The Hathaway

A Few Answers

Andi was waiting for us when we arrived. She smiled and waved as we approached, but stiffened as she watched. She clearly sensed the change in Ben and Helmut before we were close enough for her to make out any details. She reached in her bag and by the time we reached her, she had her smudge bundle out and ready. Without a word she circled them, calling the winds to blow away any outside influence. They both blinked a few times before Ben shot me a questioning look, and Helmut muttered an angry, “What the fuck...?”

She turned and began to smudge me as well. “Just to be safe,” she assured me as she began.

“What did you find?” was her simple question once everyone had returned to themselves.

“The burned out foundations of an eighteenth century dwelling,” I told her. “We could hear singing, like at a church, but it was no tune I recognized.”

“Hmm...How did you manage to not fall under their spell?” she asked.

“I'm not sure. I think because they found it this afternoon and had spent more time listening to them than I had. I only heard them for a couple of minutes before I realized something was wrong.”

“Lucky,” she offered. Then turning to Ben she asked, “What did you sense before you fell under their influence?”

He struggled to remember. “I'm not sure. We were pulling stuff off the chimney and we both decided we needed a break. It was pretty hot. I didn't feel anything until we started to uncover the stonework, and then I just had a vague sense that something might be here, but I felt nothing specific.” He searched his memory further and recalled, “When we sat down on the grass I remember touching the earth beside me, trying to get a clearer idea of what might be there, and that's when I first heard them. And then...I...I don't remember...” He looked at her uncertain of what happened next.

“What about you, Helmut?”

“What?” he challenged her. “All I remember was hearing this faint music, and figuring it was from a car or something, and then I woke up here. What the hell happened?”

“Another ghostly encounter,” I replied. He instantly pulled the front of his pants away from his body and checked for cum, “Not that sort of encounter,” I laughed, “Although, with you, I wouldn't be surprised.”

“Show me.” Andi motioned for us to follow as she began walking in the direction we had come from. “Where is it?”

Ben ran ahead to chat with her, and I turned to Helmut. “Well, besides being possessed by some mystery ghosts, how did the rest of the walkabout go? Are there any salvageable fences?”

“The property seems to be mostly defined by low stone walls. The wrought iron fencing only extends a short distance on either side of the brick gate posts. I'd say they were originally installed after parts of the older stone walls were demolished. There are remnants of the original stone walls under the wrought iron work, and we found a stone pillar lying in the woods not far from one of the gate posts. It looks like the original posts were also removed.”

“I'd hate to destroy the stone walls if they're as old as you say. We'll have to think of a way to preserve them while keeping he protesters out.” I thought for a moment, wondering if this were a set back or an opportunity, then asked, “Speaking of the protesters, did they show up today?”

“Yeah, they were on the road outside the gate when I arrived. I just ignored them. Ben was all upset, though. I don't think I've ever heard him swear quite so much. It was fun to watch.” He shot me a grin of approval as if witnessing Ben's anger somehow gave Helmut a higher opinion of him.

“How long did they stay?

“Not long, only an hour or so after I got here. No one was paying any attention to them, so they left.”

Andi and Ben had stopped just outside the small stand of trees. By the time we caught up, Andi was crouched down with a hand on the earth in front of her and the other outstretched toward the trees. The rest of us stood in silence as she listened. “I can't hear the music from here, but I can sense them, vaguely, like you said, Ben. It's as if they are being muffled. I can't get an exact count, but I'd say a small group, no more than twenty. I sense no malevolence from them, only that they are trapped and can't get out.”

She stood up and turned to me. “For the moment I would steer clear of this place, maybe even put a fence around it to keep the kids out when they arrive. I don't believe the entities are evil, in fact I sense they are refugees of some sort, fleeing an oppression. But still, since their song seems to have a hypnotic quality to it...”

“Say no more,” I assured her. “We'll see to it.”

We returned to the house and she proceeded to smudge the lower levels. We had done some major alterations to the lowest level. We had combined clusters of the small rooms to create a couple of bunk rooms, and we had just updated other rooms. That allowed us to offer private rooms for the kids who needed that and group rooms for the kids who were used to sharing a room with a sibling. It would be up to the social worker who assigned rooms to figure those needs out, and Sylvia had them all scheduled to come in tomorrow for a detailed tour of the space, and to start settling into their offices. A few of the rooms were set aside for the staff members who would be acting as dorm parents during the nights, and two other large rooms had been carved out to function as an activities room and a kitchen/dining room combo.

