OF GHOSTS AND FLESH by Comshaw

Feature Writer: Comshaw

Feature Title: OF GHOSTS AND FLESH

Published: 20.10.2025

Story Codes: Erotic Horror

Synopsis: Luca and Ella are possessed by ghosts

Of Ghosts and Flesh

“Edgar, do you love me?” Leona asked as they stood staring out over the water.

Edgar turned and smiled as he pulled her into his arms, “Leona, you know I do!”

“I’m scared Edgar. You will be careful in France fighting the war won’t you? I won’t be able to stand it if you don’t come back to me!”

“Leona, look at me,” Edgar said, using his index finger under her chin to tilt her eyes up to his,” I will come back to you. I will always be with you. Believe that.”

“Edgar, you’re leaving tomorrow. I want you to take me to your bed tonight. I want to be with you so I have that memory to cling to. So you have that memory to cling to and know how it will be when you come home.”

“Leona! We should be married before we do that!”

“We should,” she replied as she snuggled against his chest, “but my family wants a big wedding and we don’t have time to arrange one before you leave. I do not want you to leave before you make me yours. So please, take me to your bed tonight. Spend the night with me in an embrace. Leave me with the memories of your physical love! Please!”

“What if you become pregnant? How will you explain that?”

She looked into his eyes and said, “I will tell them that the love of my life and I are parents and will be married upon his return.”

Edgar smiled as he said, “Leona, my love for you has no bounds. But I am also a man and as such I lust after your body. Those two things make me weak and unable to refuse your request. I will spend the night with you. I leave you this promise though. We will be together, always.”

“Thank you my love,” Leona said as she snuggled tighter against him, “Go back to your unit and come to me tonight. Spend the night with me before you leave.” _______________________________________________________________

” Mom you can’t sit around this house moping!” Harper said, “I know you and Dad are going through a rough spot at the moment, but you’ve done this before and have always worked it out. I’m sure you can work it out this time when he gets back from the job he’s on. Meanwhile you can’t isolate yourself in this house. You need to get out and do something to keep your spirits up!”

As Ella listened to her daughter she knew what Harper said was true. Through their marriage she and her husband had separated twice, but had always been able to work it out and get back together. But this time it had been a rough, almost brutal separation. Aaron, her husband had exploded and said things that hurt her deeply, made her doubt how attractive she was as a woman before he left. He had called later and apologized with a promise that they would sit down and work things out when he returned. She thought she still loved him and knew she wanted to try to work it out, but this argument and separation had hurt her.

Because of that and her doubts, at 44, depressed and unsure of how attractive she was, Ella sequestered herself in the house, going out only to work at her florist job. Except for the people at her work she saw only her daughter and her son on the occasions he visited.

“Halloween is next week. There are numerous parties this weekend. It’s time you got out of this house!” Harper said, “Tomorrow is Saturday. You and I are going out tomorrow evening. There is a haunted house that friends of mine have set up. It’s going to be so much fun! There is a huge party too! The best and I guess scariest part is when we leave, to get out we have to walk through Scarborough Cemetery! And if you’re really brave, you can do it alone! Isn’t that cool!”

Even though she wasn’t planning on going with her daughter, the idea of the haunted house caught Ella’s curiosity.

“How did they manage that? I thought that old cemetery was locked up and off limits?”

“It is supposed to be,” Harper replied, “My friends Noah and Sage bought that huge old mansion that sits next to it over on 166th Street. They are going to fix it up but before they start with the construction, they thought using it for a haunted house would be fun. It’s right next to the cemetery. Noah found an old, unlocked gate in the fence next to the house, hidden behind some Ivy vines. That’s how the guests will get into the cemetery. To get out, Noah found a panel of the iron fence on the other side of the cemetery that was loose. He discovered he could push it open enough to squeeze through. We’re going to have to walk all the way through the place, in the dark with no light except the full moon!”

“I don’t know…” Ella started to say.

“No! Just No! You don’t get to stay in this house and hide! You need to get out and live a little. This party is going to be fun and you are going!”

Ella knew it wouldn’t do any good to try to convince her daughter she didn’t want to go.

Ella thought, ‘Harper is persistent and won’t let it go when she wants something.’

But Ella wanted to make one more try at getting out of going.

“Won’t everyone there be your age? I’m a lot older than your friends. I’ll be out of place. I won’t know how to interact with young people!”

“Mom, you do fine with my friends. I think you’ll fit right in. Just go and try to have fun. Please?”

“Okay, I guess I’ll go,” Ella surrendered with a sigh.

“Mom, you will have fun I promise! You might get scared walking through the cemetery though. Noah said there is a story that a young woman was found dead lying on the grave of her lover who was killed in WWI. Noah thinks she or both of them haunt the cemetery and will be out and about on Halloween!”

Ella smiled and replied,” Daughter, you should know I don’t believe in ghosts! Such stories don’t scare me!”

Harper giggled and replied, “We’ll see when you’re walking through the cemetery in the dark all by yourself just how not scared you are!” _______________________________________

“Hey Luca!” Noah greeted his brother, “Are you going to come over for the party? You helped Sage and I put this together. You should at least come and enjoy it.”

“Yeah, I’ll come over. Crystal won’t be coming with me, she broke up with me,” Luca replied glumly.

“Oh hell dude! You’re 22 years old! You have a lot of life ahead of you! There are a lot of other girls out there! In fact there might be a few at this party!”

“Yeah, okay. Say, what’s this story about some ghost you’ve been telling everyone?”

“Oh, that. The last burial in the cemetery was in 1940, a Leona Stark. She was found dead on her lovers grave. He died in 1918 from wounds received during the Battle of Belleau Wood. Most soldiers killed in WWI were buried over there. But this guy, Edgar Carlton, was wounded and got shipped home. He died of sepsis from his wounds after he got back.

I found Leona’s diary in the library archives. It seems that when she died there was a big investigation because her family was very prominent in the social order at the time. The coroner ruled her death was by natural causes. Her family all swore she died of a broken heart. Because of the notoriety of her case a few years after the investigation everything they had was turned over to the library. In her diary, she wrote that she and Edgar were supposed to spend the night before he left together, but when he checked in with his company before going to meet her, everyone was restricted to the base because the brass didn’t want anyone to go AWOL before shipping out. He shipped out the next day and they never got together.”

Noah shook his head, “After he died, she never got over it. For the next 22 years Leona spent every evening at his grave until one morning the groundskeeper found her dead lying on his grave.”

“Damn! That is creepy!” Luca said.

“Yes, it is. It also makes for a great ghost story! I’ve been telling everyone that since it’s a full moon and almost Halloween. The ghosts of the two will probably be walking the cemetery! It’s going to be fabulous! Everyone leaving has to leave by walking through the cemetery. No flashlights are allowed either.”

“Yeah, I think that is a pretty good end to a Halloween party. Don’t tell me, you put some sound effects out and maybe some moving lights?”

“I won’t tell you that, but they will be seeing and hearing things when they walk through that graveyard!” Noah replied with a grin, “And I won’t tell you the pièce de résistance! I’ve contracted a guy I know who has some holographic projectors. The images look like real ghosts! We did get a warning from one of Sage’s friends. She claims to be part of a Pagan religion. She said we shouldn’t play games with the spirits of the dead or we could suffer consequences. I think she’s a little wacko but Sage makes me be nice to her because she is a friend.”

“You better hope she’s wacko or we’re going to be up to our butt in angry ghosts!” ” Luca said with a laugh, “But it sounds like it’s going to be fun. Okay, I’ll be here!”

“Cool! It starts at 8:00 PM. It will be almost dark by then. Come early and help me and Sage set up, okay?”

“Sure. I don’t have a date, so I’ve got the time,” Luca replied.

---

At 8:00 PM, people started to arrive at the mansion. The evening was perfect for a Halloween party. There was a bit of frost on the ground. The wind was blowing, moving the dry leaves around with a skittering sound. The sky was hazy with a full moon in the sky. Because of the haze, the moon was orange in color. The color of the moonlight caused the shadows to be deep and at times appeared to have movement in them, as if hiding something that did not want to be seen. All in all, a perfect setup for a Halloween party.

Luca had decided that even though his girlfriend had left him, he was going to try to enjoy the evening. Because of the tale Noah had been telling everyone, as a costume, Luca was dressed in the uniform of a WWI soldier. Sage had asked him to greet the guests and direct them through the kitchen, the first leg of the haunted house.

They had hung skeletons from the ceiling and had mechanical ghouls that popped up from behind the serving counter. The counter had several large knives in a pool of fake blood laying on it. A hidden system whispered eerie sounds. Once through the gauntlet of the kitchen, the guests would be directed out onto the back porch. The porch was the length of the house. They had to walk the length of it with only moonlight to light their way. It too was populated by animated witches, ghosts and goblins that popped up, accompanied by appropriate sound effects.

At the other end of the porch they entered the door that took them down into the basement which had been made into a maze with a witch, mummy or dead animated body at every turn. Once they were through that, they climbed a set of stairs and entered the formal ballroom where the party was being held.

Luca greeted each guest and each was in a costume that ranged from the plain (a generic ghost in a white sheet) to the more imaginative (one girl came in a costume from a popular TV show, The Doppler Effect). After greeting them, he would point them in the right direction. He enjoyed listening to them negotiate the horrors. There was screams, laughter and shouted profanities when they were startled by one or the other of the hidden frights as they made their way through the house.

When Harper arrived with her mother Luca greeted Harper with a compliment on her zombie costume. He thought the costume was pretty good. When Harper introduced Luca to her mom, he was very impressed with her costume. Ella was dressed 1930’s style in a dark blue dress with shoulder pads, held in at her waist by a white belt and a large brimmed white hat. She had on seamed nylon stockings and open-toed high heels. She also had on a half mask. As a young man Luca had a crush on several of his friends’ moms, so he instantly thought that Harper’s mom was very attractive.

“Trying to rival our cemetery ghost are you?” Luca commented to Ella.

Ella smiled at the young handsome man and replied, “Perhaps, but I see you’re doing the same with that dough boy costume!”

“Maybe we should leave and walk through the cemetery together to see if we can make them jealous!” Luca shot back.

“Maybe,” Ella replied, a bit flustered at his innocent suggestion and wondered why.

“For now, please go right through there and follow the markings on the floor. I’ll see you and Harper at the party once everyone has arrived.”

As they walked toward the kitchen Harper whispered to her mom, ” He was flirting with you!”

