Every Midnight to Dawn

My mother called me a month after we had both moved to live on our own. I had rented a small apartment for myself, which was my first time living alone. And mom had bought herself an old Victorian home nearby in San Francisco.

"How are you enjoying life as a single bachelor?" she asked playfully over the phone.

"It's great. I've got hot babes all over the place."

"Of course you do, that's why you're on the phone talking to your mother on a Friday night."

"Is that why you called?" I laughed. "You wanted to rub that in?"

"A little bit. But honestly, I miss hearing your voice after I come home from work. You're all grown up now."

"Thanks mom."

"Basically what you're saying is, you miss me too," she replied lovingly.

"You bet."

"So how's your new apartment treating you?" she asked. "Everything good I hope."

"I've got no complaints here. Great view, parking is easy, and there are a lot of really cool people who live in this building. I've made some new friends already."

"That's so wonderful to hear. I'm very happy for you."

"What about the place you're living in?" I asked. "Is it everything you thought it would be?"

"...It's...great. Everything is going well."

I knew my mother all too well. She was like an open book too. She was naturally an expressive person, and it was obvious that something was there, a hint of discomfort that she tried to keep to herself.

"Did I hear a pause?" I asked, trying to gently get her to talk.

"It's nothing," she said defensively. "I love this home and it was worth every penny."

"Come on, just tell me. If there's anything wrong I can come fix it for you. Or I could call a repairman for you."

"I won't be needing a repairman, but thanks for the offer."

"Do you want to move back to the old apartment?" I asked.

"Not really," she replied. "I've lived in that apartment for so long that I need the change of location. Besides, that apartment has already been sold and people are living there already."

"Then what is it?"

"You'll think I'm crazy if I told you."

"If I thought you were crazy, I wouldn't tell you. I'd just keep that information to myself."

"How sweet of you," she tried to joke back. "It's almost my bedtime here. It was good to hear your voice again."

She sounded like her feelings were hurt from being teased.

"It was only a joke mom. Come on, you've made me curious. Tell me."

She paused for a moment. "I think this place is haunted."

Then we both paused from her seemingly random revelation. Could it be? Did she really just say that?

"Haunted?"

"Yes, you heard me; I think this house is haunted."

"And why would you think that?" I asked.

"Because I hear noises at night. Strange noises. They would happen randomly."

"It's probably leaky pipes or rats between the walls. I mean, that place is old. What do you expect?"

"This place has been inspected for everything, plumbing, pests, you name it. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten up in the middle of the night to make sure all the windows are locked or if something was crawling around. I've spent hours during the day trying to figure out what the noises are. And... nothing."

I thought for a few seconds. "There's gotta be a reasonable explanation. I really don't know what to say mom. Maybe you're just overreacting because of how scary your house looks at night. Honestly, that place gave me the creeps when I helped you move there."

"I'm completely serious. The daytime is so quiet I can hear a pin drop. There's no sound except for the cars outside and neighbors. But every midnight to dawn... there are these strange noises."

I thought to myself once again. My mother is very smart woman, so maybe she's right? Maybe her home is haunted. She's not someone to exaggerate or embellish. She's as rational and level-headed as a person can be.

"Have you thought about selling the house and moving someplace else?" I asked.

"It's crossed my mind," she replied. "But a lot of my money is invested here now and I'll probably take a huge financial loss if I try to sell it right away. And I really do love this home. There's something about it that I find comforting, except for what happens at night, obviously."

"Hmmm... tough situation. I'm all out of ideas. But I'm still not fully convinced your house is haunted. Give it a few more days and the noises might go away. Don't forget that no one had lived in that house for months. So the wooden structure is probably just settling in, if that even makes sense."

"I want you to stay with me for a while," she said bluntly and randomly.

"What?"

"It's the weekend. Pack your bags and sleep here on Saturday night. You can leave on Sunday or Monday."

"I don't know, mom," I replied honestly. "That place is creepy."

"But if it's not haunted, then what do you have to worry about? I've already contacted a local psychic who wants $300 dollars for a spiritual cleansing next week. I'm willing to pay, unless of course you can prove that everything is okay."

