#fluffober2022

It's been a couple of months since you moved into this house. The house you now call home. You didn’t get many visitors, and when you wanted to see someone, they’d convince you to go to their house. Even the movers didn’t step foot inside, and most delivery services, if they knew, wouldn’t go further than the front lawn. And it was all because you moved into a house where someone committed suicide.

The day you bought the house, you didn’t even bother to look into its history. Your eyes only saw the unbeatable mortgage and pricing. I mean, of course, you looked at the interior and whatnot, but you thought people stayed away from it due to how long it’d been up. You thought they were scared of vintage houses. But, you were wrong. They didn’t like the house because it was haunted. At least that’s what the locals told you. They swore up and down you’d be running out of that house in no time, but it never came.

You assumed they were trying to have you leave because they despised the new people. Which made sense since they were a very small community of people and didn't have many visitors. And because of everything, you couldn't bring yourself to believe in the ghost. Because you’d been living there for months with nothing ghost-like occurring. And the only scary thing was how many teenagers came around to chant the name "Jonathan Blake". You always have to tell them off. You didn’t know what a sick and twisted high they got out of that. For fucks sake, let the dead be dead. You couldn't imagine how unbearable they'd be on Halloween night. Or maybe they'd leave you alone, believing this would be the height of the haunting.

Last night had been unbelievably rough. You had those kids come back, and you had a nightmare. A dark and gruesome nightmare. A nightmare about the suicide of Jonathan Blake. You felt terrible, but it wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t control what you dreamed about. Even so, you'd hoped you'd forget it more quickly. You needed to stop talking to the locals so much. They were getting to you. You forced yourself up, feeling the apparent sweat that had formed on your forehead. Your current bedroom was cold as you grudgingly got up. You came into contact with the wooden flooring as you yawned. You changed into some sweats and a shirt. You had no intention of doing anything. It was the weekend, after all. All you wanted to do was binge on scary movies and sleep some more. You walked through the house and you could hear your breath and steps echo. You then made it to the kitchen. The sun was fairly out due to it still being early in the morning. So you didn't need to turn on the light as you made your coffee, eagerly waiting for it to be done.

You stood there for a moment, waiting for your coffee to dispense as the doorbell rang vigorously. The disorienting noise rang throughout the house as it hurt your ears. Your hands jolted as you made your way to the door as fast as you could. You were going to snap if it was those kids again. As you cautiously opened the door, you were met with a pale man with short dark brown locks framing his face. And with that, he was adorning stereotypical mailman's attire, even adding a blue baseball cap on top. He held out a brown package. It must have been something that you ordered a while back.

"I believe this is for you." At first, he didn’t look at you but then turned to you. His face changed after staring at you for an uncomfortable moment. "Oh, good morning," he said cheerfully as he leaned against the doorframe. "I didn't expect to see an angel." his teeth were whiter than him. You’ve never heard someone unironically use such an internet pickup line.  "Um, thanks for the package," you said as you slowly shut the door in his face as he took the privilege of forcing it back open. "You know, it’s pretty rude to do that, but I'll let it slide." he looked at you for way too long, making sure to take you all in as you gave him a vile side-eye. The man stepped a foot into your house as you stared at him harshly. You didn’t know how many hints you had to give this man before; you’d have to slap him. You could feel yourself cringe. You would've preferred the angsty teens over this any day. He then took a step into your house as you backed away. "What are you doing?" you asked him as he tried to make his way into your house. "I'm making sure the package is delivered," he reassured. You could right-hook this man. He wasn't much taller than you. You could tear him apart. You told yourself. You weren't going to be the next death in this house. He then made his way completely into the house. He was making you uncomfortable, and you didn’t know what to do. You had to put your foot down.

"Hey, I’m not into you like that and I also don't feel comfortable with this, so please get out of my house." you were about to snap out on this man. He frowned harshly, his face tense a good amount. "I'm just doing my job, so why are you like that?" he raised his tone and acted as if he was in the right. This guy had the nerve to intrude into your house and then say that. You cussed him out. "It's my house and because you're fucking weird," you told the mailman, as he was taken aback for a second. "Oh, you're with that emo over there?' 'Is that why you won't give me a chance?" he asked, squinting in your living room. Who was he talking about? It was just you and you alone in that house. You had no roommate or partner. You knew right then that this guy was mental and you needed him out. You were going to go call the cops on the man as he started to cuss at whatever was behind you.

