The Gold Rush

A handsome man walked in the front door of the local cat house and glanced around. This particular establishment of his had been doing rather well, and business was only going to get better. He looked around, trying to find the reason for his visit. He felt his patience slipping away, giving into his terrible temper, when she came out of the back.

He watched her come out, laughing at an unknown joke. She hadn't noticed him yet. He can't help but notice how beautiful she looks. Ignoring the emotions she brings out in him, He walks to her and offers his arm.

"My lady, I believe we have plans for this evening," he says in his smooth voice. She smiles and blushes, the rose color in her cheeks only making her more beautiful. "Why yes, my fine Sir, I believe we do." She reaches out and takes his arm and follows him out the door. As soon as they are out of sight, he drops his arm and grabs hers. She gasps at the harsh grip, but says nothing, for she is used to this. They continue to walk until they come to a beautiful house at the end of the street. Easily the best building in the town, only the richest man in town could own it.

"James, I thought we were going to go out tonight?" Elizabeth asks quietly. He is quiet for a few moments then answers with a simple "Not tonight." They walk inside, and even before she can take her coat off, he starts to walk away.

He walks into his study and turns on the light, glad that Elizabeth is here. "Now she can't run around with a bunch of useless whores all night," he mutters to himself. The paperwork has really been piling up and tonight would be the perfect night to start it. He is just getting started when she walks into the room. She sits down in the chair across from him and begins to tap her fingers on the edge of his desk. This annoys him, and she knows that. "What is it, my dear?" he asks through his teeth.

"I was just wondering why we didn't go out tonight." She says while still drumming her fingers. "You were talking about how important it was for your public image to get out and be seen with me, so why don't we get out of the house any more?" She hadn't looked at him, but he was sure she could feel his anger building. The thing James hated even more then taping fingers was when the woman he was with tried to tell him how to do his job. He was the richest man in town, for heavens sake! In fact, he was probably the richest town in the whole state of Nevada! And here this woman was going to try and tell him what he should and shouldn't be doing.

That thought had no more then formed in his head when James snapped. The world around him flashed red and he was on his feet faster than he could comprehend. As if watching from somewhere else, he saw the fear flash through Elizabeth's eyes. It fueled his anger. She knew what she was doing, she had no right to be afraid. She had asked for this. He brought his hand down across her face so hard he felt something give. She didn't even have time to scream. As his anger faded he looked down at her. Thinking that this was only keeping him from his paperwork, he picked her up and carried her down the stairs.

The last thing Elizabeth remembered before she blacked out was the uncontrolled anger in James' eyes, and the back of his hand swinging at her face. She knew that he had a terrible temper, but she never dreamed he would hit her. The blinding pain that stretched across her face told her otherwise. She gasped and tried to move, but couldn't. Starting to panic, she looked up and saw her wrists chained to a metal pipe. Shock flooded her mind. Chained to a pipe? How had she gotten here? Then the memories began to come back. Why would he do something like that? Everyone had said he was a good guy to be with. That she was lucky to have a man like that take interest in her. So then why would he do this? Hit her, hard enough to knock her out, then chain her up in the basement?

Over the next few days, he would come down once a day and try to talk to her. She refused to speak, just sitting here with her eyes on the floor. Anger swelled inside her until he left, anger at him for what he did, and at herself for getting into this situation.

Despite her continued silence, he would still come down. After a little over a week of this, he gave up. He told her, "I am sorry things had to end this way, Elizabeth." And with that he left her, not bothering to come down the stairs again. Shortly after that, she slipped out of reality and never returned.

"Come on, Jake! Why in the hell are you being so slow today? We are never going to get there at this rate." yelled Adam, his friend and fellow investigator, from inside the truck. Jake shook his head and blocked out the memories that had been flowing through his mind. Now was not the time to be worrying about why his life seemed to have turned upside down.

"Alright, I'll be there in a second." Jake shouted back. More caffeine. That's what he needed. "I hate not being able to sleep. It makes me do weird things," he said to himself as he maneuvered his way through the convenience store.

"Like talking to yourself in public?"

Jake jumped when the old woman behind the counter spoke. He hadn't realized he said it that loud.

"Don't worry, handsome. I won't tell a soul." She said with a wink. Jake was surprised into smiling back, and paid for his drink. Before he left, he took a good look at the old woman and decided she was beautiful. A bone deep beautifulness that must have made her heartbreakingly stunning when she was younger. He almost thought she looked familiar, but threw that thought away almost instantly. This was just another random gas station on the road. Man, he needed some sleep.

