by Alexie Aaron
A series of thumps on the wall, followed by painful crashes were heard from behind the closed door.
“They’re ripping the place apart. Ted, you and Cid better mix the saltwater pronto,” Burt ordered, extending a hand to help Audrey to her feet. He looked at Mike and suggested, “You better have someone look at that nose. It looks broken.”
A look of pure horror filled Mike’s face. His hands went to his face, and he felt every inch of it.
Audrey smacked Burt on the arm. “Mike, your face is fine. Burt’s just having you on.”
Mike dropped his hands and glared at Burt. “What’s up with you? You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“What’s not to enjoy? We have a filmable haunt.”
“We’re getting our asses kicked in there. No telling when it’s going to spread from this room to the rest of this house. Our clients aren’t going to be happy if their mini mansion gets destroyed.”
Audrey looked at the two senior investigators. Mike and Burt were the founding partners of the Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners, lovingly referred to as PEEPs. It was as if they had switched roles. Burt, the dour, had become lighthearted while Mike, the face, was actually concerned with the bottom line. Was it the absence of Mia that changed the dynamic or was it something else?
“They called us in to investigate more for publicity than actually solving the problem,” Burt said. “A new mini mansion with high end decorating isn’t exactly the place you would normally find ghosts, is it?”
“But they have a paranormal problem,” Audrey emphasized.
“If they didn’t want the publicity, they would have hired us and paid us to keep it quiet,” Burt explained.
Mike nodded, rubbing his chin. “Still, we have a big problem in there. Poltergeists don’t simply take off when we ask them to.”
“Audrey, you need to do a hush-hush investigation on the members of this household,” Burt instructed. “I’m betting it’s the twins; it’s always twins at the root of things, in my experience.”
“There are six people in this house,” Audrey reminded him. “There are twin tween girls, two boys on either side of the angst age, and the parents. That’s a lot of energy for one house, even as large as this, to deal with.”
“Go to their schools, talk to their teachers, their classmates, on camera of course.”
“Whoa, Burt. According to the signed contract, we don’t have permission to invade the public areas of this family,” Mike warned.
Audrey looked over at Burt who was silent. A noisy thump inside the room brought him out of his thoughts.
“I think we should find a way to get this information. Perhaps you could drum up a codicil to the contract for the homeowners to sign,” Burt said, looking at Mike.
“Are we changing focus? We’re ghost hunters, paranormal investigators, not CNN. Let’s see if we can get the information in-house. Ask Mia if she would sit down with…”
“No Mia,” Burt said firmly.
“I’ll talk to the kids,” Audrey offered.
“No offense, Nancy Drew, but there is only so much you can pick up on. You’re the best researcher ever, but Mia can…”
“Mia’s out. Find another way,” Burt said firmly. He turned around and walked down the hall towards the stairs.
Mike looked at Audrey and said, “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“You mean the exclusion of Mia?”
“You noticed?”
“I think that he’s trying to work Mia out of the team altogether,” Audrey speculated. “He’s using her present condition as a testing ground. If he can get the results with placid Dave, why deal with our lovable but opinionated Mia?”
“It’s not going to happen. I won’t allow it.”
Audrey looked at Mike and saw a leader emerging. True, he was still the egotistical bachelor who had a penchant for inappropriate comments, but a different individual was showing himself. A team leader. Was he always this person? Audrey wasn’t sure. She would have to consult Mia next time they got together.
“Mia is PEEPs. Sorry, it’s taken me this long to see the light. The day I met her, I knew that she was so far above anyone I had ever met, talent wise. That scared me. I knew she could replace me in a heartbeat, but she had no intention of doing so. She knows her purpose and doesn’t seek out the limelight. Sure, her personality is rough around the edges, but that’s her charm. Mia pulls us together and makes us better.”
“Burt’s fooling himself if he thinks he can replace Mia with Dave. If she goes, so do Murphy and Ted. Cid will leave, and I’m not too sure I want to stick around either,” Audrey confessed.
