Walnut Grove House

by Alexie Aaron

  Sally impulsively hugged her. “Thank you for being honest.”

  “Thanks for the hug. I love huggers.” Audrey put her notebook away and stood up. “I think our hour is up. Thank you for the information on Kiki. I’ll get this right to Father Santos.”

  “Let me give you my cell number if you think of anything else,” Sally said. “It’s okay to share it with your priest.”

  Audrey nodded. “Is it okay to come and visit you? Do you think they would let you out for a meal? I just live down the street.”

  “I don’t know what my schedule will be until I have a few more sessions with Dr. Myer. But I would love the opportunity to get to know you better.”

  “Let me know. I’d love to show off my kids, my house, my library, and my husband.”

  “I’d like that too. Thanks for coming.”

  ~

  The other contractors looked at Cid and Jesse open-mouthed.

  Pete shot his hand up.

  “Yes, Pete,” Cid answered.

  “I thought the goal was to avoid these ghouls.”

  “Ghosts, and yes, it is, but we have a unique opportunity to try to steady these ghosts so we can get our work finished. I have a hunch that they would like a few moments of clarity too.”

  “Guys, I was there watching the biggest of the brutes speak with Cid about carving the fireplace surround. He’s related to the Piccirillis.”

  “Are those the guys who carved the Lincoln Memorial?” Wayne asked.

  “Yes. And the lions in front of the New York Public Library,” Faye said, moving into the common room slowly so not to startle Wayne. “Salvatore is a cousin of the father of Giuseppe. He died before Salvatore was hired to work here.”

  “How come they are here?” Gary asked.

  “We aren’t sure if they were killed so August didn’t have to pay them or because of the black magic which holds them here so the negative elemental can’t escape,” Cid said.

  “Well, seems to me, gents, the men didn’t have anyone to appreciate their work who wasn’t related to that monster in the safe,” Carl said. “Let’s give them the opportunity to pass on their tips. Who’s translating?”

  “I speak enough Italian to understand what they are talking about. The two Irish ghosts have used their Latin to understand the men,” Cid said. “They can help if more than one is talking or talking exceedingly fast.”

  “Shall we give it a try?” Jesse said. “Please pick up your tool belts. I’ve added a few things that will get us out of a jam if the natives get restless.”

  Jon watched the men leave the carriage house. “I hope this isn’t a mistake.”

  “I’m not sure why Jesse wanted to do this?” Blue Daniel asked.

  “Faye thinks if we give the beasts a chance to pass on their craft, it will give them dignity. Also, we will have a name for the priest to use.”

  “They’re far beyond that. The best they can get is the bruisers not breaking their bones,” Blue Daniel said.

  “Let them find out for themselves. We could be wrong.”

  “We, who have been stuck here with the animals…”

  “They were existing, like we were, in fear of the pain the pitch ghost gave us as it fed,” Jon said.

  “Let’s agree to disagree,” Blue Daniel said.

  They heard the door open below. They drifted down to watch.

  Cid called out a greeting in Italian and was a bit disappointed that no one responded.

  “Scusami,” a deep voice said from above them.

  The contractors looked up to see a ghost with his hand on the ceiling medallion from where the chandelier hung. “Ho fatto questo.”

  “He said that he made the ceiling medallion,” Cid told the others.

  “My name is Gary, and I would like to know…” Gary went on to ask questions about the artisan’s process and to ask his advice on how to fix a spot in the coffered ceiling in the dining room.

  It took a while, but between Cid, Blue Daniel and Jon, they managed to interpret the conversation between Gary and the artisan Pietro Gallo. They then took a tour of all the ceiling work on the main floor.

  Next, they were greeted by a stonemason. Wayne had a dozen questions and Giacomo Costa, who had a startlingly high voice for such a bruiser, answered them. This went on for hours, each artisan showing their craft. When they had reached the ornate butler’s pantry, Cid was introduced to Domenico Raffaele Fiorentino. Cid pulled out the chisel he picked up from the floor of the basement and handed it to Domenico.

