Alice

Disclaimer:

This story is fictional. It contains descriptions of Adult/child sexual encounters in a nurturing relationship. If such things bother you then you are advised to stop reading here. If however you know how beautiful such caring relationships can be and you enjoy reading tales about them, please read on. And, Happy Halloween!

You may keep a copy of this story on your computer for your personal enjoyment however if you wish to include it on your own site or elsewhere, please email the address below first.

***Warning: This story has a plot ***

Alice By: Amanda mandagl@yahoo.com

Sandra was a twenty year old college student from New York City, living in Boulder Colorado and going to the university. She had been living in the same house for two years now under an arrangement she was quite content with. She lived there rent free in exchange for babysitting and minor housekeeping services. She watched out for Tamiqua, a lovely little girl that had been adopted when she was three months old.

Sandra had never meet a white family that had adopted an African American child before, but after meeting the Lennons she had a hard time telling them from any other loving family. Tamiqua, or as she was called by every one but her birth mother, Tammy, was an adorable little ten year old girl. She was sweet, shy, smart and when you got to know her, very friendly and funny. Tammy was actually only half black. Her father had been hispanic. She was light skinned with long soft curls that fell around her shoulders. The girl was beautfiul by any standard, and was clearly destine to be a heart breaker.

Sandra loved kids, she always had and with sisters that were babies while she was a teen, it was a good thing. It was the only thing about being gay that troubled her. Having a baby as a lesbian did not seem as simple to her as it would be for most women. She had resolved though, that after she finished school and stabelized in her career the first thing she was going to do was have a baby.

The house was a large two story, three bedroom home in the northern part of the city. The neighborhood sat on a hill and looking out of the picture window in the living room gave a lovely view of Boulder. It was an old house though and Sandra sometimes felt uncomfortable there. It creaked and groaned at night as it settled, often times sounding like some one was running back and forth in the attic. She was not given to superstition but she often could not shake the feeling that she was being watched.

Sandra was single, and had decided to remain so until she was out of school. Mostly she did not want the trouble of managing her duties with Tammy, school and a girlfriend. More than that though she was sexually very shy and though she knew who she wanted she was often afraid to persue it. Sandra was somewhat reclusive except when it came to Tammy. She adored the little girl and they spent a great deal of time together, talking, playing or just watching television.

The first and only sexual expereince Sandra had ever had was while she was babysitting for a neighbor back home. She was seventeen and the girl she was watching was the same age as Tammy. The girl's parents trusted Sandra enough that on occasion they had her sit for the girl on an overnight.

On one such night Kelly, the little girl, could not sleep. She had been having a bout with nightmares lately. Sandra felt sorry for the girl and let her sleep in the parents bed with her.

Kelly trusted Sandra, and they were very close. The little girl told her babysitter all of her secrets. They talked about boys, other girls and even sex whenever Sandra watched her.

How it happened still confused Sandra. So much of it seemed to be a blur. Some how, she found herself kissing the little girl. Earlier that night Sandra had explained to Kelly that she was gay and this seemed to fascinate the child. She asked countless questions, enthralled by every answer.

They made love that night and their sexual relationship became another of their little secrets. What bothered Sandra about the whole expereince was not that it had happened once, but that it had continued for months, right up until she left for school. She remained faithful to the girl during that time, persuing no one else. What she did not realize until it was too late and she had been accepted to the University of Colorado, was that Kelly considered Sandra to be her girlfriend. In her young mind she had become convinced that they would be together forever, and eventually get married.

Kelly was devistated when Sandra left for school. They held each other crying for hours one evening, the last evening that she would sit for the little girl. Kelly was so hurt that on the day Sandra left she would not come and say goodbye. This had cut Sandra to her core but she understood.

That was Sandra's second resolution. She would never again become involved with a child in her care. It seemed logical and was certainly what any parent would expect from her, but during her time with Kelly, she had come to the realization that her attraction to the female of the species was directed at little girls.

Tammy seemed safe to her though. The child hardly showed any interest in anything having to do with sex and this relieved any fear that she might someday feel the temptations she had indulged with Kelly.

Recently Tammy had begun to develop some behavioral problems. Mostly it was kid's stuff. She would move or hide things, get up in the middle of the night and turn the television on, hiding Sandra's belongings, minor things but she insisted that she was not the one doing it.

Sandra walked from the sitting room downstairs, up to her bedroom, across from Tammy's, turning out the lights as she went. She was the last to go to bed most nights. Sandra crawled under the blankets and closed her eyes. She normally slept with her head covered. Partly to stay warm but partly to relieve some of the discomfort she felt in the dark and emptiness of her room.

As Sandra lay in the dark she became aware of some one in the next room softly singing a song she knew but could not clearly remember. `Tammy' She grumbled her herself. For as long as she had been living in the house Tammy had sung the same erie song every night before going too sleep. It seemed terribly late for the girl to be up though. Sandra sat up and rubbed her eyes. She got out of bed and walked out of her room and down the short hall to Tammy's room. She reached out for the door knob and the singing stopped. She guessed that Tammy must have heard her and quieted down rather than getting scolded for being up so late.

That familiar feeling of being watched became overbearing as Sandra walked through the darkness back to her room. She hurried herself under the covers and huddled down trying to fall asleep.

The next morning Sandra came down to breakfast with the family. She always helped with the cooking and clean up afterward.

With the meal on the table Sandra ate quietly. She kept her attention on her meal as the family talked casually.

Sandra waited until Patty and William left for work before saying anything. She had been keeping some of the issues with Tammy quiet, as she did not want to get the girl in to trouble. "Can you please stop singing that song every night." She said to the little girl.

"I told you it's Alice." Tammy insisted.

"Sweetie, really, aren't you a bit old for imaginary friends?"

"She's not imaginary, I told you before she moved your books, she hid your toothbrush and she is the one that sings at night." Tammy whined. "I promiss Sandra it's not me." Tammy set her fork down. "I love you Sandra I wouldn't do those things but Alice is afraid of you."

That was not the first time that the girl had said that. It bothered Sandra a great deal. She was not a psychology major but she knew enough from the classes she had been taking that she was sure Tammy was for some reason, afraid of her.

Sandra gave up for the day and began getting her things together for class. She was on the way out the door when Tammy ran up to her, tugging on her shirt. "Wait wait." She insisted. "Sandra you should help your friend with her homework tonight." The little girl said. Sandra wrinkled her brow in confusion and looked at her for several seconds.

"Umm, Oookaaay." She finally said.

It was Wednesday. Sandra's ten hour day. She had a morning and afternoon class, and one in the later evening running until eight o'clock. She was on her way out of her last class when Christina came running in, grabbing her and ushering her back into the lecture hall. "I missed class. Can I get your notes?" Sandra was in a hurry to be home. It had been a long day and she wanted a shower, a cigarette and some hot cocoa. She remembered what Tammy had told her though and how sincere the little girl had seemed.

Sandra sat down and pulled her laptop out of the carry case. She hit the power button and the familiar Macintosh startup chime sounded. Soon the screen lit up and shortly afterward she slipped a blank compact disc into the drive. She burned her notes to disc for Christina and handed it to the girl. The entire exchange hardly took twenty minutes but it was twenty minutes more than she wanted to spend.

Sandra made her way through the campus to the student parking lot and got into her car. She had given her last blank disc to Christina. She needed to stop and get more on the way home but it was late and she did not want to run errands. With a sigh she started her Volvo and slipped it into gear.

As she was driving home she reached into her purse for a cigarette but found only an empty pack. She turned on her blinker and was about to turn into a Circle K when she noticed that the lot was filled with police cars several of which still had their overhead lights on. Sandra pulled out of the center lane and proceeded on to the next corner store where she got her cigarettes and went home.

"Oh my god, you're okay." Patty met her at the door looking worried. There was a shooting near the college, at a store, right about when you should be comming home. It was at a convience store and we were worried you might have..." She trailed off. "But you're okay. Did you see anything?"

"Just cops." She answered. She looked past Tammy's mother to see William looking every bit as concerned as his wife. "No really, I'm okay." She repeated

"Well you were running late and we got worried is all." Patty was begining to relax.

"Where's the sugar pop?" She asked.

"In her room."

Sandra patted the woman on the arm and smiled. "I'm okay" she said again, and headed up the stairs. She tapped at Tammy's door waiting to be invited. After several moments of silence she knocked again. "Sweetie?" She pushed the door open to find Tammy sitting on the bed watching television. "Are you mad at me?"

"No." She said, keeping her eyes on the screen.

"So how are you today?"

"Good." The girl glanced at her.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked, moving between Tammy and the television. Tammy shrugged her shoulders, and tried to keep watching around her babysitter. "Did you know something bad was going to happen today?"

"Mmmhmmm" The girl answered.

"How did you know?" Sandra asked.

"Alice." Tammy pointed up at the ceiling. Sandra glanced up almost afraid she would see something but there was only the door to the attic.

"She lives up there?" Sandra felt a chill run through her. She was long past uncomfortable and well in to afraid now.

Tammy nodded her head. "Uhh huuh."

"Sweetie, can you see Alice?"

"Yes."

"Do you see her now?" She was almost afraid to ask the question.

Tammy turned her head. She looked past her babysitter, then into her eyes. "No, do you?"

"Your scaring me Tammy." Sandra admitted with a shaky voice. "How did you know my friend would need help?"

"I already said." She whined. "Alice told me."

"I thought Alice was afraid of me."

"But she knows I love you." Tammy got up off the bed and wrapped her arms around Sandra. "I'm glad you helped your friend." She looked up at Sandra, resting her chin against the woman's breast bone. "See why you shouldn't smoke?"

Sandra felt her blood run cold. The rest could have been an astounding coincidence but how did the girl know she had needed cigarettes.

A week passed and the only evidence of Alice was the familiar song that Sandra had come to dred hearing every night. She had begun to find it exceedingly difficult to fall asleep and was contemplating leaving the household. The incident with Tammy had frightened her far more than she wanted to admit.

Patty and William were spending the weekend in Denver with Patty's parents. They had left thier daughter in Sandra's care, as they so often did. Normally they would have taken the girl, leaving Sandra alone but this was a working weekend. They were helping with several of the rental properties Tammy's grandparents owned.

Sandra sat on the couch, Tammy in front of her watching television. She was playing with the girl's hair, braiding and unbraiding it, pulling it up into pony tails and styling it. The girl was blissfully content, she loved to have her hair palyed with.

