Number 2

she lead him to the front door of the house. it was dark inside.

there were no artificial sources of light on inside. she stood on her

tiptoes and lifted the lid of the metal mailbox that was attached to

the side of the house. she reached inside and felt for something in

the bottom of the mailbox. he stood behind her, not facing her, but

keeping watch. they didn't want anyone to see them at the empty

house. she withdrew her hand from the mailbox and had a brass key on

a small gold keychain in her hand. she unlocked the front door and

the two of them quickly slipped into the house. when she closed the

door behind them, their noses were filled with the smell of musty

furniture and old carpet. the air in the house felt dry and unmoved,

unbreathed for a long time. there was not a lot of furniture in that

front room. after his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see

that there was only a two-seater brown couch in that room, probably

made in the early 70's. the front room led to a middle room, which

was the dining room. it had a large dining table in it, the same type

of table as those in the library. when you pulled out one of the four

fake orange leather chairs to sit at the table, the back of the chair

hit the wall before the seat cleared from under the table. it was

school housing. you really couldn't expect too much. the back room

was the kitchen. there was a door in the kitchen that led outside to

the back porch, which really wasn't a porch at all, more like a little

landing at the top of three steps that led to a small square of grass

in the back of the house. they didn't go into the kitchen because it

was too bright. there was a street lamp behind the house and the

light shone through the window above the kitchen sink and reflected

off the metal sink, illuminating the entire kitchen. so instead, she

led him back to the front room and to the stairs leading to the second

floor. they ascended the steps, slowly, afraid to make any noise.

the wooden stairs were bare and uneven, bowed in the middle from

countless years of use. the steps creaked and groaned under the

weight of their bodies, with each of their steps. when they reached

the top of the stairs, she told him to turn right and to walk down the

hall to the room at the end of the hall, the front bedroom. she told

him that it used to be her room. when they got to the room, he saw

that there were only three pieces of furniture in the room: a single

bed, a desk, and a bookcase. she noticed that the furniture had not

been moved since she had moved on from the house. he walked over to

the bare mattress of the bed and laid down on it, in his clothes. he

told her to lie down beside him, and she did. he was lying on his

back with his left arm stretched out at a 90 degree angle from his

body, and she laid her head on his left bicep. it was hard and not

particularly comfortable for her neck. she had also laid down on her

back and the length of the right side of her body was tucked under his

arm and against the entire length of the left side of his body.

though they were both fully clothed, she could feel the warmth coming

from his body. she turned over onto her stomach and held the weight

of her head and chest off the bed, directly over his arm. her long

hair draped over his arm, but he did not brush it away from him. he

asked where she was, and she said that she was on the wrong side of

the line. he turned onto his side, facing her, told her to snap out

of it, and put his right hand on her lower back, thinking that if he

touched her like that, she would come back to where he was. it only

made things worse for her. at the moment that his hand touched her

lower back, a low, gutteral, involuntary sound came from within her,

her back arched in response, and he pulled his hand away, realizing

that he had made a mistake to touch her. she turned her body away

from him, but he pulled her back toward him and held her in his arms.

her breathing became somewhat erratic as her body shook in his arms.

she could feel something hard against her. he reached his right hand

towards her face and with his fingers, wiped her tears away. he

didn't expect that she would cry, but understood why she did. there

was a moment when she almost turned to face him, and he almost turned

her onto her back so his face could hover over hers, but she didn't

turn, and his face only went so far as just below her right ear. she

felt his breath and his mouth just over her skin, but he didn't kiss

her. instead, when her shaking had stopped, he told her that they

should go back downstairs. and they did. at the bottom of the

stairs, he turned to face her and they held one another. actually,

they clutched at one another, slightly swaying together. he whispered

that he wanted her so badly. she told him that she really wanted him

right now. but then she told him that they had to leave the house

before things got ugly. they both knew that as soon as they stepped

out of the house, it would be as if nothing had happened between them.

And with that thought, they both went back out through the front door

and emerged outside into the night. she told him to keep walking and

to not look back while she locked the door behind them. she replaced

the key into the mailbox and walked away from the house, too,

following several feet behind him, willing him to keep going without

looking back, but wishing that he would. They never went back to the

house.

....he didn't expect that she would cry, but he understood why she did.

there was a moment when she almost turned to face him, and he almost

turned her onto her back so his face could hover over hers, but she

didn't turn, and his face only went so far as just below her right ear.

she felt his breath and his mouth just over her skin, but he didn't

kiss her. instead, when her shaking had stopped, he told her that

they should go back downstairs. and they did. at the bottom of the

stairs, he turned to face her and they held one another. actually,

they clutched at one another, slightly swaying together. he

whispered that he wanted her so badly. she told him that she really

wanted him right now. he reached down and picked her up, holding her

in his arms. He carried her back up the stairs, back down the hall,

back into her old room and laid her down on the bare mattress. He

laid his body right on top of hers and it was the first time that she

felt the entire length of the front of his body against the entire

length of the front of her body. He moved slowly, measuring his

movements by the sound of her breathing. What happened next wasn't

exactly pretty. It was actually somewhat sloppy, which is often how

things are when they aren't right or when it's rushed. But two people

became for more than a moment indistinguishable from one another.

They slipped out of time and into a different state. They were in

that state where they could feel everything, but nothing at the same

time, that state where you couldn't tell where your body ended and the

other's began, where you weren't sure if you were breathing, or if you

even needed to, for that matter. They were in that moment where you

think you should feel the closest to the other person, but you find

that your head is somewhere else, but you aren't sure where. It is

that place where right and wrong become completely identical and

irrelevant. You don't taste anymore, but yet you are consuming one

another. And you don't see anything except maybe just black. And

somewhere two people are suspended in the universe together,

completely alone, nowhere.

the apparitions never actually left the house, but are not haunting

anyone....they are just there doing their own thing, consumed with one

another, making love to one another, over and over, through all these

years....it's the only place where they actually are together.