In the ghost story, there is a teenage couple. They are beautiful and poreless and smell of bubblegum and hormones. In the beginning of the story, they're making out. Their desire has taken them away from the relative safety of their homes and into the dark. You're supposed to think they're stupid, that they've forgotten how dangerous the world can be. But are they just stupid or brave, to face the dark for the feel of skin on skin?

This story is not really about the teenage couple. They die in the beginning, and the story goes on, forgets them. They're just part of the set-up, to show how high the stakes are. To get readers on the edge of their seats.

In the ghost story, the teenagers are in an abandoned cobweb-filled house or a car parked on the edge of a dark forest. They're kissing, hands just beginning to reach under each other's clothes, when the girl hears a noise. She pulls away. Asks the boy if he heard that. He didn't. He tries to kiss away her fears, but a twig snaps, and this time they both hear it. The boy, eager to prove himself to the girl that has his heart racing, says he'll investigate. The girl tells him not to. That they should just leave. She starts to remember how high the stakes are for teenage girls.

In the story, the boy dies first. The girl hears a yell and the sound of flesh parting, then a wet gurgle. She starts to run, but there's something behind her that's stronger and faster than she. When she dies, her lips part in a gasp, and her face is beautiful, her expression almost orgasmic. In stories, girls always die prettily.

In the story, after the teenage couple's murder, there's a moment of peace as readers meet the actual protagonists. They'll go on to face whatever it was that killed the couple, and they'll survive. They will be smarter than the teenagers, won't kiss in the shadows. They'll fight back and win. The teenage couple is inconsequential to the larger plot.

But I can't forget them, even after I finish the story. I see their car in the fog while I drive home, their silhouettes entwined. I feel their hands reaching around me, towards each other, as I brush my teeth. I hear their panting breaths as I try to fall asleep. I can taste their desire. It's enough to get me out of bed, and into the dark.

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