The Middle House: Return to Cold Creek Hollow (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  Cid turned around and closed his eyes. Mia sat back down, watching him while he composed himself.

  He opened his eyes and said, “You both care. You both risk your lives for dead things, I mean souls. Mia’s died a few times. Miss Toh, I imagine you have your own war stories. Why do you do it? Don’t answer me. I know why you do it. It’s because you care about the world, and instead of wasting time debating what’s to be done to save us, you do it.”

  “The kid’s pretty smart,” Tonia said impressed.

  “He’s amazing,” Mia added.

  “He’s standing right here. Stop talking about me like I’m not here. I feel like Murphy.”

  “How does he know what Murphy feels like?” Tonia asked Mia.

  “I think that’s a rather personal question, Tonia,” Mia joked.

  Cid walked over, picked up Mia out of the chair and drew her face level with his. “If you want another cooking lesson, you’ll stop now.”

  “Hello, Cid,” Mia said, trying not to giggle.

  “Put my wife down,” Ted instructed from the doorway. “She’s barely paid for.”

  Cid handed Mia to Ted. Tonia watched as they narrowly avoided injury as Mia kicked her feet. Ted kissed her soundly before he set her safely on the ground.

  “Well that’s telling me off,” Mia said breathlessly. “Do it again.”

  Ted smiled down at his wife and was for a moment lost in her eyes. He turned to their guest and asked, “When did you get here?”

  “Right after the birdman flew away,” she replied and asked, “Friend of yours?”

  “Ours. And more like a colleague,” Mia corrected.

  “Handy guy to have around,” Tonia said.

  “Where’s your partner in chaos?” Ted asked Tonia, putting a protective hand on Mia’s shoulder.

  “She’ll be along soon. She’s doing a little recon, I expect.”

  “Tom called. He said Thaddeus Maynard has purchased the old Renovation Realty building and has set up shop there,” Ted informed them. “Tom and Sheriff Ryan will be over in a few hours.”

  “Do you think your birdman will be back by then?” Tonia asked.

  “I really don’t know,” Ted answered. “Please don’t call him our birdman. His name is Angelo Michaels.”

  “Sorry, there just are so many players here. It’s getting confusing,” Tonia admitted.

  “You’re confused. Just the other day, I was out with my wife cleaning up the yard. Murphy was chopping wood, and Cid was doing Cid things. Along you come and bring with you quite a problem.”

  “I can see why I don’t get invited back,” Tonia realized. “Believe me, I’m a solo player; if I could handle the soul-jumper on my own, I would. But he has returned to a place where a skin-walker has tapped into the autochthonous power here, and frankly, I doubt that any of us, not even your axeman, can deal with this on our own.”

  “But united, we can do most anything,” Mia stated.

  Tonia’s phone made an odd chirping sound. She picked it up, read the text and frowned.

  “Problem?” Mia asked.

  “Lorna needs to build a sweat lodge.”

  “Odd time for a sauna. Aren’t things heating up enough for her?” Cid asked.

  “It’s a spiritual thing,” she explained. She looked at Cid and realized he was joking. “Duh. Anyway, I need to find some particular kinds of wood and find the right area to build it in.”

  “What kind of area?”

  “Old burial ground.”

  “How old?” Mia asked.

  “Couple centuries at least.”

  “We know a place, but there was ATZxe activity there not long ago,” Mia pondered.

  “Martha’s farm,” Ted realized.

  “North of there, not far from where Murphy and I had the final standoff, between there and where Cid got lost in the snow,” she specified. Mia turned to Tonia and explained, “The Illini would attach their dead to the trees and bury their bones after the corruption had finished. It is a place of great power but also a place of great sadness.”

  “Can you point it out to me on a map?” Tonia requested.

  “Come to the office, and I’ll show you all we have on the area,” Ted offered.

  Tonia got up. “Thank you, you’re a lifesaver.”

  “Really? I’ve always imagined myself a Mentos,” Ted said.

  “If Ted was a lifesaver, he’d be Butter Rum,” Mia said, licking her lips.

