Chapter 7 A Night to Die For
SEVEN
A NIGHT TO DIE FOR
JOHNNY
I’m later than I wanted to be.
That couldn’t be helped. At the stroke of midnight, I stepped through the missing veil, manifesting as a Living. Knowing I had such a small amount of time with my girl, I wanted to wake her up, but I couldn’t.
For starters, it wouldn’t be fair. Cassidy wasn’t expecting a man from 1953 to waltz right into her bedroom, and the last thing I wanted to do was make her afraid—or piss her off.
She could be a spitfire, my sweetheart, and I was her tongue whispering sweet nothings to me rather than ordering me to get out.
She’ll understand eventually that there is no escaping Johnny Gray, but for now, I allow her to sleep.
Not that I could’ve done much about that. Before I could use my ghostly energy to stop her, she took one of those small pills I’ve seen her swallow when she was suffering from nightmares. She needed her rest. The medicine ensured she would get it. She was all but dead to the world.
A little boost of my magic deepened her sleep. She wouldn’t come to again until I willed it which meant that I had hours to acquaint myself with her delicious body.
My first touch, my skin against hers, sent a jolt through me that burned off some of the phantasm clinging to me. The room hummed, and though Cassidy was fast asleep, she moaned.
I think I did, too.
It took me nearly a half an hour to get used to how sparks fly between us. As if I didn’t already know she was mean to me, that just sealed it. She’s mine, and I’ve been dying—literally—to get my hands on her.
So I eased off her strange, short nightgown until all she was wearing was a tiny pair of white panties with a few curls peeking out through the top.
My mouth watered, hunger becoming ravenous.
I’ve spent decades wondering what my girl tastes like—would she be sweet like her cherry kisses—but I would have to wait.
When I took her for the first time, she would be wide awake, panting my name, smiling at me like I was the second coming of Jesus Christ himself. Same for when I kissed her pussy with my mouth. I would be her God, the devil be damned.
But I touched her. Oh, did I touch her. I trailed my Living fingers over her tits, smirking to myself when her nipples pebbled under my fingertips. I lapped at the tender flesh, squeezing it, enjoying the soft whimpers I pulled from her even as she was under.
I traced every curve, nibbled on her lips, and squeezed her tits. They were the perfect handful, spilling over without any brassiere to hold them in place. I went back to them again and again, and when I couldn’t take the ache in my Living cock any longer, I yanked off my jeans.
I meant to just rub one out real quick to take the edge off. I’m not a bad man. I’m not some pervert. I wasn’t about to fuck her pussy while my ghostly power kept her from waking up, but while I’m dead, I’m only just a man.
Throwing a leg over her middle, I squatted over my sweetheart so that I didn’t crush her soft belly.
The channel between her tits was the perfect size for me to rest my hard-on.
So that’s what I did. I nestled my aching cock between her beautiful breasts, then grabbed a handful of each, shoving them together so I could fuck them.
I saved her pussy for later, but as Halloween morning began, I greeted it by titty-fucking my sweetheart, painting her tits with my jizz.
I rubbed it into her skin, then laid alongside her, dipping my hand inside her panties so that I could finally find out what it was like to pet my girl like that.
It was fucking amazing, I’ll tell that that.
Before too long—and it was a shame it was over so quickly—I knew I had to release my hold on her. Not all of it. I needed to keep that connection so that she would instinctively recognize me when we met, but for now… I had to go.
Cassidy was due in at the diner today. I had every intention of meeting her there—to create our actual ‘first meeting’—but that meant I couldn’t stick around her apartment. So I pulled her nightgown back on, leaving her fully dressed before I slipped out the front door.
There were things I had to do before I went after my sweetheart. Things my death curse insisted upon, and the sooner I took care of that, the more time I would have with Cassidy before Halloween was over.
The most important part was finding a car for tonight’s race.
Not just anyone would do. In a pinch, I could hot-wire any car and use my own brand of magic to glamour it to look like my turquoise Shoebox.
It hurts, though. You wouldn’t think that a ghost can feel pain, but I’m forced to relive my death every single year.
If I crash in a car after I used too much of my aura to cast the illusion, the pain is infinitely worse.
It’s always bad, but I never want the worse.
It takes time. After seventy years of a phantom driver stealing and wrecking cars on Scotty’s Curve, the Shadowvale locals know better than to leave their cars out where I can get my ghostly paws on them, especially if they fit my profile.
I was in luck. I found an old 1968 Mustang that was only a little banged-up. As I stole it, I used more of my energy to straighten out the dents, bolster the engine, and—of course—turned its rust-covered coat in a gleaming blue turquoise.
That’s the car that I’m leading Cassidy to now.
She didn’t want to come with me. Oh, part of her did, the romantic side of Cassidy who could see the love in my eyes and realize that I meant it. But there’s the guarded part, too, and I needed to ‘convince’ her that spending the day with a stranger was exactly what she wanted.
Emily helped. If she hadn’t given the nudge to Cassidy, I think I would’ve had to wait until the diner closed down to have my girl all to myself. But she did and between Em and me, she couldn’t resist.
Plus, pie. I offered her pie, knowing damn well that she couldn’t resist that, either, smirking to myself when it’s the first thing she mentions as I guide her purposely toward the passenger side of the Mustang.
“So, we’re going to The Pie Chart? Because that’s not far. We can walk.”
No matter where I went, so long as I had a car, I always drove. She’ll learn that.
By midnight tonight, she’ll learn everything there is to know about Johnny Gray.
Well, not everything…
“Yeah, but that’s only the beginning of our date. We’ll need the car for the rest of it.”