“I know!” Her mom whispered back, “But he’s way too young for me!”

“Loosen up Mom! Flirting doesn’t mean you’re going to drag him off to bed! Just enjoy the party and some harmless flirting! It might improve your mood!”

“Yes daughter!” Ella replied in an exaggerated tone.

At 9:00 PM, Luca closed and locked the door as the last guests arrived. He took a short cut through the library into the ballroom. As he entered the party was in full swing.

Noah had hired a DJ for the evening’s entertainment. The music was mixed, some current tunes mixed with music from the 30’s. When Luca walked into the party, the DJ was playing a swing tune. The dance floor was empty except for a couple that was doing a swing dance.

As Luca walked up to Noah the host said, “Aren’t they good? That’s Frank and Darlene, friends of Sage. She told me they did swing dancing, so we invited them to do a demonstration.”

Luca asked, “What’s the tune the DJ is playing?”

“It’s called “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Benny Goodman. He was a big band leader in the 30s. and 40s”

Luca watched the couple dance for a while, then shook his head and said, “They are great! Look at those moves! How the heck do they manage those?”

“I don’t know,” Noah said with a grin, “I do know if I tried it I’d break something, namely me!”

Luca went to the bar and got a drink, then leaned against a wall watching the crowd. It didn’t appear as though there were many, if any single girls there. Every female seemed to be with a male. His eyes finally landed on Harper’s mom sitting in a corner. He remembered that Ella had arrived with Harper, so both of them were probably at the party as singles. Luca decided to wander over and talk to Ella.

He walked over to the table and said, “Hi. Mind if I join you?”

Ella looked up at the young man and recognized him as the one who had greeted them at the door.

“Please do,” She said with a smile.

“Enjoying the party?” Luca asked.

“Yes, it’s…uh…a good party,” Ella replied noncommittally.

Luca grinned and said, ” Oh come now! I can tell when someone is trying to put on a good face. You’re not having a good time are you?”

Ella looked at the young man and wondered why he was here talking to her rather than being with one of the younger women.

“Why are you sitting here with an old woman rather than out there flirting with one of those young hotties?”

Luca looked startled for a moment, then his expression turned pensive.

“Well, for several reasons. First, almost all of those hotties have boyfriends, even the ones who are here alone. And I don’t know the ones that don’t have a boyfriend.”

“I see. Where is your girl?”

Luca’s face fell as he said, “She found another guy.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bring up such a sensitive subject,” Ella replied.

Luca smiled and replied, “That’s okay. I’m starting to adjust to it.”

“Yes, me too,” Ella said wishfully.

“You’re adjusting to…what?”

“My husband and I are…are having some difficulties,” Ella said, her voice starting to break.

“Geez, I’m sorry! I didn’t know!”

Ella nodded, then said, “Let’s not dwell on that. You said several reasons. You gave me the first. What are the others?”

Luca hesitated, then decided to forge ahead and say what he was thinking, “The second reason is you aren’t an old woman. In fact, I think you’re very attractive. That 1930’s costume makes you look like one of the old movie starlets from the 30s or 40s, you know, like Veronica Lake.”

Having spent lots of time watching TV lately, Ella had seen a couple of movies with Veronica in them and knew what the actress looked like.

“Are you saying I look like her?” Ella asked.

“Well…yes I am,” Luca replied.

“You’re flirting with me! You’re flirting with an old woman!” Ella said, both a bit shocked and a bit pleased.

Hoping he could draw her out of her doldrums, Luca shook his head and said, “I told you, you are far from being “an old woman”. Mature, yes, but that only puts polish on your attractiveness.”

Ella knew he was flirting and assumed that what he said was pretty lies, but her cheeks turned pink anyway from the compliment.

Luca saw it, smiled, “You are very pretty when you blush,” which made her blush deepen.

Ella decided she needed to change the direction of the conversation before her face was bright red.

“That’s two reasons. Are there more? You said several. That means more than two.”

Luca had never been a flirter. He found he was enjoying the back and forth of it. Additionally, Luca had been attracted to some of his friend’s mothers in the past and he now found he was attracted to Ella.

Before he thought about the repercussions, he said, “Number three is because you are a MILF.”

Ella had never hard that term so she asked, “MILF? What does that mean?”

Of a sudden, Luca realized he was caught in a trap of his own making. If he explained what it meant, he would probably offend her. He desperately tried to come up with a logical explanation for the term, but his mind was blank.

Finally, with his face feeling hot, Luca replied, “I am sorry. That isn’t a very nice term. I don’t know what came over me. I should have never used it. I really don’t want to try to explain because it will probably offend you. I really don’t want to do that.”

Ella could see the young man was embarrassed and wondered what the term he had used meant.

She was beginning to enjoy talking to him. She decided she would let him back out gracefully from his embarrassing moment.

“I guess I’ll have to go through life ignorant of the meaning,” She said.

Luca silently heaved a sigh, figuring he had dodged the embarrassment of explaining the term he had used. He noticed Ella’s glass was empty.

“Would you like another drink?”

“Yes please,” Ella responded with a smile,” A Tom Collins.”

Luca took the two glasses and headed through the crowd to the bar. As he left Harper arrived at the table with a male friend.

“Mom, this is Greg. Greg this is my mom.”

Ella looked the young man over and saw he was athletic and handsome. As she realized that another thought hit her, every one of the young men she had seen here looked handsome to her. Were they all, or was it her?

Harper interrupted her thoughts,”Are you enjoying the party?”

“Yes, yes I am. Luca has been keeping me company.”

“Isn’t Crystal here with him?”

“No. Didn’t he tell you? She broke up with him.”

“I didn’t know that! You be careful Mom, he’s on the rebound and might want to play bedtime games with you!”

Ella and her daughter had a close relationship. Ella knew Harper was teasing her, but because of a few errant thoughts that had been surfacing in her brain about the young handsome man, Ella’s cheeks flared pink.

“Mom, he hasn’t come onto you, has he? Hasn’t tried to, you know, get you as they say, in the sack?” Harper asked teasingly.

“Harper Carol Provenzano! You know better than that! Luca has been nothing but a gentleman!”

Harper was taken aback by the vehement way her mother addressed her. She knew she had hit something that her mother was sensitive about.

Harper turned to her companion and said, ” Greg, can you get us a couple of more drinks?”

“Sure,” the young man replied with a sidelong glance at Ella as he walked away.

When he was out of earshot, Harper turned to her mother and said, “I know you Mom. What’s the problem? What are you upset about?”

Ella didn’t want to tell her daughter that while she was talking to Luca an attraction had been building, and the longer she talked with him the stronger it had become. She also knew that if she didn’t tell Harper something, the girl would keep haranguing her until she got an answer.

A solution hit her., “I’m just a little puzzled. Luca used a term for me and then didn’t want to tell me what it meant. He said it would offend me, but I want to know what it means.”

“What term? What was it?” Harper asked.

“He said I was a MILF. Do you know what that means?”

Harper giggled and replied, “Yes, I know what it means. He wasn’t wrong. It probably would have and will offend you.”

“Well? Tell me!”

Harper leaned forward so her lips were close to her mother’s ear and whispered, “What it means, my dear, sweet, innocent Mom, is this, “A mother I’d like to fuck!”

Ella was at first shocked, then offended. After a few moments, to her surprise, those feels were replaced with a question, ‘Did he mean it? Did he mean I am attractive enough he’d really want to do that?’

“So, ” Harper said sitting back and looking at her mother, “are you offended?”

“Yes,” Ella replied, “but..I..I can’t help wondering, was he just being a wise guy or did he mean it?”

“Was he embarrassed after he said it?”

Ella nodded, “Yes, I think he was.”

Harper giggled and decided to needle her mother further, “Mom, I don’t think Lucas is a wise guy. I don’t think he said it to be a smart ass. If he had, he would have told you what it meant. I think he meant what he said. Does that answer your question?”

As Ella realized that what her daughter had just told her was that Luca meant it, she was shocked. It surprised her, but deep down she also felt a warmth. It was the first time in a long while she had felt seen as a woman, the first time in years that she had felt desirable.

“Does it answer your question?” Harper asked a second time.

Ella smiled and replied, “Yes, yes it does. Now you go! Find Greg and have a good time. I’ll be fine here.”

Harper kissed her mom on the cheek and headed toward the bar to find Greg. Ella was still thinking about the conversation with her daughter when Luca arrived with their drinks.

“Sorry,” He said, sitting her drink in front of her, “The bar is very crowded. It took me a while to get these.”

As he sat down, Ella replied, “That’s okay. Harper came by and we talked for a few minutes.”

“Is she having fun?”

“Yes. She was with a guy. Greg, I think his name is.”

Luca didn’t know Greg and didn’t say anything, he just nodded.

“Harper and I had a good conversation,” Ella said, then decided to see Luca’s reaction as she added, “She explained what MILF meant.”

Luca was just taking a sip of his drink. He sputtered and coughed as a trickle went down the wrong pipe.

“I…uh…I..” he stammered.

“I see why you didn’t want to explain the definition of the term to me,” Ella said with a giggle, “you were correct, it would have offended me. ”

“I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Will you accept my apology and know I will never say anything like that again?!”

Ella could see he was contrite, but wondered if her daughters assessment of why he said it was true. She wanted to find out. She told herself that it wasn’t because she wanted to take him up on it, but only wanted to know the character of the young man.

“Were you just being a smart ass?”

“No I…I…I’m not sure why I said it.”

“There are only two reasons to say something like that. Either you were being a smart ass, which you deny, or you meant it. Did you mean it?”

Luca’s face flushed as he stammered, “I…uh…no of course not!”

Ella could tell he was embarrassed, and she assumed it was because he had meant it. She also decided she had tortured the young man enough.

She put her hand on his and said, “Please don’t be angry or embarrassed. I do have a wicked sense of humor. Had you said it to be a smart ass, I’d have laughed. If you said it was because it was true, I’d be flattered. I wouldn’t take you up on the offer, but I would be flattered you considered me that way. It’s been a long time since I had a man think of me in those terms. Either way, it’s okay.”

Luca looked at her, saw the smile on her face and knew she was telling him the truth.

“Thank you. I will try to be more of a gentleman from here on.”

“Oh my dear Luca, I don’t know how you could be any more of a gentleman than you have been!”

“Are you…flirting with me now?” He asked.

“Maybe!” she replied with a smile and a squeeze of her hand on his arm.

Right then, a slow dance song started.

“Would you like to dance?” He asked.

“Yes. yes I would.”