"Jesus, Jake. The next time we stop, remind me to not let you out of the car." Adam, said as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"Give him a break man, you know what he has been going through lately," Added Alex, helpfully. "Just let him be. We still have about 5 hours before we make it to the town, so just hunker down and chill till we get there." He glanced at Jake in the rear-view mirror, making sure what he said was ok. Jake nodded and he relaxed. Thought right after, Jake felt ashamed. He was supposed to be the leader of this group. He needed to pull himself together so he could make the right decisions during the investigation.

Jake let his mind wander as the road flew by under the truck's tires. Goldfield, Nevada. It's been a little over five years since him and his team MAP, or The Midwest Paranormal Society, have been there. Last time, he had made contact with a spirit in the basement. He was positive it was a woman, and even though they only communicated for about a minute, he found himself almost missing her. Thinking about everything, he thinks he starts to see a pattern before he begins to drift off. His last thought before he gives into the nap that is, 'all of my girlfriends seem to look alike now...'

The slam of a car door brings Jake back to reality. His recurring dream about a beautiful woman with long dark hair vanishing as the afternoon light seeps between his eyelids. A look out the window and he finds himself in the parking lot of yet another gas station. Groaning, he unbuckles his seat belt and gets out. Adam is behind the truck, getting his camera ready.

"How far out are we?" He asks, making Adam jump. From behind him, he hears Alex laughing.

"You know, if Jake just asking you a question startles you, what are you gonna do when a spirit whispers in your ear?" Alex taunts. Adam gives him the 'Shut up or I'll kill you' look and fills Jake in on the rest of the day. The group is about an hour outside of Goldfield, and they will be starting their video when they get back out on the road. After getting each of their ideas on how the investigation will go, Jake will fill the audience in on the history they had studied before leaving. This is when the investigation becomes real for them, its on film, and they can see their destination.

As usual, the timing is perfect, and just about 5 minutes after the fill in, they pull up to their destination.

"Welcome back to the Goldfield House of Horrors," says the elderly housekeeper. She is short and has long wispy gray hair. Her smile is missing a couple teeth, but her eyes is where the real smile was.

"Nora, its so nice to see you again." Said Jake as he leaned down to hug her. She still smelled the way he remembered, like a sweeter version of lilies. After Alex and Adam said their hellos, they turned the cameras back on and began the interview and walk through. Since Nora was the only person who lived in the house now, there was no need to interview anyone else.

"The spirits here knew you were coming back." She responds to one of the questions. "They have been getting restless; the activity has picked up quite a bit in the past few weeks and one spirit is getting angry. I'm not sure if you came in contact with him last time you were here, the man in the black hat?"

"We captured a sentence from what we believed to be him last time." said Jake, remembering the evidence. They had caught a man's voice that sounded like he was yelling someone's' name, followed by an order. Though they couldn't quite decipher the name.

"Ah, yes. I remember, the man yelling names? I too believe that was this man. He has changed since the last time you graced this house with your presence. He has become more violent; throwing things, yelling all over the house. If I move something he doesn't like, he will move it back, and most interesting, he has stopped letting people down into the basement. If you try to go down there, he will do everything in his power to keep you from stepping on those steps. Everything from pulling your hair and clothes, to standing right in front of you and letting you see him."

"You don't like this spirit any more, do you Nora?" asks Jake after a moment. She nods her head with a very intense look in her eyes. "And I don't think he likes you either."

"Well, its just before nightfall, and we are about to start our second investigation at the Goldfield House of Horrors in Goldfield, Nevada." Jake says to Alex's camera. "We know the spirits in here know we are here. I believe they called us back here. Its time to see what they want."

"Just remember dears, these are not the same spirits you encountered last time. They are stronger and more intense. Please be careful. I don't need any more horror stories to add to the list." Adds Nora as they head inside. Jake hugs her and tells her they will be alright, then she locks them inside for what will be the most unbelievable investigation ever.

After setting up all their cameras and arming themselves with even more equipment, Jake, Adam and Alex leave base and start the night. Right away, they start hearing something banging on walls and things moving. Most of the night goes much the same way, them thinking they caught something, only realizing whatever it is was just messing with boys just get more excited as the night goes on, feeling the energy build up. They know something big is coming, they just have to be ready for it.

"Guys, lets do a live analysis of our digital recorder. I feel like we might find something." Adam suggests after spending an hour asking questions. Jake rewinds and starts just 10 minutes back. at first all they hear is them talking, then a voice comes in over theirs.