After more than an hour Sandra reached down and began rubbing the girl's back. She massaged the child's shoulders gently, hardly realizing that she was touching the girl much as she had touched her only lover.

"Who was Kelly?"

"What?" Sandra asked, not sure she had heard the question. Tammy repeated herself. "She was a very special girl I used to babysit."

"Alice said you did things to her. Thats why she's afraid of you." Tammy looked up at her babysitter. In her eyes was all the adoration of a child for an older friend. "She said you want to kiss me."

"Why would she think that?"

"Because you kissed Kelly."

Sandra shivered. She was trying not to show it but she was terrified. How the girl knew these things she did not have the slightest clue but at that point, `Alice' seemed as likely an explanation as anything else.

Tammy turned around on the floor, folding her arms on the edge of the couch cushion and looking up at Sandra. "What did you do with Kelly?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Alice said you did things, tell me what you did."

"Kelly was my special little girl. I loved her very much." Sandra said feeling ashamed.

"Can I be your special girl too?" Tammy seemed so innocent. She had no idea what she was asking.

"I don't think you would like that." Sandra finally said.

"But I love you. And you could be my special girl." She wrinkled her forhead. "Is that like if your were my girlfriend?"

"In a away." Sandra stroked the girl's hair and smiled down at her. She was lost in the girl's lovely dark eyes.

"Will you kiss me like the way you kissed Kelly?"

"Please stop that." Sandra said, feeling another shudder. She was finding herself afraid of the little girl. Tammy's uncanny knowlege of Kelly frightened her so much that she was begining to feel faint. She found herself nearly forgetting the dire consiquences of being found out for what she was. There was only the fear of Tammy's imaginary friend.

Tammy slipped up on to the couch, nearly into Sandra's lap. She wrapped her arms around her babysitter and leaned her head against the woman's shoulder. "I know you like girls." She said quietly.

"How do you know that?" Sandra turned and looked down at her. She had not told any one in Boulder that she was gay. She had not needed to ask though. It was Alice, Sandra knew it.

"So will you?" She asked, still insisting on being kissed.

"Why do you want me too?" Sandra asked after some contemplation.

"Because I love you Sandra."

Her resolve was beginning to weaken. She loved Tammy so much, and looking down at the little girl now, she desprately wanted to taste her beautiful full lips. Sandra leaned forward , Tammy closed her eyes and leaned up slighty, as if she knew what to do, what to expect.

Sandra's lips touched the girl and their softness sent waves of warmth through her. Her skin was tingling as she allowed her mouth to open slightly.

Whether it was heritage or the luck of the draw Sandra did not know or care. The little girl's lips were soft, full, beautiful. The only word that she could think of that did them any justice at all was lucious. She suckled the child's bottom lip pulling her close and rubbing her back. She was lost in the kiss, having already taken it much further than she had ever wanted to.

It lasted a lifetime, the kiss, so powerful, so loving. She wanted to devour the little girl, fold herself around her and become one with her. She wrapped her arms around the little girl's body and held her tightly until at last she found the strength to part her lips from the child's.

Tammy sat back staring up at her, half smiling, with wrinkled forehead and bashful eyes. "I liked that." She said after a long silence.

"I did to." Sandra pushed a small braid from the girl's face. She stroked the child's cheek with the back of her hand and tried to act naturally. All she wanted to do though was throw her arms around the girl and pull her in, kissing her, loving her. She cursed herself for what she had done. She had sworn she would never become involved with another child but there she was, letting her feelings run wild.

Sandra found the strength to sit back and turn her attention to the television. Tammy, satisfied with the kiss, laid against her babysitter and curled her arms around Sandra's. She held the woman's hand playing absently with her fingers.

As the hour ran late Sandra decided it was bed time and took the girl upstairs. She tucked her in and after a peck on the cheek headed for her own room.

In her bed, alone in the shadows, Sandra could not sleep. She was afraid to close her eyes, afraid to keep them open. She could hear the familiar lullabye drifting in from Tammy's room. She wanted to go and tell the girl to stop singing, but she was afraid to get up. In the past few days her disbelief in such childish things as ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night had been shaken. Alice was seeming less like an imaginary friend now and more like something real, something to be feared.

Several days after Sandra had hovered at such a dangerous threshhold by kissing Tammy, she was beginning to feel some of her fear subsiding. It was being replaced by curiosity. She wanted to know more about the old house and it's previous inhabitants.

At dinner Sandra sat quietly. She contemplated a number of questions she wanted to ask Patty and William. They all seemed insane though. Asking about childish fears was just not rational.

Sandra set her fork down, blushing she sipped from her beer and tried to gather her courage. "Who used to own this house?" She asked after sitting silently for several moments. Patty set her fork down. She dabbed the corners of her mouth with her napkin and sipped her wine before looking cautiously to William, and then her daughter.

"Christopher and Elaine Kosky." She answered.

"Did they have any kids?"

"Have you been talking to the neighbors?" William asked in a sharp tone. Sandra swallowed hard, shaking her head.

"Billy." Patty scolded. "They had a daughter..." There was a long and uncomfortabler silence. "Their daughter vanished in the late eighties. They moved out after that. Elaine went back home from what I hear, and Chris, well the story goes that he's up in Fort Logan."

"Fort Logan?"

"State mental hospital." Patty picked up her fork and pushed at her food. "They never found the little girl."

"She's dead." Tammy said. She looked around the table slowly, feeling self concious that all eyes were on her. "Her Daddy used to do things to her in the attic and she was going to tell and he choked her and now she's dead."

"Tammy!" Her mother scolded. "That's a terrible thing to say. They lost their daughter. Show a little compassion." Tammy lowered her head. Patty raised her eyebrows. "But she's probably right you know, I doubt the little girl is alive at any rate."

"What was her name?" Sandra asked, afraid to hear it, but something in her had to have the confirmation.

Patty smiled nervously and cleared her throat. "Alice." She said looking over at her daughter. "And before you can ask, the realtor that sold us the place told us that the neighborhood rumor is that the place is haunted." She cleared her throat again, looking at her husband, hoping he would jump in and save her.

"It's just a stupid rumor. This place is no more haunted than the place next door." William said in a firm voice. "Look something terrible happened to a family living here." He shook his head. "People make up stories to try and explain things like that. The bad things that happen for no reason. The way I see it, the rumor is a good thing, it keeps the neighbors from bothering us." Patty chuckled. Sandra tried to smile but all of the fear she thought she had gotten past was returning.

"Sandy sweetheart, nothing bad has ever happened to us and we've been here for ten years now. It's just another old house." Patty said trying to reassure her.

Sandra nodded her head. She tried to eat the rest of her dinner but she was feeling sick. She excused herself and went through the kitchen in to the living room. She turned on the television and began flipping through channels.

Seeing nothing worth watching she turned the television off and picked up a magazine. It was not long before Tammy came into the room and flopped down on the couch moving close to her. The little girl wrapped her arms around Sandra and leaned her head against her babysitter's shoulder. "Mom and Daddy are going out to a movie tonight." The girl said.

"I know sweetie." Sandra set her magazine down.

She leaned up close, holding her hand against her cheek she whispered in to Sandra's ear. "You can kiss me again." She said, giggling. Sandra blushed and stuttered, trying to say something, anything. She needed to put a stop to this right away but she was weak.

"Sweetie... Umm." Sandra shook her head. "Sweetie I shouldn't have done that." She finally managed.

"But Saaaandraaaa!" She whined.

"But Tammmyyy" Sandra said teasing the girl, tickling her sides. Tammy squealed and folded her arms against her sides, scooting across the couch to get away from Sandra. "I need to run to the store and get some blanks discs, wanna come along?" Tammy nodded her head enthusiastically.

They got up together and after telling Patty where they were off too, left the house. Sandra started the old Volvo and pulled out of the drive way. They drove down the street and out to the nearest Walgreens. Sandra let the girl drag her from one end of the store to the other looking at everything, before she stopped at the front aisle and picked up a pack of twenty five discs.

Sandra unlocked Tammy's door first, then went around and got in to the car. She started the engine but hesitated before putting it the car in to gear. "Want some ice cream?" She asked.

"Yesyesyes." Tammy giggled. Sandra smiled and drove them to the nearest Baskin Robins. They both got a double scoop and sat down inside. Being late October it was far to cold to be outside eating ice cream.

"Your parents have probably already left." Sandra said as they pulled out of the parking lot and on to the road.

"Can we go up to flagstaff mountain?"

"No sweetie. We should be home." She drove them back to the house where they piled out of the car and hurried inside to warm up.

Tammy curled up next to Sandra, holding her arm tightly. They were sitting under a blanket, struggling to stay warm. Patty absolutely refused to turn the heat above sixty nine. Even William was known to side against her, wanting more heat.

"Are we gonna?" Tammy asked.

"Gonna what?"

"What I asked before." She moaned. "I really want to."

"Tammy, grownups aren't suppose to do those things to little girls."

"I know, you could get in trouble but you won't `cause I won't tell any one." She begged.

Sandra sat quietly considering it. She so dearly wanted to kiss the little girl. She wanted to feel the child in her arms, given to her. She knew she was to weak to resist. She turned on the couch to face the child. She stroked the girl's cheek with the back of her fingers and smiled at her. "Okay sweetie. But please, don't ever tell your parents." Tammy nodded her head with a beaming smile. Excited, she closed her eyes and tilted her head up, preparing herself for Sandra.

Slowly Sandra leaned down and pressed her lips against the child's. She sighed as she pulled the girl against her body. The warmth of the child against her breasts, the girl's sweet scent filling the air around her as she suckled her lips.

As gently as she could she layed the girl down on the couch. She laid down next to her, propping herself up on her elbow. She pressed her finger against the girl's nose and laughed quietly.

Feeling braver, Tammy reached out, snaking her arm around Sandra's neck, and coaxed the woman back down. She lifted her head slightly, parting her lips and nibbling softly at Sandra's bottom lip. She loved the feeling so much when her babysitter had done it to her she wanted to see what would happen if she did it.

Sandra relaxed into the kiss, sighing softly. Again she found herself wanting to devour the child. `Softly' she reminded herself. She had to be careful with the girl. Sandra rubbed the girl's belly, pushing her hand under the child's shirt. Tammy moaned softly, her eyes drooping.

The child's skin was so soft. It sent electricty dancing over Sandra's skin. Timidly, she moved her hand further up the child's body. She let her hand graze the child's soft breast, the puffy nipples, the slightly swollen fleshy mounds on her chest. Tammy drew a deep breath and swallowed hard. "Is this what you did with Kelly?" She asked.

