The House Ch. 10

Minerva looked from one man to the other in disbelief. It was obvious to her that "Dwight" really wasn't Dwight. For one thing, the thing that looked like Dwight was moving jerkily whereas Dwight's movements were always fluid to the point of being graceful. Secondly, even from where she sat, she could feel the wrongness that came from him, the house even seemed to feel it; Minerva could have sworn that she felt it shudder in revulsion.

"Oh fuck...."

"Don't say it!" Aaron warned in her head.

Minerva clamped her mouth shut realizing that "Dwight" would take it as an invitation making what it wanted to do to her easier. Now what? She wondered as she continued to look at both men. Nothing in her forty-something years of life had even remotely prepared her for something like this. She began to laugh as the theme song from "ghost busters" went through her head and wondered if any of the ghost busters were home but stopped when she saw both entities glare at her.

"Ummm sorry, something just struck me as funny." she said contritely.

"Minerva, this is no laughing matter." Aaron said.

"Minerva, come with me." Dwight said. "I love you."

It sounded like Dwight and it looked like Dwight but Minerva knew that it wasn't. Dwight might love her, as a matter of fact she knew that he did but something was off and he wouldn't choose her over his children. She had to be careful and go with what she knew about Dwight and not what she thought she knew. She also had to wonder if Sebastian-who else could it be? Had access to Dwight's memories and if he did, she had to be doubly careful. It also meant that she would have to go by what she was seeing as well but that would be a moot point once Sebastian got better control over Dwight's body

"Shit!" she swore.

Aaron kept his eyes on "Dwight" but his mind open to Minerva. The amazing thing was that she wasn't frightened, at least not yet. This all had come down to one thing, it was totally up to her now, he had to convince her to go with what she knew to be true-that she belonged in the house with him. Sebastian would try to convince her otherwise and would use Dwight to do it. How much control over Dwight Sebastian had, Aaron wasn't sure but he knew that it wasn't complete control; he could see Dwight struggling to push Sebastian out. Aaron wished that he could help him somehow but as long as Sebastian was in Dwight's body he couldn't even speak to him. Whether Dwight could speak to him remained to be seen.

*****

Dwight remembered getting into the car to drive away and then there was nothing. The next thing he knew he was at Minerva's house unlocking the door but it wasn't him... but it was. It felt as though he was watching himself from far away doing something that he didn't want to do. The term "out of body experience" came to mind as he unlocked the back door, went into the kitchen and then the living room. It then hit him what had happened, the entity Sebastian had taken over his body and actions but when had it happened? In the end it really didn't matter, but the fact that Sebastian was going to use his body to hurt Minerva did.

Dwight forced himself to calm down; in his mind he went back to his training. He had to bide his time and get to know his enemy as much as he could in the limited amount of time that he had. Right now Aaron and Sebastian were engaged in what he called an old fashioned pissing contest and he was for the most part being ignored by his invader. Dwight realized that he had an advantage; Sebastian was new to the body invading business and didn't have complete control. He quickly went through his memories looking for something that Minerva would know that was unique to him, finally it came to him.

One night after he had just finished eating Minerva out, he told her that she tasted so sweet that he wished that he could bottle it and save it for later. She thought that he was being silly, but told him that no one had ever told her that before. The thing was, he needed to be able to communicate with her and he was sure that Sebastian wouldn't allow that which meant he had to find a way to reach Aaron.

******

Aaron watched as Dwight seemed to calm down and wondered if Sebastian had succeeded in taking complete control of Dwight's body and mind and if that was the case, he could only hope that Dwight could fight back somehow. His priority at the moment was keeping Dwight/Sebastian away from Minerva and if Dwight had to die in the process, then so be it.

******

Minerva saw the change in Dwight and like Aaron, she wondered what it meant. Sebastian was looking at her with undisguised lust and something else.... Hate. He hated her. She thought that she knew why but she wanted to hear him say it.

"Why do you hate me?" she asked unknowingly buying Dwight more time.

She didn't think that Sebastian was going to answer her at first.

"I hate you because of what you are; I hate you because I need you to take back what is mine." Sebastian replied.

"So you hate me because I'm a woman?" Minerva asked knowing full well what he meant,

Dwight/Sebastian glared at her, angry at her insolence.

