Things that Go Bump in the Night (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  Murphy watched as the man moved through him and over to the wall.

  “How can I help you?” Mia said as she pulled out the shotgun and began to load it with shells.

  Burt grimaced as he watched her but didn’t say a word.

  “Pain! Stop the burning,” it said.

  “Are you on fire?” Cid asked.

  “No! Spikes, spikes hurt!” The mass whirled around and moved towards the three investigators. It spotted the electrician, recognized him and stopped and shouted, “John! How could you? John!”

  John Marvin backed against the wall in terror. “Get away, I don’t know you! You’ve got the wrong man!”

  “Jeffery, this isn’t John. Your John is dead!” she screamed, watching in horror as arms formed and rough hands reached out and grabbed the electrician.

  John felt the viselike grip of the black thing. He looked into the swirling mass and saw his brother’s face. “It can’t be, Jeff?” he managed to choke out.

  “No! I’m Jeff!” a younger man’s voice called from deep beneath the stage. He carried a large flashlight that was quickly dimming as the mass drew the power away. “Let him go. Your John died years and years ago!”

  Mia tossed her gun to Cid and dropped to the floor. She took out a crowbar and began to pry off the wood slats of the flooring underneath the trap. She looked over at Murphy, and he moved to help her, using his axe to clear away the wood. Mia saw that the well had been capped. “My kingdom for a ratchet wrench,” she said as she felt the large bolts holding the metal cap down.

  “John, John, John,” the entity said as he shook the helpless man.

  Cid fired rock salt into the mass when he could see no other way of freeing the man.

  The entity howled and dropped John. It moved towards Cid, and he fired the other barrel. It stopped, drawing its arms in but not disappearing.

  Jeff ran over and knelt by his brother. “He’s still alive,” he called out. “He needs an ambulance.”

  The mass seemed to quiver when Jeff spoke. Burt focused the camera as the mass drifted over towards the two men.

  Mia thought hard about how bolts were tightened and loosened. “Righty tighty, lefty loosey, lefty, left, left, left,” she murmured as she closed her eyes and reached out to the bolts.

  Murphy watched in amazement as the metal bolts began to turn.

  The mass moved into Jeff, and he convulsed before turning around and facing the people who had addressed him earlier. “My brother killed me, stabbed me with a dozen knives and tossed me away, all because of Mandy.”

  John gasped as he saw Jeff turn and look at him. Jeff’s eyes were glowing, casting a green glow over his angry face.

  Murphy moved over and put himself between the angry possessed man and his brother.

  Mia worked the last bolt off and smiled as she pried the lid off easily. She avoided the bolt holes that were glowing red from the heat.

  A pounding of feet were heard overhead as Mike and DJ jumped in the orchestra pit and unbolted the door to the basement.

  “A farmer? Have you come to see the show? Marvin the Magnificent?” The entity spat. “Presto chango? Abracadabra! Well, you’re too late. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Sleight of hand to fool the rubes. Rubes like you!”

  “Tricks. Card tricks?” Murphy managed to say, hopefully buying time for Mia.

  “I need a rope to…” Mia began to explain to Mike.

  “You’re not going down there! Use your mind, Mia. Reach down there and pull up whatever you can find,” Mike instructed. “It’s just like the bottles and glasses.”

  “I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Mia said and stumbled, exhausted. DJ steadied her with his massive hands.

  “Audrey said Marvin had an iron maiden for his disappearing act,” Ted said in her ear.

  “Mike, what the fuck is an iron maiden?” Mia asked.

  “I know this,” DJ said. “It’s a cabinet shaped like a person. Inside are spikes and…”

  Mia rolled her eyes back and willed the object up from the depths. Mike hung over the edge. DJ held on to his belt. He saw the water bubbling.

  “Hot, too hot to touch,” Mia warned before collapsing.

  Murphy pushed the entity out of his way, leaned over and grabbed the top of the rusted metal coffin, pulling upwards with such force that it hit the bottom of the stage before crashing to the ground beside the well.

