Kelly thought she was so lucky when she found the house on 201 Memory Lane. Not only did it come furnished, but it was a month to month lease. She thought moving somewhere where no one knew her was a good way to start over. She thought she could leave all her troubles behind as if they never happened. As if "IT" never happened, but she was wrong.

It started almost without notice. When Kelly went to find things, they were not where she had left them. The boxes she brought with her were scattered around the house, as she often let herself get distracted with a glass of wine while watching tv. This was enough for her to think she just had not pulled herself together and chalked it up all up to her absent-mindedness.

After getting herself unpacked and squared away, she focused all her energy on her work. There wasn't much involved in being a receptionist, but at least at work, she could avoid thinking about what had brought her here in the first place.

Kelly knew starting over would be hard. She knew it would be lonely, and yet she wasn't prepared. All she wanted was to find peace. She began to lay awake at night, staring up through the skylight above her bed. Slowly she started to misplace things again. The young brunette couldn't seem to get herself stable and secure. She began losing things at work, a file she just had in her hand, an emergency phone number she just wrote down. On the verge of being defeated, she found her sitting in the driveway on the ground with the car door hanging wide open one night after work.

"Um," a stranger walked up from nowhere, "are you, okay miss?"

Clutching her chest Kelly stop breathing for a brief moment, then let her breath out slowly.

"I'm so sorry," he stepped back, "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"No, no," she said, "I'm fine."

Collecting herself, she began to rise. The tall stranger reached out his hand, taking hers in his, and helped her to her feet. He seemed almost towering at first. His hair was midnight black. Cut short and neat and with just enough body to sway with the wind. His hands were smooth and firm, and his eyes the bluest she'd ever seen.

"Are you sure you're okay," he smiled, revealing a dimple in his left cheek.

"Yes," she said, now firmly on two feet, "I just had a bad day at work, and I guess I...." she trailed off.

"One of those drop where you are and surrender to the universe kind of moments, huh?"

"Yeah," Kelly giggled, "I guess so. Oh, I'm so sorry," she tapped her fist off her forehead, "Kelly Burch," she put her hand out.

"Brad," he took her hand into his again, "Brad Molar."

Kelly let out a slight chuckle.

"I know, I know," Brad smiled, "I got my fair share of being teased back in the day."

"Did you now?" their hands still early held on to each other, "I'm so very sorry."

"Don't be," their fingers slowly slipped apart, "it wasn't too bad, and it made me tough. Plus, I grew up and became a dentist who offered reduced care to my former tormenters. Little do they know that not only do I overcharge them, I have also wiggled a cap or two lose from time to time. It not only causes them discomfort; it brings me in twice the money, and I get to fill like I've been vindicated."

"Well, that is cruel and somewhat ingenious all at the same time," the two laughed.

"You're new to this block, aren't you?"

"Just moved in three months ago. You live around here?"

"No, no," Brad ran his fingers through his hair, "just visiting an old friend before he leaves town."

"Oh."

"Well, it was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Kelly closed her car door and headed up the driveway.

It didn't take long for things to heat up between Kelly and Brad. They would spend hours talking. Night after night, they shared their thoughts with each other. Kelly couldn't explain it, but somehow Brad made her feel whole again. After a month and a half of dating, she shared with him her biggest secret.

Reliving the event, she broke down in tears.

"I didn't mean for it to happen," she sobbed.

"It wasn't your fault."

"But it was," she pushed Brad away, "I should have never dared him to do it. He just wouldn't leave me alone. He kept telling me how bored he was, and I just lost it. I said, 'I bet you twenty dollars you can't go over the railing and back again.' I thought it would shut him up. I dared him to do things all the time, and he never did them." She paused just enough to catch her breath. "Then the next thing I knew, he was on the other side of the railing. I told him to come back over. I ran across the room to pull him back in, but before I could get there, his foot slipped, and he fell. Five stories to the bottom. I killed my little brother."

Brad dashed across the room, catching her in his arms as her knees gave way to weakness.

"It was an accident," Brad's voice was calm and soothing, "it was an accident."

Kelly saw Brad nearly every day after that. He visited her at work, took her out to lunch, and spent romantic evenings lying on the bed, staring out the skylight into the stars. The only thing that disturbed her was how people looked at them when they were out together. She didn't understand the confused and bewildered expressions on their faces. However, Brad insisted she ignore the stares and concentrate on the fact that they were happy. And they were. Kelly had everything she ever wanted and was thrilled when Brad hinted at the subject of the two living together. Brad insisted they move into her house, it being larger than his tiny efficiency apartment on the other side of town. He told her he didn't have many things; after all, he had been a bachelor for quite some time.