When they got to the dance floor Luca didn’t hold her at arms length, but pulled her close. And Ella didn’t resist. She snuggled in against him. As they danced Ella began to feel his heart beat. it sent a warm flash through her that startled her. By the time the dance ended, Ella was feeling that warmth inside her spread through her body. She couldn’t define why. They returned to the table and talked and sipped their drinks. They danced several more dances, each time they did Ella found that warmth inside her grow a bit. And she couldn’t seem to stop flirting with the young, handsome man.

As midnight approached, Ella began to feel a need to go home. The closer midnight got the more anxious she got. At 15 minutes to 12 she said, “I have to go home! I can’t stay any longer!”

“I will escort you home,” Luca replied.

“You don’t have to do that,” Ella replied.

“At a minimum, I need to escort you through the cemetery. I don’t want those ghosts getting you!”

Ella smiled and replied, “I don’t believe in ghosts!”

Luca grinned and came back, “Neither do I, but it will give me a few more minutes in your company!”

Ella’s smile widened, “Really, more flirting?”

“You didn’t stop. I didn’t think I needed to either.”

Ella’s smile widened even more as she said, “Than Mr. Luca I will accept your offer to escort me through the cemetery!”

“Do you want to find Harper and tell her you’re leaving?”

“Yes. I think I saw her at a table over there,” Ella pointed in the direction of the bar.

They finished their drinks and made their way over to Harper.

“I’m going home,” Ella told her daughter.

“Okay, I’ll finish my drink and go with you. You shouldn’t walk through the cemetery alone,” Harper replied.

“Luca has kindly offered to escort me to the other side. I’ve already ordered an Uber that will meet me there.”

“Okay, I guess you will be safe since you’re with Luca. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Harper replied, kissing her mom on the cheek.

Luca knew the way and led Ella out to the iron gate that was the entrance to the cemetery. As he opened it the hinges creaked and groaned. Both he and Ella laughed nervously at the sound. They began their walk and Luca found it odd they couldn’t hear any traffic sounds from the surrounding streets. All they could hear was the rustle of leaves as they were pushed along the ground by the cold breeze that blew through the headstones. When they passed a tree that was close to the edge of the path, an owl began to hoot in the branches and tiny lights glimmered from the trees around it. Luca heard Ella gasp at the sound and display.

He grinned, “I don’t want to spoil the experience, but Noah put motion-activated lights and sound effects in the trees.”

“Oh…oh…I see,” Ella replied.

They walked slowly along the path, the only illumination was the light from the huge orange moon. They reached a turn in the path and as they negotiated it, both saw two translucent figures in the distance, one on each side of the path. The one on Luca’s side of the path appeared to be a man in a uniform. The one on Ella’s side looked like an older woman dressed in 30’s attire.

“Luca, I…I don’t believe in ghosts but those look like ghosts!”

Luca chuckled and replied, “Don’t worry, those aren’t ghosts. Those are holographic projections. Noah had them set up. Pretty convincing aren’t they?”

Even though Ella didn’t believe in ghosts, she found the situation to be creepy and took hold of Luca’s arm and pressed herself tightly to it. As she did Luca found her breast pressed tightly against his arm. Being young it instantly ignited his libido. He felt himself beginning to grow hard.

As they drew close to the holograms, Ella pressed herself ever more tightly to his arm. When they were between the two figures, they felt a cold breeze, then a moan sounded from both sides as both figures began to move toward them.

Ella gasped and pulled herself even tighter to Luca. As the ghostly figures floated closer Ella could see the female was an older woman dressed in clothes much like hers. The male appeared young, in his twenties perhaps and dressed in a WWI uniform. Even though she didn’t believe in ghosts, Ella found her heart racing. She could feel the blood pounding in her face.

The cold breeze they had felt increased as the figures grew closer. When the figures floated close enough, each one stretched out a hand, the female toward Ella and the male toward Luca. As the ghostly hand appeared to touch them, a chill ran through them both, then the spectral figures vanished.

“Damn!” Luca huffed, “That was really creepy! They timed that perfectly! And that cold breeze just added to it! I’ve never seen a hologram move like that! I’ll have to call Noah tomorrow, congratulate him on how effective it was and find out how they did that!”

“Please! Let’s get out of here!” Ella gasped, fear plain in her voice.

Luca could tell she was afraid. He pulled his arm from her grasp and circled her with it, pulling her tightly against his side. They walked the rest of the way to the exit with him holding her. When they stepped through the gap in the fence onto the sidewalk, Ella felt a warm flush run through her. She assumed it was relief at being ut of the cemetery.

Ella checked the Uber app on her phone and saw that she had scheduled it to be there at 12:15 AM. She looked at the time and realized that it was 5 minutes after midnight and they were early.

“I’m afraid we have a few minutes to wait. I ordered the ride for 12:15,” Ella told her companion.

“That’s okay. I don’t mind,” Luca replied with a smile.

As they stood waiting, Ella’s thoughts were on the evening and the conversations she had with Luca. The MILF term popped back into her thoughts. As she mulled it, she decided she really wanted to know what Luca had meant by it.

She took his arm as she looked up at him and said, “Luca there is something that has been bothering me. I’m going to ask you a question. Will you promise to give me a truthful answer?”

“Of course I will,” Luca replied with a smile.

“When you told me I was a MILF, was it a joke or did you mean it?”

“Ella, I, uh, I don’t want to make you, uh, angry with me. We’ve had a good time. I’ve enjoyed being with you at the party. I don’t want to spoil that.”

Ella smiled and said, “Luca I won’t be angry or disgusted at what you tell me. If I’ve learned one thing tonight it’s that you are a gentleman. So please, tell me, were you joking or did you mean it?”

Luca stared out into the night, then without looking at her replied, “I should never have said that. It was ill-mannered of me, but it wasn’t a joke. I find you very attractive. I have always been drawn to older women.”

Ella smiled and said, “Thank you. I am flattered. It has been a very long time since I’ve felt desirable. I don’t want you feeling bad about it. By the way, how are you getting home?”

“I’ll order an Uber when you’re on your way.” He replied, relieved that she had so quickly let his slip-up go.

“There is no sense in ordering two rides. I think you should ride with me. What’s your address?”

“But if you add a stop to your order, you’ll have to pay! I should be the one who pays!”

“It won’t be that much! Besides, I’ve already got the order in, so tell me your address.”

After a few minutes of arguing, Luca finally told her his address. As they waited, they chatted about the party, the weather and the ghosts in the cemetery.

“Yes, Noah did a fabulous job of setting that up! I don’t believe in ghosts, but that had me on the verge of believing!” Ella said.

“Yeah, he gets a kudo from me on that one!” Luca responded with a grin.

Casually, Ella asked, “Do you live with roommates?”

Luca chuckled and replied, “No. I live alone in a tiny studio apartment.”

The Uber pulled up and they climbed in. It was a 10-minute ride to Luca’s apartment. They didn’t say much during the trip. When they arrived, Luca climbed out and turned to say goodbye to Ella and found her standing next to him. He stood looking puzzled as she closed the door and the Uber pulled away.

“Wha…?” He began only to be stopped by Ella’s fingers on his lips.

“We are together,” she said simply.

As she spoke, Luca felt a hot desire for her well up in him. Without a word he took her hand and led her to his apartment.

When they entered, he tentatively pulled her to him and leaned in to kiss her. She responded in kind. When their lips met, it was like a spark to gasoline. Luca could feel more than hear her moaning into his mouth as his tongue slipped between her lips. As he kissed her, he began to unbutton his uniform. As he did, with shaking hands Ella began to unfasten and unzip her dress.

They pulled away from the kiss and, not looking at each other, quickly got undressed. When they were down to their underwear, Luca pulled her to him and put his mouth back to her’s, filled his hands with her buttocks and fell onto the bed.

They kissed as Luca got her bra unfastened and began to pull it off her arms. Ella shrugged out of it as Luca pulled it away. He tossed it onto the floor and began to pull her panties down her legs. Ella moved her legs up, assisting as best she could. When he had them off, he tossed them to the floor and quickly pulled his briefs down and off. They followed Ell’s bra and panties onto the floor. He felt her hand on his arm, pulling at him, urging him between her legs.

“Get inside me! Please! I need you inside me!”

With a shaking hand, Luca reached down and positioned his shaft against her opening.

As he pushed forward he heard her moan, “Yes! Yes! Yes! I have waited so long!”

The full length of his shaft slid into her as his testicles nestled against her cleft.

Ella moaned, “Take me! Take me! Take me!”

Luca began a slow firm motion, out until just his glans were left inside her, then in until his testicles were again snuggled to her cleft.

Soon this erotic intimate dance increased in pace until Ella cried out as the most intense climax of her life to that point gripped her, “Yes! Yes!”

When her climax exploded, Luca was also gripped by the most intense climax of his life. He pushed full length into her and held his shaft buried inside her as it throbbed, spilling his seed into her.

When it began to ebb, Luca started to pull out only to have Ella clutch at him and breath, “No! Please stay! Please!”

Luca pushed back into her and lay buried inside her, his body tight against hers.

They lay still locked together until Ella finally whispered, “That was…that was…fabulous!”

“Yes, it was!” Luca replied in a satisfied voice.

Moments later, Ella’s arms relaxed and Luca slid out of her and lay next to her on the bed.

Luca stared at her for a moment, then a slow smile filled his face as he said, “Shall we…again?”

Ella smiled and slid downward.

She wrapped her hand around his still hard rod and just before she slid her mouth over it said, “I will make you happy.”

Through the night into the early morning hours, they engaged in sex in all the different ways they knew, rested, then did it again. There seemed to be an erotic force driving them. They both had multiple orgasms, each one as intense as the first one. At 5:30 AM Ella was astride Luca mounted on his hard shaft, moaning as another huge orgasm filled her. Luca pushed his hips up, pushing as deeply as he could into her as his shaft throbbed with his orgasm. As both climaxes faded, Ella slid off and laid next to Luca. Both were exhausted and completely sated. As suddenly as it had started the fire went out.

With a sob Ella jumped up and began frantically pulling her cloths on as she said, “I have to go! I have to get home! Harper might be looking for me! She can’t find out what we did! I shouldn’t have! We shouldn’t have! I cheated on my husband!”

Luca was startled at how quickly Ella had changed from passion to panicked guilt.

“It’s okay.” He said, trying to calm her, “I would never tell anyone what we did. It was fabulous! It was a dream come true for me. Thank you.”

