A Valentine Ghost Story

"Ok but be careful up there." She said her voice worried. He smiled to her.

"I will, but there's been no activity at all since so I'd guess whatever it is has gone for bit." He told her and went upstairs. Alison sat at the monitors watching them carefully keeping a close eye on the readings from the bedroom. She was worried about what could happen if the ghost had seen her as a lover could it see Wayne as a possible threat. The two hours passed with nothing so she went and carefully woke him up. He stared up at her blurry eyed from sleep. His hair ruffled from the pillow and he was not wearing his glasses. He climbed out of the bed in his boxers and grabbed his jeans quickly. Just not quick enough to avoid her getting a good look. He had a fairly fit body and she told herself that she was definitely going to have a chat with him that evening about her feelings towards him. She went down a rustled up some lunch for them both. After lunch, he began his search of the house first taking his Radiation metre and then coming back for the gas emission detector.

Alison sat by the monitors reading her research material glancing up to keep an eye on the readings. She was just reading one of the many legends about the area when something caught her eye. The temperature monitor showed a blip, so small at first that she thought she had misread it. She lowered her notes and stared at the gauge. It shifted subtly almost imperceptibly at first. Then it was definitely moving slowly rising as the temperature rose somewhere in the house. She glanced towards Wayne's laptop, which had a schematic of the house. He had tied it into the sensors to show where any reading came from. It was the bedroom. The temperature was rising slowly. She opened her mouth to call to Wayne when the computer graphic changed. The hot spot was moving. It headed out of the bedroom and towards the front of the house. Alison watched it moving along the landing towards one of the front bedrooms. She froze to the spot her mouth open but no sound coming out as the heat source entered the room. Then the computer flashed a new graphic she flicked over to the monitors. The background electricity was rising rapidly also in the same bedroom. Her mind whirled Wayne was upstairs scanning with his detector, which room was he in. She turned and bolted to the stairs.

Wayne opened the door from the landing into the front bedroom walking slowly to allow the detector in his hand to pick up any traces of gas as he walked. He was hoping it did not. He knew that certain gases could cause effects that were often believed to be ghostly. Of course, he had never heard of a gas that managed to alter both the temperature and the background electrical levels as well as causing any hallucinations. He walked slowly forwards towards the window waving the detector slowly in front of him. He glanced up at the window as he passed seeing the view onto the road with the sun shining in through the window. He could feel the heat from the sun on his skin. It must be a warm day for the time of year because the sun felt very warm. Its heat was warming the room. He turned away from the window carrying out a circuit of the room. As he walked away he felt the warmth from the sun on him. It took him a second or two to realise he was no longer in direct sunlight. As he did he felt a touch on his arm. He turned suddenly alert and very nervous. He could feel the temperature in the room rising rapidly, so much that he was sweating now. He took a step towards the door. Something shoved against him pushing him back against the wall. He staggered backwards reaching behind him to catch the wall before he hit it. The force on his chest increased as someone grabbed his shirt and almost lifted him off his feet slamming him against the wall. He gasped at the impact dropping the detector. He struggled against the force holding him against the wall but could not get free. The blow came out of nowhere; it snapped his head sideways and rattled his teeth. His vision blurred for a second now he was scared. He struggled harder trying to wriggle free from whoever or whatever held him. A second blow snapped his head back again. He tasted blood and began to get really scared, as his effort to get free seemed useless. He could not even see what was hitting him let alone protect himself from it. His struggles began to get desperate all the time expecting another blow. The door to the room suddenly burst open and Alison burst into the room. The grip on his front vanished and he pitched forwards to stunned to hold himself up. Alison reached him in a second and grabbed him protectively. She covered him with her body to try to ward off his attacker. The heat in the room rose to almost uncomfortable levels then as quickly as it had risen it feel back to normal levels. No more blows launched themselves at him and he felt himself shaking as he began to react to the attack.

