by Alexie Aaron
Angelo laughed. His rich voice echoed through the large room. “You always make me laugh. I shall reserve my judgmental self for other matters, not eating.”
They dined on his fabulous meal. He poured the rich red wine, and Mia enjoyed the warmth and courage it gave her. They talked about art, music and the theater. Mia’s knowledge of the latter came from Ralph. She liked how Angelo listened, and even though they differed about a few of the subjects, he still waited until she made her point before giving her his own. Mia noticed a few times his hands trembled and his eyes filled with emotion only to return to normal quickly. She reached out her hand and touched his large one.
“Angelo, what is it? I promise not to laugh as long as it’s not funny,” she added.
“I am enjoying this so much. My life is a difficult and lonely one. I feel things so deep. I cry too easily. I get angry too. Forgive me, for my social manners are equal with the jungle at times,” he said and smiled.
Mia laughed. “Let me get the dishes,” she said getting up.
He raised his hand to stop her. “Tonight, we will let them go. I have someone to take care of this sort of thing. Let’s go sit down and look at the view, and I will answer your questions.”
It was Mia’s turn to start shaking. She steeled herself and waited for Angelo to aid her from her chair. She took the offered hand and walked with him to the lush couch. She sat down. He sat next to her and pulled the cashmere around her shoulders, mistaking her tremble for being cold. She thanked him with her smile and waited for him to begin.
Chapter Twenty-five
“That’s the last of it,” Ted explained. “I moved the command vehicle and Mia’s loaner around front. All are facing out. All keys are on the foyer table labeled.”
“You ought to go and get some shut eye,” Burt suggested.
“Martha said we could use the guestrooms if we needed. She and Beth are going to the motel. I’m staying here. I have things to work on,” he said. His body language said, “I’m not leaving until I know where Mia is.”
“I called Santos again. He’ll call back. All we can do is stay busy. Deputy Braverman called and said the Wheybridge police will be finished with Mia’s truck tonight. It will be available for pick it up tomorrow. We need to get the rest of that wood. I also asked hypothetically if we were to use a flame throwing on private property, would there be any objections. He asked if we had a flame thrower. I said, ‘Suppose we did.’ He said as long as we controlled the burn, we would only be breaking three EPA ordinances, but theoretically, if we did it at night no one would be the wiser.”
“I remember Whitney going fucking wild with a flame thrower, and I seem to remember EPA not giving a fuck,” Ted said. “Allegedly, I used it to ignite a funeral pyre.”
“You were burning corpses. Must have been a different governmental agency,” Burt said wryly.
“Speaking of Whitney, anyone call him?” Ted asked.
“And say what? Your girlfriend disappeared. She may or may not be dead. Take heart, she could just be stuck in the nether world. What the hell would I say? Until he calls me, I’m avoiding the conversation,” Burt said adamantly.
“I wasn’t there for her.”
“You have been before. Mia knows that. I don’t think she had a clue of what had befallen her. It’s funny, Ted, but when I got here I felt that she was in trouble, but then the feeling faded quickly as if she were out of the woods.”
“You don’t think she’s dead.”
“Nah, besides she promised to give PEEPs an exclusive if she made it into ghostdom, and I haven’t heard a peep,” he said and laughed at his pun.
~
“Some people who have your gift of sight are able to see ghosts because of a tumor. It’s usually benign, and when removed the ability goes with it. If it’s small, it usually is left alone.”
“I suppose that’s what the neurosurgeon wanted to talk to me about,” Mia said, looking at her hands.
“Not necessarily. In Lund you had a great fall. Hit the water hard, yes?”
“I did and I died.”
“Most interesting.”
“Murphy reached into my chest and started my heart by squeezing it.”
“Handy fellow to have around.”
“I think so.”