"Who?-" you stuttered as you heard loud footsteps marching their way toward the both of you. You heard them right behind you as they got closer to you. You felt a sudden cold surge go right through you as there was now a solid figure right in front of you.  Someone just walked through you completely, and you could still feel their touch. You could still feel the shivers that had run up your spine. The feeling was so ethereal but so unnatural, yet you wanted to feel it again. "Boo." The figure tilted his head as the mailman screamed violently. He fell to the floor as the figure towered above him. "Jonathan Blake?" he whispered as he picked himself up and ran out the door. The mailman screamed "Puppeteer" as he stuttered. He managed to cuss the both of you out as he ran for his truck. As soon as it was just you and the spirit. You could feel yourself swallowing. Fear injected itself into your system, but you couldn't manage to run. You were enchanted by whatever that past feeling was and now by the unhuman man in front of you.

The figure wore a gray beanie on top of his jet-black hair. His skin was an irregular gray, but that wasn’t the most out-of-place thing. It was his glowing yellow eyes. His golden eyes radiated toward your normal ones. He had no pupils or whites. It was all yellow. You couldn't stop staring in awe. You should have been terrified, and you were, but your fascination with him had overcome your fear. "Boo," he muttered again, getting even closer to your face. You could tell he didn't have his shoes on the ground. Instead, he was floating a couple of inches off of the hardwood floor. He looked into your eyes, tilting his head. He appeared to be questioning you more than you were questioning him. You didn't move or run. You just couldn't. You were mesmerized by him. And even so, you could feel your heart pounding out of your chest. You didn't even feel like you were there. You were just lost in his gaze as sweat fell to the floor. "Interesting," he said, raising his eyebrows as he put himself back onto the ground. You could feel his gaze burn into your trembling frame. He was still taller than you. It didn't even make a difference if he was in the air or not. He still stood strong. The room only seemed to get colder with him in it. You could smell coffee coming from the kitchen as you looked at the transparent man in front of you.

"There's an actual ghost in my house." the words came out shaky as you felt your lips tremble violently. "Sounds like a you problem." he stood strong in front of you. You reached out to his torso. You wanted to know if he was real. If he was a ghost or if you were going insane. You didn't know what this would solve, but you were going to try it anyway. You placed your hand on his chest, pushing it against it. Your hand didn’t go through. You could feel a chill run up your fingertips on contact. "You can’t just do that." he grabbed your wrist harshly as you attempted to pull back. But his hold was just too strong. A million thoughts were running through your mind, but you couldn’t seem to organize one of them. "Huh?" you wanted to say so much more. Was he a ghost or not? He made no sense. He felt solid, but seconds ago he walked straight through you. And seconds ago, he was floating. You had so many questions and yet no answer. For example, why did the guy who committed suicide, Jonathan Blake, go emo?

"Yes, I’m real, and yes I'm a spirit," he answered two of your questions as his hold on you went away, but his hand was still very much gripping onto you. He quickly slipped his hand through your arm to demonstrate it to you. In the legend, the people spoke of Jonathan Blake. They said he’d drive you to suicide just like the world did to him. They said he was violent. They said he would string you up and take your organs out one by one. But, here he was playing into your antics. He even saved you from that bitch of a mailman. Was he just playing with his food? You didn't know if you would be able to answer that. You were way too deep in the cold, soft feelings that he brought you. And every time you felt his hand phase, it was pure ecstasy. "I was hoping to make my appearance later, but, you know." he exhaled, waiting for you to relax and get over the initial hype of seeing a dead person.

Even with all of this. He was still a rumored spirit that fed off of suicide, and you weren't ready for it. You didn't want him to do that to you. You liked whatever was going on currently. You wanted to be his friend. "I don't want to die." your eyes widened softly as you gazed at him. You didn't want him to drag you into that dark place. You had a prime question in mind. One that stuck out. Was he gonna end you today or was he going to take his sweet time with you?  He chuckled and even laughed at your misery. "Oh, I love hearing that line’ ‘But, I’m not going to hurt you.’ ``Only cause you to live here, and it's making it easier to find people," he told you blankly, but you didn’t believe him. He wasn't actually going to leave you alone. You weren't going to be the one he chose to spare. You didn't even notice your hands violently shaking. You were so confused. You had way too many emotions coming at you at once. You were getting stressed and overwhelmed. It was too much for you. You could feel yourself hyperventilating as your vision went dizzy. Your legs turned to jelly as you started to wobble backward. You didn’t know what to say or do. You fell against the wall. The puppeteer quickly made his way to you.

As you backed even further into the wall, he pressed his hands on either side of your frame. "Shouldn’t have bought a house off Craigslist." he tilted his head down to you. He was much larger than you. He practically caged you, and the worst part was he didn’t even have to try. Tears pricked in the corner of your eyes as they ran down your face effortlessly. "Hey, it's okay." his yellow mouth laughed as he brought you in for a hug. He was alarmingly cold but still alluring. He probably didn't even know he was pulling at your heartstrings. You knew he wasn’t actually trying to comfort you, but it felt like he was. He wasn’t even trying to lie, but he already had you falling for it. He was being so sadistic toward you, but you couldn't help but completely indulge. Was he just capable of manipulating your feelings, or were you just like that? Were you playing checkers while he was playing chess?

