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

by Alexie Aaron

“That’ll do fine. Have a good evening, Alice,” Father Alessandro said before he rolled up the window, and the car continued down the road.

  Mike pulled his car over behind one of the cruisers and got out. He helped Father Santos unfold his lean body from the back of the car. The priest didn’t complain, but Mike could see that he didn’t appreciate the lack of legroom in the sports car.

  He looked around and saw everyone but Burt and Audrey. Panic seized him, and he rushed over to Cid who explained that Burt and Audrey were at the farm. They would continue the fight if Mia and the others failed. “No sense in endangering people who don’t have the sight unnecessarily.”

  “You don’t have the sight,” Mike pointed out.

  “I can hear them,” Cid pointed out proudly. “Besides, where Ted and Mia go, so go I.”

  “Embroider that on a pillow,” Mike said curtly and walked over to Mia who was fuming.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Murphy.”

  “What did the old geezer do?”

  “Said no, we had to wait for Ryan.”

  “It’s about time someone said no to you. I expect it was for a good reason. Perhaps saving your butt?” he guessed.

  Mia looked at him as if she’d seen him for the first time. “You’re taking Murphy’s side? I thought I’d never see the day.”

  “I’m probably a hundred words short of an explanation about what was going on to cause you and your buddy to fall out, but if he stood up to you, I bet my allowance, it was necessary.”

  Mia nodded. “You’re alright, Dupree. I recommend you hanging back. We’ve never handled a demon like this before. Tonia says they…”

  “Stink and bite,” Mike finished.

  “Mia,” Ryan called. “Could you come over here please?”

  “Shit, I expect it’s time. Have a great life Dupree and don’t spend all your mother’s money in one place,” Mia said smartly and sauntered off.

  “What a bitch,” he said admiringly.

  “Mia, you’re still ready to call out the skin-walker, Mrs. Blackwell?”

  “Yup.”

  “Tonia, is the deer-woman ready to deal with her?”

  “Yes. She has been patiently waiting.”

  “I understand there is also a demon in residence.”

  “Angelo is around here somewhere putting on some clothes. Don’t ask,” Mia advised, shaking her head. She continued, “He’ll handle the demon, but, Ryan, be aware that you can’t kill a demon, you can only confine him or show him the door.”

  “Child, this isn’t my first demon hunt.”

  Mia wanted to yell that she wasn’t a child, but that would be childish. Instead she stared at him and said, “I’d like to hear that story one day.”

  He smiled and broke the tension between them. He looked around, surveying the team. “Okay, people, we’re burning daylight. Let’s get this show on the road,” he called out.

  Mia looked over at Murphy and asked, “Ready?”

  “Ready,” he said, raising his axe.

  Those that could see them smiled as Mia flipped her leg to the side and kicked Murphy in the butt while they were walking.

  “Bad Mia,” Murphy scolded.

  “Come on, let’s have some fun. They’ve been in our faces for far too long. Hell, you’ve had to deal with Honor Blackwell’s snooty looks for a century and a half. Let’s go and show her what true class is.”

  Mia stopped in front of the middle house. She looked at the shadow in the window and called, “Mrs. Blackwell, I would like you to leave the hollow.”

  “Who are you to order me around?”

  “I’m your new neighbor. This is your old neighbor. We both request you move on or face the consequences.”

  “Hah, what consequences? You expect those dog-collared fools to have any influence over me?”

  The door of the house opened, and the skin-walker came out, followed by a dozen or so retainers. The entities shadowed their mistress, creating a mass of claws and teeth.

  Mia looked at the long line of fierce women and swallowed hard. She raised her shotgun and called out, “I’ll give you to the count of three to abandon your mistress.”

  “Or what?” Mrs. Blackwell asked.

  Her haughty manner annoyed Mia and Murphy. Mia knew that salt wouldn’t pierce the hide of the skin-walker, so she took aim at the entity standing closest to her and fired.