"Shh shh shh." Sandra said pressing her finger to the girl's lips. Tammy nodded her head. As her babysitter's palm passed over her nipple her eyes fluttered and closed. She tilted her head back, smiling, breathing deeply, enjoying these new sensations.

Light flooded the living room and Sandra sat up with a start. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she could hear her pulse when she looked out the window to see William's BMW pulling in to the drive. "Already?" She questioned. She looked down at her watch to see that it was only nine thirty.

Sandra helped Tammy straighten her clothes. "Your folks are home." They sat on the couch together, queitly, looking guilty.

"Show was sold out." Patty announced as she stepped in from the garage door to the living room. She tossed her jacket on the chair next to the couch and sat down next ot her daughter. "You're stuck with us tonight." Tammy kissed her mother and hugged her.

"But tomorrow we're going up to Grandma and Grandpa's to finish the rentals, so you'll be rid of us until Sunday." William stepped into the living room and closed the door behind him.

Sandra watched television with Tammy until twelve, the girl's weekend bedtime. She led the girl up the stairs and into her room where she kissed the child good night. Being as late as it was she decided she was ready for bed herself and went into her room, changing into her boxers and tee shirt. She laid down on the bed and pulled the covers up around her head. She was far too tired to be afraid, too tired to worry about the terrible stories she had heard.

The heater came on and Sandra relaxed, knowing that she would easily fall asleep with the white noise from the fan. She felt herself drifting away when something bumped the bed. Sandra opened her eyes. She could clearly hear Tammy singing her song, but it was closer, too close.

"Tammy, go to bed." The singing stopped. She waited to hear the girl walk out of the room but there was only silence. "Tammy." She scolded. Frustraited she threw the blankets off her head and sat up. She looked down at the foot of the bed expecting Tammy to be standing there, but there was nothing. The empty darkness of her room filled her field of view. She swallowed hard, trying to convince herself that she had not heard anything, that it was a trick of her mind.

Sandra laid back down. She was trying to think of pleasant things, of something other than the house and its creaking and groaning. Something other than the noises from the attic. She wanted to get up and run downstairs. She wanted to turn on the lights or do anything except lay ther but she was far to terrified to move.

Some how Sandra managed to overcome the fear. She relaxed slightly and managed to close her eyes. More than anything it was pure exhuastion that dragged her into the realm of sleep.

Sandra awoke with a gasp, sure she had felt something bump into the bed. She looked out of an opening in the blankets to see the clock. It was four twenty six in the morning.

The creaking clearly orginiating from the floor boards at the foot of the bed sent a shock of terror through the woman. It's Tammy.' She told herself. She probably had a nightmare.'

Sandra pushed the blankets off her head and sat up, "Honey what..." Sandra's blood ran cold when she looked toward the door. She gasped and scrambled backward across the bed, falling to the floor and slamming her back into the wall. At the foot of a bed there was a child, but it was not Tammy. Sandra tried to scream, tried to call out, but she could not make a sound.

The little girl standing at the foot of the bed was as clear as day, a child not more than nine with dirty blond hair a flower print dress and brilliant, almost glowing blue eyes. It did not even occure to Sandra to wonder how she had discerned the color of the girl's eyes in the darkness of the room.

The child moved around the bed slowly, keeping her eyes on Sandra, holding out her arms. she stepped up to the woman and knelt down, pausing for a moment. Slowly she leaned forward, reaching toward Sandra, reaching up toward her face.

The woman pressed hard against the wall, pulling back from the frightful vision before her. She could not get away. Soon she felt her head swoon as the child's ice cold fingers touched her. The little girl held her, staring into her eyes. Sandra had never known such terror. She felt sick, dizzy, the world was fading to black around her, she fainted.

Sandra almost screamed as she sat up in bed. Her alarm was beeping, she had forgotten to turn it off. The woman looked around for a moment. The last thing she remembered was the child reaching out for her. She leaned over and slid the switch on top of the clock all the way to the left, silencing the alarm. "It had to have been a dream." She said outloud, trying to convince herself.

She made her way downstairs to find Tammy sitting at the table quietly eating a bowl of cereal. "They already left." She told her babysitter.

"Really?" She was surprised that they had not slept in.

"What are we gonna do today?" Tammy asked.

"Well the first thing we're doing is our chores. Then, well how about a movie?"

"At the theater?" Tammy was excited. Sandra nodded her head. Every time that Tammy's parents left for more than a night they afforded Sandra an entertainment fund of twenty dollars, just enough for a movie if they skipped the snacks.

Just as Sandra had said, they cleaned the upstairs bathroom which they shared. Once finished Sandra straightened her own room before going and helping Tammy with hers.

Finally they went downstairs and loaded the dishwasher. Sandra went in to the living room to watch television while she waited for the dishwasher to finish. Tammy followed her in some time later, sitting next to her leaning her head against her.

"Can we hold hands at the movie?" Tammy asked. Sandra kissed her on the head and smiled.

"Sure sweetie."

"I'm your special girl now?"

"Do you understand what that means to me?" Sandra asked. She turned toward the child, folding her leg under herself. Tammy shrugged.

"It means we kiss and we hold hands." She said shyly. "And Alice said..."

"Alice... Tammy sweetie please don't talk about her. Do you understand that it scares me when you talk about her?" Tammy nodded and lowered her head slightly. She felt guilty for scolding the girl. She put her nuckle under the child's chin and tilted her head up, leaning in and kissing her softly on the lips. "I'm sorry sugar pop." She said. "Why do you want to be my special girl?"

"Because I love you. `Cause we're best friends."

"But you should have friends your own age."

"I do." She insisted. "And I think your pretty." She giggled and turned away from her babysitter. Her cheeks darkened with a blush. "And if we were like that then you could do the same things with me you did with Kelly."

Sandra shook her head almost instinctively. "What do you know about what I did with her?" Tammy shrugged shyly.

"You touched her and..." Tammy pointed between her legs. "You kissed her there." She bit her bottom lip giggling, and looking away. "And you loved each other."

"What about Alice?" Sandra asked trying to sound casual.

"She's not afraid of you any more. She said you won't hurt me." Tammy looked happily up at her babysitter.

"What made her change her mind?" Sandra asked. Tammy shrugged her shoulders.

"What movie are we gonna see?" Tammy asked.

"Thats up to you. We should get going though, it's almost one."

In the quiet and solitude of the theater Tammy leaned against Sandra, holding her arm. A content smile brightened her face, making her chubby cheeks seem to glow. She had pushed the chair arm between them out of the way so that she could be closer to her babysitter.

As the previews started Tammys moved her hand down to rest on Sandra's leg. She snuggled close, sighing softly. Sandra began to feel her inhabitions fade. She slid her hand slowly on to Tammy's leg and began massaging the child. Her face felt hot and she was shaking. Part of it was fear, but so much more was the thrill of touching the girl.

"Are you scared?" Tammy whispered, leaning close. The girl's breath on her ear sent a shock of excitement through her. Sandra nodded her head without thinking. "We love each other so you shouldn't be scared." The girl said trying to reassure the young woman.

Sandra slid her hand up and down the girl's leg. With each stroke she was tryng to work up the courage to take things further. She was breaking two promises to herself. Becoming involved with a child in her care, and that she would not date. She loved the thought of Tammy being her girlfriend. She wanted the child close to her in that way. She could not concentrait on the movie, her head was filled with images of the little girl in her arms. Kissing her, holding her, touching her in the most forbidden of ways.

Sandra's heart jumped when the woman in front of her turned and looked at her briefly, but she quickly turned back to the screen. She felt so naked in the theater touching the girl.

Tammy shifted in her seat, letting her legs spread apart slightly. Sandra found her hand could slide up the girl's leg further. It terrified her that she could so causually seduce the child.

The woman closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Her hand stopped over the girl's sex. She had slid her hand all the way up the child's legs and her hand rested against Tammy's crotch. Such warmth, it beckoned to her. Gently she moved her and up and down along the seam of the child's jeans, hoping that she was stimulating the child's tiny clit.

Tammy's grip on her arm tightend. Her breath was short and Sandra could feel sweat on the child's brow. Soft moans escaped the girl's lips. Sandra, afraid the people sitting in front of them would hear, moved her hand away slowly. She hated leaving the girl frustrated, but she could not risk getting caught.

The movie ended and they left the theater for Sandra's Volvo. "The way I touched you in the theater..." Sandra began but just trailed in to silence.

"It felt good. Better than when..." She giggled, holding her hand over her mouth. "Better than when I do it." She admitted through her fingers.

"You touch yourself?" Sandra asked. She had been thirteen before she began to maturbate so it surprised her that the little girl had already begun. Tammy nodded, looking bashful. "Wow. I didn't know about doing that at your age." She said with a smile. The girl smiled, hearing the approval.

Sandra drove them back to the house quietly, finding herself more and more excited by the notion of the little girl touching herself. Inside Sandra found herself anxious to finish what she had begun with Tammy at the theater.

The most comfortable room in the house was the living room. A soft plush couch and shag carpet made the room a dream. Mirrors on the wall opposite the couch gave the illusion that the room was much bigger than it really was. Sandra led Tammy in, coaxing her gently to the couch.

"I love you sweetie." She whisperd leaning close to the girl and kissing her on the cheek. "You liked what we did at the theater?" She asked. Tammy nodded her head. "Do you want to do it some more?" Again Tammy nodded her head. Sandra drew a deep, shaky breath.

Tammy's lips felt so soft as Sandra kissed the girl. She pulled the child close to her, feeling the girl tremble. She carressed the girl's back, sliding her hands under Tammy's shirt. The girl shivered under Sandra's touch. "That feels good." The child whispered as they seperated thier lips.

Tammy looked up at her babysitter with big eyes. She trusted the woman implicitly. She was waiting for her to make the next move. The girl felt her curiosity growing, She could hardly wait to see what would happen next.

Sandra slowly slid her hands up the girl's body, pulling her shirt up as she did. Tammy lifted her arms in the air, silent permission. As soon as her shirt was off the girl reached out for her baby sitter's shirt, tugging at it. "It's not fair." She whined. Sandra smiled and helped the little girl to remove her shirt. She then reached behind her back and unhooked her bra, pulling that off as well. Tammy's eyes grew larger as she looked at Sandra's breasts. She had never seen a woman's naked chest, not even her own mother's. All she knew of what her body would become she had learned when she found one of her father's old PlayBoy magazines. "Can I touch them?" She asked, her eyes never leaving them.

