Chapter 1
A young woman sat at a white vanity desk as she brushed her lustrous brown hair in the mirror. She stopped suddenly when she felt a pair of cold hands on her neck, moving her hair away to get her diamond necklace. The woman grabbed at her own neck and the feeling disappeared. She gazed down at her chest and patted the necklace to make sure it was still safe. Relieved, she looked back at herself in the mirror to see a second face hovering above hers. It was a man's gray, decomposing face framed by shoulder-length black hair. He had sunken cheeks that indicated high cheek bones, a monocle in the right eye and he wore a black top hat. The woman screamed and the face quickly disappeared in thin air as her father came running upstairs and burst into her bedroom.
"Serenity, are you all right!?" her father asked worriedly as he embraced his daughter in his arms.
"It was Jim, papa!" she wept into her father's good blouse. He consoled her as he glanced around for a trace of the ghoul, but he was gone.
Occurrences like this one had been happening since the family moved into the house many years ago. It was a lovely home in London with a small front yard, a little run down but nothing a wealthy family couldn't fix. At that time, Serenity was only five years old and her parents thought it was cute that she had an imaginary friend in her bedroom named Jim. She never went outside to play with the other children; she was always occupied with Jim. It wasn't until one rainy afternoon when Serenity's mother came in to check on Serenity that she realized what Jim really was. Her mother was horrified, stricken with fear when she saw the floating doll. They called in a priest to call the ghost out but Jim remained. He was not a demon after all but Serenity's mother never admitted this. She went to her grave believing that Jim was a demon.
Serenity grew older and was sent unwillingly to a boarding school. When she returned, Jim was gone. The poor girl was upset but she soon grew up and forgot about her old friend until tonight, when he returned.
Serenity placed the candle at her bedside and rubbed her arms. The rain was pouring outside and was beating on the dusty windows of her room. It was quite cold and her quilts beckoned to her, begging her to embrace their warmth, but Serenity had to talk to him before she went to bed.
"Jim, are you there?" she whispered, sitting on her bed. She pulled the covers up to her legs and looked around in the dark. The only light came from her candle and the occasional lightning from outside. "Jim?"
Suddenly, white clothes floated at the foot of her bed but the face was gone. A white top hat, a white suit, a white cape, the ghost was clothed in white. She could see the monocle in his right eye and smiled. It was Jim.
"Yes milady? I am sorry that I have been absent for so long, I had business to attend to elsewhere," he explained to her as he took off his hat.
She smirked. "You weren't entertaining other little girls were you?" she teased him.
"No, never!" he laughed and floated to her bedside, "If you will, tell me what has happened while I've been gone," he asked as he pulled up a seat.
She smiled as he sat down in it. She thought it was curious that he could pass through walls yet he could sit in a chair. "Well, I shall begin with some sad news first. My mother died a couple years ago. She had been out in the cold too long and couldn't recover," Serenity looked sadly down at her quilt that her mother had made for her.
"I am so sorry, Serenity. But be rest assured that your mother is fine. I saw her during my travels and she is doing just fine," the ghost laid a hand on Serenity's shoulder but quickly pulled back as a jolt of pain shot through his ghostly body, "Blast! I forgot," he murmured as he held his hand in the other, rubbing away the pain.
This made Serenity even sadder. As a ghost, Jim can be harmed when he touches or is touched by a virgin. She didn't like seeing her friend in pain.
"Please continue. Is there any good news?" Jim asked when he saw Serenity's sadness in her face.
"Yes," she smiled, "father has arranged for me to marry Nathan Rose and he will be taking me to the ball tomorrow."
Serenity was unable to see Jim's emotions because he was still in his ghost form and he had a talent for masking his feelings in his speech.
"Oh yes! The ball is tomorrow! How could I forget?" Jim slapped his forehead, "So this young fellow is taking you to the ball? How nice," he said in a calm tone. Serenity blushed at the thought. Her friend seemed happy for her. "Well you look sleepy, sweet Serenity. I ought to leave you alone so you can rest up for your big day tomorrow," Jim stood up as he put his hat back on.
"I'm glad you came back, Jim. It doesn't matter that you didn't tell me where you went or when you would be back. All that matters now is that you're here again," Serenity smiled as she offered him her hand.
"I apologize for not telling you. I have returned and things will be normal again, like they used to be," he kissed her hand before he began to float towards the door, "Good night, Serenity," he told her from the door.
"Good night, Jim," she replied as she pulled the covers up to her chin happily. With that, the ghost disappeared through the door.