  The ghost withered when she disappeared. This caused a few of the others to flee. Some brave ones advanced on Mia. She took aim and shot the other barrel, then popped the gun open to quickly rearm. Seeing her vulnerability, one of the little monsters rushed Mia and lost her head as Murphy sliced cleanly through it.

  “Down,” shouted Ryan before he and Tom opened fire on the group. Mia hugged the ground while Murphy jumped up and out of the way. She got to her feet and turned to run when she felt a clawed hand reach around her leg and pull her upwards. Mia dangled upside down, twisting and turning while the skin-walker’s claws ripped at the skin of her ankle.

  “Stop!” shouted Tonia. “Release the sensitive, and I’ll give you what you want.”

  Blackwell looked over the heads of the men while they reloaded their salt-firing shotguns and saw a woman riding a white horse.

  “What the hell are you?” the vindictive entity asked. “What I want is what you took from me.”

  “The dark heart,” Tonia said, holding up the blanketed bundle. “The heart box Brentwood perished trying to open. Why do you want to join him?”

  “Brentwood was a weak man. He had strong appetites and weakened himself with his depravity. Be certain, I have not made the same mistakes.”

  Tonia rode forward and dangled the bundle a short distance away from the skin-walker. “Drop the sensitive, and I’ll drop the box. Who knows, the fall may break it open.”

  “NO! Don’t drop it!” screamed Blackwell.

  “Why? Didn’t you want your master freed?”

  Blackwell lowered Mia to the ground. As soon as the skin-walker disengaged her claws, Mia got to her feet and limped over to where Murphy was waiting for her.

  “A deal’s a deal,” Tonia said and dropped the bundle in the arms of the skin-walker and rode away.

  Mrs. Blackwell unwrapped the blanket and looked at the fused lead. She shook the mass and smiled.

  “Is that my heart?” a voice rich with hatred came from the open doorway. “Bring it to me!”

  “Why? You can’t open it,” Blackwell said, dismissing his presence.

  “I can,” Angelo said, walking up. “Give the box to me.”

  “It’s mine,” insisted the skin-walker.

  “What kind of double-cross is this?” Mia asked, watching the drama before her. “The demon wants his heart. You can’t give it to him. Angelo can. Give the box to Angelo,” Mia instructed.

  The demon moved out of the house and looked over at the sensitive a moment. “It’s my heart, Blackwell. Give the box to the birdman to open.”

  “Are you this stupid?” Blackwell spat. “If I give the box to the birdman, he’ll take it away.”

  “I can tell you how to open it,” Angelo offered.

  Blackwell shot him a look of hatred.

  “I’m just trying to be helpful. Here we have a demon that’s hurting, and you have its heart. Why?” he asked.

  “She’s drawing power from it,” Mia pointed out. “Why would she want to give it up? Without him, she’s nothing more than a mass of flaky skin.”

  “Are you deliberately trying to be rude?” Blackwell snapped at Mia.

  “Well, gee, why would I do that?” she asked, lifting her pant leg to show the shredded skin. “I owe you no allegiance. Give the demon his heart, so we can all go back to being good neighbors.”

  “Give me my heart!” the demon screamed, rushing the skin-walker, launching its body at the entity.

  She twisted away, causing the demon to flounder a moment in the air before falling to the ground. Out of his limestone caves, th
e demon diminished quickly.

  “Crawl back into your hole. I’m in charge now,” she ordered.

  No one moved. No one said a word while they watched the defeated thing slither away from the skin-walker.

  Mia was surprised by the turn of events. The skin-walker no longer would take counsel from, nor answer to, the demon. A small part of Mia felt sorry for the demon, but it was short-lived.

  The steady clip clop of hooves on blacktop was heard. Mia expected to see one of the horses when she turned around. She was surprised to see the deer-woman. Lorna was now more deer than woman. Her upper body was fused with the four-legged body of a deer. She regally approached the skin-walker.

  For the first time, Mia saw fear move across the skin-walker’s face.

  “Honor Blackwell,” Tonia called. “I’m charging you with the crimes of murder, dabbling in the black arts, confining a demon without its permission, and kidnapping. Come along willingly, and face the council to be judged.” Tonia, still keeping her seat on Airgead, moved towards her from the opposite side. “Put down the box and come with me or face the deer-woman alone.”

