The Garden (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  The gun was tossed down a few feet from the door. It went skidding a few feet more, ending up under the poisons cabinet.

  “Unlock the door,” ordered Doyle’s sergeant.

  Cid strode over and lifted the lever, holding on to it until Centers walked out of harm’s way. He then let it fall closed, cutting off an avenue of escape for the forester.

  Centers was restrained and read his rights. The recovered pistol was bagged. Mike followed them up the stairs.

  Cid and Ted walked over to the entrance of the subbasement and closed the door. “I wonder if we will ever know what the guy was looking for?” Cid asked Ted as they walked across the basement to find out how Centers entered the house this time.

  The garage door’s lock was pried off. Cid and Ted worked on the mechanism and replaced the lock. Ted looked at it and said, “It ain’t purdy, but it’ll hold for now. With the gun charge, Centers may be occupied with other matters. Maybe he will make a deal,” Ted pondered. “I’m going to install another set of fuses before I go up. Would you mind sticking around?”

  “Be a pleasure. We haven’t seen Sanctum Man yet,” Cid said rubbing his jaw. “I’m surprised he didn’t show in the pit.”

  “I think he had to recharge,” Ted said as he screwed the new fuses into place. He flipped the switch and the basement lit up. “Now let’s beat feet before he blows the fuses again.”

  Alan arrived in time to help fill out the complaint against Sam Centers. Centers claimed that he was going about his business of checking up on the mansion when Mike and his two thugs jumped him. He managed to take one of their guns away and hid in the lower basement until help arrived. He professed it was he that called 911.

  Alan asked to see the weapon in question. The deputy held up the transparent evidence bag. “Mr. Dupree, do you or any of your employees work for the Cook Country Forest Preserve?”

  “No, sir, we don’t.”

  “Deputy, could you read that green label on the handle?”

  “Yes, it says, Cook County Forest Preserve.”

  “Seems to me, Mr. Centers, you may have just lied to the sherriff’s deputies,” Alan said.

  After the exit of the deputies, Alan took off his coat. He was wearing a Chicago Bears jersey, jeans and work boots. “I didn’t think they would take me serious in this,” he explained.

  “I’d say number ninety is dead serious,” Mia approved. “Do you have an update on Hagan?”

  Alan smiled. “He’s improving. He’s probably going to be in the hospital for a week or so. Maybe by then he can be transferred to one of the white collar facilities.” He looked at Mia for a moment before commenting, “You have some powerful friends.”

  “Keep in mind that these friends work on a favor basis. I didn’t know Angelo was coming. I wonder if that’s my favor or the father’s,” Mia mused. “I hope the latter as I’m already into Angelo too deep. Not a great feeling.”

  “Sounds a bit like blackmail,” Alan disapproved.

  Mia scrunched up her face and decided to change the subject. “Audrey and I helped a ghost to move on today.”

  “Really?”

  Audrey grabbed his arm and escorted him to the kitchen while telling him all about Rebecca.

  Mia mentally thanked her. She looked over at Burt. “Yep, Angelo.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “He didn’t touch me. But I wouldn’t like to think what shape the demon was in when they carried it out of the hospital.”

  “You’re kidding, a demon?”

  “Ask Ted, I’m surprised he hasn’t said anything yet.”

  “He’s been busy. We can talk about the hospital later. Mike told me about the bad feeling emanating from the subbasement. Did you pick up anything?”

  “Actually, I was blocking whatever it was.”

  “Sanctum Man, perhaps?”

  “No. Although he may be powered by it. I’m concerned about Murphy being so close to this thing.”

  “Don’t be. If he didn’t succumb to the hag in the hollow then I bet he is stronger than you think,” Burt pointed out.

  “How’s the leg? This must be driving you crazy, all this sitting.”

  “I don’t know how Ted does it. My head is aching trying to keep up with the feeds and the communication.”

  “Want me to spell you?” Mia asked.

  “I wouldn’t mind it, thanks.”

  Mia accepted the headset of power and slid into the chair beside him. She hit a few keys and requested, “I need an orderly at the command center. I have a patient in need of transport.”

