I opened my eyes when I found myself tucked inside a luscious bed and duvet alone. I switched on the table lamp immediately when I realised it wasn't my room or apartment. I woke up haphazardly and went outside the room to find out where was I, hoping for Derek's home only and I was heard by the gods. I was at Derek's place only but everyone else seemed disappeared and I found no one but myself wandering across the hall and staircase. Last thing I remembered was me finishing my food and resting on sofa for a while. I must have doozed off and he must have tucked me to bed. I smiled thinking him being so caring and concerning for me. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water, just when I heard some hustle and bustle from upstairs. I drank my water in a hurry and tried to Pace myself as fast as I could along with the heavy fatty baby inside me.

I opened the door of his room and my mind blew away. I couldn't budge from the place like I was....I was rooted there. I saw Mr.Jingler, the open skulled old ugly guy, sitting on Derek's abdomen and strangling his throat while he was struggling for air beneath him.

"Leave him....." I yelled and almost ran to Mr.Jingler and held his hand.

"Tell me the truthhhhhhh or I'll kill him.....tell me...." He said with his gritted teeth, I started crying. It was going too much for me to handle. I started pleading for Lucifer to come for help at that moment. But I had to do something. I tried to un-grip Mr Jingler from Derek's neck but he pushed me away so hard that I fell backward and got hit on the office desk on the sidewall oh his room. My waist and abdomen hurt so much suddenly. I clutched the bump tightly trying so hard to think that he couldn't do any harm to me as I was dead already. I took some breathes and raised again.

"I said leave him alone..." I yelled and attacked Mr.Jingler again with the table lamp. He fell of from him because of the sudden attack of mine and the lamp bursted on his half open head which caused a little fire. He started bellowing and jumping on the floor because of the fire and running towards the window.

"You dont get to go so easily...youuu don't...." He said and jumped off the window. I immediately ran and looked down but he was nowhere to be seen. Derek was still gagging and coughing. I ran back to him still clutching my abdomen which felt like bursting with pain any moment. It was so weird and pathetic that even though I couldn't have any injury or harm, I still felt the pain every damned time. I helped him wake up and sit properly and gave him some water to drink and relax.

"Iris...what....(cough)"

"Relax ohkay...relax...it was nothing...just....just a nightmare..don't think about it"

He took deep breathes and normalised in a minute or two, I was sitting beside him holding his nape while one hand still being on my belly. He started breathing normally and gulped whole water and then looked at me.

"Did I...did I hurt you..? It never happened to me before...why now?" He said looking pathetically guilt ridden and ashamed of himself at me and my bump. I just kept nodding yes and nos..

"Is it....is it fine...tell me ?" He said putting his hand on my bump slightly. I closed my eyes. Although the time wasn't right, I was still feeling the anticipation coming from Derek, his touch, his breathes and him being safe and sound beside me. I opened my eyes and found him staring me with glassy eyes.

"Everything's fine derek. Nothing's wrong " I purred in bare whispers. Couldn't gather voice when he was so close to me. He leaned forward and aligned his head with mine. I didn't resist at all. A tear dropped from his eyes and I wiped it immediately. It wasn't his fault at all, rather he was being the victim here. It was me, who died and brought this hell-ed life to him at first place and now I was making him some crazy sick man who hallucinates and see nightmares and strangles himself. I was the one guilty here not him. I was thinking all this when i found him leaning dangerously close to my mouth. I gasped a little and that too exhaled on his upper lips only. He looked at me, held my face between his both palms and kissed me. I felt all the jitters inside me from head to toe. My hand automatically raised and just disappeared in the bulk of his hair. He nibbled at my lips for few seconds and trailed his hand down from my neck to my side breast and suddenly his silky touch tightened around my love handle and he pulled me closer, that's when I gasped and he deepened the kiss. It was a whole new feeling, like I was virgin all over again and being touched for the first time. I never knew being touched by someone who gives you jitters beneath your belt for months would feel like that. I was rejuvenated, all those old touches and scratches from my body were long gone now.

We pulled away and I just ducked my hand and head down. He was still close to my head breathing on my central partition while I was hoping he likes the rosemary fragrance of my conditioner though.

"Thank you...." He said on my forehead when I finally looked up at him and he looked down to me. He then neared my thighs to him putting them over his own and looped my hands around his neck and sat smilingly holding my back now. I was appearing more of an crimson apple now looking at him doing all the bold moves and beaming a smile at me now. He was not pitying on me after all.

"Thank you Ire....for staying here with me and now running away seeing a stupid insane man strangling himself in his sleep" just when he called himself stupid and insane I felt my heart ache out of guilt and shame. I lowered my eyes again. It was being on and off with me as he was totally onto me, just as I was but then again all the things happening with us, especially with him was scaring me to death. I was lieing and shamelessly lieing to him every second.

"Move in with me!" I was engrossed in my own trip when I heard him saying this and snuggling into my neck. I froze. Did he.....did he just ask me to move in with him? Wasn't that....too fast. My breathes raised and I couldn't hold. I started crying and from inside I was pulling my hair for crying now...like now....when probably an angel of a man was snuggly breathing in my neck and asked me to live with him in his grand rich home. My tears probably fell on his nape when he pulled away and looked at me horrifyingly.

"I said too much...Ire I'm sorry...I'm really sorry I didn't mean it...I mean it's okay..if you don't want to....it's really ohkay....I mean of course....you might not feel safe around me after tonight.....I'm so sorry please don't cry" he blabbered and blabbered his innocent apologies to me and it just weighed my heart more and more heavy. I looked at him and couldn't say anything.

