T for language in this chapter.
The winds picked up the closer the beach got. "Have you made any college or university plans yet?" Clara asked.
Seth shook his head. "I'm thinking of travel or maybe drafting myself off to war."
Clara giggled. "I can't imagine you fighting in the war. You may play tough well, but you're not."
Seth stopped in his tracks and Clara felt the embarrassment of how those words came out of her mouth.
Seth tisked at her comment and began walking alongside his friend again. "I don't know, I think I could be strong enough. Maybe one day I could prove you wrong."
"I never said anything about you not being strong." Clara winced. "I'm sorry. It's not what I meant at all."
A minute of silence had passed by before Clara continued. "I've seen the way you are about not wanting to hunt animals with your father. Do you really think you could kill an actual human being on a battlefield?"
Seth didn't answer Clara back. He only glanced at her and turned his attention back on the street laid in front of them. They climbed over a fence together and walked a few paces to clumped rocks and stones. They sat underneath an aging beech tree with a few initials carved into it. Seth and Clara's initials were among them as well. "So, what about you?" Seth asked. "What have you decided to do?" He picked up a pebble and tossed it back and forth in his hand. He watched the wind casting all of Clara's loose hairs fly back.
Clara exhaled the mist of ocean spray before answering. "So far I'm still undecided. I can't choose between writer or nursing. Mother says that I should just get married and not worry about school."
Seth flipped the pebble, and it cracked a couple of times as it bounced down the rocks. "Is that why you are courting with Anthony?" He picked up another pebble.
"It's really not like that." There was a prominent chuckle in Clara's voice. "I don't rather fancy him at the moment. It was a decision made to appease my mother."
"However?"
"What?" Confusion crossed Clara's face.
"What does he think about you?" Seth leaned back against the tree locking his eyes with Clara's with fascination.
Clara looked away nervously. "There hasn't been a conversation to explore that yet, Seth. After all, it's only been a couple of weeks."
"Do you believe you could one day?" It was a question that after Seth asked it he began to sense a jumpy pulsated feeling in the pit of his chest.
"One day what?" Clara gazed up at him again.
"Could you possibly love him?"
Clara thought about that long and hard. She found it impossible but thought of the best answer she could gather. "I suppose anything is possible to take place in the future. Thought, I've already explained I don't fancy him. Why do you ask?"
Well, Anthony is an idiot for one, Seth thought.
Seth glanced away and skipped the pebble in his hand down the rocks and made it to the shoreline. "It just comforts me to know if you're happy. You should also know; you can be anyone you want to. Don't let your mother try to convince you otherwise."
Clara could feel her cheeks blushing as she smiled up at him. It meant a lot to hear Seth tell her that. "Maybe you can take a year or so off and see the world."
"You can come with me." Seth encouraged. "You've said it yourself that you're undecided. We can figure ourselves out there together. Just you and I?"
"That sounds lovely Seth, but I don't think my family will allow me. They want me to choose between college or marriage."
They sat there for minutes contemplating. "I'll ask their permission." Seth said finally.
"You don't have to do that."
"Of course I can, I invited you." Seth chuckled.
"They won't say yes. Trust me."
"Then I'll ask them if I can take your hand in marriage."
Clara laughs while she stands up. "Don't be so absurd Seth." Though there was a part of her saying that it wasn't. She loved Seth very much, throughout almost her whole life. Romantically, was a hard call, but not unfeasible. Could he become more than just her best friend?
So many questions took over Clara's head that she clumsily forgot to watch her step. Seth got up in the nick of time to catch her from a nasty fall. "Careful."
Seth led Clara away from the rocks. They made their way to a wooded area and Seth paced his way back to Clara. "Are you Alright?"
"Yes, All thanks to you." Clara didn't let Seth in on her swollen ankle, but she knew it would be fine. "Were you joking, or did you mean what you said back there?" She knew that Seth could be a bit of a shyster when it comes to his sense of humor. He could've said that only to make her laugh.
"When I said I wanted you to come travel the world with me?"
Clara rolled her eyes. "No, what you said before I almost fell. Marriage?"
Seth exhaled. "I wasn't joking if that puts it bluntly." His voice was highly confident. Clara was stunned, and Seth continued. "For the past year I don't I couldn't ever picture being with some other girl but you. That's the truth."
Seth waited for Clara to say something, anything that would validate her feelings. She didn't, all she could do was blankly stare at him. There was no way he couldn't tell her now.
