Puzzle (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  “Enhance it the best you can. It’s interesting, and I think Burt’s going to be purple with excitement. There’s a lot of evidence we may be able to use,” she explained before adding, “Oh and Mike promised to babysit our little OOBers.”

  “We better get that in writing. I was a hell of a child according to my mother,” Ted admitted. “Speaking of my mother, we better get ourselves to Kansas soon,” he warned, “or she’ll be coming to us.”

  Mia laughed and hugged the man who was her future.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  I remember digging up the bones and putting them in an old sea chest we’ve had in the family for generations. It was watertight and had a good seal. I brought it home to the farm and over to the little house. I rolled back the rug and used the watch chain to find all of Trevor Deville’s remains and separate them from the rest. The other bones I returned to the chest and locked it.

  Emma had a great spell for bringing back spirits from their bones. It involved quite a lot of materials, and I had to go back to the historical society and collect what I needed. As an afterthought, I took the painting of Trevor. It would help me visualize the man. I realize now this was a mistake.

  The words were chanted, and the oils were poured. Wax candles infused with herbs and extracts found only in the dark shops in the backstreets of New Orleans were used. It took twelve hours, and I almost died of exhaustion, but soon I was rewarded with seeing a small tendril of smoke move upwards from the floor. It moved towards Trevor’s portrait, and as it touched the paint, an image moved out of the frame. It morphed until a full-sized man stood before me.

  “Trevor Deville, I command you by the powers of the four winds to guide me in the dark arts,” I chanted.

  He looked at me with disdain. “Who are you to order a god?”

  “Stewart King,” I said.

  “King of the Stewarts?” Trevor asked.

  I should have said yes, but instead I explained who I was and what I was doing and Emma’s book and what I wanted to accomplish. This was my second mistake; I showed him I was vulnerable.

  “I cannot maintain my form long. Wrap that chain around your wrist and repeat after me.”

  I did as he asked and felt the chain dig into my skin. I saw the spirit form of Deville move towards me. The look on his face had me screaming, but I could not move. So much evil, hate and corruption oozed from every pore. He opened his mouth, and all I could see was darkness. I smelled the foul smell of sulfur and tried to back away, but I could not move. The chain held me there. He came closer and began to eat his way into me, tearing at my skin, until there was nothing left of me, but him.

  There was a pause in the tape. They soon heard Mia’s voice asking, “What happened next?”

  I woke up on the ground. I got up and staggered to the mirror in the bathroom. I saw only my face, pale and soft. I looked down at my arms and legs, and they were whole. Maybe it was all a nightmare. I rationalized that I had fallen asleep while chanting, and Trevor was a bad dream. I walked out into the parlor and covered the symbols. I was shocked to see how much time had passed. I extinguished all the candles and rushed home.

  That night I dreamed someone else’s dreams. I woke myself again and again as the dreams progressed into a horror show of blood and murder. In the morning, I rose early and headed to the school. As I prepared the track for my team’s before-school practice, I started hearing a voice in my head. It came from far away as if I was overhearing a conversation from an open window of a passing car. But it grew, and by the time the children arrived, Trevor was talking to me, making promises and tempting me to continue to listen to him. I did. This was my third mistake.

  The longer I listened, the stronger his hold became. True, there was a payoff. My track team won every meet. The other teams were defeated with the hexes I cast. My basketball team was stronger and faster than the other teams, and soon we dominated the sport. There was talk of having my team compete against the high school varsity members. Graduation happened, and I lost my best players. The next fall, the school district went through restructuring, and I was left with little to none of the original Cougars.

  The principal worked with me, and we recruited boys and even girls to fill the spots, but still the teams did not perform as in previous years. I became angry and dissatisfied with the status quo. The parents started complaining I was working their children too hard. It took the athletes too long to understand the rules of the sports, and we were failing. Deville urged me to pick smarter kids. They could be trained to fill the spots. That’s when I came across Ira Levisohn.

