Eternal Maze

by Alexie Aaron

  Mia ended the call and looked around for the farmer. “Murphy?” She felt a tingle and turned quickly around. There in front of her stood the long dead Stephen Murphy. He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to go and help find some missing kids?”

  Murphy pushed back his hat on his head. A lock of pewter gray hair escaped the hat and fell over his forehead. His dark pupils twinkled. He rubbed his permanent five o-clock shadow in thought. He nodded. He spread his hands wide and pointed at the ladder.

  “You’re right, I need to at least take the ladder down. Thanks, Murph.” Mia rushed over and pulled the heavy piece of equipment away from the house and disengaged the lock. The top fell into the middle and then the middle into the bottom of the ladder. Mia laid it against the house and rushed about picking up her work tools and piling them on the porch. “April’s not coming back until next week. I think I can leave a mess on her porch,” she explained to the resident ghost.

  Mia then ran into the woods where she and Ted had built a small mausoleum over Murphy’s resting place. She opened a panel and turned off the alarm before reaching in and extracting a canvas bag holding Murphy’s tie to this plane of existence, a cast iron axe head.

  Murphy was rarely around when she did this. Mia mused that maybe being too close to one’s grave reminded one of being, well, dead. Stephen Murphy was a very active apparition who had saved Mia’s life more times than she had chipped her polished nails. They were a duo. A pair that her present boyfriend Whit had to work at getting used to.

  “Whit! Fuck me and leave me a rose, I better break the news to him that he’s going stag tonight,” she said out loud just in case Murphy was near. She put the axe head in the truck before she dialed Whit’s number. She was overjoyed when the call went straight to his voicemail. The Sherriff’s deputy was still on homecoming parade duty and wouldn’t be taking personal calls. “Whit, this is Mia. There’s an AMBER Alert out for two little girls who went missing at the Carver corn maze over near Hillsborough. I’m heading over there to join in the search. Ted suggested that I would be able to move quickly with my superwoman powers. Sorry, copper, I won’t make it back in time for the dance. I’ll call you later. Bye.” Mia hung up. “Imagine me, Mia Cooper, town freak, standing up the homecoming king. Who would have thunk it?” Mia said before she glanced at the map Ted sent and put the truck in gear.

  Chapter Three

  “I’m here to see Theodore Martin,” Mia told the officer at the entrance to the Carver’s parking area.

  He radioed her name into the officer in charge. After a few seconds she was given the go ahead and was asked to park next to the PEEPs vehicle. She thanked the young policeman and drove in. The lot was nothing more than a shorn, fallow field with colorful scarecrows marking the lanes. She wove her way around police vehicles until she spied Ted standing near the command vehicle. His tall, lanky frame belonged in a Calvin Klein ad more than hunched over a computer console.

  Ted directed her into the spot next to the large black truck. His ease of movement held a grace Mia wouldn’t have normally attributed to the techie. But he was in his element. When Ted connected with problems worthy of his genius, he transformed into a superhero. His choice would have been Batman, which made Mia Robin today. He opened the door for her. “Welcome to my nightmare,” he said as he offered her his hand.

  “Hello, Ted, I’m from PEEPs, we’re here to help,” Mia said in her best serious voice.

  He smiled as she used the catchphrase Mike often used. “Speaking of we, did Murphy make it?”

  “Oh, I think so. Either Murphy’s riding with me or my radio dial has a roaming problem, keeps picking up Patsy Cline songs. If I have to listen to ‘Crazy’ one more time, I’m going to chuck his axe out the window.”

  “Cool beans.” Ted motioned for Mia to climb aboard the command post vehicle. “Let me bring you up to date. The police have found a drag path through the west maze wall and one lost shoe. They think it’s the youngest girl Alice’s. They’re bringing in scent dogs, but they are still an hour away. The local community is calling for volunteers to search the sixty acres of standing corn but…”

  “You know I can do this faster. I take it I’m looking for bodies?”

  “Hopefully not. Anything that would give us an idea of what direction the kidnappers were moving in once they got ahold of the girls. The police think this kid Craig is in on it. I don’t think so.”

