by Alexie Aaron
“I bet the blur is Mia,” Audrey said. “Have you come to rescue us? Well, of course they have. Come on, there are so many stairs…”
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
“That’s his distress call,” Audrey said. “Dear Lord what… Oh sorry, Father.”
Father Santos grabbed Audrey’s hand. “Why don’t I let you accumulate a dozen or so curses before I become offended?”
Mia giggled. The priest was being so kind to Audrey. He must have a soft spot for the Catholic School girl alum. Mia knew she’d get a smack on the backside if she took the Lord’s name in vain in front of Santos.
“Do you hear that?” Audrey said. “I swear I hear a child laughing.”
Murphy looked over at Mia and shook his head.
“Can you hear me?” Mia asked in a normal voice and waited. They didn’t hear her. She shouted, “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?”
“Did you hear that?” Audrey asked.
“Yes. Mia, we aren’t getting anywhere on the stairs. Can you help?” Santos asked, cupping his ear with his hand to hear better.
Mia shouted, “DOWN! GO DOWN!”
“She wants us to go back down. Seems a bit fruitless, but perhaps we missed a landing,” Santos said, standing up. “Come on, Audrey, follow the green light, and let’s go back down the stairs.”
Mia patted Murphy on the back and instructed, “Remember to go slow.”
“Wasn’t born yesterday,” Murphy sniffed.
“My, aren’t we a bit testy today…”
Santos chuckled. “They’re arguing. I can’t tell what they are saying, but they are having words.”
“If they are, then we must not be in as much danger as we thought,” Audrey hoped.
“Audrey, those two could argue as Jericho’s walls were coming down. They are just so…”
“Suited?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Remember, one of them is dead,” Santos cautioned.
“What if you look at it this way? They stand on either side of the veil but can still be friends.”
“You have the most positive mind I’ve ever come across, aside from a few inmates at the mental asylum that is.”
“Thanks a lot, Father,” Audrey said, pouting until she caught on that he was joking. She wasn’t used to the clergy telling jokes, and an exorcist with a sense of humor was almost impossible for her to comprehend.
Mia nudged Murphy and asked, “Do you ever get tired of being talked about like you weren’t here?”
“I’m not here,” he reasoned. “Why should I get mad?”
“Now look who’s playing the Mary Sunshine card,” she teased.
They had come to the bottom of the stairs.
“Which way do we go?” Mia asked.
Murphy turned around, remembering where he thought they came from and went in the opposite direction. “Alice said if you go up, you’ll go down. So if we think we should go left, then we go right.”
“Holy Mother of God, you’re a genius,” Mia said.
“Mouth, watch your mouth,” Murphy warned.
“Santos can’t hear me,” Mia replied smugly.
“She can,” Murphy reminded his friend. “Mary can.”
“Honestly, what did they teach you in Sunday school?” Mia grouched, not happy to be corrected by the farmer.
They walked along the passageway. Mia pointed out the tapestry they hid behind. “We’re on the right track,” she said. She turned around and shouted, “ALMOST THERE!”
~
The scent of wood burning wafted down the hillside and traveled towards the hollow. It was caught up in an early evening breeze. College wrinkled his nose and walked over to where Metal was talking to Squeak. “Do you smell…”
Sirens pierced the air. The spinning and squealing of tires moving on pavement and stone filled the air. College ran to the gate, preparing to open it. They were expecting Thaddeus’s limo. Had he encountered a problem with the police?
Metal ran over and called to Sniper who was craning his neck in the makeshift guard tower they had constructed out of an old deer blind they stole from behind the goat farm. They had put it close to the gate, supporting its long metal legs by fastening them to some of the boulders that were left there by the road crew during the subdividing of the area. “Can you see what’s going on?”
“Just dust. Whoever they’re chasing is eating up a lot of tire tread trying to keep ahead of them,” Sniper answered. “Black limo, two sheriff cars in pursuit.”
College had the connecting chain unlocked and was pulling it through the gate when the limo sped into sight, breaking, trying to make the turn.
“That’s our cue. Come on!” Cid said, running towards the middle house.
Ted was fast on his heels. They were headed towards the back door while Mike and Burt tried to access the building from the front.
Burt slowed his gate, grabbing Mike’s arm. “Wait, I don’t know why, but wait a moment,” he said, drawing the investigator around the corner of the house and stopping.
The door burst open, and an angry woman moved outwards followed by white orbs, Burt assumed were spirits. They followed her down the street. When the parade of lights stopped, Burt nodded to Mike, and they climbed the porch and ran into the open door of the house.
Knowing his boss had deep pockets, Angelo’s driver twisted the wheel hard, causing the long vehicle to flip on its side. He braced himself as the sliding car was heading towards the half open gate of the compound.
College jumped back and dove for cover as the sparking black vehicle slid through the gates, spinning as the rear of the car caught on one of the steel support poles. It stopped moving as it wedged itself in the opening between the busted gates.
