The other side of her.

 He stared at her, finding it hard to digest what she had just said.

“Are you serious?”

For a moment she raised her skeptical eyebrow. Then nodded. Yes, she was damn serious.

“Have you ever done this before?”

“Nops. C’mon. It would be fun.” She gave him one of her innocent yet mischievous smiles.

“Let see whether I really got what you are trying to say. We sneak up in the middle of the night, climb over a wall into someone’s desolate house?”

“Yes, exactly. You see, that house has been empty for months. There are no alarms, no security, no one at all. “

From the look on her face he realized that she was really enjoying even the mere idea!

“And what if we get caught?”

“I have already thought about that. We should do it tonight since everyone is occupied with the vote frenzy. It’s just one wall we have to get over….ooooooh the silence, darkness and the hauntism…let’s do it!” She jumped up and down in her excitement.

He couldn’t help but smile. “Ok, tonight. Damn you, you always have a way with me.” He laughed.

She hugged him. ” I’ll get some stuff ready. Pick me up at twelve”.

*****************************************************************************************************

The road was deserted. They stood by the corner, killing time. “OK. Fifteen minutes gone by. No one would suspect anything. Now I’m going to hold your hand and walk up to the wall where you could see the tree. Give me a leg up, Ok?”

He couldn’t help but feel scared. “Yep, clear. Ready.”

She heaved her back pack onto her shoulder, grabbed his hand and walked slowly.

“I can hear your heartbeat.” She whispered.

“Shut up. I’m not such a daredevil as you are. “

She giggled softly. Slipped off her backpack to her elbow. “We’re here.” Turning her head, she checked for clearance. “Now!”

In split second, he half kneeled and supported her foot, while she jumped up and got a hold of the edge of the wall. He watched as She scarmbled on. Then she slid off over and a dull thud was heard as she landed on the other side.

His heart was racing a mile. Standing up he leaned against the wall and looked around to see if anyone had seen them….None. Nothing but darkness and silence. Quickly, he leapt and grabbed the wall.

 When his feet touched ground, there was more darkness.

“Hon?” he whispered in a trembling voice.

“Here.” A scratch was heard, and a flickering flame. A candle was lit. Her face glowed in the golden light.

He sighed, relieved. “Any more wise ideas? I’m dying of fright!”

She laughed. “Didn’t it feel a bit like Oceans 11?”

They laughed in unison.

They sat and cuddled together, leaning against the tree. The candle on the ground glowed. A slight wind rustled the leaves. Dry leaves at their feet blew away.

“Our private moment. Exciting secret. If we are found, we’ll both serve a sentence for breaking and entering, but we really didn’t break in, did we? So it should be trespassing.”

“You’re such an interesting woman. Where do you get these ideas?” He laughed and hugged her. ” You enjoy life don’t you?”

“What’s left of it.” She pulled out a bottle of coke from her back pack. “Here.”

He took a sip from it, lit a cigarette and looked around. “How did you know about this place?”

“Simple. My office is close by. I like staring out of the window.”

“Why this particular house then?”

She shrugged. “Just wanted to see if I could pull off something like this. Just wanted to have a moment. “

They stayed like that for  hours, talking, giggling and enjoying the night.

“Next on the agenda is watching the sunrise. If we hurry, we can make it to the beach in time.” She started stuffing the empty wrappers and bottles back into the back pack. He watched as she carefully picked up the cigarette butts and threw them  over the wall.

“Give me a leg up”.

He gave her a boost and watched her disappear over the wall.

Just before he climbed over, he took one look at the dark looming house. His heart froze! The pair of eyes met his.

He slid off onto the pavement, grabbed her hand and started running towards the children’s park.

“Wait!” She panted. “We still have time, no need to rush”

“Don’t look back.” He kept on running until he put a few blocks behind. Panting , he stopped.

He looked at her flushed face. The dawn light made her eyes look much brighter, making her look more beautiful. He hugged her close. “I was so scared hon.”

“It’s because it’s your first time.. and last. It was fun wasn’t it?’

Fun?

He couldn’t get the image of what he saw..it was still so fresh on his mind…The eyes..The elderly woman who stood inside the house, behind the glass. Quite faint. Deathly pale..Or was it just his imagination?