The House Ch. 09

"We were alright with your family hunting on our property; you're no longer welcome here. Now scoot!" he added.

That, Sebastian realized was when he truly began to hate the Richards, that they defended a slave was the least of it. That day was when it really hit home that they had lost their land, the land that was supposed to be his and here it was almost one-hundred and fifty years later and it was happening again. The ironic thing he realized, was that whether he got it back was totally in the hands of a woman who had she lived in his time would have been a slave for him to do with as he wished.

The issue now was what was he going to do? His options were limited. The one that made the most sense was to leave and to come back at another time but the problem was that by then, Aaron and the woman would have fucked making Aaron the true lord of the woods. If he tried to do something now, he would be expected and the human male would be suspect.

When Minerva invited Dwight to come to the house, Sebastian's heart pounded. "Say yes!" he pushed at Dwight's mind but Dwight was so intent on Minerva that Sebastian's efforts went unnoticed which made Sebastian realize something else, he was considerably weaker out of the woods and there was no way back in without either the woman or the male. There had to be another way back in, but how?

******

Sadie sat on Aaron's front porch like she used to do when Aaron's mother was alive. Selene believed in the supernatural although she was a good god fearing woman. Sadie enjoyed the evenings that she spent talking with Selena not as a slave but as a confidante. Selena had a bit of 'the touch' as Sadie liked to call it and knew that there was something special about the woods, that's why she wouldn't allow the house to be sold back to the Preston's.

When Aaron banished Sebastian from the woods, Sadie knew that they hadn't seen the end of him and wanted to tell Aaron to send him where he could do no more harm but that wasn't her place. Aaron had to learn when to be merciful and when to act decisively. What he did for Millicent was both appropriate and merciful, letting Sebastian go was merciful but a huge mistake. Aaron didn't realize the true depth of Sebastian's hatred for him and his family and if he didn't contain him, Sebastian would keep coming back.

*******

Aaron heard Sadie out on the porch and went outside.

"I guess you know what's happening." He said as he sat in the rocker next to her.

"Yessir." Sadie replied.

"I shouldn't have let him go." Aaron said not really expecting Sadie to comment but was surprised when she did.

"Well Mr. Aaron, my daddy used to say that sometimes you hafta make mistakes so yous can learn."

"I guess he's right, but why didn't you say something?" he asked.

"It ain't my place, you be the lord of these woods and house. My only role is to try to point you in the right direction but I will tell you this, it ain't over and won't be until you and Minerva does what you need to do." Sadie said and disappeared.

Aaron rocked slowly as he thought about what he needed to do. If he had his way, he'd make love to Minerva right now but he didn't want to scare her to death like he did earlier and he certainly didn't want to force himself on her so what were his choices.

He stood up as a thought occurred to him, he might be able to appear to her in her sleep. He would make it the most erotic dream that he could think of and make love to her in her dreams until she accepted his existence. Would that work? He wondered as he stood up and went back into the house where Minerva was back on her laptop.

******

The brats. The human male had two brats, would he betray the woman for them? He wondered. What were their names? Joe and Becky. If he was going to do something, he had to do it now, time was flying by and he didn't have much time left. He would settle for going back to the woods for now and then go from there deciding not to worry about being seen. He was sure that Aaron had everyone on full alert and that there would be no way that he could sneak in without being seen especially in the body of the human male.

******

Dwight paced, Minerva didn't know how hard it had been for him to turn down her offer but he had to, he wasn't safe for her to be around. He picked up the remote to the television, sat down on the couch and leaned his head back against the headrest. He had just closed his eyes when he heard the voice again.

"I know the names of your brats."

Dwight sat up in shock and anger.

"Take me to the woods and they'll sleep peacefully tonight. If you warn her, they will have a visit from me."

The voice warned just as Dwight reached for the phone. For the second time, the safety of his children was threatened and he had to choose between the woman he loved and them. Like before, he chose his children, what else could he do? But then he had a thought, he could hear Aaron but could Aaron hear him? It was worth a try.

