by G L Davies
Lisa: Daniel asked if he could stay at mine. There was a party in Pembroke and it was only a few miles from my house. I was dumbfounded. He had never asked and I never offered. I felt so safe and relaxed at his little flat in Haverfordwest. It wasn’t a massive place and probably too small for two people to live there all the time together plus there would be nowhere for Tyler to stay if he ever needed to come home. I was so happy with Daniel there. I felt for the first time in my life truly different. I felt reborn. I didn’t mind being at my house so much as not only was it quiet there now but I had something to look forward to in going to see Daniel.
I relaxed to the extent that Tyler got his own place, not too far, but he had quite a well-paid job and besides he was old enough to do what he wanted. He had a girl staying with him most of the time so I didn’t want to cramp his style. I did miss him and glad he’s back now.
One night I had a terrible nightmare that something was in the bedroom. It was pitch black, something was pulling off the duvet and I couldn’t scream or move. It was like I was blind and paralysed. I thought it was happening again. I woke up, drenched in sweat and panting, but it was morning. The sun was shining behind the curtains. I cried so much, I think more with relief than anything.
I never heard any creaks or bangs in the night. No bad smells or temperature changes. There was nothing at all to cause me concern. It was good and I allowed myself to relax. I allowed myself to be happy. I imagine some people would question how I can go out with a man again or live in that house but what else is there to do? Hide away, alone till I die? Daniel was the best thing that had ever happened to me since Tyler was born and was different from Ian and Leon. He was there, he was available. Always just a bus away or a text. He had been very open about his life. There was no family living away up North or parents that hated me. It was just us and it was wonderful while it lasted. I just wish, I just wish I had put my foot down and never let him come to my house.
Daniel: We went to this party and it was O.K, nothing special but Lisa and I had a good time and Kev turned up around eleven, drunk, and was dancing and falling around the place. Lisa looked great that night, she had bought a new top and jeans and she looked lovely. I just wanted to get her home to bed but she was in no rush to get home. I don’t think she drank all night; she had a bottle of beer and just held it. She got more and more anxious as the night went on. When it got dark I could see in her face that she was concerned. I remember taking her to one side, away from the other people at the party and telling her to just relax and I would look after her, then we had a long intimate and loving kiss. You know, the one’s you never want to end. The sort of Kiss that makes you forget everything in the world and you feel attached, like one with that person. She held me so tight. I loved her so much.
Lisa: At the Party Daniel sensed that I was nervous and he was great, he really knew my moods and how to react. He told me everything would be O.K. but I didn’t want to leave. I never wanted the party to end, not that it was any good, I just didn’t want to go home. There were a lot of people there and the ones we spoke to were really nice. I smoked some weed in the garden with Daniel and a couple he knew and after that I relaxed a bit. Can I just say that I am not a habitual marijuana smoker; I smoked it just three times since I met Daniel. Drink and cigarettes have always been enough for me. I like it and I don’t think it does much harm in my opinion but I don’t want people thinking I am some type of pot head or druggy. I don’t like not being in control and certainly wouldn’t want to try anything harder than weed. I would hate for people to think well all of this is shit because she is on drugs all the time.
Daniel: We must have left around 2 a.m. It was late, I was a little drunk but not paralytic. Kev was being sick in the garden when we left and about half the party had gone home. Lisa said we were about twenty minutes away from her house and wanted to know if we should walk or get a taxi. I felt fine to walk and she said it was a nice night so we walked. She seemed relieved and I guessed it was because she was still uncomfortable with the idea of me being at her house. We were walking past this wooded area on the way to hers and Lisa grabbed me by hand and led me into the trees. You could still see the road and the street lights but we were hidden from sight and she just started kissing me. She knelt down and unzipped by trousers and started to suck me off. I was so surprised not that I was complaining, it was awesome. I came and she stood up and just hugged me. I asked her what that was all about and she said when we got home could we just sleep? I said of course we can and I laughed and said she didn’t have to give me a gobble just so I would go straight to bed. Looking back, it all makes so much sense. She did it as she was scared that once we got to hers I would try it on with her, she didn’t know how the things that were in there would react.