I just raised from there and left the room. He came running behind me.
"Iris...wait...Iris.." he called but I just wiped my tears which were flowing uncontrollably and taking my purse from the couch downstairs, opened the door to leave.
He came rushingly and stood in front of me which made me halt suddenly.

"You....you can't go alone...I'll drop you ..but please, say something. Abuse me, cuss me, slap me...but say something...don't go like this...please..."
Never have I ever thought I would see Derek Woods this way. In this pathetic begging and pleading way. Techincally, I was castrating him morally by unnecessarily hopping on his weak nerve. I didn't deserve him. I didn't deserve his tears, his fears, his care, his concern, his laughter, his anger, his vulnerability, his clandestines, his power, his fragility... actually...nothing of his do I deserve because I....was a big fat dead ghost lier haunting him for no reason except the forbidden feelings I have sown inside me for him.

Those futile threats by either Mr.Jingler or John...those were to remind me that I was destroying a normal alive happy living man with my aura and deadly ill omens. I looked at his petrified face, he was on the verge of crying, I wiped my face again and hung my head low for taking a deep breath. Looking up back  at him, I said
"I..don't..like you Mr.Woods. I'm sorry. You don't interest me at all so I don't want you anywhere around me or my baby. I had a good time with you and I thank you for that. But....no...goodbye."

My brain was producing too much tears from the tear fountain. It was getting very difficult for me to wipe my wet face every second along with my running nose. I kept wiping myself with the back of my palm and drying that palm on my dress repeatedly. I was walking and walking away from his house at half past 3 in the morning on the road which was leading to where...I had no idea. I kept walking and wiping my tears under the lights. It was so heartbreaking and rude of me when I spit those venomous words on him. I could see his face breaking into pieces, not to forget along with his heart. The road was not so lonely, I could see some people walking, most of them seemed drunk though. There was no space of fear in my emotion box at that moment because all I could feel was agony and guilt. No wonder I killed myself before.

I was just walking and walking without even looking at the directions or sign boards when suddenly I heard behind me.
"You blew my head ablaze.." I turned around only to find  fuming Mr.Jingler looking at me creepily with his teeth gritted and an evil smirk playing on his lips. My agony swooshed away replaced by the wrath inside me for him. He was the one poking his finger in my life and business making it unnecessarily hell, I couldn't put the blame on my head for his death. He died for it's own cause, I had nothing to do with that so I wasn't just ready to accept his involvement and actions in whatever happenings of my life. I just stopped feeling sympathetic or scared of him because I realised he was being the typical sadist who destroys others for his own contentment.

Something inside me ignited and made me glare him down. I glared him deadly for a few seconds when he fell silent and very silent and suddenly I saw his whole body catching fire and he started shrieking to save himself. My senses got back hearing his shrills and I was confused and stuck thinking how the hell did I do it. He was still crying for help as the fire was eating his skin and flesh and i couldn't just gather my courage to go and help me out, I was so surprised with myself that I had powers like that inside me. Lucifer was right.

Just then I saw Mr.Jingler's on fire body vanished suddenly and a man coming out of smoke. It was Lucifer. I reached him immediately.

"I....I don't know...I just glared him....I'm sorry...im....I'm seriously sorry....I don't know.....I don't know how.. " my tears were back again when I was pleading for forgiveness from Lucifer. 

"Iris...relax...it wasn't you...but your dangerously sexy dress...putting a man literally on fire.." he said and started laughing. I was bewildered to see him laughing at such moment. He was never serious. I wiped my tears and saw Angela joining us from behind. I ran to her and hugged her.

"It was brave of you Iris. We came to congratulate you. Well done" she said when I pulled apart. It was boggling my mind as to why they were acting so cool and brave about me when I literally put a man on fire... literally.

"Oh come'on...Jingler was an ass. And anyways he isn't dead. He will recover soon, like you do, you all are ghosts dammit" Lucifer said reading my mind and answering my questions which gave me relief but another stress.

"Does that....that mean he will come back?" I asked looking at both of them, especially Lucifer.

"Nope he won't..." He said kicking a juice can on the road towards the trashcan.

"How can you be so sure..?" I asked again getting irritated with his playfully cool and all chilled behaviour.

"Because I know Iris...he got scared from you now, he saw that fire in your eyes and now his balls are burnt..." He started laughing again. Argh....can't be serious anytime. I nodded in his unbelievable coolness and held Angela's hand again.

"So...broke up with Dashing Woods huh?" She asked looking at me while I immediately ducked my head down and wiped my face for the nth time this night.

"It was necessary" I said looking up at her nodding positively, the lump changed my voice which made my crying so visibly heard.

"God Stevens you are cry-talking. Now that you have done it...just get over it...emo girl" Lucifer spatted his all cool comments which fumed me even more.

"Oh what do you know about sacrifice huh...you didn't sacrifice your love for her safety, you don't have crazy insane ugly dangerous ghosts coming behind you and you are not pregnant with a seven months old baby who might be getting all depressed along with her mother..."

I yelled and started panting. Lucifer was staring me when I was yelling at him, for a second it felt good to let out my insides but it vanished the very moment when he said
"You don't know a thing Stevens...not a single thing. I'm more empty than you"

His voice was silent but lethal while his stare was stuck on Angela. I could feel the immense gloom in his words and eyes going glassy. Tonight was the night for all the tough men around me changing their usual sides and punching me with guilt on my face for prejudicing them.

He was right, I didn't know a single thing, although before this statement I felt like I did, but not now. I felt I crossed my limit too far and vented out my anger or wrong person saying definitely wrong stuffs. Before I could say anything to mend the wound caused my words...he went away. My mouth fell open.
I looked at Angela who was still staring at the fog left behind Lucifer and tears tricking down her eyes.

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Upset for Iris-Derek, are you?
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Take care
Signing off
Shruti!