  “Gods have no one to judge them. I have committed no crimes. My will be done.”

  There was a shout of outrage from behind Mia. She saw Father Santos stride forward, holding out his cross. Father Alessandro tried to stop the priest, but he was too weak to hold him.

  “How dare you!” he shouted. “There is only one God, and you are not Him!”

  The skin-walker grew in size as she contemplated the circumstances.

  Mia saw the situation going horribly wrong. She nudged Murphy. “Go tell him it’s time for Plan B.”

  Murphy left her side. Mia watched in horror as the skin-walker reached out and grabbed Father Santos with her free hand and tossed him at the deer-woman, impaling him on her horns.

  Angelo ran to assist. He gently lifted his friend off of the deer-woman’s antlers, freeing both of them.

  The skin-walker lashed out at Airgead, causing the horse to rear. Tonia fought for control.

  Mia found herself alone between the skin-walker and the middle house. If Mrs. Blackwell entered, there was no accounting for the type of horrors that awaited humanity as her powers grew exponentially. Mia also knew that at her back was the demon. If she ended up in the house, then she could just about write her own epitaph. Here lies Stupid.

  She heard a thundering of hooves and felt herself being lifted out of harm’s way by Ted. They rode back a few yards when Cid fired a flare in the air, signaling Burt to execute Plan B. Fifteen seconds later, all three houses exploded. The debris blew away from them. Cid’s and Ted’s calculations and Murphy’s placements were spot on for the controlled demolition.

  The destroying of the houses was nothing more than a diversion in order for the deer-woman to regain her ground. She charged the skin-walker, hitting her so hard with her bent head that the bundle went flying out of her hands. Angelo, angered but determined, shed his clothes and turned into the giant, black fighting bird. He swooped in and grabbed the box with his talons and flew off.

  Mia worried about this for a moment, but she had more problems on her plate. The loss of the houses had flooded the street with the ghosts who sheltered there. Mia jumped down and took potshots at the aggressive entities, clearing a lane for help to get to Father Santos. Murphy moved in a circle around the fallen priest, putting a barrier between the undead and the dying man. Father Alessandro and Cid rushed over and lifted the man off the ground. They followed Murphy as he cut his way through the entities towards the cruiser Tom had started. They placed the dying man in the back of the car with Alessandro there to hold on to his friend.

  As they drove off, Cid heard Father Alessandro administering the last rites to his dying friend.

  Sheriff Ryan and Mia continued to pick off the ghosts, knowing that it was just a stopgap measure. Soon the entities would recharge and flood the street again. But they continued on, hoping to buy the deer-woman time to take out their master.

  The skin-walker rolled and got to her feet. She lashed out with her claws, cutting deeply into the side of the deer-woman. The deer-woman countered by lowering her antlers and thrusting them into the center of Blackwell, taking her to the ground.

  Blackwell howled in pain when the hooves of the spirit animal landed on her chest while the antlers continued to work on the core of the entity. It took just moments, but from the point of view of the ghost hunters, it seemed like forever for the deer-woman to dispatch the skin-walker. Honor Blackwell diminished in size until she was no bigger than Mia. Lorna resumed her biped form. She chanted a few discordant words and clapped her hands. A slice of light appeared as the veil between worlds opened. She picked up the carcass of the skin-walker and carried her with dignity through the opening. It closed behind them with a clap of thunder.

  The ghosts seemed to lose their will to fight. Only a few dared to challenge them, and Murphy hewed through them with ease. Mia suspected Ted was feeding him energon cubes, which was very risky considering that the ghosts around them could also be energized. She would have to have a talk to him about that, and about Plan B. Burt handled the demolition on time. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was when you take away all the nooks and crannies a ghost needs to hide in, they get a bit testy.

  “Lesson learned,” she said and moved on.

  “There’s still a demon in that house and no way to get in,” Ryan pointed out, looking at the ruins.

