OtherWorld

With a flare of lust in her eye, she got up, turned away from him. She supported herself on her knees as she pushed her butt into the air. On his knees, Jeff crawled up behind her and guided himself between her legs, letting the tip of his cock run down over her anus to the wet slit below. He carefully pressed forward into her once again, all the way in, as she breathed a sigh of pleasure.

He rode her hard for several minutes as she pushed back against him. Gradually, the need for release built up inside him, a warm feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. He reached down and, with his thumb, gently put pressure on her anus as he thrust into her. Her cries of "yes, yes, yes" encouraged him to continue until, finally, he could feel himself ready to come.

"Oh, fuck me, Jeff..."

When the orgasm came, it was spectacular. He felt as if her were pumping every last drop of fluid into her, and her pussy readily accepted it, her body milking everything out of him until he couldn't take anymore. Their heavy breath permeating the night air, Jeff dropped to the rock below him, and Lauren dropped beside him, the cool ground giving them relief.

They lay there, staring up at the stars, savoring the feel of being together, next to each other, well into the night. Finally, sleep overtook them.

When Lauren awoke, Jeff was gone, and the sense of dread that filled her up was beyond imagination.

Jeff's eyes blinked open, and there was nothing but confusion.

He was laying, fully clothed again, in a soft patch of grass by the highway. For a moment, he thought he was in a dream, but the soft cool breeze against him told him otherwise. He slowly sat up and realized that his head was spinning out of control once again, and the need to vomit was undeniable.

He sat for a long time, and the nausea slowly passed. Rubbing his eyes, he got to his feet, realizing how unsteady he was. He looked around, at the highway, into the woods. Nothing was familiar, and he had no clue how he had gotten there.

"Lauren?"

Nothing. Not a sound.

He froze.

There was no sound at all. Where there should have been the sound of trees rustling, of branches cracking, of birds, of bats, of animals of any kind, there was nothing.

"Oh my God," he said quietly. His own voice was audible, as was the pounding of his heart, but there should have been more...

Lauren sat in the dark, shivering.

"Jeffrey?"

No response. Without any further hesitation, she pulled her clothes back on as quickly as she could. He'd told her there was a fire road about a hundreds yards behind her through the woods. She cut her way through the thick forest and found the rugged gravel road. She stopped and listened. Nothing.

"Jeffrey?" Louder this time, but still no response.

She had lost him. There was no way she could help him now.

Despite the throbbing ache deep in her, the ache of her lost virginity, Lauren began to run. She ran for Jeff.

Jeff stood still in the dark of the night, trying to make his mind work. At some point, he had gotten up, put his clothes back on, and wandered off. He didn't remember any of it. The last thing he remembered was lying with Lauren...

Lauren.

"Lauren? Where are you?"

Still no sound. Jeff squinted his eyes into the darkness, but saw nothing. He wandered next to the highway and was suddenly aware that he recognized his surroundings. He had traveled the Blue Ridge Parkway for years, and knew most of it, but there was something about this spot in particular...

Out of the corner of his eye was a light. His head was spinning again, but he turned toward the light, coming in his direction from up the highway. Headlights.

He placed a foot out into the road and stuck his arm out, waving frantically, trying to grab the driver's attention. The sound of an approaching engine drifted to his ears from behind him. He turned, and a second car approached from the opposite direction. Relief filled him until he realized the second car was swerving out of control over the road.

His head whipped back to watch the first car, which was gliding up the highway unaware. Jeff continued waving his arm, trying to grab the driver's attention, glancing back at the second car. He yelled, he screamed, but he suddenly realized there was nothing he could do. The two cars were on a course for a head-on collision, and he couldn't stop it.

In a split second, a memory flashed into his mind, and he remembered where he was.

There was no time. As the two cars sped toward each other in the night, Jeff leaped out of the way, throwing himself into a ditch by the side of the road. He held his hands over his head as the screech of tires and the sickening crunch of metal and glass filled the night. Jeff's teeth clenched together as hot chunks of metal and glass showered him.