Sniper watched in horror when the front of the car burst into flames. He didn’t see the chauffeur drag himself out of the car before the whole car exploded. The force of the explosion weakened the supports on the near side. The blind started to fall towards the burning pyre. Sniper jumped, heedless of the terrain below him. All he knew was that he didn’t want to end up in the fire. And when his shoulder hit the rocks and his collarbone snapped, he considered himself lucky. A wave of considerable pain pushed towards his brain, and he passed out.
Ryan and Tom parked their cars across the road, running towards the burning car to try to save the driver.
Tom heard a groaning in the ditch beside the road. He spied the driver lying there. “Are you alright?”
“Nothing that a trip to my boss’s spa couldn’t cure,” he said smiling. “How’d I do?”
“Scared the shit out of Ryan and me, so I imagine you got their attention.”
“As that little hot blonde says, cool beans,” the driver said and closed his eyes. “Go, get, I’ll be fine,” he said.
Tom rolled up his jacket and put it under the driver’s head. He ran over and called the accident in before joining Ryan inside the gates of Cold Creek Hollow.
Chapter Twenty-two
Lorna quickly constructed her version of a sweat lodge. She had cleared the ground on the hilltop of snail and stone. She wished there had been time to go to the holy place Mia told them about, but this would have to do. She hummed a dissonant tune, layering the herbs between the kindling. As the fire grew, she moved the holy stones into place and waited until they turned red hot.
Angelo watched the hillside, remembering a lone Indian brave that used to haunt the place. He was fleeing from the hag. So many events this land had to witness over the years, from the first blade of grass to a spirit hunter in a modified mountaineering tent preparing to contact one of the most feared entities in the natural world. He heard the first hiss of the water hitting the hot stones and sighed.
~
Tonia carried Mia’s unconscious body to the reclining chair she had dragged from the far side of the barn. Father Alessandro had suggested wrapping Mia in a quilt because the barn was cooling quickly. Tonia made the adjustments before going into the PEEPs office and brewing a pot of strong ho
t coffee. She found some snack foods in the small cupboard and pocketed the healthier versions before she walked back to Alessandro.
“I insist you get up and walk around. Perhaps a nap?”
Alessandro looked at the woman and shook his head. “Why don’t you just say it.”
“Pardon?”
“That I’m an old man and you’re worried about me. Frankness has a quicker route than politeness,” he said, stepping out of the circle.
“I don’t consider you an old man, but if I was confined to sitting on a lead box on a wobbly table resting on cement in a cool building, I’d be worse for wear myself,” she replied, settling herself beside the closed vault on the table. “Add to it, you supported that body for hours. It is small but very dense.”
Alessandro looked over at the still Mia and smiled. “I don’t mind. She is so vulnerable right now. I’ve not seen this view of her before. Mia is a very formidable woman who’s been given extraordinary powers. It’s a great burden to have, isn’t it?”
Tonia looked up at the man who was using his words instead of his mind to communicate. “You have powers of your own.”
“Parlor tricks,” he dismissed.
Tonia laughed. “Humility? I’m not surprised, considering your calling, but I’ll honor your request and be frank. You have more experience than all of us put together. You have seen into the minds of powerful people. Yet, you take no pleasure in it.”
“My pleasure these days comes in the form of an expensive cut of meat served within the confines of an elegant restaurant while having conversations with my friends.”
“Your calling doesn’t give you pleasure?”
“Responsibility seldom does. It’s something I do. I do it well because it’s who I am. Never take on a task without putting your all into it, Tonia. Half measures will leave you drained and susceptible to questioning your existence.”
“Good words.”
Alessandro walked over to the seating area in front of the large television, took in the décor and smiled, realizing he had invaded Stephen Murphy’s space. He picked up one of the rocking chairs and carried it over and set it next to Mia. He sat down and requested, “Tell me, how did you meet Lorna?”
“Why?”
“I’m curious and need to exercise my brain. A good story, filled with embellishments, would help me to stay awake. As you’ve pointed out, it is past my naptime.”
Tonia laughed with the priest. She enjoyed the soft rumble of his laughter.
“I was sent to save her by the council. All I knew was that a young woman was in trouble. I had no idea who or what she was. I, like you, don’t take my responsibilities lightly. I followed her trail to a casino. Where it is, isn’t important. What is important is she had, in her search for her ancestors, fallen in with a bad group. The people she chose to spend time with fed off of her power, spent her money and convinced her that if she wanted to see a vision, a needle full of heroin was necessary. They drugged her, stole her wealth and left her to die. I found her and nursed her back to life. Simple story, no embellishments necessary.”
“Ah, but how did you convince her to communicate with her great grandfather?”
“That’s between us, priest. Some things a girl’s got to keep to herself. It adds to our mystique.”
“I accept that.”
“Father, how did you get involved with these PEEPS?” Tonia asked, gazing at Mia.
“They needed someone that could translate Italian, and Santos sent me. It was an interesting case that, if memory serves me, had an element of Cold Creek Hollow in it. The carpenter who wrote the material died there. He was buried in the little graveyard prior to the community being finished,” Alessandro explained. “The Martins have kept in touch. We have meals together. They’ve become my family.”
Tonia nodded. “What an interesting family you have.”
“Loving, is the adjective I would use when describing Mia and Ted Martin. Next, it would be appreciative, followed by hooligans.”