"You will. . .never take. . .her from me. . ."

All the air seemed to leave Jake's lungs as he listened to the voice. Alex and Adam were excited about the voice and were talking about chasing it. But this voice, a man from the tone, sent a chill up Jake's spine. He was just about to open his mouth to tell the guys this when the voice came over the small microphone again.

"Her soul. . .is. . .mine."

The boys were silent for a few more seconds, then Jake flipped the switch back to record.

"Who's soul?" he asked, waiting silently in case they get an answer. He couldn't figure out why this was affecting him so much. This definitely wouldn't be the first evil spirit they have come across. This one just seemed to sink in deeper then the rest. Alex and Adam were asking their own questions now, hoping to get a reaction.

Suddenly, all the hairs on Jake's body stood on end. The energy in the room just changed drastically. It had been slightly chilly in the house, but now Jake could feel the sweat rolling down his back. He looked around, trying to find what had just came into their presence. He kept feeling his eyes being drawn to the door in the corner. He took one step in that direction when another energy hit him like a bus. This one was definitely good, but terrified. There was a desperate need to escape that almost made him want to run from the house.

"Whoa, did you guys feel that?" whispered Adam. "What was that?"

"Do you guys feel drawn to a certain part of the room?" asked Jake, struggling to keep his voice even. He was scared for the first time ever on an investigation, and he wasn't sure if he was scared for himself or for the trapped spirit.

"The only thing I feel after that is the need to get the hell outta here." Said Alex

"Are you kidding? That was the most intense thing I've felt in awhile, I want to find it again. Jake, whats up, man?" Adam added, using the screen on his camera to look at Jake. He was still looking at the far door, and was almost halfway across the room before he glanced back at the other guys. "I feel like we need to be on the other side of that door. So that is where I'm going. You guys stay behind me. I'm not sure what is going to happen next, but I'm thinking it won't be good."

On that ominous note, the boys slowly made their way to the door. They kept quiet, paying more attention to the energy in the room then on the EVP session. Jake stopped about a foot away from the door and whispered, "let's listen to the recorder one more time to see if there might be a clue as to what is waiting for us." He rewound it back to right after the second voice and listened to the white noise for what seemed like forever, hoping to just one clue as to what that energy was. He had just opened his mouth to say that they didn't find anything when they heard a laugh come through the speaker. It was a low, menacing sound, making Jake's blood go cold. Though that didn't frighten him nearly as much as the scream that slammed into his ears right after. It was a scream of pure terror and Jake felt his heart stop. He knew that voice, he knew he had heard it before. He glanced up at Adam and Alex to find their pale faces matching his scared look.

Just when they thought it was over, after they had heard themselves walking over to the door, one more voice broke through their shock.

"Eliz...a...beth is mine."

"Elizabeth." repeated Jake. Suddenly everything made sense. Flashes of his dreams crossed with memories of their last investigation as all the pieces slid into place. Last time, Jake had gone down to the basement alone to see what he could find. He encountered a gentle spirit who called herself Elizabeth. The interaction didn't last more than a few minutes but Jake still remembered it. Almost as if a part of her had followed him home. He hadn't realized until now that all the dreams lead back to her. That was where he heard the voice. From last time, when Elizabeth had talked to him.

"The girl spirit you talked to last time? Was that her screaming? What is going on, Jake?" Adam was rambling, something he only did when he was really scared. Jake held up his hand, and with difficulty Adam shut his mouth. Jake reached out and with trembling fingers, opened the door.

They were standing at the top of the stairs to the basement. Jake remembered Nora's words from the interview, saying how there was a spirit who didn't like people going downstairs. Looks like they had just found out why. Without stopping to think about what he was doing, Jake led the way down.

Everything was deathly quiet. Their breathing seemed to echo off the walls as they stepped off the steps. Something was wrong, Jake could feel it. He could feel Adam and Alec's tension behind him, adding to his own. Where was Elizabeth? Where was this evil spirit that was holding her hostage? And why hadn't it stopped them from coming down the stairs? With those questions spinning in his head, Jake took one step into the hallway.

Alex had just taken a step to follow him when what little of the color in his face drained away. He opened his mouth to say something when it looked like someone picked him up and tossed him into a side room. Jake and Adam yelled after him and ran into the room. Alex was sprawled on the ground, not moving. Adam ran to him and tried to wake him up. Jake stepped back to give them room, not realizing he had completely stepped out. He glanced up and down the hallway, then tried to take a step back in. But ran into, something. He glanced around, trying to see what was stopping him. Not seeing anything, he tried again. He still couldn't get inside.