  Domenico put his hand on his chest and bowed his head in shame.

  Cid told him in Italian, “You were made to do bad things. I will not remember you for attacking me but for your beautiful carving.”

  “You are too kind. We need to leave here before we turn into monsters.”

  “Yes. I have a priest working on doing just that. How did you and the other artisans die?”

  “It was cold, and we closed the windows. The furnace was not set up properly, and bad air settled on us while we slept. We died with red faces.”

  “Carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s a gas you can’t see. It must have built up.”

  “The light never came. I think the symbol on the floor in that room, or it’s black magic acolytes, stopped it. God doesn’t enter the devil’s lair. For days we stared down at our bodies. They finally buried us, digging as deep as they could considering the time of the year. They packed the earth hard on top and laid a stone floor over us. Not even a quality floor. Our crypt is shoddy, but yet, we can’t leave. No words were ever said. What did we do to be treated in this way?”

  “I think there is a curse on this house, and as soon as we understand it, we can reverse it. We can’t give you your lives back, but we can free you from this place. I have a holy father who can call for the light. As soon as we finish our renovations and repairs, I can work full time on this problem.”

  “What can we do?”

  Cid thought about telling the man that he had this, but instead he said, “Be a helpful hand if we need it. If we work together, we can do this.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Cid excused himself to get ready for his conference call. He left Jesse in charge of making sure the contractors left before the ghosts lost their calm.

  He had his notes arranged on the tabletop of the banquette table in the trailer. He was using his laptop to see the other participants of the call. He previously arranged for Alan’s secretary, Ms. Wells, to set up the call because he wasn’t sure of his wireless connection. Ms. Wells would also act as moderator. Soon Alan and Kiki, Father Santos and Father Simon, and Audrey were looking at him in the segmented screen.

  “Hello,” Ms. Wells started. “I think we should hear an update from Mr. Garrett concerning Walnut Grove House.”

  “Today, the contractors and I conversed with the Italian artisans who are buried under the floor in the basement directly under the new media room. I have a list of their names that I just sent moments ago to Ms. Wells and Audrey. Please forgive me if there are spelling mistakes. I can converse in Italian; my writing skills are not as good.”

  “I’m surprised you could get more than a guttural grunt out of them,” Kiki said.

  “I think when we took away the fear that they would be devoured by the negative elemental, they became calmer. Their leader Salvatore Piccirilli warned me that they were still dangerous, and he admitted to only being able to hold on to his sanity for short periods.”

  “What did you learn from them?” Father Santos asked.

  “I learned that they died from carbon monoxide poisoning. It was accidental. The coverup wasn’t. They buried them without words said over them. I don’t know what their families were told.”

  “I’ve got their names,” Audrey said. “I’ll see if I can find anything out. Do I have your permission to involve an asset we have in the Italian alps?”

  “Yes,” Cid said and grinned. Audrey was pro
tecting her and his nest by not mentioning Angelo by name. He was sure he caught a glint of approval from Father Santos as well. Cid continued, “I hope that we would be able to continue working during the day.”

  “Why did you have to stop?” Father Simon asked.

  “Previously, the negative entity fed on the ghosts which kept them not docile but with not enough power to connect on this side of the veil. When we trapped and contained the elemental, they were able to recharge and stay very strong because of their remains being so close. Originally, they were contained by salt, but the water seepage from the west foundation wall dissolved the salt. One more thing. They never were able to exist beyond the first floor. Now, they can move without obstruction everywhere except the attic containing the four boxes. Whatever power is generated by those boxes still keeps them out of the attic.”

  “I’ve looked up the boxes,” Father Santos said. “They are very similar to a security system that highborn demons use to keep ghosts out of their house.”

  “But…” Kiki started.

  “I said similar. They could have dual purpose.”