  He wasn’t a strong child, but he used his smarts to do quite well in gym class. He used physics to sink baskets and send volleyballs into spots vacated seconds before by the opposition. He had the makings of a champion. But the little bastard wasn’t interested. I told him of the honor he would bring his school and his parents. He politely declined, and his parents backed him up. His mother even showed up for the kid’s required practice Saturday and informed me Ira had exams and wouldn’t be there.

  This would not do. Deville pushed at me, and between us we came up with a plan to make the child realize his potential. The principal forced the issue, and I had Ira afterschool for a gym detention. I ran him hard around the gym, up and down the stairs. Finally I demanded him to run the halls. I pushed him hard. I pushed him into the ground. His mother found him, and the rest you know. The kid was alive but unresponsive. He was breathing on his own but in a coma.

  I was dismissed and the principal transferred. The EPA came in and tested the air quality of the school and closed it down. I spent more and more time alone in the little house, ignoring the pleas of my father and wife.

  Deville was never stronger than those days in the house. I taught him about the world we live in, and we did puzzles and cyphers to strengthen our mind and keep it sharp. We read through Emma Peat’s book and discussed how we could use the spells to correct the situation and get me rehired and coaching again. It was in her book, we found the power spell. We had everything we needed but a sacrifice. I wasn’t to know until after that I was the sacrifice. This was my last mistake.

  I buried the trunk full of the bones that weren’t his, first. I then followed his instructions and buried his Springfield rifle with the bayonet affixed. We moved his bones into the north of the building and hid them in a box there. Lastly, I hid the watch in the exit sign over the east door. I was confident all would be well. I strode into the gym and climbed up the rope and tied another on the southernmost beam. I started to leave when he stopped me.

  “Put the noose around your neck,” he ordered. I refused. Again and again he ordered, each time threatening me with harm to my father, my wife or an innocent child. I continued to refuse, and then he made his move. He took over my body. I fought him, but he was in my muscles controlling my arms. The noose was placed over my head. He lowered us so that my hands held my body up on the beam. He chanted, and when he was done, he opened my hands and I fell.

  I saw them take my body down. I watched as my wife threw herself on me, beating me with her hands, as if she could wake me. They took away my corpse and left me alone in the gymnasium with Deville. He called the ritual of the four winds, and as the power flowed into us, it strengthened his bond. I knew I had found my hell. I would be forever part of this demon that presented himself as a man.

  A strange thing happened. Due to my ignorance, I had placed the chest of bones in line with the rifle. When Deville would call for power, which he did daily, it woke the soldiers. We saw them walking around one day. He gasped and said, “Shelby! My enemy has awakened.” He hurried me to the basement, and we started to build up our defenses while the ghosts outside were still too weak to come in. I had done extensive research before summoning Deville and knew about how salt would keep the ghosts from entering a structure if all the entrances were sealed with a line of it. To our annoyance, we did not inhabit the building alone. There was a janitor who no sooner did we apply a s
alt line, he would buff it away. The salt burned and weakened us, but less each time we handled it.

  It was Deville who came up with the idea of spraying it through the air by the use of the humidifier. We started off slowly, and as the air no longer burned us, we added more and more until we were convinced we were safe from Shelby and his gang.

  “How did you know you were successful with the humidifier?” they heard Mia ask.

  One of the Plows got curious and tried to walk into the north door when an administrator was there to collect some records. He bounced off. He never tried again.

  “Whose idea was it to test the boys?”

  Deville decided that he could not stand to be attached to my spirit anymore. He wanted a live human host, not a dumb clot like me. This time the body would be strong, and the mind would be brilliant. I think we were originally thinking it would be one of the security workers that came through the place once a month. We would trap them, train them, and he would take over one and release me. I could then be at peace.

