again, exhilaration raced through me. I jumped back from him. I’ve encountered some ghosts before and I knew a few tricks, but this was new. Every time he touched me, I could feel lust pour through my veins. This ghost was sex on a stick, but I only had to remember the fate of his last few “lovers” to make iron determination push out any lingering lust. This ghost was a murderer and I hadn’t figured out how he’d been doing it until I was tonsil-deep full of him. The need I felt wasn’t real; he had been coaxing it out of me to drain my body of its energy. I shouldn’t have taken this job. I shouldn’t have tempted this ghost, because the look on his face was plainly transmitting that he didn’t plan on letting me leave alive. I had some experience with the occasional poltergeist or even the average unintentional ghost, but I was out of league with Richard and he knew it. I had done some research on the curious deaths that had plagued the desolate nightclub. One woman after another, found lifeless with a smile on her face. The police had no leads, but I had a feeling something was amiss and started looking into the establishment. I found a small newspaper article on the death of a Richard Parker. A woman’s jealous lover had murdered him and within a year, women were being found dead around the nightclub’s surrounding area. It was too much of a coincidence for the psychic in me to ignore. I hinted to the police that the deaths may have a paranormal cause, but I was laughed out of the station. I don’t even know how one of the victims’ parents knew of me, but he found me and offered me a thousand dollars to extinguish the ghost. I don’t know why he believed me. I wasn’t going to take the job, but I needed to money, desperately. I decided to take the job and I dutifully came out here with salts and sage ready to cleanse the building. I had the sinking feeling that if I threw salt at Richard Parker he would only laugh at me. I tried backing up slowly, but my back came in contact with the cool nightclub wall. I glanced down at my feet and kicked my purse into my hands. If I was going to die, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. I fumbled through my purse for my salt. Richard came running at me and I dumped my bag on the floor looking for anything I could use as a weapon against the ghost. I grabbed the sage just as a large hand circled around my neck and began to drag me up the wall. How could I have ever felt excited by those cruel hands? I saw the fury in his handsome face as he pressed his head forward and planted a kiss on my neck. I was amazed at how fast the fear drained out of me. I could feel my body start to respond to him. I looked in my hands and realized I didn’t have a match. Only sage smoke could deter a ghost. The sage in my hands was absolutely useless. I hated myself for the giddy feeling Richard gave me. I could feel the same smile of his previous victims form on my face. A tear slid out of my eye. I could feel death approaching. My breath began to come in shallow puffs and I arched my back. I could feel the beginning of an orgasm. I couldn’t die here like this. I still had the sage in my hand and I began to rub it furiously. I’ve known other psychics to use sage oil in place of the dried leaves. If only I could get enough of the essence on my hand it might have some effect. I prayed this would work. I could feel my life slipping into him. When the smell of sage was strong in the night air, I threw it down and pressed my hand to his face. My sage coated hand began to melt into his handsome face. I could hear it sizzle and smell the thick aroma of ozone. He screamed and looked up at me with a savage expression. I slammed my hand into his face again, putting all my strength into the attack. The half of his face I was assaulting began to dissipate, deforming the other side into a grotesque parody. He dropped me and stumbled back a few steps. I landed on my feet and