We got to her house and it was an ordinary council house that you see in Pembrokeshire at the end of a road. The house was white and bathed in the orange of the street light, behind the house there looked to be fields or woodland. It seemed nice enough and nothing at all to be worried about. It wasn’t some big old creepy mansion with a creaking gate and forked lightening going off over it. It was just a plain house.
Lisa seemed hesitant to open the door and when she tried she ended up dropping the keys. Her hands were shaking and I just looked at her and said it was O.K and to just relax. She opened the door and the hallway was dark and she quickly turned on the light. The house was nice, it was clean and pleasant and there was no feeling of foreboding. The way she was I expected something in a white sheet to dart out at us. That would have been a lot easier to deal with to be honest.
Lisa: We got home and the house was quiet. I asked Daniel if he wanted anything and I made us a coffee. I was so jittery. I felt like I was trespassing or doing something wrong. I spoke to Daniel in whispers almost as if I didn’t want us to be heard. I just hoped Daniel wouldn’t do anything stupid like taunt the house or go on about the ghost. Daniel was sat on the settee and I put on the T.V, there was a late night movie on and I went and sat in this armchair. Daniel asked if wanted to snuggle with him on the settee but at first I didn’t want him to touch me, I didn’t want him to be close as I didn’t want to make anything get jealous or angry. Then Daniel asked if he could use the loo and I nearly said to go in the garden. I had to be strong and I had to push the negativity away and believe it was all over. I couldn’t let this ruin my life with Daniel but as you can understand I was terrified, not only that it would come back and assault me again, but that I would lose Daniel as well. I walked him to the bottom of the stairs, put on the landing light and told him it was straight up the stairs. My heart was pounding in my chest.
Daniel: I went upstairs and it felt perfectly fine up there. On the landing I could see into what I then presumed was Lisa’s bedroom and it seemed nice enough. It looked like she had spent the day hoovering and polishing. I am the sort of person that expects no fuss. I’m not there to see how you live, just there to see you. I went to the toilet and I had a gigantic piss. The sort that just never wants to end, you know, like a racehorse?
I flushed the chain and washed my hands and came back onto the landing, then I saw a shadow move in Lisa’s bedroom. Just a streak of darkness pass between the light of the landing and the light painted walls in there. I thought she was in there; maybe putting on her pyjama’s or something so I popped my head in and there was no one, nothing at all moving in there. I heard Lisa call up the stairs asking if I was O.K and I shouted down that I was fine. I did feel a bit excited and I got a few goose bumps but then I started to think that the power of suggestion is a powerful thing. I knew that the house was allegedly haunted and I had been drinking and smoked some green and if you added Lisa’s nervousness then suddenly you are going to start seeing and imagining things. If you went to someone’s house and they said it was haunted then you would expect to see something or hear something. You hear a creak and it’s a ghost, you see a shadow and it’s a ghost but if you went to the same house and were not told
then would you jump to such drastic conclusions? You would just think that the creak was the house settling and the shadow was caused by a light outsight or something rational. That’s what I thought that night and I didn’t mention it to Lisa, why would I? She was jittery enough. You have to realize as well that at this stage I had been told it was just a haunting, I was not told about the repulsive assaults. If I had known then I would have told her, but then again if I had known would I have stayed with her at all? Would any of this have happened? I guess we will never know but one thing for sure was that it wouldn’t take long for me to believe, it wouldn’t take long for it to ruin me.
Lisa: It was such a relief the next morning when we woke up on the settee all wrapped up in each other’s arms. I felt fine and Daniel just had these red blood shot eyes and asked had he been eating carpet all night as his mouth was as dry as a fuck without foreplay. He was so funny back then; it makes me sad to think of how he is now.