When he looked up, he witnessed a devastating sight. The air was filled with smoke from the twisted wreckage across the road. The worst part was that he had seen it before, from the inside.

The tremendous crash reached Lauren's ears through the thick of the trees, and she continued to run, pushing even harder. Her lungs were burning, her heart was thundering, her insides were aching, but she pressed on, knowing she had little time.

Jeff stared at the wreckage in shock. Nothing could have prepared him to see what he was seeing. Out of the wreckage fell an older man, in his fifties. His name was Norman, and he was drunk. Even after the crash, he was up on his completely unsteady feet, stumbling over the pavement, gaping at the mess in complete horror.

What have I done, what have I done?

Jeff knew that at some point, the man would stumble off into the woods in drunken fear, and wouldn't be found until the next morning. He would be sober by then, and the manslaughter charge, the guilt of having killed a young girl, would hit him hard. His own suicide attempt two months later would be successful.

Again, out of the wreckage came a figure, a shocked, limping figure, which almost immediately collapsed to the pavement, his legs going out from under him. The drunk man took one look at the collapsed man and, just as Jeff had predicted, stumbled off into the woods. Jeff watched the man on the pavement, his eyes filling up with tears.

Lilah! Lilah!

The voice was hoarse and full of sorrow. It was a cry of desperation, because the man lying on the cold asphalt already knew she was dead. He had seen her die, had seen her body get crushed in the wreckage, had heard her horrific scream just seconds before she was killed.

Oh God...

Hot tears streamed down his skin as he cried out, his voice growing weaker and weaker in the night. Jeff felt the cold pavement on his back again, felt the fear and horror and anger and every other emotion that blasted through him. He could feel the heat from the wreckage, the smell, the hideous smell of death. He looked up at the stars, remembering the sky that night, how beautiful it was...

"Jeffrey?"

That voice.

"Jeffrey, get up."

He turned his head, forgetting the sting of whiplash in his neck and the searing pain of his shattered ankle. He looked at the smoking wreckage and the young lady standing beside it.

"Jeffrey, you're okay. It's all okay."

"Lilah?"

She came closer, and he remembered her, too. Her dazzling smile, her soft face, her black hair, and her eyes...

"Jeffrey, it's all over, my love. Nothing can hurt you now. I'm here."

Her eyes, there was something wrong about her eyes. They weren't black before, not all black, not shallow and empty.

But it was her.

"Sit up, sweetheart."

Jeff sat up, not feeling any pain anymore, only the feel of her cool hand on his arm. No, not cool, cold.

"What happened," Jeff mumbled.

"We were in an accident, sweetie, but we're okay now."

Jeff looked around. He was supposed to be in a ditch by the side of the road, watching. And Lilah, she was...

"You died," Jeff said sadly, tears welling up in his eyes again. Lilah looked at him with so much compassion, her smile widening, the smile that used to melt his very heart, the smile that comforted him.

"I came back, Jeffrey, just like you've always wanted. It's what you wanted, isn't it?"

Jeff thought for a moment. Was it? Was it right?

Of course it was, it was what he had always wanted. He spent eight miserable years denying that he wanted her back, but it was only because he had known she wouldn't be coming back. Now she was there, right beside him, touching him, really touching him.

"Of course it's what I want, Lilah, I--"

"Shh," she pressed a finger to his lips. She took him by the hand and helped him to his feet. She watched him, stared at him with those black eyes, those eyes which weren't hers. But it was her, it was Lilah, his love, his life, back again.

He turned to her and smiled. She stepped close to him and kissed him, a cold kiss.

Panic filled Lauren as she ran. She ignored the stinging cuts on her skin from the branches, she ignored the burning in her legs and her heart which threatened to explode. She could feel Jeff as she had before, she could feel herself getting closer to him, but at the same time, she could feel his spirit beginning to fade.

She was losing him. Quickly.

"You're so cold," Jeff said, his voice wavering.

"I know," Lilah replied, "it's cold here. But now you're here to keep me warm. I've needed you for so long. I've been waiting for you."

