by Alexie Aaron
“Tom, how long has Whit been missing?” Audrey asked, pulling out her suitcase from the back of the van.
“A few days. He always calls his mother on Sunday, so when he missed the call, she became worried.”
“If he got pulled into a paranormal situation, he may not be aware of the time or days passing,” Burt said. “To him, he’s only been gone a few hours.”
“So, he might not be in danger at all, just in a different time. That’s something to think about,” Tom said.
“Mia told me that when she’s OOBing, she has to concentrate on time. Otherwise, she could be gone for days, but to her it’s just a few minutes,” Audrey told Tom.
“It’s a dangerous thing crossing the veil,” Burt said. “Let’s hope for the best. Whitney is resourceful. I’m going to get my gear stowed, and then let’s head over to that diner up the street. I’m in the mood for a greasy burger and a slice of pie.”
~
“Your ma makes the best pie,” Mia said, putting another slice on her plate.
“How can you eat so much?” Mike asked.
“I’ve always had a high metabolism. Audrey thought it would slow down after I had Brian, but if I don’t eat, I drop weight pretty fast.”
“I hate you,” Mike said.
“I’m crushed. Do you want some ice cream?” Mia asked, sticking her head in the freezer.
“Cooper, you’re killing me.”
Mia looked over at Mike, took sympathy, and put the ice cream back. The pie would be enough. They sat at the kitchen table sharing stories. The pain of her sore ribs had abated enough that Mia didn’t need any painkillers. She knew she was vulnerable when she was on the opiate. Mike hadn’t taken advantage, but she knew she was playing with fire every moment they were alone together.
“Tell me about your first time, Cooper.”
“Oh, gee, let me think… No.”
“Why?”
“Why are you so interested?”
“I want to get to know you. I want to know why you’re the way you are,” Mike confessed.
“You mean why I’m so damaged? You’ve met my parents.”
“No, something happened after you graduated and left Big Bear Lake.”
“Lots of things happened,” Mia said frowning. A strange look crossed her face. Mike could have sworn it looked as if Mia had to force herself to remember. She didn’t look happy. “I didn’t make very good choices. I was pretty lost,” she said finally.
“I assumed you went to live with your grandmother,” Mike said.
“Not right away.”
“Ralph?”
“No. Although, I did go to Chicago. I was such a rube. The city is a hard place for a person with the sight. There are some areas where you can’t tell the living from the dead. At night it’s easier. I crashed during the day and went out at night. I found a group of hackers - I guess they would call them black hats now - to hang with. I ran errands and brought them food, and they gave me a cot in the corner.”
“So you’ve always been attracted to computer geeks,” Mike said. “Burt said you didn’t have a computer at the sanctuary.”
“Yeah, they can be addictive. Fear not, I’m not addicted to computers.”
Mike studied her face. “I’m addicted to women.”
“No you’re not. You just don’t like sleeping alone. I don’t blame you.”
“You don’t blame me for being a womanizer?”
“In the beginning, I was repulsed by you, until I saw that you were always upfront with your conquests. You weren’t promising anything but a night or two of love. I’m not a prude. Guys can get away with that. We females get a reputation quick.”
“You’re right. You moved through three guys in a short time yourself. When I pushed Ted at you, I thought you’d pop his cherry and move on. I never thought you’d settle down.”
“I didn’t either. Ted didn’t give up. I don’t want to think of where I’d be if it wasn’t for him.”
“Ah, gratitude.”
“No, it’s love, Mike. I’ve never had sex with anyone I didn’t love.”
“That’s the difference between us, I guess,” Mike said thoughtfully.
“I don’t want you to misunderstand me, Mike. I’m not condemning you. If I could have not been in love with the men I shared my body with, I wouldn’t carry so much loss inside.”
Mia got up and took their empty plates and washed them. Mike picked up a dishtowel, dried them and put them away.
