Page 21 of Twisted Fates
I forced a smile on my face. “I do, but it was so grand before. I liked the wood, but this isn’t my home, it’s yours, and the design and craftsmanship is well done.”
I noticed Orville watching me, his face impassive, but I also got the impression he agreed with my assessment. “What did you do with the upstairs?” I asked.
Damian shook his head. “I don’t think I did anything. I haven’t paid much attention to those rooms, and they weren’t in my dreams.”
I thought for a moment, then decided to take the bull by the horns. “Let me ask, will you ever have a lot of guests over?” I asked.
Damian shook his head. “Probably not. Why?”
“What about kids? Do you want a lot of children?”
Damian laughed. “No, not even if I were straight and could make them myself. I’m not one for raising kids.”
I turned to Orville. “Do any of the ghosts, um, other residents, live in those rooms? Or are they mostly empty?”
Orville shrugged. “Most of the residents have established rooms in the basement. Others are distributed around other parts of the structure. No one uses the rooms on the second floor, not even the former wizard himself used them.”
I smiled. “Come with me,” I said as I led the way up the stairs to the second floor. “If you aren’t going to use the second floor for guest rooms or your own family, why don’t you create the modern living space up here? Especially if you’ve got the magic powers to do it.” I said. We walked through the rooms, and I pointed out how he could turn them into a large living room, with a television and sound systems, that he could use without disturbing the historical integrity of the first floor.”
The more I talked, the happier Damian got. “I can see it, and yes, I like that too. It felt strange moving things around. He waved his hands to create it, then froze. “Oops, I forgot, I’m not supposed to use my powers for personal gain.”
“I guess you’ll have to sleep on it,” I said, and Damian chuckled.
“Literally,” he said, and before I knew it, he embraced me and kissed me again.
“Hopefully, I can return the first floor to what it was and then turn this into my living space. Which reminds me, Orville, what’s the room off the kitchen?” Damian asked.
“Aah, it’s a multitude of things, but things you shouldn’t worry about yet. Mr. Ericson didn’t want you to worry about all that until you were settled. Why don’t you and Mr. Lloyd go collect your things? Once you have moved them to the residence, we can help you unpack.”
“Oh, okay,” Damian said, but I could tell he wasn’t quite ready.
“Why don’t we go over to your old place and assess the situation? There’s no hurry to move in yet, is there?” I asked, and Orville’s face showed that, in fact, there might be.
I didn’t acknowledge his expression though. Something more was cooking here, and it wasn’t my place to intervene, but yeah, if I could help smooth the transition, I’d happily do it.
As we drove to Damian’s apartment, I thought again how serendipitous it was that I didn’t have to work this weekend. Then I realized it probably wasn’t a coincidence.
I smiled when I saw Damian’s apartment. It was exactly what I imagined. I could see the rough edges I’d seen in the man I’d only just met but had begun to feel attached to. We walked around, and I couldn’t help but feel how hard it would be to change, to leave, especially when he showed me his dad’s belongings.
When we sat down on the worn furniture in his living room, I took his hand. “Listen, Damian, I’m not magical, but I am perceptive. I’ve always had that skill. I feel you need to transition sooner rather than later, and when we discussed that before, I could tell Orville wanted to say the same. Could you magic this stuff over to your new home?” I asked.
Damian chuckled. “No. I don’t think so. I’m not sure it would be considered my gain to do so. I… When… Well, you know, when I was going to try to change the second floor when you talked about it earlier, I felt an instant need to stop. I think there’s a fail-safe that keeps me from, you know, screwing up and doing magic I’m not supposed to.”
I smiled. “Why don’t you try to move the apartment over to the second floor of your new home? You can change things around once it’s there, and if you’re not supposed to do that with magic, you have a house full of ghosts who seem keen to help.”
Chapter fifteen
Damian
Owen’s calm demeanor wasexactly what I needed. Dad had barely kept the rent paid when I was growing up, and now, with this being in an up-and-coming neighborhood, the landlord had raised the rent three times in the last four years. I would rather not give the leach another penny, but I wasn’t ready to get rid of dad’s or my stuff either.
When Owen was talking about the second floor, I was picturing a fancy living space, but now, I was imagining this, my life, moved into that one. I liked it instantly.
“Can, um, can you hold my hands while I try? I might need moral support. There are a lot of memories between these walls.”
Owen didn’t hesitate but reached over and took my hands. I closed my eyes, and the world began to spin. I’m not sure what I expected, but I wasn’t transferring furniture like we’d planned. Instead, I was spinning through space with Owen.
It was almost exactly like my dreams last night. Both real and a vision all at once. We instantly stood together in front of the house, looking from the front door to the back. It was different from this morning’s transformation, although some of those elements still existed. The biggest difference was that Owen was now as much a part of the place as I was.