"What do I need to do?" Dwight asked.

Sebastian was surprised by the compliance although he was expecting it. "Nothing, just relax and let me do the work." he replied. "Meet me by the access road in an hour, that should be plenty of time for you to get there in your wagon."

"Wagon?" Dwight asked. "What year are you from?"

"1865."

"18.... oh fuck." Dwight said not noticing that he used the one word in the English language that he hated almost as much as the "n" word. He now knew who he was dealing with, Sebastian Preston. He should have known that if Aaron Richards was involved, then Sebastian Preston would be involved as well. He should have thought of it sooner, the stories regarding the two families were well known to anyone interested in the local history.

One thing was for certain, he couldn't let Sebastian get his hands on Minerva through him, and he had to warn Aaron somehow.

******

Aaron was just beginning to imagine all of the lovely things he was going to do to Minerva when he heard Dwight's voice.

"Aaron, I don't know if you can hear me but Sebastian is forcing me to take him back into the woods, he wants Minerva and is going to try to get to her through me, please just keep her safe. I'm meeting him by the access road in an hour so if you have any ideas on how to stop this bastard, now would be the time to initiate them."

Aaron was stunned, apparently there was more to Dwight than met the eye, hearing him had come as a surprise. An hour. That wasn't much time for him to seduce and make love to Minerva but maybe the seduction would have to wait but maybe not. Minerva was already asleep and he knew already that she had to be ready for something, it had been a few days since either of them had had any relief so it wouldn't take long.

Aaron debated, as much as he wanted her to be awake and be totally aware of what was happening there really wasn't much choice if he wanted to end the threat of Sebastian forever. His one consolation was that she would be as willing in the dream as she would be when she was awake. He closed his eyes and entered Minerva's dream.

*******

Minerva was having a lovely dream and it wasn't about the woods. She was upstairs lying on her bed completely naked. There was no light except for the light that came from the dozens of candles that were placed around the bed. She tried to get up but was told to stay where she was, she knew that voice but what was it doing in her dream?

"Don't be afraid." Aaron said softly as he approached the bed. "I won't hurt you."

"How? Are you here?" Minerva asked.

"Minerva, we don't have much time, Sebastian is on his way back to the woods and he means to hurt you." Aaron said.

"Hurt me? How? What does he want with me? What do you want with me?" Minerva asked.

"Minerva, I wish that I had time to explain all of this to you but we don't have time. Sebastian is using Dwight to get back into the woods and then he plans to use Dwight to fuck you...."

"Wait a damned minute; a fucking ghost wants to fuck me using Dwight? And what's all of this about?" Minerva asked as she sat up and looked around the room.

"I was going to make love to you without any help from Dwight or any one else for that matter." Aaron admitted. "But Minerva, it's much more than that." he added.

"Really? Then you'd better start talking." Minerva said.

"We don't have time for this! Sebastian is on his way here and we have to make love before he gets here!" Aaron exclaimed becoming frustrated. "You have to trust me." he added.

"Number one, I don't have to do anything, number two; how do I know that you're not he real bad guy here?" Minerva asked.

"For God's sake woman!" Aaron exclaimed. "You did the research on that machine of yours! Do you really think that I'm the bad guy here? Sebastian is going to use Dwight to rape you and if that happens...."

Aaron stopped talking, Dwight was saying something.

"Aaron, I'm about a half hour away."

"Minerva, please listen to me, this isn't how I wanted this to happen but whoever makes love with you first becomes the lord of the house and woods. The loser can be banished to anyplace unable to come back here...."

"Wait! That's why you both want me so badly? And what happens to me afterwards?" Minerva asked angrier about being used than anything else. "I don't like being anyone's pawn!" she exclaimed.

Aaron threw up his hands in frustration getting a taste of what Sadie must have felt when she was dealing with him. "Minerva, please if we don't do this now, we'll never be completely rid of Sebastian...."