“I’m going out for a smoke,” Mike said, pulling on an old jacket. He was surprised when Mia did the same. They walked out past the orchard to an old bench behind the old corn crib. “This is where I used to go and hide from my mother. Now, I just take my bad habit here.”
“Can I have one?” she asked, putting her hand out.
“You smoke?” Mike asked, handing her a cigarette.
“I did.” Mia took the cigarette, looked at it, and the end burst into a small fire. She did the same to Mike’s. “This would have come in useful when I did smoke.”
“I have a whole different picture of you.”
“Tell me who you thought I was?”
“Judgmental little goody two-shoes.”
Mia laughed. “I burnt down my house and disappeared for five years after graduation. Where did the goody two-shoes come from?”
“You nursed your grandmother.”
“Yes I did, but not until after she rehabilitated me. You see, Mike, if you’re a sensitive and don’t want to see ghosts, you drug yourself, whether it’s alcohol or other depressives. Never peyote, that brings on the critters.”
“Mia, I had no idea.”
“Mike, I lived in a very dark place for such a long time. No one knows.”
“The mind readers must.”
“No. Not even Murphy. Only you. You see, if I tell you this, and Angelo or Father Santos reads you, then it’s open season on Mia and Mia’s old friends.”
“That bad?”
Mia looked at him, and her eyes glowed yellow. “That bad. If my fucking parents hadn’t put a moratorium on magic with my grandmother and I was told that I was some kind of hybrid instead of just a freak, then maybe I could have avoided what happened.”
Mike reached out and took Mia’s hand. “Don’t tell me anymore. I was just curious. I don’t want to cause you pain.”
“I believe you.”
“Take me flying, Mia?”
Mia looked over at him surprised. “I’m not very good at it. I could drop you.”
“I’ll take the chance.”
Mia took off her jacket and her shirt. She handed Mike the leather band he had given her. “Tie my straps back,” she instructed.
He no sooner did when the tattoos began to move. Mia turned around, and as she extended her wings, she grew to compensate for Mike’s size and weight. She waved him over and turned him around. She put her arms around him from behind, lifting him slightly off the ground, and took off running.
Mike’s breath caught in his throat when they became airborne. Mia took him into the space where Sariel had taught her to fly.
“Open your mind so I can talk to you!” she shouted.
Mike did so.
“This is where angels and birdmen fly. We can fly at any altitude, and no one will see us. Planes and birds can pass through us, yet we are solid.”
Mia flew him around for a while before she took him up. “Squeeze my hand if you’re uncomfortable,” she said. “I’m not sure if you can breathe up here.”
He nodded. He watched as they climbed so high that he could see the curvature of the earth. He felt that he was in a pocket of warm air. Mia held him tightly to her body. She gave off the feeling of protection and love. There was no mistaking it. Mia unknowingly had let him know that she loved him. Like Murphy, he knew that she wouldn’t make love to him, but she loved him just the same. He wouldn’t ask her anymore about the dark years. If she brought up the subject, he would listen.
“Ther
e is a storm approaching. I’m not that confident with my flying to weather a thunderstorm. I’m taking us down. Hold on.”
She wrapped her wings around them and let gravity take them down quickly. Once they were under the cloud layer, Mia soared in lazy circles until she set down about ten feet from her clothes.
She quickly became Mia size. Mike untied her straps, and he helped her on with the jersey and the jacket. He looked a moment at his wristlet and gave it back to her. “You still have that?” he asked.
She put it on and smiled. “I consider it a good luck charm.”
“Thank you, Mia, for the flight and the trust.”
“You’re welcome, Mike. Let’s not let this get weird.” The sky flashed, followed by a rumble. Mia flinched.
“Come on, I’ll race you, Cooper,” Mike said, taking off running.
Mia caught up to him. They ran together into the house.
~
Ted checked the gas gauge. The problem with travelling in the command center truck was that it was a gas hog. They had to stop and fill up already.