  Ted had a map - an aerial view compliments of Google Earth - of the field onto which he had placed an overlay of the maze displayed on the large monitor. He didn’t need to tell Mia what the big red X signified. “Your gut says?” Mia led.

  “I think they got nabbed by an entity. The place has the same feel to it that the church did in the hollow.”

  Mia suppressed a shudder of revulsion. “Okay, you watch my body while I take a look around. I’d rather not be stared at.”

  “Already thought of that.” He led Mia beyond the console to an area where he had set up a lounge chair. He blocked it off from sight with a stack of equipment boxes. On the chair was a worn child’s blanket.

  Mia picked it up and hugged it asking, “Is this your blanky?”

  Ted colored and hushed her.

  Mia lay down and covered herself with it. Urgency dictated her to rise immediately out of her body. She moved quickly out of the truck and into the open air. Murphy was waiting for her. The two of them moved swiftly through the dried cornstalks to the place the children went missing. She moved around the white jumpsuited technicians swiftly, trying to pick up any clues of her own. She looked at Murphy, and he shook his head.

  “I’m going to look from up there. You try to follow the drag path. Signal me if you find something.”

  Murphy looked at her and said seriously, “Be careful.”

  “I always am,” Mia replied. She closed her eyes and imagined a large eagle, complete with the sight and glide of this majestic bird.

  Murphy watched as she morphed into a flying creature and flapped her wings, pulling her up and away from him. He shook his head and used his axe to aid in moving through the corn.

  Mia took herself higher, using the natural air currents to aid her glide. She concentrated on the area west of the maze. Her eyes picked out field mice and rabbits moving away from the searchers that were walking down the rows of corn. Mia circled farther afield and saw something much larger than a rodent. She dove down letting the speed of the fall take her quickly to the spot.

  Mia started to morph back into her persona of a hoodied, cargo-panted girl before she touched down on the ground. She walked over to the teenager who laid still on the cold ground. She had found Craig. She watched him a moment and caught a small flicker of a pulse in the carotid artery in his neck. He was alive. Mia willed herself back to her body, and in seconds she was shouting for Ted.

  “Whoa, calm down.”

  “I found Craig. Help me up, I’ll show you where.”

  Ted picked her up and brought her to the monitor. It took a few seconds for Mia to transfer her eagle-eyed view to the image before her, and she pointed to the place. “He’s here and still alive but badly broken.”

  Ted radioed the officer in charge and relayed the area to be searched. Mia stamped the feeling back into her legs and followed Ted out of the command post. She ran hard, trying to keep up with the long legged techie. They made the area just before the police did. Mia dropped to her knees and put a hand on Craig’s neck.

  “He’s still with us.”

  Three policemen sporting cuts from the dry corn leaves burst through the row. One moved Mia aside and began to administer first aid to the teenager.

  CRACK! The sound of Murphy’s axe reverberated through the field.

  Mia looked at Ted. “He’s found something,” Mia said and puzzled at the direction of the noise.

  CRACK!

  Ted nodded and pointed ahead of them. Mia followed as he pushed through the corn, heading north in the direction of Murphy’
s siren song.

  CRACK!

  They were getting closer. Mia was exhausted from the bilocation but forced herself to move. She heard a noise behind her. She whirled around her and saw that one of the deputies had decided to follow them. She waved him past her. “Follow the noise, or the giant with the long legs.” She took a few deep breaths and was soon on the heels of the officer.

  CRACK!

  Ted burst through the row of corn and stopped as a macabre image assaulted his eyes. There before him was a scarecrow with its wired arms encircling a young woman keeping her inches off the ground. Her head was twisted and hung limply. There was no doubt that she was dead. Her arms were covered with deep slices and her legs were broken. Her feet danced upon the ground, pushed by the strong afternoon breeze that tunneled along the break in the plantings. She looked like a marionette.

  “Oh my god!” a male voice said behind Ted.

  Ted turned around pale and raised his hands. “Who the fuck would do such a thing?”