  “On my way,” Cid responded. He walked into the foyer and over to Burt. Burt rolled his eyes as Cid wheeled him into the kitchen.

  Ted waited until they cleared the doorway before walking down the hall towards Mia. She pulled out her shotgun from where it was tucked. She handed it to Ted who cracked it open and pulled the shells. He looked back at her and said, “Well lookie here, you in charge of the command center, you’re so cute.”

  “Come on, son, this is serious business,” Mia said, trying to sound like Sherriff Ryan.

  “Yes sir. You want anything to eat?”

  “Feed me coffee and red licorice, and I will follow you anywhere,” Mia teased. “Seriously, I would die for some coffee.”

  “Coffee coming up,” Ted said and left.

  Mia watched the monitor, circling the feeds, looking for anything out of place. The morning glory room was still as were the rest of the bedrooms. Mia wondered what Audrey found in the garden journal. It must not have been earth shattering or she would have said something by now.

  There was a scratching by the front door. Mia turned and watched the knob turn back and forth.

  “Attention campers, are we expecting company?”

  Burt answered for the group. “No, why?”

  “Front door knob is rattling.”

  Mike was the first one in the foyer. He was about to open the door with his bare hand when Mia hit him on the back with a well tossed pair of gloves. “Remember it could be very cold,” she said.

  Audrey wheeled out Burt. Ted grabbed a camera and tossed a mini to Cid. Alan walked over and sat down with two coffees next to Mia. “That’s happened to Audrey and me. There may be a whirlwind outside the door.”

  Mike opened the door. The pressure behind it pushed the door wide. There was no one there. Mia squinted and saw nothing. She shook her head. Mike stepped out on the porch and disappeared from sight.

  Ted ran forward and looked both ways. “There he is. He’s being blown down the hill!” Ted and Cid took off running. Alan got up, concerned.

  Burt scooted over to Mia. “Let me take the com, you go and rescue Mike.”

  Mia handed him the headset and took a long drink of coffee. “Alan, you wanna come with me. I know a shortcut. Audrey, you look after Burt, please.”

  Audrey was uncertain Alan wanted to go with Mia, but he followed her just the same. Mia grabbed a big box of kosher salt and tossed it to him as they passed the counter, explaining, “Might come in handy.” She then flipped on the lights as she headed downstairs. Once in the basement, she flipped on the outside light switches and walked over to the storage area and hauled up the door. She and Alan reached the bottom of the hill just as Mike was getting to his feet.

  He wavered and felt himself being tugged. “Mia, something’s got me!” he shouted. Mia and Alan ran forward, and each took one of Mike’s arms and dug in their heels. The entity pulled them all into the wall. They hit hard.

  Mia’s shoulder made contact with the stone, sending jolts of pain through her. She regained her feet in time to see two arms wrap around Mike’s middle and pull him backwards into the wall again.

  He slumped as all his air was knocked out of him. Ted and Cid caught up with them. Cid helped Alan up while Ted tried to help Mia.

  “Hold my waist,” she shouted. Mia grabbed one of the entity’s hands and pulled. “This sucker is strong. If we don’t stop it, it will break Mike’s back
,” she said, grasping hold of the phantom hand. It let go of Mike and grabbed Mia’s hand and yanked her towards the wall. Mia made a split-second decision. She let it pull her out of her body. Mia entered the wall with the entity, while her body fell inches away from the cold stone.

  Ted knelt down and touched his ear com. “Burt, hit F7. What’s Mia’s heartbeat?”

  “Low, OOBing low,” Burt said as he read the numbers in Ted’s new program.

  “Mia’s been pulled out of her body. She’s in the wall somewhere.”

  Mike got to his feet and raised his sweater. There were fire engine red welts across his chest. “Whatever it is, it’s strong.”

  Alan was a bit dazed but sound enough to work his way over to Mia’s body. “Is she knocked out?”

  “No, yes, hard to explain right now. We need to get her inside and warm.”

  Alan got to his feet. “Give her to me. You deal with this crisis.”

  Ted picked up Mia’s body and handed her to Alan. Alan and Mike walked quickly into the basement of the house.

  “Does she do this often?” Alan asked Mike.

