Echoes in the Bayou (17 page)

"
Mister Magnus, we needs 'dem for 'da séance. The more
folks we's got the better chance we's got to call upon 'dem We's got to let's
'dem see that Will still here and he aint goin nowhere's 'til he wit Celeste.
Will and Celeste got to fight Miss Amelia and Mister DuPonte, that the only
way. Gots to send dem backs to through 'da veil, back to da underworld where
they belongs."

Ava was
sitting up now and all of her attention was focused on Sinta. "Sinta, how
do we know that Amelia is still here as well? I mean, she's never manifested
herself so how can we be sure?"

"Oh
Miss Amelia is here alright Miss Ava. She 'da reason
Mister DuPonte come after you so hard. She gots a strong hold oer'
Mister DuPonte too, 'cept Mister DuPonte like it. He like being under her
control cuz it all a part of destroying you Miss Ava."

"Okay
Sinta, how are we going to convince the love birds over there to participate
huh? They aren’t exactly interested in what's going on," she questioned
the old woman.

"Now
you's just leaves 'dat to me Mister Magnus, Miss Ava.
You gon' on upstairs and get yourself cleaned up and by the time you come back
down 'dem two be ready and willing to participate, no off you go."

While she
went upstairs, Sinta and Magnus made their way over to the couple and by the
time Ava had returned mud free but still a bit sore, only Gavin had agreed to
partake in the séance. "Of course I'll help Ava, you know how much I love
this kind of stuff," Gavin  spoke out. Melanie just looked at him and
rolled her eyes, she was to have no part in it. He was cheerful, a little too
cheerful and Ava wanted to know why.

"Magnus
here invited us to stay the night," he said and patted him on the
shoulder.

Ava
swiftly turned tow
ards the two of them.
"Magnus, Sinta can I see the two of you in the kitchen please?" She
requested.

Ava kept
her voice lowered and asked the two of them if they had succumbed to some kind
of mind control. "What the hell would possess you to ask them to
stay?" Ava argued
.

"If
you hav
en’t noticed, the road out is flooded
Ava, and we need them for the séance tonight," Magnus replied.

Ava
crossed her arms and pouted, she looked like a kid who'd just been told they
can't go out to play.  Magnus fought hard not to smile, he loved the way
her lips curved into that luscious pout. "Well I don’t want them staying
anywhere on the second floor, and keep them away from me," she insisted
and started to walk away. Magnus stopped her. "Ava, it's only for the
night. Once the rain subsides the road will be passable. And you needn’t worry
about them staying on the second floor, I've put them in the guest bedroom down
here," he said and still held onto her.

"Good
because after this séance, I want to do nothing but sleep," she said and
rested her head on his shoulder.

"You
and me both
," he rubbed the small of her
back. Ava had to admit, she couldn’t wait for things to get back to normal.
Hell, she didn’t even know what normal was.  The first day that she
arrived at the plantation something supernatural happened, and it more than
took her by surprise. She wondered what life with Magnus was like without the
haunted plantation and the presence of ghosts.

He must
have known what she was thinking for he smiled at her
and told her that soon, he hoped that it would all be over.

It was
the perfect day for a séance, it was still raining and the storm clouds hovered
over the plantation in long stretches.

"It
too early for 'da séance Miss Ava, you and
Mister Magnus need some rest first. After dinner we's have the séance, gots to
be good and dark for 'da séance," she convinced the two.

"You
don’t have to tell me twice," Ava said and took hold of Magnus as the two
headed up the stairs
.

"Where
the hell are you two going?" Gav
in shouted
out. "I thought we were going to have a séance?"

"Sinta,
would you please explain to our guests what you just explained to us?"
Magnus asked as the two continued walking up the stairs hand in hand
.

Chapter
Thirteen

"Get
some sleep Ava," Magnus said and kissed her gently on the lips. The warmth
from his kiss reached deep inside of her and she basked in its afterglow. When
she didn’t pull away, he kissed her again, this time with more passion.
"Come inside," she breathlessly said the words as she led him through
the doorway making sure to lock the door behind her.

They
stood for a moment in front of the bed holding each other close; the rain fell
steady now and poured down the windows like tears falling from the sky. With
each boom of thunder, her heart raced as he kissed her lips once again.
"Ava, what are we doing?" He asked, his hands softly caressed the
side of her face down to her neck. She leaned her head back and relished in the
pleasure. She wanted to feel his lips on her, and the soft kisses he was
delivering to her neck sent chills up and down her spine.

"Hmmm?"
Was all that she could manage as she guided his hands underneath the tank that
she was wearing.  His tongue grew wild inside her mouth and then to her
surprise he pulled away. His eyes had that familiar glow to them and for a
moment she wasn’t sure if it was Magnus or Will.

"Ava,
lie down on the bed," he commanded.
The
tone of his voice was unmistakable, it was Magnus.

She did
as she was told and when she was lying down, he slowly removed his shirt. He
was still wearing
his tuxedo shirt and he stared
at her while he unbuttoned each button. It was torture watching him slowly and
seductively bare his chest.  She wanted to cover his body with soft, wet
kisses, run her tongue up and down the nape of his neck.

 
When she reached out to touch him, he held her by the
wrists. "Tell me what you want Ava," he said enticing her with his
eyes.

"I
want you," she moane
d and watched as he
pulled her shorts off and tossed them across the room.

Her body
shuddered with anticipation as his fingers slowly caressed the outli
ne of her lace panties.  "No Ava keep your
eyes open," he said. "I want you to watch me."