  Mia walked out from behind the deputy whose body shielded her from the horror they were experiencing. Murphy stood mutely beside the brutalized teenage girl, and beside him stood a pale image of the girl.

  Mia looked at her and asked, “Melanie?”

  The girl shook her head no.

  “It’s Rita,” Mia said and walked to the dangling corpse.

  “Don’t touch anything,” the deputy said and opened his com link by touching the radio mic on this shoulder. “We found Rita Anderson. We’re northwest of the maze on a farm lane, 500 yards from the fallen teenage boy.”

  “Rita’s condition?” the voice on the other end asked hopefully.

  “Deceased,” the deputy answered.

  Mia moved away from the area in the guise of looking for footprints. She felt Murphy as he moved the young lady over to where Mia was walking. Mia whispered, “Do you know where you are?”

  Rita nodded.

  “Do you know that you’re dead?”

  Rita threw her hands in the direction of her corpse and glared at Mia.

  “Do you know who took your sisters and Melanie?”

  Rita shook her head but pointed north. “You should move on now. Don’t stay in this place of grief. I will find your sisters.”

  Rita put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

  Mia looked at the stubborn young woman and then said to Murphy, “You watch her. I’ve got to continue to look for the girls.” Mia stopped a moment, a flood of questions filling her mind. She turned back to Rita and asked, “Are we dealing with flesh and blood humans?”

  Rita held up her first finger.

  “Are we dealing with ghosts?”

  Rita held up two fingers.

  “Shit,” she cursed. Mia moved past Murphy and Rita and trotted over to Ted. She gently turned him away from the scene and pulled him along with her north in the direction the girls were taken. “Ted, there is nothing we can do here. I have information that we’re dealing with a human and ghosts. Call Burt and get him here. I’ll call Sheriff Ryan - remember him from the hollow? I think that someone evil has the girls, and he is being abetted by two entities.”

  “Where did you get your information from? Murphy?”

  “No, Rita. She refuses to move on until we make sure her sisters and friend are safe.” Mia felt a chill and looked up at the sky. “Damn, rainclouds. I’m going to see if I can find a trail. I’ll follow this lane until it dead ends up there.” Mia pointed north. “I’ll move through the corn north. I wouldn’t mind if you sent some of the officers after me when they arrive.”

  “You never could resist a man in uniform,” Ted said.

  “Nah, I’m stuck on Murphy, but Murphy can’t help me with whomever took those girls and killed Rita. For that I need a law enforcement professional.”

  ~

  Deputy Whitney Martin took his time admiring himself in the bathroom mirror. His blue eyes were enhanced by the ice blue shirt he wore. He could only see the top half of himself, so he stepped up on the tub to see the bottom half. Dressed in an expensive tuxedo, he looked ready to receive an Oscar more than attend the alumni homecoming dance. He stepped down and picked up a comb. He pulled it through his thick, dishwater blonde hair. It was well trained and fell into place. He took a last look at himself in the mirror before gathering his stuff and heading out the door.

  He was disappointed that Mia wasn’t going to be with him, but he understood the nature of the emergency. He hoped they found the girls. Perhaps they just got lost in the corn. He was concerned that once again she would be teaming up with Ted. There was chemistry there. He didn’t understand it, but he had witnessed the body language between the two of them and knew he better not underestimate the pull the Ichabod Crane techie had on his little Mia.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a pounding on his apartment door. He smiled, thinking Mia had made it back in time. He pulled open the door and stood ready to dazzle Mia, only to see his boss Sheriff Ryan staring back at him. His military haircut and iron stance broadcasted that he wasn’t anyone to trifle with.

  “Sorry, son, but duty calls. Ditch the monkey suit and grab your gear. We have a child-stealing monster to hunt.

  Chapter Four

  Mia felt the plow wind long before the rain started. She pulled the hood of her jacket up, protecting her head from the drizzle of light rain that had followed the wind. She kept her eyes moving from the ground, looking for footprints, to the cornstalks in front of her. She had been pushing forward for a quarter of an hour before she was joined by two Harbin County Sherriff deputies. Deputy June Monroe was fresh out of the academy. Standing next to her tall willowy body made Mia feel like a munchkin. She was accompanied by Deputy Bradford “Call me Butch” Alar. He led with his tremendous stomach but carried himself well considering his girth. They were armed with standard issue service weapons, and Mia was thankful for that.