“Before we jump ship, let’s give Burt a chance. Maybe he’s just protecting her.”
Audrey raised an eyebrow.
“Come on. We need to give Burt a chance before we break up PEEPs.”
“You mean?”
“Oh, if Mia goes, I’m the first out the door, I assure you,” Mike said. “Now, let’s concentrate on how we can root out the cause of this poltergeist feeding frenzy. You use your detective skills, and I’ll use my charm. Together we may accidently figure this out.”
Mike held out his arm to Audrey and guided her down the hall.
Murphy looked over at Dave who emerged out of the shadows looking quite dejected.
“Did I turn invisible or something?” he asked the ghost.
Murphy shook his head and patted his chest.
“Yeah, you’re right. They didn’t remember I was there, just like you. Am I doing that bad of a job?”
Murphy shook his head. He put two fingers to his eyes and pointed to the room still shaking his head.
“Yeah, me too. How do you fight something you can’t see?”
Murphy set his axe down and raised his hands and formed fists. He turned and threw a comedic punch in all directions. He pretended he was struck several times, never landing a punch.
Dave forgot his misery and started laughing. He now understood how important Murphy was to Mia. Mia told him that Murphy helped her to understand that ghosts were just dead people. They had the same egos and expectations as a live person, except they got lost along the way. “Treat them as you would a live person. You don’t talk to everyone you see on the street. You don’t have to engage with every spirit. Some don’t even see you. They are all up in their own problems.”
“It’s terrifying at times seeing spirits when others don’t,” Dave had confessed.
Mia suggested spending some time with PEEPs to gain experience. “You don’t have to become a paranormal investigator. I’d rather you didn’t if I were to be honest. There is so much more a talented guy like you can do,” she had told him. “You can take these experiences out into the world and perhaps succeed in a normal profession.”
He nodded, lost in the memory, unaware that Murphy was staring at him. He looked over and said, “Sorry, dealing with my own demons. How about you and I taking a walk? They have some evergreens that smell like grapefruits.”
Murphy looked perplexed.
“Grapefruit, you know, what Cagney smashed into Mae Clark’s face.”
Murphy nodded and frowned.
“I know that’s no way to treat a lady,” Dave said. “I cut mine in half, put brown sugar on top and broil them for a few minutes. Richie, you remember, tall and crazy… Well, he waits until the grapefruits are over ripe, and then we take turns tossing them to each other in the street. When they crash, they explode! I remember one time I hurled one at him. He missed catching it, and it smashed right in front of him. It covered him in juice and rot.”
Murphy continued to listen to the sensitive as they moved down the stairs.
They didn’t hear the door unlatch, nor feel the icy cold fingers of the pranksters as they moved out into the hall.
Chapter Two
Mia gathered up a plate of treats and penned an IOU to Cid before leaving his apartment. Maggie, sated by the leftover pulled pork Mia found in the small refrigerator, followed M
ia down the stairs. She stopped and perked up her ears. She whined to alert Mia something wasn’t right.
Mia stopped moving down the stairs and surveyed the large interior of the converted barn. She scanned the workshop below and over to where Murphy had his television and chairs set. She regretted not illuminating the whole space when she was at the top of the stairs. The shadows cast by the large works in progress chilled Mia. Ted’s latest foray into robotics unnerved her. The large arms that would be programmed for labor-saving tasks were too lifelike. One looked like an arm pushed up in protest, fist clenched in anger. Another had a digit raised. Perhaps Jake had already infiltrated these machines. She counted the bots and determined that there was one too many shadows on the cement floor.
“Come out, I know you’re there,” she bluffed. She sat down on the step and watched as a very thin specter moved towards her. Maggie moved up the stairs and stood between her mistress and the thing that all but crawled up the steps.
Mia watched as the creature tried its best to manifest. She moved her hand carefully into the pocket of her maternity pants closing her fingers around the small container of salt that she always kept with her. The ghost managed to form a face that looked up at her with deep sadness.
“You don’t have much energy, so say your piece. I can hear you,” she said softly.