  They heard a flapping of wings, and Angelo landed. He placed the box at Mia’s feet and said, “Call him.”

  “Call him. You sure?”

  “Call him. It’s time we took him home.”

  “Er, don’t we need the deer-woman?”

  “I’m here, Mia,” Lorna said softly, stepping back into this world. Her face was bloody, and her crown of antlers was died red from the encounter with the skin-walker.

  “Aren’t you hurt? I saw its claws gouge you.”

  “I will survive. We must finish this or the priest’s death will be for naught,” she said sadly.

  “It wasn’t your fault.” Mia reached up and put her hand gently on the face of the deer-woman. “Don’t let what happened change you.”

  “Mia, please call him,” Angelo insisted, his grief for his friend weakening him.

  Mia turned around and walked over to the house. She picked up the lump of lead and raised it up as far as she could, bearing the weight with both of her arms. She shook it back and forth and said, “Demon, I, who holds your dark heart in my hands, call you forth.”

  It took a while, but something moved under the broken joists and pulverized masonry. It moved like a worm, advancing slowly until it was able to rise on its legs. “Oh joy, I’ve traded one master for another,” it said sarcastically. “I suppose you too would like the power, I have to give you.”

  Mia turned and handed the box to the deer-woman.

  “I think it’s time for you to have a little rest. Follow the deer-woman; she will take you somewhere you won’t be bothered by skin-walkers, soul-jumpers or irritating people like me. As you can see, your home has been condemned. You need to seek better lodgings.”

  The demon rocked back on his heels and actually laughed. “If your words weren’t dipped with so much sarcasm, I would swear you are being kind, Mia. I will not forget this.” He walked with as much dignity as he could, following the deer-woman into the darkening wood with Angelo behind them. There was a flash of light, and Angelo came back.

  “Mia, I have to go. If there is a chance, I must try to save my friend.”

  “Go,” Mia said and watched as the giant bird took off. She looked down at her feet and saw she was standing in Father Santos’s blood. She sunk to her knees and cried.

  She was still crying when Ted found her. He lifted her up into his arms, carried her down the street and put her into Mike’s car.

  Mike handed him the keys. “Take her home. Cid and I’ll clean up,” he said.

  Ted
looked at the demolished houses and said, “Just leave it. But you may want to help Cid with the horses. He’s not a fan.”

  Mike looked over at Cid standing behind the large marble grave marker with the two Arabians on the other side of it. “Nice horseys.”

  Ted got in and started the car.

  Mia sniffed, “That’s two words.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Cid says ghosties and horseys; they are not words,” Mia insisted, looking out the window. “Do you think he’ll make it?”

  “Cid?”

  “Father Santos,” Mia corrected.

  “I honestly don’t know. You’ve made it out of worse scrapes.”

  “It’s the antlers that bother me the most,” Mia said. “They are used to send spirits to a place where there is no light. If he dies, will he have the same fate?”

  “Ah, Mia, I wish I had an answer for you. I imagine his fate lies with He who Santos worships. Remember the universe is vast and most powerful. The things I’ve seen just this evening are beyond my understanding.”

  “Which is the most surprising?” Mia asked, curious.

  “Mike’s letting me drive his car,” Ted said and took the next corner on two wheels.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Lorna presented the corpse of the skin-walker to the Council. She watched a tall woman with braided black hair pick up the body and place it in the fire before them. The women sang a sad song about lost souls. By the time the spirit body had fallen to ash, Lorna had lost the antlers, her skin returned to normal and she no longer felt the power surge through her body. She knelt down and pushed herself low until she was prone.

  “What ails you, daughter?” one of the women asked.

  “A good man nearly died on my horns tonight,” she said. “I was the instrument of his eventual death. I fear for his soul, mother.”

  The women looked into the fire and discussed things with each other, and after a while, they came to a conclusion.

  “If he dies, his soul will not be lost. He was a good man with a good heart. He has saved so many lost ones that his path has already been paved. Take comfort in this. Go now, your friend awaits. She is impatient that one. She senses the other is out there, and she must redeem herself.”