  “Mia can bilocate out of her body. She may have chosen to be pulled or was yanked out. It’s happened once before that I know of. She was on an island… Anyway, ask her about it sometime. Right now we need to get her body stable and warm. Her body functions are minimal, and we need to protect her hands and feet from cold.”

  Audrey met them at the top of the stairs. “Burt wants her close to the console. I moved a small sofa over from the living room. She looks so pale.”

  “Mia always looks this way,” Mike said, trying to ease the fear of the clients. “It’s what we get for sleeping all day and ghost hunting all night.”

  Alan laid her on the couch. Burt wheeled over and checked her over before he directed, “Mike, grab those sleeping bags. Alan, in that duffle you’ll find a couple pair of very large socks. Bring them over.”

  Audrey helped Burt take off Mia’s boots. They tugged on the warm wool socks over her hands and feet before covering her with the open sleeping bags.

  Alan returned to the duffle and pulled out Mia’s sawed-off shotgun. “What’s this?”

  “One hell of a shock to a ghost if you pull the trigger,” Mike answered. “Speaking of which, how’re Cid and Ted holding out?”

  “They’re looking for a way in from the outside. So far, the only way in is through the basement. They’re headed in after Ted notifies Murphy,” Burt said.

  “I thought only Mia could see Murphy,” Alan asked.

  “Ted can too.”

  “Is he a sensitive too?”

  “Nope. He’s a geek, a genius, but a geek,” Mike said. “We don’t know why he can see him, he just can.”

  “Murphy!” Ted called in the direction of the woods. “Mia’s in trouble. Murphy!”

  CRACK! sounded in the distance. Soon Murphy stood in front of Ted. He explained what had happened. Murphy gave a short nod and disappeared.

  “Burt, Murphy’s on the job. Cid and I are headed in.”

  “Mike’s going to meet you with Mia’s little ghost deterrent,” Burt informed him.

  Mike cracked the gun open and loaded two salt cartridges.

  Alan looked on, “Is that legal?”

  “It’s licensed, but I would only use it on a ghost. Stings like hell, I understand.”

  They stood at the bottom of the stairs. Ted and Cid ran in, out of breath. Mike handed the gun to Ted. “How are you going to find her?”

  “Murphy will find her. We’ll just be a distraction,” he answered. “I’m worried this is the first time since you know…”

  “She’ll be fine. I just feel it,” Mike said to the worried tech. “Now get out there and kick some entity ass.”

  Alan went with them to show them the way into the garden after he promised to return to help the very battered Mike up the stairs.

  Chapter Thirty

  Mia could not pull free of the grip of what now looked to her to be a man. He was dressed in depression era clothing. His shoes, even in death, were mended with pieces of cardboard. “What the hell is going on? Stop, damn it!”

  The man stopped, shocked. “I can hear you. Can you hear me?” he asked slowly as if he were talking to a mentally challenge individual.

  “I can hear you. Let go of my wrist, you’re hurting me,” Mia lied.

  “I can’t take the chance. You have to listen to me. I don’t have much time. You need to find us, all of us and let us free.”

  “I’m confused. You mean your body?” Mia looked around her and could only see the dark rose garden.

  “Mine, Sugarland Pete’s, Little Eddie’s and Bosco’s.”

  “All of you. Can you explain where I start looking?”

  He looked at her and his face clouded. He pulled her to his chest and lay down on ground. Soon they were moving through rock and soil until Mia found herself imprisoned in the chest cavity of a buried skeleton. Roots of tree and bush wrapped the ribs making an exit impossible. His boney arms held her to him. She screamed over and over.

  Murphy pushed through both parts of the wall. He moved quickly through the awakening garden. He heard Mia scream again and again. He pushed the panic down and concentrated on her voice. He found himself surrounded by the old wood and thorns of roses. He took his axe and with one swing unearthed a sleeping giant. The plant was no bigger than a bush, but the roots were deep. Murphy pulled at the plant. When he brought more root out of the ground, he could hear Mia’s pleas. “Let me go. I understand now. Let me go!”