  Mia shook herself. Keeping one eye on the pale possessed Jeff, she crawled over and asked, “Pry it open, Murph?”

  DJ’s mouth opened when he heard the screech of metal but could not see anyone causing the hinge to snap. He walked over and pulled the slimy lid open.

  “What the hell is that?” he said weakly as the interior was exposed.

  “It’s what’s left of my granduncle,” John said. He had managed his way over with the help of Mike and Cid.

  “You need to pull the remains off the iron spikes. Let John do it if he can stomach it,” Mia said hoarsely. “Murphy, stand away, rusted iron flakes,” she warned.

  There wasn’t much left of the body, but what had survived the cold water oozed as John lifted the body off the iron spikes that impaled it from the back. Cid and Burt managed to help him lift the corpse free of the maiden and set it down on the ground.

  Jeff wavered as the spirit left him and hovered over its body.

  Mia called out, “Jeff’s fainting.” Mike reached him and eased him to the ground before picking up the camera Burt discarded.

  Bev and Audrey arrived with a few light disks in hand. They lit them and gagged as John Marvin’s body was exposed.

  “I hate it when they’re juicy,” Bev said, holding her nose. She walked over to Mia and asked, “What’s the matter with you? Get up, you’re not finished yet.”

  Mia bit back the cuss words that filled her mind.

  “Well, if you’re not able, mind if I do it?” Bev asked permission.

  “Go ahead,” she said and lay back on the ground.

  Audrey pushed past Bev and knelt down and cradled Mia’s head in her hands.

  “Honestly,” Bev winced at the display of affection. “Okay, Jeff Marvin…”

  “Yes,” the security guard answered.

  “No, not you. The first one,” Bev clarified. “Is there anything else you need to say before the hounds drag you off to hell?”

  “Beverly Cooper!” Mia admonished. She sat up and pushed Audrey’s restraining hands away as she struggled to get to her feet.

  Bev chuckled and stepped away.

  Mia teetered over and looked down at the lost soul winding its way through the exposed bones. “Jeff, your brother’s namesake has freed you from your watery grave. Can you forgive your brother for his transgressions against you?”

  “He didn’t understand. Mandy and I were goofing around upstairs when the door to the elevator snapped shut, chopping off her head. I ran to him, and he helped me hide her. He told me that after rehearsal we would go to the police and explain what happened. The last thing I remember is entering the maiden.”

  The others, with the exception of Murphy, didn’t see the regret in the entity’s eyes. Mia did and asked softy, “Can you forgive the actions he took in his fright and in his haste?”

  “Yes, I can. Are those his sons?”

  “No, they’re his grandsons. Looks like one of them has followed you into the family business,” Mia pointed out. She waved the boys over. “Come here, he’s not going to bite.”

  The boys walked over, and Mia sat back on her heels a moment before rising. She felt DJ’s strong arms lift her up. “Thank you,” she said. “Mind if I lean?”

  DJ just put a strong arm around the exhausted little woman and let her lean against him.

  Mia watched the brothers as they approached the corpse. They didn’t see what Mia did, but perhaps they saw more. To them this was a fallen hero, not a misunderstood sibling.

  “Mia, I hate to break this up, but the ambulance has pulled in and the EMTs are on the
ir way down.”

  “EMTs on the way,” Mia announced.

  The paramedics hustled down the stairs and took a look at the fleshy corpse on the ground, and one of them said, “I think we’re too late.”

  Mia put a hand up to her mouth to stop the laughter from bubbling out.

  Audrey directed them to John, and they gently walked him away from the open well and up the stairs.

  “Is he still here?” Jeff asked, looking down at the corpse.

  “Some part of him is. Perhaps we could help arrange a burial for him. Sometimes this helps them to move on. Sometimes they don’t,” she warned.

  Audrey approached Jeff. “Do you think you can make time to tell us your end of things? Maybe if we put together the whole story, it will help,” she suggested.