“Mia, we will leave Stephen Murphy for another day. When you hit the water, it jarred an irregularity loose, and that’s what caused the seizure. It’s gone now. I also removed the child’s memories. I feel they may have further eroded a damaged wall that you need in order to do what you do, when you bilocate. Young Ted reported that after bilocation you had difficulty in knowing your surroundings. You thought he was your father.”
“Ted Martin’s got a big mouth,” Mia said and crossed her arms in anger.
“Yes he does, but he loves you, Mia. He wants the best for you. He has no other agenda except wanting to be the main man in your life.”
Mia did not want to talk about Ted with Angelo. She wanted to know what Angelo did to her. “You said the irregularity is gone. How?”
“I removed it.”
“How?”
“Through your nose, like the Egyptians.”
Mia grabbed her nose. She looked at Angelo to see if he was joking. He wasn’t. “And my scars?”
“Gone, as are your stress fractures. You’re back on your menstrual cycle too. I would avoid sex without protection between the tenth and the fourteenth.”
“Bloody hell, Angelo. Anything else?”
“I tried unsuccessfully to erase your feelings for Burt Hicks and Whitney Martin.”
“What?”
“These feelings are distracting you from progressing.”
“Angelo Michaels, thank you for saving my life. But you had no business changing me in any way. What if I can’t see ghosts anymore? Shouldn’t that be my choice? I suppose bilocation is finished too.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think anything is different except you are alive. Anyway, we will know soon.”
“We?”
“Yes, you and me. Come on, time to get to bed. The sooner we do it, the sooner we will know.” He got up and scooped her up in his arms and headed for the bedroom.
“Hold on!” Mia protested. “You’ll crush me. It’s the 12th! I’m not having sex with you.”
He ignored her protest and put her on the bed. He lay down beside her and held her down with one arm across her body.
“Now we OOB.”
Mia turned beat red. “You’re talking about bilocation not fornication,” she said embarrassed.
“Yes, silly child. Sex between you and me, this is not possible. I’d flatten you, and my child would cleave you in two on exit. Get your mind out of the gutter and back into the business of bilocation.”
“K,” Mia said nervously. She relaxed and closed her eyes. Soon she was standing beside her body. Angelo was not on the bed as she expected, instead he stood next to her.
“I can’t bilocate, but I can see you, talk to you and yes,” he reached over and stroked her arm tenderly, “touch you. Come on, let’s go to the theater and see some ghosts.”
“Who are you?”
“I am Angelo Michaels, my mother’s first born.”
“You’re not going to tell me are you?”
“Mia Cooper, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but you have too many mind readers in your life. Plus you may slip and tell Theodore Martin, and he has a penchant for gossip.”
“K. Let’s go and test out my new brain.”
“Oh, it’s not new, just healed,” Angelo reminded her.
“Gotcha. Shall we?” Mia move through the wall of glass. “Would you like to fly or walk?”
A speculative smile crossed Angelo’s face. “How would I fly? I have no wings. I’ll meet you down on the street. I will use the lift.”
“You may want to put on a coat and shoes,” Mia said as she rose and morphed into a dragon. She thought fire, and soon she was breathing it.
Angel
o cocked his head and contemplated the challenge for a moment but decided to keep up the façade of being mortal. Mia was tricky, but he could read her mind. Well right now. She would soon remember how to block him, again.
He slid his feet into slippers and donned a coat. He wasn’t cold, and the elements did not affect him. He did, however, like how he looked in black cashmere.
Mia glided down and morphed into her old persona. She then thought about the care Angelo took with his appearance, and she morphed her clothes into something Ralph pointed out in Vogue once. He said, “Look at those Italian women, they have such style. Simple, elegant and expensive.”
Angelo watched her from the shadows. She wanted to please him. This was good. He hoped that eventually she would trust him. Maybe she would listen to his objections and take them to heart, let him guide her in the right direction. He stepped out of the building and cleared his voice.
Mia looked at him.
“Excuse me, madam. I am looking for a girl dressed like a gutter rat?”
