Ghost Box

Ghost Box

    "Can you hear me?" Nick asked.

     "Yes." The voice said.

     "Where are you?"

     "I'm at home." The voice said.

     Nick looked around the room. Everything was dark. He made sure all the lights were out before he started this question session. This is his first week in his new place. It has been a few months since he put the old house up for sale, but found this perfect place in the mid-west, so he had to jump on it.

     "It's dark. They're people walking around, but I can't see anybody." The voice said.

     "What is your name?"

     "Alice" She said.

     "Such a beautiful name. What happened to you, Alice?" Nick asked.

     "I don't know. I never thought about it until you asked." Alice said.

     Nick felt sick and wonderful at the same time. He got this box from a friend. He told him about the feelings he been having since moving into his new house. "There's something there." His friend said. "Take this box. Turn it on, talk and see what comes through. It shuffles through local radio channels and picks up on white noise. Trust me, you'll hear something."

     "Are you alive?" Nick asked.

     "Yes."

     "Am I in your house?"

     "Yes, you are. How am I hearing you?" Alice said.

     "I'm in the same house. I just moved in, as a matter of fact." Nick said.

     "Everything looks different. Why is that?" Alice asked.

     "You're no longer in the physical world. Who knows, maybe I'm the ghost."

     "Ghost?! Alice said. "I'm not a ghost. I just got done... doing…."

     Nick sat in the middle of his living room floor just looking at the Ghost Box, wondering if this was real or if his buddy was playing some sick joke. This can't be real.

     "You can't remember? What year is it?" Nick asked.

     "1899."

     "Where are you, Alice? I am sitting on my living room floor."

     "I am sitting on the sitting room floor. Why is this happening … What's your name, sir?"

     "My name is Nick. I don't know how to answer that, Alice. Try and think how you died. I been living here for a week and I feel you in my house every minute of every day."

     "I am not dead. Did I not say that?! I was just doing the.....the … I can't remember anything." Alice said.

     "Look at your body. Is there anything on you? Is your house fine?"

     "The house looks strange. There is a big black glass rectangle on a glass stand. Candles lit and I never keep candles in the house. This isn't my house. The more I look and think, the more things change."

     "Alice, look at yourself."

     "I don't want to, Nick. I’m scared."

     "I'm scared, too. I don't want you to be in a place you can't get away from. I don't want to end up in that space when I die."

     "This is not happening. I may be sick." Alice said.

     "I know. It is happening though... Alice?"

     "Yes?"

     "Please look at yourself."

     The Box made a loud ring and cut out. No more shuffling of channels or lights flashing on the side. "Fuck!" Nick said out loud. The batteries! Nick ran to the kitchen and pulled out the junk drawer (almost all the way out) as fast as he could. Pushing everything to the side, he found one AAA battery. I hope it take AAA. Nick ran back to the Box, flipped it over and pulled the cover off. "Fuck!" He yelled. AA. Just my luck. He thought. He rolled to the side and grabbed the TV remote off the end table and slid the cover off and removed the AA batteries. These mother fuckers are brand new. He put them in and turned on the Box.

     "Alice? Alice? Are you still there?!" Nick yelled.

     He sat there on the floor for the rest of the night talking into white noise. Alice never responded.

***

     After a long day, Nick sat on the living room floor with a beer in hand. Indian Style it is until I get my couches. Candles lit, radio on, beer cold and vodka in a glass, I'm ready for some R&R.  He thought. Nick drank a few beers and a few glasses of Vodka when the radio shut off and the box flicked on.

     "Nick? You there?" Alice said. Sounding like she was in a 100 foot tunnel.

     "Fuck! You scared the shit out of me. Yes, I'm here. Sorry about last night, the Box's batteries died." Nick said.

     "Last night? I spent months trying to contact you again. I didn't feel you until tonight." Alice said.

     "It was just one night for me, Alice. What have you been doing?"

     "I am in the same house as you. Just in a different space. When you're not around, I can contact other people. Some are from different time periods. When I contact them, my house changes. I can' even say this is my house anymore, even though I built this with my long gone husband. I'm not sure what happen when I died, or why I am here, but I don't like this, not one bit." Alice said softly.

     "I'm sorry. I can't imagine what you are going through. I’m scared I'll end up in the same way. Did you look at yourself, Alice?"

     "Yes. I have blood all over me. When no one is around, there is blood all over my house. It starts in the bedroom and ends with a pool of blood on the sitting room floor. I don't know what happen."

     Nick sat there in silence for five minutes before he opened his mouth. He didn't want to say the wrong thing and lose her for another night.

     "Did your husband kill you?" Nick asked.

     "I'm not sure. Someone killed me though... Nick?" She asked.

     "Yea?"

     "I missed you."

     "I missed you, too. I was scared I'd never hear from you again." Nick said.

     "I spent the time checking everything out so I could have some answers for you, and for me, as well. I'm stuck here in this.... Not sure what to call it. This world is real, but not like yours. My world changes with who gets in it through my house. I see the past and future here. I don't like it."

     "I might be sitting on the floor where you died. I feel cold. What else did you find out? I can't believe I am talking to you! Isn't this crazy?" Nick asked.

     "Not for me, I don't know how long I been here. I can feel bodies around me. Not yet taken. I tried to get into one before, but I was too late. See, I have to get into a body before it gets too far along. If I don't, the body dies and I have to wait for another one. I can't just jump into any body, it has to be right for my energy."

     A cold blast of wind came through the living room, blowing out the candles. The room got dark and orbs started flashing around Nick. Mist came down the hallway and formed a female figure in front of him.

     "Can you see me, Nick? I can't do this for long." Alice said.

     "How are you doing this?!"

     "I'm taking the energy out of the room and using some from you. You might be tired after this. Please, hug me. I been thinking about hugging you for years. I need one before I go, because, I'm taking a body tonight." Alice said.

     Nick stands up. He walks slowing to this illuminating figure. She has a long flowing dress on that shows her profile perfectly. She reaches out and they embrace each other. She squeezes tightly, he matches her.

     "You are so warm, and tall. It's perfect." She whispered

     "You're gorgeous, Alice. I knew you were, but seeing you is almost unbelievable."

     The room started to warm back up and the orbs starting dimming.

     "Don't let go. It's almost time for me to go back. I love you, Nick. I want to wait for you to get here. We can take bodies together and hopefully, remember each other and will find a way to be together. Do you want me to wait?" She whispered as she squeezed harder.

     "It might be a long time. One night for me was months for you. It's strange, but I Love you too, feels like I have for a long time." Nick whispered back.

     The orbs started to shine and pulsate brilliantly.

     "I don't care. I'll wait forever for you. I love you, honey." Alice said.

     "I love you too."

     Cheek to cheek, they pulled back just enough so their lips touch.

     "I know I'll live in this house until I die, and I will figure out how it works after I pass...” Nick said.

     The room was illuminated white by the orbs.

     "I will find you. I will be waiting. I love y-----" She said as she left.

     The room went dark. Everything started to come back on slowly. He couldn't feel her anymore.

The End