  Something large loomed behind Murphy. He turned to see a dark force manifest in front of him. It took form, and a thick set man stood before him. His fetid breath soured the air, and Murphy turned his head to keep from falling ill. “Get out of my garden, you animal!” he screamed.

  Murphy raised his axe in defense. This being was solid yet spirit. It moved towards him. Murphy sunk his axe into the side of the creature and still it came at him. Its thick hands punched at the farmer’s ribs until Murphy dropped his axe.

  Ted ran out into the garden. He tossed light discs as he ran. He heard Murphy’s axe once and then heard it fall to the ground. Ted saw a thick smoke move around Murphy, and as it did, Murphy began to lose physical form.

  Ted cocked the gun. Murphy turned towards him and nodded. He rolled away as Ted shot a round into the smoke.

  The man recoiled and backed away. Ted shot him again, and the man disappeared.

  Murphy grabbed his axe and began chopping at the ground. Pulling away the roots of the roses until he could see Mia entombed within the skeleton of a man. He took his axe and moved it carefully between Mia’s persona and the bone. He pried upwards. The ribcage snapped in two, and Mia was stunned but free. He reached for her, and she clung to his arm. With his last ounce of strength, Murphy pulled her out of the earth before collapsing.

  Mia lay on the ground and slowly got up and knelt next to her friend. “Murph, stay with me.” She pushed her last remaining energy into him. She got to her feet and wavered but managed to stand.

  Ted saw Murphy on the ground. Ted handed Cid the shotgun which he promptly reloaded. Ted fell to his knees, reached out and found he could touch the farmer. He felt more like wood than a man, but was solid. He tried very carefully to lift the still farmer. There was still enough energy in Murphy to allow Ted to connect with him. Ted reached for Murphy’s axe and felt the warmth of the wood handle.

  Ted got up and moved slowly towards the house. “I don’t know if you’re here, Mia, but I’ve got Murphy. You get your ass back in your body.”

  Mia willed herself to move. She tottered drunkenly towards the house.

  Once Cid and Ted reached the confines of the house, Murphy started to animate. He reached for his axe and moved out of Ted’s arms. He stood, brushed himself off and nodded to Ted before he faded away.

  “Do you think he did it? Did he free Mia?” Cid asked.

  “He wouldn’t have stopped until he did.
Come on, she’s going to wake up soon.”

  Cid watched as his friend took the stairs two at a time. He caught up to Ted in the foyer where the tech knelt over Mia, watching and waiting.

  Mia, exhausted by the experience, opened her eyes and said weakly, “Auntie Em…”

  Ted shook his head. “No I’m the scarecrow. How are you feeling, Dorothy?”

  “Like someone dropped a house on me,” Mia said and tried to sit up.

  “Before you ask, Murphy’s out of the garden, and last I saw him, he was fine.”

  “Ted carried him,” Cid said.

  “That’s impossible,” Mia replied.

  “Evidently it isn’t. Next time you talk to him, tell him he’s got to lay off the doughnuts…” Ted said and pulled Mia to him. Cid turned away and wiped the fog from his glass lenses.

  Burt cleared his voice, and Ted looked over and nodded. He picked Mia up and walked into the living room with her.

  The richly appointed large room spoke of formality but was softened by the wear of years. Rich, heavy drapes were drawn against the cold. Shabby Turkish rugs made little soft islands in a sea of highly polished, maple hardwood floors. Someone had taken the liberty of moving the furniture out of its sterile groups and blending them into a large seating area that the entire team could be comfortable in.

  Alan had started a fire. The reflected flames danced from floor to ceiling. The heavy wallpaper soaked up the vastness of the room, making it an intimate place to share a confidence or a laugh. Mike sat in a wing chair near the fire, warming his hands. He turned his head and smiled at her. “Thanks for sacrificing yourself, wife.”

  “No problem, husband. I save you, Murphy saves me, Ted saves Murphy, it’s a vicious circle,” Mia stated.

  Alan looked confused but let it go. These PEEPs were always calling each other by strange names. Audrey would later tell him about the joke that had gone too far in Lund, Illinois.

  Ted pulled Mia into his lap as he sat back in the corner of the large damask sofa. His care of her rounded the rough edges of this tough, parentless woman-child.