by Alexie Aaron
“Leave here. Save yourselves,” he said before he melted through the cement floor.
“Intel on entity. We think he’s on a lower level now.”
Mia flipped through her maps to find the fastest route down. She pushed through the Moo Shu Express door, hopped the counter, and slid down the still escalator handrail. She moved through an empty clothing store and out the back door. Murphy had taken the easy way and gone through the floor. He and the entity were chatting, Murphy’s way. He had his axe handle across the throat of the man.
“He says that the joint is being run by someone called Maxie Three Thumbs.”
“Say cheese,” Mia said, snapping a picture. “Let him go.”
The entity disappeared.
“Mia to Audrey, get intel on Maxie Three Thumbs, over. Let’s hope he has three thumbs, and it’s not just a small…”
“Mia,” Ted warned. “We’re going for a PG rating.”
Orion had his hand over his mouth as he listened to Mia’s antics.
“Mia heading back for walkthrough, over.”
Audrey looked out and saw Orion. He was sitting in a camp chair with an amused look on his face.
“Are you having fun?”
“Oh yes. If it’s this much fun listening, I can’t imagine how much more fun it will be actually exploring.”
“Mia is a colorful character at times,” Audrey admitted.
“Mia is colorful all the time,” Mike said, walking up. “Although, she has calmed her language down since she had little Brian.”
Burt had his hand on Mia’s shoulder as they walked up. He was talking, and she was nodding. She didn’t looked pleased.
“Uh oh, Daddy’s giving Mia a talking to,” Mike said, misunderstanding what was transpiring between Burt and Mia.
Mia walked by Mike and stuck out her tongue. She reached in the van and picked up a pile clothes and headed for the ladies room.
“Dupree, we’re going live in ten minutes,” Ted warned him.
“Live?”
“Due to Mia’s recent BBB fame, our channel is giving us a live feed for ten minutes today. We are going to the center court. Mia hasn’t seen it yet, and I want to get her reactions,” Burt said. “I didn’t know it was a sure thing until a half-an-hour ago. Ted’s been working on sending the feed live to the cable network. I hate to spring this on both of you, but it’s a chance of a lifetime.”
“Minnie Mouth on live television. Ted, you better have quick reactions because, cable or not, Mia’s language is not ready for Saturday afternoon television,” Mike warned, touching his earcom.
“I have the reactions of a WOW champ, over.”
Cid stuck his head around the corner. “You do know how fast that is, don’t you?”
“I still think this is a bad… Oh my god,” Mike said, his mouth falling open.
Mia walked towards them in the smallest black PEEPs tee that Burt could find. Her pants were belted tight showing off a nice expanse of womanly hips. Mia was wearing boots with a three inch heel. She had let her hair loose and it was falling around her shoulders in a wave.
Mike fell on the floor at her feet.
“Get up. Burt, this shirt is rather uncomfortable. It keeps rolling up. Mike, get up.”
Burt walked over and pulled out her shirt and ripped the bottom half off. Now her midriff was bare and she was showing a lot of muscled stomach.
“Burt, tell Mike to let go of my leg,” Mia pleaded.
“Audrey, Mia’s face is shining. Can you do something about that?”
Audrey dug through her makeup bag and stepped over Mike to put some powder on Mia’s face. “You look fierce,” she said. “I know you don’t want to do this, but it will put us near the top of the ghost hunting shows. I could use a good payday.”
“I feel like a goof,” Mia said and looked down. “Dupree, if you’re looking up my shirt, I swear I’m going to…”
“Mia, PG rating,” Ted said, barely able to speak. “Live in five minutes.”
Mike got up off the floor, took Audrey’s compact and made sure he was camera ready. When he was finished, he said, “Come on, Ice Queen, time to strut your stuff for PEEPs.”
“Hello, I’m Mike Dupree. I’m with my associate Mia Martin, and we’re exploring a haunted mall somewhere in the Midwestern United States. PEEPs has been asked to investigate the claims that this mall is haunted.”
Burt carefully panned the camera and caught Mia tying her boot. She finished and stood up, facing the camera. “We’re burning daylight, Dupree,” she said in what Burt remembered as her bed-me voice.