  “He used to be Wild Cherry until Mia came along,” Cid teased.

  “Listen, if you want to talk about cherries,” Ted growled.

  “Boys, we have a guest and a sweat lodge to build. Tonia, when you find the place, talk to Murphy about the wood. We’ll help you transport the materials,” Mia offered.

  “Thank you, thank you all,” she said sincerely. “For the record, I wish we weren’t meeting under these circumstances.”

  Mia watched Ted leave with Tonia in tow. She turned to Cid and gave him a wicked smile. “So tell me about Sandy.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Once again Angelo found himself a guest of the old ones. He sat with his hands around a beautifully crafted teacup. The warmth of the aromatic brew eased the tension out of his limbs. The old woman knitted while the old men whittled. The need for something solid in their hands was constant. The tangible world was as important as the spiritual one. They spoke in the old language, the one so easily forgotten as mankind mined computer data instead of listening to the spoken word. Angelo was used to their roundabout ways of communication. Stories were told and jokes shared before they acknowledged his problem.

  The eldest of the group of old men spoke, “This time you bring us a puzzle. You would think it was a simple thing. Take the box and destroy it, but in doing so, what have you unleashed? Open the box and use the power within to conquer the entity, but in doing so, you could become something we would have to vanquish.”

  “The dark heart inside was put there to bind the entity. Many hundreds of lives were sacrificed in order to secure it there,” the knitting woman said. “I have sought out the Council of Women, and they caution you to avoid opening the box. You must, however, entrust it to the deer-woman.”

  “Deer-woman?” Angelo questioned. “I know of no deer-woman.”

  “She is there, and she is not there,” the woman said. “When she arrives, you will know what to do. Until then, protect the box with your life.”

  Angelo looked at the men and saw them nod in accord with the sole female of the sages. He got up and set the fragile cup down on the table. “Thank you, I will…”

  “Not yet,” the woman said. “You have pain you are carrying in your heart, Angelo.”

  “My pain is two part, mother,” he replied.

  “Go on.”

  “I regret that I’ve acted rashly and, in doing so, alienated a friend,” he confessed.

  “Did this friend not forgive you?” she asked.

  “Yes, although I think it was a shallow forgiveness.”

  “Who are you to judge the depth of a pardon?” one of the old men asked.

  “Sorry, Father, I spoke without thinking.”

  “And it seems you have been acting without thinking,” the man pointed out. “Is perhaps the mantle of your brotherhood weighing to heavy? Is it time to ease your burden?”

  “No. I would like to continue.”

  “Our advice is for you to give your friend time. If you are truthful in your regret, she will see it and trust you again,” the woman said. “Now you may go.”

  Angelo bowed his head in reverence before he walked out of the building. He dropped his cloak and unfurled his wings. He let the wind of the peaks raise him upwards before he started the long journey back.

  The sound of his beating wings echoed in the chamber. The woman looked up briefly from her handiwork and pronounced, “He’s not being honest with us or himself. This will be his undoing.”

  ~

  Mia took out a sheet of buttermilk bis
cuits and dumped them into the tea-towel-lined basket before she carried it over to the counter where Cid had a poor man’s buffet set up. Grated cheddar cheese sat beside sour cream in their bowls, ready to adorn the meat and bean chili warming in the big pot on the stove.

  Mia set the basket down and looked over at Cid. “I think we’re ready. I hope we have enough. I didn’t expect Tom and Sherriff Ryan to show up today too.”

  “Tom still looks a little green, but Ryan looks well rested,” Cid commented.

  “Tom looks green because Ted told him about the possibility that the undead would try to steal the town’s women and children. He went outside right after.”

  “Maybe he had to puke. That’s why he was green.”

  “No, I think it was to warn is mother,” Mia guessed. “I would, if my mother was residing in Big Bear Lake.”

  “Your mother wouldn’t be in danger, Mia,” Cid teased. “She’d just look down her nose at the ghost and say, “You’ve got to be kidding. I have a deadline!”