He was tired, and he missed his wife. He called her and received no answer. But he also knew that Kansas was experiencing thunderstorms. Mia would have turned off her phone and probably was hiding with her head under a pillow. He left her a message. Orion had called him earlier. He said that Brian’s first treatment went well. He sent a picture of Brian sitting at a large desk. The caption read. “Brian is now in charge.” Ted hoped Mia received the same picture. He forwarded it to Audrey.
Cid was sleeping. He had driven back to Illinois while Ted slept. Murphy was quiet too. Ted thought about what had transpired at the Dupree house. Beth had attacked them with an elemental. How the hell did a researcher get so much power? What had Roumain unleashed upon the world when he had used Beth to sabotage his and Mia’s marriage? Once again, his wife had to save his butt. She was hurt and exhausted. They had made love but hadn’t really spoken much. First he takes Brian away, then he abandon’s her hurt at the Dupree farm. “I’m a fucking idiot.”
“I’ve known it for years,” Cid said. “How much longer?”
“An hour tops.”
“So what are you lamenting about now?”
“Oh, the events of the last few days.”
“Who would have thought that you, nerd king, would have your wife fighting a dragon to save you?”
“She got hurt. I left her at Dupree’s hurt.”
“Mia is a quick healer.”
“I forced the issue and had Orion take Brian away from her too.”
“Well, that was surprising, but considering what happened, fortuitous,” Cid commented.
“Mia didn’t fight me on it. I think she is letting me take the lead in our marriage. She’s taken a major step back.”
“Dude, Mia’s never needed to be numero uno. She just wants to help. Mia can’t help being what she is. She can, however, learn to relate to her husband and friends better. With every change she’s gone through, she’s had to adjust mentally and physically. I’m not sure I could still be as sane as she is,” Cid confessed.
“The time at the lake was good for her,” Murphy said. “She was with family.”
“Hello, Murphy, I was worried I left you back at the service station,” Ted said.
“He makes a good point. Mia sees all of us as her family. I personally see this as a positive. Don’t worry, Mia will tell you when she’s upset,” Cid said.
“I still feel bad,” Ted said.
“Didn’t she ask you to work on some protective clothing?” Cid asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, that is a way to show her that you love and appreciate her. Make her something. She loves your inventions.”
“Flowers,” Murphy said. “Don’t forget to give her flowers. I forgot, and my wife dropped a tree on me.”
Cid couldn’t help it; he started laughing.
Murphy smiled.
~
“It’s okay, Ma, stay there tonight. We have sandwich stuff for dinner. I’ll make pancakes in the morning. Mia loves pancakes.”
Mia nodded. She winced as thunder crashed nearby.
“I better get off the phone. Love you too.” Mike hung up. “Well, kid, it’s just the two of us. Want to come upstairs and watch me pack?”
Mia nodded.
Mike was amused as Mia got as close to him as she could without touching him. He could tell that the storm frightened her. Ted had confessed that Mia’s Achilles heel was lightning.
She sat on his bed while he went through his closet.
“Most of my clothes are in Chicago. I have some stuff here, but I’ll have to try them on. My weight goes up and down like a yoyo,” he confessed.
“I had the same problem with my chest when I was pregnant.”
“I noticed.”
Mia tossed a pair of rolled up socks at him.
He moved some older clothes out of the way.
“What’s that?” Mia asked.
He pulled out his letterman jacket. “Now, I know this doesn’t fit. Put it on.”
Mia slipped the jacket on. It was big but not uncomfortably so. Mia turned and looked in one of the many mirrors in the room. She ran her hand along the light leather and smiled.
“Don’t tell me you never wore Whit’s letterman jacket?”
“Oh no, Whit was particular about his things. He said, if I didn’t earn the letter, I had no business wearing the jacket.”
Mike thought that was somehow cruel but kept his thoughts to himself.
“You can have it, Mia.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t. You save it for your son or daughter. Thank you for letting me try it on,” she said and giggled.
