Thanks so much to all who reviewed Chapter 4. I'm glad you like this story so far, and I'm glad the fountain idea worked. *wicked grin*
Restless Spirit
Chapter 5 - Decision
"Oh no!!!"
Filia's scream could have reached the nearest village, if that were possible. Val, George, and Jacob immediately came rushing to the window to see Filia in the yard, her shoulders shaking and her chest heaving with barely controlled fury. She stood surveying the scene before her eyes with exasperation. None of them dared to go outside…the results could be disastrous.
This was by far the worst trick the ghost had pulled thus far, in the three weeks that they'd been there. Turning the pictures in the living room upside down had been harmless, albeit annoying, but not hard to fix. There were other incidents, of course, but this surpassed the rest.
It was laundry day, which was all well and good. But did he truly have to throw a good deal of her clothes, not to mention all of her underthings out on the front lawn? Really, the only thing she had to fix was her dignity, but even that was already in tatters.
Some of her underthings were hanging from the limbs on the tree, swaying like some obscene flag in the breeze. Two, to her horror, were hanging from the lovely fountain. The rest of her clothes were strewn anywhere and everywhere, cluttering the lawn, and Filia momentarily entertained various morbid and painful ways to punish the most indecent ghost that seemed to delight in torturing her, as well.
She stared at the carnage for a moment longer, clenching her fists at her side. This was simply too much! She had to do something about that ghost or her sanity was in danger of becoming virtually nonexistent.
She picked up as many of her things as she could and marched back inside. Val gaped at her, and opened his mouth to ask what happened, but a warning look from Jacob made him reconsider. The two servants wisely opted to say nothing, as well, and quickly ushered the young boy back into the kitchen.
Filia somehow made it up the stairs without dropping anything, and swung open the door to her bedroom with a loud grunt.
"Laundry day, I see."
Filia jumped, startled, and then glared at the grinning apparition. He was sitting in the corner, on the floor, swathed in shadows as usual. She dropped her bundle to properly point a finger at him accusingly. He didn't flinch, nor did he look surprised to see her angry. She had realized soon enough that he was always more than happy to take credit for his actions.
"YOU!" she yelled, and strode across the room to confront him face-to-face. He stood up casually and motioned with a sweep of his hand for her to stop, which she did, just short of trying to choke him.
"My, my. Temper, temper," he drawled, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "You really must learn to calm down, my dear. We don't want you dying of overexertion, now do we? Why, then you'd have all eternity to put up with me!"
Filia's face went red, from fury or embarrassment, she couldn't tell which. She snorted, and replied, "I'm sure you'd enjoy that."
"On the contrary, it's much more fun to annoy the living," he said lightly. "For instance, one doesn't get that red face with no blood circulation."
She bristled, and brandished her fist. "Why you – "
He chuckled, and backed away, idly fiddling with the telescope. He peered out at the sea, and hummed a light tune, leaving her to stare at him with her fist still clenched. As if her anger couldn't get worse, now she felt somehow insulted. The nerve of that ghost! He always did this to her; every time she got angry with him, he would find some way to change the subject. He never acted like he cared if she was angry with him. And really, she wondered, why should he? It wasn't like she could actually hurt him.
She sighed, dropping her fist down to her side, letting herself relax as much as she could with a strange man standing in her room. Ghost or not, she was unnerved by his presence more than she would let herself admit. Despite the fact that he was a most infuriating ghost, and she shuddered to think what he might have been like alive, at times he could be a most intriguing individual. Such as now, as he stood gazing out of the telescope, smiling that odd smile that sometimes pulled at his lips, she couldn't help but notice that he was somehow…attractive, in a way.
