WitchsSmokeAaron by M. Garnet Page B

long-term investments that would be easy for an heir to handle.
    She closed out all of her bank accounts except for one and from this, she paid off all of her bills. She paid off the loan on the Jeep, paid the utilities on the house for three months in advance. The house was already free and clear. She was surprised that there were a couple of repair items she wanted to finish on the house, and she got started, painting the trim outside and ordering new curtains for the bedrooms.
    It took several days for this all to get done. The curtains came by FedEx and she was pleased after she got them hung. They were perfect. If she were going to stay, there would be work to the house that she would have to hire an outside contractor to do, but that would not be necessary now.
    Continually, he talked to her, and she ignored him. She finally dug out an IPod and put the ear pods in, turned up the music, and wore them day and night. She felt his hand and ran from it, she felt his kisses and took cold showers and continued to work.
    One day, she actually felt the ear pods jerked from her head.
    “Sweet one, why are you not talking to me, not letting me please you? I miss you so much. You have come to be the center of my life. I need you.” His voice was behind her, his breath on her neck, the smell of sandalwood and cinnamon surrounded her, and she closed her eyes.
    She let out a long sigh and felt a tear move slowly down one cheek. “Because you are not real, and I cannot stand the thought of letting them lock me up or pouring chemicals into me that will make me someone else.”
    She opened her eyes and looked over at the table where her purse, her backpack, and the script from the doctor all lay neatly in a row.
    “Oh, my love, I have ruined something again. For centuries, it has been my curse because I ruin everything I touch, but I do not want to ruin you. I need you.”
    She laughed. She had created an illusion that needed her. The doctor would have a great deal to say about that.
    “I cannot make you go away because you give me what no other person can give me, my climax. I have made such a complete fantasy that I have made myself need it and made it need me.” She felt the breath move her hair as she heard the long deep sigh.
    “Little one, let me tell you my story, maybe it will help.”
    She shrugged her shoulders, almost in defeat. “Sure, I will listen to my apparition tell me a story.”
    “There were four of us, four handsome brawny brothers born to a monarch who spoiled us and was too proud of what his loins had turned out. We fought hard, drank hard, wenched hard, and did what we pleased. If anyone were foolish enough to complain, they suffered, not us. But finally, we stepped over the line once too often. We violated a young virgin, left her pregnant, not sure which of us the seed belonged to, and forgot her. But her mother did not forget, and her mother gave us a curse. She was a very strong witch.”
    Asa started to laugh in a dangerous, out of her mind sound. “I am really beyond help. Kings and witches. God, if there is one, has left me long ago.”
    “I thought the same thing when I woke up to find out I was smoke. My curse was to live until I did an entirely selfless and good act. Except I could only move as smoke, I could only form a small portion of my body at any one time. I did some evil things at first because I was so angry. Then I did nothing but float around and watch the world change. Finally, I tried to do some good. I did some, but it was not entirely that one act needed to make me whole. I never had a relationship with anyone until I came to this spot and met you. Now you are trying to shut me out. I can’t stand it. I need you.”
    She left the house, running. She lost a shoe and kicked off the other and pulled her sweatshirt off as she reached the beach. The wind was blowing up heavy waves today and the water was coming in higher on the sand, leaving debris and dirty foam as it was pulled back