Although Bethany’s eyes were closed, she could feel the warmth of a fire upon the front half of her body. On her back half was the heat of a body. She opened her eyes and saw that she was sitting on his lap facing a fire in her fireplace. His arms were wrapped around her waist in a protective manner. She pressed herself against his chest and sighed in content, thankful that he had saved her. With a smile on her face she raised her eyes to look up at him. Even through the firelight was the only light in the dark house, she could clearly see his mysterious green eyes gazing into hers. Her smile grew wider and she placed one of her small hands on his chest.
"Thank you for saving me." Bethany said and a voice just above a whisper.
He raised a hand and cupped the side of her cheek, his thumb sliding over her cheek.
"You are welcome Bethany." he replied in his deep voice.
She smiled at him again and closed her eyes again, wanting to fall asleep in his arms and was just about to do that until the sound of his voice broke the silence.
"Bethany, please do not fall asleep. I wish to talk to you."
Bethany slowly opened her eyes and again looked up at him.
"Bethany, I promised myself that I would tell you about myself. You deserve to know the truth."
She heard his voice become strained as he spoke and moved away from him slightly so she could see him better. She heard him sigh and watched his eyes close and a sudden chill ran up her spine as if it was a warning that she would not like what he was about to say, so before he cloud say anything, she quickly jumped in.
"Wait. Can I please ask you a question?"
He opened his eyes, looked at her, then reclosed them. "You may ask me any question you like Bethany."
"Well... I’d really like to know your name."
He had no idea how to respond to that. He had two different names! He quickly decided to respond with the name that she would be most familiar with.
"My name is Mark."
"Mark..." She said his name and he opened his eyes when she said his name and swore that it had never sounded better.
"Well... uh... Mark, who... exactly are you?"
He bit his lip and looked away from her and she saw him look away from her. He felt her move out of his lap and he allowed her to go.
Bethany saw his reaction to her question and didn’t like it one bit. She felt a small twinge of fear begin to form in her belly as she stared at the large man. He looked back at her and easily read the fear in her eyes. He knew that she was not going to like what she was going to hear, but he had made a promise. He spoke slow and steady, not wanting to frighten her more than she already was.
"Bethany... I lived here my entire life. Right here on this land where you know live is the place where I was born and raised... and died."
Her eyes grew as big as dinner plates and she backed away from him.
"What did you say?!"
"Bethany, I have been dead for eight years."
She quickly grabbed onto the back of a nearby chair for support.
"Y... your dead?"
"Yes."
"Well... how... how can you be here?"
"Bethany, I died on this land because of a curse held by my family. The curse caused the dead individuals who carried it to remain on and near the spot where he or she died. I died on this land, so I have no choice but to remain here. The curse allows those who carry it to interact with people who wander onto the land where they died. Even though I am cursed, I also seemed to be blessed, for I have someone living on my land. Please understand that that was the reason why I came to you the first night."
She was close to fainting and she knew it. She had lain with a dead man! She turned her head away from him as the tears of embarrassment and confusion began to flow from her eyes. Mark saw her turn away from him and raised himself from the chair. She heard him stand and backed away from him.
"Don’t come near me!" she screamed through a voice choked with tears. He held his hand out toward her.
"Bethany I cannot leave this land, and I will always be near you while you live here."
He took a step forward. She took a step back.
"Bethany, I do not mean you any harm. If I did, don’t you think that I would of done something harmful to you by now? Do you not think that if I did not care for you I would have let that man in the city have his way with you? For so long I have longed for companionship from someone, and now that you came to me, I felt happier than I had felt in a long time."
He took another step towards her, but this time she didn’t move."
"Please believe me Bethany. As long as you live on my land I will come to you every night, but only if you wish it. During the day I remain in my death sleep, but during the night I am allowed to awake. If you truly do not wish me to awaken again, then I will leave you until you leave the land. Only then will I awake and look for a new companion."
Bethany heard everything that he said... and didn’t believe him.
"You... you... awful man! How dare you say such things to me! Do you honestly think that I would believe such a ridiculous story!? For all I know you’re a man that takes advantage of women!" she was quickly becoming hysterical and he knew that he had told her too much too fast.
"Bethany please calm down. Everything I have told you is true."
"No it isn’t! Now get the hell out of my house!"
He looked at her for a moment. She was visibly shaking and holding the back of the chair in a death grip. Then he felt a tear slide down his cheek as he realized how much he had scared her. What had he been thinking? Did he really expect her to believe his story when he himself found it hard to believe? His eyes swept over her again, taking in the sight of her form one last time before he spoke to her for the last time.
"Bethany, I apologize for any pain I have caused you. I never meant to hurt you and I do hope you believe that. I will bother you know more."
His hands went to his hood and lifted it until it covered his head and face. He turned into the shadows quickly and left her house.
How long she stood there trying to break the chair, she wasn’t sure. She stared into the air as if she was in a trance from what happened and would of stayed there if something on the floor had not of caught her attention.
There in the firelight, a long piece of crinkled lace lay on her wooden floor...
Copyright 1999 by Lady Serria