"Don't do that mom. $300 dollars? That's insane. It's clearly a scam."

"Then come stay with me and prove otherwise," she replied.

"Fine, I'll be there tomorrow and I'll stay for the night. You owe me for this."

"I'll be your personal chef like always," she replied playfully. "Maybe I'll even do your laundry like old times. Will that be enough?"

***

Saturday night. It was the first time in a month that my mother and I had dinner together. After some talking and late night television, we both went to bed. She was going to sleep in the master bedroom, and I was going to stay in the guest room.

"Let me know if you need anything," she said, standing barefoot in the doorway wearing her nightgown.

"You're making me feel like I'm in a hotel," I joked. "A pretty old hotel."

"Think of it as an old hotel, but with charm and character to it. Who knows, maybe if you stay here long enough you'll finally see why I love it."

"No offense, but I doubt that."

She smiled. "Young people these days have no appreciation for art. But anyway, it's nice having you around again. I always feel safe with you down the hall."

"Thanks. I just hope there aren't any ghosts around to ruin our night."

"Did I just detect a hint of sarcasm?" she asked skeptically.

"Maybe. I'll be half asleep tonight listening for any strange noises. That's what you want isn't it?"

She flashed me a stern, yet playful expression. "You do that. Goodnight."

"Night mom."

***

The clock read 1:30 am. A loud banging noise downstairs woke me up. The footsteps coming from my mother's room let me know that she had woken up as well. I got out of bed to see that my mother had turned the lights on.

"Did you hear that?" my mother asked in a low whisper, with a jilted look on her face.

"Yeah, what was it?"

"I don't know. But I've heard it before. It usually happens around this time, in the same way. I'm scared. Are you?"

"Kind of," I replied without shame. "Let's go check it out I guess."

We went down the stairs together as my mother turned on more lights. A few minutes later, she turned on all the lights and I had triple checked everything. All the doors were locked, all the windows were closed, and there weren't any stray animals roaming around. The house was empty and nothing had been moved.

"Got any ideas of what that banging noise was?" she asked.

"None. That was so weird."

"Still think your mother is crazy?"

"I never said you were. I just said that there's a rational explanation to these noises."

"Then what is it?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"As soon as I find out, I'll let you know. But there's no point in us standing around. It's late and I'm tired. Let's go back to sleep."

"Would you mind sleeping in bed with me?"

"You really want me to?"

"I wouldn't have offered otherwise. I'm scared, and you've always comforted me."

"Sure," I replied dutifully. "Whatever makes you feel better."

***

My mother turned off the lights and we went to her room. I laid down on my mother's bed and she turned off the bedroom lights, leaving us in the dark except for the faint moonlight shining through the window. I stayed on my side of the bed. To my complete surprise, my mother rested her head on my chest. It was awkward for a moment, but I did the gentlemanly thing and wrapped my arm around her.

"I hope I'm not making you uncomfortable," she said as she got cozy under the blanket.

"Not really. This feels nice."

"I'm glad. Lots of boys feel uneasy about being affectionate with their mothers. I'm very lucky that I still get to hold you."

I gave her a kiss on top of her head. "Anytime. I've never passed up the opportunity to hold a beautiful woman in my arms."

"You know, I never properly thanked you."

"For what?"

"For being the man of the house when your father wasn't around anymore," she replied sincerely. "I expected to have to work my butt off to take care of you. But to my surprise, it wasn't long before you started taking care of me instead."

"What else was I supposed to do?" I asked. "Every night you seemed really upset. I don't know, I guess I didn't want you to be so sad all the time, so I tried the best I could to make you happy."

"You're sweet."

"Do you still think about dad?"

"Once and a while," she replied. "I think about him sometimes when I'm lonely. But let's not go there. That's not a conversation for you."

"Why not? You've never had a problem asking that kind of stuff about me," I teased.

"Oh stop it," she playfully said. "I'm your parent. One day you'll have adult children of your own and you're going to feel pretty disturbed if any of them ask about what you do with your penis."

