Her throat was tight with the acrid smell, but from her position close to the floor she avoided the worst of the dense smoke. Crawling her way into the room, her hands grazed against the hardwood floor. The figure of a girl hovered by the window, the smoke appeared to be whirling around her.

It closed in on the figure, collecting in that one spot and clearing the rest of the room. Once the smoke had engulfed the girl, Sarah's heaviness subsided and she was able to stand up again.

She no longer felt the urge to help Clara, or whoever this figure was, she understood that it had falsely led her up here. An aura of pure hatred spun out with each twist of the smoke.

From the corner of her eye, she picked up a brief movement on either side of the room. The mood of the room instantly changed, breaking the threat she had sensed. She quickly checked to her side and wasn't at all surprised to see Duncan on her left and Luke to her right. They didn't appear to be solid, only projections of their bodies, apparitions of the men downstairs. They were the reason for the change in atmosphere of that she was certain. These must be their spiritual auras, they oozed love and warmth her way. They were still immobile, but their expressions were peaceful. She heaved a sigh of relief for this, maybe they were oblivious to what was happening.

The smoke cyclone by the window faded away with a hiss of wind, blowing itself out into the night through the panes of glass, as if it were never there. The girl faced outside, her long, dark brown hair flowing around her, camouflaging her face in the supernatural breeze. She stood much taller than Clara had been, her thin, black dress clung to smaller curves than her friend had possessed. Without turning her body, the girl's head made a tearing, grating sound as the bones of her neck broke while her face turned towards Sarah.

Sarah's legs gave way at the horrendous noise and terrifying face that came to look at her. She sank to her knees, her body unable to cope under the strain. The girl's face, a burnt mess of peeling, raw flesh and empty eye sockets. Where her nose should have been, just the white bone structure was visible. Her lips hung from around her mouth, black and papery, charred teeth showing through holes in her cheek.

The girl lifted her arms wide, sending out a stench of rotten meat which assaulted Sarah's senses. She could taste the sickly grease coating her tongue. The girl pointed her skeletal fingers at the men standing to the sides of the room. She tilted her head to her left, cracking more bones as she did so.

This was it. The final choice. Sarah knew that the time to make her decision had arrived. She looked up towards Duncan. His charismatic face, gorgeous blue eyes, obvious sexual attraction. His wicked sense of humour and hidden vulnerability. The first man to ever love her. The first man she'd ever loved. Sarah started crying, her body shook with the stress and shock of everything. She returned her gaze to the horror in front of her and whispered her answer.

"No."

The girl clicked together the bony fingers of her left hand and Duncan disappeared. A wave of relief flooded over Sarah. He was safe. She watched the girl's head lift and begin its incline to her right shoulder, with that same terrible cracking.

To match the sound, the trees outside the window began to bend and reach towards the house. A vicious wind shook free all the greenery, leaving skeletal branches. They curved upwards and stretched to meet together, forming a canopy over the roof of the building.

Sarah looked at Luke through the baubles of her tears. How could it come to this? She had a desperate need to just hold him close again, for one last time. She wished he could hear what she needed to say. Perhaps in some way he could. Her body ached with the agony of her torment as she spoke to him.

"My Luke! I love your smile, your trust and loyalty, your generosity and spirit. I, I love -" here Sarah broke into sobs, the tears busting free. "- You! I love you so much. I'm so, so sorry Luke. Please forgive me."

The skinny fingers of the treetops scratched down the window glass. The screeching pierced her ears. It clawed its way through Sarah's brain, waking her up from this living nightmare.

Everything suddenly became clear. Sarah knew what she had to do. She glared back at the girl thing, and screamed out her decision.
"No! I can't let him go. You can't have him either."

The girl snapped her head upright and clicked her finger.

Luke disappeared.

The bony branches reached through the glass without a sound and felt their way into the room. Two dark shapes formed on either side of the girl.

A rage of unbelievable proportion had built up inside Sarah. The injustice of the entire situation coming to a head. Her mother. Her lovers, and some day soon her father? She was so angry she could feel the bitterness surging around her. Bile rising from her stomach, gave her a courage that she'd always known she possessed but had never been able to access.

Sarah pushed herself up off the floor, threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs. Her blood boiling, she yelled at the three entities by the window.
"You'll never have them! I swear to you, you God forsaken, evil bitches. I'll find a way to tell them about you, if my mother can do it then God knows so can I. I'm going to fight you for this, I'm going to destroy you. I'm going to break your fucking curse. You better believe it, you're going straight back to hell. So get ready for me 'cause - "

Sarah mustered up all her rage and anguish convinced that the coming battle could only end in her victory. She would warn and save the men, somehow bring this to an end for all the generations to come. Her life was a small price to pay.

" 'Cause I'm coming to collect you, bitch!"

******

"Five, four, three, two, one... Happy New Year!"

Duncan and Luke clicked their glasses of champagne together.

"How about that Luke old boy, looks like the millennium bug was a load of bollocks after all!"

Duncan smiled at his friend, a rare sight over the past few months since Sarah's death.

Luke took a deep gulp of the wine and glanced around the room. His family members and friends were kissing and hugging, celebrating the turn of the century. From the living room stereo system, Robbie Williams was singing out 'Angels' in time to the fireworks in the garden.

