She reflected upon something she had read about 2 AM being when the soul is at it's weakest ebb. For Lydia perhaps this wasn't the case. She worked nights and slept days. Perhaps 2 PM was her soul's lowest ebb. She always walked this way, and as she would be working on Halloween night, this was as close as she would get to a celebration. "Happy Halloween Lydia" she said to herself, moving her long black hair to one side of her face. A stab of pain went through her. The pains were getting worse and worse.
Her family wanted her to go to a hospital. Why bother, there was nothing the doctors could do. She was terminal, the cancer had already spread. She preferred to live what life she had rather then fade away in a hospital. It was getting cold, her breasts were covered with goose bumps. She pulled the jacket tighter in an attempt to stay warm. She swore the winds seemed to whisper something sinister in the night.
A cloud covered the moon and plunged the field into a deeper darkness. It was like a shadow over the field. She thought she heard something. A murmuring, a whisper? "Just the wind" she said to comfort herself. Halloween, the time that the Celts believed the walls between dimensions grew thin, even opening gateways. The time when the souls of the dead might walk once more upon the earth. A time when dark things might stir. When the lord of the underworld might walk among mortals.
Was that a sound of something stirring? She paused to listen. Was someone out here in the field with her? She was afraid, but for some reason felt herself grow wet with longing. Nothing! She continued to walk, giggling to herself that it was her imagination. A breeze stirred, whirling around her, blowing her hair into her face. It seemed to whirl in front of her and then stopped.
A man stood where the wind had died. He stood tall and thin, graceful in a frightening predatory way. His skin was pale, his eyes like ice water. His lips were thin and pink as if a pink worm had crawled upon his face and died. His nails seemed to give off light, shining like glass. "Greetings on this night of gathering Lydia."
"Night of Gathering?" She stood frightened, not knowing if she should run or fight this supernatural entity.
"I've come to gather you Lydia." He smiled, and with a fluid movement was upon her. She felt his touch as he laid his hands upon her. His hands brushed upon the skin of her face then lightly settled upon her shoulders. The pain she had felt faded. She found herself relaxing, no longer afraid. She felt warm and happy.
She smiled at the man. "Thank you."
"I've got an offer for you Lydia. Why die slowly, in pain? I can give you a night of pleasure and joy, and a sweet death."
"You will be mourned either way. This way you disappear never to be seen again. Otherwise those who care, shall watch you grow weaker, see your pain, and it will be hard for them and you."
He looked down upon her, staring into her eyes. "Give yourself a break Lydia. This offer is only for tonight. Here and now."
She remembered all the things she had given up for others. She had been in love once, but the man had gone off to desert storm and never returned. She had given up a chance to go to college to care for her ailing mother. Then her father had needed help in the business and none of her brothers had volunteered. All her opportunities missed, the love of her life dead. Now she was dying. This strange unearthly man was giving her a chance to have some joy, some pleasure, something for herself, if only her own choice of deaths.
"Yes" she told him.
Like a spider examining a prized catch in it's web, he stroked her with his long thin fingers. Stroking the skin of her face. Massaging her shoulders, removing her clothing. Her breasts bounced free of the restraining bra like ripe melons. Her nipples standing out, but not from the cold. She felt warm and filled with desire. He moved his fingers lightly down the cradle of her back, down to her smooth hips, resting on her buttocks. He massaged and felt her two butt checks causing her to moan in expectation of what was to come.
He lifted her and carried her to a bed of soft fall colored leaves. He touched, probed, stroked, fondled and licked every inch of her. Her passion rose and she wanted him in her, to feel him inside her, flesh to flesh. At last she felt him come slowly into her. His penis stiff, he moved in a strange clock wise movement as he came in and out of her. Caught off guard she could only squirm in ecstasy, moaning and responding to his strange thrusts.
Afterwards she lay gasping, sweat dripping from her pores. He stood and came up beside her face. Sitting down beside her he held her hand. "Now I will help you leave this place for a much better one. A place where it is always warm and beautiful. A place where you will know only joy and be with all you love. But to go there you leave your flesh behind."
He put her hand to his mouth. She felt him sucking on her little finger, then she felt his teeth chewing the flesh from her fingers. Incredibly, there was no pain and she was fascinated. He was eating her alive and she found it comforting. She lay back and relaxed as he continued to feast upon her. His teeth hungrily chewed the flesh from her arms till only bones remained. Then he started on her feet, her legs and plump tender thighs. She was amused to think that the cancer that had been eating her alive would itself now be eaten by him.
She found herself in orgasmic bliss as he consumed her buttocks, first one then the other check. He teased her with his tongue, rolling it over her clit, moving in and out of her vaginal hole before beginning to consume her vaginal lips. He sucked on her clitoris before consuming it, sending her into astounding heights of pleasure. As he consumed the flesh of her stomach and started on her organs, she mentally wished the cancer goodbye. Goodbye to the pain and sorrow, goodbye to the crushed dreams and failures of her life.
He sucked on her nipples before nibbling on them and then devouring her breasts. When it was over she found herself looking down on her own cleanly picked skeleton.
"It's time to go to that better place now Lydia." She found herself putting a ghostly hand in his and walking into a place of miraculous wonder.
The next day on Halloween the town experienced a real scare. Children on their way to school found what was left of Lydia's body. For years after, tales of horror would be told. The pumpkin patch would be avoided for many a year by the locals. What horror she had experienced they said in tales, being eaten alive by some monster. No one would have believed the even stranger truth. That Lydia had been gathered that night by one seeking those such as she. That she had welcomed a chance, one last chance to have something wonderful for herself.