Alison helped him up her face crinkled in worry as she helped him downstairs. She sat him down and pulled out the first aid kit she had packed. She fetched out the cotton wool and antiseptic wipes. She gently wiped his cheek and lips wiping away the blood on his face. She checked him over concerned about how bad he was injured. Only when she had cleaned his face and checked he was fine did she sit down shaking with fear and worry.

"That's it we're leaving now." She said to him. "It's not worth you getting hurt just to figure out what's happening here."

"No we can't give up. I'm ok just a little shook up that's all." He insisted.

"Just shook up, your lip is bleeding and you are going to have a bruise on that cheek by the morning. That was too dangerous; I couldn't get the door open at first. And I don't want to think what might have happened to you if I hadn't got it open when I did." He waved off her comments with a weak smile.

"I'm ok, just need a cup of tea or maybe something stronger. Did you think to pack anything to drink?" She shook her head. "Good job I did then, check in the side pocket of my bad." Alison went over to his bag still concerned about him. The attack on him scared her; she did not want anything to happen to him. She knew that if they did leave she would be loosing the chance to tell him what she felt but that was not worth the risk of Wayne being seriously hurt. She reached into the pocket and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. She brought it over to Wayne. He took it and had a large swig from the bottle then offered her it. She took a mouthful of the whiskey and swallowed. The liquid burned as it went down her throat but it felt good. Wayne had another drink then put the cap back on.

"I assume we got that on the record as you came up to me." Alison nodded, he smiled. "Good it was worth a few bruises then." She gave him an incredulous look.

"Are you joking you've just been attacked and nearly beaten up by an unseen ghost. What happens next time? What if I can't get to you and protect you." She snapped at him. He looked at her startled.

"We just have to be more careful, stay together and so on. Whatever is here has not done anything when we're both together."

"Yet!"

"I don't think it will, something tells me that this ghost is held off by us being together."

"I'm supposed to be the one with the hunches not you."

"Well then it must be a good hunch for me to get it mustn't it." She stopped her mouth open wide at the obvious holes in that logic. Then suddenly she laughed, she knew it was a reaction to what had just happened but she could not stop. After a second, he joined in and they both laughed for a few minutes before getting control of themselves.

"You're going to insist aren't you?" He nodded and Alison gave a resigned sigh. "Fine then but don't expect me to be more that ten feet from you for the rest of the weekend."

"I knew there was going to be an upside to this." He said with a faint laugh. She looked at him trying to figure out if he was joking or not. He gave her his best disarming smile trying to hide the slip he had just made. After a second she turned away and grabbed the book she had dropped.

"Well if we're staying I think I might be on to something." She told him flicking through the book to find a particular passage. "There's a story in here about two young lovers. Here it is." She glanced down the passage quickly. Wayne watched her waiting almost holding his breath. Her deep brown eyes scanned the book taking in the words before lifting to look at him. "If this is right some point during the late seventeen hundreds the son of the local landholder feel in love with a farmer's daughter. It was a forbidden romance; his dad didn't want his son to marry a common farmer's girl. The lad is supposed to have run away to be with her but his father came after him. They hid in a barn but there was a fire, they died in the flames."

"Sounds possible," he said nodding. "The fire sounds suspicious as well, just too convenient don't you think?"

"Yeah I wonder if they are here for revenge or what?"

"Pass, how would we find out? It's not like they've been very talkative so far." She thought about it for a few seconds then her face lit up.

"I brought some stuff for a séance it's worth a try." Wayne hid his grimace at the idea. He did not consider séances scientific but could not think of any other way to get an answer. The next hour was spent preparing for the séance. Alison set up the table with candles and the equipment of the séance. Wayne spent the hour setting up his equipment to be able to record anything that might happen. He worried as he did about what they were about to do, was it safe? He was not sure if it was or not. But Alison knew what she was doing when it came to the occult and old style methods of dealing with ghosts.

