*****
Amber dreamed of a party in a beautiful yard. She was eating, drinking and dancing with her best friend, Lisa. It felt wonderful, yet there was something eerie about it since there was a slight mist they were dancing in. Lisa would fade out and come back, always smiling and laughing. Her beautiful blond hair and light blue eyes were shinning. There were two other people on the fringes of the yard they were in. Never completely in focus. That was the really weird part to Amber. She could not ever see them directly. She would try in her dream, but always got distracted by food, drink or her happy friend. She loved seeing her friend happy. It was a strangely satisfying feeling that brought her joy yet also a little confusion.
The mist became thicker and her friend faded from view and she began looking around with worry as the mists got thicker and damper. As she moved around the yard calling for Lisa, she felt her feet getting wet from the soaked grass. She saw two shadows and rushed towards them feeling a panic rising deep inside her. She reached for the two figures and for a brief instant she saw a woman and man she did not recognize, then they swirled away as if on a wind. She woke up with a start, sitting up in bed.
She remembered where she was and saw Lisa stretched out and the woman’s legs were tangled in a light blanket. The faint morning light coming through the windows and sky light showed a peaceful smile on her face. Amber let out a breath in relief. All of her tension went away. She did not make the connection between Lisa’s safety and her tension.
Amber got quietly out of the bed and went looking for a bathroom. She left the room and looked in the first door. Out of a life time habit, her hand went to turn on a light, to her great surprise a light came on. She blinked and saw a beautiful bathroom, clean with brass fixtures of an old style and a giant, claw footed, garden tub. She quickly made use of the facilities while looking around further. When she finished, on a whim she tried the hot water tap. Again to her surprise it came on and there was hot water.
Amber went back to the bedroom and Lisa was still snoozing so she grabbed one of her bags and went back for a shower. It was glorious to feel clean after the heat and storm from the previous day. She remembered several days of storms had been forecasted, but forgot about that when she inhaled the wonderful floral scent of the shampoo she had found in the shower. When she shut it off and dried herself off, she felt amazingly clean and ready to go. As she gathered her clothes she looked herself over, as she always did.
She had been surprised when she quit her cheerleading gig and slowed down her many hours of gym time, that she had put on some weight. It had been Lisa who convinced her that it merely went to places that looked even better. She still did her crunches every morning to keep her belly flat, but her hips rear and boobs had got the extra size. Now she liked her looks and they reminded her of someone but she could not place her finger on it.
She put on her frilly underwear and jean shorts. Then a tank top with a long, frilly halter top that looked good and functional. She had plans to get them out of there today. She tied her auburn hair in a bouncy ponytail and went back into the bedroom. Lisa was still asleep so Amber decided to go through the house to see what she could find.
As she moved down the stairs, she found that all the light switches worked and the place was clean and quite elegant. It was amazing to her that no one was here. She even called out a few times, but it was obvious that no one was home. She went from one end of the second floor to the other. There were many rooms, bathrooms and little sitting rooms. All of them were pretty and comfortable looking. The ground floor had a huge living room and dining room. Amber was again shocked that such a huge house was sitting empty. Yet the lights worked, everything seemed perfectly fine, if a little out dated. She went out the front door and stood stunned.
The front yard was a river. Water had flowed across to only a few feet from the porch. She went down the wrap around porch and saw there were cement walls about twenty feet from the house and that the water was streaming around. She kept going around the house and saw the same in the back as the front, water. As she kept going around the back she saw the other side of the house had a stone abutment wall that blocked the water. Apparently the flash flood had started a new path for a stream that kept from hitting the house by the stone walls on either side. They were essentially trapped in the house. She cursed softly and went to try the back door. It opened and she went into the kitchen and once again she was stunned.
It was beautiful. A huge kitchen with everything she could possibly want if she were to design a kitchen herself. Industrial size stove and oven with an equally big refrigerator. On a lark she opened the fridge and started laughing. It was completely stocked with food of all sorts as well as drink.