"Of course sugar pop." Sandra reached out and took the girl's hands, guiding them up to her breasts. Tammy smiled as she carressed the soft flesh. She rubbed her thumbs over Sandra's nipples and giggled softly as they hardened. "That feels good." The woman purred.

Slowly she reached out and began massaging the little girl's chest. She softly pinched the girl's nipples causing her to laugh and fold her arms across her chest. Sandra kissed her on the nose, then the lips, sliding her tongue into the the girl's mouth, reveling in the feeling of a child's lips against her own.

No words could describe the intensity of the feelings Sandra was expereincing. The sensation of having another lover, another child in her arms sent waves through her. She felt dizzy, her head was humming and her ears rang from her excitement. Sandra eased the girl on to her back. She kissed her way down the child's throat. The woman leaned back, drawing in a deep breath as she ran her hand over the soft fleshy spots, the child's undeveloped breast. Her eyes fluttered and closed as she leaned down and sucked the girl's nipple in to her mouth.

Tammy gasped, her body trembled. Sandra circled her tongue on the girl's nipple coaxing it to erection before she turned her attention to the other. When she was satisfied she sat back rubbing her hands down the girl's body as she did. "Can I take off your pants sugar pop?" She asked.

"You first." Tammy said. Almost unconciously her little hands covered her nipples. Sandra slowly, timidly unbuttoned her pants and removed them. She felt self concious. When she had made love to Kelly the girl had stripped her clothes happily, but Tammy, though interested, was shy.

With a deep breath Sandra pulled her panties off, letting them fall to the floor. Tammy smiled broadly and sat up. "You don't have hair?" She asked.

"I shave it all off." Sandra told her.

"You look like me." Feeling more confident she undid the buttons on her pants and worked the zipper, sliding her jeans off. She then hooked her thumbs under the wasteband of her underwear and slid them down her lovely dark legs. The girl laid back down smiling up at her babysitter.

Tammy sucked her breath through her teeth when she felt Sandra's lips back on her nipple. The woman carressed the girl's body, sliding her hand down to Tammy's hip, over the bone and up the girl's belly to her chest. Slowly Sandra made her way down the girl's body, tonguing her belly button briefly. She planted little kisses down the girl's belly feeling the child's mound under her throat, her chin. She tiled her head down kissing the child's soft fleshy mound, letting her tongue slip down along the girl's slit. Tammy gasped and pushed herself up on her elbows. "That felt really weird." She said, a smile still on her lips.

"If I do it right, it feels really good and makes you all tingly and warm." Sandra told the girl. Tammy hissed a giggle and laid back down, covering her eyes with her hands. Sandra pressed her tongue against the girl's clit. She lapped at it, loving the sweet taste of a child's sex.

Tammy began whimpering, moaning, nearly gasping with each breath. Sandra slid her finger into the girl, curling it and pressing against the rough fleshy spot just inside. The girl's eyes opened wide and she found herself reaching up over her head. Sandra's finger brought with it a sensation more intense than anything she'd ever felt.

"Oh... Sandra oh, it feels..." She groaned, her words trailing off into incoherent noises. The child arched her back. She reached down, grasping her babysitter's hair and pulling her forward. Sandra moaned softly and the vibrations caused the girl to nearly scream as she exhaled.

In books, in magazines, from her friends, Sandra had heard that some girls became extreemly wet when they came. Tammy was one such girl. The woman found her hand soaked in the child's honey. Happily she lapped at the child, drinking in her juices.

The little girl finally relaxed against the couch, her breath slowing. The girl lay there with her eyes half closed. Sandra crawled up and laid down next to the her draping her arm over the child.

"You were right, I'm all tingly." She finally managed to say. Sandra kissed the back of the girl's neck, then her shoulder. She rubbed her tummy, laying there enjoying the scent of sex and youth. "Did you do this with Kelly too?" She asked.

"Yes." Sandra did not want to think of her former girlfriend though. She wanted to enjoy Tammy.

"If I was older could I be your girlfriend?"

Sandra kissed her and smiled. "You like girls that way?"

"I like you that way." She answered.

"Well maybe I like little girls." Sandra told her.

"They told us about those people in school." The girl turned over so she could look at her babysitter. "But you wouldn't hurt me so you can't be one of them." Sandra kissed the child lips softly and smiled down at her.

"Your right. I would never hurt you. But not every one that likes little girl's hurts them." Sandra explained. Tammy looked confused for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

"I love you." She said. Playfully the girl reached up and kissed Sandra on the nose.

As day turned in to night, Sandra got up and dressed. She made her way upstairs and in to the bathroom. The woman turned on the sink and began washing her face.

Sandra reached out, fumbling for a towel. Finally she found what she needed and pulled it off the rack. The woman dabbed her face and straightened up to look in the mirror.

The woman immediately felt her knees go weak. Through the mirror she could see the same child she had see the night before. Sandra spun on her heals half expecting the girl to be gone, but instead she found herself looking down at the pretty little child. She stared blankly. Her fear, the terror that had ceased her was beginning to subside. She drew a trembling breath, keeping herself pushed back against the sink. "A... Are you Alice?" She finally managed. The girl nodded her head. Again Sandra felt weak. "Oh god your fucking real." She said, her voice becoming scarecely above a whisper as she spoke.

Alice gestured with her hand, moving almost as if in slow motion. She turned and walked out of the bathroom, pausing in the hall to gesture to Sandra again. The woman understood, and though she was terrified she some how found the courage to follow. Sandra was sure she would not have been as afraid if the little girl had seemed like a spirit, a mist, a ghost. But she looked every bit as real as Tammy. The child led her in to Tammy's room where she stopped and pointed up to the ceiling. Sandra followed her finger, looking up to see the door to the attic. "I don't understand..." She trailed off when she looked down to find the child had vanished.

Sandra studied the attic door for several moments before seeing the keyhole of a lock. She reached up and tested the door by tugging at the cord which hung from the boards. She could hear the metal of the lock bumping the wood of the frame.

Determined to find out more, Sandra went back downstairs where she found Tammy laying on the couch dozing. "Sweetie? Are you awake?" Tammy slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Hey, where's the key to the attic sugar pop?"

"The what?" Tammy looked at her, confused. She wrinkled her forehead. "Oh. Yeah. There isn't one. Mom was s'pose to call a guy but she never did."

"They've lived here for like ten years and they don't have a key?" Sandra sounded almost incredulous. The little girl just shrugged.

Sandra shook her head. Alice had shown her the door for a reason and she had to know what that reason was. If this spirit, this little girl was going to haunt her she wanted to know why.

Tammy scooted over to let Sandra sit down. The woman put her arm around the little girl and pulled her close. They leaned back and got comfortable before Sandra said anything. "What did Alice tell you about what happened to her?" She finally asked.

"I told you. Her daddy did things to her in the attic and then she was gonna tell and so he choked her." Tammy snuggled close, sighing softly. "He did things like we did but she didn't want to, and she told him to stop but he wouldn't."

"That's so sad." Sandra said quietly. Tammy nodded her head. "Is Alice in the attic?" Sandra shuddered at the thought that there could be a body just upstairs.

"She goes there at night. But she says it's cold where she is now." Tammy looked up at her, curiosity in her eyes. "Why are you asking about Alice? I thought you were afraid of her."

"I saw her." Sandra said, nearly whispering.

"I told you she was real." Tammy gloated.

"Yeah, she's real. Aren't you afraid of her?" Sandra asked, not understanding how the child could be so casual.

Tammy shrugged her shoulders. "I've always seen her. She played with me when I was little, and sometimes we play now." The girl looked up at Sandra. "I don't like it when she touches me, it feels like some one put ice on me."

"What do you play?"

"She likes checkers. And she likes playing with dolls... I don't want to talk about her. It makes me sad."

"Why sugar pop?" Sandra looked down at her.

"Because she's dead, and I like her and I wish she didn't have to be."

Sandra nodded her head. She let the conversation end, though she still had countless questions. Her thoughts kept returning to the attic. She found it almost more disturbing that the girl's body might still be there, than knowing her spirit definately was.

They watched telelvision until it was time for Sandra to start dinner. She made a simple meal of frozen pizza's which she added onions and peppers to.

At the table Tammy sat picking the onions and peppers off her pizza. "Why does mom buy `em this way she knows I don't like it." Sandra laughed to herself.

"You know what we did today... Your mother and father really wouldn't approve."

"I know." Tammy bit in to her pizza, smiling. "I know what happens if I tell. My friend Molly's Mom married a guy and he made her do things and so she told." Tammy swallowed the mouthful of food she'd been talking around. "And the police took him away and she had to go to court." The girl took another bite and set her slice down. "I would never want that to happen to you."

Sandra relaxed a little. With Kelly she had not thought about what might happen if the girl told. It had never occured to her that what she had done with the girl could have such dire consiquences. She had matured since then. "And you know that if you don't want to do that you can tell me and we'll stop right?"

"I know." Tammy finished her slice and picked up her plate. "Can I have more?" Sandra nodded her head. "Don't be scared, I love you I won't let anything happen to you."

Sandra tried to relax. She trusted Tammy, but the fear was there. She knew now how dangerous her attraction was, while only a couple of years ago she had no clue the fires she was tempting.

After dinner they watched television until bed time. As they walked upstairs Tammy asked if she could sleep with Sandra. After what they had done that day, she could not say no.

Tammy brought her pajamas in to Sandra's room and changed with the woman. They then climbed in to Sandra's double bed and snuggled close before falling asleep.

Sandra was drifting in the ether. She was between sleep and conciousness. In that state she heard the lullabye, the familiar song. The woman opened her eyes, her first instinct was to be afraid but laying in the darkness holding her young lover, she was not. She knew where the song was coming from, she could hear at the foot of the bed. Alice was watching over Tammy. Sandra fell asleep with the song still in her ears.

Sandra awoke the following moring and went downstairs to make breakfast for Tammy and herself. She cooked eggs, the same thing she normally made when they were alone together.

Sandra looked out the rear window of the house as she was eating. Snow was falling gently outside. Today promissed to be another cold Colorado day.

The back yard of the house ended in a small stand of evergreen trees. Walking into the stand in a straight line, nearly the length of a football field, would bring one out into a small park. Sandra stared into the darkness of the tiny forrest. She was day dreaming when something caught her eyes. A shimmer. Light reflecting off something shinny. It flickered, as if some one tilted it back and forth, trying to get her attention.