"We? What do you mean by we?" Minerva asked.

"Fuck it all to hell! Minerva, I care for you alright? I'm a fucking ghost and I care for you. Right now your dreams are the only way that I can make love to you..."

"Aaron? I'm ten minutes out." Dwight said.

"It's too late, Dwight is almost here." Aaron said. "This is what I don't understand, you fuck Dwight after going with him one time and here our future depends on us fucking and you fight it." Aaron said confused.

"You just wait a fucking minute!" Minerva yelled. You're forgetting one important factor, Dwight isn't a damned ghost! He didn't come to me in my dream and try to seduce me to save his own ass and not only that, the only reason that you're even here now is because of this house and the woods! And let me tell you...."

Aaron had heard enough, he pushed Minerva back onto the bed, stretched out on top of her and kissed her. He broke the kiss and looked down at her kissing her again when she started to speak.

"Aaron! I'm here!" Dwight said.

"Shit!" Aaron swore as he moved from on top of Minerva. "Dwight is here; I want you to stay in the house and don't let anyone in even if it's Dwight. It could be Sebastian using Dwight's body..."

"You're kidding me right? This isn't really happening; this is just a very vivid dream." Minerva said.

"Minerva, when you wake up, you will remember this entire conversation and you will remember me kissing you." Aaron said as he stood up. "Now stay in the house and don't leave under any circumstances." Aaron said as he left her dream.

******

Minerva woke up with a start and looked around, there was no one with her but she felt as though someone had been here. She had never been one to remember her dreams but this one she remembered every detail of from the weight of Aaron's body pressing down on hers to the kiss, both of them.

"Insane." she muttered, "I have to be insane!" she said as she grabbed the bottle of water and drained it dry. Minerva felt as though she was living her very own ghost story and wondered about calling one of those ghost hunter people. Even as she thought it, she discounted the idea, she had the feeling that they could call for Aaron to come out until the cows came home and he wouldn't appear if he didn't want to. It occurred to her that even thinking about calling someone in to help was saying that she believed that both Aaron and Sebastian existed as ghosts who were adversaries. It was a proven fact that they had once lived as humans and here she was caught between the two of them. She lay back on the couch and closed her eyes and tried to make sense of the past several days.

******

Dwight waited at the access road not sure of what he was supposed to be doing.

"Go into the woods." Sebastian said firmly.

"Stay where you are" Aaron commanded as he became a solid being in front of Dwight.

"Becky and Joe" Sebastian said.

Dwight started to move toward the woods and was stopped by Aaron, "Dwight, he lies. He cannot harm your children; he cannot be anywhere long enough to get a hold. He can only talk to you because of the woods and your connection to Minerva."

Understanding dawned on Dwight, he had been played by the use of his kids not once but twice but this time someone really could get hurt.

"Aaron, tell me what to do." Dwight said.

"Get into your vehicle and drive away, do not come back to these woods until you hear from me." Aaron replied as he kept his eyes on Sebastian's wispy form.

******

Sebastian swore when he realized that Aaron was waiting for him. He was faced with a choice, stay and fight or leave. It was clear that the human male wasn't going to help him now that he knew that his children were safe and he was sure that Aaron had warned Minerva to stay in the house where he couldn't get to her, his only chance was to take over the human male's body. Getting him to follow his commands was going to be another thing altogether but he could tell him that it would be easier on the woman if he cooperated.

Before Aaron knew what was happening, Sebastian was in the car with Dwight. The car took off in jerky movements and stopped with the front half of the car in the woods. That was all Sebastian needed in order to merge with Dwight before vanishing from the car.

"Fuck!" Aaron said as he vanished from where he stood.

******

Minerva was startled by hearing the back door unlock, the only person that had a key was Dwight and he wouldn't have just walked in without calling or without a good reason.

"Dwight? Is that you?" Minerva called. When she looked behind her, there were two men, one was Dwight or someone who looked like Dwight and the other was Aaron Richards.