Mind racing, he walked down to the next doorway. He walked over the threshold and back. He had just turned to head back to the room when he heard the scream again, This time with his own ears and much louder. The terrified energy washed over him again and he ran down the hall, looking in every room. He came to the last door and reached out for the handle, his whole hand shaking from the latest force of energy when he was thrown back against the wall.

Elizabeth yelled from inside the room again and Jake fought against the pressure on his body as the deep laughter came from behind the door. Try as he might, the pressure just kept getting stronger and stronger. Just when he thought the weight was going to crush him, the pressure relented and Jake fell forward landing in the threshold of the doorway. The door had opened.

What he found in the room was exactly as he feared it would be. Elizabeth was pinned against the far wall, held up by what looked like glowing smoke. Every time she tried to get away, the bindings light up, causing her to whimper in pain. No matter how much she tried to break the bonds, they held fast. Tearing his eyes away from her, Jake caught sight of the other man in the room. He was tall, draped in a black cloak that covered his body down to his knees. On his head was a black top hat, covering his dark brown hair. Though it was his face that startled Jake the most. It was the face of a man who once was very attractive, but seemed to have been put through a cheese grater. The skin, what was left, was pale while and barely clinging to the ivory bone underneath. His eyes were a bright blue, and if it hadn't been for the yellowing of his whole eyeball, they would have been stunning. Jake swallowed the bile that had forced its way into his mouth and stood up to face the fiend.

"What do you want with her?" Jake yelled. Every part of his body shaking with the fear that cut through him like a knife. He wanted to run to Elizabeth, but his legs wouldn't let him move.

He felt more then heard the evil spirit laugh at his question. "Her soul belongs to me, human. She will stay with me forever."

"Why? What has she done to deserve this punishment?" The pressure in the room changed slightly. A new energy was filtering in. Jake felt a strong sense of calm seep into his being as a new voice was heard. It seemed to be coming from the room itself. It was a beautiful voice, one that held power and strength. The evil spirit froze at the sound of the new voice, his yellow eyes bugging out of his skull. "Do you remember, James, what you promised? What you told her you would do in return for her soul? And do you remember what you promised the spell-maker? Did you ever fulfill that promise?"

The spirit, James, had gone deathly still. He kept his face blank, though his eyes betrayed him. He knew that voice, and it scared him. Jake wondered who could frighten such an evil and powerful spirit when his unasked questions were answered.

Jake had just enough time to gasp when a bright light filled the room, glowing brighter than the sun. Eyes burning, he saw a figure walk out of the light, a slightly familiar figure...

James yelled in outrage, but didn't advance upon the new presence. In fact, he retreated back to the wall and hissed in pure loathing. The light faded and vanished leaving a woman in its wake. She had a long flowing dress covering her body. Her face, though starting to show signs of ageing, still looked remarkably beautiful. Jake stared at the woman, trying to place her. She winked and it came back to him. This was the woman in the gas station. The one that had caught him talking to himself. She smiled, almost as if she could read his mind and turned to the young girl pinned against the wall.

"Hi mom." Elizabeth said with a smile. Her mother smiled at her, then rounded on the spirit at the other wall.

"What do you think you are doing?" She asked. Though she hadn't yelled, Jake could feel her anger like a tangible force. He silently thanked whoever was listening he was not on the receiving end of that anger. "Why is my daughter still being chained up? We had a deal, Mr. Goldfield. You have not completed the tasks nor succeeded at the terms of our agreement."

James growled at the witch, though didn't advance upon her. "Those tasks you gave me were impossible. I could have never done everything you wanted me to do. It would have ran the town bankrupt and I would have been the laughing stock of the state. What you gave me to complete was a joke, a ruse to make sure your daughter never ended up with me."

"What I assigned to you was perfectly possible, James. You just didn't have the compassion or the selflessness to do them. In the end you chose to be selfish and only care about yourself. That's why you are not able to have control over Elizabeth's soul. I have even given you years past your death to try and prove to me that maybe coming face to face with your own mortality might change you. I was wrong. You will never understand what it means to love someone and be loved in return. When you came to me looking for a spell to force my daughter to fall in love with you, its wasn't because you wanted her to be happy, it was because you wanted to be happy. You never even gave a single thought as to what she might want."

"I would have cared for her, given her anything she wanted. She could have owned the state if she wanted to, but she chose to resist me."

"Resist you?" said Jake, finally finding his voice. "You killed her! You chained her up to a pipe and let her die!"