She'd never seen anything like him. He was very pale, which she supposed came with being dead, but his skin looked smooth instead of waxy. His hair, while stringy and much too long for her tastes, looked very soft to the touch. She often found herself wishing to touch it, just to see for herself if it was as soft as it looked. And his eyes, while frightening at times, were the most peculiar color of violet that she'd ever seen. Really and truly, his eyes were what made him frightening, if he could even be considered frightening, but they were also one of the most appealing things about him, in her opinion. She was beginning to find that she wasn't frightened of him at all. While annoying, he had proved otherwise harmless, thus far. She supposed that she shouldn't let her guard down just yet, and she hadn't completely. Only time would tell.
He must have noticed her staring at him, for he turned from the telescope to meet her gaze. He smiled as she blushed and looked away quickly. She cleared her throat nervously and picked up her sewing kit. He noticed that her clothes were still lying in a wrinkled heap on the floor, and that the bedroom door was still open, but he decided to say nothing about it as he smirked and sank to the floor once more, leaning up against the wall.
"Tell me," he said after a few moments of silence. "What made you want to move here in the first place?"
"Well, as I said before, my grandfather – "
"No, no," he interrupted. "Why did you want to move here? To this particular house?"
She tapped her finger against her chin, gazing thoughtfully out of the window as she tried to remember why, indeed, she had chosen the house. "I think it was part of the description for this house. 'A place of rest for one's soul'. It appealed to me." She sighed, and offered him a particularly icy glare. "Of course I had no way of knowing that I wouldn't get a moment's rest, at all," she added pointedly.
"Why did it appeal to you?" he asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
He shrugged. "I just do. Really, can I be beyond small talk simply because I take great pride in my job as a ghost?"
She snorted. "You never attempted small talk before…"
He smirked. "You never gave me a chance to. Always fussing at me one way or another. Such a violent temper…"
The tone of his voice made her look up from her sewing to stare at him. Such a wistful note in his words…almost nostalgic, in a way, she thought. And the look on his face as he stared at the sky, that lost look in his eyes, like he was remembering something from long ago. She felt a twinge of sorrow, and pity, and wondered if he was remembering someone else…someone that was once close to him. Perhaps a wife…
That thought struck her almost like a revelation, and she inwardly smiled. All that defensiveness when she'd asked if he'd committed suicide over a woman…she just knew that he'd been covering up! If he hadn't committed suicide, then he must have been deeply in love with a woman long ago. Perhaps he'd gotten in trouble over her. Perhaps she left him and he'd been left to grieve for the rest of his lonely days.
"You know, I've been wondering," she said cautiously, questioning the wisdom in trying to get information out of him that he didn't seem in the least bit eager to tell. "You never talk about your past life. What were you like?"
He snorted. "I'm not sure you'd want to know…"
"Well, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know."
"Oh? And just why, exactly, do you want to know?"
"Curiosity, I suppose. I – "
She was quite rudely interrupted by the sound of a motorcar rumbling up the stone-cluttered road, followed by a loud horn blaring to get her attention. For a split second she wondered who in the world would be calling on her unannounced, but her question was immediately answered when, much to her extreme horror, she heard a loud voice call out: "FILIA!!! OHHHH FILIAAAAAA!!!!"
Her face went white, and her eyes grew as large as saucers. Horrified, she began shaking, and she jumped to her feet.
Sitting on the floor, violet eyes followed her every move with amused curiosity as she paced back and forth, clutching her head with both hands. "Why, Filia, you look disturbed. Who could induce such a reaction?"
She whirled around and glared at him with now-bloodshot eyes. "My…my grandfather is here!!!"
******
"Your grandfather?" He was clearly confused. "A little old man?"
"Old, yes. Little, no. He makes it very clear that he is a big, important person, and never lets me forget it. How did he find out where I lived? Oh, this is terrible!"
This wasn't terrible to him; he was enjoying this immensely. "So what's the big deal? Just tell him to leave." He reclined on the sofa, propping his feet on the pillows.
"I can't do that!" she screeched. "He's an upstanding citizen, and he's very wealthy. He has supported me for years by letting me live with him after my parents died; I can't be disrespectful to him, you see? I took a very big risk by leaving, but I just had to!"