"If we were back in my time, you would be whipped for your insolence!" he hissed.

"Yeah well we're not." Minerva replied with a smile.

"Careful Minerva." Aaron warned.

"I think that I understand." Minerva said as she got into a more comfortable position. "You're pissed off because you need me and I'm this beautiful shade of black. You're also pissed because whether you get to be the lord and master as you called it of the house and the woods depends on me. I also bet you thought that after you raped or fucked me that you could kill me but you can't, am I right?"

"Well damn!" Aaron thought as he looked at Minerva with pride and love.

Dwight/Sebastian looked at Minerva but didn't say anything telling her that she was right on the money.

"So, let me see if I understand." Minerva said still smiling. "You hate me because I'm black and you'd just as soon horsewhip me as look at me but you're willing to stick your cock or should I say Dwight's cock up me to get what you want. But then what? You can't kill me and I'm sure as hell not going to willingly let you fuck me now or later so now what?" she asked. "Oh yeah, you try to rape me, good luck with that." she added.

Minerva realized that she should be afraid but she wasn't. Maybe it had something to do with the two nights she spent in the woods or maybe it was just her natural aversion to being pushed around but whatever it was, she was glad that she had it. She could tell that she was beginning to push Dwight/ Sebastian a little too hard and backed off, she had made her point. She wanted him to know that she wasn't afraid of him and would fight him with everything she had with or without Aaron's help.

******

"Good job baby!" Dwight cheered as he listened to Minerva talk to Sebastian. She had bought him the time he needed to do as much as he could for now; he had to know if Aaron heard him before he could do anything else.

"Aaron." he said softly and then waited.

******

Aaron started when he heard Dwight's voice in his head. He stole a peek over at Dwight/ Sebastian as Minerva kept him distracted. He had to let Dwight know that he had heard him in such a way that Sebastian wouldn't catch on. After thinking about it, Aaron moved so that he was between Minerva and Dwight/ Sebastian effectively blocking her view.

"Hey!" Minerva protested. "Move! I can't see."

Aaron ignored her and looked into Dwight/Sebastian's eyes and spoke.

"I had always heard that you were a fool and you have proven it. What did you mean by coming here? It is and was a fool's mission."

******

Dwight closed his eyes in relief, Aaron had heard him. As he was waiting to find out whether Aaron had heard him or not, Dwight realized something else, he could hear Sebastian's thoughts especially if he was preoccupied. It also occurred to Dwight that Sebastian thought that he was just a stupid human and that was a fatal mistake. After that, he began to pay more attention to Sebastian. To his alarm, Sebastian seemed to be growing stronger, it had to be the house; there could be no other explanation. They had to get him outside and away from Minerva.

******

Sadie and Henry sat outside on the porch listening.

"We have to help." Henry said taking Sadie's hand in his.

"We can't, at least not yet." Sadie replied, "He hasn't taken the final step and Sebastian has to be outside of the house."

"Isn't there anything that we can do?" Henry asked.

"Fraid not." Sadie replied as she gave Henry's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Sadie?" Henry said shocked, "I felt that."

"It's the house." Sadie said and gave his hand another squeeze. "It knows that we are friends to Mr. Aaron and his woman." she explained.

"What do we do now?" Henry asked holding Sadie's hand tighter and realizing for the first time that she was a very pretty woman.

"We wait." she replied.

*******

Sebastian gave Aaron a stare meant to make him shake but instead Aaron laughed. "Is that the stare that scared your slaves so much?" he taunted. His goal was to keep Sebastian's attention on him and off of Minerva. He like Dwight realized that Sebastian was growing stronger the longer he was in the house. They needed to get him out of the house and Minerva needed to remain quiet.

"Minerva, do not speak." Aaron said firmly in her head.

********

Minerva felt the power in the house grow and realized that it was Sebastian. The house was feeding him as much as it was Aaron. She was going to say something when Aaron commanded her to be silent; she was going to speak up anyway but closed her mouth. This was so far out of her realm of experience that she thought it prudent to do as Aaron said even though it galled her.

******

Dwight waited for his next opportunity to speak and jumped on it when it presented itself.

"Aaron, if it gets to the point where you don't know if it's me or Sebastian talking, tell Minerva to ask him this question."