James seemed not to care that Jake had said anything. "I simply did what I had to do." Was all he said in response.

Elizabeth, seeming to gain strength with her mother's presence, snorted. James looked at her, his eyes glowing a terrible red. "I never wanted any material things. All I have ever wanted was to have someone to love and be loved in return. You were so amazing in the beginning." She added, sounding sad.

James' eyes focused on Elizabeth. The anger behind them burned. "I was always-!

The door burst open behind them. In his distraction, James had let the hold he had on Adam and Alex relax enough for them to break though. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the scene playing before them. The woman turned and smiled at Adam and Alex, earning surprised and stunned smiles back.

Though in her distraction, James jumped toward her. Jack opened his mouth to yell in warning, but the call died on his lips when James was stopped three inches from touching her. The feeling in the room changed instantly. Her anger Jake felt earlier was now mixed with pure loathing.

"Only a coward would dare attack someone when their back is turned. And you had the nerve to think I, Serenity The Great, would leave myself unprotected. You have angered me far too many times, James Goldfield. It is time you left this world and traveled to where you truly belong." With a wave of her hand, Serenity seemed to cut an opening in the air next to her. The smell of sulfur and burning flesh flowed from the gaping hole. Jake had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep the bile in the back of his mouth from coming out.

"No! You cannot make me go there! You have no power over me!" James cried as he tried to back further away from the hole. He made it no more than two steps when Serenity, with a flick of her wrist, stopped him.

"You have no idea of the power I possess. And I vow to you, I will use every bit of my strength to send you to hell. Now." Jake cringed as her power and loathing washed over him. He scrambled backward until he hit the wall. James had stopped moving completely. His eyes kept moving back and forth between Serenity and the hole, looking for a way out.

"I grow impatient waiting for you to leave." Serenity whispered and James began to move forward. He kicked and scratched at the floor, trying to stall his progress. Deep ridges in the floor followed his struggle. When he reached the hole, the fear finally came out in his eyes. A look of pure satisfaction crossed Serenity's face as she flicked her wrist once more and James was hurled into the portal. His cry of fear and anguish still echoed off the walls as the spell-maker ran her hand across the opening, sealing it shut.

No one moved. Jake could hear the pounding of his heart rushing through his ears. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. As his mind tried to grasp the recent events, a small moan unfroze the room. Looking over, he saw that Elizabeth was still captured against the wall. Fortunately Serenity had seen her as well and was whispering spells to unbind her. When the last shackle came loose, she fell to her knees, rubbing her wrists. She was the most beautiful creature Jake had ever seen.

"Jake, I know you are probably very confused." Serenity said in a much kinder voice then what she had been using. "Though I know you are a very intelligent man, so why don't you ask me about what you don't get and I will fill you in." She smiled and gestured to Jake.

Tearing his eyes away from Elizabeth, Jake sat up and tried to gather his thoughts. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her from a paranormal investigator's point of view, but then there were more personal questions he wanted to ask as well. Instead of asking anything, he found himself simply saying, "You were the clerk at the gas station. The one who caught me talking to myself."

Her answering smile was gorgeous. "Yes, that was me. I had been following you for quite some time. I knew that your spirit had touched Elizabeth's and hers, yours. It seems that even different worlds and time cannot keep two souls from being together." Her smile then turned to include Elizabeth who had gotten up to walk to her mother.

"I saw you," Jake said, this time to Elizabeth. "Everywhere I went I would see just a bit of you. Your hair as you walked around a corner, a hand on a door as it shut. It was driving me crazy. I started dating girls that look like you, though none of them were nearly as beautiful as you." Elizabeth's cheeks darkened slightly at the compliment and Jake smiled.

He got up and walked slowly to where she was standing, not quite knowing what he wanted to do, just wanting to be closer to her. He reached his hand out to her, wanting in that moment nothing more than to touch her. She reached out to him and their fingers touched.

The light that had shone when Serenity came into the room flooded them once more, though this time is came from where their fingers met. Jake tried to pull his hand away to cover his eyes, but his hand was held there. He squinted against the light, trying to see what was going on. Suddenly he felt his strength weakening as a powerful force pulled it through his fingertip. He fell to his knees and saw another figure do the same right in front of him. Just when he thought he wouldn't be able to stay awake, the light vanished, freeing his hand from its grip. Jake managed to keep himself upright as his eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room.

Elizabeth was laying in front of him, curled up into a ball. Serenity stood exactly where she had before, though it looked like she had aged ten years in the past few seconds. Jake looked questioningly at her, while trying to regain his strength.