Daniel: Things were fine for a time. I stayed over a few times but I noticed how Lisa always tried to get us to sleep on the settee but it was uncomfortable. I reasoned with her just to go to bed, that I was there and we would be fine and if she wanted the light on then that would be fine too.
I even met Tyler. He’s a nice guy but a bit of a waster. He just needs to focus and try and do something with his life but that’s his business. Lisa has mothered him too much and now he knows he doesn’t have to commit to anything as he always has her to fall back on, especially when it comes to money. Two weeks after I met him he bluntly asked if I could lend him a hundred quid. I said no and he was a bit sulky with me for a bit.
It was nice to have a change from my flat. Lisa’s house had a garden and it was summer so I made salads and dinners that we could eat out in the sun. It was lush. I even noticed that Lisa started to relax more about the house. She didn’t seem as anxious all the time.
I didn’t see any more shadows or sense anything but I think it started not long after I had an awful nightmare that still haunts me. We went to bed. Lisa and I had started to have sex at hers. Nothing rampant, we kept that for my place but gentle, loving sex. We were always covered up in the duvet and she hardly made any noise at all, not like when she was at mine. I hardly ever saw her naked at her house, as soon as she was out of the shower she put her clothes on under her towel like you do when you are at the beach.
That night we had sex; she kept her top on and just pulled her knickers to one side so I could penetrate her. It was still amazing; to be inside her and be close and just hold her tight. I liked it. After sex I slept and I had this awful dream, not a dream a nightmare. I dreamt I woke up and I could see the bedroom in the gloom, I was at Lisa’s not mine or anyone else’s and I could feel the warmth of someone next to me and a soft breathing, I looked and I could see the back of Lisa’s head on her pillow as she slept.
Suddenly it wet freezing cold. My face was freezing and I inhaled deep cold breaths like it was a frosty winter’s day. Then I felt this cold, hard hand cover my nose and mouth and I couldn’t breathe. The cold hand felt like it was crushing my face, trying to squeeze it off. I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream and It felt as if my lungs were filling with painful and jagged frost and were about to explode. I thought I was dying and the pain was insane.
I woke up screaming and gasping for breath. Lisa jumped up and put on the light and just stared at me and screamed are you O.K? What’s happening? I was coughing and shaking. Once I got my composure back I told her about the dream. She looked as white as a sheet especially when I explained about the coldness and the pain and the freezing air in my lungs. She said it was just a bad dream, she grabbed my face and just buried me in her chest and held me for ages. It was a terrible dream, when I woke it was almost as if I could feel the pain and cold still on my face. I felt like I had stopped breathing. I thought I was going to die. It was the worst nightmare ever.
Lisa: I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. I had never told him about the cold and freezing feelings. I dreaded this was real and I prayed it was only a dream …but one thing scared me so much… I grabbed his head and just hugged him to stop him getting up and going to the bathroom or anything, to stop him seeing anything… he had a big red handprint across his face, across his nose and mouth, exactly as he had described in his dream. I could only hope that he had somehow done it to himself but I think we know who was behind it. I’m not sure to this day if Daniel knows about the handprint. I don’t think he could cope knowing that it tried to suffocate him in his sleep. I think he would be in a worse state than he is already if he knew that it actually tried to kill him.
Daniel: No, I didn’t think it was anything more than a dream. Why would I? You’re not telling me that was part of it as well are you? Oh my god, did it try to fucking kill me? This is awful, this is insane. Why would it do that? Was it jealous? FUCK! I’m glad I’m out of there. Is Lisa safe? This is so much to take in. There is no way it would try and kill me; it was just a dream! It was just a fucking dream, I know that crazy berserk shit was happening, I saw some weird things but that was just a dream and it would be ludicrous for us all to jump to these crazy conclusions that the was anything else to it. I think we need to focus on what we saw, what we know to be real. This is insane enough as it is, without thinking it was trying to kill people. That it was trying to kill me. I’m moving on from that O.K! I would appreciate it if you don’t mention it again to me.