Ted was going to kill him for setting Mia up this way, and he was going to kill Mia for taking it to the next level.
“The center court has witnessed more than retail extravaganzas. It was here that two teenage males were found hung by the neck,” Mike reported.
“I’m getting a bad feeling about this,” Mia said as she felt a drastic chill. She pulled out a temperature gauge and showed it to the camera. “The temperature is falling ten degrees a minute.” Mia moved away and let Mike take center stage.
“I can feel the energy building as we approach the fabled Death Tree.”
Mia slid through some leaves but managed to keep on her feet. “It’s like a forgotten forest glade. The place is filled with sorrow and music. Is anyone else hearing that?”
“Desperado….” a female voice wailed.
“A high school show choir disappeared here. Five of the members were never found…” Mikes voice trailed off so Cid could use the parabolic dish to pick up the music.
“Burt, cutting transmission in 15, 14…
“Want to know more? Visit us at PEEPs dot com,” Mike said.
“3, 2, and we’re off the air,” Ted finished.
Mia moved towards the tree, mesmerized by the pull of energy. “It’s like a vortex. Murph, get over here and check this out.”
Murphy approached the tree. He backed away, pulling Mia back with him. “Witch tree.”
She backpedaled, but not fast enough. A branch moved towards her and started to wrap around Mia’s outstretched, gloved hand. Mia convulsed as the tree worked off the glove, and her mind became flooded with horrific visions as the branch caressed her hand.
Young people stripped of their dignity. Rocks falling on skulls. Bones ground to powder. A lone skateboarder sailed through the air and the tree swallowing him.
Murphy twisted around, aiming carefully, and cut through the branch six inches from Mia’s hand with his axe. He carried her backwards out of the tree’s range, swiping at anything that moved. “Witch tree,” he warned Burt as he grabbed the back of Mike’s pants and dragged him along with him.
Burt pulled back, still filming the moving tree until it was once again still. He turned around and found Mike laying panting on the ground. Mia was nowhere to be found.
“Ted, Mia’s gone. I think Murphy pulled her out of there. Ted? Ted!”
Ted was bending over his wife. She was in a convulsive state. Her eyes rolled back, and every cell was trembling.
Souls sliced into strips and wound around the roots. Blood and tears absorbed into the hungry wood. A man feeding the blood of lost children to the young saplings.
Orion ran up, winded. “Ted, protect her head. Stephen, hold on to her feet. Mia, friends. Yes, your friends are here.”
Mia’s body calmed down, and her eyelids closed. Orion took hold of her bare hand.
“Come on, Mia, follow my voice.”
Mia was stumbling through the darkness. The smell of rot and mold filled her nostrils. The air was fetid, and her feet felt like they were being sucked down with every step. She heard a voice calling her. It wasn’t Murph’s voice, but she did feel his presence close to her.
“Mia, it’s Orion. Follow my voice.”
“Orion, I can’t see you,” she called into the blackness.
Orion grabbed Murphy’s hand. “Go in and find her. She only has minutes.”
Murphy didn�
�t know what the birdman wanted. He acted on instinct and entered Mia’s mind. He ran the familiar corridors until he saw something out of place. There was a breach in the wall of her mind. He walked into the dark space and called her name. “Mia!”
“I hear you. I’m coming,” Mia said, running towards the green light in front of her. The ground started to fall away. She saw the glint of steel and lunged for it. She hung in the darkness, holding on to Murphy’s axe. She didn’t care that half of her hand was sliced through. The other hand had a firm grip on the wood handle, and she felt herself being pulled forward.
“Look at her hand,” Ted said. Mia’s gloved hand was bleeding.
“Don’t fear. He’s got her. Now we just need to bring them both back,” Orion said. “Stephen, carry her out if you have to.”
Murphy gathered Mia in his arms and stepped out of her body.
“Tell me, Stephen, what did you see?” Orion questioned.
“There is a broken hole in her mind. It was large enough for me to walk through.
Ted could see Murphy and that he was holding something, but what it was he couldn’t tell.
