Double Halloween Murder part 2 of 5

Double Halloween Murder part 2 of 5

You study the image carefully. The woman's hair is styled. Her necklace matches her earrings. The man has his arm draped over her shoulder. A young child is in their arms. Another adolescent stands at their side. But there are no faces. You blink hard, wondering if it is your eyes, or if it is just too dark. Pale blurs remain in the place of expressions. You cannot tell if they have been scraped away or if they are just faded for some reason. They are just gone.

"Weird," you mutter.

Where is everyone? Where is this family? Why are you dreaming about strolling through a random house?

You replace the picture on the small table. It is a dream. Nothing ever makes sense. You do not even realize that you have already walked to the end of the hall and into the kitchen. Everything is in order. There are no dishes in the sink, no plates lying about on countertops, and no mess on the bar. There is no table, only a large center island.

You jump at the sound of the loud thump. In the quiet dark of the house, it is enough to send your heart scampering into your throat. Whirling toward the hall, you can still hear scuffling. You blink, wondering if you should peek back into the hall. The sounds continue.

The thought crosses your mind to head for the back door. Glass shatters somewhere in that hall. You realize that you are holding your breath.

Just then, you hear... voices? You hear people. It is not their voices exactly, but their breath, a word uttered here and there, a pause, a low groan...

Glancing around, you ease toward the hallway again. Peering around the corner toward the front door that you came through, you see a scuffle of motion. You almost jerk back into the kitchen... but they do not see you. They do not even notice.

There are two of them, a man, and a woman. You jump again at the sound of a glass breaking when a picture falls from the wall.

Immediately you understand. The man shoves the smaller woman flat against the wall. Without hesitation, he lunges, pressing his face to hers. Their bodies join as they claw at each other desperately. You hear the gasp of breath, a sigh of utter relief, and the moan of enjoyment.

Squinting, you try to get a better look. You cannot see much detail in the dark. Her arms encircle the man's neck. She is shoving him downward, and his head wanders down her neck to the tops of her breasts. Their movements are quick, hungry, and desperate. You hear a belt, then a zipper, and a chuckle.

They disappear into a doorway. The sounds persist. Where... the living room? Your gaze follows the sounds to the archway beside you in the kitchen. The room beyond that door is glowing with dim yellow light.

There is a moment of hesitation. All you can do is stand there in shock and listen. Their voices are hushed. Your heartbeat is louder than anything. Your eyes are trained on that archway.

The woman moans, loud enough to fill the whole house. She is quickly shushed by her partner, at which point you hear a giggle. You cannot help yourself. Taking slow, soundless steps, you ease across the tile toward the door of the living room. The couple does not know you are here, or at least they did not seem to.

You briefly consider the sliding glass door at the rear of the kitchen.

Your impulse is to leave before you are discovered. It is a strange house, and though it is a dream, you are the intruder. Vulnerability coats your skin, and yet... those sounds! The distinct ripping of fabric makes you pause. The woman groans and gasps. The pull of your own curiosity builds with each passing second, never mind that pleasant warmth of arousal you feel.

Before you even realize it, you are peeking around the corner into the living room. A lamp was turned on. The lampshade is tilted as though it were knocked aside. You spot the couple on the couch. It alarms you to see that the woman is naked already. Her clothes are strewn about the floor, including the torn black panties.

She is straddling the man sitting on the couch. The sight is so alluring, so incredibly unabashed. Your eyes wander up the woman's bare back as she slithers about in the man’s lap. Her every curve is shadowed by the lamp light, drawing your eye to every highlight and every dark tempting line.

Weathered hands clutch the ample flesh of her hips. Long-toned arms cradle the woman close. Much of the man is hidden from you, but you can see that he is tall. His tan body is the perfect contrast to hers, and the two of them move in harmony together. Delicate legs slide over thick sturdy thighs.

It is not so much their nudity that locks your gaze on the couple. No, it

is the way they move. The tall man cannot pull her in close enough, he cannot find a place on that pale skin to let his greedy hands rest. It is like he is afraid to lose the sensation of her skin. The woman gasps and moans, rocking her hips forward into his lap. She gropes at his neck, and the shudder that hits her body is like she channels some sort of orgasmic energy right from the touch.

