by Alexie Aaron
Audrey walked over and rolled the vacated chair to the steps. Burt sat down and she rolled him to the console. “Well, that’s one PEEP delivered. I’m bushed. I don’t know how you guys stay so perky all night. I’m headed home to a bath and a meal.”
“Wait, and I’ll walk you to your car,” Alan insisted.
Audrey nodded.
“How’s Mia doing?” he asked.
“She’s made some discoveries but still has more passage to explore,” Ted said professionally.
“I still can’t get over that you have a ghost on your side.”
“Murphy’s pretty amazing. There is so much we still don’t understand about him. He and Mia kind of came as a packaged deal.”
“I’ve had my eyes opened tonight. I have court in the afternoon so I won’t be available until after six. Call Brenda if you need anything. Oh, do you still want security to come over?”
“That’s not my call,” he explained and turned to Burt.
“I think that we’ll be alright. I have a feeling that whoever hit me is long gone. If not, we’ll deal with it or call the police.”
“Fair enough,” Alan said.
Audrey brought over his coat, and he put it on quickly. “Well this is us gone.” He waved to the group and opened the door for Audrey and they left.
“Ted, over.”
“Quiet, la cucaracha is talking.”
“You’re so going to die a painful death,” Mia growled. “Murphy and I are heading downward. Is the basement lit?”
“Shit!”
“I guess that’s a no. Mind grabbing Cid and running down there. Be careful, I’m hearing some strange things through the wall.”
“We’ll be careful and armed, over. Burt’s on com,” Ted said, handing him the headset and picking up an earpiece on the way out. He picked up the marker and added another stripe of shame. “Cid, grab the bat and hockey stick by Mia’s duffle. We need to turn on the lights in the basement, but there may be someone down there. She’s hearing sounds through the wall.”
“Mia, this is Burt. I’m going to try to put all of you on live with each other. Ted and Cid have armed themselves and are headed for the basement. Stick close to Murphy, and don’t proceed until they check it out. Oh and this is an order, over.”
“Thanks for being clear. I hate it when I have to interpret information,” Mia said with more than a dose of sarcasm. She did follow it up with a pleasant, “How are you feeling?”
“Helpless.”
“It will pass.”
“Cid, Ted, Mia, Mike, we should be tied in. Respond.”
“Mia.”
“Ted.”
“Cid.”
“Mike. Fucking hell, this sounds like a Mouseketeer intro.”
“So the Mouseketeers said ‘fucking hell?’” Mia asked in mock curiosity.
“Actually, it was fucking hello,” corrected Ted. “Cid and I have unlocked the Disney door and are headed down.”
“When I was a boy, I hit my thumb with a hammer once and said, ‘Disney.’” My father washed my mouth out with soap,” Cid informed them.
“Cut out the chatter, let’s be professionals.”
“Disney hell, he’s right,” Mia joked.
Mike groaned, but since Burt knew he was in the bathroom again, he made no comment.
Chapter Twenty-two
Ted tossed a few LED lights around as the overhead lights blinked and went out. Cid and he moved together as Ted continued to distribute his supply of super lights. They moved through the kitchen and stopped briefly at the fuse boxes. Ted opened the older box and saw all the fuses were blown. He grabbed the few new ones that remained and was able to restore half the normal light needed to illuminate the space.
“Mia, can you see any light?”
“I’m looking and so far none. I’ll move further along.”
A sudden blast of cold air hit Ted and Cid. They raised their sport equipment in defense. “I don’t think this is going to make one difference,” Cid complained as something dark was amassing in front of them.
“Be advised, there is a mass forming in front of us. It could be the plate thrower,” Ted guessed.
Mia moved quickly, pounding on the walls as she walked. A shower of dirt rained down on her. “Whoa, Murph, we’ve gone too far. We are under the ground.” She took a length of cord and tacked it across the space. “There has to be an entrance to the basement. We must have missed it.”
They heard a few crashes from the other side of the wall. Mia looked at Murphy and told him, “Go, see if you can help the boys.”