Alison had none of his worries as she set up the table for the séance. She was thinking more about what they would learn about the ghosts in the house. She was certain that the two young lovers from the legend were the ghosts in the house. The problem was going to be finding what they needed to lay them to rest. From her research she knew that most ghost had unfinished business which needed solving before they could go to rest. With most ghosts it was simple to figure out their unfinished business, but she was not certain what it would be with these two. The usual reason was to be buried or for justice. For some reason she felt these two would not have either as their unfinished business. All too soon the room was ready for the séance. Alison lit the candles on the table and sat down. She sat on the chair and began to mentally and spiritually prepare herself for the task ahead. Wayne coughed softly to get her attention. She looked up at him.

"I was just wondering how safe this was," he told her. "After all I have been attacked by one of these ghosts. What if they turn violent towards you?"

"That's why you're here." She said. "If things start to get dangerous you have to break the circle. I would never have done this by myself no matter what the situation was." Wayne nodded his understanding. She focused her mind again on the task at hand. It always took her a few minutes to prepare for a séance. It was always risky opening yourself up to the ghosts as she was about to, but often the only way to find out what they needed. When she felt ready, she began to whisper a soft summons to the trapped spirits.

"I call on those spirits present to hear my voice. Come to us, show yourselves to us and let us aid your pain." She repeated the summons over and over each time her voice getting louder and firmer until she was ordering the spirits to appear. The smoke from the candles hovered in the room seeming to be getting thicker each time she spoke. Then she thought she saw figures in the smoke. Then they slowly grew more solid turning from unsubstantial misty forms into solid images of people. Then finally, they became recognisable as two distinct people. The first was a young man in his early twenties wearing clothes that came from about three centuries in the past. The other was a young girl who looked eighteen or possible nineteen in simple peasant robes. The two of them looked at each other obviously totally in love with each other. The girl reached her hand up to touch the man's cheek with adoration and love. He smiled down at her his eyes taking in every detail of her face.

"It has been such a long time since I last saw thy beauty." He said to her, she smiled back at him. Alison felt her breath catch in her throat. She had not realised that the two would not have been able to see each other. "You are still as beautiful even after the centuries." Her face glowed in response to him. They stared into each other's faces for sometime before turning towards Alison and Wayne.

"Why have you summoned us?" They both said.

"We need to find answers from you. Why are you still here? Why have you been haunting this house for so long?" Alison asked them softly. The two of them looked at each other then turned back their faces angered.

"We were kept apart, taken before our love could be fulfilled." He said, Alison looked at him her face sorrowful.

"I am sorry, we know about your unfortunate deaths."

"Unfortunate!" They both shouted at her knocking her back in the chair. "We were murdered!" Alison froze horrified by the declaration.

"Murdered, who by?"

"My father," the lad said. "He did not want us to marry. We were going to run away but he found out. He chased after us and we hid in the barn here in the area. He found us and burnt the barn down rather than let his son marry a peasant's daughter." His eyes filled with tears as he spoke, she clung to him her face showing her feelings as well.

"We did not know and there is nothing said about it."

"There would not be, only us two and my father know what happened."

"Could it have been an accident?" Wayne asked softly not certain if he should speak up. They both shook their heads.

"No we heard his father, he shouted to us demanding we came out. When we did not he said that he would never allow us to be married. Then he set the fire." She told him her eyes burning into him. Wayne swallowed hard at the intensity in that stare.

"Is that why you are haunting this place?" Alison asked.

"We were never allowed our happiness so why should we allow others to be happy in our presence." He snapped at her.

"What do you mean?"

"We died with our love unfulfilled."

"You mean unmarried?" They shook their heads both suddenly blushing.

"We...we were never able to..." He broke off too embarrassed to finish. She looked down unable to look at them. Alison suddenly figured out what they were embarrassed by.

"You never consummated your love did you?" She said suddenly. They both looked at her mouths open and eyes wide, then nodded slowly again not looking at her.

"We never will be able to. We do not have any bodies to do so." He said to her. Alison nodded her understanding. "And until we do we can never rest or find happiness. Therefore, we do not allow those around us to find happiness. Our love will never be and none near us will ever find love while we can not." His voice was venomous as he spoke. Alison could understand why, in their position she would probably feel the same way.