“Lost, so lost.”
“Did you miss the light?”
“No light, only darkness, lost so lost.”
Mia studied the face and could barely tell that it was male. It had deep hollows instead of eyes, an open maw instead of lips and teeth. This was a very old spirit. Perhaps someone had disturbed its rest. It must have awoken to a strange world in which it had no place. Perhaps he died unnoticed in the woods and had no one to say words over his grave. This was a sad occurrence but not that unusual. Her aunt Bev talked about the havoc that was wrought when they undammed a river. When the river moved unhampered down its original course, emptying the once beautiful manmade lake, spirits of those that died in the lake rose. “They were angry, confused, but mostly angry.”
Could this be the case?
“Where have you come from?”
The ghost tried to make a limb out of the remaining energy and pointed south before it disappeared altogether.
Maggie barked in relief.
Mia rose slowly, bothered by two things: one, the lost soul; and two, that it was able to get to her so easily. Murphy was away. Gone was the security of his watchful presence. She, aside from Maggie, was alone in the hollow and very vulnerable. This spirit would have to build energy to communicate with her again, but what if something stronger presented itself? “Oh, Stephen, how I have taken you for granted,” Mia voiced. She took a firm hold of the banister and continued her descent while planning on putting in some safeguards at the farmhouse, or maybe just a safe room?
~
Ted handed Cid the last of the spray bottles they filled. He would, in the morning, pick up a large pressurized sprayer, but in the meantime, he hoped that the small portable misters would curtail some of the vicious activity around the investigators. He sat down and typed in the code that would return the control of the command center’s computers to him. Jake did a fine job for the short term, but Ted felt better behind the keyboard for any time longer than twenty minutes.
“Command center is online,” he said into the microphone. “Location check. Ted and Jake in the PEEPs truck, over.”
“Mike and Audrey in the kitchen,” Mike informed him, adding Burt’s mandatory over quickly.
“Burt, Dave and Murphy in the four car garage, over,” Burt chimed in.
“Cid on the way to the kitchen, passing through the dining, whoa!”
“Are you in trouble, over?” Ted asked.
“Sending film, over,” Cid said.
The large monitor lit as the Bluetooth connected. Ted viewed the feed and couldn’t help but be impressed by the latest spectacle courtesy of the poltergeists. Eight Queen-Anne-style chairs twirled in a circle, the seats pushing outwards similar to the swing ride at a carnival. The only exception was, there were no happy kiddies safely belted in their seats. Instead, antique vases and bric-a-brac wobbled precariously as the momentum angled the chair seats higher.
“All PEEPs members to the dining room,” Ted commanded. “We have expensive breakables in danger, over.”
Murphy arrived just ahead of Mike and Audrey. He quickly removed the heavy Chinese vases as the merry-go-round presented them. An Austrian shepherdess flew off. Mike dove for it and caught it three inches from the tile floor. Audrey, a former shortstop from the Catholic All Star Slow Pitch League snagged two John Lotton Glass paperweights with each hand. She rolled them on the plush carpet, so she could prepare herself for the Tiffany lamp, whose colorful glass and lead umbrella shade did little to slow it’s progression to the ground. She regretted her enthusiasm the moment the weight of the heavy art piece ripped at the muscles of her shoulder. She didn’t have a chance to swear, as the effort left no wind in her body. She barely eased the lamp to the floor before she collapsed, withering in pain.
“Investigator down! Call the EMTs, over,” Mike ordered, getting to his feet.
Murphy rescued a Frederic Remington horse and rider three inches from bashing in Mike’s skull.
“Thanks, Old Man, I owe you,” Mike said.
Cid put the camera down and plucked an empty chair from midair. He set it down and continued to dismantle the spinning hazard, chair by chair. Dave slid into the room in time to catch a Waterford teapot. Burt arrived puffing. He ran and picked up the camera to continue to film, opting to let the others deal with the rest of the antiques and chairs. When the chaos had settled, he returned the camera to Cid.