“Ted, you’re the genius. How do you mend a blast hole in a cement wall?”
“You have to do it slowly, piece by piece. Take interlocking bricks, like Legos, and fill in the space and then cover it with cement.”
“Do it,” Orion commanded, putting his other hand on Ted’s temple. “Fix the hole.”
Ted closed his eyes, and he saw the problem before him. He looked around and saw the broken pieces. He began to knock off the jagged edges and started to fill in the space by stacking the newly-formed bricks. He imagined mortar and used it to bind the bricks together. Afterwards, he smoothed the same substance on the wall, making sure there were no cracks.
Orion saw that he was finished, and he let go of Ted. “Stephen, take her back in, and leave her someplace happy and safe.”
Murphy stepped back into her body. He moved through Mia’s mind, stopping where the hole was. He saw the good work that Ted had done. Like Mia and Ted, the patch didn’t match, but the bond was strong and would weather a lot of storms. He had difficulty finding a place that wasn’t wrought with conflict and pain. Mia’s young life was not a carefree one. He passed the spot where Mia first opened up to Burt, but to leave her there would complicate Mia’s life further so he walked towards a place that he’d seen before. In the memory, Mia was baking cookies in her home on the peninsula. He set Mia down, and she merged with the memory. He took one last look at her and left as memory Ted walked in, calling, “Lucy, I’m home!”
“She laughed,” Ted said, looking down at her smiling face.
“That’s good,” Orion responded.
Murphy moved out of Mia, and Ted reached out and took his hand. “Thank you.”
Murphy nodded and then disappeared.
Ted clicked his earcom. “Cid, Murphy needs recharging, over.”
Orion gently nudged Mia. “Wake up, Mia. Come on, you lazy bitch.”
Mia’s eyes flew open. “Who called who a… What’s going on?” She looked at Orion and then up at her husband. “I dreamed about our first...”
“Poor thing is going to be confused for a while,” Orion said. “Mia, you’ve been attacked by a witch tree. It blew a hole in your mind. I sent Stephen in to find you. Then Ted fixed the hole. What do you remember?”
Mia looked at Orion as if he were deranged. “Ted,” she said.
“Yes, Mia.”
“My hand really hurts.” She sat up and tried to take the glove off. She stopped. “It’s full of blood,” she said, concerned.
Orion took her hand, closed his eyes and tried to remember his battlefield training.
“Ouch, that stings,” Mia said.
“How did this happen? Mia, your hand is sliced through,” Orion told her.
“I remember now. I was running, and the ground gave way, and I saw Murphy. He held out his axe, and I grabbed for it as I was falling. I did this to myself,” Mia said. “I swear, I’m the most graceless human being around. Ouch. Orion, I’m a human with fragile bones, and that looks like a bird’s foot.”
“Ted, let me see your right hand. Okay, I see where I went wrong.” There was a loud crackling sound, and Mia withered a moment, spouting words too raw to repeat. Ted was caught between the obvious worry over his wife and the comedy of Orion playing doctor.
When Mia could take off her glove without screaming, she did and found that all was functioning. Aside from a thin scar, it was as good as new.
Murphy reappeared. “The witch tree is hungry and is looking for souls.”
“Who plants a witch tree in a mall servicing humans?” Orion asked himself. “You know, Audrey and I thought the prison was our lead on why all this was happening. But ghosts don’t plant trees.”
“Ahem,” Murphy said. “I do.”
“Oh, I see. But witch trees have to be grown, fed blood and bone. It’s a slow process…” He got up. “I would avoid that area for now. Audrey and I have to look into another possibility. Mia, rest up. I would tell you to go home, but we woke the tree, and we better finish what we’ve started or anyone venturing near this place is in jeopardy.”
They watched the little man walk with purpose back to the command vehicle. Ted helped Mia to her feet.
“How do you feel?”
“I’m a bit confused. I’m starting to remember the visions from contact with the tree, and they are disturbing. They were so horrific that I wanted to escape my mind so…”
“You broke free of it,” Ted finished. “We almost lost you. If it weren’t for Orion’s quick thinking and Murphy’s courage, then I fear, Mia, you would have been lost to us.”