Cassidy pauses. Her adorable face pinches, her forehead forming lines as she scrunches it up. “
Before I answer her question, I take the cigarette from behind my ear.
It still has some of my magic clinging to it, and I light it with nothing more than my desire to taste a cigarette since kissing Cassidy while she’s still fighting against my possession of her will only make this harder over all.
Soon, I promise myself.
Soon.
“It’ll be a surprise.”
“I don’t think I like surprises.”
She’ll like this one.
I take a drag off my smoke, letting it burn. Then, with a crooked smile, I breathe it out through my nose.
Swiping my thumb across my girl’s cheek, I promise her, “This will be a night to die for, sweetheart.”
I get her pie like I promised. Though my hunger is for Cassidy and Cassidy alone, I eat a slice with her because it makes her happy and, damn it, that’s all I want to do. See my girl smile.
I’m not a big fan of the looks some of the other customers give us. I can’t tell if it’s their disdain for an outsider or because they somehow sense—or know—that I’m Johnny Gray. It doesn’t matter. My plan hinges on getting Cassidy alone as much as possible.
It works, too. As though their unfriendly stares did a number on her, she finished her pie, then looked at me brightly as asked, “Where to next, Johnny?”
An old man the table over flinches to hear my name. There we go. It’s probably me that’s putting everyone in here on edge.
Tough shit.
I give him a pointed look over Cassidy’s shoulder, warning him to cool it, then tap my fingers on top of her hand. “All of Shadowvale is open to us, sweetheart. Where would you like to go?”
Another shy smile. I had my arm resting on the back of the booth, wishing that Cassidy had sat with me at the pie shop instead of across the way.
Now I’m almost glad she didn’t. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to drop my hand discreetly to my lap and squeeze my woody before I unloaded in my jeans.
Damn it. If my Living body is primed to explode from just a smile, I’m in trouble—but that’s not going to stop me. I have almost twelve hours to make this girl mine.
Soon, I tell my wayward cock.
Soon.
“I don’t know. But you said something about milkshakes. Cookie’s are good, but he kind of makes them too thick. You know somewhere in town where they make better ones?”
“You’re looking at Johnny Gray, sweetheart. There isn’t anything about Shadowvale that I don’t know.”
And when the old man, plus three other diners all decide that they’ve had enough pie because they heard my name… it’s nice to see I have still have a rep after all these years.
Before I bring Cassidy to get milkshakes at a local creamery that was making delicious ice cream sundaes, malts, and shakes when I was a kid, I take her on a tour throughout Shadowvale.
It seems like the thing to do. I have the car, we have all of Halloween, and I like the idea of sharing all of my old haunts with her.
I skip over anything that’s been built since my death. Cassidy doesn’t seem to mind.
Thanks to my hold on her, I don’t even think she noticed.
With the windows up, the Mustang starts to smell like her. It’s so sweet, I find it hard to concentrate when all I’m thinking about is how tonight is going to end.
She’s gotten over her initial hesitation, too. I’ve released some of my hold on her, letting her personality shine through, and she’s beaming as she leans forward, watching the town go by.
“This is amazing,” she gushes. “Since I’ve been in Shadowvale, I’ve only seen the downtown area where my apartment is. Well, that and the diner. I had no idea that there was such a rich history here. And some farm land, too!”
The farm land is about the only hundred acres left in Shadowvale that was used to grow food for the town in the early nineteenth century. Everything else was sold off to build houses and, nowadays, parking lots.
Like the stone quarry, Mac’s Garage, and church, it’s a staple from the time I was alive that still exists, even if the quarry is abandoned, the garage has been updated, and the church… well, the church is probably the same now as it was then. Can’t say for sure.
Walking into a church as a ghost? I don’t know what would happen if I tried, and I’m not really looking forward to finding out.
I think of the farmland, though, all the way through our trip to Shadovwale’s Ice Cream Shoppe, established 1904. She seems thrilled that the recipes hadn’t changed in over a century. When my girl couldn’t decide between a chocolate or a strawberry shake, I ordered both.
The manager didn’t make me pay.
Of course not.
In Shadowvale, it pays to have the spirits on your side.
Cassidy thought one of the shakes was mine. As we got back in the car, I mentioned that she could have them both, then decide
“Oh, I shouldn’t…”
“Of course you should.”
“I know. It’s just…” A laugh escapes, but it’s not a joyous one, not like before. “Do you know how many calories are in one of those things?”
I shrug. “Dunno. But if drinking milkshakes is what gave you a body like that, I should’ve ordered you a vanilla one, too. Drink up, Cassidy.”
She wants the milkshake. She’s gonna drink the fucking milkshake. I know that the idea all women need to be one size still lasts in the modern age. Not for me. I love Cassidy just the way she is, and if I accomplish one thing this Halloween, it’ll be getting her to understand that.
I lace my tone with a little more ‘suggestion’. “Here. Try the chocolate one first. Let me know what you think.”
She hesitates.
“Go on. I’m not gonna force you to do anything, but if you want it, have it. I got it for you.”
The guilt works where ghostly ‘suggestions’ might not have. She takes the chocolate milkshake out of the cupholder the shop provided.
By the time I’m pulling down a gravelly road, approaching the worn red barn with the thatched roof, she’s sipped both, deciding that they’re equally delicious, though the strawberry has a small edge.
I figured it would.
Leaving the remaining chocolate milkshake in the Mustang, I get out of the car. She seems startled that I stopped the car, even more uncertain when I open her side of the door for her.
She squeezes her strawberry milkshake. She must have just taken a sip because a stray drop wells in the corner of her mouth.
I wipe it with my thumb, then suck it into my mouth.
Her eyes widen.
I grin. “Come on, Cassidy. I want to show you something.”