Ella stopped and stared at him for a long moment, then said in a shaky voice, “I feel so guilty! So dirty! But I also feel so satisfied and warm, how can both be at once? How?”

She pulled her shoes on and said, “I have to go!”

She dashed for the door.

When the door slammed behind her Luca sat staring at it and whispered after her, “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry Ella. I’m sorry.”

Ella called an Uber. As she rode home she stared out the window at the faint gray light of early morning creeping in over the city. Her mind was in turmoil. She had spent the night having sex with a man half her age. Why? Why had she allowed herself to do it? Did Luca seduce her? As she went back over events, she couldn’t see anything he did that could be called seduction. He had been a gentleman at every turn. So why had she done it?

The thing that confused it even further was the fact that it had been so good. She had never had so many orgasms. Each one had been better than any she had ever had before. The way they had sex, she had done before with her husband, but it wasn’t close to the same result. Was it the newness of it with Luca? Deep down, she suspected that wasn’t it either.

All night Ella had felt like someone was watching her. She had ignored the feeling because she was so consumed by the sex. Now she wondered where that had come from. When she thought about it she still felt it, albeit much less pronounced. Was it her conscience reminding her she had cheated?

Sh felt the car stop and realized she was home. She stepped through the door of her home and remembered she hadn’t checked her phone for calls or messages. Worried that Harper or her son or husband might have called while she was at Luca’s apartment, she quickly opened her phone to find no new calls or messages. With a sigh of relief, she closed the phone and headed to her bathroom.

In the shower she began to soap herself. She thought she might be sore from the extended sex, but when she touched herself, the only thing that happened was flashes of memories: how it felt when Luca had slid into her, when he had touched her with his tongue, when she had taken him into her mouth. As those thoughts filled her, she began to absently rub her clit. Before long another orgasm was building inside her. Soon it blossomed, filling her, hot and sexual.

After, she stood braced against the shower wall, trembling she thought, ‘My god, what has happened to me? What have I done?’

She got out of the shower, toweled herself dry and put on a nighty, climbed into her bed, and lay still, all the chaotic thoughts caused by the events of the night filling her head. Somewhere between a thought of ‘What am I going to do?’ and the unrealized next one, sleep took her. Ella woke close to noon the next day to the buzz of her phone. When she picked it up, she saw it was Harper calling.

“Hello.”

“Hi Mom. I wanted to call and see if you had fun and to make sure you got home alright,” Harper said.

Because of what happened Ella felt a stab of guilt as she answered, “Yes, I did. Why shouldn’t I have?”

Harper was close with her mother and could usually tell when she was upset. And she got the sense that her mother was very upset.

“Mom, are you okay? Did something happen? Did Luca say or do something that upset you?”

Memories of the night before flooded Ella, the unbridled hours of sex with Luca, the feel of his naked body against hers, the feel of him entering her, filling her, her overpowering desire for him, the climaxes she had experienced. Because of those memories, she felt that stab of guilt intensify to a soul-crushing ache.

She didn’t realize she hadn’t answered Harper until her daughter said, “Mom, are you okay? Did something happen?”

Ella took a breath to calm herself and try to keep her voice steady as she replied, “No, nothing out of the ordinary happened. The Uber driver was an ass though. He threatened to stop and make us get out because Luca asked him to slow down. He was doing 50 on 120th for goodness sake!”

“You need to complain to the company! That is not professional behavior!” Harper replied, accepting her mother’s explanation.

“I did last night after I got home,” Ella told her, hating the lie she told her daughter.

“Good. Now, did you enjoy the party? And how was the walk through the cemetery?”

“The party was fun,” Ella replied, “and the walk through the cemetery was spooky. The holograms that your friend had there were very spooky!”

“Holograms? Greg walked me through the cemetery. We didn’t see any holograms. Where did you see them?”

“A short way from the exit. There was one of a young man in uniform on one side of the path and an older woman in 1930’s clothes on the other side. You didn’t see them?”

“No. We saw some lights in the trees and there were some spooky sounds, but that was all.”

“Well, they were there when Luca and I walked through. I wonder if they quit working?”

“Maybe. We didn’t see them. I’ll check with Noah and see if he knows if they were out. I have to go. Oh, when is Dad supposed to be coming home?”

At the mention of her husband, another huge pang of guilt coursed through Ella.

Trying to keep her voice steady she replied, “Next Friday.”

“You are going to try to talk to him and work out your problems, aren’t you?” Harper asked.

Again, trying to keep her voice steady Ella replied, “Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow, or come see you. Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too,” Ella replied as she hung up.

Ella decided she needed another shower. As the hot water ran down over her body, she found her hand sliding down to her nethers. As her finger touched her clit she moaned and memories of the night before filled her head. Even after all the sex with Luca and the guilt she felt about it, it only took her a few minutes to climax. Afterward, she thought that it wasn’t close to being as intense as the ones the night before.

That afternoon, she sat in her window alcove staring out, trying to understand why what happened, happened. She couldn’t understand why she had sex with Luca. He was a handsome young man, that was true. He was also a gentleman and had made her feel good about herself. And she did like the flirting at the party, but at the time she had felt it was just that and nothing more. She couldn’t understand what had driven her to have sex with him. Over their entire marriage, she had never cheated on her husband.

Every time her mind began to remember how good it had been with Luca, how intense her orgasms had been, how absolutely fantastic it had felt when he touched her, licked her, slid into her, she would reject those memories, frantically pushing them away as quickly as they appeared.

When the afternoon transitioned into evening, as the light of day disappeared and the moon climbed into the sky, Ella found that her mind was less and less filled with thoughts of why, and more and more filled with thoughts of Luca. When she thought of him, she felt that powerful desire that had led her to his bed the night before, begin to build inside her.

As Ella sat at the window watching the moon slide up into the sky, Harper called.

“Hi Mom, I’m going out to another party. Would you like to come along?”

“No thank you. The one last night was fun, but I think I’ve reached my limit.”

“Okay. I won’t force you to go to another, for a while anyway. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Have fun. Be safe.”

Just before she hung up, Harper said, “Oh, by the way, I talked to Noah about the holograms. He said there were holograms there, but the guy was supposed to put them next to the tree at the bend in the path, not where you saw them. I wonder if someone moved them?”

Harper giggled as she added, “Maybe it wasn’t holograms but the ghosts of the long-lost lovers!” At the mention of the images she had seen, Ella felt an overpowering surge of desire.

“Uh, yes, maybe. You go and have fun. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye, honey.”

“Okay. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Ella decided to go back to bed and see if she could get more sleep. She snuggled down under the covers and within moments was sound asleep. At midnight her eyes flew open as that hot desire for Luca woke her. She jumped out of bed and quickly dressed. She pulled up the app for Uber and five minutes later was standing on the sidewalk as the car pulled up.

She got in and as it pulled away, the thought of, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Entered her mind.

Immediately, that thought was smothered by images and memories of the night before, accompanied by another wave of desire. As those memories played through her mind, she lost track of time. Before she was aware of it the car stopped at her destination. She got out, entered the building, and climbed the stairs to the third floor. When she knocked and the door opened, Luca stood smiling at her.

He took her hand and pulled her inside and into his arms. He kissed her, a hot passion-filled kiss. She responded in kind. When they broke the kiss, without a word, she began to unbutton his shirt as he worked at her blouse. It took them no more than a minute or two before all their clothes lay on the floor.

“Take me!” She moaned, “Take me now! Make me yours…again!”

Luca cupped her ass in his hands, picked her up and carried her to his bed. As it was the night before, their passion was so high, the only thing both wanted was to couple.

As Luca slid between her legs, she reached down, took hold of his hard shaft, guiding it to her entrance.

She felt the crown of his shaft nestle between her labia as she circled his neck with her arms in a fierce hug moaning, “Take me! Take me! Take me!”

He pushed, sliding full length into her.

She gasped, then cried out, “Oh my god…YES!”

Over the next three hours they had continuous sex, each of them climaxing multiple times. The number and intensity of those for Ella were twice that of those for Luca. As her last orgasm crested, then faded, Luca rolled off and lay next to her. Both of them were instantly asleep.

Luca woke with the monochrome gray light of dawn creeping in the window. He was spooned against Ella and as he woke, he became aware of her soft sobs.

Luca rolled up on his elbow, put a hand on her shoulder and said, “Hey now, what’s the problem?”

“I…I…cheated…on…my husband…AGAIN!” Ella got out between sobs.

“But, you wanted to do this, didn’t you?” He asked.

“Yes! No! I don’t know! Last night, like the night before, I couldn’t think of or want anything else! I wanted it with every fiber of my being! But yesterday and…and this morning I felt…feel dirty and cheap!” Ella sobbed.

Luca was taken aback, startled by the sorrow and despair he could hear in her voice. Luca was puzzled and confused. The first time it appeared she had come to his bed willingly, then afterward had left like she was ashamed of what they had done. This time she had arrived on her own and had demanded he take her. Now she was crying in despair. Even with his confusion, he felt the best thing he could do was try to make her feel better and not so guilty about what they had done, or at least understand why she was so upset.

“But both times you came with me and got into my bed willingly.”

“Yes, I did, but I don’t know why! It was like I had no control over it. The desire to be with you was too powerful, too intense to fight! But I cheated on my husband! I’ve never, ever done that before! I don’t know what made me do it!”

“Wasn’t it good when we did? I thought it was fabulous! I was so excited when you chose to come to bed with me. It was so good! Wasn’t it for you? Did I do it wrong? I thought you enjoyed it?”

“That’s…that’s part of the problem,” Ella replied, “I did like it, a lot. It was…,” she hesitated, wondering if she should tell him the truth, then blurted,” The best I’ve ever had. I’ve never had sex like that. I…uh…climaxed more times and more intensely than I ever have! It was fabulous and I loved it when we were doing it, but this morning I realized I had cheated and that made me feel dirty and cheap!”

Luca stopped and thought about it. As he did, he realized that the overpowering desire he had felt had also driven him. He hadn’t felt guilty about it because he thought it was something they both wanted. Now that he was seeing how much it was torturing Ella, he was beginning to wonder why he had felt such an overpowering desire for her. He pulled her to him and held her, stroking her hair as she sobbed.

“Ella, I am so sorry. I thought you wanted to do this. I thought we both did. I was so excited and honored you would choose to have sex with me that I never questioned the motivations. But what was, was. We need to find a way to get past it. I think you should go home and try to make peace with what we did. Try to forget it happened, or at least try to bury it and tell yourself it’s done and there is nothing you can do about it. For my part, I’ll never bother you or try to contact you again. Maybe if you stay away from each other, maybe it will pass and you can get on with your life.”