One room was off limits to the kids and staff alike. We had deliberately restored Sylas's room, and returned it to a state as close to how he left it as we could. I had found a lovely antique double frame on one of our weekend excursions last summer, and had place the photographs of him and Marcus in it so they were facing each other. It was the only addition to the room, and sat proudly on his bedside table. We would show the room to the kids and tell them the story, but for us it remained the heart of the house, and was somewhat sacred.

Andi entered all of these rooms, and asked a blessing on them. The main level had fewer rooms, since the bulk of the floor was taken up with the grand ballroom, a grand dining room, which also functioned as a conference room, and the restored and updated hotel kitchen. The smaller offices were to be occupied by the staff, and Sylvia had already moved into her space. It was Miss Beal's old office and she had asked for it specifically. She had even managed to find a use for the ornate little desk Miss Beal used.

Once that floor was done, we sat in the dining room to chat before Andi and Helmut headed back to the boarding house.

“I have a question about last night,” Ben ventured. “If the shadow figure was attached to the building at the pile of furniture in the study, what was that whole shadow bubble covering the whole house thing about?”

“Yeah,” Helmut chimed in. “Like a brick wall. That fucking hurt!”

Andi laughed, “And I bet you're the only one of us it would have stopped.”

He gave her a dirty look. “Why do you say that? You think the ghost had something against me? Or maybe it's 'cause I'm not psychic like the rest of you.”

“But you are, don't you see?” She smiled at him. “You have a gift all your own. You actually feel the ghosts on a level that the rest of us can't. Think about it. All your encounters before today have been very tactile. The boys in the basement, Maggie, and last night a barrier that would not have even slowed the rest of us down managed to stop you cold. That's part of what made today so unusual, you had no physical connection to the spirits. That's what baffles me.” She thought for a moment and continued, “As for the shadow bubble, He was licking he building.”

Ben laughed, “What?”

“You know, like when a kid licks something to claim it for themselves. That's what the shadow figure was doing. It was just an act of bravado to warn us off and claim the building for his own.”

“Well he can't have it,” I interjected. “Not while I'm paying the mortgage.”

We all laughed and Andi asked Ben, “Did you sense him at all while you were wandering on the property today?”

“Nope, nothing,” he said with a smile. “And nothing last night after you all left Of course, he could have been standing right beside us and we wouldn't have noticed. We were a little distracted.” He shot me a smile and winked.

“You guys are always 'distracted,” Helmut chuckled, rolling his eyes. “It's like living next to a twenty-four hour porn site and not being allowed to watch. You could at least post a video now and then or something.”

This reminded me of my thoughts just before I fell asleep last night. “If you thought it was constant at the boarding house, since we've moved here...well...”

Andi laughed. “What did you expect?”

I looked at her questioningly. “I figured it was the privacy.”

“No.” Her laughter increased, “Think about it. Where are we?”

“The Hathaway House,” Ben replied automatically.

“Yes...And...?” She seemed to be waiting for something but Ben and I just looked at each other uncomprehendingly. “Oh my goodness! Do I have to explain everything to you? What went on here back in the day? Come on, you can figure this out.”

Helmut let out a howl of laughter. Clearly he had figured it out.

“They had dances and parties, and...”Ben's eyes got big and he reached over to hit my arm. “...It was a brothel, of course.”

“Just think of how much sex happened in this building.” Andi smiled. “How many orgasms have echoed through these walls, how much semen has been spilled on that basement floor.”

“It's like a great wave of fucking, and you get to surf on the crest of it.” Helmut leaned back and moved his hands below the table to adjust himself. “God! When can I move in?”

Andi chuckled, “Down, boy,”

“You could market this,” he continued.” “You know, offer retreats or something for people with low sex drives.”

“I doubt it would work for most people,” Andi offered. “Remember, you boys are sensitive to these things, most people aren't.”

“So, they could do sex retreats for psychics,” Helmut continued. Just make sure some of them are sexy and can handle a dom top who likes it rough.”

We all laughed and I countered, “I don't think that's in the cards, at least for the foreseeable future, but I'll keep it in mind.”