Ghost of a Chance

Story Sent in by Betty:

On my first date with Francisco, he asked me if I wanted to check out an nearby abandoned house with him. I was up for it, and we drove there separately and parked in its overgrown driveway.

It was still daytime, so not as creepy as it could have been. Still, if any house looked haunted, this one did. The whole thing wasn't even straight on its foundation, so it had a kind of menacing lean toward us. The peeling paint and shattered windows only helped to complete the look.

"Come on! Let's check it out," Francisco urged, and so I followed him inside.

It was about what you would expect. Rotting floors, walls with jagged holes in them, graffiti, and such. As I wandered from room to room, I felt a malevolent presence behind me. I spun and turned.

It was Francisco with a wry smile. He asked, "Want to have sex?"

I laughed and said, "No. Help me explore."

He suddenly jumped and looked up. "What was that?" he asked, "I heard something upstairs."

"I didn't hear any–"

He pointed up. "There it is again. Oh my God. What the hell?"

He left me in the room and I followed him to the bottom of the rickety steps. We both looked up them. I said, "If you seriously heard something then we should go. Someone might be living here."

He walked up the steps. I followed behind him. He stopped short at the top and stared down the hallway, but from where I stood, I couldn't see what he was seeing. He froze. I froze, ready to bolt out of the house at a second's notice.

His voice quivered as he spoke, keeping his eyes firmly on a single spot down the hall, "Okay… so I just saw someone or something walk into a room down the hall."

I didn't have to hear anything more. I said, "Let's go," and returned downstairs.

He didn't. He creeped further down the upstairs hallway. I said to him, "Francisco, seriously. It could be some homeless guy or something. Let's get out of here."

He replied, "It wasn't a homeless guy. They're not see-through."

What was that strange ringing sound in my head? Oh! Yes, my bullshit detector. It was going off. I watched him walk down the hall and out of sight. As I finished up my explorations downstairs, I heard his footsteps above me, then I heard a loud thump, and then the sound of something dragging.

Finally, there was silence. I was ready to go, and so I walked upstairs. "Francisco?" I called for him a couple of times with no answer. I exited one room, entered another, and found no trace of him. "Francisco, I'm going to go," I called a final time, then made for the stairs and had the fright of my life.

At the top of the steps stood Francisco, his head tilted down and wearing a queer smile. He must have hidden somewhere in the room closest to the top of the stairs, as I only did a quick glance into each room as I looked for him.

Moving past my initial surprise, I said, "Come on. Let's go."

He replied in a slow, slurred voice, "We're going to be here forever…"

I sighed. "Seriously. Enough with the games. You want to get something to eat?"

He dropped the act and said, "Aw, you're no fun."

"Telling someone you've just met that 'we're going to be here forever' is not the most fun thing I can think of."

He nodded. "Fine. Want to have sex, anyway?"

I snorted and sidled past him. On my way down the stairs, he said, "I'm just going to stay here until you say yes."

I replied, "Then stay there." I wasn't interested in or attracted to him anymore by that point. I was far more fascinated by the prospect of a meal.

As I left the house and made for my car, he called out, "You'll come back! Everyone always does!"

"I'm sure!" I yelled back, then climbed into my car and drove off.

I looked him up a year or two later, not having heard from him. There existed no records, no photos, and no indication that he had ever even existed at all.

I'm totally kidding. Last I saw, he was engaged to someone. I'm glad it worked out for him.