  Mia smiled and allowed herself the laugh. Her overly focused parent was quickly becoming an internet sensation with her blogs on humanity and the paranormal. Mia had spent her childhood watching the woman write her archeology papers instead of paying attention to her, and now that Amanda Cooper had found an audience on the internet, Mia doubted she’d hear too much from her.

  Mia stuck her head in the refrigerator. “We’ve got more beer in here than I’ve seen in a while, but then again, we have quite a thirsty crowd. I hope it will be sufficient,” Mia said.

  “It’ll have to be,” he said. “I’ll call the barn and let them know.”

  Burt put down the phone and walked into the barn where the priests were conferring with the just-arrived Angelo. “Gentlemen, dinner is served.”

  Father Alessandro nodded. “We’ll be right over.”

  Burt walked back in and tapped Ted on the shoulder. “Chili is ready. Where’s Tonia?”

  “Outside helping Lorna situate the horse trailer,” he replied, grabbing his jacket and heading out the door.

  Burt followed him, casting an eye over what Ted had understated as a horse trailer. This luxury Living Quarters horse trailer barely made the turn into the drive. Lorna pulled it to the back of the lot and got out. The two women began arguing about the best placement. Burt put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Mia would later be livid when she found out her guests were summoned by a whistle, but Burt doubted he could get their attention otherwise, so he took the chance.

  Tonia looked over at him.

  “Chow’s on,” he called, turned heel and quickly headed for the house.

  Audrey moved carefully between Angelo and Mike. The two men’s physiques left very little passing room in the country kitchen. She mentally counted people, eyeing an empty chair in the corner before heading for it. She counted: two priests, two hunters, two techs, two lead investigators, two cops, one birdman, one chauffeur, one sensitive, and she assumed Murphy was around somewhere. She made fifteen beings in all gathered in the el-shaped living area of the farmhouse.

  “What are you so amused about?” Mia asked, offering her a biscuit.

  “Fifteen grownups in this house, it reminds me of a McCarthy thanksgiving.”

  Mia looked around and smiled as it seemed that everyone was getting along. She had even managed to have a short conversation with Angelo when he walked into the kitchen without retching. “I think we’re all on our best behavior. Greater good comes to mind,” Mia said before walking over and offering the priests another biscuit.

  Audrey watched Mia play hostess, knowing that she’d like nothing more than to chuck everyone out the door and curl up with Ted for a while. Audrey’s gaze briefly lit on Burt, but he wasn’t looking her way. Instead he was engrossed in something Tonia was saying. Lorna looked a little lost as she wove her way towards Audrey, carrying her bowl in one hand and beer bottle in another.

  “There’s an extra chair over here,” Audrey called.

  Lorna looked up and smiled. She settled herself down and began to eat.

  The women ate in companionable silence. For Lorna this was a relief; for Audrey it was a supreme test of her self-discipline.

  When Lorna had finished, Audrey offered to take her bowl to the kitchen for her.

  “I’ll do it in a moment,” Lorna said. “Sit. Let’s get acquainted. You’re the researcher. Do you have another job?”

  “If we are talking day job or what I do to keep from starving, then yes. I have my own renovation advisement company. I check out donated buildings to see if they can be renovated to be used by nonprofits.”

  “I’m a drug rep,” Lorna said quietly.

  “It’s a necessary evil these days,” Audrey said, seeing her discomfort.

  “I’m trying to get some more ecofriendly alternatives into the hands of the medical profession. It enables me to move around the country.”

  “Judging by that LQ you have, it must be profitable.”

  Lorna smiled. “It makes the payments.”

  Ted followed his wife into the kitchen where she was ladling herself a helping of chili into a very large coffee mug.

  “Mrs. Martin, you’re using the company china,” he teased.

  Mia giggled and raised the mug. “Now I will have to admit to Ralph that we are sorely equipped for entertaining.”

  “Shush, it will be our little secret,” he said, leaning against the counter. “It’s kind of nice having all this chaos.”

  “I bet it feels like a Martin get-together.”

  He nodded. “Except we don’t have any snide remarks from my sisters spoiling the party.”