Luca got up and held out his hand, “Come on. Get dressed. Go home, and we will never speak of this or tell anyone about it.”

Ella looked a his outstretched hand and knew he was right. She took it and let him pull her out of the bed. They both quickly got dressed.

She was about to leave when Luca said, “I am sorry this hurt you, sorry you are upset about it. I am upset it is hurting you, but not that it happened. I don’t want to sound coarse and unfeeling, but I enjoyed every minute with you. I wish you had enjoyed it too.”

“Luca,” Ella replied as she opened the door, “That’s the problem, I did enjoy it, all of it, more than any other time I’ve…uh…done things like that. But I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have enjoyed it. I cheated on my husband! I’ve never done that! I don’t know why I did this time! That just isn’t me! I can’t ever do this again! I can’t!”

“Goodbye Ella,” Luca called to her as she closed the door.

Luca sat staring after her trying to understand what had happened. Was she telling him the truth? Luca’s thoughts again circled back to the fact that he too had felt driven to have sex with her. In the beginning that had been masked by his own desire for her, but he couldn’t deny that had he wanted to stop or turn her down, he probably couldn’t have.

Luca got up, showered, and got dressed. He decided he needed to go talk to Noah and Sage. When he got to their apartment Sage answered the door.

“Hey Luca, what’s up?”

“Is Noah home?”

“No, he had to take some paperwork to his boss. Can I help?”

“Well…uh…do you know if those holograms he had set up in the graveyard were working the other night?”

“Yes, they were, but the guy was late doing it. He didn’t get it done until around 1:00 AM! Noah was very angry about that. We paid him very well to have them on and working before anyone left!”

Luca felt a chill as he asked, “So when I walked Ella out through the cemetery at midnight they weren’t there? Weren’t working?”

“Not according to the guy who supplied them. Why?”

“We saw some figures we thought were those holograms.”

“Are you saying you saw some real ghosts?” Sage asked, puzzled.

Luca didn’t want to tell her he suspected they might have, it would lead to a lot of other questions, and he might let slip what had happened between him and Ella.

“I’d never claim that! I think it must have been a couple of kids playing jokes on us! But Noah said you had a friend say you shouldn’t do that in the graveyard or it might anger the spirits. Do you think she might have done something like that? You know, try to make us think it was a ghost?”

“You mean Gabriel? Yes, she did mention that we might stir up the spirits, but I don’t think she would do anything like that.”

“Harper’s mom was pretty upset. I’d really like to find out who tried to scare us. Can you give me Gabriel’s number so I can ask her?”

“Sure, give me your phone.”

Sage took Luca’s phone and entered the number.

As she handed it back she said, “Tell her you’re a friend of mine. She’s a little eccentric, so don’t be surprised when you talk to her.”

“Okay. Thanks. I have to get going. Tell Noah hi for me.”

When Luca got to the street he dialed Gabriel’s number.

“Gabriel? Hi. My name is Luca. I’m a friend of Sage.”

“Hello. What can I do for you?”

“I was at their party Friday night and I escorted a friend,s mom out through the cemetery,” Luca began, only to be cut off by Gabriel, “and you saw a spirit.”

“I…maybe,” Luca finished.

Gabriel chuckled as she said, “I don’t think it was a “maybe”. You saw one and you want to know if it was real.”

“Well, yes. But there is more. Things have happened since then. Things nither I nor my friend’s mom can explain. Things that we…uh…we didn’t really want to happen.”

There was a long pause. Luca was about to ask if she was still on the line when Gabriel said, “You should go see my aunt. You need to talk to her.”

Gabriel gave him the address of her aunt’s shop and without another word hung up. It took Luca half an hour to make his way across town and find the address. It was on a side street close to the waterfront. He stood in front of the old wooden door of the shop and read the ornate sign done in old English script above it, “Bell, Book and Candle”. Under that, in smaller letters was “Used Books”.

As he entered, a bell tinkled above the door frame. Luca looked around and discovered it indeed was a second-hand book shop. Shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling and were crammed with books. The floor between had bins and more shelves, all stuffed with books. Luca could see a counter in the back. As he made his way toward it, an older woman with dark hair streaked with gray stepped out through a bead curtain-covered doorway behind it.

As he approached the counter, the woman asked,” May I help you?”

Luca nodded.

As he did the woman’s eyes narrowed and she whispered, “You are not alone.”

Instinctively, Luca looked over his shoulder to see if someone was behind him, then looked back at her, puzzled.

She stared at him and said, “My name is Taleen. Please, come with me.”

She stepped from behind the counter and walked over to a second doorway between two bookshelves. She opened it and motioned him through. He was beginning to feel uneasy as he entered and found himself in a room full of oddities. There was a shelf of old, green glass, wide mouthed bottles with cork stoppers. They were all full but he couldn’t tell with what because the print on the labels was so small.

There was a crystal ball and a silver bucket full of pieces of what looked like dried, shriveled…something sitting on a table. There were silver bells of various sizes sitting on another carved table that was black with age.

Taleen motioned to a chair on one side of a small felt-covered table and said, “Come, sit.”

Luca slid into the chair as Taleen sat down on the opposite side.

“Tell me,” She demanded shortly.

Luca was startled but her abruptness. He started slowly, but soon had relayed the whole series of events. He was too embarrassed to tell her that he and Ella had sex, so glossed over it by describing it as “events that shouldn’t have happened”.

When he finished, she stared hard at him for several seconds.

When he was about to speak she said, “You escorted your friend’s mother through the cemetery. You saw some figures. They touched you, and things have been happening that you wouldn’t normally do. Is that the essence of it?”

Luca nodded.

Again, a cool smile creased her face as she said matter-of-factly, “You both have been possessed by a spirit.”

Luca’s eyes widened as he said, “What? No! I don’t believe in spirits or ghosts!”

“Do you have another explanation for what happened?” She asked calmly.

“I…it…uh…no I don’t. But it can’t be a spirit!”

“Yes it can, and is. First, you must tell me the entire story of how it came to be, all of it. Do not leave anything out! If I am to help you, which I am willing to do, I need to know all of it. If you do not want my help, so be it. You may leave. But be warned, if you leave, you may never be able to rid yourself of these spirits.”

Luca thought about it for a moment, then decided even though he didn’t believe in spirits and ghosts, he had no other explanation for what happened.

“Okay. I’ll tell you, but it has to remain confidential. What I am about to tell you could destroy Ella’s…uh…my friend’s mom’s life.”

“It shall be. Now tell me.”

Luca started his narrative when he had met Ella as she arrived at the party. He tried his best not to leave out anything, even the smallest detail. Half an hour later he ended it with a description of how Ella had left his apartment that morning.

When he finished Taleen, nodded as she said, “And you have felt nothing that would be considered as strange? No feeling of being watched? Of someone close when no one is? Did you feel as if you were being controlled when you and Ella engaged in the sex?”

Luca thought about it as he replied, “Maybe. Yeah, I think I might have felt like I was being watched and maybe…maybe that I was being pushed to have sex with her. But…well damn it I was really attracted to her! So I thought it was just me!”

Taleen nodded as she took his hand in both of hers, “You still do not believe. I must show you. Close your eyes.”

Luca closed his eyes. A moment later, he heard her begin to hum and then to speak in a language he didn’t recognize.

He began to feel light-headed, then like a flash, he clearly heard a male voice in his head, ‘You are my vessel to use so I may be with my love. You will do as I direct. You will be as I want. You are my vessel.”

Luca jumped to his feet, his chair crashing backward onto the floor.

“What the hell!!!!” He yelled.

“Calm, calm, be calm.” Taleen said, “Sit. We need to form a plan.”

Luca’s heart was thundering as he took a deep breath, picked up his chair and sat down.

“I must know who this spirit is to know what it wants. Do you have any idea who it might be?”

Luca was sure who it was. He told Taleen everything he knew about the story of the soldier who had died and his lover who had pined away and died of heartbreak on his grave.

When he was finished, Taleen nodded, “I sense a very powerful bond between this spirit that possesses you and another. Because of that bond, I can not banish one without the other. Since they entered and bonded with you and this Ella, it will be impossible to force only one to the other side. The bond between them is so powerful it cannot be done easily. To be effective, it must be done at midnight of All Hallows Eve at the location where they possessed you.”

“You mean Halloween night? At the cemetery? I don’t know about that. I’m beginning to think this is a bunch of bunk.”

“You heard the spirit possessing you speak to you.”

“That could have been a trick!” Luca replied.

“We have two nights before All Hallows Eve. You will be with your friend’s mother again tonight and tomorrow night. There is no way to stop it. It will happen. The bond between the two spirits possessing you and her is very strong. I do not know of a charm that will stop it. However, if you believe what I say to be “bunk” as you put it, stop it so that your friend’s mother will not be used and hurt. If you can stop it, the two spirits will leave both of you and return to the place they haunted when they joined with you. However, if you can’t stop it, perhaps you will understand what I say is true.”

Taleen paused, then added, “If you do not exorcize these spirits on this All Hallows Eve you will not be able to try again until next year. By then it may be too late, for as they possess you, they grow stronger and you may not be able to force them out. Now, go. Come back tomorrow if you wish to be rid of them. I will work on assembling the ceremony and the charms to accomplish that task.”

Luca stared at her, then began to say, “I….” but was cut off by her adamant, “GO!”

Luca got up and left the shop. As he stood on the sidewalk, her words echoed through his mind, ‘You will be with your friend’s mother again tonight and tomorrow night. There is no way to stop it. It will happen.’

The memory of what they had done filled his mind and he remembered how good, how intense it had been. He was embarrassed when it hit him that he did want it to happen again. That was smothered quickly with the memory of how hurt and upset Ella had been each morning after. For her sake, he knew he had to find a way to make sure it didn’t happen again.

He had to let Ella know what he had discovered, but he didn’t have her number. He began to scan through the contacts on his phone, trying to think of where he could get it. As he did he saw a name and stopped, shocked. The contact name was “Ella”. How had that gotten into his phone? He didn’t remember doing it or her doing it. So where did it come from? After racking his brain, he couldn’t come up with an answer.

“I’ll worry about that later,” he growled to himself as he punched the call button.

It rang, and a moment later Ella answered.

“Ella? It’s me, Luca.”

