Just One Kiss

Here's my story, the last one I've finished.  I still haven't gotten around to adding the rest of the pictures but I have no idea when that or if that will happen.  Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 1

He was dead. Well, the engraving on the top of the tomb claimed this anyway. I had read the name, the dates, everything but when I gave the lid a slight push, it slid open easily. This isn’t what I’d planned on doing this afternoon; going to some random crypt in the middle of nowhere while on vacation with my friends in Ireland. But I just wanted to get out on my own for a little while, to see some of the country for myself. Actually, I didn’t really have a plan whatsoever. I knew I had to get to my silly, stupid dare and when I saw this small, ancient crypt with its open door, I thought that maybe I could get it over and done with, just so long as I had proof. I shined my flashlight over the surface of the vault once again; awestruck by the perfect detail that was used when the artist sculpted the relief of his face centuries ago. This man had been young, only 25 when he died. Ok, so he was older than I am now, but still. A lord and a knight, his titles impressed me, especially for his youth. And I could tell he was very handsome too. I just wondered what I would find when I flashed my light inside the tomb. I was to find that there was nothing in the world that would prepare me for what my light would reveal.

I was shocked and confused. The rotting dead guy I was expected to find was replaced by a man who I could barely tell if he was dead or only sleeping. He was whole, not a bone in sight. His body looked firm and solid. His dark hair was soft and full, a lock sweetly resting on his forehead. His face was peacefully, serene. I turned my flashlight to his chest to see if I could notice any rise or fall of breathing. My light caught the gleam of metal, so I investigated more. He was wearing what looked like an armor breastplate with some sort of crest on it. The armor was mostly rusted but the crest shown in the light clearly. Where did this guy get this ancient armor from? And if he was dead, he couldn’t have been here for that long. Maybe this was one of his ancestor’s armor and that was their family crest. I kept perfectly still as I studied his chest, looking for any sign of movement. There was nothing though, not a shred of movement from the man in the vault. He had to be someone else other than the man who was supposed to be lying before me.

I turned my light and focus back on his face. My God, he was really gorgeous. He was like a man that only most women dream of, including me. I irrationally wondered if he was married. What would it matter if some dead guy was married or not, I mentally chastised myself. Ok, so he’s hot but he was dead, right? If only he were alive, I thought, not daring to finish that line of thinking. His brow was set high, lashes long but not overly, his nose was broad but had a slightly upturned tip. But it was his lips that I was really drawn to as I looked down at him. The word that came to my mind as I looked at his mouth was sensual, not a word I think I’ve ever used before but it described his lips perfectly.

Ok, so his chest wasn’t moving or at least I couldn’t tell if it was, but what if he was still breathing anyway? I thought up another test to check if he was alive or not. I just wasn’t convinced he was dead. Everything just seemed off about the whole situation. If I was going to go through with my challenge, he had to be dead. I reached my empty right hand up in front of his face and held my hand out as close to his nose and mouth as I could bear. I wanted to see if I could feel any breath against my fingers. There was nothing, no breath coming out or being inhaled in. I let my fingers drop out of relief and they gently rested on his cheek. His cheek was surprisingly soft. But there wasn’t any warmth to his skin, not that it was cold and clammy like a normal dead person. No, just not warm like the living. Who was this guy and why was he here? He had obviously just died. Maybe he was stashed here because they ran out of room at one of the other local cemeteries or maybe he belonged to the family whose name adorned the front of the crypt and they had no other spot to put him. These thoughts ran through my mind as I trailed my fingers down to where I would find a pulse normally. Again, nothing, no pulse, no life, he had to be dead. Fresh dead or long time dead, it didn’t matter as far as my quest was concerned. And there was no time like the present to go ahead and get it over with this dead man.

I clicked off my flashlight and put it in the pocket of my khaki shorts. I felt my other pocket for my phone so I could take a picture of what I was about to do and suddenly realized it was in my car. I quietly cursed under my breath. I decided that I would do a practice run now and then I would go get it to take a good picture. I swept my long brown hair back so that it wouldn’t fall in my face while I was leaning over him and used my other hand to make sure I had a secure brace so I wouldn’t fall in. I pushed myself up and my face hovered directly over his. I exhaled one last sigh before I went for it and planted my lips on his.

Kissing him was just like kissing any other man I’ve kissed before, well, one that wasn’t kissing me back. I had no idea what came over me but I began to kiss him deeper and I could swear that I felt his lips getting warmer at the same time. And then the unspeakable happened, I felt his tongue enter my mouth and his hand go up behind my head. Oh holy God, he was alive! I immediately sprung out of his grasp and got to my feet. I felt like I was trapped in some horror movie, happening right before my eyes. The man who I had thought to be dead, who was supposed to have been dead was moving within the tomb. I watched in absolute terror as his hand reached over the edge of the vault, pulling him up into a sitting position, eyes wide open. I was backing away, towards the open door when he began to speak in a language I didn’t understand. I turned to make my fast as lightning retreat to safety when my right foot found a giant crack in the stone floor, pitching me forward on my hands.

He was practically on top of me, his voice louder and closer, still speaking in gibberish. I rolled around to face him, and there he was, standing right above me, reaching out to me. I scrambled back away from him as quickly as I could, my hands stinging and right ankle screaming out in pain.

But instead of finding my only exit, my head met the solid stone wall behind me. The last thing I remembered hearing was him saying what sounded like a curse word. And everything became darkness.