He patted his chest and pointed to Mia.
“I’ll be fine.”
Another crash shook the passageway.
“Go!”
Murphy moved through the wall.
Pots and pans were hurtled at Cid and Ted. Cid used the bat and was able to stop the copper and aluminum from connecting with their fragile bodies. Ted pulled a saltshaker out of his pocket and twisted the top off. He dumped the salt in a pile. He raised the hockey stick, took aim and sent a shower of salt into the mass. It twisted and wavered. While it fought to reform, Ted and Cid moved by it and tossed a few more lights out on the counters to light up the basement. The clean polished surface reflected the light and sent its glow outward.
The mass formed into the figure of a man. His eyes glowed red, and his teeth were more spikes than enamel. He rushed at Cid. Cid’s bat went right through him. He picked Cid up and tossed him into the metal garbage cans.
Ted rushed over to him. “Come on, redshirt, we’re not at the halfway point yet,” Ted said, shaking Cid as if it would aid in his recovery.
The man laughed. His deep bitter tones curled Ted’s toes. Ted moved away from Cid and whistled to draw the entity’s attention his way. “Come on, you miserable frat boy. Over here, that’s a lad.” Something crossed Ted’s peripheral vision. He hoped to God it wasn’t another mass forming.
Ted continued to back up, fearing he would soon be in the storage room with all those sharp cutting implements. He saw Cid get to his feet and move slowly towards the stairs. Ted’s mind worked fast, taking in what was around him. Dropping the hockey stick, he lunged for and grabbed an iron rake. The rust flaked and cut into his palms. He swung the rake, connecting with the mass. It shrank back. “You don’t like iron much, do you?”
Ted saw a familiar sight behind the entity. “I bet you hate cast-iron more.” He nodded to Murphy.
Stephen Murphy ran forward with his axe raised. He jumped in the air and let gravity pull him and his axe down through the middle of the ghost. CRACK! The axe sounded as it hit the stone floor. The divided ghost shuddered and disappeared.
Ted whooped, ran forward and tried to hug Murphy. He fell through him, but Murphy appreciated the gesture.
“If you boys are done playing, could I have some light? I think I’m near the hidden stairway,” Mia directed.
Ted ran to the counter and scooped up several lights. He placed them along the wall of the storage room.
“I’m beginning to see a faint glimmer. Put one in the stairway, please.”
Ted did so. He heard a grinding beside him and a panel opened revealing Mia.
“Tapakah!” he said, gathering her in his arms. “You sent Murphy to save us.”
“Speaking of us, where is the other one?” Mia asked.
“Cid’s up here. Come on up, I think he needs nursing,” Burt ordered. “Mia, Ted just called you a cockroach in Russian.”
“I’m aware of that. I thought at first he lapsed into Klingon, but that was too much to hope for. La cucarocha, aka petit cafard, is tired of playing in the walls. But I have to do something first. Can I have ten minutes of Ted’s time?”
“Yes, Mike’s arrived and will attend to Cid’s injuries.”
“Thank you. I found a possible way into the house. I want to block it off before it’s used again.”
“Do what you can.”
“Come on, Teddy Bear, Tapakah has a j
ob for you,” Mia said sweetly. She looked around the storeroom and pointed to an old, metal screen door. “I need that.” She walked over to the golf cart and opened the back and disconnected the large battery.
“I see you have a diabolical plan. Let me gather up the rest of the things we need.”
Mia unearthed a wheelbarrow narrow enough to fit the passage. She put several cinderblocks inside with the battery.
Ted found a jumper cable and a couple of C clamps. He tossed them in the wheelbarrow. “Screen door or barrow?” he asked.
Mia took the door. She turned on her flashlight and led the way. Murphy followed them, curious what the two of them were doing. He watched as Mia pinned the metal door upright between the cinderblocks, locking it in with the clamps. Ted attached one end of the cable to the door and the other end to the battery they hid under the upturned wheelbarrow. Ted tested it out by spitting at it. The spit sizzled.
“That should deter our guest from using the backdoor. Where does it go to?”