  “We know that two of them contain human organs,” Cid said. “The lungs of Daniel Sullivan and the heart of Jon O’Connor. Daniel mentioned in his memoir that two acolytes disappeared, and Atwater was blood soaked when he returned without them.”

  “Bones would have been taken from one,” Father Simon said. “And the blood from the other. The incantation, basically, would have gone something like this: Take his bone so he can’t stand, take his blood so he’ll stay dead, take his lungs so he can never breath, and take his heart so his soul will never leave. One would assume this is just for the negative elemental, but the practitioner could have adjusted it to include the souls of the dead already in the house.”

  “Who is Miss Gee?” Cid asked.

  “We found a woman’s image in countless pictures when we were researching the Atwater collection at the library,” Alan said. He held up an enhanced photo. “She is wearing this costume in every picture. The fuzziness you see around her is singular to her.”

  “It could be a glamour,” Father Santos said. “Or that she is invisible to all but the camera. The creature could be unaware that she or it can be photographed.”

  “What do you mean by it?” Audrey asked.

  “May I speak for you, Father?” Father Simon asked.

  “Please.”

  “We are almost certain the woman you see is the heritage demon Gadus. Gadus is female, which is very rare, but there are several writings that support the theory. One of them is from a journal. Lucrezia Borgia wrote a few times that she appeared to be helpful, but she was a parasite. We use it when referring to demons,” Father Simon said.

  “So the Miss Gee in Daniel’s story could be Gadus.”

  “It’s our working theory,” Father Simon supplied. “But we’re conflicted because Daniel Sullivan’s story contradicts that the demon is being held hostage.”

  “She’s in love,” Audrey blurted out. “I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out what would stop a demon from collecting the gold he’s due. Or what kind of power could bind a demon to a man without compensation. When you told us you suspected it was a she, then it all made sense. Gadus is in love with Atwater. Love is so powerful that gold matters not. Also, it would explain the purge of any information that would cast shade on the congressman.”

  “Look at this passage of Daniel’s story,” Cid urged, holding up a page of the report he sent them with the passage highlighted:

  The two Atwaters had discarded their clothes and stood facing each other. I could not tell one from the other. The only exception was that one had an evil-looking blade.

  Miss Gee said something in a strange language and then repeated it in English for the benefit of the Atwaters. “There can only be one.”

  The one with the blade circled the other. It wasn’t a fair fight. I suppose, when evil is about, the fight is never fair. The unarmed man fell to the floor.

  “Which Atwater survived? I assumed it was August, but what if Gadus fell in love with Arnold?” Cid asked.

  “It would make sense. Prior to the house being built, we couldn’t find any glowing reports regarding August Atwater,” Kiki said. “Just that he obtained his land by questionable means. He bought all these agricultural businesses cheap because they went bankrupt trying to compete with August. However, Congressman Atwater seemed to work hard to lift up his neighbors, in particular the families August ruined.”

  “Unless I’ve got this wrong,” Cid prefaced, “Arnold Atwater, the grandson, killed his grandfather before he could be sacrificed so August could take his place.”

  “The only one who would have known that was coming, besides August, was Gadus,” Father Santos said. “And if Audrey is right and Gadus had fallen in love with Arnold, then she broke heritage demon code and saved Arnold.”

  “That’s why she never took a soul to Hell,” Father Simon realized.

  “That’s why she never touched her gold,” Cid said. “By doing so, she would be captured and tried for her crimes. The demons take their code very seriously.”

  “Okay, let me see if I’m following this right,” Alan said. “August Atwater, at some time in his young life, made a deal with a heritage demon named Gadus. He had a large family at the time, and it would have looked like a good deal to Gadus. Gadus kept her part of the deal until she met Arnold. She fell in love with Arnold. August became tired of maintaining the glamour of being an old man. So he would have told her to prepare to sacrifice Arnold so he could step into his shoes. Gadus loved Arnold and convinced him there was no other way but to kill his grandfather. Arnold didn’t assassinate him but gave him the same chance he had by the duel with the knife.