"I want to marry you, one day. It doesn't have to be now, or a year from now, but one day." Seth studied her face some more. "Please, just tell me something Clara?"
Clara couldn't say anything. She gulped and ran into him in a tight embrace. Seth embraced her back and picked her a few inches up from the ground, his arms around her waist. The embrace was calm and peaceful for them both. They could feel each other's hearts race against their chest and that was a good confirmation for Seth.
"I hate to do this, but I have to go. I have piano lessons." Clara whispered as it was hard to unlock herself from the embrace.
"Can I see you tonight?"
Clara loosened out of the hug. She caressed the back of Seth's neck with both hands and kissed his cheek. "You can. Just don't keep me up waiting too long." Their foreheads touched and Clara planted another kiss on his cheek before they unraveled and went their separate ways.
ooOOoo
0oOoOoOo0
The afternoon sun was slowly going down by the time Seth got home. He was very giddy, but the moment his house was in view that's when his world began to crash again. Legends have been passed around that his house was haunted. He would tell everyone who asked that he'd never seen or heard anything of ghosts. He could feel his smile being replaced by a frown. Clara had left his mind and made room for his mother.
Seth opened the front door to go in and inside he could hear a woman giggle and it was just as he expected what he saw next. The maid and his father were cuddled up on a loveseat and he could make out the lip stain she was wearing on his fathers' lips. Seth slammed the door behind him.
The maid sounded a quirky pig squeal of a scream at the slam. "Oh, Heaven's that scared me." She said getting from the couch. "I'll be right back with those lemon cakes Michael."
Seth stared her down until she was out of the room and then at his father. "She's calling you on a first name basis now, Michael?"
"Was That really necessary?" Michael pointed toward the front door. "I got word today that you shoved Anthony?"
"He shoved me, so I hit him back."
The maid came back with the lemon cakes and placed them on the coffee table.
"They look cold." Seth said frigidly. The maid shot him a daunting glare.
"Please Seth, enlighten me as to why you were shoved first?" Michael rose from the couch making his way over to his son.
Seth cackled as he scratched his chin. "That's very amusing coming from you." Seth turns to the maid. "Send up a strawberry ice cream." He made a dash for the stairs.
"Where in the hell do you think you're going?!"
Michael had an intimidating authoritative tone he would use on Seth, but he didn't care. "I don't owe you nothing old man. I'll be in my room; I have an important date tonight."
The paintings hung up on the walls as he was going up the stairs had always irked him. Who were these people anyway? The first thing he did was check on his mother. He lightly opened her door and heard a little cough come from her. "I love you." He said gently and closed the door.
Seth tossed his hat inside his room. He didn't know where it went and took to the dresser to find a cleaner shirt when he heard a noise coming from the dumbwaiter shaft. He took off the shirt he was wearing and threw on a clean white button up with a vest.
Seth opened the dumbwaiter after it was silenced to find nothing. He looked down and then up. Seth could make out a figure at the top and mumbled 'Bitch' to himself. Seth slammed the dumbwaiter, not as hard as he did downstairs a while ago. He left the room to go and try to retrieve the ice cream from the attic. He can't recollect a moment if he'd ever been up there.
The spiral staircase led him up to a half-sized door and a spark of awe crossed his face when he opened it. Usually when Seth thought of attics, he imagined closed spaces of collections bundled up together. This was not that. The book Frankenstein came to mind when he gaped at the room with its high ceiling and a big window in the center. It was clean, too clean for an attic.
On the right corner was another window and a piece of canvas on an easel. It was empty and again, too clean. Seth remembered why he came and that was to find his ice cream. He had already seen what was on the right and as he looked to the left, he found the dumbwaiter.
He made his was over to lift the door open and the next thing he knew everything turned to black.
oOoOoOoOo
0oOOo0
Seth began to regain his consciousness slowly. He couldn't see anything and realized he must not be fully awake. Then, he remembered he needed to be somewhere. Clara.
Suddenly, he found himself standing up without him doing so and he stood outside of Clara's house. She lived in a spacious townhouse just ten minutes away from him. It was strange how Seth thought, how did I get here? He had no memory of leaving his house and walking to Clara's. The last thing he remembered was the attic. His eyes darted to a figure inside the house. It was already night. Clara was wearing her hair down in waves with a long blue dress on. Her smile brightened the room she was in with her parents. She's so beautiful, he thought.
"They won't see you, my boy."
Seth spun around to see an older man; someone he didn't know though looked vaguely familiar.
"Do I know you?" Seth retorted.