  Mia stopped and backed up. She saw something in her peripheral vision. There lying on the ground to her right was a small, orange anklet sock. It had a trim of tiny flying bats circling the top.

  “I found a sock,” she announced. “A little girl’s sock.” She stepped back and let Butch handle the find. He recited chapter and verse what they were supposed to do with evidence to June. Mia was a bit annoyed as she didn’t know she was on a training mission. “Excuse me. Call this in,” she insisted. “I’m going to continue to search.”

  Butch looked up at her annoyed but did as requested and called the find to the OIC, the officer in charge of this operation. He heard his mother’s voice in his head telling him to give each stranger he meets three chances before judging them.

  Mia pushed in the direction the found sock led her, and soon she was free of the corn. She faced a valley with a thirty foot drop from where she stood. “Good thing I wasn’t running.” She picked up her phone and called Ted.

  “Talk to me, goddess of the corn,” Ted teased.

  “We found a sock, I think it’s Alice’s. They moved further north than I originally thought. I’m standing on a ridge above a small river valley. Below me is a large structure, three, no, four stories tall. Windows are busted out. Further on, there’s a road, doesn’t look used much.”

  “I’m looking at the map, keep talking,” Ted insisted.

  Mia heard a small scratching sound and looked over in that direction. She saw her friend standing with Rita. Murphy stopped moving his axe against a granite boulder once he had her attention. He pointed to a spot ten feet from him. Mia walked over. “Ted, I see where they descended from the cliff. I see slide marks. Looks like four separate distinct slide marks. One murdering monster, three girls.” Mia pulled the phone from her face and shouted, “Deputies! I found a trail. Don’t run there is a…”

  Mia watched in horror as Butch moved too fast, stopped too late and went over the side of the cliff. He bounced, slid and tumbled to the bottom of the cliff. His momentum was stopped by a snarl of raspberry bushes. He rolled onto his back and gave M
ia a thumbs up sign.

  June looked from Mia to Butch and back to Mia again. “What do I do?”

  “Call it in,” suggested Mia. “I’m going to go down and see if I can aid the deputy.” Mia rolled her eyes at Murphy and cautiously tested the ground where the kidnapped girls had been brought through.

  “Mia!” Ted’s voice came faintly from her pocketed phone. “Oh, sorry, Ted. We have a deputy that has gone over the cliff. He seems fine at the moment, but I’m going down to check him out. The other is wringing her hands atop the cliff. What exactly did you send after me, a comedy show?”

  “Negative on that. They looked okay and were eager.”

  “Do you have a fix on where we are?”

  “Yes, I’ve radioed the position to the OIC. I don’t know what the building is yet, but I have a local coming in to look at the map for me.”

  “Good, as soon as you know, give me a jingle. I will continue on. I thought I found Dr. Livingston back there in the corn, but June informs me I am too far north.” She heard Ted chuckle before he hung up.

  Mia decided to take the descent of the cliff on her behind. She slid down the loose dirt and managed to not tumble head over heels by putting her hands out to each side to steady herself. She made the bottom safely. Mia got to her feet and took off running towards the prone figure of Deputy Butch. “Are you okay?” she said, dropping down beside the man.

  “Sure, I landed on my head.” He gave her a weak smile.

  “Let’s do inventory here. Can you move your legs?” Mia asked. She continued to ask if he could move fingers, toes, arms, until she forgot what else was important. “Oh yeah, how’s your neck?”

  Butch slowly moved it back and forth. “Seems to be holding my head on.” He tried to sit up. Mia stifled a laugh as the poor soul was doing his best. She offered a hand, and soon Butch Alar was on his feet.

  “You sure you’re okay?” Mia asked as she watched him check for his weapon, flashlight, and other deputy sundries.