"Do you play in the woods back there much?" Sandra asked.

"No. Mom doesn't want me to go there." Tammy set her fork down, she had all but cleared her plate. "She says it could be dangerous."

Sandra's curiosity had been piqued. She felt herself drawn to the trees. She had to know what she was seeing. "Feel like taking a walk?" She asked. Tammy shrugged her shoulders. "Go get our coats sweetie." Sandra picked up the plates and took them to the kitchen. She scraped the food into the sink and flipped the switch for the garbage disposal.

Tammy soon came into the kitchen and handed Sandra's coat to her. "It's cold out there." She whined.

"I know but it'll be good for us."

"Please don't make me go." The girl begged. Sandra thought about it for a moment before nodding her head, freeing the girl from the walk. She slipped her coat on and walked through the kitchen to the back door.

"Are you sure you won't come?" She asked as she pulled the door open. Tammy nodded her head. "I should be back in a few minutes."

Sandra walked outside pulling the door closed tightly behind her. She crossed the yard, pausing briefly to look back at the house before entering the stand of trees.

In the woods the world seemed to quiet down. She could hardly hear the noise of the city outside. She walked in the direction she thought she had seen the shimmer.

The snow was deep in the woods. Her feet were getting wet and cold. Sandra was about to give up when she heard something. It sounded like a child's laughter. Her heart jumped and she turned slowly in the direction it seemed to be coming from.

It was a shadow, dark in the overcast daylight. Sandra could hardly make it out but she was sure she saw a figure in the distance. Slowly she headed for it. As she walked it seemed to fade and she was begining to think that fear and the light were playing tricks on her.

"It's here." She heard a whisper in her ear as if some one where right next to her. Sandra startled but quickly calmed herself down. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to beat back the fear she had become so familiar with in the past few weeks.

Sandra opened her eyes and felt her knees go weak. Alice stood directly in front of her. The child looked up at her, almost smiling. Her little arm extended out, pointing down at the ground. Sandra looked down at the snow where the child was pointing. Slowly she turned around, unable to see anything but trees all around her.

"Dig." The girl's voice, a whisper, echoed in her head.

"Is that where you are?" She asked. The child's head moved from side to side slowly. She pointed again at the ground, a look of insistance in her eyes.

Cold, afraid, Sandra knelt down and began clearing away the snow. When she reached the pine needles and mulch always lining a forrest floor she carefully began clearing that away as well, growing more afraid that the child's body was indeed here.

Sandra was about to give up when she saw something shiny in the dirt. She reached out and picked up a small silver key. `The attic' She thought to herself. almost twenty years through snow and rain and not a single spot of rust on it. It almost looked new save for bits of dirt clinging to it. She looked up at Alice, smiling. In a single movement the girl stepped forward and reached out clasping Sandra's head between her ice cold palms.

Sandra's eyes rolled back in her head as images flooded through her mind. She saw a man hurrying outside of the house she now lived in. He nearly ran into the woods, slowing once he was satisfied that the trees concealed him. He hesitated for a moment before drawing back and throwing something, throwing the key in to the distance.

The woman collapsed backward in the snow. She laid there, her head pounding and her heart racing, looking up through the trees to the gray sky. Slowly she pushed herself up, finding that the little girl's spirit had vanished. She looked down at the key for several moments before standing up and heading back to the house.

Sandra walked into the house and hurried up the stairs. She went to Tammy's room finding the girl sitting on the bed watching television. "Go down stairs honey." She said in a firm tone.

Tammy looked up at her. "She's not up there either." The girl told her. Tammy stood up and walked toward the door where she paused. "I want to see." She begged. "Alice told me she's not there. She's outside."

"Where Tammy?" Sandra insisted. "Where is Alice?" She took the girl's arm and looked into her eyes. "Tell me where she is."

"I don't know." The girl said sounding afraid. "Your hurting me." Sandra looked down to see that she was holding the girl far too tightly. Ashamed of herself she let the child go and stepped back.

"Oh god, I am so sorry." She whispered. She backed away slowly. "Is she out there in the forrest?"

"No." Tammy answered rubbing her arm. "She wanted you to go upstairs."

"Why didn't she show you where the key was?" Sandra asked. "Or your mom?"

"Mom doesn't believe in her. Daddy either. And I'm not allowed to go back there. But you saw her and you believe in her so she could show you." Tammy started to leave.

"Wait." Sandra leaned down and hugged the girl. "I am so sorry I hurt you sugar pop." She whispered in to the child's ear. "I love you so much." She leaned back. Sandra reached in to her pocket and withdrew the key. "You're sure she isn't up there?" Tammy nodded her head.

With Tammy safely on her way down the stairs Sandra took a deep breath and tried to prepare herself to open the attic. She pulled Tammy's chair away from the desk the girl's television sat on and climbed up on it. Slowly she slipped the key into the lock and turned it.

Sandra turned the knob slowly. The door opened gently on it's springs and she unfolded the stairs as she stepped off the chair. "Okay Alice, what do you want me to see." She whispered as she climbed the stair.

The attic was dark. The only light filtered in through the vents at either end of the spacious area. The sounds of chain against glass alerted Sandra that there was a light above her head. She reached over her head and fished around until she felt the chain. Sandra closed her eyes and took a deep breath before pulling the chain. She opened her eyes in time with the click of the switch.

The room was shadowy in the light of a single bulb. She climbed the rest of the way up. The entire attic was empty accept for a single coat rack in the far corned, and something laying on the floor near the wall closest to the back yard. Sandra made her was slowly across the floor. In the shadows she could hardly make out what she was working toward. The woman stopped and fished in her pocket for her cigarette lighter. She held the light in front of her and slightly above her head before spinning the wheel and coaxing flame out of it.

The additional light cast a yellow glow across what she could clearly see was a scarf. She reached out and picked it up, unfolding it and looking at it in the flickering light. The scarf was nothing special. She was about to set it back on the floor when she noticed that the end of it was torn.

"It was mommy's." The voice seemed to echo from the shadows, a whisper on the wind. Sandra jumped and turned around to see Alice looking down at her. "I gave it to her for Christmas." The child's voice echoed in Sandra's head but her lips never moved.

"Why did you want me to come up here?" Sandra heard herself asking, but she was far to frightened to comprehend any answer.

"Daddy hurt me. He hurt me with that." The girl turned and began pacing in front of Sandra. "He was like you." She paused and turned toward Sandra again. "But not like you. You love her." Sandra swallowed hard and nodded her head. The little girl stepped close and knelt down, bringing herself only inches from Sandra's face. "You have to help me. I can't leave this place, I can't sleep..."

Sandra tried to say something. If she had not known better she would have sworn she could see tears in the little girl's eyes. Her fear of the ghost child was begining to fade, being replaced by a strong desire to protect the girl, to help her. Sandra had always had strong maternal instincts, something that most people in her family had noticed from the time she was a girl not much older than Alice had been. "Where did he bury you?" She finally asked.

"Go to Doughnut rock." With that the girl was gone.

Sandra did not know what disturbed her more, the way the child just suddenly appeared, or the way she vanished just as suddenly. Feeling goosebumps on her skin, her stomach tight, aching, she made her way out of the attic and closed the door, careful to lock it behind her.

"Did you see her?" Tammy asked as Sandra walked into the living room. the woman nodded her head slowly. "She said you can help her." Tammy looked deep in to Sandra's eyes. "If you help her she'll go away." The child's voice was filled with desperation.

Sandra walked across the room and knelt in from of the girl, pulling her close. "She deserves to rest sweetie. I know you care about her, but she has to be allowed to rest."

"She's my best friend." Tammy was beginning to sob now. Sandra felt for the girl. She knelt down and tried to comfort her little lover but the child could not be consoled. It still baffled her though, how a child could think of something so frightening as Alice, as her friend.

Sandra rocked the girl gently for quite some time before she coxed the girl in to the dining room for lunch.

"Do you know where Doughnut rock is?" Sandra asked the girl after they had begun to eat. Tammy looked up at her babysitter for a moment and nodded her head. "Can you show me how to get there?"

"It's a long way." She said.

"Can we walk there?"

"No." The child said simply. "It's up in the mountains."

"I need for you to show me how to get there Tammy." Sandra insisted. The girl sat quietly for several minutes. She shook her head back and forth slowly, keeping her eyes on her grilled cheese sandwich.

"Does she have to go?" The girl asked. "If we find her does she have to go?"

"I don't know sweetie." Sandra answered honestly.

They finished lunch and Sandra went upstairs to get her jacket. She sat down on her bed for a moment thinking about Tammy. She was worried about how the girl would deal with loosing her friend. "Alice?" Sandra said aloud. She looked around the room, hoping to see the child. "I know you can hear me." She said, in a slightly firmer tone. Alice was there. Not in the blink of an eye, but just there, she did not fade in to view or float down from the ceiling, she just appeared. Sandra startled, but managed to calm herself down quickly. "What about Tammy." She asked.

Alice stood quietly, looking at the girl solomnly. "I love her too, but she has you now." The spirt child stepped around the foot of Sandra's bed to stand in front of her. "It's always cold where I am. I want to be warm again." She reached out and touched Sandra's hand. "When you're like this... You see things. It's always scarry, always cold. I can't rest until my Daddy..." She trailed off, seeming to look past Sandra, into the shadows. "Daddy's old now, he's sick. If he dies before you find me, he'll come for me, he'll hurt me again."

"I won't let him." Sandra promissed with no idea how she could possibly keep such a promise.

Sandra was about to gather up Tammy and head for the mountains when she heard a car in the drive. She looked out the window to see Patty's Landrover pulling up. "Shit." She whispered. If she had planned to go anywhere today the plan was shot. "Sorry Alice," she said, knowing the girl had already gone. "I can't go today."

The woman hurried down the stairs to meet Patty and William at the door. She helped them bring in their things while giving a report on Tammy's behavior. As always, the girl had been a joy, no trouble at all.

Once they were settled in she went to the living room, finding Tammy there watching television quietly. "Next weekend" She said. "I think we need to go up to doughnut rock." She knew what she was going to find. She didn't want to see the girl's body, but Alice was trusting her.

They were quiet throughout most of the rest of the day. Tammy hardly spoke during dinner and Sandra was sure the girl was angry at her. She wanted to say something to the child but how could she possibly make loosing her best friend better.