“I didn’t go any further than this. Being underground in confined spaces bothers me.”
“I hear you. So no spelunking honeymoon?”
“Definitely not,” Mia said.
“How about a West Virginia mining adventure camp?” he countered.
“How about a castration?” she growled.
“Ted, stop annoying the girl and get your scrawny ass up here. I forgot how to unlink the ear coms, and your flirting is making Mike ill.”
The sound of metal on stone alerted Mia to Murphy. She turned and he nodded towards the outside. She nodded and mouthed, “Thank you.”
He tipped his hat and disappeared through the garage door.
Burt looked at the time on the main viewer. It was just turning three. So much had happened in such a short time. Two black mass manifestations. One murder attempt. A near heart attack by puppet. “Puppetcide?” Burt said out loud, forgetting he was on mic.
“Puppetcide?” Mia piped up. “Murder by puppet. Muppetcide would be murder by Muppet,” she informed him as she strolled into the room under Ted’s arm.
“I think you’re looking for Marionettecide,” Ted said. “It was a Punch marionette.”
“Pedantic SOB,” she said, wagging a finger at him. “Let’s compromise with Punchicide.” Mia looked at Burt and he smiled. “Burt likes it.”
“I like it,” Cid said, holding an ice pack over his eye.
He was being led by Mike who chimed in, “It’s unanimous. Audrey escaped Punchicide by Mia’s quick thinking.”
“Cool beans, I finally get to be in a report,” Mia said and added. “It’s spelt M I A…”
“M O U S E,” Ted finished in song.
Mia laughed along with the rest of them. She looked around at the men, and with the exception of some rather odd red marks on Ted’s arm, he seemed to have escaped harm. But the others were quite beat up. True, Mike’s were internal, but she felt strongly it was due to this house. “What’s next, boss?” she said looking at Mike. This was his hire, his show.
“I’d like to call it a night, but we’ve hardly scratched the surface, and we have a client fighting for his life in the prison. There’s someone corporal messing with us. We need to identify what he wants and who it is. Burt, did you see anything before you were attacked?”
“Sorry, I was heading for an open chest, you know, like a pirate chest. I bent over, and next thing, Mia’s slapping me around.”
Cid took off his ice pack and slid his glasses on. “You said an open chest?”
“Yes, reminded me of a treasure chest.”
“When I took off the panel and we first went into the attic, there wasn’t anything open. I remember the chest you’re referring to because I was thinking about treasure too. It had a chunky lock on it.”
Mike looked at Cid a moment. “I think our intruder was either in the house already or came in via the underground entrance. Moved up the ramps.”
“He could have taken the servants’ stairs and then moved into the passage from the library. That’s a mean climb taking the ramps all the way up,” Mia attested. “Also, I didn’t see a way to lower that tricky ramp from the lower floor.”
“Could be. He knows enough about the house to navigate it in the dark. Which makes me sure it’s a relative or a former employee,” Mike pointed out. “What is he looking for?”
“If it’s the porn, he’s looking in the wrong place,” Mia said dryly. “I wonder if there are more hidey holes between the attic and the library.”
“It’s a strong possibility. If he’s looking for something Eleanor hid, I don’t see her putting it in a wall. When Ma hid things from me, Christmas and Birthday presents for example, she would hide them in plain sight. I never found them. I was too busy looking in closets, and one year I even moved an entire haystack convinced she had to have hid them there.”
“I don’t know how much time we should spend on this. We have a house full of spirits to assess,” Burt commented. “Forgive me, Mike, but I think we need to put all our efforts into cataloging the beings: who’s residual, who’s active? And then we can call in Father Santos and start to cleanse this place. Then we have the garden to deal with. This is a big job.”
“Sounds like it’s time for some coffee and sandwiches,” Mia suggested. “Once I’m fueled and wired, I’ll go room by room and see what I can see.”
“I’ll go with you as long as my stomach holds,” Mike offered.