You give a brief glance behind you, but you cannot look away. Already you feel your breath diving deeper and fuller. A feeling stirs inside you. You might as well be right beside that couple, watching her breasts bounce against the man's hard chest. Your eyes cannot seem to stay away from the woman's round ass, where you see that hard shaft driving upward. The man's every desperate thrust sends ripples across the flesh of her cheeks. Hard flesh and smooth skin collide repeatedly. Their grunts and groans grow increasingly louder.

Something in the very air around you feel like it is building. You know what must be coming. The couple's movements grow more frantic.

Her body bounces wildly on the man. He squeezes tighter and jerks her onto his shaft over and over. Your mouth is getting moist. Just watching the scene makes you feel like you are sweating all over. You must see it. You know the moment is coming. The lamp even seems to glow brighter. You shift from foot to foot and squeeze your trembling hands into fists.

The woman is screaming now. You know she is close, and it is driving you nuts. The man's knuckles are white. At any moment they could explode. Your own mind is racing. Should you leave now before they see you? Or after? How is this dream this incredible, this raw and vivid? You do not care. Tension takes a strong hold of you. You must see this. It is just too steamy.

Everything stops.

The couple on the couch freezes. What was wild and deafening becomes still. You watch unmoving from your place at the door. You do not even breathe. Minute after minute seems to pass. All you can hear is the pounding of your own pulse.

They are not moving. The woman is still sitting naked in the man's lap.

The man's hands still rest atop her ample cheeks. You cannot hear them breathing. You do not see their bodies shifting at all. You ease back a few inches from the door. The couple just stares straight ahead at one another. Your mind starts racing. Did they see you? Or hear you? Why are they just sitting there? What happened? Is this a part of something weird in the dream?

The lamp flickers. Shadows blink on and off in the living room.

Something sinks inside you. The scene suddenly looks odd... and unsettling.

Your eyes widen as you watch the couple move in perfect synchronization. Both of their heads swivel very slowly. A sense of alarm and dread blazes across your skin when you realize they are turning to look at you. The lamp behind them is still flashing. Frozen in shock, you, at last, see the features of the lovers as their gazes fixed upon the door where you stand.

Their faces are blank.

You gasp and stumble back from the door. God, their faces! There are no eyes, no lips, no noses! Only expressionless skin glares your way.

You remember the pictures in the hall. These are not picturing though. The people are faceless!

Just as your mind is trying to react, a sound begins to lift in the air.

The tone is low but builds and builds and builds until an ear-splitting wail fills the house. It is louder than an air raid siren. Grimacing, you cover your ears. You notice the light no longer blinks but starts to shine brighter and brighter. It is then that you see those gaunt faces of the lovers on the couch again... and they have changed. Both the man and the woman now have large slits across the bottom of their visage... a... a mouth? The holes gape open too wide, their jaws stretching impossibly low. They stare blankly. The siren scream that fills the air seems to blast forth from the black mouths of the lovers.

The bulb in the lamp bursts just as you turn to flee. You do not know where you are going, but you are getting away from that living room and those... those people. That awful sound... or, or scream... whatever it is drowns out all thought and all sanity. The sliding glass doors. Immediately you make for the back door of the kitchen. You cannot wait to get out of this house. You reach for the handle of the sliding door.

Glass shatters and your ears ring painfully as the door explodes inward. You scream in surprise and fall back from the door. Shards of glass are everywhere. The curtains billow outward overhead.

Scrambling backward across the tile, you stare fearfully at the shattered doors.

All are immediately silent again. Breathing hard, you look around. The living room behind you is dark. No one is there. The siren scream is gone. You are alone, gasping on the tile floor. You scan the back door, wondering what destroyed the glass. After a moment, nothing has happened. You climb to your feet, your eyes fixated on the door.

A figure steps into view. You stop. It is a person just outside the back door. For a moment you are stuck, caught between reflexes. Your brain is locked in a maelstrom of thought and emotion. The figure sways as if drunk, then turns toward the broken door. It is a tall body,

looming into the door with dangling arms. You are already backing away, but your eyes will not turn. You are trying to make sense of the damn thing. The head is too misshapen, twisted, and bloated. One of the legs bends the wrong way. As it steps through the threshold of shattered glass, a shard from the door slices its midsection and tears flesh away. The person hardly notices. It moves through the door regardless.

You are already dashing into the hallway. For a half second, you hesitate. Your mouth gapes open as you stare down the hundreds of feet that the hallway has become. This... this was not like this moments ago. What is going on?

To be continued