Mike could see the little girl coming out in Mia. He didn’t want to see her leave. He pulled out an old blazer. “We had to wear these on game days. Put it on.”
Mia handed Mike the jacket back and took the navy blue blazer with the school’s crest on the chest. She rolled up the sleeves and pulled it on. She looked cute in it. She had on Ted’s skinny jeans, rolled up, and a white undershirt. The ensemble was a good one.
“That you’re keeping.”
Mia smiled. “I accept.” She patted the jacket, reached inside and found a narrow leather-bound notebook.
Mike watched her open it. She handed it to Mike. “I think this is personal.”
He took the book, surprised by her actions. “My first try at poetry.”
“I love poetry. I’m rubbish at writing it, but I enjoy reading it.”
He handed her back the book. “Keep it. It goes with the jacket.”
Mia grinned and sat back on the bed and opened the little book up.
Mike continued to work on packing. He glanced back occasionally to watch Mia read. Her face was one of wonder. At one point, she put her hand on her heart and tears flowed. She got up and walked over and hugged him. He held on to her for a moment, pushing down the feeling he got whenever she touched him. Instead, he thought about baseball.
“This poem is so dear. I could feel your heart breaking. You really ought to write, Mike. It doesn’t have to be poems. I still think you have a romance in you.”
“I’ll think about it later, when I lose my looks.”
“But that’s never going to happen,” Mia said, returning the book to the pocket of the blazer. “Guys have it made. They just get handsomer. We women just get old.”
“You seem to have gotten younger,” Mike said to the long-haired, Nordic blonde, busty, petite, young woman with the strange moss green eyes.
“Angelo’s doing, I’m afraid. He doesn’t want to see me get old, so when the Gray Ladies had me on the table, he had them turn back time.”
“They can do that?”
“A bit. Mike, I’m not exactly pleased with their work, except for lefty.”
“Lefty?”
“Yes, they raised my left boob so they would be symmetrical.”
Mike started laughing. Mia giggled. “I’m kind of va
in, Dupree.”
“Welcome to the club, Mia.”
Chapter Six
Audrey heard Ted and Cid arrive. She pulled on a sweatshirt and opened her door to watch the investigators unload.
Cid walked past her, lifting his hat. “Lois.”
“Clark,” she replied.
Ted stopped and asked, “Did you hear from Mia?”
“No. They’re getting hammered by a series of thunderstorms. We’ll get them by morning,” she said.
“How was she when you left?” he asked.
“Sore, very sore. Burt gave her some pills. Don’t worry, aside from her telling the Duprees her life story, she’ll be fine,” Audrey assured him.
“I imagine Glenda has had it up to here with their fighting,” Ted said, raising his hand to his neck.
“She’ll separate them and send them to their corners.”
“Guess so. I think it’s funny when Burt does that,” Ted admitted.
“Me too. Poor guy, how did he end up being our dad?”
“I suspect he wonders about that too. Well, back to work. Night, Audrey.”
“Night, Audrey,” Murphy parroted.
“Night, Stephen,” Audrey said and closed the door.
~
Audrey turned on the radio to see if she could get a weather update. The night DJ had a smooth baritone voice that she enjoyed. She liked the mix of soft rock and jazz he had and wished she could get it in Chicago. She made a note of the channel. They started playing Foreigner. “I’ve been waiting for a girl like you…”
There was a quiet tap on the door.
Audrey pulled on the sweatshirt, expecting it was another PEEP who couldn’t sleep. She opened the door to see a young man. He put his hand through his hair and smiled. “Kim?”
“I’m sorry, but you have the wrong room,” she said and shut the door.
He knocked again.
Audrey didn’t answer the door. She, instead, picked up the phone and called Burt’s cabin. Tom picked up.
“Tom, there’s someone at my door.”
“On my way.”
The continuous knocking suddenly stopped. She could hear Tom.