Highgate Honey
"Cemetery historian Adaeze guides visitors through Highgate's Gothic splendor. When writer Marcus researches his ghost story, she shows him that spirits aren't the only things that can possess you."
Marcus needed authenticity for his ghost novel—real atmosphere, real history. Highgate Cemetery's private tours were legendary, and Adaeze was the most requested guide.
She was Nigerian-British, thick curves draped in Victorian-inspired fashion, moving through the graves like she belonged to both worlds.
"You write horror," she observed. "But do you understand the beautiful terror of it?"
"I'm trying to."
"Then stay after the tour ends. When the real spirits come out." Her smile suggested she wasn't entirely metaphorical.
The cemetery at dusk was transformed—shadows lengthening, stone angels watching, the feeling of being observed by things unseen.
"This is my favorite time," Adaeze said, leading him deeper. "When the veil thins."
"You believe in that?"
"I believe in energy. The living carry it. The dead leave it behind." She stopped at an ancient mausoleum. "Can you feel what's here?"
He could. Something charged. Something hungry.
"That's not a ghost," she whispered. "That's me."
She kissed him against the cold stone, her thick body warm by contrast. Victorian skirts rustled as she pressed closer.
"I've watched you all tour. Your fascination. Your want." Her hands worked his clothes. "Let me give you something to write about."
They made love in the mausoleum entrance—surrounded by death, feeling very alive. Her thick curves against ancient stone were art themselves.
"Yes... there... the spirits are watching..."
She came with a cry that echoed through the graves, and the cemetery seemed to pulse in response. He followed, overwhelmed by sensation and atmosphere and her.
"Now you understand," she breathed. "Horror and desire are the same. Both make you feel completely alive."
"The novel," she said as they straightened up. "I want to read it. I want to be in it."
"You will be. All of this will be."
"Good." She kissed him softly. "Come back next week. I have more secrets to share. More places to show you."
His Highgate honey had haunted him in the best way. And Marcus had found inspiration worth dying for.