"But how?"

"I've been watching you, but you couldn't see me. I've been with you every year out here where we left each other, but you never knew."

There was a long silence as Jeff realized it was all as Lauren had told him. Samhain. The veil was lifted. Lilah had returned.

"Look," Lilah said quietly. She gestured toward the forest, and Jeff followed her hand. All along the treeline, it was is if a curtain had been opened, and ghostly figures began to emerge from behind it. There could have been fifty or more, blurry figures who appeared and, except for two, stood by the edge of the forest. The two figures approached him, then stopped just far enough away for Jeff to have to squint to make them out.

"Who are these people?"

Lilah smiled broadly. "These are all the people you've ever lost. They're here waiting for you, Jeffrey. Do you know who those two are?"

She pointed toward the two closer figures, and Jeff strained his eyes through the darkness. The faces appeared momentarily, just long enough for a wave of joy to filter through him.

"My parents..."

"That's right, love, they've been waiting for you for so long. And now, we can all be together. Just come--"

Lilah was interrupted by a cracking noise on the opposite side of the road, as Lauren came running through the treeline. For a split second, Jeff thought he saw a glare of absolute hatred on Lilah's face, something he had never seen before.

Lauren ran up to the road, then froze in her tracks when she caught the sight before her. Her face registered fear, her breath came in short gasps.

"Jeffrey, please," she said through the heavy breaths, "get away from them."

Jeff could only stare at her, and Lilah turned her full attention back to him.

"Just come with us, Jeffrey," Lilah whispered to him, placing her hands on his chest. "We can all be together from now on, we'll never have to leave each other again."

"Jeff, no!" Lauren was on the verge of sheer panic, but Jeff could hardly hear her anymore.

"She helped you get here," Lilah said calmly, "she helped open your mind, she helped you see us, see everything. You should thank her. And then tell her goodbye."

Jeff nodded silently. He crossed the road and stood before Lauren, who gazed up at him with her eyes full of tears, a pleading look on her face.

"Jeff, please, no, this isn't right, it's not--"

"Shhh," Jeff whispered, placing a hand gently on Lauren's face. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead. "It's okay, Lauren. She's come back for me, and now I don't have to be sad anymore. Don't you see?"

"No, she's not who you think she is, neither are--"

"Lauren, I love you. Thank you."

"Jeffrey..."

"Goodbye."

With that, Jeff wandered back to Lilah, who took him by the hand. One last glance back at her, then they made their way to the group of people by the trees. Lauren watched, sobbing, as Jeff stood by his parents, his father placing an arm around his shoulder. Her eyes widened in horror as Jeff suddenly cried out, trying to pull away from the figures.

Lauren jumped, running as fast as her aching legs would take her across the road, towards the group of people. She could now see Jeff being forcefully dragged away towards the forest, and she screamed.

Closer, closer, her legs firing like pistons with all her strength, closer, as the figures, including Jeff, whose face was a mask of terror, faded away into the darkness. As Lauren reached the treeline, a wave of cold air hit her like a brick wall, and she fell back.

Gone. Jeff was gone. Lauren turned back to the road, and the entire wreckage had disappeared as well. She sat and listened, only hearing a fading cry in the night air.

She sat and wept until night turned to morning.

Two days later, Jeff was officially reported missing by the employees at the coffee shop. There was an investigation, but no evidence of his possible whereabouts ever surfaced, except when a hiking group discovered his camping equipment in the forest. There was no evidence of foul play, and after a search that lasted for two weeks, Jeff's name was placed at the bottom of a seemingly endless list of missing persons.

Lauren, though questioned about her relationship with Jeff, was quickly dismissed as a source of information. During the investigation, she never told anyone of the night she was with Jeff, or what happened. She knew the police would not be able to find him. She knew Jeff was in a place where the laws of the living world no longer applied.

Lauren would pray to the God and Goddess every night for Jeff. She would wait, until the next Halloween, Samhain, when the veil would be lifted again.

She swore to bring him back.

To be continued...next Halloween