“A broken mind. Just like the vessel Judy has been trying to repair. When we get out of this, we need to tell her,” Mia said. “It’s probably too late, but at least we know what happened to that poor Cahokian maiden. About this live feed, how long have you known about this?” Mia asked, pulling her shirt down over her exposed bra.
“Burt was contacted, and he asked me to work out the bugs. It wasn’t a sure thing until you were chasing down the shadow in the food court.”
“I don’t like surprises,” Mia said.
“Why did you cooperate then?” he asked.
“Burt said that if we could generate more viewers, he could finally pay me all that back rent he owes me. I have recently lost all I have, Ted. I need the money.”
Ted winced. Mia was still thinking in the singular. Murphy watched the couple and worried that Mia was slipping away from Ted.
“What did you dream about, Mia?” Murphy asked her quickly.
“It was the night when I popped Ted’s cherry. He finally believed me about how much I loved him and that he wasn’t just ‘the man of the investigation.’ I was so happy.”
Ted took Mia’s hand and looked down at her. “I want you to be that happy again.”
“Part of what made us work, Ted, is that I knew I could take care of myself if we didn’t work out. It gave me the confidence I needed to truly let go and love you full out. Because if you don’t feel bound to anyone for the necessities in life, you can bind yourself to them voluntarily. I know I’m not making any sense. My mind is still so odd. I keep seeing Legos…”
“It’s a choice not an obligation,” Ted said. “I think I know where you’re coming from. Mia, give us time. I need you.”
“I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not stepping another foot dressed in Burt’s wet dream clothes. I need to put my gear on,” she said, tugging her top down.
Murphy put a hand on Ted’s arm to get him to stay. When Mia was out of earshot, he said, “Mia’s had a lot to deal with since N’awlins. Roumain planted a seed in her brain that made her act out. She is still angry with herself. She’s not lashing out at you on purpose. But I did warn you about burning her stuff.”
“Yes you did,” Ted said. “So you put her back where you thought she was the happiest, huh? I’d have bet y
ou a dollar it was the day she met you,” Ted said, winking at Murphy.
Murphy smiled. “I can’t give her that, Ted. She needs your physical love now more than ever.”
“Ted, Audrey’s running the console, badly. Get your ass back here,” Burt ordered.
Mia washed the dried blood off her hand. She also washed every inch of exposed skin. Her body would reek of the pink, cheap, ladies room soap, but it was better than the scent the tree left. Mia braided her hair and pulled on the tee Ralph designed to fit her curves. She then pulled on the green over-shirt and buttoned the bottom buttons. She still needed the flexibility of the top being open for her shoulders. Next was a new pair of gloves. As she pulled the glove over her left hand, she saw a tiny black tattoo of a feather on the pulse point of her wrist. Was this a residual effect of Orion tapping into her subconscious? She looked at her injured hand and saw that there was nothing there. She exhaled the breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
She sat on the floor and loaded the sawed-off shotgun with rock salt. She stuck it in the scabbard. Mia stood up and pulled the scabbard over her shoulders before sliding Sariel’s sword in the sheath behind her. She practiced withdrawing it a few times before she placed the shield on her back over the two weapons. She patted her pockets, memorizing the contents. Her old cargos were more accessible, but all but one pair was gone now, thanks to Ted.
Mia knew she had hurt Ted with her I instead of we statement, but she couldn’t take back her words. She placed her earcom in and said, “Mia testing com.”
“You’re coming in loud and clear,” Ted responded.
“Private line please.”
“Private line. What’s up?”
“I’m sorry, Ted. When I said I needed the money, I wasn’t excluding you from my life. I was… I don’t know, just talking. It’s been hard coming back into all of this. Burt wants to use my recent exposure, and I’m trying to be cooperative. But I’d rather just be home with Brian and you cuddling on the couch. I know that all of this is part of me, and it’s what we do, but it takes so much away from me. I didn’t seek it. It was thrust upon me. The only good thing that came from having these gifts was meeting you.”