  Before that could happen, the boys came and after them the men. Deville said he was spoiled for choice. So we began to test their minds and bodies. I went along with this because I thought if I could get clear of Deville, I could return to the farm and find a method in which to vanquish the demon forever.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have a question,” Mia said. “Why did you toss Dave, the boy with the sight, out, and how did you keep him and me out?”

  When we were teaching the boys to behave and follow instructions, Deville saw that the boy could see us. Deville knew he was dangerous so he hexed the doors so the boy could not reenter.

  “I couldn’t enter either. Was it because I too could see ghosts?” Mia asked.

  No, it was because you’re female. He didn’t want my wife walking in nor did he want to possess a female so he made a barring spell. This is what held you out until he lost his power. All his hexes depended on him having a lot of power. You are different, Mia. Besides the sight and that you can bilocate, you are marked.”

  “Marked?”

  You have little black wings.

  “Wings? Please, it must have been your imagination,” Mia accused.

  It doesn’t matter; it’s what Deville saw. I was looking through his eyes. He chanted a hex. “May the body of the seer work against the sight.” It kept you both out. Little black wings, look for them. They are there, still.

  “Pause tape please,” she requested. Mia looked at the others and said, “I haven’t had the chance to look, but I assure you I don’t have wings. I think he was messing with me. Please continue.”

  I needed to get free. My mind was no longer fuzzy, but I was the weaker member of this unholy duo, and I needed to bide my time. The first indication that I would soon have an opportunity was when I felt the air was different.

  “We cut the water supply off,” Mia explained to the coach.

  Smart move. When the soldiers entered the building and we went looking for what was causing all the noise, we lost the host. He left with the others out the window. But we found Andrew instead. Andrew is Deville’s half-brother. He was the one that brought Ira to us.

  I was shocked. I thought then Ira was dead, and his soul was condemned to walk these halls along with mine. But he wasn’t dead. True, he was trapped, but he wasn’t dead. Deville wanted to use him as bait to bring the genius back into the building. But Ira got free and found Shelby’s group. They protected the boy until he was freed.

  “Why did you attack Cid when you were after Ted?”

  Deville couldn’t wait. He feared that Shelby would wait until his power was drained and attack him. It was foolish, but it helped me to pull away. As you took away the other talismans, he grew weaker and weaker until I was able to separate. When the men were burning his body, he was still attached to me and was drawing power off of me. I went to the book and found the chain. I tossed it in the fire. I was free.

  “If you are free, why are you still here?”

  I’m responsible for the other soldiers being here. I will stay until they are freed. Also, there is still the portrait to be dealt with. Part of Deville is still in there.

  “Thank you, I’ll bring this to the others to hear and get back to you,” Mia said and the tape ended.

  “So what have we learned campers? Mia has wings, Deville wasn’t a drag queen, and ghosts can get used to salt,” Ted listed.

  “We’re not finished. We have to go back to the farm and destroy the portrait,” Mia said.

  “How can you do that?” Anne spoke up. “It’s not yours. It’s the historical society’s.”

  There was a commotion behind Mia, and she turned to see Andrew Morgan pulling at his bounds, trying to pull the handkerchief gag out of his mouth. She stood up and motioned to Murphy to head over there. Dave watched with wide eyes.

  “Excuse me, Shelby, can you take that gag off of Andrew? He has something to say,” Mia said.

  “I’ll do it, but filth will just pour out, I assure you, ma’am.”

  “I’ll take my chances,” Mia said.

  Cid tossed her a tape recorder, and she held it in front of her as she waited for Andrew to be freed from the gag.

  “Trevor died before me. The painting passed to me! It’s my painting. I’ll destroy it,” he vowed.

  Mia nodded and handed the tape back to Cid who rewound it and played it.

  It was faint, but the voice came through.

  Anne looked pinched but nodded. “I’m sorry. It’s your property. You do with it what you want.”

