Disclaimer: I don't own Secret Window, I'm just playing with the wonderful characters. I'm not making any money on this. I hope you enjoy it as much I as I enjoy writing it! Reviews rock my world! Flames, well, don't.

Ghost Writer

Chapter One: Bump in the Night

"Do you know how it will end?"

"I'm thinking it's going to be a murder-suicide."

The lighter haired of the women paused in her mixing of the cookie dough. "Honestly, Anna, do all your stories have to end with someone dying?"

"Kate, I only write what these people tell me and since they're dead, yes, all my stories have to end with someone dying."

"Well, I just wish you were able to walk away completely from your job."

Anna, whose hair was a shade redder than her sister's, sighed deeply and popped a couple chocolate chips into her mouth. "Everyone deserves to have their story told."

"But some stories should be left alone. And besides, you're here to relax, recuperate, not take dictation from a ghost."

Anna knew better than to fight with her older sister, especially about this subject. Kate refused to believe her when she told her sister about the female ghost haunting the grounds of Tashmore Glen. Their mother was already in a mental institution with schizophrenia and from some of the looks people from Tashmore gave her, Anna believed it wouldn't be long before she ended up as her mother's roommate.

"You're right, Kate," Anna acquiesced. "I'm going to bed."

Kate looked over at the oven clock. "It's only eight, Anna."

"Well, then, I guess I'll get plenty of rest then."

"Anna-"

"Good night," Anna waved over her shoulder and headed up the stairs. It wasn't even dark yet but the sun had started it's fiery descent in the sky. Anna sat on her bed in the guest room and stared out the window. The lake glittered in the waning sunlight, having an almost mesmerizing affect on her. There was only one cabin visible from her room, and that belonged to the town eccentric, Morton Rainey.

She had seen him at a very great distance, not close enough to even get a good look at him. In fact, she had purposefully kept her distance from him because she hadn't read any of his books as of yet and considered it rude to be neighbors with a best selling author and never have read his books. But the towns folk of Tashmore were more than happy to tell her about the strange disappearance of his wife and her lover. Some even went so far as to accuse Morton Rainey of murdering them himself. Of course, Anna didn't believe a word of it.

The people of Tashmore loved urban legends and who better a main character in myth than an eccentric writer. But Anna found that most visitors to the lake were the object of speculation, even some of the permanent residents, like her sister. Kate was accepted because her husband was a contractor and Kate was a stay-at-home mom of two kids, Jonathon and Sara. The perfect family…until Kate's "crazy" sister came to spend the summer.

Anna fell back on her bed and covered her eyes with her arm. She heard the whispered comments from the locals whenever she went to the store. "Just like her mother," or "what a shame, I hear she's very smart," or her personal favorite, "don't let her and Rainey put their heads together, the whole of Tashmore would disappear."

Anna ground her teeth together, trying to shut out the voices of the townspeople, her own conscience and the presence of the ghost wandering around the lake, not sure why she was there.

"Too many voices."

A yell startled Mort Rainey so much he had jumped up from the computer. Night had fallen hours ago but it didn't matter anymore. Ever since March, when he had woken up on the couch and found braces on his teeth and an overflow of corn in his kitchen, he hadn't slept more than a hour a day. It was as if he had been sleeping for years and had just woken up from some really bad nightmare that now he couldn't remember. He then found that he didn't want to remember whatever horrible circumstance might have befallen him in that eight month time period he couldn't seem to remember.

He crept over to the small window that was closest to his desk and peered down into the garden. A woman was walking through the rows of corn sprouts, her head bowed, like she was looking for something. He didn't know why he was thankful it wasn't the sheriff with a shovel. The woman stood up to her full height and looked around the area before yelling out again.

"Where are you?"

Mort pushed the window open and leaned his head out. "Miss?"

"You told me you would be here!"

"Miss?" he shouted louder.

"Where are you?"

Then it dawned on Mort what was going on…she was sleepwalking, hence her ignoring his calls. Interesting. She wasn't dressed for the chilly night air and Mort could see her shivering from the second story window. However, he did remember that it wasn't good to wake a sleepwalker. Opting to follow her around for a little bit (what else did he have to do?) he grabbed a sweater from his room and headed outside.

She had wandered away from the garden, but Mort didn't see her anywhere. He looked around the corn sprouts and found her footprints, she was barefoot from the looks of it, and followed them down to the lake where they disappeared into the water. Without thinking, Mort pulled off his robe and dropped the sweater before rushing into the ice cold water.

He could see something bright flash in the water and reached blindly to grasp it. He fingers connected briefly with hair and plunged head first into the water. He could see her outline and grabbed her arms, heaving her up to the surface. The contact must have awoken her because by the time he resurfaced, she was coughing and spitting out water. He supported her as best he could until they both collapsed on the bank.

"We…we can't stay here," Mort managed to say through chattering teeth. He watched as the trespasser, a very slightly built young woman, nodded her head between coughs. He pushed himself up and helped her to stand. He draped the ratty bathrobe and sweater around her shoulders and kept an arm around her waist as they walked back to his house.

"I'm Mort Rainey."

She reguarded him with a slightly surprised look, one that he had grown used to seeing, before she shyly looked away from him. "I'm Anna."