Everything seemed to be going well for Kelly. She even got the nerve to text her parents, telling them how sorry she was for what happened. She was hopeful that they would be able to work through it. Each day she checked her messages. Each day she waited for them to say something back to her. To tell her they would be willing to talk or even just to tell her how much they hated her for what happened, but they never responded. Her hope for a reconcile with her parents dwindled away a little more each day.

Though Brad tried to keep up her spirits, she began to fall into a deep state of depression. Her body became heavy, making it hard for her to move. The peach color that once vibrated from her skin started to fade. Her light green eyes dimmed to a dark gray, and her long silky hair began to fall out. Doctors ran test after test and could find nothing wrong with the young woman. She pushed herself to get up and go to work until she could no longer get out of bed.

As she lay in bed, her breath hard and short, she wondered why she had never met any of Brad's friends or coworkers. Every time she had brought up the subject, he had charmed his way out of it. They made plans, but just as they were getting ready to leave, the phone would ring, and they had to cancel.

"It will happen," Brad would say.

And Kelly just excepted that, not thinking one thing of it. She didn't know how she'd never noticed before. She only thought of it now while she lay sick and suffering.

The sicker Kelly got, the more distant Brad became. The couple started to fight. Night after night, she would ask him questions about his life, family, and job. And night after night, he dismissed them. A wedge began to grow between them. Brad even started sleeping on the couch and disappearing without a word.

Waking one morning with a toothache, Kelly pulled herself out of bed to find him. The house was empty of all presents except for hers. As she descended the stairs, a chill ran up the back of her spine. Suddenly the house that once felt warm and inviting was unfriendly and cold. She pulled out the phone book in the kitchen and looked up Brad's practice in the yellow pages. Surprised that the line was no longer in service, she dressed and called a cab.

Arriving at the corner of Oak and Lamb, she paid the driver and walked into Brad's office. Stepping into the lobby, she was stunned to see the area messy and full of dust. It appeared that no one had been in this office for quite some time.

"Brad," she said softly as she coughed, "Brad, are you here?"

Wondering back the hall, she peered into room after room finding each one as empty as the lobby. Her mind spun, trying to figure out what this all meant. Where was it that Brad went all day when he said he was working?

"Brad," she shouted.

Suddenly a light flickered down the hall. As she moved toward it, her body began to slump as her limbs became heavy. Entering the room, she winched as the light hit her sore and swollen eyes.

"It's about time," Brad's voice echoed.

"Brad," Kelly searched the room, "where are you? What is going on here?"

"By the time they ask the question, it is already too late," he cackled.

The light abruptly dispersed, and before her stood Brad as tall and handsome as ever. Rubbing her eyes, she looked again; sure she was seeing things. His body seemed to be translucent.

Tired and frightened, she sat down on a chair to her left. Head between her knees, she took long slow breaths to calm herself. A twitch of the foot sent a fine line of dust-like particles through the air. Reaching down, she ran her fingers through the substance at her feet.

"What is this?" she said, noticing piles of it around the room.

"It's them," Brad said, "all the ones who came before you."

Coughing, she smacked her lips together as her mouth went dry.

"What? I don't understand," she looked up at the man she thought had saved her. "What are you talking about?"

Behind Brad she noticed a picture on the wall. Unlike the rest of the room, it only had a light layer of dust covering it. Walking to the wall, she reached out and wiped the grime away. It was a picture of Brad.

"In beloved memory," she read out loud, "Rest in peace. 1960-1990."

Stumbling back, Kelly gasped, trying to make sense of what she had just seen. 1990, she thought. Did this mean what she thought it meant?

She replayed every moment the two had spent together in her head. She thought back to the times they were out together. He always asked her to order for him while he was in the bathroom. He always seemed to be getting out of the shower right as she was coming in. Kelly remembered the way people looked at her while they were together. Focusing on the images in her mind, she saw reflection after reflection, where he wasn't quite there. She recalled how every picture she tried to take came out blurry.

"I don't understand," she cried, "you're a...you're a..."

"Ghost," Brad said with a smile, "Yes, I am. I did a lot of bad things in my time and wasn't fond of the idea of going to hell. So, I found a way to avoid it."

"What are you talking about?" she dropped to her knees.

"The only way I can keep my spirit from moving on is to pull life away from the living," he said.

Crawling across the floor, she tried to escape.

"It's too late now," he said, "Your life belongs to me."

Kelly gasped for air, pawing at her throat. She collapsed on the ground, wheezing as her body started to decay. Her skin dried, and her bones turned to dust as Brad took a deep breath and smirked.

"No one will miss you," he said as she faded away, "enjoy my place in hell."

The next morning a thin short redhead saw the house for rent sign in the yard of 201 Memory Lane. She couldn't believe she had found a furnished house and on a month to month lease. She thought moving somewhere where no one knew her was a good way to start over. She thought she could leave all her troubles behind as if they never happened. As if "IT" never happened, but she was wrong.