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Ghost (Introduction) by Jen Jones
Jane rode the antique elevator up to the third floor apartment. The
building was old but had recently been refurbished: all the electrics, gas
and water works were new and the floors no longer squeaked and groaned
whenever somebody walked on them. The structure was over a hundred years
old, built back before 1900 in what was then an out of town village.
Nowadays it was part of Edinburgh proper, though not particularly near the
city centre. Jane was looking for a place of her own. She'd recently
graduated from UCL, getting a first in psychology, and she was about to join
Edinburgh University to do a Masters on her subject. For that she wanted
her own place to stay.
Outside the apartment stood the landlord, waiting for Jane to arrive. He
was a very elderly man, over eighty, and a veteran of the Second World War.
He'd offered her a look around the apartment he was letting. They shook
hands and he opened the front door. Jane walked inside and gasped. It was
colossal! The landlord, Errol West, made his way hesitantly inside, moving
slowly due to an old wound. He took her around, pointing out the details:
the kitchen, living room, bedroom and the bathroom.
All the modern fittings were at odds to the surprisingly ancient feel of
the place. Aside from the built in cupboards and wardrobes, the only
furniture present that seemed to fit the atmosphere was a huge four poster
bed that was built into the bedroom floor. Jane lent on the mattress to
check how new it was. It seemed old but still strong. The apartment was
twice the size of many other places she'd seen and half the rent. Jane
asked why it was so cheep. West folded his hands and looked away,
bashfully.
"Um... it's... err..." he said. Jane looked at him, wondering what the
matter was. The old man tried more um's and err's before finally seeming to
give in
"Well, Miss Walker, there's those that say the apartment's haunted." He
looked at her imploringly. Jane returned his stare, waiting for him to say
he was joking, but his face remained locked in a grimace of utmost
sincerity.
"Seriously?" was all she could say. He nodded.
"No way!" Her laughter took him aback. He nodded again.
"Edinburgh has quite a history of ghosts and the like," he continued, by
way of explanation. "Some time after it was built, around 1925, this whole
house was home to a rich Scottish industrialist who was devoutly religious.
He had many sons but only one daughter, who was incredibly beautiful. The
father believed that the way to heaven was through a good life on earth... a
'good' life being made up of the utmost piety. Realising his daughter would
struggle to lead such a life, with her looks and his wealth, he endeavoured
to keep her locked away from the world, in the rooms at the top of the
house... the rooms we're standing in. The only contact she had with anyone
was through her father and her governess, who he employed to teach his
daughter and who was very strict. The girl never got to enjoy her life at
all. She was taken by consumption at an early age. It is said that her
spirit remained, walking these floors... looking for the life and love that
was denied her." He paused a moment to clear his throat.
"Anyway," he went on, in a less melancholic voice, "The last couple of
people who've rented this place have stayed barely a few days before
clearing out without so much as a goodbye! It was in the papers by the
third one and since then I've had the devil's own trouble letting it."
Jane walked around for a moment. She could picture the young girl, sitting
in this room, reading by the light of the window and imagining all the
things she was missing. She fell silent for a moment before being brought
back to the present by the landlord.
"You interested, Miss Walker?" he asked. Jane had studied the theoretical
principles of ghosts in some detail during her degree. The thought she
might actually be living with one was quite exciting. Turning to the
elderly landlord, she smiled and told him she'd take it.
The contracts and such like took a week to sort out but, the day after
completion, Jane proudly unlocked the door of her new apartment for the
first time. Moving in took no time at all: she had travelled extensively in
recent years and knew the value of light luggage. The only things of any
weight were her books and Terry carried those. He was the kid brother of
Jane's oldest friend and he'd come up from London with her to help and to
see his sister. Lucy was almost exactly the same age as Jane and had grown
up next door to her, back in London. They'd been best friends since they
could speak and had gone through life together right up till university,
where Lucy went to Edinburgh to do medicine while Jane stayed in London for
her psychology degree. Jane's choice of university for her Masters had been
influenced in no small way by her friend. They were both really excited to
be living in the same city as adults.
"I can't wait to show you the Establishment!" Lucy's voice was positively
bubbling with girlish with enthusiasm.
"What are you doing with the 'establishment,' Lucy?" asked Jane, "You were
always very much against it!" The other girl laughed.
"I didn't mean the authoritarian dictatorship we all know and hate, Janie,
I meant the night club!"
They both laughed. Terry walked in, a box under each arm
"Well I'm glad you two are enjoying yourselves while I lug all this stuff
around," he grumbled, but not seriously. Terry was six five and built like
an ox. Where Jane could barely manage a single box, he took three without
breaking a sweat.
"Well that was the last of them," replied Lucy, "So stop complaining and
let's go have some fun." Terry and Jane agreed and all three walked out to
enjoy the rest of evening.
All was still in the apartment as they left... but a careful, if slightly
paranoid, observer might have suggested that it wasn't quite... empty. A
faint draft seemed to be blowing through... but there weren't any windows
open. It reached the pile of bags and boxes. Suddenly the buckles holding
one of Jane's rucksacks together clipped open... and her possessions began
to move out.
Jane woke up and soon wished she hadn't. She pushed the duvet off and half
walked half crawled to the bathroom. Mercifully, alongside her other
toiletries, there was a jar of aspirin next to the basin. Jane gratefully
gulped down two, washing them down with cool water from the tap. She walked
back to her room and sat down on the bed. She was about to lied down and go
back to sleep when she hesitated... Something was wrong... with the bed.
She hadn't bothered making it the previous night. It had been her intention
to do so today, after sleeping in her sleeping bag on her first night. Yet
here she was sitting on crisp, clean sheets and a fresh duvet. Had she
really made it up last night?