“You shouldn’t be calling me!” She said her voice filled with tears and fright.

“Don’t hang up! Please! We need to talk! Just for a minute! It’s important! I know why it happened!”

There was a long silence, then Luca said, “Ella? Are you still there?”

“Yes,” came the soft reply.

Luca quickly went through what Taleen had told him about the possession.

“She said…she said we are possessed?” Ella asked.

“Yes. She also said we can rid ourselves of the possession on Halloween night at the cemetery with her help.”

“How?”

“I didn’t really understand it, but she said something about a ceremony and charms. An exorcism I think.”

“I’m not sure I believe in all that,” Ella replied.

“Me either. But we need to consider it. If you think about it, that would explain what happened. There is a way to prove it.”

“How?”

“Well….uh…she told me…she told me we were going to be together again tonight and there was nothing we could do to stop it. If we can stop it, if we don’t, you know get together, then it will prove it’s all bunk.”

“Yes, yes, that would prove it wouldn’t it?” Ella replied, hope in her voice.

“Yes it would. So I am going to stay in my apartment, and you stay in your home. Do not go out for any reason. I won’t either. I will call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yes, okay. Call me tomorrow,”

When Luca hung up, he felt both hopeful about breaking whatever had made them do what they had, but under that was a strange hollow sadness, like he had lost something important.

Luca stopped on his way home and bought a six-pack of beer and a microwave meal. It was mid-afternoon and he knew it would be dark in a few hours. He wanted to be home and locked in his apartment before it got dark.

The sun’s last rays were dimming as Luca stood staring out his window. He was confident he and Ella could break whatever spell had held them. But he was also sad because he remembered the feel of her soft skin, the taste of her, the sound of her moans as they joined. He knew that was something he would miss, terribly. He sighed, turned on his TV, popped the top on a beer and took a bite of his supper.

Across town Ella had made her own preparations. Her window shades were drawn, the doors were locked and she sat in her bed, a laptop open in front of her. She had been mentally preparing for this since talking to Luca. Repeating over and over, ‘I will not go to him! I will not go to him!’

As the hours clicked by, both Ella and Luca found that they were only feeling a slight urge to go the other. As it approached midnight, Luca was ready to go to bed and try to sleep, confident they had beaten whatever had come over them.

As he walked toward his bedroom, the clock hands aligned at 12 midnight. Like a lightning bolt, the overpowering desire to be with Ella seized him. He had a split second to resist before it filled him, and he found himself walking toward the door. He stopped with his hand on the knob, waiting. A few seconds later, a feeling rather than a thought filled him. He knew she would come to him. He turned, walked back and sat on a chair at his table.

Twenty minutes later a knock sounded on his door. When he opened it, Ella threw herself against him. He pulled her tight, closed and locked the door and carried her to his bed. Quickly they undressed each other, then fell onto the bed. Ella spread her legs for him as Luca guided his hard rod to her entrance. As he entered her the same euphoric feeling that had filled them before did again.

Their frantic, feverish coupling caused their first climax to build quickly. As it peaked, as they both came, they moaned and their bodies trembled with the intensity. They lay still for a few moments, then Luca, without withdrawing, rolled until Ella was sitting astride of him. As Ella began to move her hips, both of them could feel the second climax of the many they would have that night begin to build.

Through the early morning hours they coupled again and again, until they were both sated and exhausted. They fell asleep in each other’s arms. The first sun rays of the new day touched Luca’s face as he slept. He grunted and opened his eyes, squinting at the sunlight that had awakened him. He realized that he was spooned against Ella, with his arm over her.

The events of the night before filled his head, and he stifled a groan of despair as the thought, ‘We couldn’t stop it!’ filled his mind.

He lay still, not wanting to wake Ella yet as he thought of what Taleen had told him. As he lay there, he felt her body tremble slightly, then heard the sound of a soft, muffled sob and knew she was awake.

“I am so sorry Ellla,” He whispered, “We tried, but it appears Taleen was right, we can’t stop it.”

“No, no we…couldn’t. I know you tried. I did too!”

“The only thing we can do is go see her and do whatever it is she wants us to break out of this thing.”

Ella rolled to face him as she pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts, “Yes. I’m ready to do whatever she needs us to do. We need to get it done! I do not want my husband or my children knowing I cheated!”

“Ella, the thing is, you didn’t. Cheating means you did it willingly. You were forced into this against your will. It’s more like a rape than anything. Not from me, but the spirits that forced you into it. Those spirits used you and me against our will for their own ends. Neither one of us did it voluntarily. Well, to be totally honest the first couple of times had I known it was against your will, I wouldn’t have been so happy about it.”

Although he had said it before to her, this time Ella heard what he said.

“You were happy about having sex with me?”

Luca looked at her quizzically as he said, “I told you before, you are a very attractive woman. And those first couple of times when I thought you were coming to me on your own, I was ecstatic thinking such an attractive, sexy woman would come to my bed. I knew you were upset after the first time, but I thought when you showed up at my apartment the next night that you had decided you really wanted to. I didn’t realize until I talked to Taleen that you were doing it against your will.”

Even with the guilt of cheating on her husband, Ella felt a tiny spark of warmth for Luca. That, coupled with the fact this had been the third time they had been together, seemed to dull the edges of the guilt, the fear and anger she felt.

“Thank you,” she said in a soft, low tone, “This Taleen said we will do it again tomorrow night?”

“Yes. And she told me there was nothing we or she could do to stop it.”

Ella lay staring at the ceiling for a long time before she said, “I need to talk to her. I have questions.”

“I can take you there,” Luca replied, “When would you like to go? Now?”

“No, I need to go home first. Let’s go early this afternoon, 1:00 or 1:30.” Ella said as she rose and began to pull on her clothes.

“Okay. Call me. I’ll give you the address and I’ll meet you there.”

After Ella left, Luca lay in bed thinking of the whole affair. Ella had been forced by the spirit that took possession of her to have sex with him. It had been the same for him but being a lustful young man, he had at first thought he was doing it of his own will. His own lust had covered the spirit’s compulsion. Even after he learned he was under the power of a spirit, he didn’t think of it as that bad because he had the opportunity to have sex with a gorgeous older woman. When it finally got through to him that it was tearing Ella apart, wracking her with guilt and shame, that was the first time he felt bad about the situation, felt like he had somehow caused it because in the beginning he enjoyed it.

“No, that’s not true,” he said to the ceiling, “I enjoyed it every time, but I always assumed she did too. When I finally found out how much it was hurting her, that’s when I felt guilty about enjoying it, but I still enjoyed it. I couldn’t help it! God, she is such a sexy woman!”

He sighed as he climbed out of bed and headed to the shower.

Ella arrived home and went straight to take a shower. As the warm water cascaded down over her, she found her mind turning to Luca and what they had done over the last three days. She had to admit to herself that he was as caught in this snare as she was. As her hand slid down across her stomach to soap her lower body, memories of the last three nights filled her mind: The feel of his tongue as he licked her, the feel and taste of his rod in her mouth, the feel of his fingers touching, rubbing her clit and the feel of him sliding into her.

Her mind played through the visions of what they had done as her hand slid between her legs, and her finger found her clit. As more and more memories of what they had done entered her mind her fingers danced over her clit, pushing her closer and closer to a climax. With a moan it crested, filling her body with a blast of pleasure.

She leaned against the shower wall panting wrapped in the afterglow of her orgasm, she whispered ot herself, “Why did I do that?”

And from deep in her mind a tiny, faint voice answered, “You know why.”

When she heard that tiny voice, she knew she didn’t want to consider what it had said, what it meant and quickly shut it out with a scream of, “Shut up!”

After getting dressed, she called Harper to make sure she wasn’t planning on stopping by that afternoon.

“Hi honey,” she greeted Harper, “I just wanted to call and see what you were doing.”

“Joanne and I were going shopping. Would you like to go?”

“No, no, I’m…uh…I’m not feeling all that well. I think I’ll just stay home.”

“Are you sick Mom? I can cancel this shopping trip and come over if you are.”

“No honey, don’t do that. I’m just not feeling up to par. You know, with this thing going on between me and your father.”

“Are you sure? Because I will cancel.”

“No, I’ll be fine. You go shopping and have fun. Let me know if you run into any bargains, okay?”

“I’ll call you later to see how you are doing.”

“You don’t have to do that. And I may be taking a nap, so I might not answer. If you do call and I don’t answer, I’ll call you back.”

“Okay Mom. Love you.”

Love you too,” Ella replied as she hung up.

Ella futzed around her house, mindlessly cleaning and straightening things, trying to keep her eyes off the clock and her thoughts off what had been and what would be. Luca called at 12:15 to give her the address. She left her house at 12:30 to meet him. When she arrived and stepped out of the Uber, Luca was waiting. He motioned to a storefront. Ella read the ornate old English script sign over the door.

“A book store?” She asked, puzzled.

“Yes, but there is another part too. You’ll see.” Luca replied.

When they entered, the small bell over the door tinkled. Walking through the store Ella looked at the shelves stuffed with old books and wondered if this Taleen was going to be able to help them or if she was just a fraud. When they approached the counter at the back of the store, Taleen stepped out through the bead curtain of the doorway behind it.

“I see you brought the other person involved. That is good. If you will come this way.”

Taleen led them to the door into the adjacent shop. When Ella stepped through into the room, her eyes widened as she took in all the strange objects sitting around. Taleen led them to the felt-covered table and indicated with a wave of her hand that they should sit. As Ella sat, it struck Luca that there were two chairs on that side of the table. The last time, there had only been one. How did Taleen know he would be bringing Ella?

When he looked up at the shop owner questioningly, she smiled and replied to his unspoken question, “I have ways.”

Taleen sat, and asked,” Have you told her what I told you?”

“Yes.”

Taleen turned to Ella and asked, “Do you understand what he told you?”

“I…think so.”

“Tell me in your own words how you understand this thing.”

Ella frowned, took a breath and said, “Luca and I have been possessed by spirits. They are using us. They will take control of us every night and use our bodies to fulfill their wishes. The only way to be rid of them is to do a ceremony in the cemetery at midnight on Halloween. If we don’t rid ourselves of them on Halloween, we will have to wait until next Halloween. If we wait that long they may be strong enough that we will not be able to get rid of them.”

Taleen nodded,” Yes, all of that is true.”

“Luca and I tried to not…you know, get together last night. We thought we should be able to stop it, but we couldn’t. He said tonight will be the same, that we will be together and we can’t stop it nor can you. Is that true?”