  He nodded and reached over and pulled a quarter from her ear.

  Bev sighed. She walked over and asked Mia, “You mind telling me why you’re all jelly-legged?”

  Mia gave Mike a warning glance before she said, “Lots of stairs, no stamina.”

  “Uh huh?” Bev let it go. She turned and took a closer look at the corpse and the size of the spikes. “If I were him, I’d be pissed off too.” She headed up the stairs.

  Mia waited until she was gone before she let DJ carry her into the theater through the orchestra pit. He put her in a chair and went back in for her backpack and shotgun. He and Cid managed to cover the well so no one would fall in accidently. It would have to be searched before it could once again be sealed.

  Burt wandered out and sat down next to Mia. “Not your run-of-the-mill average paranormal investigation, is it?”

  “This one has its highlights. Are we done yet?”

  “That’s up to Mike. His investigation. I’m just the cameraman.”

  “Kind of a busy week. Two corpse removals,” Mia said.

  “Several crossings,” Burt added. “Find those dogs yet?”

  “Effing hell, no,” Mia said.

  “I’d help you, but I can’t see them.”

  “Well, it’s turned me off having a dog on the farm,” Mia said.

  “I think ghost dogs are a bit harder to deal with,” Burt observed.

  “Heads up,” Ted’s voice chimed in their ears, “Police are on their way in.”

  “Thanks, Ted,” Burt said and got to his feet. “You coming?”

  “No, I think I’ll sit a while longer and take in the view,” Mia said, looking up at the stage. She looked up into the catwalks, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  The Will County Coroner’s van was parked in front of the building along with several marked and unmarked Joliet police cars, when the PEEPs team returned to The Jewel the next morning. The police had requested that the paranormal group go to headquarters and make statements about finding the body. They had mutually agreed to go with the odor element.

  “Cid and I were down there investigating, and a wave of stench hit us. We thought incorrectly that the sewer had backed up. We reported it to management,” Mia said, wrinkling her face in disgust.

  The brothers had a different story. They had been looking for the grave of their lost granduncle for some time. When they heard about an old well being found, they put one and one together and decided to take a peek.

  Juan Carlos’s security chief, Darren Joseph, assisted in the endeavor and was startled to find when he explored the well’s interior an antique piece of magical equipment. How it was fished out wasn’t discussed, much to the relief of all.

  Beverly Cooper had ducked out the front door when the police came in the back. She cooled her heels at the casino waiting for Gerald’s driver to pick her up there. She won seven thousand dollars at the blackjack table and split it with Benito who accepted the gift quite graciously.

  It took awhile to recover the remains of John Marvin and search the well. The police requested the paranormal team leave the theater but stay in the county. Juan Carlos’s security team would watch their equipment. Ted backed up all the files and secured the truck to keep all, including the police, out.

  Mike, pleased as could be with the results of the investigation, treated the team to Outback. The team dined on steaks and lobster tails and drank until all but Cid, who had lost the draw and was designated driver, were silly.

  Mia’s energy was back. Her step was lighter and mood happier. She frowned when she spotted the cage of dogs in the hall. She had hoped that Murphy would have found the remaining dogs. She felt bad that they had to leave him alone at the theater last night. But he decided on his own that a team member should stay behind and watch their equipment. The police, in his eyes, could only handle the miscreants that they could see. She found him chatting up the two would-be chorus girls in the balcony. Mia felt a pang of jealousy move through her. She scolded herself, “Mia Cooper, you can’t have your Ted and Murphy too.”

  Murphy smiled as she approached. She caught him up on what went on at the police station and what was going on today. “I guess we are going to give as much information as we know to the detective in charge of John Marvin’s cold case. His grandnephews would have liked to have kept the skeleton in the closet, but Juan Carlos has expressed very strongly that if they cooperate with police, apologize to Marc and repair the damaged wall, then he will not press charges against them.”

  “Juan Carlos, scary Sulu,” Murphy said, faking a chill.

