Chapter 7

"What's wrong?" Gabriel frowned suddenly, noticing the mist pouring into the room from the vents along the floor and ceiling. "Why did the fog come on? I didn't turn it on." He looked down at her. "That was another of Lissa's little ideas. She liked the atmosphere it gave."

"Fog machine? Oh... " She relaxed slightly, smiling up at him. "Like the torches and the fireplace ... it's wonderful, Gabriel, all of it, I love it. I just ... don't feel ... like ... I've ... earned ... it--" Her voice trailed slowly off.

"What's wrong?" He looked down at her, worried.

She closed her eyes, trembling, and stepped away from him guiltily, whispering, "I'm sorry." But she wasn't looking at him, and didn't seem to be addressing him, either, her gaze locked on the corner behind him.

Gabriel turned to see what she was looking at, and froze. "Lissa?" he whispered.

The figure was tall, almost six feet, and thin. Her breasts were small, a decided contrast to Pandora's, something that was clearly visible, as she was completely nude. She glided forward, waist-length hair swirling around her like the fog she seemed to be made up of, and smiled. "He's right. I want you to have it." Her voice was faint, and distant in some unexplainable way, while still being perfectly audible over the sound of the fireplace.

Pandora stared at the ghost for a moment, taking in every detail, her face growing more and more troubled before she tore her gaze away to look at Gabriel, desperately needing to know how he was reacting to this apparition.

Gabriel was frozen, staring at the woman in shock, unable to speak. Lissa walked up to them, smiling sadly, and looked at Pandora. "I'm glad he found someone to love." She looked back at him. "And I'm glad you finally decided to start living again. I was starting to get pissed at you, you know. I didn't kill myself so you could mope around the house all day. If you'd ever come back in here I'd have told you that, but no, you wouldn't come past the door." She sighed in exasperation, looking at Pandora again. "If he tries to do that again, would you please kick his ass?"

Gabriel whispered again, in disbelief, "Lissa?"

Pandora's eyes never left his face as the ghost came nearer, and finally, a tear rolled down her cheek. "I can't," she whispered. "He's not mine. I'm so sorry. Oh god ... I shouldn't be here."

Lissa reached out a hand, gently cupping Pandora's face. "Yes, he is, and you should." She looked at her sadly. "Don't make the mistake I made. Don't be a fool. I was a fool, and it cost me everything."

"Lissa! Don't say that!" Gabriel said.

Lissa looked at him, shaking her head. "I was."

Pandora shook her head. "No. No. I ... I'll go. I haven't got any right. You were here first." Each word was uttered as if it were a knife to the heart, and with each word her aura grew a bit fainter.

"And I betrayed him. I was a fool, and lost the best thing in my life." She smiled, her sense of loss coming through easily, heartbreakingly sadly. "I can't be a wife to him anymore, Pandora. It's all I can do to hold this form, and I won't be able to do that for long. I can't leave this room. I can't hold him, can't wake up next to him ... I lost all that when I turned my back on him, like an idiot." Her voice was full of self-loathing. "I've had a year and a half to realize what an idiot I was, and to get more and more worried that he'd never love again. I'd almost given up hope ... and then you showed up and brought him back to life." She looked at him wryly. "I'm not sure what happened to him, but you did bring him back to life."

Pandora whimpered again, and shook her head, backing away. "You loved him. You loved him first. You died for him ... and you're so beautiful, and you were always so smart and so strong and he loves you so much ... he should have come to you a long time ago ... I'm s ... sorry!"

With a strangled sob, Pandora turned and dashed for the door, but skidded to a stop, shaking, when Lissa drifted in front of her, blocking the door. "Oh god, let me go, please! I can't take this!" she begged.

Lissa shook her head. "I'm not smart. Or at least I didn't use it, or none of this would have happened. I'm not going to let you make the same mistake I did. He's good for you, I can see that, and you're good for him. Don't be a fool." She gave Pandora a wry smile. "Trust me, I can tell you all about what you get for being a fool, but it's mostly long and boring."

Pandora shook her head violently. "Stop, stop it! It's not my choice to make! Can't you see that you're hurting him? Stop wasting your time with me and g ... go to him!"

"I can't!" Lisa looked at her, ghostly tears running down her face. "I can't be with him anymore, not like you can. I can't leave this room, I can't touch him, not really touch him, and that's just what I deserve for being an idiot! Please, don't punish him for my stupidity. Please... " She sobbed, brokenly. "It wasn't his fault. He doesn't deserve to suffer..."

Pandora closed her eyes tightly. "There's more to love that touching. He didn't ... doesn't ... love you just for you body. But ... I'll be his mistress for you. For him. For me, too. Because he needs to be held and b ... because I need to touch him so bad ... but he's not mine. Not if you're here. He n ... never can be, no matter how much I want him, because he loved you first, and so much, and he needs you and you ... you hurt him, and now you owe him so let me go so that he c ... can be alone with you damn it!"

Lissa shook her head. "I'm not here, not really, and that's the problem." She sighed. "It's taking everything I've got to hold this together so that I can talk to you, and when I lose it I won't be able to do anything for a couple of weeks. Maybe longer. He's not mine anymore. He's yours. He's right; I like you. You're good for him." She smirked at Pandora. "Besides, you can't be his mistress. You already said you'd marry him. And if he lets you out of that promise, I swear to god I'll haunt him for the rest of his life." She looked down at herself. "Haunt him in a bad way, I mean. I can't really get out of the haunting part."

Pandora moaned. "Oh god ... this is too cruel, too awful ... It's. Not. My. Choice. It's his. You think I would hold him to ... to that proposal now? You're here. The important part of you is. Maybe not for long at a time but ... I'd take five minutes with him every year over a complete lifetime with any new lover, if that's all I could get, even if all I could do is see his face, hear him tell me he loved me for just those few moments. And maybe ... maybe what he is now can do more than that ... maybe that's why he changed, because he was meant for you, not for me. Oh god please stop! It hurts so bad!" She sobbed, her body shuddering helplessly. "I'm t--trying t--to do the right thing! I j--just want him to b--be happy! Even ... even if ... oooooooh!" She collapsed forward onto her knees, hunched over, arms wrapped tightly around her middle. "It hurts, oh please, it hurts!" She sobbed brokenly. "Gabriel..."