  Arnold fatally wounds August, and the demon gives August the opportunity of doing the honorable thing of ceasing to exist or for him to feed upon the soul of Daniel, forever condemning him as a negative elemental. They prepared for this outcome by enchanting the house to hold the spirits on which August would feed, essentially trapping him there. I don’t know if they knew at the time about the workmen who died already or not. If so, it probably would have been wiser to trap him in a building with less fuel.”

  “You’re correct,” Father Simon said. “An elemental can’t possess a living being unless they are very powerful. Having dozens of ghosts who could regenerate quickly would maintain the level of power needed.”

  “Why did Atwater allow Gadus to kill Jon, Daniel and the acolytes? He seemed like an honorable man,” Alan asked.

  “It really was the only way to protect Gadus, whom he loved. If August’s spirit descended into Hell, he would have told the demons there about Gadus’s betrayal,” Cid answered.

  “Again, love came first,” Audrey said. “I was able to trace Daniel’s parents in Ireland. Miss Gee, or Gadus, was true to her word. Daniel’s parents were taken care of. The Sullivans received a monthly stipend from the Atwater Foundation in Daniel’s name until they died. I’m looking into the O’Connors right now. There are a lot of them, otherwise I’d have that information.”

  “Let’s say they were also taken care of. It’s not in the character of a demon to care about such things. Killing humans isn’t really a problem,” Father Santos said.

  “But to Arnold, those men made the ultimate sacrifice, whether it was voluntary or not,” Alan pointed out. “Gadus killed them.”

  “It will still be held against him in the court of Heaven,” Father Santos explained. “All the good deeds in the world can’t balance the taking of an innocent’s life, and it looks like he killed the two acolytes. He’s tainted with all four deaths, unless he asks for forgiveness, but he would have to be truly regretful. And his carrying on with the demon Gadus shows otherwise.”

  “He’s done a lot of good with the power she wielded,” Kiki pointed out. “Politics aside, Congressman Atwater has used his position to help multitudes.”

>   “So why bring the mansion, which has been pretty much abandoned, up to date for Bridgeton?” Cid asked.

  “That’s a good question. Kiki, you’ve met Bridgeton. What kind of feeling did you get from him?”

  “I didn’t like him. He acted like a throwback to the fifties. I was glad that I dealt with the family lawyer and not him. He acted like… like… me.”

  “Kiki, please explain,” Father Santos asked.

  Cid could see the priest was sitting now on the edge of his seat.

  “Alan showed me the video that Cid sent him of me. I didn’t recognize myself, but now it seems as though I, and Bridgeton, was arrogant, dismissive, and paranoid.”

  “It could be that August was possessing Bridgeton first,” Father Simon offered.

  “It would certainly explain the need to not disturb the ghosts and to bring in fresh meat. Sorry, Cid,” Kiki apologized. “It then controlled me to take out any and all threats that would stop my contractors from being killed in the house.”

  “Wait. I’m writing this down and I’ve found a major plot hole,” Audrey said. “Is Arnold planning on taking over Bridgeton?”

  “We don’t know, but it looks like it.”

  “But great-granddaddy has control over him, or did when he was at the house.”

  “Which would give Bridgeton the edge. A negative elemental can give a human a lot of muscle when needed,” Cid said.

  “Arnold has to be made aware of this,” Alan said.

  “I think he is,” Father Santos said. “Who sought out whom, in regard to this renovation?”

  “Calvin Franks called me. We renovated High Court for him and dealt with the volatile ghosts there successfully. He told me that Congressman Atwater had deep pockets and was looking for a reliable company to finish the renovation on his haunted family home. If I was interested, I should give the Atwater Foundation a call. He would give me a reference unless I would be more comfortable using Hal as a reference. I used both.”