The lights on the path have an orangish glow. The wind has picked  up and eerie sounds are pumping through the speakers They lead the way to the haunted house. Every once in a while, someone jumps out of the bushes and tries to scare us. She jumps every time.  She also jumps closer to me.  close enough for my arm to move around her was it and close enough that I can lean into her hear and whisper.

"Amateurs," I say to her in a low voice. "I will protect you, scaredy cat." I giggle at her.

She is adorable in every way.

Her arms cross in front of her chest and I can tell that my term of affection irritates her.

"I do not like that name, sir."  I smile.  I knew that she would have words about that one.  

"Noted."  I say and hide the grin.  She snuggles into my side and I cherish her warmth.  

There it stands in the middle of the square. The oldest house in town and the tallest. The Blythe Mansion is a old house, but not decrepit and quite beautiful in its own way. Painted black, its yellow overhang is slightly askew and gives the feeling of an old timely horror movie. The windows are clouded over so that shadows and light are all that is visible. The tombstones placed in the front yard along with the smoke created by a machine and the fog that seemed to roll in from out of nowhere add to the ambiance. In the front yard,  a metal fence with spikes surrounds the property. The oak trees in the front yard cooperate with the theme as they sway and moan in the wind.  The owls hoot and the clouds roll across the sky ,the wind dragging along leaves from the maple trees that are shedding their weight for the winter. Two weekends a year, this mansion in a little town in the middle of the forest, one which was presumed to be truly haunted, gets to shine.

"I know it is something that I should have said earlier, but I don't like to be scared." She confesses. "I mean, I really don't like it."

"Then why on Earth do you want to go to a haunted house, my silly girl?" I kiss her cheek.

"Because I've never had some one that I trusted enough to go with me. I never want to let fear control me. With you, I know that I will be safe." she says, looking shy.

"I am honored. I promise I won't let you go. I will keep you safe, no matter the manner of demon or monster."

She smiles and kisses my cheek. "I know I will be safe with you".

"Let's get some coffee to drink while we're in line," I say.

"I love you for many reasons, but your desire to fill me with coffee is high on the list." She grabs my hand and pulls me toward the coffee cart.

We grab drinks and notice how long the line is. I didn't know how popular this event would be.  If she wasn't this close to me, I don't think I would know what to do with myself,  This was good for me.  It was a way to get more used to the real world.  I look around for Betty and Phillip, but I don't see them anywhere. I guess we're are going through this just the two of us.  That doesn't;t bother me.

"Perhaps we should have gotten here sooner? I don't see Betty or Philip." I apologize. "Do you want me to try and track them down?"

"It's fine. We have all night. Besides, waiting in line gives us more time for this." She wraps my arms around her from the back and leans against my chest facing out. Our fingers interlace and she occasionally raises my hand to her mouth and kisses my palm. I kiss her head and generally enjoy this feeling of closeness, one that I thought I had found and then lost and then thankfully  found again.

I hold her as the line slowly moves. We joke as I continue to kiss her forehead and whisper in her ear. She laughs. It is nice. These little moments that lead to a real love. These little moments are what makes a life. They are what I dream of keeping.

She is nervous as we are the next in line. We have to sign a disclaimer that says we can't sue if we die or some nonsense like that. She quickly signs the document as do I and then our hands find each others again.

"Come on, you two, the time has arrived." A man dressed as a zombie butler says, "Welcome to the Blythe mansion where abnormalities abound. Mind your heads as you travel about. Beware. Not all who enter will survive."

He walks us to the door, his mouth sags on one side and one of his legs drags behind him. His act is good. Mahri seems to have bought into it. I smile as I watch her. She loves to live life and allows herself feel all of its moments even when she is as terrified as she is now. I love the way she is fully invested in everything she tries, it inspires me to try and be more real and take in all of life that can.

The double door in front of us creaks open. The door is ten feet tall with black wooden panels that creep up to a curved point in the middle that is inlaid with images of life and death. The edges appeared to have claw marks and were worn as if the years had taken their toll.  I couldn't tell how they created such a magnificent facade, but it was an excellent touch.

She is already burying her face in my shoulder. I squeeze her hand. "Are you sure you still want to do this? It is not too late to leave."

"Yes, I am positive.  I am doing this," she says and forces herself to stand up taller.