Mia laughed, “I see you have been talking to Bev.”
“Ah, Miss Beverly, what a woman.” He held out his arm, and the two of them walked down the street.
Pedestrians passed in a blur as they moved in OOB speed. Soon they were in the theater district. She smiled as she recognized a few bilocators. She worried about her ability to see ghosts as she hadn’t seen any thus far. Chicago streets were normally teeming with the dead. They turned a corner, and she smiled at the scene before her. Two men from the nineteen-twenties were pushing each other, arguing over a tommy gun. Another group of former stage hands played craps in the alley.
“I can see them,” she said in awe. “So it’s not a tumor that gives me the sight.”
“No, it’s something else.”
Mia had a perplexed look on her face. “I always thought I would be relieved when I lost the sight, but lately I feared losing it. I love my life, and a so called normal existence would not be for me,” she admitted.
“Would not Whitney Martin be pleased you were more normal?”
“I don’t really know.”
“Who are you afraid of losing?” Angelo put his finger to her lips. “Don’t say it, but I would examine these feelings. They may provide you with some answers you have been seeking.”
She looked at Angelo and nodded.
“Tonight, Mia, is for dancing. I hear the Countess of Michigan Avenue is having a party. Let’s go and tango.”
“I don’t know how to tango,” Mia said scrunching up her face.
“I will teach you. Come on and morph into something sexy with a long split. I don’t want to tear your dress when I dip you.”
Mia did as she was told. Angelo looked at the split and motioned it to be higher. He also pulled her until she was his height. “This is good, no?”
“Let’s go dancing,” she said as she matched strides with the tall Italian. She had a feeling tonight would be one for the memory books.
~
Ted jumped as Burt’s phone rang. He, Burt and Mike were playing poker, killing time while monitoring the main viewer.
Burt stepped into the other room and took the call in private. Mike and Ted looked at each other worried. They tried to listen without the other knowing they were doing so. Burt was walking back so the two of them pretended to concentrate on their hand of cards.
“Thank you, Father, yes I’ll tell them. Goodnight.” Burt set the phone down and picked up his hand.
“Tell us,” Mike demanded.
Burt’s face broke into a grin. “That was Father Santos. Mia’s going to be fine. Angelo took her to a clinic that specializes in her type of problem. She is taking it easy and will back with us soon.”
“Thank god. Did he say anything else?” Ted asked. “Did he tell you what happened?”
“Not in so many words, but I could tell he was confident that Mia would be alright and for us not to worry about her.”
Ted nodded and anted up.
~
Mia and Angelo strutted their stuff in front of the royalty of the Chicago spirit world. Mia felt comfortable being guided across the dance floor by the graceful giant. She felt his muscles move during the closeness of the dance. She also thought she felt something else but dismissed it as the excitement of the tango.
Afterwards, they walked along the lake front. Mia felt comfortable next to Angelo. They talked about their childhoods and the sadness of Mia’s situation. Angelo too had been without his mother but for a far different reason. “We are survivors. Soon you will have to face your mother. When you are able to do that and find pity in your heart and forgive her, then you will be able to do the most marvelous things. It is her and your relationship, or lack thereof, that has damaged you the most.”
Mia scoffed at the thought of her mother caring at all whether Mia forgave her or not, but she didn’t bring this up. She wanted the evening to be an enjoyable one. “Angelo, it’s time. I have to return to my body. Will you be there with me, just in case I have a problem?”
“Yes, little one, I will be there. Let’s hurry and do it.”
“Um, Angelo, a few words of advice. When you say do it in this day and age, it means making love or, more crudely, fucking.”
Angelo reared back. “No wonder you acted so oddly earlier. I thought you wanted, or didn’t, ah me!”
Mia smiled and said softly. “If I weren’t already a confused tiny person ovulating, then I would do it with you, just saying.”
“Mia Cooper! Tsk tsk,” Angelo said and turned his head to hide a smile.