That night in bed Sandra found she could not sleep. It was begining to be a familiar scenario but this time it was not fear that had her laying awake in her bed. It was Alice and Tammy. She was worried for them both. Worried for what Tammy would do when the girl was gone, and worried that she would not be able to keep her promise to the little ghost child.

Sandra was finally begining to feel sleepy when she heard her door open. A shock of fear went through her but she calmed down, sitting up in the bed and preparing herself for another visit from Alice.

It wasn't Alice at the foot of the bed staring at her though, it was Tammy, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "I had a bad dream." She said. She didn't wait for Sandra, she just pushed her way onto the bed and under the covers. "I want to sleep with you tonight."

Sandra rolled over and put her arm around the little girl pulling her tight. Tammy's scent in her nostrils awakened her desire. She began slowly rubbing the girl's belly in small circles. "Do you think you want to?" Sandra whispered at the girl's ear.

"Yeah." Tammy rolled over with a big smile on her face and closed her eyes, silently awaiting a kiss from her baby sitter. Sandra leaned down and pressed her lips to the child, parting them and invading the girl's mouth with her tongue. She swirled it, wrestled with the girl's tongue and finally broke the kiss. "Do you want me to do anything special?" Sandra asked, Tammy just shrugged looking a bit uncomfortable. With a smile Sandra began kissing the girl, working her way around the child's soft body. She loved the way Tammy felt in her arms.

Sandra was feeling warm, her sex ached and her skin was hot. She moved slowly down the child's belly to her mound. The babysitter pushed her fingers into the child as she sucked the girl's clit in to her mouth. Tammy inhaled sharply and pressed her head in to the pillow.

With a wicked smile on her face Sandra withdrew her middle finger from the girl's warm, wet sex. Sandra gently pressed her middle finger against the child anus, sliding it into Tammy rose bud opening. Tammy's hands clentched at the covers and she opened her mouth to protest but the sensation brought a wonderful new pleasure, stealing her desire to stop it.

Slowly Sandra pushed her fingers in and out of the girl. Tammy moaned softly rocking her hips in time. "I love you Sandy." She whispered breathlessly.

Sandra hardly heard her. She began humming one of Tammy's songs as she suckled the girl's clit, sending waves of pleasure radiating out from the child's sex through her whole body. The babysitter knew what she was doing to the girl.

Taking her time she slowly built up the preassure she was putting on the girl's clit. She began speeding up her fingers, letting one slide into the child's small rosebud ass, while the other pennitrated her vagina.

Tammy drew a sharp breath and raised her behind off the bed. Her hands tore at the covers and she bit her bottom lip trying her best not to make any noise.

A deep moan escaped the girl's lips and Sandra felt a shock of fear run through her. The moan was very obviously that of a girl deep in orgasm.

Finally the little girl relaxed in to the bed. Her head rolled to the side and her legs collapsed to the mattress. Her breath was slow, deep. She was enjoying the endorphines rushing through her brain, making every inch of her skin feel as if it were alive and tingling.

As the afterglow slowly ebbed Tammy sat up in the bed and looked down at her babysitter. "What should I do?" She asked. Sandra thought about it for a moment before she decided she wanted to try something with the girl.

"Come here." She said as she coaxed the girl toward her. She then turned Tammy around and helped the girl straddle her. "No we can kiss each other at the same time." The little girl giggled and slapped her hands over her face. It lasted only a moment and the she laid down flat on Sandra's belly, kissing her way down between the woman's legs.

Tammy's little tongue and newly initiated mouth fumbled with Sandra's clit. It was more than enough though, as she lapped at the child. Smelling Tammy's excitement as she felt the girl at her own sex sent electricity through her.

The little girl was bringing her closer to orgasm, and as she did the woman moaned, causing vibrations that sent waves of pleasure through Tammy. The girl paused in her manipulations of Sandra's clit, laying her head against the woman's thigh as another orgasm raced through her. Sandra did her best to draw it out, lavishing in the girl's juices as she came.

Finally her orgasm subsided and Tammy returned her attention to Sandra's clit. Almost instantly the woman arched her back. The taste of Tammy's sex in her mouth as an orgasm washed over her intensified the expereince more than she could have thought possible.

Sandra relaxed against the bed and Tammy rolled off of her, turning around and moving to the top of the bed. The babysitter wrapped her arms around the child and kissed her deeply. "God I love you sugar pop." She whispered.

"I love you too Sandy." Tammy snuggled against the woman and closed her eyes, drifting in to sleep, still tingling.

Sandra opened her eyes and rolled on to her back, feeling Tammy still at her side. They had slept together for a week now, ever since Alice's last visit. The week befor Sandra had made a promise and today she would keep it.

Since discovering that her little lover's imaginary friend was not imaginary, Sandra had felt a great many emotions, not the least of which being fear. More than being afraid of the girl though she had been afraid she would find the child's body. Now, today that was exactly what she was going to do.

The woman showered and dressed before going downstairs to make herself breakfast. Patty was sitting at the table when she walked in to the dining room. "Tammy's still asleep?" The girl's mother asked.

"Yeah. She had a nightmare and slept with me last night." For an instant Sandra could have swore she saw a look of suspicion cross Patty's face and it froze her heart. Trying not to show the shock she was feeling Sandra changed the subject. "Do you know a place called doughnut rock?"

"Yeah. I used to take Tammy there. It's not far."

"How do you get to it?"

"It's too cold to go up there this time of year." Patty said.

"I know. I'm not taking Tammy but I want to see it." Sandra sipped her coffee.

"I have a map. I'll get it after my coffee." Patty still had a plate in front of her. She had made herself eggs and sausage. She reached out with a single finger and pushed the plate away slightly. "William isn't home or I wouldn't say this..." She started. She looked up at her daughter's trusted babysitter. "He doesn't know I know he still smokes. Probably why he can't smell it." Sandra felt her heart jump to her throat. There was something about Patty's tone that told her she knew... "If he knew what I know, well, you would be in a lot of trouble." The woman pushed her hand through her hair. "Do you have a cigarette?" Sandra nodded her head unable to speak. She hardly thought to ask when Patty had started smoking. The girl went and grabbed her smokes out of her jacket pocket in the living room. When she got back to the table she handed one to Patty. "You might as well have one too." She said. Sandra nodded and took one out of the pack for herself. She lit Patty's for her then her own. "How long have you been sleeping with Tammy?" She asked bluntly after several long pulls on the cigarette.

Tears welled in Sandra's eyes. In that instant she saw all of her life falling apart. Most of all though she saw herself loosing Tammy. "Uh... I Didn't... I mean..."

"Your honesty will dictate the rest of your life Sandra." The woman said quietly.

"Oh god." Sandra whispered. "Patty, I mean it just happened."

"Maybe the first time. But not last night. Not the past week." Sandra opened her mouth but Patty held up her hand. "I heard you with her." Sandra closed her eyes and put her head in her hands.

"I'm so sorry Patty." Was all she could say.

"William would have your head if he knew this... What exactly did you tell her to get her to do it?" Patty asked. "And there's no need to lie because I'm going to ask her the same thing."

"I don't think you'd beleive me." Was Sandra's much delayed answer.

"Try me."

Sandra took a deep breath, followed by several long drags on her cigarette. "Before I started college I babysat this girl back home. After years of watching her she was like... I dunno but she ended up my first girlfriend... And Tammy knew. She said Alice told her."

"Alice?"

"You do know about Alice?"

"Yeah she's the ghost." Patty said frankly. "Or at least thats the story the neighbors tell. Tammy must have heard the name when she was young because she's talked about her all her life."

"Patty..." Sandra contemplated telling her employer everything she'd experienced over the past few weeks. "She knew. I don't know how. But she knew about Kelly and she started asking questions. And then one thing led to another..."

"And you had sex with her." Patty snuffed her cigarette on her plate. "A ghost told her about you and another kid and she wanted to have sex with you? That's the story?"

"That's what she said. Patty she knew the girl's name. I've never told any one about her."

"I suppose not." Patty sat quietly for several moments. "And what did you tell her would happen if she told?"

"I didn't say much of anything. She told me she wouldn't let anything happen to me." Sandra sat back, tears running down her cheeks.

"If that isn't the story I'm going to get from her I would suggest that you start running because I will tell William." Patty got up and headed out of the dinning room . "I'll be back in a minute."

Patty went upstairs. Sandra closed her eyes. She considered running out to her car and getting in it... Driving. Running away but she had no where to go. Her heart sinking in her chest she began to wonder if it was at possible for her to end her life.

The debate was over when Patty returned with a very sleepy Tammy shuffling along next to her. After they sat down Patty ran her hand down her daughter's hair. "What did you two do last night?" She asked. Tammy looked quite confused. "In bed. After we all went to sleep?"

Tammy lowered her head, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Your not in any trouble at all honey." Patty hugged the girl, shooting a frustraited look at the babysitter. "Honey, did Sandra make you do anything you didn't want to?" The girl immediately shook her head. "Did she tell you she'd do anything to you if you told?"

"No mommy. She told me we shouldn't but I wanted to and I begged her please don't make her go away!" The girl was sobbing as she spoke. Patty sat quietly consoling her daughter for quite some time before she kissed her on the cheek and told her to go watch television.

"I will talk to her about it later Sandra... Not everything you see on television is true though. I know that from personal experience. My first time was with my cousin. I was nine and he was thirty. To this day I do not beleive he would have done anything if I'd told him not too. But there was no pennitration. He knew I was to little. I continued to see him for years. Until I was about seventeen actually when he died. He's the reason we're sitting her talking and not at a police station... I suspected you probably liked little girls when I hired you. It was just something in your eyes. Part of me hoped you wouldn't get involved with her. But now that it's happened I want you to know I have my eye on you. You'll respect her wishes like you would an adult or we will talk to the police." Patty reached for the pack of cigarettes and pulled out another. She lit it and laughed to herself. "I used to torture him. I'd tell him to stop just because he would and I knew it made him crazy. But I loved him with all my heart and would have done anything he asked."

Sandra swallowed hard. Her life was not ending. She could hardly understand it but Patty was allowing her to continue her relationship with Tammy. It did not right away, but it would soon sink in that Patty had been sexually active as a child and seemed to look back on it fondly. "Your letting me stay?" She finally asked, trying to confirm what she thought she'd heard.