Dwight told Aaron the question that he needed to have Minerva ask. Anger and jealousy flared at the question. That Dwight had tasted of his Minerva before him infuriated him but anger and jealousy had no place here. Aaron pushed the emotions away and listened to what Dwight was saying.

"I don't know if two of you can be in the same body but I think that's what has to happen, you have to get him out of this house and soon. He's going to tackle you, grab Minerva, vanish and rape her. You have to stop him before that point because I don't know if I can fight him off." Dwight said and then hesitated. "Aaron, if you have to, kill me, I would rather die than hurt her like that."

*******

Aaron gave an imperceptible nod hoping that Dwight saw it. He came to a decision; he wasn't going to let Dwight die. Dwight in his opinion was the epitome of what a soldier and man should be. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the woman that he loved in effect sacrificing himself for a wood that was full of spirits that he didn't know. Dwight deserved to be happy and to be loved just not by Minerva; she was his and he....

Aaron realized at that moment that he had told Minerva that he cared for her but didn't that mean that he loved her? No, he realized. He cared for his first wife but he didn't love her and had never told her that he did, she assumed that he did because of the context that he used the words that he cared for her and he had never corrected her. Minerva on the other hand, he loved and would have given Sebastian the house and everything else if it would have made a difference. Telling her that he loved her was the final piece of the puzzle on his end; she still had to accept him but....

*******

"Aaron!" Dwight screamed as Sebastian lunged at him.

*******

Minerva watched Aaron, he seemed distracted by something and she knew that Sebastian knew it too. She saw the almost imperceptible indication that Sebastian was going to charge Aaron and screamed a warning.

******

With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Sebastian took advantage of Aaron being distracted and charged him. He had almost succeeded when he felt Aaron next to him. "What the fuck?" he asked and then realized that he had made several errors the worst being underestimating the human male again. He understood now, the male had always been able to able to communicate with spirits even if he hadn't been aware of it, the trips into the woods and the woman had somehow awakened the ability. He had assumed that Millicent's spell had something to do with it, they couldn't have been more wrong. Sebastian also figured out that Dwight had been talking to Aaron the entire time and had given Aaron permission to enter him even if it meant that he could die.

His other error was the belief that he could frighten the woman, she had courage that he couldn't deny and life with her would be hell if he succeeded but it would be a small price to pay if it meant that he could have his land and home back. After he fucked her this one time, he never had to touch or see her again and Aaron would be gone forever.

******

Aaron almost missed his opportunity to enter Dwight's body; he jumped in just as Dwight's body jumped over his. It could have been disastrous if he had missed but here he was face to face with a very angry Sebastian Preston.

"So we meet again." Aaron said politely.

Sebastian didn't reply but gave Aaron a cold glare; he wasn't ready to concede defeat. He knew that Aaron hadn't spoken the three magic words to the woman. If he did, there wouldn't even be the need for him to fuck her but Aaron he knew, didn't know that. He on the other hand only had to fuck her, there was no way around it but for now, he had to keep Aaron from saying the words that would bar him from this house and land forever.

******

When Aaron entered his body, Dwight felt like he had been hit by several boxers all at the same time. It had hurt like hell knocking the breath out of him and not only that, he felt crushed by the two entities that now occupied his body. It was clear that neither of them was paying attention to him and to Dwight's relief, Sebastian didn't know that his thoughts could be read. Dwight on the other hand didn't know that Sebastian knew that he could communicate with Aaron and could stop him from speaking.

******

Minerva watched both horrified and fascinated as Dwight/Sebastian charged Aaron and then Aaron seemed to vanish inside of Dwight's body. Dwight's body lay on his back on the floor and as far as she could tell he was still alive. She crept off of the couch grabbing the pillow and made her way to Dwight ready to jump back if he should make a grab for her. She almost called his name but didn't because she didn't know who would answer if she did. Minerva gently lifted Dwight's head and put the pillow underneath it, brushed his hair back from his eyes and moved back toward the couch and waited.

******

Sadie stood up still holding on to Henry's hand.

"We have to get ready." she told him.

"Ready for what?" he asked.

"For whatever happens." Sadie replied.

As soon as they left the porch and reached the small house in the back of the property, they lost their solid physical form and the sensation of touch but still they held hands as they headed into the woods.

