Photograghic Memory

Title: Photographic Memory
No Warnings, I think..
Word Count: 3297
Disclaimer: Still just fiction. I don't own the people or the characters. I make no claims about their sexuality or lifestyles. Still no profit being made. Still just my sick mind digging me in deeper.

Chapter 18
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When Eric came around Orli was sitting beside him on the floor stroking his hair and talking to him. Looking very concerned.
"Eric? Wake-up, Eric. Come on, can you hear me? Wake up."

"Orlando?"

"Hey, yeah." A broad grin spread across his face.

"What the fuck just happened?"

"I think you, um.. fainted."

"What?" Eric struggled to sit up. He looked around, thankful to see they were alone. Then he remembered.

"Where's Dom?"

"Viggo took him to put a warm towel on his arm. He will be ok." Orlando felt it might be best not to mention that Jonathan was only playing a practical joke. He just liked to mess with people. 'I just know Jonathan was the one that groped me in the shower.' He was still a little miffed about that.

"Orli," Eric put a hand on Orlando's shoulder. As he did, images from the movie of those shoulders, bare and trembling, gently flushed, slick with sweat, flashed through his mind. Eric drew in a shaking breath and tried to dispel the images.

"Orlando," He tried again. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Eric," Orli sighed, "You can leave whenever you want, but tell me, why on Earth should I want to go?"

"Why on.. Orli, what the hell are you waiting for, blood to start running down the walls?"

"Oh, that only happens on Thursdays."

Eric stared at him.

"I was joking. What happened to your sense of humor? Besides, it's not that bad. You really need to look at it from a different point of view. How many times do you get the opportunity to see a real live, well.. maybe not so live, ghost?"

Again, Eric just stared at him.

"Come on," Orlando stood up and offered him his hand. "Let's go to the dining room, we can get a drink and talk, Eric."

Viggo and Dom were coming down the hall as Orli and Eric emerged from the living room.

"Oh! FUCKING HELL NO!!" Eric yelled and backed up against the wall.

Victoria glanced up from her dust drawings at the foot of the stairs to look at him.

Viggo quickly moved to Eric's side and grabbed one arm. Orlando grabbed the other. Between the two of them they got Eric past Victoria and into the dining room where Viggo forced him into a chair.

"Orli, get him a drink."

Moving swiftly to the bar, he poured a drink and brought it to Eric. Eric grabbed the drink with shaking hands and swallowed it.
Then he handed the glass back to Orlando and motioned for him to fill it again.

"You got this, Babe?"

"Yeah, I'll take care of Eric."

"You sure, cause I need to.."

"Go ahead, Vig, I got this." He smiled innocently toward Eric.

Viggo just smirked and nodded.

"Ok then, I'll just.." He motioned to the door over his shoulder with his thumb. Viggo paused; he pulled Orlando to him and kissed him hard, "Be careful." He whispered before turning and heading in the direction he had indicated.

When he walked into the hall Dom was squatting behind Victoria watching her draw in the dust.

"Viggo," he looked up, "You should maybe take a look at this."

Viggo knelt down beside Dom to look. He had never bothered to ask about what she drew. From what he had seen it was just doodles and the dust always blew away when she walked off.

"What are you drawing, Victoria?" He was using that type of indulgent tone one uses when talking to children.

"You never asked me before." She responded with that chilling echo of a voice.

"I'm asking, now." Viggo said patiently.

There was a straight line with a stick figure under it laying on its side. She was adding a tree above the line.

"That's me." She pointed at the stick figure. "I was still alive when he buried me there."

"Fuck.. Oops." Dom covered his mouth with his hand realizing what he said.

"I was so scared, I couldn't breath." She continued. "Then Jonathan and Peter reached right down and picked me up. The bad man was crying and throwing dirt in the hole. He didn't even see us."

"Who was the bad man, Darling?" Viggo felt an urge to reach out and hold her, but he knew it was pointless.

Dom did reach out to stroke her back and quickly jerked his hand back. All he felt was cold and his hand just moved through her.

"I used to come up here alot, you know. Jonathan and Peter were my friends." She lowered her voice slightly; "I saw them die. The bad man was going to shoot Peter, but Jonathan got in the way. Then he shot Peter."

They watched as she drew two more stick figures with their arms around each other.

"I heard the shots and came running. The bad man shot me when I came in the door. He didn't know I wasn't dead. He buried me in the clearing in the woods," she paused and looked at Viggo, "He said he was sorry. He said I should have stayed home with momma, I miss momma." She drew a picture of a stick figure with a dress and another smaller version side by side.

"Did he bury Jonathan and Peter too?" Dom asked.

"No, just me. He couldn't just leave me laying there."

"Why not?" Viggo gently urged her on.

"Because, Silly, he loved me, he was my daddy."

"Uh.. So you guys were the first, um, ghosts then." Viggo continued prompting her.

"Yes." She looked down and sadly shook her head.

"Is that why you three are different from the rest?" Viggo asked.

"Yes, we died because of love. The others are mindless apparitions that died in sorrow. Their sorrow over whelms them, they can't think, they only know their sorrow." She ran her hand through the dust, erasing the pictures.

"I'm going to find Jonathan and Peter. Today is special, we always spend it together." She stood up and looked at Viggo. You can fix this, can't you? I really miss my momma. It's been so long."

Viggo gazed at the ageless child, "I will do my best."

Then she turned to look at Dom, "You will help?"

"I'll do whatever I can."

"Good. He will need his friends in order to free us." With that Victoria walked off, fading out as she passed through the wall leading to the living room.

Viggo and Dom watched her go. Dominic stood up, with his hands on his waist he looked down at Viggo. "Well Viggo, now what?"

Viggo stood up, looking in the direction she had disappeared to. "First, there is something I need to find in the attic." Viggo started up the steps then turned to look back at Dominic. "You coming?"

"The attic, huh? Sooo.. what do we have up there, a bunch of dead flies and a floating pig? Oh wait, I know.." He started up the stairs behind Viggo. "A lunatic with a chain saw. Sound familiar Vig? How about Satan himself, huh? You have been in enough horror movies and I have seen enough horror movies, between the two of us we should know this... You don't go into attics or basements on Halloween Viggo. That is just asking for it. Are you even listening?" Dom continued to follow him to the top.

Viggo pulled the rope that let down the ladder. "Grab a flashlight, should be in the closet." Viggo started up.

Dom opened the closet and picked up the flashlight. "If I said I couldn't find one does that mean no attic?"

"Get up here." Was Viggo's response from above.

Dom slowly climbed the ladder. When he reached the top Viggo grabbed him under the arms and jerked him up.

"Goddammit Viggo! You scared the fuck out of me!"

Viggo chuckled, "It's just an attic, Dom. Hmmm, did I mention the last family had a child that suffocated in a trunk up here?"

"You are joking, right?"

"Nope. During the funeral for their first kid. Last one fell down the steps." Viggo was rummaging through a box.

Dom took a look around. Typical attic cluttered with old furniture, chests, and boxes. "Viggo?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you know that fact when you bought this house?"

"Yeah."

"And you bought it anyway?"

"Yup."

"Why?" Dom wandered over to the window and peeped out. He could see nothing but the pitch-blackness that enveloped the world.

"I liked the graveyard." Viggo moved to another box and began searching through it.

"Uh-huh. That is so you. What are you looking for anyway?"

"You wouldn't know it if you saw it."

"Sooo, what am I doing here?"

"Holding the flashlight."

"You have a light up here."

"Then you have an easy job, huh?" He stopped to look at the paper in his hand. "Found it!"

"What?"

"I told you I scanned all of the stuff I found up here.. Well, these are the copies." He motioned to the boxes. "These." Holding up the papers in his hand, "Are the ledger entries that mentioned the first owners."

Dom moved around so he could read over Viggo's shoulder. After reading briefly over the papers, they turned to look at each other.

"Well, that's odd." Dominic commented.

"No shit. There is no mention of a child, missing or dead. In fact, it says they were found in bed together, in the spring after a particularly bad winter. No signs of foul play, ruled natural causes."

"Rather simplified, but that's about what happened." Peter was sitting on a trunk under the window. Jonathan was beside him with his head resting on Peter's shoulder.

"You weren't there a minute ago." Dom apparently felt the need to state the obvious.

"Well, duh. Ghost here." Jonathan smirked at him.

"Duh?" Peter looked at him.

"It's something I heard one of them in the.." He paused as if thinking, "Don't tell me, I got it. One of them in the room with the.. Wait a minute, tee-bee, I think that's what it is called. One of them in the tee-bee room said it. Elijah, I think his name was."

"I told you to stay away from them. Did they see you? Have you been messing with them again?"

"Tee-bee, do you mean TV?" Dom asked.

"That's what I said, tee-bee." Jonathan replied, ignoring Peter.

"TV."

"Yeah, tee-bee."

"No, tee-vee." Dom corrected him.

"Tee-vee?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. The tee-vee room. Elijah said it. Elijah? Is that right?"

"Short guy with really blue eyes?" Dom asked.

"Yes, with the pretty blue eyes." Jonathan smiled and nodded.

"Did they see you?" Peter asked again.

"Naw, they were too busy watching Orlando and Viggo on tee-vee. It's neat the way that works."

"Neat?"

"Yeah, I heard.."

"Never mind, Jon, just stay away from them." Peter ruffled his hair then dropped his arm back to Jonathan's shoulder. He turned his attention to Viggo, "Have you decided what you are going to do?"

Viggo looked at the papers in his hand, "How did you two die? Victoria said.."

Peter cut him off, "That's the problem with mortals.. They see a child, especially a young, sweet looking, little girl apparently in need, and they automatically sympathize and trust her. What fools. Don't you know a demon can take any form it wants? You need to be careful who you trust."

"How did you two die?" Viggo really wanted an answer to this.

"I got sick." Jonathan said, he snuggled closer to Peter and stared at the floor.

Peter wrapped his other arm around him and pulled him into his lap. "Jonathan got very sick, very fast." He was looking at the young man who had curled himself into a ball in his lap. "I couldn't take him out in the cold.. I couldn't leave him.."

"I died with Peter holding me, then Peter got sick. I waited for him to die so we could be together."

Viggo watched as they held each other, knowing he would have done the same thing.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Peter asked without taking his eyes off Jonathan.

"What's so special about today?" Viggo asked, remembering what Victoria had said.

"Halloween, Hallow E'en, sometimes called All Hallow's Eve or All Hallows. It is Samhain. Or, as some call it Spirit Night. Some celebrate it as a festival of the dead. A night of great power when the veil that separates your world from our world is at its thinnest. The dead can communicate with the living if they choose to, heh. It is a night for celebrating the dead and divining the future, which is sort of like everyday around here. You are going to have a Hallow-fire aren't you?"

"A Hallow fire?"

"Yes, like a bon fire, it purifies the soil and drives out evil spirits. There is a little more to it than that, but I know you know what I'm talking about... Viggo." Peter gave him a piercing glare.


"Yeah. Look, I need too check on Orli." Listening to them talk about their deaths and seeing them together really made him need to know Orlando was ok.

"I can do that." Jonathan replied and before anyone could say anything he was gone. He was back within a few minutes looking like he hadn't even moved. "He's talking to Viggo's friend, Eric. I think Viggo's friend, Eric is curious." Jonathan giggled.

"Curious about what?" Dom asked.

"You know." He grinned as he played with Peter's nipple through his shirt.

Peter smiled at him; "Do you mean sex?"

"Yeah, what else?" Jonathan rolled his eyes.

If asked about this later, as impossible as it sounds, Dom would have to swear the ghost blushed. A faint red tint lit up his cheeks as he sat there squirming on Peter's lap.

"Eric is married, with children, I think he has sex figured out." Viggo answered them both.

"Not that kind of sex." Jonathan smiled shyly.

"Do you mean sex between guys? Orli was going to talk to him about it."

"He has never done that before?" Peter looked concerned.

"I really don't think so, why?"

"He may not be totally a virgin, but he is virginal.. in that area. Is that what you are saying? Because of the under lying fear that always accompanies loss of virginity there is alot of energy." Peter looked hard at Viggo. "You will need energy."

"I know, Peter."

"And a Hallow fire.."

"Yes, but this is California, I'll probably get fined for it. There are all sorts of fire laws here. Don't be surprised if a fire truck shows up."

"You don't have to worry about that, Viggo." Peter informed him, "Nobody in the surrounding area ever knows what goes on up here. There will be no reports of fire.. or anything."

They sat there in silence for several minutes before Dom couldn't take it any more.

"Maybe we should go back downstairs." All of a sudden he had the over powering need to make sure Elijah was ok too.

Apparently being a ghost provided insight. "Are you worried about your special friend, Dominic?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah. Elijah." He glanced quickly to Viggo and back to Jonathan.

"When I checked dude, he was chillin." Jonathan giggled.

Peter moaned and shook his head. Viggo laughed. It took Dom a few seconds to realize just how wrong it was for Jonathan to say that.

"Looks like I need to keep you busy so you won't spend so much time around them." Peter smiled at him. Jonathan was grinning and sliding his hands under Peter's shirt when they vanished.

"Well," Dom said, "That's convenient. Do you think ghosts.."

"Don't say it Dom. Let's just go downstairs and make sure everyone is where they should be."

Viggo waited for Dom to start down the ladder before he turned off the light and followed him.

"Viggo," When they had both reached the bottom, "What about Victoria?"

"I have no idea Dom. I really don't know what to think. I tend to lean toward Peter's advice."
Viggo checked his watch.
"It's a little after nine, guess we should look into getting that Hallow fire started. First we have to extinguish all the fires in the house. They are suppose to be lit from the Hallow fire. Brings good luck or something. Then I have some pictures I'm sure you guys want. You can burn them in the fire or keep them; some of them are really good. And Dom," Viggo paused to look at him, "I have some special ones for you."

"I thought you might. We spent alot of time together then. I hear you even had cameras hidden in the bedroom."

"Who said that? Was it Bean?"

"Yeah, he said he searched your house in New Zealand looking for those pictures."

"Oh. Yeah. New Zealand.. It made Orlando more relaxed if he didn't see the camera. He's used to it now."

"You don't have any here do you, Vig?" Dom said with a nervous chuckle.

"What do you take me for, Dom? I'm trying to set everything right here."

"Really? Then why the, um, special drinks?"

They had reached the top of the stairs. Viggo turned, placing one hand on Dom's shoulder. "Listen," He looked around and lowered his voice. "Sex, Dom. It generates a lot of energy. It was sometimes used in pagan rituals to create the energy needed to help certain spells work. I need that energy." He then paused to try to gauge Dom's reaction to this.

"What, exactly, are you planning on putting in those drinks?"

"Oh, I have a variety of things at my disposal. The point is to have everyone in their rooms fucking by.. Let see, sunset was 5:01, sunrise tomorrow is 6:13, actual midnight is.. 11:37. Shit. Not much time. I only have a little over two hours. Let's go see what kind of mood everyone is in so I can determine what I need to give them to get them going in the right direction. After that, we'll put out the fireplaces and get the bon, uh, Hallow fire started. Then I'll give you guys your pictures and we'll head back in." Viggo thought for a minute, "We'll take everybody's stuff upstairs then, figure out sleeping arrangements. At least I will have everyone in the bedrooms and it will be a start in the right direction."

"I still don't understand how this is going to solve your ghost problem."

"There were a lot of bad things done on this land, Dom. I need to purify the soil. This should drive out the evil."

"You didn't get this information from Victoria did you?"

"No, I have actually looked this stuff up on the internet." Viggo offered him a brief smile at that. "It really bothers me what Peter said about her. I have trusted her. Which brings me to another problem. I have trespassers."

"What?"

"Yeah, the cameras showed some people out in the woods, but they disappeared and Victoria didn't seem to be aware of them. She would have mentioned them."

"Maybe they were ghosts?" Dom suggested.

"No, the security cameras don't pick up ghosts. They are the wrong kind of cameras for that. They were heading for the cemetery where as it just so happens, we are having our Hallow fire."

"In the graveyard, on Halloween.. Uh, good luck with that. You won't be needing me there, right?"

"Especially you, Dom." With that he started down the stairs.

"Why me?"

"Because, you, Orlando and I are the only ones that know what is going on and I may need help. In fact, Orli doesn't even know as much as you do at this point."


~Continued~