  Mia looked around at the assembly. She nodded to Mike who was in charge. He spoke up. “I appreciate that all of you are tired. Why don’t we sleep on what we have learned, and come back fresh in the morning? Boys, you attend school, which goes double for you, Mason. Patrick, thank you for everything. Without you, Homely and Doc, we wouldn’t have gotten this far. Anne, I will contact you when we know about the burials. Audrey has the watch and rifle which will be returned to the historical society. Not sure how. Maybe anonymously would be best.”

  Burt got up and stretched. He looked over at Mia with concern. He held her eyes for a moment, sending her his compassion. Audrey intercepted the look and was confused by it but let it go.

  Mia rolled her neck to ease the stress there. She took Ted’s offered hand and got up. She walked with him to the PEEPs truck and hopped in the back. He followed her, and once they were away from prying eyes, he held her and let her cry. “What did he do to me?”

  Ted knew it was Angelo she was talking about. He knew that Angelo had saved Mia’s life when a blood clot burst in her brain. While she was under his care, other things had happened that she wasn’t aware of immediately. First her good memories of she and her former lovers were stripped from her. Now her body was showing other signs. All could be tolerated, but Mia knew what the wings represented. She had seen the black tattoos of feathers and seen them move upon the back of Angelo.

  “Why did you let everyone hear all of the tape?” Ted asked softly. “Since you knew what was on it.”

  “I don’t know. I figured it was hooey at the time. But the more I thought about it and then about the other things…”

  “What other things?”

  “While you were in the building, I fell and banged up my knees. I watched as they healed themselves in minutes. Same thing when I hit my chin on the bricks when I fell off the façade. I thought it might have been a residual reaction to some creams that the gray ladies rubbed into my skin. But the wings? Shit.”

  Ted was quiet for a few minutes. Mia pushed away from his arms and looked at him. He looked back at her, a face full of love and admiration. Not the expression of disgust she feared. “Can I see your back?” he asked.

  “Sure, but I’m not certain you will see anything because you’ve not been possessed by a bad ghost.”

  “Ahem, I have,” Burt said from the entrance of the truck.

  They both turned and looked at Burt.


  “That was a long time ago…”

  “A year. If you want me to look, I will. It may ease your fears.”

  “Or compound them,” she said quietly. She turned around and took off her hoodie. She next had Ted raise the back of her shirt while she protected her front.

  Burt looked at her. There, attached to her shoulder blades were faint black lines resembling feathers. “Mia, shrug your shoulders,” he instructed.

  She did. The wings lifted, and when she relaxed, the tattooed feathers fluttered back into place.

  “Thanks, you can lower her shirt.”

  Mia turned around and pulled on the sweatshirt, trying to fight the chill she was feeling. “Verdict?”

  Burt described what he saw. His heart lurched as he saw her eyes begin to fill with tears. “I’m sorry, Mia. Maybe this isn’t a bad thing.”

  Ted motioned for him to leave, and he did, but not without a backward glance. Mia collapsed into Ted’s arms and began to sob. Burt lowered the back door of the truck and stood guard.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Mia walked into the gymnasium and over to Stewart King who hadn’t moved from the place she left him the night before.

  “Get up, Stewart, it’s time to go.”

  He rolled his head with the aid of his left hand and looked at her. “Go where?”

  “First to your hidey-hole to pick up Trevor’s picture, second to your great grandmother’s funeral, and hopefully to your final resting place,” Mia listed.

  “How the hell do you suppose that’s going to happen when I’m trapped here?”

  “Who said you were trapped here? With Deville gone, you can leave this place. You’re going to need a little help, but that’s where I come in.”

  The coach watched as Mia pulled out his whistle and dangled it from her hand. “This carries your essence. We need to get it to your grave.” Mia put it over her head and let it rest on the outside of her clothing. “I’m going to invite you inside my mind. While you’re in there, you will act like a gentleman and leave it nice and tidy. Don’t wander too far afield as there are things in there better left undisturbed. Do you understand me?”