  “Murph, I’m speechless. Just when I think I have brought you up to date… Oh, nevermind. Hey, have you seen our last two dogs?”

  “Blackie and Bouncy,” Murphy started.

  “You named them?” Mia interrupted.

  “The girls named them,” he explained. “They are too hard to catch alone. Need you.”

  “Why not ask the girls to help you?”

  “Meow,” Murphy said under his breath, enjoying the green-eyed comment. “They can’t touch them.”

  “K. Well, after the meeting upstairs, I’ll help you search. You’re invited by the way, but try not to aggravate Mike, he’s got a hangover.”

  “Tempting,” Murphy said but declined the invite.

  He watched Mia walk up the aisle. She nodded to the man sitting, waiting for the show and continued her way to the office suites.

  He turned and looked out over the theater,taking in the ambiance of the place. He smiled remembering the first time his father took him to see a show. It was a magic show, coincidentally. They stayed only for the magicians and left before the girls took the stage, much to the disappointment of thirteen-year-old Stephen. He would later sneak back and sit through the whole show, quite amazed at the scantily dressed women.

  Mia arrived just before the Marvins. She sat down in the chair Ted saved for her. She looked at Audrey and Burt across from her. He was helping Audrey arrange her research materials. Mike was talking to the man assigned to the cold case. Juan Carlos sat reading some reports, and DJ stood in the corner watching all of them. He winked at Mia when she looked over at him. He had chosen not to say anything about how the bolts were loosened, just that they opened the well. Mia felt she had made a friend in the large man and had been done a favor she would remember and return if she was ever asked. Besides Mike and Ted, Darren Joseph was the only other person that knew of her ability. She wanted to keep it that way for awhile. It could disappear at any time. She didn’t want it exploited or expected. It was painful, giving her an extreme headache, and she had no idea how to stop the heat when dealing with metal.

  Jeff and John Marvin came into the conference room. Standing beside each other, Mia could see the family resemblance. John looked more like the Marvin the Magnificent depicted in the old poster than Jeff did.

  Jeff took one of the remaining two seats. John walked over and handed a small leather-bound book to the detective explaining, “It’s pretty much a confession. We’d like it back if possible.”

  The man opened the book and read it silently. He stopped and took a few notes and handed the book to one of the officers
at the door. “Could you run a few copies of this and return the book to the Marvin family?” he requested. He stood up. “Hello, for those who I haven’t already made the acquaintance of, I’m Detective David Price. I’ve been asked to draw a line under this case and close it. I would like to thank you for attending. I imagine you’re as interested as I am in what happened here prior to the fire. From what I’ve been able to piece together from the materials and statements that have been presented, this is what happened at The Jewel that fateful August afternoon.”

  He walked over to the white presentation board and flipped it over. On it was a carefully drawn blueprint of the three floors of The Jewel burlesque theater. To this he added archived pictures of the two twin magicians.

  “John and Jeffrey Marvin were employed as Marvin the Magnificent, a magic act that specialized in vanishing and reappearing. They were highly paid performers that took their profession very seriously. John and Jeffrey, contrary to a recent fictional account in The Prestige, didn’t hide from the other performers that they were identical twins. John dealt with the sleight of hand tricks and Jeffery the big production vanishing tricks. Jeffery, according to his previous criminal records,” the detective nodded to Audrey, who no doubt had alerted him of them, “had a problem with the drink, temper and was quite a violent man at times. He however wasn’t a murderer. The afternoon Mandy Markowitz died, she and Jeffery were fooling around in the elevator. Darren Joseph has shown me the elevator in question and demonstrated the defect that may have caused the hard snap-back of the door, which in Mandy’s case killed her instantly by decapitation.”

  He turned to Juan Carlos and advised, “You should remove it as soon as possible. It will not pass code.”

  Juan nodded and made a note.

  “Now we come to the part of the story the evidence does not tell us.” He picked up the book, flipped to the marked pages and read: