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fight him!" She shouted.
"Let him go!" She screamed and with all her strength managed to push
him off, Magnus landed on the floor with a thump.
      It took him a minute to realize what was going on.
"Oh my god Ava, did I hurt you?" He reached out to touch her but
recoiled.
    " Magnus, I'm alright, it’s alright," she said and
gathered him in her arms. "I know that wasn’t you. That thing, whatever it
is took control of you, and we’ve got to figure out who it is and get them the
hell out of this house."  The two sat like that on the floor, holding
each other for a very long while.
      "You know Magnus, you really should have
mentioned this whole ghost possession, haunted thing in your job
description," she teased. It was noon time and the two had gone outside
for some much needed fresh air. While they walked around the property, Ava
couldn’t stop thinking about how despite everything that was going on, even
though it was only her second day there, she had felt such a strong attraction
to Magnus and why did the conversations between them flow so damn easy?
    She had
known Gavin for a lot longer than she’d known Magn us
and yet with Gavin, sometimes it was like pulling teeth to get him to talk, or
even listen for that matter. Except when they were making love, when he made
love to her it was as if they were the only two people alive. Maybe that’s
just how I wanted it to be , she
thought to herself. But maybe Gavin was simply telling me what he thought
I wanted to hear.
    She felt
so much closer to Magnus than she’d ever felt to any other man. But it wasn’t
just a physical thing, it was an intellectual thing and she felt strangely
vulnerable because of it.
    While she
listened to Magnus talk, her conscience broke in. What does your intuition tell you Ava? Do
you think this guy is for real or some nut job trying to pull a fast one on
you? After all, he did try to attack you on your bed, her conscience reminded her. And he was also
able to fight it. Besides, I know that wasn’t him, she silently replied back. She had been so wrapped up
in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed that Magnus had walked up ahead and now
stood frozen as he stared at the appearance of the front of the house.
    The
pillars that were crumbling yesterday had now become anew, the layers of
peeling paint had somehow smoothed themselves out, and although the grass was
still tall and dead; wild flowers had seemingly sprouted and bloomed overnight.
The step that had caused Ava to trip looked as if it had never been damaged.
Magnus turned and looked at her. "Ava, this house is glad you’re
here," he said. "There’s no other explanation."
    Giv en what they’d both been through in the last twenty
four hours, Ava quietly agreed. "Now all we have to do is figure out what
all of it means," she said as she touched the smooth spot where the step
had been broken.
    "We’ll
talk about it over some lunch, grab your purse, I'm taking you out. The both of
us could use some time away from this place," he said.

 
    Chapter
Seven

 
    From the
outside, Sam’s Seafood Shack looked as if it hadn’t seen a customer in days,
the parking lot in front of the small restaurant was empty.
    Ava gave
Magnus a hesitant look. "Trust me Ava, it may
look like nothing on the outside but the food is amazing," he said and led
her inside.  The tiny place may have looked like a shack on the outside
but once they walked in, wonderful smells instigated their senses to come
alive. Ava smiled when she heard the lively sound of the blues coming from an
old jukebox in the corner. Nothing about the place looked modern and she liked
that, she liked the feeling of stepping back in time. She liked it even better
as she was sure there would be no ghostly apparitions offering her a menu or
pouring her drink.
    "So
what do you think?" Magnus asked. He’d hoped that she would like the
place. He remembered the first time he’d taken Jeanette there and needless to
say, she never wanted to