"No," The old man replied fast. "But you do live in my house."
"Excuse me?" Seth said defensively. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Otto is the name." Otto tipped his hat.
"I don't care what your name is. You know what? You're a headache, just go away." Seth turned around to knock on the door only there was no knock. Seth's hand had disappeared on the other side. He shivered, don't panic, this is a dream, you're asleep back at the house, is what Seth told himself. He inhaled a large amount of air and faced the creepy stranger again.
"What is this?" Seth asked with his fist up.
"If you will allow me to break this down for you I will." Otto said with impatience.
Seth shrugged. "Alright go ahead."
"The truth is Seth, you're dead. Dead, dead, dead my boy."
It was blunt, sadistic and Seth was able to hear a hint of laughter in Otto's tone.
"I'm not your boy, and I don't find this amusing." Seth kept his fist balled up. He was going to swing it at Otto in any given minute. The door behind Seth opened and Clara had walked through him.
Seth watched her walk away without seeing him. Otto even glanced as she left. "Well, Seth. It doesn't get any more ghostly than that."
Seth had enough of this man's jibber. He pushed Otto out of the way and ran after Clara.
"Clara! Wait!"
No matter how loud he screamed her name Clara would not look back. Seth jumped in front of her. "Wait, please."
Clara halted. She felt a rush of cold air hitting her face, she rubbed the area with her hand and shivered. "Clara, can you see me? If not tell me that you know I'm here." Clara looked ahead and for a second Seth thought she saw him. Clara started to walk again and went through him.
Seth wasn't about to give up until he was thrown down. Seth hit his head on the cobblestone. The pain was like nothing else, and he could hear a crack. It didn't last a long time and he was feeling alright again. Otto had toppled over him. "Are you deaf boy? I said she couldn't see you and she won't hear you either."
Seth yanked Otto's collar and he belted Otto in the eye with his fist. "Get off of me."
Otto stood up covering his eye and helped Seth up. The world was different again. This time Seth found himself at his house near the well. "How'd you do that?"
"Newspaper, read all about it Seth. I'm dead too you little bastard." Otto said still holding onto his eye.
"Wait," Seth thought of something. "I was injured back there and I'm fine. Why aren't you?"
"That was good hit." Otto removed his hand from his eye and Seth could see the swelling heal. "Now I know you've got a lot of questions and I'd be happy to answer them if you would stop making me angry."
Seth nodded. He was now in shivers about everything that took place. What would happen to his family and Clara once they found out he was dead? The maid would celebrate of course. His main thoughts were on Clara.
"How can I make people see me?"
"That my boy, takes a long time and a lot of practice. I can switch it on and off. You shouldn't have gone up in that attic. There are things no mortal should see."
Seth glared at Otto. "Was it you? Did you kill me?"
Otto paced toward Seth and expelled air. "Look at it this way, I did you a tremendous favor. Now you can live forever this way instead of wondering if there really is an afterlife to go to, don't look so sad. I also couldn't have you expose what you'd already seen."
"I don't remember what I did see. I blacked out." Seth felt the need to punch Otto again, but there was no point if he could regenerate again.
"Accept the fact that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did what I had too. Remember kid, you are in my house."
Seth swiftly picks up a stone ready to bash Otto with it. Otto had turned transparent and rushed toward Seth with a growl knocking him over. That was the last he had seen Otto for a while. In the upcoming years Seth had attempted to adjust his new life as a ghost. He lost people over time, the hardest ones were losing his mother and Clara. Clara had moved a month after, Seth wanted to go with her, but his soul wouldn't allow him to leave town. Seth had kept going back to her for that last month upset that he didn't show up that night.
He grew angrier the more time had gone by. He began haunting people getting better at being seen and moving inanimate objects. He especially liked annoying little kids for kicks. He didn't share anything with the other ghosts in the house. He hadn't believed in the headless boy stories that took place in his home until he met him, he was an easy target to torture.
The decades had turned him cold, vengeful, and vile. It was a pattern he didn't see breaking from. But one fortunate day, someone moved in, and it changed his outlook.
To be continued…
AN: Even though this story hasn't gained an audience yet, I am going to continue this in a separate longer story. This was originally set to be a one-shot but it became a two parter. The first idea for this story didn't pan out the way I thought as new ideas came to my attention. I know there are some sub plots that I left unexplained, but I did that on purpose and they will be answered. It'll take a while to update the new story, however if you're interest please let me know and I'll see if I can get it out sooner.
Much love 3