Ava did
as she was told and fough
t the impulse to close
her eyes. She moaned as she felt a lone finger gently push away the lace fabric
of her panties.

 
 For Magnus the pleasure was all his; he marveled
at how responsive her body had become. The moment he touched her he could feel
the sexual current start to flow between them.

Ava
opened herself to him as he tortuously began to slip off her panties. She
arched her back and
let her head rollback
against the pillows, the desire was enough to drive her mad. "Ava keep
your eyes on me." He stopped what he was doing for a moment and kissed
her. His tongue lingered and played with her own as he ran his fingers between
her thighs.

A loud
bang and the sound of shattering glass brought them out of their lustful
encounter. At first, Magnus choose to ignore the sounds but when they heard the
blood curdling screams that seemed to be coming just above them, he struggled
into his clothes and rushed out the door. It didn’t take her long to get
dressed but by the time Ava had found the group of them in the attic, it had
been surmised that the screams were not from Melanie nor had they come from
Sinta.

 
"What the hell is going on?" She asked and
gently pushed past Melanie and stepped further into the room.
"Careful," Magnus said to her. "There's glass everywhere,"
he said looking at her bare feet.

One of
the attic windows had been broken from the inside out. "Who was
screaming?" Ava curiously looked at Sinta an
d
Melanie.

"It
wasn’t me or Miss Melanie, Miss Ava," Sinta said. The look she gave Ava
said it all.  Ava knew that the demonic screams had been from that of
Amelia Montieu. "But why?" Ava asked. "Why now?"

Sinta
pulled Ava aside. "My guess is 'dat she don’t
like seeing you's and Mister Magnus together."

It took
her only a second to realize that Sinta was right,
 not
only was Amelia angry at the fact that she was with Magnus, but she'd been with
him in her son Will's old bedroom.

"What
have I stirred up?" Ava shook her head in disbelief.

"Come
on Miss Ava, let's get some food in y'all and then we's start the séance, we
figure it all outs tonight.
"

Ava and Magnus
were about to leave the attic whe
n he held her
back. "I'm sorry about all this," he said. "I'd like to finish
what I started though," he said with a sexy grin. "Maybe later
on?"

"Oh
I fully intend to hold you to that," she winked at him before she made her
way out of the large room.
While he was putting
away the broom a cold chill brushed by the back of his neck, and he hastily
made his way towards the door. Just as he was about to shut and lock it, out of
the corner of his eye he thought he caught a glimpse of a man and woman
standing together. After a second look, they were gone.

"So
Ava, please tell us just what it is exactly that you've been up to during your
stay here at Montieu Plantation," Gavin smirked while looking at both she
and Magnus.

"Forgive
me for saying th
is, but it doesn't look like
you've gotten much accomplished. I mean from what I saw on the way in, the
front lawn could use some landscaping. Come to think of it, so could the rest
of the property," he said in a business like tone.

 
Now he directed his attention towards Magnus.
"Now don’t get me wrong Mister DuPonte I mean you’ve got a nice piece of
property here and you'd do well to take care of it. I know you’re a busy man
which is why I sent Ava to you."

"Yes,
but what ex
actly has Ava done?" Melanie
butted in. "You have a degree in interior design Ava but besides the
sitting room, I don’t see your supposed expertise anywhere."

Ava
  almost reached her boiling point, if there was
anything about Melanie that still rang true, it was her extreme derision. Ava
knew that whenever Melanie was derisive and just downright nasty, it was
because she was jealous and upset.
It's no longer fun now that the one you stole is
beginning to ignore you, is it bitch?
She thought to herself.
Serves you right, you sanctimonious slut.

"Actually
Melanie, I've managed to get a lot accomplished here at the house and it will
take a lot more time to get things the way that I want them to be. Please keep
in mind that I'm not like you, I appreciate the historical value in things. I
mean just think about it, this plantation has a history, it's walls hold
stories, some that we can imagine and a lot that we can't. I wouldn’t want to
just tear down a part of history, I mean I'm not the type to intentionally ruin
anything, that's not me, never has been and never will and besides," she
said swallowing a spoonful of gumbo. "If anyone has anything to say about
my work or my progress, it would be Magnus so stop trying to interfere in
things that you know nothing about," she said with an icy glare.

"And
I am more than satisfied with Miss Montgomery's work. She couldn’t have come
here at a better time," he said with a smile.

"I
bet you are quite satisfied" Gavin replied with a leer
.

Magnus
had had enough. "If
you wouldn’t mind Gavin
I'd like a word with you after dinner," he said and continued eating his
meal.

The rain
had let up a bit but the wind continued blowing strong and while Ava and Sinta
cleared away the
dishes, Magnus took Gavin
outside to the front porch.  He needed to set him straight.

"Looks
like the storm is letting up," he said casually.

"Yes
it does, but I didn’t bring you out here for that Gavin.
"

"What
did you bring me out here for?" Gavin asked with a smug look on his face.
He k
new perfectly well what Magnus was going to
say to him even though he wasn’t prepared to hear it.

The
thought of someone else wanting to be with Ava made his blood boil. He knew she
had done
nothing wrong when they were in the
relationship but he cheated on her anyway. It wasn’t because she was lacking in
the bedroom department either, it was simply because he'd gotten tired of being
in a relationship. He wanted something new, something exciting and instead of
breaking things off with her he decided to have an affair, and it wasn’t his
fault that the woman he choose just happened to be her best friend Melanie.