing now on doing anything other than what they were telling her seemed to be tempting fate.

Remembering his hurry, she quickly put on the bra and panties before slipping the robe and shoes on.

She headed back out to the bedroom, striding across the room, her high heels clicking seductively across the bare wooden floor and over to the small bar in the corner.

After pouring a full glass of wine, she sashayed over to the vanity table. As promised there were three large pillar candles flickering on the table. Settling herself down on the comfortable padded bench, she started putting on her makeup while continuously sipping on her wine.

Finally, she proceeded to pin her hair up in a bun behind her ear--just the way she knew he liked.

Having a sense of being carefully watched from the closet actually gave her a quiet thrill as she gulped down the last of her wine and then waited.

A good five minutes passed with nothing happening.

"Maybe they need some encouragement in the form of seeing their mother getting a bit more intoxicated... just like the night I was being naughty with him," Gail said just loud enough for him to hear--if he was, in fact, listening.

After making her way over to the bar again, she poured herself another glass of wine. Picking up this now fourth glass of wine, in an effort to get gloriously intoxicated so she could utterly relax and stop worrying, Gail drained nearly half the glass in two large gulps. Sitting the glass back down, she tried to relax, waiting for whatever might come next.

Another five minutes or so passed with the bedroom remained disappointedly silent. Finally, she heard the closet door creak again. Refusing to turn and look toward the source of the sound, Gail braced herself.

Standing there, in front of the bar, leaning on it for support after this last glass of wine, Gail waited. When nothing happened as the seconds stretched out into long agonizing minutes, her mind began to whirl.

Are they waiting for me to do something? Another quiet minute passed. She still sensed she was being watched, but what were they waiting for? Then it hit her.

Of course, she was expected to take off her robe. After all, what was the point of leaving out the sexy strapless bra, and the equally sexy matching lace panties if they were covered up by her robe? Providing her the robe must have been a test of sorts to see if she was smart enough, or maybe brave enough, to take it off for them.

It was probably the wine which allowed Gail to have the courage to slowly, after turning to the closet so she was facing it fully, start to untie her robe. The closet door creaked open a bit more after she got the knot holding her white satin robe undone.

Taking a deep breath, cognizant of being observed now more than ever, she leisurely stripped the robe off her body, letting it flutter unceremoniously to the floor.

She stood, in her underwear, feeling both sexy and scared all at once, peering into the dark shadows of the closet as the door was now almost fully open while being almost sure she could just make out a solitary indistinct figure standing there in the shadows of the closet.

Another whole minute passed before Gail, thinking maybe he was waiting for her to take charge, after all she was the mom, took some decisive action.

"William, I... can see you standing there, inside the closet looking at me. Come on out honey and... communicate with your mother."

Her firm declaration was met with utter silence.

Gail was starting to get scared. "W-who's there? Please tell me. Do you wish to speak to me? If it's you William, show me something, anything, p-please some... some kind of sign."

Then a voice came floating across the dimly lit bedroom. Gail let out a sigh of pent up relief as the voice, strong and masculine, but clearly William's, announced, "Walk over to your dresser and then turn, facing it. I will come to you."

Gail hesitated, not wanting to obey right away, but instead to ask questions, or maybe even to dash across the room and hug her son.

Her hesitation was met with darkness as the half dozen candles in the room all flared out at the exact same moment. The room, to her dismay, was plunged into total darkness.

Deciding she had better obey, Gail carefully made her way over to the dresser.

Again there was a long drawn out moment of silence while Gail stood there shivering, still waiting for something, anything, to happen. Finally, there was a whispered voice in her ear. "You're shivering, Mommy."

He voice was soft, soothing helping her relax, as did the fact he called her "Mommy."

He was behind her, very close, he could feel his breath tickling her neck. "Don't turn around, you wouldn't be able to see me anyways in the dark."

She heard the quiet clink of something being placed down on the top of the dresser. "Just one more. Drink it quickly... and then you should be just relaxed enough to play with us..."

"But honey I... I already had enough," she tried to protest.

"You want to see us or not? I thought you wanted me to return. I can go... if that's what you want."

"I--" She picked up the glass of wine before hesitating. "Can you explain who exactly is with you?"

"Drink your wine down quickly and I will tell you... but then no more questions for the rest of the night. Deal or not? If you say no we disappear... forever this time into the cold darkness of death without ever truly knowing your love. A simple yes or no... answer now."