“Ah, too bad we aren’t staying. Who leaves a house set up like this?” She said out loud.
Then she felt goosebumps, as if a cold breeze moved through the big space and she shivered. She suddenly felt as if something was wrong. She turned in a circle thinking she was being watched. There was no one there, but she had the sudden thought that she needed to check on Lisa. She began moving through the house to the stairs and when she reached them she began taking them two at a time. When she got to the second floor landing she heard crying and Lisa calling her name. She began running.
When she ran into the room, she saw Lisa sitting up in her bed. She flicked on the light and could see her friend was not well. She was rocking back and forth and crying softly. Lisa looked pale and sweaty, tangled up in the light blanket on the bed. Amber went quickly over and sat on the side of the bed, gathering her up in a hug with her stomach knotting up with fear.
“Oh Amber, my leg is really messed up. It hurts so bad and I am feeling sick. Help me, please Amber I hurt so bad,” she held her friend and let her cry a moment before she got her to lay back down and took a look at her leg. It looked bad.
Lisa had a big bruise on the side of her knee and it had swollen up and inflamed. Amber was not the smartest person around. She knew dancing and cooking were her only real talents, but she knew she had to figure out how to help her friend. It was obvious they were not going anywhere soon. Lisa needed care and some form of treatment. She realized Lisa was also burning up with fever.
“Ok sweetie, how does a cool bath sound? The fridge downstairs has ice too. I will take care of you Lisa, don’t worry girl. I’ve got your back,” she told her. Lisa nodded with a glazed look in her eyes. Amber reassured her and ran into the bathroom and poured a cool bath and then helped Lisa to it. She lowered her into it and the woman gave a satisfied groan as she was immersed in the water. Almost immediately looking better and more alert.
“Oh thank you Amber. I thought I was going to die, I swear. Suddenly I am feeling better. Except my leg. I guess I was in shock last night and wasn’t feeling the pain, because it hurts like hell now. I had a weird dream about it and this house, but I can’t remember it now. Thank you Amber for being my friend. If you weren’t here I don’t know what I would do,” Amber responded by blushing. Lisa noticed.
“Really Amber, none of this is your fault. It was my idea for the road trip and I agreed with the short cut. If it had been me driving, I would have wrecked the car when the tree fell and we both would have been hurt,” her friend told her urgently, trying to convince her. Amber let out her breath with a sigh and smiled slightly. Amber felt better hearing Lisa say that and focused on taking care of her now. What happened was yesterday and they had to deal with the now.
Lisa’s color came back and she was feeling better when Amber helped her out of the bath and let her lean on her shoulder as Lisa hopped back to her bed. Amber got her some clothes and helped her dress. It was later in the morning now and the wind had picked up again and they could hear the rain begin again. Despite that it was probably eighty degrees out.
“I will try to find some aspirin and something to wrap your leg in Lisa. Then I can get you something to eat,” she told her. Lisa smiled bigger and Amber felt relieved.
“Wait here girl, I will be back,” she said. Amber rushed off to get what she needed for her friend. Lisa had been her best friend for years and she was determined to take care of her. It was an urgent thing that rose within her as if from outside of her body. She welcomed the urgency to speed her progress without thinking about the strangeness of it.
She found some aspirin and even a leg brace in a closet in the bathroom. Then she got some food and brought up a couple of cold beers for her friend to help with the pain. When she finished the soup and sandwich, Lisa drank half of a beer and sighed leaning back against the stacked pillows.
“You are a life saver. I can’t believe this place is so perfect,” Lisa said with a cute smile.
“I know right? Every time I go into another room, it is clean and ready for use. But I can’t find any sign of anyone here. It feels like there should be though. Almost as if I will come around a corner and see a married couple staring at me,” Amber said realizing the truth of her feelings in her words.
“An old couple?” Lis asked with a startled expression on her face.
“Yeah I don’t know why though,” Amber returned.
