Things They Don't See

Eli and I ate our pancakes and looked at each other. I don't think either of us knew what to say. It was our first time actually interacting with each other. Maybe he was afraid that I'd freak out. I was afraid that the maid would barge in and see or Annie would come back too early from her day-long meetings and interviews and a dinner. I mean he is transparent, but is he invisible to everybody but me? "No," he answers my thought. "Oh," I look down at my food again as my face turns crimson with embarrassment flushing through, "Sorry. I didn't mean that."
"What do you mean? That did not hurt me. It is something everybody wonder about me, but I've shown myself to quite a few people, including Amelia. I was kind of a reckless soul before she came here."
He looked down and chuckled a bit. "What do you mean?" I ask.
He looks up again, "Well, the former owner hated us, my family and I. He hated the idea of spirits in the house. He left and never came back. The house went into disrepair before Amelia came and saved it. My sister and I tried our best to get rid of her, but she always came back. One day, we knocked paint on her. She stood in the middle of the room and said, 'This may be your house, but I live her now. I want other people to see the beauty of it. Can't we all just get along?' And that did it. She really cared about us and the house, so that's why she likes us here. We're part of the beauty."

I look down at my maple-syrup-covered plate. "Amelia really saved this place, didn't she?" I ask him and look up. He looks into my eyes and says, "Yes, the good lady did." I get out of my chair and walk to the fridge in the mini kitchenette. I take out two water bottles, one for Eli and one for me. "Here, have a water," I tell him. He looks at it like he's never seen one. "It's a water bottle. Just unscrew the cap," I say. He blushes from what I can see of his transparent face. "How do I do that?" he asks sheepishly. "Here," I grab the bottle and twist the cap off, "that's how you do it." I give it back to him. "Thanks, Abby," he says.

"What else haven't you seen or experienced?" I ask him. I really want to know. I see his ears turn a bright, Rudolph's-nose red. "Well, I, uh, I have not used that metal box with the screen that moves and you can talk or tap your fingers on it-" "A cell phone," I interrupt him. "That's what it's called?" I nod. "I've never had a, uh, a...pizza?"
"Really?!" God, I have to get you some, while I'm here this summer."
"Does it taste good?"
"Are you kidding? It's amazing!"
He laughs at my excitement. "I've never used the flat thing that folds that you guys call a laptop."
"I'm not surprised. Beginners usually have a hard time with it."
"I have never even had my first relationship. I have only been kissed by a girl vying for my attention. She wanted so badly to marry me, but I could not stand her mockery of love. She made love out to be nothing but baby-making. My mother taught me it was more than that even my father too. I figure in your world there is something to stop the baby-making things."
I blush. "Um, yeah. We, uh, we have birth control. Guys can and should wear condoms to protect themselves and the girls their with-"
"Woah, woah, wait. We had condoms when I was alive."
"They're much more reliable now."
"One of the fellow soldiers, Alexander, said he used one when he fucked a prostitute at one of our stops. He said he needed to have sex before he died. He did not want to die without experiencing it."
"Sounds like girls these days. Girls always complain about being virgins, while my virginity was taken from me." I didn't mean to say that in front of him. It's my turn for my face to blush.
"Was he your boyfriend?"
"More like a demanding drama queen, who needed to have everything be about him. He forced me to do it because he thinks that girls are supposed to give it up to their boyfriend."
He frowns at my words. "If I ever did that, my mom would beat me like there was no tomorrow, then my dad would beat me until I was almost dead. We respected our women and protected them."

He gets up from his seat and comes over to stand in front of me. "Stand up," he demands kindly. When I do, he hugs me. I rest my face against his chest as he rests his head atop mine. "I will protect you, Abby. Your ex-boyfriend will never hurt you. He does not deserve you." I can actually feel the warmth emanating from his chest. How can he emanate heat if he's not breathing like me? "Because my soul still exists."