Taleen nodded,” Yes, that is true. The spirits that possess you and Luca have such a strong bond, I have no charms that will stop them from being together. To exorcize them will also be difficult. It will have to be done for both at the same time because of the strength of the bond they have.”

“How will we do it?” Ella asked.

“Tomorrow night, we must be at the cemetery before midnight. I will draw a pentagram on the ground next to their graves. Luca will sit in the pentagram. When they possess you both at midnight, you will be forced to engage with Luca. You must be mounted on Luca facing him before that happens, before midnight. Facing him, mounted on him is the best position for the spirits to exit your bodies when I call them out.”

Taleen paused, then continued, ” When the spirits take control and find you are already joined, they will try to force you to climax immediately. You must retain enough control to stop it until I have read the rights. Whatever happens, you must NOT finish until after the rights are completed. If you do this attempt to exorcise them will fail. While trying to push you to a climax, the spirits will be distracted enough they will not pay attention to me as I read the rights. They must be read at a perfect tempo. It will take me exactly two minutes and 37 seconds to complete. Again if you reach the peak before I complete the rights, it will negate the ceremony and we will fail.”

“You mean…we are going to be having sex in front of you in the middle of a cemetery??” Ella eyes widened as she asked.

“Yes.” Came the brief answer.

“And..and we will be..completing it in front of you too?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t there another way?” Ella inquired, her voice trembling with emotion.

For the third time a brief answer came from Taleen, “No.”

Ella sat for a moment then asked haltingly, “Once we are rid of these spirits, will there be any…any lingering effects?”

“I can not say. I have never had to exorcize two spirits at once, and never any as strong as these two.”

“You have not mentioned a fee. Is there one? And what is it? How much?” Ella asked.

Taleen smiled and replied, ” I cannot charge a fee. My order does not allow it.”

“What order? And if you don’t charge for your services, what do you get out of this?”

Taleen pointed. When Ella and Luca looked, there was an oval-shaped frame hanging on the wall. Neither of them remembered seeing it when they entered the room. The oval held an image of a triangular-shaped shield with an eye in the center. On one side of the shield was a bundle of lightning bolts held in the middle by a serpent wrapped around them. On the other side was a large key. Above the eye was what appeared to be a depiction of a conical hat, and below it was a cupped hand.

“I am an agent of the Order of The All-Seeing Eye. We have taken an oath to protect all living beings from those spirits who would do them harm. We do not ask for nor accept a fee or a reward for our services. The only thing we get from such services is experience. We learn and grow our skills. We ask for or want nothing more.”

“Agent? What does that mean?” Ella asked.

Taleen smiled, and said, “It means I am a witch. I rarely tell anyone I am a witch because most would not believe me, so we call ourselves agents.”

Ella sat silent, stunned by the depth of things that only a few days ago she had no clue existed.

Luca saw her reaction and quickly changed the subject, “What time do you want to meet at the cemetery tomorrow?”

“I must have time to draw the pentagram and position the charms. You do not need to be there for that. You should arrive no later than 11:45. I will be there earlier to complete the preparations needed for the ceremony. ”

Taleen looked at Ella and said, “The spirits will want you both to be naked. If you two are joined before they take control, they will not bother with that part but will concentrate on forcing you to a climax. The best thing is for you,” she pointed at Luca,” is to wear loose clothing that will allow you to draw out your manhood quickly. And for you,” she pointed at Ella, “to wear a skirt and no underwear so that you can do what you need to quickly without having to remove any clothes. It will also conceal what you do to protect your modesty as much as can be.”

Both Ella and Luca were shocked and embarrassed by her frank descriptions. Taleen noticed their reaction.

“This is no time for modesty. This must be done as I have described for it to work. That is as much as we can do to prepare. You will be forced to be together tonight. You have been together three times before. You know what will happen. The best thing, the easiest thing for you is to accept it. It will happen. Fighting against it will only make you miserable and will do nothing to stop it. Would you like something to make that easier?”

Luca shook his head but said to Ella, “Maybe you should. We have to do it. We have no choice. Why not make it as easy on yourself as you can?”

Ella looked at him, then at Taleen. Her cheeks were pink as she nodded her head.

Taleen stood, walked to the shelves holding the green glass bottles, and pulled down four. She quickly took pinches from each, dropped them into a paper envelope, shook it to mix the contents and handed it to Ella.

“Mix this with water and drink it before hand. Now go!”

Luca and Ella made their way out of the shop.

Standing on the sidewalk Luca said, ” I drove here. I can give you a ride home if you like, that way you don’t have to spend money on or wait for an Uber.”

She looked at the young man next to her. Over the last few days there had been moments when she hated him. Like just after she woke in his bed and remembered all the sexual things they had done, things she never would have had she not been compelled. But she also remembered how charming he had been, how honest he had tried to be when he told her he had enjoyed every minute with her. And lastly, grudgingly, she had to admit that all those sexual things she had done with him had been better than any she had ever experienced.

She didn’t realize how long she had been standing silent thinking until he said, “I see. I’m sorry. I know this whole situation has hurt you. How much you must hate being close to me because of the things we have done that you were forced to do. I’ll leave and let you catch an Uber.”

As he turned to go she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to face her.

“Luca, the first time it happened, I was mortified. I had never cheated on my husband. I had never had sex with anyone other than him since we got married. I was hurt, embarrassed and scared. The second time was as bad. I didn’t know what was happening, why I was doing those things.”

She paused, then said, “You were honest with me when you told me you liked being with me. I should be honest with you. I was hurt, I was embarrassed, I was scared, but…but what frightened me even more was that the sex was fantastic. I had never, ever felt like that with anyone before.”

She paused, staring out at the traffic before adding, “Tonight we will do it again. We can’t stop it, can’t fight it. I think…I think I want to try to surrender to it. I don’t want to have to fight something that will happen anyway. I know I’ll feel guilty tomorrow, but I want, this last time, just to enjoy it. Is that bad of me?”

Luca chuckled and replied, “If it’s bad of you it’s rotten of me, because I’d love to have you enjoy it. We are going to be forced to do this. I was both dreading and looking forward to tonight. I was looking forward to it because I would once again have you in my bed. I was dreading it because I knew it would be torture for you. But if I know you want it too, if you are enjoying it, it will be fabulous!”

Ella smiled at him, “Take me home. I will come to your place tonight before midnight so we have time to talk to plan before they take over.”

Luca smiled and led her to his car.

He drove to her house and as she got out, said, “I will come to your apartment at 11:00.”

He smiled, waved, and drove away.

Ella spent the rest of the afternoon in thought. This entire situation was something that a few days ago she would have considered to be fantasy. Now here she was, immersed in a world of witches and spirits, intertwined with having forced sex with a man half her age.

The existence of witches and spirits was a difficult concept for her to accept. Last week she would have laughed at anyone who told her they were real. Now she couldn’t imagine not believing in them. The events of the last few days had forcibly convinced her.

All of it she now accepted. The one thing she was having difficulty with, the one thing she still felt guilty and ashamed about was the actual act of sex with Luca. Even though it had been proven to her that she had no control over it, she still saw it as cheating on her husband.

The same question kept cycling through her mind: How could she enjoy having sex with Luca if it was cheating?

And the same answer always followed: Because it isn’t cheating. I have no control over whether we do it or not. It is going to happen. So I can be guilty and miserable about it or accept it will happen and take what enjoyment i can.

The day waned and came to a close. Ella signed and wondered if she could find a way to enjoy it.

She looked at the envelope that Taleen had given her as she whispered to herself, “All I can do is try.”

At 9:00 she took a long shower and got dressed in a skirt and matching blouse. She stepped into a pair of slippers, then sat down to wait. As the clock hand slowly inched forward, she realized she wasn’t feeling anxious or fearful. Instead a spark of calm had appeared inside her.

She smiled then whispered to the air, “What will be, will be.”

She mixed the concoction Taleen had given her with a glass of water and drank it down. She called an Uber, which delivered her to Luca’s apartment building at exactly 11:00 PM.

When he opened the door it was like this was the first time she had seen him since the party. At the party she had observed a broad-shouldered, strong-looking young man with dark brown hair, green eyes and an easy smile. For the last three days she hadn’t seen him because he was screened and buried behind her fears, guilt and embarrassment. Now she realized he was very attractive and memories of his laugh, his gentle tone, his voiced desire for her flooded back into her memory.

“Hi,” He said with a smile.

Ella smiled back and entered his apartment.

“Would you like something to drink?” He asked as she sat.

“No thank you. I…uh…I drank a glass f water with that stuff Taleen gave me just before I left home.”

“I hope it helps you. So…uh…what should we talk about? We have…” Luca glanced at the clock on his wall and added,”…55 minutes before midnight.”

“Taleen said we are going to have to stall any…orgasm,” Ella’s cheeks glowed with the words, “the spirits try to force on us until she can read whatever it is she’s going to read. It will take two minutes and 37 seconds if I remember correctly.”

“Yes. That’s what I remember too.”

“Maybe we should practice that tonight, try to stall that long at least, if we can.”

“I think we can do that. I think we still retain enough control we can communicate and do that much. We can tell each other where we are.” Luca replied, trying to be matter-of-fact about it.

“Luca, I…” Ella began.

“Wait!” He said, holding up his hand, “I need to tell you that I will do whatever I can to make this easier for you. I know you are hurting and are guilty about this, even though you can’t stop it, so anything I can do to help you, tell me.”

Ella smiled and said, “Luca, what I was about to say is we need to practice stalling so we can manage it tomorrow night. But after we do, I want…I want to just surrender to it. I want to try to leave the guilt and shame behind and just enjoy it. If we have to do this, I want it to be pleasurable rather than torture.”

Luca locked eyes with her and asked, “Really? You do?”

“Yes. I’ve thought about it all day, and I’ve finally managed to convince myself that I can’t stop it. If I can’t stop it, like Taleen said, maybe I should just enjoy it.”

For the next 45 minutes they talked about what tactics to use to stall an orgasm. They knew it would be difficult. They agreed that it was difficult enough to do when a spirit wasn’t in control. By the time the clock hands approached midnight, they had several ideas worked out to try.

As the second hand moved toward 12, Ella reached over and took Luca’s hand. As the hand swept past 12 they both felt the dizzying disorientation, the slight dullness that indicated the spirits had awakened. Much like the preceding times they began to undress. When they were naked, Luca picked Ella up and carried her to the bed. Part of their plan was for her to mount him just as she would in the cemetery. They hadn’t been sure if the spirits would oppose it, but as he sat and she straddled him, neither became aware of any resistance from the spirits. The only thing they felt was the powerful need to engage.