But, for some reason, it felt good to be special. It felt good to be the only one excluded from his murder. It felt good to be the only one he had mercy on. But knowing how you were feeling about it made it so much worse. You liked being special to him. Even if he was lying to you. But, even with all of this, he had your mind spinning. You hated that you could even feel that for someone like him. You could feel the tinge of disgust coursing through you. You didn't understand why he wasn't trying to kill you. You didn't want to be excluded, but, at the end of the day, you had no choice. It wasn't up to you, was it? He grabbed your tear-stained face, wiping away your tears with his freezing hands. You could feel yourself involuntarily embracing him. It felt so good, but it was terrible. He still had a grin even after his fingers were stained with your tears.

He placed one of his digits that had been immersed in your tears and licked it. His finger popped out of his mouth as he smiled at you, taking your expression all in. He thrived in sorrow, and you were directly giving it to him. You could feel your stomach coil as red dusted your face. You wanted to listen to your impulsive thoughts. You wanted to run with it. You felt fluttering in your stomach. According to his legend, the only thing he could sense was depression. He probably didn’t know what you were about to do. But you did. This was going to get you killed.

"Now back to the deadly ghost in my house shock era," he muttered, expecting you to go back to freaking out. But you didn’t. Instead, you made sure he was in his solid state as you pulled him in by the collar and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. His golden smile immensely went away in pure shock. As his cold lips come into contact with your warm ones. For the second you two were connected, you swore you would have felt a faint shock. His lips were rough and harsh against your soft ones. You remembered the details by looking at his face. He stood still, mouth agape.

"I- I didn’t think that was a part of being scared of a spirit." he froze in place, blinking at you while tilting his head. You could see his gray cheeks had a darker gray sprinkled on them. He came back to you, pressing you back against the wall. He was much more curious than before. Maybe it was because you two were at vastly different temperatures. But, you wanted more, and you could sense he wanted more too by the way he stared at you. You didn’t know how to describe it other than with a hungry gaze. He dipped down again, about to connect your lips. You two heard blaring police sirens again. As soon as you turned to find the source and turned back, he vanished. After that morning, you were never alone. After that morning you had a poltergeist boyfriend. And now no one has ever fucked with you again after the mailman ran into town screaming that he’d seen him.

You just ended a call with your parents. You felt the tears roll down your cheeks, only to have new ones replace them. You had just come out to them and told them you were dating a girl named "Jane". They didn’t accept you. They could only list the reasons why it wasn’t right. They couldn’t see a single good thing about your relationship with her. If you only had the opportunity, you could’ve listed all the reasons why it was right. You shook as you curled up into a ball whilst you sat on the couch. You looked at the phone receiver in disbelief. There were so many ways that this could’ve gone and, of course, you managed to get the worst way.

You heard a hurried rush come from the door as it swung open. It was your girlfriend, Jane. She stood strong. She looked at you. Her figure slowly softened up. "Reader? ", "Is everything alright?’ ‘I heard you from the other room." she quickly got onto your level. You looked at her porcelain mask of a face as she rubbed your tears away with her soft hands. Her dark hair deeply contrasted with the white of her mask. She seemed stressed, as she always was. "I- I told my parents about us." you frowned as you struggled to form a sentence. You didn’t know what to say and you had the feeling she did.

"You’ve told your parents?’ ‘About us?" her posture stiffened. She was freaking out under all that control. You could tell from the way she held your cheek. It was much different than, the strokes before. "Yeah," you muttered under your breath, still shaken. You felt this oncoming dread slowly arise as you sat with Jane. "You know how dangerous that is?" she raised her tone as she looked at you. "I know and didn’t tell them that." you played it off, but she knew what you meant. "That I’m wanted for murder?" Jane looked at you, crouched down, but remained taller than you.

"Look-" you tried to speak before she cut you off abruptly. "Do you not get how dangerous I am?’ ‘I love you more than anything but it doesn’t mean I’m not a killer." Jane stood quietly she seemed to want to add so much more. "Do you not care about your family? Or even friends." she tried to be soft but you could tell she missed her own. "I love you." you didn’t know what to say. It was true that a good portion of your friends and family had blocked you. Though it was never because they thought she murdered people. It was always because you two were together. "I don’t want to lose you but I don’t want you to lose everything for me.’ ‘You don’t deserve that. I do." she explained and tried her best to communicate. There was a moment of silence before she spoke up. "Did nobody warn you about me?" she asked, looking at you. She couldn’t believe that such a sweet person could ever love her. Or even tolerate her. You could hear a short, brief sniffle coming from behind her mask. "I love you, Jane." You reached out to her. "I don’t care. I want you just as much as you want me" you softly smiled toward her as she took you in for a hug. You both held each other as the clock mercilessly ticked by.