Noises interrupted her tirade, the door opening downstairs, and Jacob asking if 'sir would like a cup of tea?' Instantly, she heard the ever-so-rude reply, "I don't care for a cup of tea, boy, now get out of my way! Where is Filia? I demand to see her at once."
Filia rushed to the bedroom door, shutting it on her messy bedroom and the sniggering ghost inside. She met her grandfather at the top of the stairwell, where she wore the most dignified and welcoming face she could muster. He was not convinced.
Filia's grandfather, Elton Dequator II, the father of Filia's mother, Elaine, lived very much up to his well-deserved reputation. He was an imposing figure, despite the fact that he was a bent-over, crippled old man with a mostly-bald head surrounded by a meager dusting of white hair. His long beard was equally white, and he leaned quite heavily on an old wooden cane. He looked frail enough that a strong wind could sweep him away easily.
His eyes, on the other hand, were piercing enough to cut through the most well-hidden secrets. He had the uncanny ability to know everything that she did, not to mention everyone else, and was without a doubt the nosiest man on the face of the planet. He took great pleasure in using his penetrating stare to cut even the toughest man alive down to size, and took even greater pleasure in terrorizing his descendants. Except for Filia, all of them were quite eager to cater to his every desire…and help themselves to his money.
His countenance hardened when he saw his granddaughter, and he immediately fixed her with one of his most dangerous glares. "Filia," he spoke, his voice scathing like hot water. "What, may I ask, is in your front lawn? Really, it's disgraceful! Such a thing should have been destroyed ages ago. And to think that you'd leave your…clothes…outside for all creation to see! I should have known that you'd eventually lose your mind, living out here all alone like this."
She was about to reply, but he wasn't finished. "And just look at the décor in this place. It's hideous. Most repulsive. And surely your good-for-nothing servants could do something about the dirt on the floors. I would have thought you'd give your old grandfather more of a welcome than this. Well, don't just stand there, girl, what do you have to say for yourself?"
She opened her mouth yet again, but before she could reply, his gaze had moved from her to the door behind her. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and a vicious sneer formed on his lips. "I knew it!" he exclaimed. "I just knew you'd come out here to cavort with the enemy! I feel his filthy presence here. I could feel it the moment I walked in. Where is he? Where is he?! I demand you tell me where he is, girl! I'll have it out with him right now!"
"Grandfather, wait!" she cried, but was unable to stop him from bursting in the bedroom, nearly tripping over her stack of clothes. He sputtered, and Filia was sure that she heard him utter several swear words. She gasped; he'd never talked like that before! "Where is he?" her grandfather demanded again. Filia stared at him, and then looked over at the reclining figure on the sofa, where she was greeted with a smile and a small wave. She turned back to her grandfather, realizing with some measure of relief that he couldn't see the ghost.
"Where is who, Grandfather?" she asked innocently.
He pointed his finger at her angrily. "You know very well who I'm talking about. Now out with it! I demand to know why you've been here with him. After all that I went through to raise you right, you've gone and gotten yourself mixed up with the Enemy. I should have known better than to let you out of my house. Blast it all, Filia! It's that boy's fault, that's what! It's the boy! He's the one who started this! I should have never let you take him in; he's one of them…"
"Grandfather, I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, honestly. Even if her grandfather could sense the ghost, which she wouldn't be surprised if he could, where on earth did he get that the ghost was an 'enemy' as he put it? "Who are they…the ones that you keep talking about?"
"The evil ones! The demons!"
Filia nearly laughed, but was much too fed up with her grandfather to make him even more angry. "Grandfather, I can assure you, there are no demons here. I'm sure you didn't come here just to criticize me and look for 'the enemy', as you so very often do. To what honor do I owe this visit?"