There was no foreplay. Luca positioned his shaft at her entrance and she slid down onto it. They both immediately felt the now familiar surge of sexual energy pushing them toward a climax.

“Count,” Luca grunted as she began to ride him.

“One thousand one, one thousand two,m one thousand three, one thousand four,” they intoned together.

The count rose and they both felt the energy inside them intensify, pushing them toward a peak. Both concentrated on the count as a diversion.

“Three thousand fifty three, three thuosand fifty four, three thousand fifty five, three thousand fifty six, THREE THOUSAND FIFTY SEVEN!”

The last came out as a shout, then Luca panted, “Now! Let go now!”

Orgasms filled both at the same time. They moaned as their bodies trembled in the grip of climaxes that were more intense than any they had yet experienced. Moments later they sat limply holding each other, unable to move.

Minutes ticked by, then they felt that spark that signaled the spirits were again pushing them toward more. As they again coupled, they also counted, stalling that climax beyond the count. The third was the same.

After the third, they lay next to each other resting and Luca heard Ella whisper, “No more counting.”

When the spirit sparked desire for her woke once more, as he rolled between her legs and kissed down her body he whispered back, “Enjoy.”

The monochromatic light of pre-dawn was showing through the window when sleep finally took them.

Ella was the first to wake a few minutes before noon.

As she woke her first thought was, ‘I enjoyed that.’

That thought was followed by the guilt, shame and anger she had felt before. She firmly pushed those feeling away as she thought, ‘NO! I will not feel ashamed or guilty again! And I will not be angry with Luca. I LIKED IT! I SURRENDERED TO IT!’

Luca stirred and sat up rubbing his eyes.

He turned to her and asked, “So? How do you feel about this morning?”

She sat up next to him and replied, “My dear Luca, it was fantastic!”

Luca grinned, reached over and cupped her breast.

Ella put her hand over his, pulling it tighter to her breast, then pulled his hand away.

“I enjoyed last night, truly I did. But we can’t do things like that today. Even though I liked last night, I was also under a compulsion from the spirits to do it. If we do it today, I would be doing it voluntarily and I would be cheating on my husband.”

“Oh, yeah, I see.” Luca replied.

She put her hand on his cheek, “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to. My god do I want to! But I can’t. I just can’t.”

He sighed and nodded.

They got up and dressed without speaking.

As they stood at the door Ella said, “I will see you tonight at the cemetery. It would bequicker to go in the exit then the gate at the other end.”

“Yes, I think you’re right. Would you like me to pick you up?”

“No. I think…I think that wouldn’t be wise.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Luca replied, then said,” Ella? Can I ask a favor?”

“Sure,” She replied with a smile.

“Can I have a kiss from you? The ones we’ve shared so far were forced by those damned spirits. I want one from you.”

Ella stared at him, then smiled and nodded.

Luca pulled her into his arms and kissed her. As he did Ella felt the warm fire of desire flame inside her. Not the intense almost sickly feeling the spirits filled them with, but a warm glow. She felt his tongue as it pressed her lips. She parted them and allowed it to enter. At the same time she became aware of the hard lump of his engorged manhood pressing against her. For a moment she was shocked then it came to her that what she felt was his desire for her not the spirits demanding it. As that thought flitted through her mind, memories of things they had done over the last four days flashed in behind them. She pushed away from him, panting.

“I have to go!” she gasped, then quickly stepped out the door and was gone.

Luca watched her go knowing that last night was the last time he would be with her wrapped in passion.

---

At a quarter to midnight Ella stepped out of the Uber. Luca was waiting. He smiled at her, then wordlessly pulled the fence panel open enough for her to squeeze through. He followed a moment later. The moonlight was bright enough everything was plainly visible. They could see a shape, Taleen standing on the path a ways ahead.

When they reached her she looked at her watch and pronounced, “11:51. Are you two ready?”

“As much as we ever will be.” Luca replied.

“You must be ready and you,” Taleen looked at Ella, “must be mounted on him at midnight. If not this will fail.”

“I’m…uh…I’m not erect,” Luca said.

Ella was alarmed as she said, “Can you be in the next few minutes? What do you need to get there?”

“Some kind of…uh..stimulation,” He replied, then looked at Ella.

Ella looked shocked but it only took her moments to realize they only had one chance. She knew what she had to do. She dropped to her knees in front of him and pulled his loose sweat pants to his ankles. She took his flaccid rod in her hand and slid her mouth down over it. Desperately, she began to use her tongue and lips with everything once of skill she had. Slowly she felt him growing her in mouth.

He wasn’t quite at full erect when she heard Taleen say, “Now! It’s 11:59! You must mount him now!”

Luca quickly sat in the middle of the pentagram and Ella scrabbled to straddle him. As advised she hadn’t worn any panties. She had also made one other preparation. She had applied a very slick sexual lubricant to her vulva before arriving. When she placed the crown of his rod against her lubricated vulva, even though he was not yet at full erection, he slipped into her easily.

She saw the puzzled look in Luca’s eyes and just had time to whisper one word of explanation, “Lubricant,” before midnight was on them.

The familiar disorientation and dullness hit them, then the sharp rise in their sexual excitement.

“Count,” Luca grunted, and began, “one thousand one, one thousand two,” Ella joined him a moment later as she began to move her hips, “one thousand three, one thousand four…”

For some unknown reason the sexual push from the spirits seemed much stronger than it ever had been. That, combined with the distraction of Taleen’s voice as she chanted the rights made it very difficult for them to concentrate on stalling their on-coming orgasms.

Both gritted their teeth and concentrated on the count,” two thousand forty five, two thousand forty six, two thousand forty seven…”

At two thousand fifty one Ella was hit with a compulsion to move her hips faster, which pushed her even faster toward her impending climax. She gritted her teeth harder and concentrated on the count.

“Three thousand one, three thousand two, three thousand four…”she and Luca intoned together.

The seconds slid by as they approached the end.

“Three thousand fifty five, three thousand fifty six, THREE THOuSAND FIFTY SEVEN!” They shouted together.

But they didn’t stop counting, for they hadn’t heard Taleen’s chant stop. Seconds turned into centuries as they resisted being pushed the tiny distance to their climax.

Both felt they were moments from failing, about to feel the blast of a huge, immensely pleasurable but completely disappointing orgasm fill them when they heard Taleens voice yelling, “Now! Now!”

They both relaxed their control and Ella felt Luca’s body stiffen as her’s did the same. The blast of the orgasm that took them was more intense than any they had ever had. As it filled them, right behind it they both felt like a huge needle was being pulled through their soul, it felt as if a part of their insides was being pulled out. Luca groaned, Ella screamed. The pain filled them for a quarter of a minute, then they both slumped, unconscious.

Ella opened her eyes to find the world spinning around her. She closed them, fell to one side, and crawled off an unconscious Luca. She crawled a few feet away from him and began to heave, emptying her stomach. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Taleen kneeling beside her.

“It is done. They are gone.”

Ella nodded, then dry heaved.

She remained still, her eyes closed, trying to master the spinning, but managed to ask, “How is Luca?”

Taleen glanced over her shoulder and replied, “He’s sitting up. He hasn’t vomited. I don’t think it hit him as hard as it did you.”

It took several minutes for everything to quit spinning. When it did, she began to get to her feet and felt a hand on her arm. She glanced up to find Luca standing next to her.

“We did it,” He said softly.

The tone of his voice didn’t sound like he was happy. In fact, it carried a deep note of sadness.

Ella looked at him puzzled.

A wain smile crossed his face as he said, “I told you, I enjoyed every second with you. Now it’s finished.”

Ella knew what he said was true. A moment more and a realization hit her, that space that had been filled with a spirit, with a unbridled compulsion to have sex every night with a man half her age, was now hollow and dark. She thought it was because the spirit that inhabited that place was now gone.

“Luca…I…I don’t know what to say. For days we’ve, well you know and now it’s done, finished. I have to tell you that I’m glad it is, but I’m also sad it is. I know that sounds weird, but that’s how I feel.”

“Ella, I have told you several times that I enjoyed being with you. I did, very much. I’m happy you are no longer being torn apart by something you didn’t want to do. But I’m also sad I will never be with you again. I know how you feel because I feel that way too.”

Taleen had been busy erasing the pentagram. She finished and walked over to them.

“It is complete. They are on the other side. I will go.”

Without another word, she turned and left.

Ella and Luca stood for a moment watching her walk away, then Ella said, “I must go home.”

“Yes, both of us. I can give you a ride if you like,” Luca told her.

“No, we should part here.”

Ella turned to face him and said, “I feel…I feel like there is a dark, empty place inside me now. Do you feel like that?”

Luca nodded, “Yes. I wonder if it will ever heal?”

“I hope so,” Ella replied, then stepped closer to him, kissed him gently on the cheek and whispered, “Goodbye.”

She turned and without looking back, even though she desperately wanted to, walked away. When she got to the street she called an Uber. It arrived five minutes later. On the ride to home she watched the buildings go by and wondered if she would ever get over the experience.

At home she showered, climbed into bed and tried to sleep, but the dark, hollow spot inside her wouldn’t allow it. It began to ache. It took most of the night for it to get to a level where she thought she might be able to sleep. As that thought came she wondered again if it would ever go away and instantly knew the answer, it would always be there. As the realization hit her so did the tears. She cried herself to sleep.

She woke the next day at 1:00 PM. The first thing she noticed was that hollow spot inside her. It wasn’t aching like the night before. The darkness that filled it felt like a vacuum. It wanted to be filled. As she dressed it came to her what that dark place wanted, it what the spirits had forced her to do.

“No!” She whispered to the air, “No! Please! Stop! Go away!”

Through the day and into the night she tried to make her mind ignore it. No matter what she tried, it was always there, always pushing at the back of her mind. She went to her part-time florist job and hoped that would help her ignore it. It didn’t. She volunteered to work late hoping she would be too tired to think about it when she got home.

When she went to bed she lay awake until the early hours of the morning with flashes of memories filling her head. The feel, the taste, the pleasure forced on her over the days with Luca filtered back into her mind no matter how hard she tried to keep them out.

Her husband arrived home Friday night. They talked and he was very contrite about how he had acted. On the surface she appeared to be calm and accept his apology, but inside her thoughts continuously turned to those four long passion-filled nights.