“I think there was a couple in my dream, the first part anyway. The second part was me and you partying in a field, or backyard somewhere,” Amber felt a tightness of surprise in her chest.
“I dreamed that too, and there was a couple in it, I had forgotten. This place is weird Lisa,” There was a shadow in her eyes that Amber noticed and wondered at but Lisa did smile.
“Yeah it is, but a blessing too. We are a long way from any town or help so you were right last night Amber. We need the shelter; we should stay as long as we have to. If the owners come back, we can deal with it then. I am surprised you are not all fired up to leave,” Lisa said with a grin.
“I was and still kind of am. Except you can’t go anywhere, not safely anyway and the flood water has trapped us here, unless we want to wade away from the house,” she explained. She went into everything she had seen outside.
“Shit, that was some storm! I guess we are stuck,” Lisa agreed. She finished her beer and opened another one. The food had helped her friend and Amber was glad for it herself. She sipped her own beer as Lisa gulped hers.
*****
Amber was doing everything she could for her friend. With the sudden need for attentive care of Lisa, she forgot her usual routines. She was pleased when Lisa’s pain faded with help of the beer. She kept it iced for half hour intervals as they had in gym classes when someone injured themselves. She could tell when it began hurting her again. Her cheerful eyes darkened and her smile faded. Amber had always loved her friend for her smile and cheerfulness. Seeing her down and injured was hard for Amber. Yet every time Lisa’s pain faded and her smile widened Amber felt better and relieved, happy. Her usual feelings for her friend had become much stronger and she thought it was because of their situation. She got her friend lunch and sat, eating with her. Then Lisa was getting sleepy and when Amber had made her comfortable, Lisa fell asleep quickly. Amber grinned at the cute smile on the sleeping woman’s face before taking the dishes back downstairs.
Looking around the kitchen Amber had an idea. Since they were stuck here for now she would spend some time really cooking up a dinner for her friend. Since she loved cooking she got intensely into it and before she noticed, several hours had past. She finished eating a pastry from the stack she was snacking on and went to check on Lisa. She was feeling a little full but enjoying it, there was something comforting about it. Amber had forgot her years before she had met Lisa and how when she felt alone or too stressed she would eat.
Lisa was still sleeping comfortably so Amber changed clothes into something more party like. It was a sudden idea but she thought that having a party atmosphere would help Lisa, not knowing it would help herself. When she was done she smiled at her reflection, nice, she thought to herself. Lisa was still sleeping so she left her a not saying she had a surprise, just in case the woman woke before she got back upstairs. Then she went back down to check on the food.
Everything was coming along nicely and it was midafternoon so she opened a bottle of wine and went to watch the storm. She had almost forgotten about that. The rain was still coming down heavily and the stream across the backyard had become a river. The wind was not bad so it was just a downpour instead of a sideways rain like the previous night. She sipped her wine and munched on some chips as she did so.
It was weird being in this big house with no one there but them, she thought. It had a lonely feeling, she decided, eating another chip and finishing her glass of wine. She poured another one, taking another sip. It was good wine, maybe the best she had ever tasted. She went over in her mind anything more she could do for her friend but could not think of anything. Both of them had tried their phones, no service of course. There was no way she could try and get her out on foot so they were stuck until the water receded or the owners came home. She knew that would be the thing to get them out of the house and on their way. She munched some more food and checked on the dinner. Another hour, she decided, and then it would be ready.
She went back to watching the water, eating and drinking her wine. When the food was just about done she drank a quick cup of coffee and went up to check on Lisa. She had a good buzz going from the wine and was whistling softly as she went. It was going to be a good evening and everything would work out, she told herself. As she was on the second story landing she froze, seeing her reflection in the glass cover of the tall grandfather clock. She was not alone and screamed.
A woman and man stood right behind her. The man was in overalls and work shirt with grey hair. He was tall and strong. Next to him was the woman, she was a beautiful woman in a red shimmering dress. Both were staring into her eyes in the glass reflection. She began trembling and felt a chill as they both touched her shoulder. A rush of feelings rose up out of her deepest places and she could not count or label them. Her whole body trembled and she gasped softly in terror, unable to look away from the people behind her.