We are greeted by a housemaid, pale, with hollow eyes. She is wearing a traditional maid uniform, black and white, but it is tarnished and disheveled.  Her tights have rips and tears. She is a young, but a tiny woman whose hands somehow look gnarled as she reaches them out to us. Her hair is jet black with a streak of white and pulled into a messy bun on top of her head.  

"We must hurry," she says leading us toward a set of doors, heavy and laden with spiderwebs. Her voice is gravelly and thick. "I heard a scream and the master isn't home," she continues.

The inside of this mansion is even more imposing than the outside. The foyer that we are standing in has twelve foot ceilings painted red an a sickly shade of crimson. The black velvet covered furniture is gorgeous and must be original to the house. A black crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling. Skulls and potions fill the shelves that are bulging with details. Rats in cages, sorcery books and carefully placed spiderwebs add to the effect. A picture in the wall has eyes that follow as we move across the room. To the left, a raven bellows, "Danger, danger to all who enter here." Bats fly high in the ceiling, their bodies hanging from the rafters. In the air, music from an untuned piano fills the space.

The housemaid continues on. "Follow me," she beckons, looking nervous and rushed.Her voice lowers and she continues to speak, "The sound came from just down this hallway."  The hall that we enter seems to be a little too narrow and a little too tall somehow. The wallpaper is an ornate mauve and pink rose pattern, the door jambs are painted black. Now, all of the pictures on the wall have eyes that move wherever we go. The discordant piano music gets increasingly louder the farther that we  move into the mansion.

"Stop!" The maid stops suddenly and puts a finger up to her lips. As she does this a black figure begins to approach from the end of the hallway. It grows taller and skinnier as it comes closer. This shadow continues to climb up the wall. As the housemaid shudders and hides in the corner,  Shadowman's finger begins to resemble the branches of the trees outside, coming to sharp points at the end. He lurks in the corners and searches for any soul to disarm.  He is like a dog searching for its prey.

My hand is losing circulation. Mahri is holding tight to me and there is not even a shred of space between the two of us . She is breathing quickly. "Baby, it's ok," I whisper, leaning in to kiss her on the head. She looks up with a weak smile and eyes full of resolve.

The figure on the wall comes closer and seems to sniff around the hallway waiting for a movement or a sound escaping from someone's lips. I'm not sure if Mahri is breathing. It hovers briefly near Mahri's head. After a few seconds, the shadow huffs, seemingly finding nothing, and turns to move past us and into the foyer.

"We must keep moving," the maid encourages us along, "the screaming from earlier was so terrible. We must find out what has happened. "

Taking a deep breath and switching sides with Mahri so I can give my left hand a break, we walk down an excruciatingly long hallway. This part of the hallway is covered with windows on both sides. On one side, we see a doctor's laboratory. It is gruesome. A doctor, wearing a blood stained lab coat, leans over a body with a gruesome smile. Fluorescent lights dangle above his head blinking and flashing. The room is painted an off-putting green. The nurse wears a grotesque amount of lipstick and her eyes are hollow and overdone with makeup, her dress is bloodstained and torn and entirely too small. She hands the wide-eyed doctor rudimentary surgical tools as he removes internal organs from a patient that lay on the table. The patient is awake, his mouth is taped shut and his eyes are taped open. Tears roll down his face as terror fills his eyes.  The tape on his mouth can't stop the haunting sound of his screaming. There is blood everywhere. The joy that the doctor takes in this process is obvious and his maniacal laugh almost drowns out the terrible piano music, still ringing in the air.

On the other side, we see some creepy twins singing an even creepier song. The girls have their hair is in ponytails. They are in matching dresses and Mary Jane's. There playroom is full of toys that are dirty and falling apart as is everything else. The wallpaper is pulling from the walls and the ceiling appears to be dripping some sort of liquid. Everything is grey except the girls and their brightly colored dresses. One girl looks at me and smiles a sinister grin as she takes a knife out of her back pocket and moving toward her sister. Before I can find out what happens, we are told to proceed down the hallway. I hear the scream of one of the girls and shudder.

Mahri's face is white. I think she is still breathing.  I kiss her hand to make sure,  she meet my eyes.  They are full of more terror than I have ever seen from anyone before.

I whisper in her ear, "Are you ok?

She nods, "I am doing this." She grabs my hand tighter. I kiss the top of her head and we keep walking.