One night we were at mine, it was a couple of months after the dream. Lisa had been very anxious, she tried to persuade me not to come over as often but I liked it at hers, as I said, I liked the garden plus I had friends in Pembroke and we would visit them, so it was nice just to stay at hers. I will admit I never saw any more shadows or felt anything while I was there that particular time and didn’t have any more strange dreams. Well nothing happened at hers for a bit anyway.
We were at my place and we had a good night, watched some movies and we had sex. I liked to snuggle up with Lisa after sex but eventually I get hot and I would turn on my side and face the wall so my back is to her.
Lisa: That night we made love and we went to sleep. I remember waking up in the night, it was pitch black, I felt something and I was thinking, oh my god I’m going to cum, I was really close to orgasm and it was such an intense feeling. Daniel was quite frisky and sometimes I would wake up and he would be feeling me up or rubbing his erection against my behind and sometimes we would make love or if I was tired then I would tell him to behave and go to sleep. This was really, really good and I could feel my whole body trembling. The nerves around my clit felt like a current was running through them. First there was a tingling that intensified, then there was a short sharp intense increase and then I climaxed. It was such a very intense pulsing which felt like my clit was trying to turn itself inside out and instead of lasting only a few seconds it lasted for an age and then a throb, throb, throb... then I had the biggest gush I had ever had. I had no idea what was happening. I actually screamed my head off in pleasure.
Dan: Lisa woke me, she was screaming and laughing and I dived out of bed. I didn’t know where I was or what was happening. I turned on the light and Lisa was lying there with her arms across her face. She was sweating and breathing heavy and the duvet was pulled down and her breasts were exposed.
I asked her was she O.K? To which she panted, I’m amazing and said thank you and asked what new trick had I learned?
I was so confused and I just looked at her. I hadn’t touched her. I thought she had been strumming one off in her sleep. I asked had she been masturbating. She just laughed and said no and asked if I had cum too? I told her I hadn’t even touched her and she looked bemused. She looked at me and quickly put her hand down under the duvet and then between her legs and she screamed. Not in joy this time but in absolute terror.
Lisa: Dan said he hadn’t touched me, said he had been asleep. I thought that maybe he had touched me or had sex with me in my sleep or maybe I had touched myself and
hadn’t realized. My knees were trembling, this had been the best orgasm of my life to this point and Dan wasn’t taking the credit. I started to think, no way, not here, it couldn’t be, I was at Daniels Flat. I started to fear the worse. I put my hands on myself, on my vagina and I screamed. I felt so ashamed and mortified. It was numb and ice-cold.
Daniel: Lisa kept screaming and screaming and I asked her what was wrong, I asked her to be quiet, it was 3 a.m. and I didn’t want her to wake the people next door. She screamed and screamed. I panicked and I pulled off the duvet and what I saw, what was there was so startling, so confusing.
Lisa: Daniel Just ripped off the duvet and I lay there naked with my hands on my vagina and the entire colour from his face just drained. I never saw him so shocked until that point. He just stood there, dressed in only his boxer shorts, just staring. I looked down and I just wailed. All over my legs, all up my thighs and all around my genitals were great big red handprints. They were Large, brutish marks, fading, but evident. I ran into the bathroom and sat there against the door while Daniel stood on the landing and asked a million times if I was O.K? I sat there sobbing, not replying, the marks and the numbness eventually disappearing. I couldn’t believe it.
Whatever it was, what ever had been doing this…It was back and it had followed me.
Triumvirate
Lisa: You have no idea how much of a shock it was? What it did at Daniels flat. I can’t explain it but I somehow knew that it would get me where ever I was. I knew that it wasn’t just my house. I cannot explain to you further than that on why I felt that way. I just knew it was always with me. I don’t know why it chose to do it to me there and then and not in the toilets where I work or the short cut through some woods that I would take home sometimes in the summer. I think it was sending me a message. To remind me that it wasn’t gone and that it could get me anywhere at any time. It was reminding me that I still belonged to it.