  Mia reached in the refrigerator and pulled out two beers. She handed one to her husband and twisted the cap off of one for her. She took a long pull before speaking. “I admit, I’m not quite as comfortable with the menagerie we have assembled, but as long as the cocks don’t start fighting over the chickens, then all should be well.”

  “I think the priests will behave themselves,” Ted said deadpan.

  Mia almost choked on the beer but managed to swallow it. “You are something else, Mr. Martin.”

  A small whine came from under the kitchen table. Mia ducked her head under and saw Maggie lying with her head on her paws and her tail tucked in. “What’s wrong, honey?” Mia asked.

  “She’s tired of getting her feet or tail trod on,” Cid said, entering the kitchen. “I’m going to take her outside for some breathing room.”

  “Watch her around the trailer. I’d hate for her to frighten the horses,” Mia said.

  Cid, who was frightened of horses, assured Mia that that was the last place they were going to be.

  Murphy moved through the throng, being careful to avoid the priests. He felt Father Santos’s eyes on him but kept on walking. He found Mia in the kitchen talking with Ted.

  “Wish I could offer you a bowl, Murph,” she said and nodded over to the stove.

  Murphy patted his stomach.

  “You’re full? Must have been all the tall tales you’ve been digesting,” Ted said.

  “What?”

  “Tonia’s been telling war stories, and Murphy’s been drinking the Kool-Aid,” Ted explained.

  “She’s just being entertaining. We all embellish. Take you and Cid…”

  Ted raised his hands. “Guilty.”

  Murphy’s bell began tolling outside. Ted and Mia rushed to the front door. Outside, the yard was filled with smoke.

  They could hear Cid calling, “Fire on the hillside,” but had a hard time seeing more than a few feet in front of themselves.

  The others rushed outside. Tonia went to move the horses while Lorna aided the men by attaching more and more lengths of hose together. The smoke billowed out of the woods and rolled along the flat of the housing area.

  Audrey went in search of buckets and brooms to stamp out the fire if it came too close to the house. She managed to reach the front of the office even with the billowing smoke. Coughing, sh
e reached for the door. It was snapped out of her hand. An arm went around her, lifting her off the ground as another hand stuffed something cloying into her mouth. She fought for air, but between the smoke and whatever was soaked into the rag, she lost consciousness.

  Murphy knew a ruse when he saw it. He moved through the wall of the barn and stood guard over the closed lead vault. Soon Angelo was beside him. “You too,” was all Angelo said, before he shed his clothes and moved his wings into a fighting position and waited.

  A roar of machinery echoed through the smoke as Tonia moved the horse trailer down the drive and into the street before parking it upwind from the smoking area. She took off running and reached the line of fire. Cid tossed her a shovel, and they began to dig a trench. Mia and Ted cut back the spring growth of berry bushes. Father Alessandro manned the hose while the younger men used the buckets and brooms to control the fire. Soon they heard the siren of the tanker truck approaching. Tom directed the firefighters through the woods to the blaze.

  It took a few hours of backbreaking work, but the fire was under control. Ryan walked the hillside with the department’s fire investigator.

  “Looks like it was set. See the pour line?” The investigator showed the sheriff.

  “Who would want to do something like this?” Ryan asked but knew the answer. What he didn’t know yet was why?

  Angelo clothed himself and nodded to Murphy as the ghost left to see to his farm. Angelo ruminated over the situation. No one had come in to challenge them. Did they not know the existence of the box or did they sense that it was well guarded?

  Maggie nudged Mia’s hand with her cold nose. The exhausted sensitive looked down into the dog’s eyes. She sensed something wrong and sat down, stripped off her gloves, and held the trembling dog in her arms.

  Maggie sniffed the air and ran towards the scent. “Come back here, Maggie, No!” the Bacon Man called. The scent became overwhelming as she cleared the woods. She barked an alarm to the Bacon Man. He coughed, quickly surveying the hillside before running back down, encouraging Maggie to come with him. She followed him, stopping briefly as she caught another male scent in the air.