The hall suddenly gets tighter. The maid ahead of us says, "Just a few more feet and we will enter the master's office. This is where the noise came from." Suddenly, the walls open up and hands start reaching for us. One grabs Mahri's arm and I hear a blood-curdling scream escape from her mouth. I have never heard anything that loud, that horrified, come out of someone's mouth before. It is even more terrifying when it is out of the mouth of the woman you love.

I pull her to the side. "We are leaving. Where's the way out?" I quickly ask the housemaid. "There is no way out," She answers. "It is written on the disclaimer. Did you read it? You have to go through in a timed manner. Once you enter, you can't leave except through the proper exit." She is whispering. This is the first time she has broken character.

"I was distracted when I signed the document. She is going to panic. I will not let that happen."

"We can try to move a little faster, but there are groups in front of us and we can't pass them and ruin their experience."

"The hell we can't." I raise my voice.

"I will be fine," Mahri interrupts and squeezes my hand. "Really, Jake. The poor girl is just doing her job. We can get through this together. Please, let's not make a scene."

"Are you sure?" She nods warily. 

"I believe that we can make it through. Hold tight to me." I say to her and then look toward the housemaid. "I am sorry. We will continue."

The maid smiles slyly and says, "Thank you I really need this job." She quickly slides right back into character as she leads us to the next part of the mansion.

Mahri seems to have more color on her face. She is taking some deep breaths and trying to regain her composure. We continue to head down to the end of the hallway. A door sits at the end it is, at once, inviting and terrifying. It is heavy metal door full of engravings that I can not comprehend. The metal has dents coming from the inside that looks as though someone had been trying desperately to get out. I notice a lock on the side and a strong deadbolt. Our guide has a key around her neck.

"The lady of the house was in here before I heard the scream. I have no idea what we are about to see. Please come with me." The maid informs us and then turn to unlock the door. Inside is a formal office. The walls are painted green. A big oak desk sits in the back of the room. The shelves are filled with books, some of which have been flung onto the floor along with various papers, a globe, and feathers from the cushion of the desk chair. Along the wall and the desktop are deep scratches as if from an animal. Tufts of hair are attached to a hat rack and the side of a now broken mirror. I hear a soft groan coming from a closed door. Then I hear it again, a whimper this time. I thought it was coming from Mahri, but she was just standing there, eyes wide and wet. The sound is coming from behind the closed door.

"Please, someone help me." I hear from the secret room.the voice on the other side of the room sounds weak and strained.

I am torn. I know this is part of the game and I promised not to leave Mahri's side or make her feel more afraid. I also know that I can't leave until I open that door and get through this challenge.

I lean over to Mahri and whisper, "The way I see it is this, we have to solve this problem if we ever want to get out of here. Once we are free, Then we can have a a couple of drinks, listen to some music, maybe take that hayride around town, kiss. But we have to face whatever is behind that door first. Do you think we can do it?"

She takes a deep breath and takes my hand "We have to, but don't let go."

"I promise, we will do it together." I say and kiss her hand. She is still a little flushed and her breathing is shallow. "You ready?"

She nods. We walk toward the door together,  her hand in mine.I will not let go eventhough I have given up hope that I will be able to feel my fingers again. I look around, but the housemaid is gone.

Opening the door where the noises are coming from, I see a woman, bloody and disheveled, she runs out, tears streaming down her face. Her hair which was once nicely done has been set into disarray and her mascara is streaming down her cheeks. The heel on one of her shoes is broken. She is frantic, panicked even. Her shirt has obvious tears in it, three slash marks of some kind.

"One minute I was in the office talking to my husband, and the next minute, he was changing..." she was hysterical "...into this monster. I locked myself in the closet after he got my arm." I look down to see scratch marks that match the ones on the desk and the walls. She stops all of the sudden then holds a finger up to her mouth. "Hide," she whispers, "he is coming back. I can hear him. She runs back inside the closet and locks the door, leaving us to face whatever was headed our way.

"Remember," I whispered to Mahri, trying to speak in a calming tone, "this is a haunted house. It isn't real. We are strong. We can through this together." I smooth her hair trying to calm her. My arm slides around her waist and she tucks her head closer to me, but she won't hide her eyes. She has to know what is going on, hiding her face would be worse.

"It seems real though, my fear is real." She says honestly.

"I know. You want to conquer this fear though, let's finish conquer it together." I would take her away in a heartbeat, but she would regret leaving and giving in to these feelings.

