Tonight the wind is creeping up the street and blowing in the eves. Next to me, he twitches the corners of the blanket around my shoulders. The old house has been abandoned for almost six months, though from the looks of the tattered throw in the corner we might not be the first to use it as a hideout. The neighbors dog yips faintly from two miles down the road, other then this everything is still.
"I will always love you, Sarah."
"I love you too."
"Will you write often?"
"I'll write."
"It's only for a few months, then I'll be back for you. Will you wait?"
"Mmmmmm. Let's not talk anymore just now."
His kiss is warm and sweet; he kisses the way he talks, with a beautiful simplicity. He holds me and slowly I let myself fall into his body, resting my cheek on his chest as he strokes my hair and kisses the top of my head. Outside the first drops are falling, soon there will be a downpour.
"Darcy?"
"Sarah?" I finger the buttons on his shirt, undoing just one at a time. His hand closes over my fingers and we are embracing in the blasts of lighting. We are the tempest, and the tempest is us.
Later, he closes his eyes and I let my hand trail across his naked stomach, pausing as he flinches and pulls it into his own.
"You're wonderful." His breath is hot on my neck, his whisper sits heavily in the air pressing down on me.
"Darling."
"What?"
"Darling, Darcy, I can't. I can't pretend that you're going to go away and in two, three, four months I'll still be here waiting. I don't love you in that way. When you leave tomorrow, this will end."
He is looking at me but his eyes are blank, translucent. His face is frozen but I can see my words hitting his core. He sways and his breath comes fast and shallow.
"Why Sarah? I told you I will wait for you, I told you I'll be true. Why?"
"I just need this, it seems right. It's been fun, but darling I just don't think I can keep on. You understand."
"No Sarah. No. You're wearing my old ring, my jacket. You're not allowed to say no. You're mine. I bought this, when I gave you these things. I have you now."
"Darcy, you're being ridiculous. You can't possibly think I would be happy here, with this, forever."
But his eyes aren't responding anymore, they have taken on the dull sheen of the dead.
"You can't leave. I'm not letting you leave."
His hands are on my arms and I am against the wall; something cracks and there is wet on my face and it's blood. My blood.
"Darcy stop. STOP. What are you doing? Think about this. DARCY."
A hand on my throat and I can't breath and he is not even looking at me, just staring at the wall beside my head.
After a few seconds he lets up, and I gasp.
"All right. I'll stay. I'm not going anywhere, I love you Darcy."
He turns to me and puts one hand lovingly on the side of my head, the other carreases my chin.
"No, you won't stay. Not now."
CRACK.
***
"It's the old Lutz house!" The boy is poking through the fence with a knobbly stick, the girl besides him looks warily at the fallen in timber frame.
"It's gross looking."
"It's haunted." She rolls her eyes and he nods with authority.
"I overheard my mom talking about it once to the neighbors. The dude who lived there snapped his girlfriends neck."
"No way."
"No, totally."
"I don't believe that."
"My mom doesn't lie, and that's not the worst part."
She glances at him sideways, anticipation and trepidation on her face.
"The guy, he jumped through this hole in the floor, and there was this big pipe sticking up. It went straight through his stomach, SQEACH."
The boy makes a violent gesture with his hands, indicating carnage. The girl shudders and looks back at the house.
"Is it still there?"
"The pipe? Nope. They had to cut it off cause it went through his stomach and his guts were stuck around it."
The house looms in front of them, she looks up at the crumbles of the chimney. She looks up at it, curiously.
"How come? Why did he do it?" He shrugs, unconcerned.
"Who cares? I dare you to touch the front step."
"No way. There are probably ghosts in there who would get all angry. YOU go do it."
"Nah, I gotta get home for dinner soon."
They boy throws his stick and it soars through a long ago broken window pane. They wander off down the lane together, talking and making up better details for the old legend.
Twilight is creeping over the house as the wind picks up. Rain moving in.