“There, that’s settled. Mike and I will take the second floor. I think we have done enough damage in the basement. I’m not going down there without better deterrents. Like a shotgun full of rock salt.”
“I thought Sherriff Ryan took away your gun?” Ted asked.
“He made me change the use on the license, but he gave it back.”
“I know this is a sensitive subject, but how would you feel if I asked your aunt to help us out. Two sensitives would make short work out of this house of horrors,” Mike explained.
Mia shrugged her shoulders. “No problem with me, but she has her own mind. You think I’m difficult… Yes, I know you all think I’m difficult. Wait till you get a load of Bev,” Mia warned.
“I’ll call her in the morning…”
Mia shook her head.
“I’ll call her in the afternoon,” Mike amended.
Chapter Twenty-three
Mia, Ted and Cid sat around the kitchen table filling their bellies with sandwiches and sugary sweets. Ted brought along his special brew, and Cid complained but drank a cup. Mia stuck with the strong coffee that Burt’s Mister Coffee brewed.
“That stuff will keep you up for days,” she warned Cid before he took his first sip.
Ted nodded. “But you get so much done.”
“Tastes like ass,” Cid said, putting the cup down.
“How do you know what ass tastes like?” Ted challenged.
“Boys, settle down. Save your energy for the stairs. I hate stairs. Every place we go there are stairs,” Mia whined.
“But it gives you such a nice caboose,” Ted pointed out.
Mia blushed and was lost for words.
Cid laughed at Mia’s discomfiture. She glared at Ted for a moment and then smiled.
“Tell me about the boogeyman in the basement,” Mia asked. “I was stuck in the wall.
Cid and Ted took turns filling Mia in. Cid sat spellbound as Ted described how Murphy cleaved the behemoth in two. “Reminded me of a video game. Murphy is not a small guy, but he was dwarfed by this thing. He took a running jump, and well the rest is history. I’m sure glad he’s on our side.”
“What side are we on?” Mia asked. “Sometimes I feel like a heel, ousting spirits from their comfortable abode.”
“But we don’t do it unless they are harming the living in some way,” argued Ted.
“True. Still feels a bit wrong at times. Now what I’d love to be able to do is rip that demon out of Hagan. But then there’s the problem of containing it for eternity. My und
erstanding is that there is no way of dispatching a demon of this type.”
“You talked to Father Santos about this, and he didn’t give you much hope,” Ted pointed out.
“Hagan won’t agree to see him. I suspect part of the problem is Hagan feels this is his punishment. He feels that he deserves this torture. He also fears that if he is rid of the thing that it will reemerge in someone else and more innocents will be killed.”
“Seems like a noble man,” Cid said solemnly.
They were silent for a while. Mia got up from the table and cleared up her mess. “I’ve got to go to the ladies’ room before I have a stroll with Mr. Dupree,” she informed Ted. “Could you stand outside the door for me?”
“Sure, toots.”
Cid watched the two as they left the kitchen. He marveled at how easy they were with each other. If he called a girl “toots,” he expected her to wallop him. Mia knew Ted wasn’t making fun or demeaning her. No matter how high maintenance Mia was reported to be, he was sure as far as Ted was concerned, she was worth it.
Mia and Mike walked up the stairs. Because they weren’t filming for the television show, Mike was more relaxed and patient. The handsome mouthpiece of the group looked tired and pale. His gastric trouble had lessened, but he still complained he felt nauseous.
Mia stopped before they entered the first bedroom and addressed the problem, “I want you to try something for me. Think of your body as a house with many open windows.”
Mike raised an eyebrow and was rewarded with a stomach cramp. He closed his eyes and said, “I am a house with open windows.”
“Now, I want you to close these windows one by one. I know it seems silly, but you can arm yourself against the influence of whatever is making you ill. If it is the flu then it’s not going to work. But if it is evil then you may be able to shut it down.”
Mia watched him as he closed his eyes and tried her method. “Once you have closed the windows. Concentrate on your stomach and calm yourself. Think of a pond. The more you calm yourself, the pond will become still and become more of a mirror than a body of water. Breathe.”