"What could be done to allow you to rest?" She asked.

"Nothing!" He snapped.

"There must be something."

"Until our love is fulfilled we will never rest. We are bodiless and can never fulfil our love so we never rest." Alison stared at him her mind blank. How could these two be put to rest when what they needed was impossible for them. She looked up at Wayne her eyes showing her confusion. Wayne looked at them and down at her then she saw inspiration appear in his eyes. He lent down to her and whispered his answer to her.

"They need bodies to be able to fulfil their love. We could let them use ours." He said she looked at him.

"You realise how dangerous that could be." She told him. "We would be giving them total control of not just our bodies but our minds and senses. If they wanted they might never let us free."

"Hey I was only asking if it was possible I hadn't thought of any dangers."

"I thought I should point it out. I do know of a way to allow it to happen. It basically lets them possess us and control our bodies."

"What like in the exorcist?"

"Sort of, but without the demonic element. It would still be dangerous but we would not start doing impressions of spinning tops."

"It's up to you I guess, if you think it's safe then I'll go with it. I came up with the idea so I'll leave it up to you." Alison looked up at the two lovers who had been watching them closely as they spoke.

"What if we said there was a way, would you be willing to be laid to rest."

"Yes, we would." The man said

"We could spend eternity together." The girl added.

"Ok, well we would be willing to allow you to use our bodies." Alison told them. The two ghosts looked at each other then back at Alison their eyes wide.

"Would that work?" The man said. "It would not be our flesh." Alison nodded.

"It should do, you would experience everything as if our bodies were your bodies. It would be your spirits and minds that were in control. Our words would be your words." The two of them stood still thinking over the offer.

"As long as I could tell it was you I would not mind." The girl said to her love. Alison felt her heart go out to her, the girl obviously so wanted to be with him. The man looked at her then to Alison.

"We would be able to know it was each other?"

"Yes you would," Alison said.

"Then if you are willing, we are willing." Alison nodded and looked up at Wayne.

"You certain?" She asked him. Wayne nodded not wanting to speak. He was too scared that she would tell what he was thinking if he spoke. He was willing because he would be able to sleep with her, even if some other spirit was controlling his actions. She turned to the ghosts and smiled. "Right, it will take a little while for us to prepare for you to use our bodies. First, we need to have clothing of your choice. For that, you will have to help us. If we show you what clothing we have brought with us you can choose from that." They split up Alison and the girl going upstairs while Wayne and the man stayed down to choose clothing. Wayne ended up in his black trousers and white shirt that he had brought for no reason other than the possibility of having a meal with Alison. When Alison came down she took his breath away with the way she looked. She was wearing a short, tight, sleeveless black dress that clung to her body. Her hair was, for the first time he had ever know, loose with one strand of red hair settled on her shoulder the rest hanging down her back. She had the barest of make up on but enough to accent her natural beauty. She was also wearing stiletto heels, which was also a first for her as far as Wayne knew.

"Is that what you chose to wear?" The man asked.

"It is the only dress she had." The girl asked, "and would not you have liked me to have worn something like this?" The man looked at Alison and nodded. Wayne said a silent prayer that he would be able to, at least, sense when his hands were touching Alison's body. He knew it would almost certainly be the only way he could ever hope to get to touch her body. There was no way a woman that sexy would want him.

"Nice dress," Wayne said. Alison blushed.

"I brought it in case we had a reason to celebrate." She said self-consciously. Wayne looked very suave in his trousers and shirt. Alison was glad it was him who was with her. Even if she did not ever remember what happened it would be him that she slept with. She walked down to stand next to him with a soft smile. The two ghosts moved together to stand behind them.

"Right you are going move to surround us. As you do we will have to open our minds and spirit to let you enter." She turned to Wayne. "It will feel like you are suffocating for a few seconds. Don't panic and don't fight the feeling it will be over quickly."