"Great point, but until that day comes, I'll still be interested in how you think of dad. Hearing you so passive about it makes me even more curious."

She sighed, "You really want to know what goes on in my head? I sometimes imagine your father going down on me, and afterwards he grabs me forcefully and ravishes me until we're both completely satisfied. Happy now?"

A sudden arousal came over me. I was only joking with my mother, but hearing her talk about her sexual fantasies got my blood flowing.

"That was...interesting..."

"You asked..." she replied. "And now you know."

"Yeah, I do."

She put her finger on my lips to silence me. "Not another word. We're going to sleep now. Thank you for staying in my room tonight, and for watching over me."

With that said, my mother leaned over and gave me a kiss on the lips. Of all the kisses she had ever given me, none of them had ever been on a place so intimate. She rested her head on my chest again, and my cock became hard. A part of me wondered if she knew that I had become sexually aroused by her.

***

The next morning. I was in the kitchen eating a hot breakfast that my mother made for me, while mom was on the phone in the living room. She was talking to a local psychic, but I didn't care, or believe in it. The only thing on my mind was mom's cooking (and kind of what happened in bed last night).

After the call ended, she came to the kitchen and sat down so we could talk.

"So what did your psychic friend say?" I asked.

"Well I've got some bad news, good news, and some strange news. Where do you want to start?"

"What's the bad news?" I asked.

"There's definitely an entity in our home," she replied seriously. "The psychic noticed it when he was here a few days ago. He said the entity gave him messages in his dream last night, and when he woke up, it was 2 am, which was right after we heard those noises."

I was taken aback by what my mother said. The chances of that being a coincidence seemed slim. And mom was completely serious about that phone conversation.

"Jeez, if that's the bad news, then what's the good news?"

"The good news is that there's a way to deal with this entity once and for all. It's willing to leave this house and move on."

"Great, so what do we have to do?"

She paused for a moment. "Well, that brings me to the strange news. Are you ready to hear it? It's a little unconventional, but the psychic thinks it's going to work."

"At this point, I'm open to anything."

"According to the psychic, the entity which lives in this house is an elderly woman. She's grief stricken and is ready to leave the physical world behind. But before she does, there's something she needs to feel before she goes. It's unusual, at least by our standards."

"You're being really coy," I noted. "Just say it already."

Mom took a deep breath. "The entity is lonely. She's been that way for over a decade living here. Last night when we were in bed together, the entity felt something powerful in this house. It felt love. Real love. It was the kind of love she experienced with her own adult son a very long time ago. She misses that feeling and she's longing for it."

"Are you saying the entity was aroused or something? I've never heard of anything like that before, ever."

"I don't know. But the psychic says that the entity will depart from this realm once it finally gets to experience that feeling one last time. It's been waiting for something like this."

"This is just plain weird," I replied. "I mean, this is starting to really freak me out. I came here thinking there was some logical explanation to everything, and now I don't know what to think anymore."

"Imagine how I feel. Believe me, I'm trying my best to keep myself together."

"So what does your psychic friend want us to do?"

Mom took another deep breath. "Well, he says the entity is ready to leave once it gets to feel maternal love for the last time. So the psychic thinks we should continue what we did last night. He thinks we should be even closer with each other. Maybe that'll work."

Feelings of excitement came over me, but I didn't let it show. I didn't want my mom to think that I was overly-enthusiastic about spending the night in bed with her once again.

"If he thinks it'll work, then I'm okay with it," I replied.

"So are you finally coming around to the idea that this home is haunted?" she asked with an eyebrow raised. "I know that you've never been a big believer in the paranormal or the spiritual."

"All I know is that there were creepy noises in this house last night and I don't have an explanation for them. Whatever your friend suggests we do, I'm open to it."

She smiled. "I'm glad to see you're finally coming around."

"Whatever it takes. I guess this means I'll have to go back to my apartment to pick up more clothes since I'll be staying here longer."

"Thank you. I really appreciate you doing this for me. I know you have work on Monday and this is a real burden for you."