Mia raised herself off the ground and morphed into a beautiful white owl. “It would be a night you would remember forever. I would make you change your mind about large women,” she teased and flew off.
Angelo waited until she was out of sight before he said, “I know, little bird, I know.”
Mia flew around the buildings, taking in the excitement of the city. She wanted to give Angelo time to reach his penthouse. She flew upwards and landed on the patio. She morphed back into her persona of hoodie and cargo pants and waited until she saw him enter the apartment. She walked through the glass wall and into the bedroom. She moved into her body.
He held her hand and felt her soul enter her body. He watched as her eyes fluttered open. “Hello, I made it,” she said softly. He helped her sit up, and when he went to rub her legs, she stopped him. “It’s not necessary. I can feel them.” Mia swung her legs over the bed and walked slowly towards the bathroom.
Angelo watched her and sighed. He was relieved. Another test was passed. Mia would be stronger now. She would need to be if she was to bring the victims of a massacre and their torturers together in peace. If not, Mia would have to help him to destroy all of them and wipe them from the face of the planet.
Mia walked sleepily back. Angelo told her to go to sleep. He would sleep elsewhere. She smiled and was asleep in seconds. He walked back in and drew the covers back. He took off his clothes and pulled her nightshirt off. He picked her up and waited until his wings became full and mighty. He closed them around her and they disappeared.
Mia woke up thirsty and found she was no longer in Angelo’s penthouse. She was in her own bed dressed in an oversized PEEPs shirt. She got up and walked into her bathroom to get a drink of water. Memories of the past day flooded her consciousness as she turned on the tap. She took a long drink of water and tried to sort out what was real and what was fantasy. She pulled off her shirt and turned on the light. In the mirror she was still Mia Cooper, but the scars were gone and a healing had begun. She patted her flat stomach and thought about what Angelo had done for her. Would she ever have children? She didn’t know. But she now knew it was possible. She pulled the tee back on and turned off the light. She didn’t see him standing there, he didn’t want her to. Angelo moved out of the shadows and wrapped his wings about himself and vanished.
Chapter Twenty-six
The vibration of Ted’s phone woke him up. He had fallen asleep
at the dining room table. He reached for the smart phone and squinted at the screen. His eyes popped open and he answered it. “Hello, Minnie Mouse.”
“Does anyone know how I ended up at my house?”
“Um no. Don’t you?”
“That would be a no. I have some kind of crumpled up hospital discharge form that has my signature on it. It says no driving for twenty-four hours. Is that why I have no truck?”
“Slow down, let me get some coffee in me,” Ted pleaded. He stumbled into the kitchen, found some cold thick stuff remaining in the pot. He poured himself a cup and downed the noxious stuff. “There. Okay, this is what I know…”
Mia listened to the Ted’s retelling of what Martha had witnessed about her disappearing with Angelo. He started to apologize.
“Don’t,” she stopped him. “Seems to me, I was fine when you left. Tell me about Cid.”
Ted felt as if the world was lifted off his shoulders. Mia was a trooper, and she wasn’t mad in the least about being left on her own. It sounded like she was a little confused and her memory of the events, nil. “Cid’s recovering. He says you talked to him.”
“That’s right. Oh shit, I left Murphy in the middle of a Iroquois war party. Anyone hear from him?”
“We’ve been a little busy here. The DTD’s attacked last night.”
“NO! Is everyone alright?”
“Aside from a burned-out lawn, and we now have all our stuff in the farmhouse, and our hostess has fled to the motel, yes.”
“Tell me all about it, Teddy Bear,” Mia said. “I’m going to put you on speaker.”
“K. Any reason why?”
“I’m looking in the mirror, and I just found fresh oregano in my teeth. I think it’s a clue.”
Ted laughed. He related his side of the adventure, adding in Mike’s part. He could hear Mia brushing her teeth, and aside from a few curses, she didn’t speak but listened.