"For as long as Tammy wants. I'll keep this from Will. You make sure you do too." Patty drew one her cigarette. "I understand Tammy's affection for you. I didn't know she was gay, and I'd hoped she wouldn't be but in the long run it doesn't matter. I know what I felt when Jack took an interest in me that way. I suspect it's much the same thing Tammy feels. I felt grown up and pretty. But I know now he saw me as a child and that's what attracted him. I guess that's what I dont understand Sandra, why are you attracted to children? Why don't you want an equal?"

"Tammy is an equal." Sandra immediately answered. She knew the girl did not have her experience or knowledge but she viewed the girl as being equal to her. "But I dont know how to answer that. Any more than I know how to answer why I like females and not males. It's just what I feel." Patty listened. She had heard it before, from her cousin. When she had reached puberty she had asked him the same thing. Any other answer would have made her much more catious than she already was.

"I can't pretend this doesn't make me nervous. Tammy means more to me than anything in the world. I can't get pregnant. But it doesn't matter to me any more. Adopting made me realize that biology has nothing to do with one's ability to love a child. When I told Tammy she was adopted I explained that it meant some one in the world wanted her more than anything imaginable. I told her she was always ours but that we just had to wait for some one else to have her. I couldn't love that little girl any more if she had come out of me, maybe I love her more this way, so whatever you do, keep in mind what I will do if you hurt her."

Sandra understood. She was begining to have doubts now though. Even Patty's conffession of a lover throughout her childhood was not enough to comfort her. "I couldn't live with myself if I hurt her." Sandra finally whispered. Patty didn't say it but Sandra was sure she knew the woman was thinking she wouldn't get too.

Sandra went upstairs where she broke down. Tears provoked by terror poured down her cheeks. She crumpled to the floor next to her bed and rested her head against the matress.

The girl finally brushed tears from her eyes and looked up to find Alice staring at her with desperation in her eyes. "Why didn't you warn Tammy?" Sandra finally asked. There was no answer. Sandra suspected the girl had known what would happen and did not see it as a threat. "Patty was going to give me a map."

"He hardly burried me. It was dark and he was in a hurry to get away before some one saw." Alice's voice echoed.

Sandra stood. She wanted to reach out and rub the girl's shoulder, or some how comfort her but she knew she could not. It did not matter Alice vanished almost as soon as Sandra reached her feet. She made her way back down stairs after stopping to wash her face. She found Patty and waited patiently as the woman retrieved the map she had promissed.

The babysitter walked through the living room, stopping to kiss Tammy before she went out through the garage. She knew William had a folding shovel he kept there and she wanted to get it before leaving.

The drive to doughnut rock was longer than she had expected. Several times she was sure she had passed it. Finally however she saw the nearly circular rock with a hole through the center. There was a pull out obviously specifically for the purpose of letting people get closer to the rock. Sandra parked her car and walked over to the rock pulling her jacket tight around her. It was cold at the higher elevation but she suspected the chill she felt had another origin. After several moments she went back to her car and got the shovel. Once she had this she returned to the rock. "Okay Alice... Show me what you brought me here for." She said quietly.

`Sandra!'

The voice was distant, shouted. It startled the woman but she knew who it was. Nervously she approached a brick wall which separated the pull out from and steep incline down the side of the mountain that the road was cut in to. Sandra approached the thigh high wall and looked down the mountain... Nothing but trees. slowly she made her way around the edge of the wall and began a careful descent toward the line of trees several yards down the side of the mountain.

"Here." Sandra startled when she heard the voice. She looked in the direction it seemed to come from and found Alice standing just inside the trees. Sandra began moving twoard the girl. Once she reached the child She unfolded the shovel.

"I can do this." Sandra whispered to herself.

The babysitter began digging. Carefully. She was terrified she would hit the girl's body and the little ghost would some how react to it. Each shovel full seemed to take forever. However just a few feet under the topsoil her shovel hit something. Immediately Sandra looked up to find Alice still there, starring intently in to the hole. The woman knelt down and began pulling dirt away and throwing it out of the hole with her hands. As she did she was uncovering what was obviously the body of a child. Long blond hair, and the same flower print dress worn by the ghost that had brought her here. Having been burried the body was partially mummified. Whatever the circumstances she was more than just a skeleton, something Sandra hardly expected.

Sandra sat back and pulled her glove off. She pushed her hand through her hair and swallowed hard. She had uncovered the hand to find a scrap of torn cloth in it. The cloth was dirty and decayed but she reconized it as a part of the scarf she had found in the attic. The Babysitter reached in to her jacket and withdrew her cell phone. She slid it open and much to her surprise found she had one bar. There must be a tower somewhere in the distance. She dialed nine one one.

"Nine one one what is your emergency?"

"I found a dead body." Sandra said calmly.

"Are you sure they're dead?"

"Yeah, she's been here almost twenty years." Sandra drew a deep breath. "I'm at a place called doughnet rock, maybe fifty yards down the mountain in a bunch of trees."

"I'll have a Sherrif out to you as soon as possible don't touch anything."

"Yeah." Sandra hung up and laid back on the ground. "You're safe now?" She asked.

"Not yet." Alice's voice echoed. "When they burry me. When they catch him. Then I'll be safe." Sandra sat up. The girl was kneeling at the edge of the shallow grave. "It was my favorite dress. I hated wearing dresses, except this one." She reached out to touch the dirty material but her hand just passed through it. "You saved me." Alice looked up at Sandra and smiled, then she was gone.

Sandra struggled back up the hill using the shovel to climb with. When she finally reached her car she opened the trunk and dropped the shovel in.

She had only been waiting ten minutes, just enough time to smoke a cigarette, when the sherrif pulled in to the small lot. He got out of his car and put his hat on. "You placed a nine one one call?" The man asked as he approached Sandra.

"Yeah. I found a body." Sandra pushed herself off her car and walked toward the officer. "I live in a house in Boulder where a girl vanished more than ten years ago... I think she's down there."

"Boulder is quite a ways from here." The sherrif walked to the wall and looked over. "Why do you think it's this body?"

"Alice. Her name was Alice." Sandra looked down at the trees. "She told me." The cop gave her a synical glance, but in the twenty years he had been a sherrif he had heard nearly everything. Sandra was not the first person he had heard claim a ghost had told them something.

"Well I guess I need to climb down there and see this."

"Do you want me to show you?"

"No. I have some rope in the trunk I'll go down there, see what you've found." The officer got his gear from his car and began working his way down the mountainside. He only had to search for a moment before he found the hole Sandra had dug and the small body within.

Once he reached the pull out again he radioed his base. Done, he returned his attention to Sandra. "She told you?" He scoffed. "You know, usually when some one claims there was a ghost, it turns out to just be the one haunting a guilty person. You wanna tell me how you knew where to dig?"

"The truth, I hardly believe it. But I was like a baby when she died."

"I guess you were." The sherrif pulled out a note pad and began writing. "You said her name is Annie?"

"Alice." Sandra answered, annoyed at the poor attempt at deception.

"You live in her house?" The officer looked up. "Her family is still there?"

"No. They sold the house. I work for the family that lives there now. They told me that the girl's father is in Denver at a mental hospital..." Sandra looked down the mountain. "He's the one that did it."

"Let me guess, the ghost told you?"

"He strangled her with a scarf. If you look in her hand you'll see part of it. I found the rest in the attic of the house I live in."

"What's the address?" The officer snapped. Sandra gave him the address. He immediatley radioed the information to his dispatcher.

"I have a key." Sandra found it on her key ring and handed it to the officer.

"As soon as rescue gets here we're going to go see what's in your attic." He handed the key back.

Sandra waited patiently until several other police officers and a fire department rescue vehicle showed up. The sherrif and several deputies stood around talking for what seemed like forever, often looking over at her and then back to the sherrif.

Finally the sherrif asked her to lead him to her house. The drive home seemed longer but only because Sandra was afraid to face Patty, and if he was home, William.

When she pulled in the driveway she sat quietly inside the car for several moments with the sherrif waiting outside. Finally she lead him up the porch to the door and inside. "Patty?" She called as she stepped inside. The woman answered from the dinning room where she, William and Tammy sat eating a late lunch.

She explained everything she could, as well as she could, to her employers after introducing the officer to them. She then led every one, including Tammy, up to Tammy's room where she opened the attic and pulled down the stair.

"Where did you get the key?" Patty asked, surprised.

"It was back there in the woods." Sandra answered. Patty just shook her head in disbelief. William watched quietly from the doorway, holding his daughter back.

Several minutes passed before the officer returned with the scarf on the end of his pen. "Did you touch this?" He asked.

"Yes."

"You need to come give a DNA sample then." He said.

Sandra's only knowledge of forensics came from television but this was enough to tell her that even if there had been DNA on the scarf, chances were they would not be able to detect it. When the officer left though, she followed to give her sample.

It was long after sundown when Sandra walked back through the front door to find William waiting for her. "Okay, explain it again." He said. Sandra took off her coat and hung it up. She then walked to the dinning room and sat down. "I'm hungry, can I get some dinner?"

"There's mac on the stove, it'll be ready soon."

"I swear this is the truth William. I saw Tammy's friend Alice. She told me where to find the key, where to find the scarf and where to dig."

"You know I can't beleive that." He pulled a chair out and sat down. "I wanted to fire you. You brought the police to my house, something I have very little patience for. I don't believe in ghosts, or psycics or any of that bullshit... However... This would qualify as something I cannot explain." He reached to the breast pocket of his shirt as if you pull something out but it was empty. Patty had said he was smoking again. Sandra wondered if he could smell the smoke in the house from the cigarettes she and Patty had smoked earlier that day.

"Do you want to talk about this outside?" Sandra finally asked. William shook his head at first but finally, his head still wagging back and forth he said yes.

Outside Sandra handed him a cigarette before lighting one for herself. She offered the lighter to William but he had already pulled a Zippo from his pocket. "You're good for Tammy. She'd be crushed if she lost you. Patty thinks so too. Which is why I can't bring myself to let you go. Besides, for a lesbian your alright." Sandra was shocked. She had no idea he knew. "I'm kidding. I support your rights." He took on a more serious tone. "Patty believes your story. Ever since Tammy could talk she's talked about Alice. On her fifth birthday she made us set a place for Alice and even cut her a piece of cake..."

"If I hadn't seen her William..." Sandra trailed off. "Tammy is going to need a lot of love to get through this. Alice is her best friend and when this is all over, she'll be gone."