Lisa! She thought in the haze of emotions that were overcoming her, I have to be with Lisa, she thought panicked. She had a sudden image in the mirror, as if she and the two people vanished, of Lisa lying in state upstairs as if for a funeral. She was wearing a white dress and laid out in a casket. Ambers heart felt like a hand had squeezed it and she felt a scream rising and darkness overcame her.
********
“What the hell happened?” Amber said, pushing herself off of the floor slowly. She looked around and could not see anyone else around, although she remembered a couple in the glass reflection. There had been something else. But she couldn’t remember it, just a feeling of dread. She sighed.
“Now you are freaking yourself out,” she told herself firmly.
She had talked to Lisa earlier about a couple in their dreams and now she was seeing them. She shook her head and continued up the stairs after checking her reflection and straightening her clothes. Alone in a house like this and under stress, of course you are seeing things, she told herself. She walked into the bedroom and Lisa was sitting up and looking around. She smiled and Amber felt immediately better determined to give her friend a good time for the night. The second floor landing was whisked from her mind. She loved seeing her friend smile.
“Hey sleepyhead, how are you feeling?” She asked moving over to look down on her beautiful friend. Lisa’s blond hair was mussed and she was rubbing sleep from her eyes. She looked adorable and her t-shirt was bunched up some over her larger breasts, also looking good. Now you are just getting weird, she told herself.
“I feel great Amber. What’s up? You are looking amazing,” Lisa told her.
“Thanks Lisa. I thought we could have a lavish dinner, some wine and even if our phones don’t work as phones, we have music on them. If we are stuck here, let’s have a good time, right?” She told Lisa with a grin. Lisa looked relieved and joyful.
“Oh Amber, that is just what we need to pick us up, a little party for two!” She said happily. Amber had not expected such a cheerful response but was glad for it.
“How is your leg girlfriend?” She asked. Lisa looked down at her leg and moved it a little with a grimace.
“Still sore, I don’t think I want to walk on it yet. Sorry to be such a burden,” Amber shook her head and pointed a finger.
“You have never been a burden. Great friends never are, right?” She asked.
“Right, although that time I called for a ride after I was left at that bar by my date did not go over well,” Lisa said with a mischievous smile. Amber laughed and slightly blushed. She had been pissed, except not at Lisa.
“It wasn’t you darling, it was your date. It pissed me off that anyone could leave a beautiful woman like you,” she said, being more honest than she intended. It was true though. Amber had never liked any of the women that Lisa dated. Lisa blushed, but pointed out.
“Well Amber I seem to remember you have dated a few guys who were not prime material either,” she grinned when she said it and Amber could not help agreeing. She definitely had a bad picker.
“Okay, fair enough. I guess neither one of us seem to be able to spot a good one. So anyway, are you ready for me to bring dinner up?” She asked. As much as she had been eating herself, Amber was feeling strangely hungry. Lisa began swiveling herself so her legs went over the side of the bed.
“Nope, not yet. It just occurred to me that instead of you having to haul everything up here, you could help me down there. I feel rested and as long as I don’t stand on my leg I should be fine,” Amber might normally have protested, but Lisa looked so proud, and Amber had drunk enough wine to make it seem like a good idea.
Lisa was grinning ear to ear when Amber agreed and then wanted to change clothes to something more festive herself. When she was done dressing, they stood in front of a mirror side by side. Amber had the sudden odd thought that they made a good couple. She shook her head and smiled at Lisa.
“Damn Lisa you look fantastic!” She said and meant it.
Lisa was wearing a white camisole and a red vest with a white and red mini-skirt. She had insisted on brushing her hair out and the blond locks swirled just at shoulder level. She was smiling with one hand on her hip looking at Amber.
Amber herself was wearing a purple spandex half top that was low cut and only came to mid waist. She had put a white silk blouse over it and tied it at hip level and left the top half un-buttoned to off her purple covered boobs. She had on a tight red skirt to mid-thigh and thought it showed off her rear nicely. It did not occur to her that she was thinking about her clothes as dating attire. Her auburn hair was wavy and fell to the middle of her back and over her breasts in the front. She did notice her waist seemed softer and a touch wider, but dismissed it as effects of the wine. She never thought she looked good when she was buzzed.
Amber helped Lisa down the stairs and got her settled comfortably before going to the kitchen. She got everything ready and on a serving cart. She munched a few of the remaining pasties while doing so, forgetting she had eaten the full plate earlier and not put anymore out. Then she made sure desert was ready and rolled the cart out with a soft belch.
It turned out to be one of her better efforts and they laughed and stuffed themselves. They remembered the fun things they had enjoyed together. They had plenty of wine and by the time they were finished with the meal, they were both mildly drunk.
“Are you ready for desert Lisa?” Amber asked innocently.
“Bring it on Amber; I am ready for anything you got for me!” She said. Laughing Amber cleared the plates thinking Lisa’s answer could mean more than food. She chuckled shaking her head at her foolishness and went for the pie. She added fresh whipped cream and took a few scoopfuls for herself before taking it out to her friend. Lisa loved it and they dove in and ate half of it in no time. Then it was time for music. Amber put on some dance music and even though Lisa could not get up, she chose to sit on a wide couch in the living room and put her leg up. Amber started off dancing in place. But as they got drunker she was giggling and wiggling with Lisa clapping and encouraging her.
Amber knew she was being stupid, and even silly, yet she could not stop. She felt strange and different than she had before. She slowed down a few times, but found she was unable to for long. Her body was moving almost without her consent. She asked herself what was wrong with herself? Her nervousness increased as it occurred to her she was making moves on her best friend! She felt a rush of panic begin within her at her strange behavior but then she caught Lisa’s eyes.
Lisa was enjoying it and kept laughing clapping to the music. Commenting on how good she looked. It brought such a feeling of joy to Amber more powerful than her fear and she began becoming more risqué. She had a brief thought that she was going to regret this in the morning before all thoughts but fun left her mind.
*****
Her friend’s blouse had come undone so her breasts were prominent and bouncing when Lisa felt herself getting turned on. She opened her mouth to let Amber know she was beginning to expose herself, but what came out shocked her.
“Shake it baby, that’s my girl, oh yeah. Wait until my leg is healed baby, I will dance for you!” She heard herself say. She was shocked and felt horror rise within her as Amber laughed and began a slower more “dirty” style dancing. Lisa’s horror increased as she felt her face smile wider and she lifted her glass and drained it. She was not in control of her body.
“
You must enjoy! You must! Remember…”
said a voice in her head. Lisa remembered alright. She was a piece in the ghostly game. So was Amber and she felt a tremor inside of her. She could not stop herself as she drank straight out of the bottle. Amber with laughter, picked up a piece of pie and licked the cream off the top. The woman bent over her and sucked a caramelized cherry out of the pie. Lisa felt a different tremor as her body responded with desire. No, not like this! She thought to herself in despair. I don’t want it forced!
“Oh yeah Amber, show me more, show me,” she said to her shock. Amber, of course, did.
“Oh yeah Lisa, your favorite, I know what you like!” The woman responded and looked like she truly meant it. Lisa wondered if she was being controlled too.
“
Your desires are your own, both yours and hers. I am just, elevating them so you both notice,”
said the ghost’s voice again.
“You must embrace your desires and lusts! Must!
Amber bent over at the waist and offered Lisa a taste of the pie. She noticed the woman had developed a slight muffin top and her usual flat belly had a little sexy pooch. A warm tingling began inside Lisa that began spreading through her whole body. She leaned forward and liked off a dollop of cherries from the pie and gave her friend a lecherous grin.