*******

Dwight lay on the floor unmoving, he was sure that he wasn't dead at least not yet. He felt his head being lifted but it felt like it was from far away. He heard Aaron talking to Sebastian and heard the thought about Aaron telling Minerva that he loved her, wasting no time; Dwight screamed into Aaron's head.

"Tell her that you lo....."

That was all that he got out, Sebastian with a word, sealed Dwight off from Aaron.

*******

Aaron looked over at Dwight not really concerned that he might be dead, Sebastian still needed him. What was it that Dwight was trying to tell him? Something about telling Minerva something... that he loved her. That was what he was thinking about when Sebastian charged him.

Aaron made Dwight sit up and then stand up although he was still unconscious. Sebastian fought against him for control of Dwight's body but because of his time in the house, Aaron was the stronger of the two of them. Finally after silencing Sebastian, Aaron walked over to Minerva.

*******

Minerva watched the scene transfixed not moving until she saw Dwight's body sit up, stand and then begin to walk toward her. She scurried back as fast as she could go even though there was no way out, Dwight and the entities were between her and the door and even if she managed to get past them, where would she go? The keys to her car were in her purse which was in the spare bathroom and with her ankle; she'd never make it to her car anyway. The woods were out of the question, she'd fall and break something so she did the only thing that she could think of; she began to talk.

"Which one are you?" she asked as Dwight/Aaron/Sebastian approached her.

"Aaron." He replied.

"How do I know that?" she asked. "It could be a trick." she added.

"It's not. I am Aaron Richards lord of this house and woods and you are my chosen." Aaron said as he continued to move toward her.

"Where's Dwight?" Minerva asked.

"He lives; he is sealed off from me." Aaron replied.

"Where's the other one? Sebastian?" Minerva asked as she scooted back further toward the back of the room.

"He is here but he cannot hurt you." Aaron said taking another step closer.

"Stop right there!" Minerva said. "Prove to me that Dwight is alright and that you aren't Sebastian."

Aaron wracked his brain for anything that could prove his identity.

"The night you moved in, you danced in your room naked as you waited for your bath to fill. Later, you put something into a machine that put images of people fucking on a screen. You have a drawer that is filled with gadgets that are meant to give pleasure. You have one that goes onto your nipples that make a whirring sound, that night I put my mouth on the tip of your nipple. Do you remember that?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah well, that bastard Sebastian might be reading your mind or something or maybe it was him that was in my room." Minerva said not convinced.

"Jesus woman!" Aaron exclaimed. "Earlier this evening, I was trying to get you to make love with me but instead you wasted time by arguing with me as you are now. This could have been over then! But alright, Minerva, I love you and yes I'm a ghost but as you saw I can become solid. Do you remember the dream? You felt my body on top of yours and you felt my kiss not once but twice. I love you and you belong here with me and this house, think about everything that has happened since you got here. Forget about what is supposed to be stories and listen to your instincts."

*******

Sebastian felt himself begin to weaken; he looked over at Dwight and decided to kill him. It would be his parting gift to Aaron and his bitch. Just as he reached toward Dwight, Aaron stopped him by binding what little power that he had left.

Sebastian struggled against the binds but soon gave up, it was over. He had lost again but this time there would be no second chance. He wondered where Aaron would send him, Andersonville? Gettysburg? Hell more than likely but He had no problems with that; he had plenty of friends there.

*******

"I am going to take care of Sebastian but when I come back, we have things to discuss." Aaron said as he in Dwight's body walked outside.

Minerva watched him leave and for just a moment questioned her sanity. Aaron, she realized was right, she knew earlier that he was telling her the truth but the skeptic in her wouldn't allow her to believe even with all that had happened to her and Dwight. She recalled even using the term ghost herself and had been considering calling in paranormal experts, she knew but rejected the idea of the supernatural because she had always been a practical woman who had never believed in or had an imaginary friend. The tooth fairy or anything remotely paranormal and that included Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were pure fantasy and nothing more. Whenever anyone performed what they called magic tricks, they had to prove to her beyond all shadow of a doubt that it was really magic and usually they failed confirming her belief that there were no such things as ghosts, witches or anything else for that matter. Now she had undeniable proof.