"Doesn't this all seem bizarre to you, Dunc?"

Duncan cleared his throat and put his glass down on the sideboard. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, after everything that's happened. I mean, I still can't believe she's really, you know..."

"Yes, mate. I know. I feel like she's just been away for a while, you know, waiting for us to pop on over to her place and get the whisky and fags out again."

The men focused their attention on Luke's parents as they swayed slowly together, dancing. Luke's mother resting her head on his father's shoulder.

Duncan cleared his throat again, fighting back the emotion.
"Have you decided what to do with her farm yet?"

Luke's eyes glazed over while he watched his parents.
"No, not yet. Dad's thinking about keeping the land for extra grazing and pulling down the old farmhouse, like crazy old Neil Laker stipulated in the will. Can you believe that he left it to my dad?"

"I suppose he never thought Loopy would be interested in keeping it going. Turns out he was probably right."

Luke and Duncan drank for a while in silence, each lost in their own memories. Duncan broke the spell, granting Luke relief as he didn't trust himself to keep it together with the soft songs playing in the background.
"Typical Loopy - accidental - her whole bloody life was accidental let alone her flippin' death."

Luke raised an eyebrow and grinned at his friend.
"You're telling me. Still not sure about that though - accidental death. I mean, yes, I get the report and the blocked chimney and all that, but, I don't know, I just have this feeling. Don't you?"

Duncan slapped Luke across the back.
"Don't sweat it, big fella, I told you before, it's only a dream. I've been having a few shitty ones recently too. So just chill out. If it makes you feel better, we can go over to the house together next week and make sure everything's alright. What about that? Make you feel better?"

Luke smiled. "Thanks Dunc. I haven't been able to go over yet, and I get the idea that it would do me good to be close to her again."

Duncan returned the smile. "Alright you great sissy, now get that down your neck and let's go out for a fag, the sight of your old folks snogging makes me want to puke. What's up with that? Can't they take it upstairs for Christ's sake?"

Laughing at his friend's discomfort, Luke followed Duncan outside.

"Do you want one? " Duncan held out the packet of cigarettes and shook them at Luke.

Luke grunted and grabbed one out.
"Why the hell not. "

Duncan slapped his hand on his friend's arm, nearly knocking the cigarette to the ground. Luke noticed an audible break in his voice when he spoke.
"I know she loved you more, buddy. She just wouldn't say."

Looking at Duncan, full in the eye, Luke finally said the things he'd been wanting to.
"She never meant to choose, Duncs, I'm sure of it. If anything, Sarah was always true to us. You know she loved you, right? You two had something that we could never come close to."

Smacking Luke across the back, Duncan stuttered as he swiped away the annoying tears on his cheeks.
"Don't give me that, mate, she always had the hots for you. Not a lot I could do about that. "

Then, pausing to pick out a cigarette and place it between his dry lips with shaky fingers, Duncan finished what Luke guessed he'd been intending to get off his chest for a while.
"It was always 'we' with you and Sarah. No, no, don't get me wrong, it's not something I was ever jealous of as such, it's just that, well, it's just that you and her -"

Duncan's shoulders began to shudder, his body wracked with the full emotional impact of the loss.

Luke dropped the cigarette to the ground. The luminous burst of New Year's fireworks threw streaks of yellow and blue across his face. His expression tight and seriously controlled. While a whirlpool of pain wouldn't let go.
She's gone! She's really gone. I won't cry, I can't cry now.

Sinking to a crouched position, Duncan buried his head in his hands. Luke squatted down beside him. He laid a heavy arm on his friend's back, his other hand loose, dangling by his side, unsure of what to do.
"Sarah thought you were the best, Duncs."

Sniffing, while swiping at his face, Duncan glanced up to meet Luke's eye.
"Do you honestly think that?"

"Yep." Luke rolled back on his heels, cursing the tightness of his jeans. The firework display screeched overhead, scaring away the wildlife as well as his own ghosts.
"She never had the guts to tell you, but I know Sarah. She'd never have been happy stuck out in the middle of nowhere for too long. She loved the city, the nightlife, the bloody bookshops. She'd have soon got bored playing the farmer's wife. She would have ended up with you."

Duncan snorted and pushed Luke away, sending him sprawling on the freshly mown lawn.
"Fuck off, farm boy."

Luke took a moment to assess Duncan's face, gauging the expression, before reacting. Duncan stared at him, the slight curl of the corner of his lips gave away his insincerity.

"Sarah thought I was fucking hot. Come on. Admit it, Blondie. She couldn't keep away from me and you knew it."

Luke raised his hands in surrender and rocked himself up into a sitting position. He watched the explosions in the night sky. Focusing on anything, anything but the tearing sensation which tortured his heart, ripped his chest apart every day since she'd gone. He swallowed dryly, forcing his tongue into action. He couldn't meet Duncan's eye anymore.
"You're right, Duncs, you're always right. Sarah thought you were hot."

He didn't need to see Duncan's expression to understand what he felt. Had no desire to watch his pain, clearly etched in his eyes. It wasn't necessary to look at him cry. They knew. They both knew.