Aaron looked at the unconscious form of Minerva and smiled, some things just didn't change no matter the era. He was sure that he looked quite the sight with his long hair and the same clothing that he had been buried in almost one hundred and fifty years ago. He wondered what they did in this day and age when women swooned like Minerva just did, probably the same thing they did back then, smelling salts.
He approached the couch cautiously just in case she came to and panicked. As far as he was concerned, the real test was whether he could touch her or not, he didn't care about being a solid form if he could touch her. Slowly, Aaron reached down and stroked Minerva's cheek pulling back when she stirred. He waited for another minute and touched her again, this time tracing the outline of her full lips with a fingertip.
"I care for you Minerva." Aaron murmured and faded away.
Minerva opened her eyes a few minutes later and looked around. When she saw no one, she looked at the picture of Aaron and Clara and laughed at herself.
"Too much excitement." She muttered to herself. "Aaron Richards was not just in my living room." she added but she wasn't entirely convinced that it hadn't happened either.
Aaron stood in a corner and watched Minerva argue with herself about what she had just seen, she wasn't totally convinced that she hadn't seen him but she wasn't convinced that she had either. Touching her had been a tease and he wanted more, admitting that he cared for her to himself was part of what he needed to do to claim her, her believing that he existed was the other part. Making love together would bind them together for all of time and would secure the house and the woods. The trick was going to be getting to that point.
Minerva struggled off of the couch and thought about sleeping there but the problem was that there was no bedding and her pajamas were upstairs. She limped to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water and her cell phone that Dwight had left plugged in on the counter and slowly made her way up the stairs careful not to lose her balance.
Once in her room, she ran the bath and removed the ace wrap bandage from her ankle before slowly getting into the tub, once she was in, it occurred to her that being in the tub and not having anyone around probably wasn't a good idea. Minerva leaned back and decided to enjoy the hot water soothing her tired muscles, making sure that her wrist with the cast on it was out of the water. When she soaked for as long as she wanted, she let the water out and began the tedious task of getting out of the tub. Twice she almost slipped but the second time she could have sworn she felt hands holding her steady as she climbed out, she turned to look behind her but there was no one there
The vision of Aaron in the living room popped into Minerva's head but she pushed it away, she did not see Aaron Richards in her living room, the past few days were the cause of an over active imagination and stress weren't they? The more that she tried to convince herself that the events of the past few days didn't happen, the more she came to believe that they did. Her house was haunted by a ghost who had died just after the civil war, the same ghost had saved both her and Dwight from someone named Sebastian Preston whoever in the hell that was.
No longer sleepy, Minerva contemplated going back downstairs but thought better of it. What she really wanted was her laptop, she was more than a little curious about Sebastian Preston and why he thought that he owned the house and the woods. She also got the impression that he was surprised when she claimed it for herself, "what the fuck is going on here?" she muttered as she decided that she was going back downstairs.
She changed into a pair of sweats, tossed a pillow and then a blanket down the stairs. She looked around checking to be sure that there wasn't anything else that she might need. After thinking about it, she grabbed another pair of sweats, underclothes, a few toiletries and put them in a pillowcase and tossed them down the stairs adding to the small pile already there. When she was convinced that had everything that she needed, Minerva half hopped and half limped down the stairs. When she reached the bottom step, she carefully bent over, picked up the things on the floor and carried them into the spare bathroom and sat them on the floor. Carefully, she hopped to the kitchen carrying the pillow, blanket and her cell phone and put them on the table.
Then she had another problem, trying to carry the laptop plus the plugs and everything else into the living room. She also wanted a bottle of water and her pain pills even though she was fairly certain that she wouldn't take them. She wasn't absolutely positive that the pain medication wasn't responsible for her hearing the voices. But Dwight had heard them too and he hadn't taken medication of any kind.
Minerva began to realize that she had become part of some weird triangle between two spirits but only it wasn't a love triangle. The one spirit, Sebastian had been a very angry man in life and was equally if not more angry in death. Aaron had some anger but it had to do with something or someone else and she suspected that it was his second wife Clara and her lover.
Her next thought was whether she should call one of the paranormal investigators on television that she had always laughed at. What would she tell them? And what would she want them to do? An exorcism or whatever it was they did to get rid of ghosts? And then what? Where would Aaron's spirit go if she did that? The house after all was his before she bought it and he had lived here all of this time. Could she in good conscience kick him out? And besides, they wouldn't show up at her doorstep tonight or any time soon.
Aaron stood by the laundry room watching Minerva as she tried to figure out what she was going to do. He could tell that she was beginning to believe that he existed; his dilemma became how to get her to totally believe. He didn't dare appear to her again at least not yet but maybe he could help her in some way. He turned around and saw her small laundry basket on wheels and got an idea.