"You're never a burden for me," I replied.

She winked. "Thanks."

With my breakfast finished, I was ready to leave and prepare for more days at my mother's house.

"Well, I better go now. How many days should I pack for?"

"Three or four maybe. Are you okay with that?"

"No problem," I replied, picking up my plate to leave.

"Wait," she said, stopping me. "The psychic mentioned how the entity felt something 'powerful' in this house last night when we were in bed together. Did you have any strong feelings then? It couldn't have been just me."

I suddenly became coy. "We were having a pretty deep conversation. So I guess that was it. You know, it was some deep stuff we were talking about. That's probably what your psychic friend was mentioning. I'm sure that was it."

"Is there anything else you want to tell me? You can be honest. I want us to be open with each other."

My mother wanted honesty, but I was sure that she wasn't ready to hear that I had a massive erection when I was in bed with her. She was the cause of it, and I had a tough time sleeping because of how much it ached.

"Maybe we can finish this conversation later," I replied. "I've gotta get back to my apartment to pick up clothes and I need to prepare things for work tomorrow."

She nodded. "Okay. You're a grown man and I don't want to get in the way of your business. But remember what I said, you can tell me anything that's on your mind. I won't judge."

***

A few hours later. I came back to my mother's house and things were unusually quiet during the day, because she always liked to do a million things at once.

I carried my things up the stairs to the main bedroom, and then I saw it: My mother was sitting on the floor with her back against the bed. She was wearing a towel and nothing else. Her hair and body were soaking wet, and it was obvious she had just gotten out of the shower. I dropped my things and headed over to her.

"What's wrong?" I asked urgently. "Are you okay?"

My mother had a bewildered look on her face and she continued looking forward.

"I'm not sure."

"What happened? You look like you just saw a ghost." I paused, "Did you... see something..."

She turned her head and looked at me. "Not exactly. But I felt something."

"What was it?" I asked.

"I was in the shower and I felt my hand move on its own. It moved to my private area and I started touching myself. It made me pleasure myself. My mind was somewhere else. The entity reminded me of intimate feelings I used to have, but repressed a long time ago."

"Dad?"

"Not exactly," she replied. "It's much more intimate than that. I shouldn't be telling you this."

"You can tell me anything. Just this morning you were saying how we should be honest with each other. This sounds serious and I need to know."

"This is different," she said defensively. "This is humiliating. You wouldn't understand."

I gave her a reassuring look. "Don't forget that we'll be sleeping in the same bed again. We've got plenty of time to talk about whatever you want."

She turned her body to face me, and when she did, her towel opened up slightly. I had an intimate look of her dripping wet legs and feet, and up her thighs too.

"I used to fantasize about you. Like I said, it's humiliating for me to talk about."

The feeling in the room suddenly became tense after her revelation.

"You did?" I asked. "Are you sure it wasn't the entity getting inside your head? Your psychic friend mentioned that the spirit was longing for something maternal."

She reluctantly nodded. "I'm sure. It happened after you turned 18, when you started going to college. I noticed how much you resembled your father. Late at night when I was lonely, I found myself thinking of you instead of your father. I felt guilty about it every time, but I'm only human. I was eventually able to suppress it. And now it's returned because of the entity..."

"I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything about it. I would have preferred if you hadn't known about that at all. That was the most personal thing I've ever told anyone."

"I'm glad you told me," I replied, unsure of what else to say.

There was an awkward silence in the room. She clearly hated telling me her intimate secret, and I was at a complete loss for words.

"Well..." she said with her eyebrow raised.

"Well what?"

"Have you ever thought about me before, in an intimate way?"

I suddenly became defensive. "Of course not. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that. All I'm saying is that it's not normal for a son to think that way about his own mother. You gave birth to me after all. I would never think inappropriate thoughts about you. It's not right."

"That was quite a ramble," she said with a motherly look on her face, and a slight formation of a smile. "I can tell when you're being passive with something to hide, so start talking mister. After what I just told you, I expect a little honesty in return."