The last caught Tonia by surprise. “Hooligans, now you’ve got to explain that one.”
“Sorry, a guy has to have his secrets,” he said and winked at her before he closed his eyes.
Tonia watched as his steady breathing rhythm denoted the good father was taking a nap.
~
Cid held the back window open while Ted crawled in. They found themselves in the kitchen of the renovated two-story. Cid picked up small sounds that led him to believe there were spirits actively participating in meal preparation. Since there wasn’t a cessation to their activities, he assumed that they didn’t know they were there.
“I think that there are multilayers of dimensions here in this house,” Cid told Ted.
“I agree with you. My instruments are picking up the highest magnetic levels I have seen since the burlesque house,” Ted said, looking at his iPad.
“I didn’t know you had that. Do you always walk around with ghost hunting gear?”
“No,” he said honestly and then explained, “But when the hollow starting to kick up its heels, I thought it better to bear the weight of the equipment then to be caught without it.” He opened up his jacket and showed Cid the lining was filled with pockets. “I showed Mia my design, and she used that big brain of hers and came up with this. She sewed it herself,” Ted said proudly.
“The girl can’t darn a sock, but she can do that. I’m starting to think she’s just selective.”
“It’s no fun darning a sock, Cid.”
Cid nodded in agreement. “Let’s move to the basement. If I were a ghostie, that’s where I’d keep the prisoners.”
Ted pulled up the blueprint he had downloaded from the old Restoration Realty website for this house. He showed Cid the location of the basement stairs. Cid looked around a moment to get his bearings and then pointed out a closed door. “I think it’s that one,” he said.
A pounding of feet headed their way had the pair hiding behind the preparation island.
A very sweaty Burt and Mike entered the kitchen. Mike’s leather-bottom shoes slid on the tile, but he managed to stay on his feet by pin-wheeling his arms.
“That’s some entrance,” Ted observed, popping his head over the counter. “I’ve got it on film.”
“That stays on the cutting room floor, Ted,” Mike growled.
“Yep, that’s the best place for Murphy to view it.”
“A hundred dollar bill says he never sees it,” Mike said, drawing out his wallet.
“Bribing a technician of PEEPs?” Cid said aghast.
“It’s better than firing him,” Mike countered.
Ted took the money.
“What’s the situation?” Burt asked, looking around.
“We just located the basement stairs, and we’re headed down,” Cid informed the lead investigator.
“Lead the way,” Burt said. “I’ll bring up the rear.”
Cid opened the door and resisted the urge to flip on the light. Instead he pulled out a flashlight. With every step downward they felt the air temperature drop a degree. By the time they reached the landing, they could see their breath. The basement looked like any other unfinished basement would. In the center was the furnace and water heater. The fuse box was on the far wall. Other than this, the basement was empty.
Burt turned around slowly, asking, “What are we not seeing?”
“Me,” Audrey’s voice echoed through the room.
They all heard Audrey’s voice but couldn’t see her.
“Did you hear that?” Burt asked the others.
They all nodded, and Ted pulled out an EVP recorder and pressed record.
“Audrey, we can’t see you. Are you alone?” Burt asked.
He was greeted with silence. He looked at Ted who was listening live to the recording.
“Mia just informed me that they are traveling through some kind of dimensional rift. Father Santos and Audrey are with her and Murphy. They ask us to be patient while they find their way out.”
This is what Ted told them. What Mia actually said was, “What do you mean you can’t fucking see us? Fuck this. Murph, see if you can cut our way out of this fucking passageway!”
CRACK! CRACK! SWISH CRACK! SWISH CRACK!
A small line of green light appeared to be floating four feet in the air before the four investigators.
Mia saw the rip in the fabric of the wall covering in the corridor. She stuck her fingers in and began to pull with all her might and ripped a people-sized tear in it. She shouted, “AUDREY, SANTOS, JUMP THROUGH HERE! HURRY, I CAN’T HOLD IT LONG!”
Burt watched as Audrey tumbled out of the opening followed by the priest. Ted caught Santos in time to steady him, but Burt missed Audrey’s hand and she landed on her butt at Mike’s feet.
The tear hissed shut. Ted looked around him and didn’t see Murphy. “Mia?”
“They didn’t make it,” Audrey said. “Last I heard Mia say, was that they’d find their own way out, and we should go ahead,” Audrey fudged. What Mia actually said was, “Fucking hell, get your ass through there. I can’t hold it any longer, Santos. Shit, hell and damn, we’ll have to find another way out.”
Mia looked at the hallway and swore it was getting longer. Murphy pushed his hat back on his head and whistled. On one hand, they had accomplished freeing Audrey and Santos from this dimension; on the other hand, they were lost.
Burt lifted Audrey to her feet, and the six of them started up the stairs. They had reached the kitchen when the front door blew open.
“Back, back, we need to get out the back,” Burt instructed.
Cid helped Audrey through the window over the sink, followed by Santos. Mike and Burt did their best, but Cid and Ted where stuck inside when Mrs. Blackwell walked in. She looked at the investigators and hissed.
The investigators were as stunned to be able to see the angry woman as she was upset to see them.