It is then that I hear it a low growl coming from a door I hadn't seen before. It gets louder and deeper and the floor seems to rumble.

Mahri spins around and I see two eyes reflecting the light the way a dog's eyes reflect a flashlight. The eyes move closer inside the doorway. Mahri is stiff and still. The animal begins to move toward us now. I see fur and muscles, teeth and claws coming quickly. I don't know if these people are allowed to touch us. I spin to put Mahri behind me, but she won't let me. All of the sudden, she comes to life. She lets go of my hand and runs toward the creature. She is screaming. The sound is guttural and unhinged. She runs straight at him and before I can stop her, she punches him in the face. The combination of the running and the punch knock him flat to the ground.

My mouth hangs open in disbelief. She is crying and laughing a little in the release of all of the tension that had been building up.

We had to get out of there before they caught us, so we run. We run past the creepy clowns, past the garden of dolls, past two groups that were in front of us, one of those groups looked oddly familiar, we run past Freddy Kruger and past the window in which Michael Meyers was ready to slay us. We run out the back door and don't stop laughing until we are at the bar.

"I guess you conquered your fear." I said. I am actually quite proud of her, not for hitting someone but for being brave and standing up to her monsters. She is brave and strong and incredibly sexy.

She chuckles, "I guess that's one way to look at it. I'm embarrassed. She puts her head in her hands, trying to hide her face, "I hope that guy is ok." Her face is flushed but her smile hasn't left her face. Her words still carry a touch of laughter.

"He will be fine and you shouldn't be embarrassed. You should feel like the sexiest, most capable, incredible woman the world has ever seen."

I move in quickly and pull her body close to mine. With one hand on her ass, the other on the back of her neck, I kiss her. The kiss is aggressive, full of passion and lust. It is full of all of the desire that I have felt for her since they day we met. Then, it is also filled with the desire that I feel for her in this moment. Our tongues forcefully explore each other. She is moaning, inviting me to continue. My hand moves to the back of her head tangling in her hair, allowing me to increase the depth of the kiss and dangerously pulling her body closer to me with the other hand that is intensifying its grip in her ass.

Watching her take down something that scared her, seeing her ability to adapt and overcome obstacles, make me want her even more. I am glad that we are in public or I would definitely be in trouble. Her kisses are passionate as well. I can tell that she also desires me. I feel as if, in this moment, that the world around us doesn't exist. We are the only two people that matter.

When we finally, and I mean finally because this kissing session is not quick, pull away, my heart continues to pound. I refuse to look away from her eyes which are now more gray than green. I am filled with love and lust, longing and desire, admiration and respect for this incredible woman in my arms.

One hand still rests on her ass the other is wiping her hair away from her face. Her hands are locked on my hips.

She smiles shyly at me.

"I guess no more haunted house for me." She said wryly.

"I don't know, watching you take that guy out was the most compelling thing I have ever seen anyone do."

"Compelling?" She asks.

"Yes, compelling. Seeing you conquer your fear and taking that guy down, makes me so proud and I think it is so..." I pause, looking for the right words. "... there are many ways that you are attractive to me. You have a lovely heart and a beautiful mind. You are gorgeous, from you sable hair to your emerald eyes, you are kind when you need to be and gentle when it is right. You are willing to forgive and love despite the consequences, but tonight, when you were able to fight back and not let fear overtake you, that was the sexiest thing I have ever seen."

"I freaked out and punched an innocent man and you thought that was sexy?"

I pull her tight again and lean into her ear, my voice low and full of desire, "Baby, you have no idea how sexy."

She looks up at me with eyes full of something I had never seen before.

She opened her mouth to speak. Before the words come out, Betty walks up behind us.

"We waited for you all at the mansion, but you never showed up. For what it's worth, whatever has been happening here for the last five minutes... that's good stuff. Steamy even. Nice work, loser." She says and punches me in the arm. "When you're finished come and join us. I owe you both a drink. I'm sure you are fucking parched from all of that kissing and ass grabbing.  Geez, It thought Phil and were the ones breaking all of the rules with our PDA's, but you are are n another category all together." I look over and see Philip giving me a mocking thumbs up. Mahri giggles.

I hang my head low, and rub Mahri's arms in resolve. I smile sympathetically at her and I am upset that our time has been disrupted, but part me is also thankful. If I am supposed to be taking this relationship slow, I definitely needed a distraction, even if that distraction is Philip.