“Don’t you ever stop filming,” he scolded. “We need footage. The homeowners are insured. These things are replaceable.”
Cid dropped the camera off his shoulder and pointed to Audrey on the ground. “She’s not. Those paperweights are one-of-a-kind. That lamp will never be made that way again. Don’t tell me about footage.” He shoved the camera back at Burt. “I quit.”
Cid ignored Burt’s shock and pushed past Mike, who was trying to stop him, and gathered Audrey tenderly in his arms. He lifted her off the ground, carefully stepping around the scattered treasures before walking out the front door. Through the open door, the remaining investigators could hear the approaching siren of the paramedics.
“Before you say anything,” Burt warned, looking at Mike. “He’s not serious. He’ll be back.”
“I won’t,” Dave said. He looked over at Murphy and asked, “Coming?”
Murphy picked up his axe and followed the short sensitive out of the room.
“What the fuck is wrong with everyone?” Burt asked Mike.
Mike returned the breakables to where he imagined they belonged before turning to answer, “You. Burt, you almost trampled Audrey to get to the camera. This is not who we are. Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners was founded to explore and help. That’s what I want.”
“There are two people in this partnership. I should have some say over the direction of the group,” Burt spat. “You’re nothing but an overaged pretty boy. I do all the work in this partnership.”
“Now there is only one person in the partnership. I’m done,” Mike said. “I’ll wait until after this haunt is in the can, but I’m done. It’s not fun anymore.”
“It’s a job, not a hobby…” Burt started.
“It was a fun hobby that became a job. You’ve changed, or I never knew who you were in the first place. We have been through so much. Did none of the good stuff rub off on you? I love helping the lost. Sure, we’re dodging a few fireballs along the way, but for the most part, we’re having a good time doing good things. Mia Cooper Martin has shown me that a ghost isn’t something to be taunted, filmed and left. It was a person. It has people waiting on the other side. Now these poltergeists are another matter. Historically, they are drawn to an area by teenage angs
t, but I fear we’re making them worse. It’s the tension between us that is fueling these assholes.”
Burt looked at him a moment and asked acidly, “Are you finished?”
“No, but I think you’ve stopped listening, so yes.”
“We’re all tired. I want to see how much footage I can rescue before we investigate further. I suggest we call it a day,” Burt said and turned heel and walked off in the direction of the kitchen.
Mike just stood there a moment. “He didn’t hear me,” he said.
“No, but we did, over,” Ted said in his ear. “Cid rode with Audrey to the hospital. Why don’t you take Dave home? I’ll stay and watch the house tonight, over.”
“Alone?” Mike said, dropping the over - he thought it was stupid in the first place.
“Mia’s on her way with the truck. We’ll put out any fires.”
“Burt’s not going to be happy to see her here.”
“He’s not going to be here much longer. He’ll clear out as soon as he hands the camera over. He’s on the morning shift. Jake says he’s approaching, over.”
Mike sighed as the communication was cut off. He pulled out a chair and sat down. Looking around the room, he didn’t see the accumulated wealth of the house. He saw that this was someone’s home, a home worth fighting for. He would stay as promised until PEEPs had sorted this all out. After that, it wouldn’t be PEEPs any longer, at least not for him.
~
Mia waited at the end of the street until Burt’s car passed. She turned on her lights and pulled back out into the street. The neighborhood was a pricey one. She admired the homes that were already decorated for the holiday season and pondered whether she and the guys should do more than just decorating a Christmas tree this year. Murphy had scouted out the hillside and found one that was in a clump of older furs. The removal of the small tree would help the others to grow.
Murphy made his feelings known that if they took a tree, they had to plant a tree; those were the rules. Mia nodded and had ignored the urge to say, Yes, Daddy. She was happy with the balance she and Stephen had found. Part of her would always be attracted to the ghost and him to her, but when Ted came along, she found more than attraction, she found true love. The Cooper curse may have put a better shine on Ted’s tennis shoes in her eyes, but she still had reason, unlike her father and aunt, so she wouldn’t suffocate Ted with her love.