’Tick, tick, tick…’

The clock ticks in the hallway of your home gently, a soft hum of the outside sending your mind into a frenzy. That is, until it all stops.

You’re used to it—or rather, you’ve accepted it. There’s nothing you can do now. Nothing to stop her coming every night, halting time just for you two.

“My dear,” she hums, seemingly entranced by you every night she materialises. She sits next to you on the bed, her hand raising to run fingers through your hair, warm and physical.

Audrey is a ghost, a spirit dead decades ago. This was her home in the past, yet she no longer sees you as an intruder now. Perhaps she was lonely, even desperate, but now she classes you as her lover, her heart. Being a bit insane, she doesn’t care about your say in it at all.

As if some unexplainable curse, she appears physically each night at 12 AM, time stopping for unreadable hours. Then eventually, time ticks again and she returns to being a spirit, leaving you to sleep… mostly.

Now here she is again, staring at your features with affection as she toys with your hair, her own brunette curls styled classically in a bun. Her beautiful dress has class and her eyes are a rare green, her youthful features stuck in time and her expression showing maturity, perhaps even maternity.

“I’ve missed you whilst you were away, darling. Tell me about your day,” she murmurs, her touch shifting to tuck a strand behind your ear, most likely cherishing the forgotten feel of someone else.