Five days. The sherrif that had met Sandra at doughnut rock came to the house while Sandra was there alone with Tammy. "They are going to burry her tomorrow." He told Sandra once she had let him in to the house. "You've been cleared. They matched some DNA to her father, it's like you said he's in Fort Logan. The other DNA is female and definately a relative... He confessed to everything when we brought him in." The officer scratched his head. "I just want to know the truth. How did you really know?"

"Tammy?" Sandra called. Several moments passed before the girl walked in to the living room. Her eyes got wide when she saw the sherrif and she looked afraid. "Sweetie, can you tell him about Alice?"

"She's my best friend. She lives in the attic."

"Why does she live there?" The officer asked.

"Because her Daddy hurt her there. He used to take her up there and make her do things."

"And she told you this?"

"Yes."

"But she's just an imaginary friend isn't she?" He asked.

Tammy shook her head. She looked at Sandra. "Tell him she's real Sandy, tell him you saw her too."

"I did." Sandra answered. Tammy seemed relieved.

"Ok sweetheart, thank you. You can run along and play now." Tammy looked annoyed when the officer said that, as if she felt talked down too.

"She's real officer." Sandra shifted on the couch. "I wouldn't believe it either though."

"Yeah." The officer stood. "They are going to burry her and First Methodist down the street there. Her mother is in town for the funeral."

"Do you know what time?"

"Three I think."

The officer left.

The next day Sandra told Tammy that they were going to go to Alice's funeral. It coaxed tears from the girl but she insisted she wanted to go. Patty had approved the field trip, grudgingly.

Sandra pulled in to the parking lot of the church. She had delibrately missed the church service. They were there for the grave side. They walked across the graveyard, stopping several yards from a tent and several rows of chairs in two columns. A disturbingly small casket sat suspended over an open grave. Slowly people began to gather, seating themselves at on the chairs. "Can we sit there?" Tammy asked.

"No sweetie. Thats for the family."

That would have been it if a woman, vieled and obviously crying approached them. "Who are you?" She asked. She looked at Sandra for several moments. "Sandra? Are you Sandra Kerrigan?" She asked.

"Yes."

"The police told me a woman found her in the mountains. That was you?" She tried to smile. "I can't thank you enough." She reached out and took Sandra's arm, leading both she and Tammy to the gaveside.

"She misses you." Tammy said quietly.

"I miss her." The woman, obviously Alice's mother, answered.

"She told me she loves you."

The woman hardly blinked when Tammy said this. She simply nodded her head. "She talks to you?"

"She's my best friend."

"Then you should sit with me." Tammy looked up at her babysitter who nodded her head.

The woman led Tammy to the front row where they sat. Sandra seated herself at the back of the group and remained quiet through out the service.

When it was over Alice's mother brought Tammy back to Sandra. "You probably won't see her any more sweetie." The woman said. "But if you do, can you tell her I love her?"

Tammy looked to her left, then back up at the woman. "She came to see you. She says not to worry about her any more."

More tears from her mother. The woman knelt down and hugged Tammy before she headed away from the gravesite.

Tammy went straight to her room when they got home. She did not come out until dinner. It was obvious she had been crying and she looked broken. She ate quietly and when she was finshed went back to her room.

"We shouldn't leave her alone to long." Sandra said. "Alice is gone now and she needs us."

"I'll talk to her." Patty said. She looked at her husband. "You should come too." She sighed and scraped her fork around her plate. "When we're done she should have a friend to talk too." Patty looked up at Sandra. "She needs the only other real friend she has."

William shook his head and looked from his wife to Sandra and back. "We're treating Alice like she's real?"

"Billy... Honey I'm starting to think she was." Patty set her fork down and wiped the corners of her mouth. "Either way though, her feelings are real."

After dinner Tammy's parents went to her room. They did all they could to console her, knowing that a long time would pass before the hurt their daughter was feeling would subside. After several hours They came downstairs. Patty did not need to say anything for Sandra to know it was her turn.

Sandra went upstairs. She tapped on the door and stepped in to the room to find Tammy laying on the bed staring at the blank television screen. "Hey sugar pop." She said as she sat on the bed and began rubbing the girl's back. "Is Alice gone now?" She asked after a long silence.

"She said she'll always be with me." Tammy rolled one her side. "Her mom wanted to see her but Alice couldn't go to her. Alice is sad for her mom. She says she has to go away but she'll always be with me it just wont be the same any more." A tear trickled down Tammy's cheek. "Her daddy is gonna die tomorrow. He's sick, and Alice said he's getting sicker cause he got arrested."

Sandra remembered something she had read years before when she went through a phase of fascination with the paranormal. Murder victims can't rest until thier killer is caught. And killers are forever bound to the person they killed. So if they die before the murder is solved neither can leave the world. They are both locked together forever.

This would not be the case for Alice. Her father had been caught. She had been found. When he died he would go where ever it is he was destine to go, but Alice was free... However, the desprate need for help no longer gave her strength. Sandra did not know if Alice was going on to the next world, or if because she had been saved, as were her words, she could no longer be with Tammy as she always had been. She knew enough about the paranormal from her readings to know that without something to fuel them, spirits often simply grew weaker until they were all together gone.

"You know, you helped her Tammy. Without your help, without you helping make me see her there's no telling what would have happened to her. You've done a very kind thing."

"I know." Tammy said queitly. "Am I always going to see ghosts Sandra?" Tammy asked. "Cause I don't want too. It makes me sad."

"I don't know sweetheart. Maybe. But if you do, it's okay. Maybe you can help them too."

Sandra laid down next to her little lover and drapped her arm over the girl. The child's twin bed was small, almost too small for both of them, but Sandra did not want to disturb Tammy.

They laid on the bed talking quielty until long after midnight when Patty came up to tell them that she and William were going to bed. She looked at Sandra for a long time before she closed the door and walked downstairs.

"Do you want too?" Tammy asked several minutes after her mother had left them. She moved close to Sandra on the bed and kissed her on the lips.

Sandra ran her hand down the girl's back and smiled at her. "Are you sure sweetheart?" She asked. "You've been through a lot today." Tammy just nodded her head. "Okay sweetie, but can we go to my room, your bed is really little."

Tammy giggled and got up. She hurried out of the room and across the hall to Sandra's room where she was soon joined by her babysitter.

Sandra pushed the girl gently down on the bed, kissing her as she did. She nibbled at Tammy's throat, careful not to leave marks. She made her way to the girl's nipples where she teased them to erectness. Slowly she kissed down the girl's chest to her belly where she nibbled until the girl giggled and tried to roll away.

"Shh!" Sandra laughed. She pressed her finger to Tammy's lips. "Here." Sandra handed the girl a pillow. "Bit of this if you feel like your going to laugh or squeal or anything." Obediantly the girl to the pillow and began gnawing on it, giggling all the while.

Sandra gently caressed the girl, hesitant to proceed after the conversation she had with Patty the previous morning. Slowly she worked her hands over the child's body, building her courage.

Slowly she ran her hands up Tammy's legs to her sex where the thumbed the girl's clit. Tammy wiggled and Sandra could hear her moaning. Sandra closed her eyes and leaned down, running her tongue along Tammy's slit. The soft downy hair of her pubus and thighs felt wonderful on Sandra's cheek. She sighed softly and lost herself in the sensation.

Lapping at the girl's clit she felt her own desire growing with each twitch and groan from the girl. Sandra pushed a finger in to the child working it in and out as she suckled the child's clit. Slowly at first, but comming faster, Tammy began moaning and writhing on the bed. Suddenly Tammy threw her arms around the pillow she had been given and locked her legs around Sandra's head. Several long deep breaths, exhaled in a moan told Sandra that Tammy had reached her climax.

Tammy relaxed against the bed. She pushed the pillow off her face to her chest and closed her eyes, breathing heavily. Sandra crawled up to lay next to her, still tasting the child's honey on her lips. Tammy opened her eyes and rolled up on her side. She hesitated a moment before she finally leaned in and licked Sandra's chin up to her bottom lip. She leaned back smiling in the dim light. "You taste different from me." She said.

"Well probably cause I'm older." Sandra kissed her softly. "I love the way you taste." Tammy immediately wrinkled her nose and giggled.

Tammy, as much immitating her babysitter as acting on instinct, began kissing Sandra's nipples. She nibbled softly, obviously trying to be careful. Much like her babysitter had done Tammy kissed and licked her way down too Sandra's sex where she hesitated, running her fingers over Sandra's shaved mound. She rolled on her side and ran her hair between her own legs, rubbing her sex. "It feels different than mine." Tammy finally said.

"Well, cause I shave, but you still have tiny little soft hairs there... It kind of makes you feel like velvet."

Tammy thought about this for several seconds. "I like velvet." She finally said. Sandra laughed softly and tangled her fingers in Tammy's hair.

"Me too."

Sandra was trembling with excitement. She felt as if just a single touch would be enough to send her over the edge, and it nearly was. Tammy leaned in and pressed her tongue against her babysitter's clit. She moved it around slowly, trying to mimic Sandra's actions.

That was all it took though for Sandra to cum. An orgasm pulsed through her. Waves of ecstasy caused Sandra too loose touch with the world around her for a moment before at last she returned to find Tammy laying between her legs looking up at her. The little girl covered her mouth and giggled. "You got all tense. Is that what I do when it happens to me?" She asked.

"Mmmhmm." Was all Sandra could manage. She hooked her hands under Tammy's arms and pulled the girl up to lay next to her. She laid her arm over the child and drifted in and out of sleep for quite some time before she suddenly found herself completely awake. She opened her eyes to see Alice standing at the edge of the bed. Some how she wasn't afraid or startled. The girl seemed different some how. She was semi transparent, and had a soft glow all around her. She was smiling a warm smile.

For the first time ever Sandra saw the girl's lips move when she spoke. "Thank you." She whispered.

Sandra pushed herself up on to her elbow. She reached out carefully toward Alice. Understanding, Alice reached toward her. Their fingers touched, only for a moment, but the child spirit, though she looked like a spirit, felt real, she felt warm. "I hope you find peace Alice." Sandra said quietly. The little girl smiled more broadly as she faded away.

Tammy rolled on to her back and looked up at Sandra, "she's warm now." The girl said. She swallowed and tried to smile. "That's what she always wanted."

Sandra laid back down and closed her eyes. The University had a parapsychology department. Monday morning she would talk to the Department head, a man who had been saddled with the unfortunate nick name, Dr. Venkman. She planned to change her major. Alice had changed her life. She found herself wondering the same thing Tammy seemed to be. She wondered if she would always see ghosts now.