Memories of the previous evening fluttered uneasily across her brain.
Going out with Lucy was always prone to drunkenness but with Terry there...
Lucy's brother played regular rugby and had an attitude and tolerance to
drinking that beggared belief. Jane recalled her attempts, along with Lucy,
to keep up. The recollections seemed to stop after one or two o'clock in
the morning. She smiled ruefully. It seemed that Edinburgh was going to be
even more fun than London!
Standing up she went out into the living room which also acted as a
hallway. She'd intended to go to the kitchen for a mug of water but was
stopped dead in her tracks. The boxes her books had been in were empty and
had been folded and stacked neatly near the door, her empty bags besides
them. Feeling a little panicked, Jane searched around for her stuff. It
couldn't have been stolen, could it? She was close to calling the police
when she finally opened one of the cupboards in her bedroom. Her clothes
were either folded neatly onto shelves or hung perfectly on rails. The
books were all grouped together according to subject: the large textbooks on
the lower shelves while the few novels were up high. All her stuff had been
unpacked and put away.
'I must've been wasted last night to do all this,' thought Jane. She
shrugged her shoulders, grabbed her dressing gown, slippers and towel and
went the bathroom, which was connected to the living room and the bedroom.
She was wearing last night's panties and her usual sleeping T-shirt which
extended down just to the very top of her legs. She examined the body that
faced her in the mirror. Shoulder length chestnut hair with slight curls...
a pretty face, if she said so herself, with long, delicate eyelashes, eyes
the exact same colour as her hair and a perfectly normal nose... slim
shoulders... nice sized breasts, standing proud of her chest... a flat
stomach and long, toned legs. It was a good body! She just couldn't seem
to find anyone else who agreed.
Sighing slightly she pulled off her T-shirt. As she did she felt a slight
sensation of coldness enter the room... a breeze that hadn't been there
before. She felt it touch her body, sliding around like long, graceful...
fingers of wind... caressing her. It caused her to shiver slightly.
Pulling on the dressing gown, Jane set about brushing her teeth. The
coldness no longer affected her and she assumed it had just been a slight
draught. Finishing up with her toothbrush she leaned close to the mirror
looking at her face closely. There were no unexpected imperfections so she
removed her dressing gown and her panties and leaned into the shower,
turning it on.
As the shower burst too life, the breeze touched her again, brushing up
against her naked ass. Jane turned round sharply, but there was nothing
there. She pulled the dressing gown back on and walked round the apartment
quickly, but there was nothing... no open windows or other feelings of
coldness. Shaking her head slightly, Jane returned to the bathroom,
disrobed and stepped into the shower.
Under the hot water she instantly felt better, the cobwebs of last night
washed away. Jane smiled to herself at some of her recollections. Both
Lucy and Terry had wondered why Jane hadn't asked to live with Lucy. She'd
smiled and given two reasons: Lucy's flat was full: she didn't want to ask
Lucy to kick anybody out, and also: living with Lucy would be one big party.
As tempting as that sounded, Jane's Masters and Lucy's last year of
medicine would be challenging enough! There was also a third reason, which
she hadn't mentioned. Jane and Lucy were as close as two people, who
weren't related, could be.
They'd grown up together, gone through the trials of adolescence with each
other, dated boys, travelled together and, however briefly, lived together.
During that time their friendship had always been strong. Whenever one of
them had a problem, they'd always known the other would be there to share
it. One time, however, they had both had the same problem simultaneously.
Aged seventeen, a few weeks before their A-levels, both girls split up with
their boyfriends. Lucy was always the more carefree of the two girls, but
they had both invested a lot in each relationship and both were
inconsolable. They had each found out that their partner was sleeping with
someone else and were sent flying by the revelation. They'd met at Lucy's
house where they'd cried and cried and cried, got drunk, cried, ate ice
cream, cried and finally they cried some more. After several bottles of
wine they both vowed never to see boys again. Sealing their pact they'd
hugged together closely.
It went on for longer than might have been comfortable... Jane had always
felt a bond with Lucy, and Lucy felt the same... but Jane suddenly felt like
she wanted something more. Lucy was the vivacious one, the sexier one, the
one who was first on the dance floor and first to be chatted up. Jane had
always felt a little removed from that. Not by choice... she just couldn't
let go in the same easy way. If Lucy wasn't there, Jane found it really
hard to have a good time. Also, Lucy was so gorgeous, so friendly and so
sexy... if there was one person in her life Jane wanted to be with it was
Lucy. Jane realised that she also really fancied Lucy... but nothing ever
happened.
When they'd hugged after their boyfriends both dumped them, Jane had felt a
heat inside she hadn't encountered before. However Lucy eventually just let
go of Jane with a smile and said how silly they were being. They survived
the trauma of bad break-ups, got good A-levels and went to different
colleges. Since then Jane had had a couple of boyfriend's, but nothing long
term. As she stood in the shower she thought of Lucy... her body, her face,
her eyes... She thought of how they'd danced last night: close together,
like a couple, surrounded by men ogling them.
Without realising it, Jane's hands were fondling her breasts. They'd moved
there of their own volition, squeezing her 32C chest and lightly touching
the nipples. She gasped and dropped her hands, sickened by what she was
doing. She couldn't do that! Not while she was thinking about Lucy. Jane
quickly washed and stopped her shower. As she did so she felt how cold it
was in the room. It was positively glacial and she began shivering quickly.
Wrapping herself up in her towel and dressing gown she went through to her
bedroom where it was warmer, but the coldness seemed to be follow her
through. Jane sat on the bed and started to dry herself but the cold air
was all around her again. It was making her so tired! She tried to rise...
to get up... but couldn't stop herself from falling asleep.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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