A/N: I really should be updating my other stories that I've made people wait decades for… but I felt like writing further in this one. :D Anyway, again, please read and review!! It makes me happy to see reviews for my stories!!
And a special thanks to Madam Elphaba (who doesn't seem to have an account here… or just wasn't signed in) for your review!! I'm glad you thought it was cute and I love your name:D
Disclaimer: I don't own RENT or A Christmas Carol.
"Allison?" Benny shouted again after not hearing a response the first time. Still more silence. "Better check the fridge," Benny muttered to himself as he ambled towards the kitchen. Sure enough, he found what he was looking for.
Went out shopping with friends. Might end up getting our hair and nails done later. See you later tonight! Merry Christmas baby!
Allison
Benny sighed somewhat forlornly but smiled all the same. So what if Allison was gone on Christmas Eve and he was alone? This was the perfect time for his alone time that Benny was always talking about. Yes… he would change into his nice pajamas and put on his warm robe and slippers. After that he would start the fire and put his feet up for a time towards the warmth and just bask in being himself.
"Perfect," Benny sighed to himself and headed upstairs to change out of his suit and tie. "I can have a great Christmas with or without anyone here with me."
………………………
Nearly two hours later Benny's head was nodding off to one side and his eyes were closed peacefully. Several empty beer bottles sat at his feet and the ashtray was filled with the butts of cigarettes. Yes, Benny had himself quite the little Christmas party. But now the fire was beginning to die and Benny was dozing into a gentle and peaceful sleep filled with hundred dollar bills and his name in lights.
It was a shame that this peaceful setting should be ruined.
The flames began to flicker dangerously and suddenly, as if a great gust of wind passed through the living room, the fire was out completely. Benny still did not wake though, even when the temperature in the room dropped to nearly zero and his record player had come to a standstill. Benjamin Coffin III did not stir from his slumber until there came a great crash from the fireplace. Now his eyes were open wide and taking in the incredible sight before him.
There was the ghost of Mr. Grey… right there in his fireplace. Benny paused and nearly began to panic. Then he remembered all the alcohol he had consumed in the last two hours and he laughed at himself.
"This is one crazy alcohol induced dream," he thought crazily to himself and kicked back to enjoy the view. Dream or not though, Benny jumped when his own father's ghost popped in next to Mr. Grey and they began to laugh merrily together.
"Why hello Benny my son!" Benjamin Coffin II cried out gleefully and clapped his hands in delight. It took Benny a little while to notice that there were chains attached to both ghost's arms and legs.
"I was so glad that I could pop by and see you my boy!" Mr. Grey also announced. The two ghosts were shaking the ashes from the fireplace all over the carpet, making Benny twitch ever so slightly. He had spent hours shampooing that rug!
"What brings you to my dreams father… and Mr. Grey?" Benny asked as politely as he could while still wondering exactly how much he managed to drink that evening. None of his dreams following heavy drinking seemed so real!
"Your dream?" Mr. Grey asked and laughed once more.
"This is not a dream!" Benny's father finished and for a moment was quite sober. Mr. Grey also nodded solemnly and all sounds of raucous laughter ceased. Benny's brow creased as he looked at the two transparent men before him.
"I like what you've done for the company Benjamin… you have such potential," Mr. Grey said first and he gave an approving nod.
"Yes, it seems like you're finally going to head down the path of greatness son, like I did!" Benny's father said and smiled lightly. The two men then looked at each other and began to grin manically.
"And we can't wait until you can come down here with us!" the two men chorused with each other and waved their shackles dangerously close to Benny's face. "Yes!" the cried together again. "Chained and shackled we are for our lifetimes of sin!" Benny flew back as slight fear began to grip at his heart.
"Never stopping work!" Benjamin Coffin II moaned.
"I've been dead for not even twenty four hours and it's been an eternity!" Mr. Grey cried out in anguish.
"But it was worth it for all the money we made!" they shouted in unison again. "And now you're on your way too! Come and join us!" the pair chanted once more in unison.
"Oh, and your dog Evita sends her greetings," his father said as an afterthought. "Lucky dog gets out in month on good behavior!" Benny blinked for a couple seconds and then realized who he meant by "Evita". That Akita that had supposedly committed suicide but really it was a murder because the damn dog barked too much.
"Come join us!" the warbling and cracked voices said once more for effect and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Benny sat and stared at the fireplace for a while longer. Had he really just seen what he thought he had seen? Two men, dead as dust talking and shouting at him in his fireplace?
As if a giant cloud had been passed from the home the fire sprang back to life and the warm was once more as warm and cozy as it was mere minutes ago. And still Benjamin Coffin III vacantly stared at the fireplace where the two miserable faces had been. His father had looked so tired and worn… and Mr. Grey exhibited more signs of age than he had when he was alive.
"What do you expect from corpses though?" Benny said out loud and began to laugh hysterically. A giggle snuck through his lips and once they were started there was no stopping them. The respected new manager of one of the largest companies in the world was currently in hysterics. "Why wouldn't they look ill and old?" he said between laughter and shook his head. "What a crazy dream!"
……………………………..
Yet still the conscious buried deep inside of Benny's mind was uneasy. As the now calm and collected man cleaned off his dinner plate and put out the fire the back of his mind was on edge. While Benny began to drunkenly hum an old Christmas carol and laughed to himself a part of him was alert and ready in case any other ghosts should appear.
Meanwhile, the Benny that was in control at the moment was laughing to himself about silly ghosts and never drinking that much again. On his way up the stairs he glanced at the wall clock and sighed. It was eleven thirty and Allison wasn't home yet.
Benny managed to shrug it off but still he felt a little sad that Allison didn't want to be with him on Christmas Eve.
"But then when have I ever cared about the joys of Christmas?" Benny snorted and finally reached his bedroom door. "She'll be home by tomorrow and then we can spent a Christmasless morning together." Benny smiled at the thought for it comforted him for whatever odd reason.
With a contented sigh Benny climbed into his warm bed and pulled the thick blankets up to his ears happily. If his mind wasn't already muddled with sleep Benny would have laughed at the thought of the bohemians huddled on the floor in the Loft and downing the bottles of Stoli that Collins brought in hopes of gaining an ounce of the warmth that Benny was feeling now.
But Benny was already deep in dreamland and once more was brought back to the happy dream of counting money.
One thousand…
Two thousand…
Three thousand…
Four thousand…
Five thousand…
Six thousand…
Seven thousand…
Eight thousand…
Nine thousand…
This happy dream continued on for the next half an hour and would have gone on all night if there hadn't been a slight interruption.
Benny would never get to his favorite part of the dream (which was him swimming a pool of thousand dollar bills) because there was a knock at the window.
Apparently whoever it was who had knocked felt that it was enough of a warning to the person inside because the window suddenly flung open forcefully.
"What the hell?" Benny mumbled sleepily and blearily lifted his head from the soft pillow to see what the problem was. When he saw who it was that floated through his window he couldn't help but recoil away in surprise and fear.
A/N: Mwuahahahahhaa!! Sorry, that's where I'm leaving it for now. Not that terrible of a cliffhanger because I'm sure you all could probably guess who it is that just came through Benny's window but play along. (winks) Anyway, please review and give me suggestions or thoughts or just "hey, I like this story" or "hey, I don't like this story" and I shall be content.