"What happened?" he managed to croak.

"A very complicated spell, young one." said Serenity. She sounded completely exhausted. "To put it simply, I took a tiny bit of your life force, mixed it with my strength and brought Elizabeth back to life. She will be very tired and hungry when she finally wakes up, but she essentially will just pick up her life where it left off. Though this time it will be with you." She gave Jake a satisfied smile. She took a step back and the light began to appear once again. "Take care of my daughter, Jake. She means the world to me and I will be around to check up on the two of you. If you ever need me, just call my name and I will be there." And with a nod of her head and a smile, Serenity stepped back into the light and disappeared.

Jake blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend what all had happened. Muffled shuffling caught his attention and he turned around. Alex and Adam were attempting to figure out what had just happened like he was. Jake was the first to find his voice.

"Guys, go collect all our equipment. I'll be really surprised if any of it survived that was down here, but the stuff upstairs might have caught something." They both nodded and stumbled out of the room, obviously still trying to get their bearings.

That left Jake alone with the still form of Elizabeth. Not being able to think of anything better to go, he slid the few feet over to where she was laying. He looked down at her and he realized he had never seen anyone more beautiful and perfect than her. As if acting on instinct, Jake reached out and brushed a stray hair away from her face. As soon as his fingers touched her skin, she stirred and woke up. Her eyes found his and the smile she gave him made his breath catch and his heart skip a beat. He felt his lips relax into a smile back.

"Hey," he whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now." She whispered back. The sound of her voice was almost exactly as he remembered from the last time he was there. Though this time it was stronger, and if possible, even more beautiful.

As much as he wanted to just sit and look at her, his curiosity won out and he asked, "What happened when our fingers touched before? I tried asking your mom, but she just said it was a complicated spell." His brow wrinkled as he tried to figure it out.

"In the simplest of terms, she gave me my body back. When she found out I had died, she snuck into the house and saved my body so that I might one day be able to live the life she wanted me to. She then performed a very complex and exhausting spell to transform my physical body into energy that stayed in this room with me. It was partially that energy that drew you down here the first time you visited me." She finished with a smile and he couldn't help but smile back.

"So if your body was here all the time, then why did it seem like I was drained of all my energy when we touched?" He asked, wanting to get to the end of this conversation as quickly as possible, but also very curious about how it all happened.

"Well, as you know, it takes more energy to put something back together then it does to tear it apart, and that is essentially what mom did when she completed the spell. She tore my body into individual particles of energy. It took more energy to put me back together then it did to take me apart. Thats why she used your energy. And plus, you need a living person to finish out the spell anyway." she added, shrugging her shoulders.

Still curious, but satisfied for the time being, Jake stood up. He helped Elizabeth to her feet, though it took a little time for her to get her land legs. When she would stumble in an amusing way, Jake would try his best to stop the chuckles but he wasn't always successful. "Hey, you try to be just spirit for over 100 years, then try to walk. I would like to see how well you do." she shot at him, which just made his chuckles turn into full on laughter.

Soon as she had re-learned how to move and they started out of the room. Though before they could leave, Jake grabbed Elizabeth by the arm and spun her around. The look of surprise on her face turned into a question when he didn't say anything. He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. She slid her arms over his shoulders and melted into him. They fit together perfectly. She filled in the hard lines of his body with the soft curves of hers. He leaned back slightly, and moving slowly, as to let her know what he was doing, moved his lips to hers. He saw the most adorable smile cross her lips before they finally touched.

Now, Jake had kissed a fair few girls in his life. Needless to say, he was no novice. But from the moment his lips touched Elizabeth's, he knew he would never want to kiss another woman again. The numbness that had been spreading through his bones since their last visit melted away at her touch. He tried to keep it slow, not wanting to scare her or go too fast, but she would have none of that. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, pulling on it when he threatened to pull away. A moan escaped his chest and he deepened the kiss, exploring her lips with his tongue. She let him take the lead as he backed her against the wall of the small room. She let out a whimper of pleasure as his hands roamed from her waist to her hips and down her legs. She had just broke their kiss to nibble down his neck and-

A crash from the floor above startled them both. She squeaked in surprise and he had to catch her before she hit the floor. Giggling like high schoolers on their first date, they regained their balance. Without taking his eyes off hers, Jake held out his hand. "Shall we go upstairs and find out what my friends broke this time?"

She giggled again and replied, "That sounds like a wonderful idea." And together, they made their way to the main floor of the house.