Minerva was about to sit at the table when she heard a noise coming from the laundry room.
"Whose there?" she called out even though she knew that she was alone.
When there was no response, she stood up, took her cell phone out of her pocket and got ready to call Dwight. Just as she was going to hit the send button, the little metal laundry cart rolled out of the laundry room and stopped a foot or so away from the table. Minerva was so startled that she almost lost her balance and dropped the cell phone.
"Oh fuck me." she whispered.
"I would love to" Aaron replied.
"Oh my god, oh my god!" Minerva said in shock as she plopped back down into the chair.
"Shit!" Aaron swore when Minerva almost lost her balance. When she said "Oh fuck me." he couldn't help himself, he had to respond and was grateful that there was a chair nearby for her to sit in or else she would have ended up on the floor. He got ready to solidify in case she fainted again and was relieved as Minerva began to come to grips with what she already knew.
Minerva sat glued to her chair not sure of what she should do next, she looked toward the laundry room and didn't see anything or anyone. She wasn't scared exactly but she was definitely nervous as she glanced at the laundry cart and then the cell phone lying on the floor.
******
Dwight channel surfed throwing the remote on the couch when he couldn't find anything on that suited him. He was seriously rethinking his decision to give Minerva up but could see no way to having all that he wanted, her and his kids. If he resumed a relationship with Minerva, he wouldn't be allowed to see the kids, Beth made that clear during their heated discussion about Minerva but damn it! What was he supposed to do? The fact of the matter was that no matter whom he found, Beth wouldn't be happy with her, she would hold not being able to see the kids over his head to force his compliance. She didn't want him or love him but she didn't want anyone else to have him either, she wanted him to be as miserable and lonely as she was.
He looked at the phone, picked it up and sat it back down again. He had to think about this, Minerva wouldn't want him to put her before his children and if he chose her over his children, how long would it be before he regretted his decision? He missed her and her straightforwardness and her courage, there weren't many women that could have gone through what she did and remained sane. It wasn't even about the sex as phenomenal as it had been; it was about Minerva the woman, the whole package.
"I can help you." A voice said in Dwight's head.
*******
"I am not calling Dwight." Minerva said out loud. She knew that he would come without asking questions but that wasn't the point. She had gotten along alone before and it was much too soon after their.... Whatever in the hell that was to be calling him for help. Minerva picked up the phone almost dropping it again when it rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Diana, her sister. For once, Minerva was glad to hear from her, it was the sound of the familiar overdramatic Diana that grounded her.
"I know that I haven't called, I've been busy." Minerva said patiently, "Lots of things like exploring the woods around the house.... No, don't come just yet, wait until the spring. Of course I want you to come but I'm not settled in yet and...."
Minerva's sense of relief was short lived, it wasn't long before Diana was driving her batty and the thought of dealing with a ghost became preferable to continuing the conversation with her sister.
"Di, I have to go, I'll call you later." Minerva said hanging up.
Minerva stood up and loaded the laundry cart with the laptop and whatever else she thought that she might need and made her way to the living room with Aaron following her unseen, eyes glued to her ass. He totally agreed with Dwight, Minerva was one hell of a woman and he could hardly wait to get his hands on her. The thought reminded that he had to thank both Henry and Sadie for their help; he never would have figured any of this out on his own and even if he had, it would have been much too late.
Minerva set up the laptop, turned on the television and began her research into Sebastian Preston. Sebastian, she discovered was the oldest of five brothers all of whom Sebastian included, had died from something related to the war. Sebastian died of a gunshot wound that became infected, his youngest two brothers died in Northern POW camps and the other two died on the battlefield. Prior to Aaron's family, the Preston's owned the house and the woods but sold it because of financial problems, apparently the elder Preston made some bad investments. "Well," Minerva said, "That explains that." she commented as she scrolled down the page. None of the brothers had been married at the time of their deaths but the house was to have gone to Sebastian which explained the comment "I am lord and master of the house and woods."
The comment bothered her then and it bothered her now, it took Minerva a minute to realize why, it was the use of the word master. Somehow, coming from Sebastian it gave her the willies and she soon found out why. The Preston family had been slave owners just as Aaron's family had been but with a difference, by all accounts Aaron and his family had treated their slaves well and had been among the first to free them when the war broke out. Aaron allowed whoever wanted to stay, stay and paid them fair wages for working the small plantation even going so far as to hire a teacher for those who wanted to learn. "Well isn't that just special?" Minerva muttered. The Preston's on the other hand were considered to be amongst the cruelest families in the area which begged a question, why then did Sebastian want her?
There was still a piece of the puzzle missing and once again she was the missing piece, claiming ownership of the house and woods had been part of it but what else was there? She wondered as she continued to read.