Her grandfather stopped, and thought for a moment. Then, he smiled a particularly cruel smile as he remembered why, indeed, he'd come in the first place. "Ah, yes. I've come to inform you that the money from your parents' wills is gone. The bank has been involved in embezzlement, forced to shut down, and there is no money left. There is no way to get it back. I'm so sorry." He didn't sound in the least bit apologetic.
Filia stared at him in disbelief. "No…that can't be! It wasn't all in that bank, was it? I'm sure that there was more…"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I? I had it all put in one bank, to keep everything organized."
"Keep everything organized? They wanted it in different banks, to keep it from ever being stolen all at once!"
"Oh, dreadful, isn't it? How was I to know that would happen?"
Filia was enraged. She was penniless…destitute…all the money her parents had left her in their wills was gone. Images of herself and Val living in the streets, begging for money, filled her mind. She suddenly felt as if her whole body had gone cold, and all her breath was lost. She had to sit down, and her grandfather laid a hand on her shoulder. She wanted to punch him, but hadn't the strength to.
"What will I do now?" she whispered.
"There, there," her grandfather said. "I'm sure you'll think of something. Of course…there is one option."
"What's that?" she asked, thinking she knew exactly what he was going to stay.
"I would, of course, be willing to let you come back home. I'd give you all the money you need. I'll even let you bring that devil brat and your two worthless servants. There's no way you can live here on nothing, Filia…you can't pay rent any longer. I'm afraid you really have no choice."
She hesitated, her stomach in knots. Go back? With him? She would rather die…but then Val would be alone. No one would look after her servants, and they needed her. She loved this house…the salty sea air. The inexplicable feeling that she was home now…and would never be at home anywhere else…but all of it came with a price; something she couldn't deny. She could not afford to pay rent. She had so many people to think of aside from herself; how could she refuse? He would never give her anything if she refused to come with him. He was right…she truly had no choice…
"Don't do it, Filia."
A soft voice spoke seemingly out of nowhere, and Filia remembered her other fellow resident. However…he couldn't have said what she thought he said.
"What was that?" she asked. Her grandfather looked confused.
The ghost spoke again. "I said don't do it."
"Does that mean you want me to stay?" she asked, her voice breaking as though she would cry any second. Her grandfather looked very much beside himself.
"Filia, who are you - ?"
"I'm saying I'll help you find a way to stay here, that is all," the ghost replied, and Filia didn't hear a word her grandfather was saying as he yelled frantically at her. Indeed, most of the world was shut out right now as the realization dawned on her that he wanted her to stay…
"But how will you help me?" she asked.
"I'll…think of something. Tell that old buzzard to just…get out."
Filia's smile was as bright as the sun as she turned to face her grandfather. The old man also had never seen such a luminous smile on her face as she said, "I'm sorry, but I've decided to stay. So I must insist that you…get out."
Her grandfather was clearly shocked, and his jaw dropped open in disbelief. It was quite comical, and Filia had to stifle a giggle. Apparently, no one had ever talked to him like that before. It felt extremely good to finally be able to put that old codger in his place. She couldn't stop the surge of euphoria that rushed through her, as potent as wine, and couldn't resist giving him a most insolent smirk.
However, he wasn't finished, either. "You mark my words, Filia. No good can come from this. I'm telling you now…you'll wish you'd never set foot in this house."
And with a sweep of his long coat, her grandfather turned and marched back downstairs, slamming the door behind him.
Filia breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to thank her unexpected benefactor.
He was gone.
She frowned, and put her hands on her hips. "Hmph. Well…I hope you keep your promise," she muttered.
Well, that was a fast update, too! I made myself sit down and write it; quite a rare thing for me. Chapters usually don't turn out all that great when I do that but in all honesty I think this one turned out fine. So, they've got to think of a way to get Filia some money. At the risk of giving some slight spoilers, I had another way planned instead of the movie way, but I think I might do my own version of the movie way. I haven't decided yet. Cheers!