Cold Cases and Haunted Places

by Trixie Silvertale

  “I see. I guess every profession has its pros and cons.” I nodded.

  “So true. I have relatives who own and run a Voodoo shop in New Orleans. My aunt says her business does even better when the economy is bad, which tells me that many folks opt to rely on magic and spirituality, seeking better luck.” She clasped her hands in front of her heart-shaped face like a fairytale princess dreaming of a Prince Charming she was about to encounter. “Lately, I’ve been watching this show featuring Aurora Westwood, showing off her huge mansion in Upper East Side and her super-luxe villa in Italy. Seriously, when I saw that stunning view of Lake Como, I knew I had to pursue a career as a big TV psychic!”

  I resisted an urge to roll my eyes as I listened to her declaration. Aurora Westwood was a famous psychic who’d been hosting multiple TV shows for years.

  Adam cleared his throat. “Hey, kids. Why don’t we start working on this case? If we finish it up right away, we might have time to drop by at the new café with their signature Belgian chocolate parfait.”

  “Ooh, chocolate parfait? I love it!” Nate shrieked. Yes, he shrieked. “Let’s get going pronto!”

  3

  The swamp’s bank had been known to be muddy and had a reputation of swallowing the bikes and cars parked nearby. As Katie had no intention of feeding her brand-new Toyota to the swamp, she parked the car at the edge of the paved road, and we headed toward the swamp on foot. With Katie leading the way, we walked up a gentle hill toward the swamp.

  After about three minutes of walking, we stopped. In front of us was the swamp full of muddy, greenish water. Surrounded by the deep and thick layers of woods, about a third of the water surface was covered by leaves. It would have made an Instagram-worthy scene, if only the leaves on the water were golden honey or fire engine red maple leaves, but the leaves in front of us came in grimy shades of brown. Not only did it look so creepy, the muddy water reeked of wet mud and rotting leaves. The northern hillside was covered by the leaves in the same brown tones—without solid footing.

  “Let’s get started.” Katie pumped her fists, prompting Adam to nod and amble toward the swamp, pushing the tall bushes aside.

  “A-choo!” Nate let out a sneeze. “Excuse me. Oh, I forgot that I was allergic to rotting plants.”

  “Oh, I also happen to be allergic to stinky plants,” I said sympathetically. “I can’t wait to visit the café for a chocolate parfait.”

  I needed something, anything, to distract myself from the damp and heavy atmosphere infesting this area. The eeriness I’d felt initially was growing more and more intense by the second.

  “Come on, Mandy, you’ve got to focus on this gig.” Katie turned back and gave me a hard look. “The success of this exorcism gig rests on your shoulders.”

  “What?” My eyes widened. “For your information, I have no expertise or experience in ghostly business.”

  “Oh, yeah. There’s a first time for everything.” Adam winked. “No worries, Mandy. My theory is that you attract spirits just by being there. So, just relax and hang around us, okay? You going astray and encountering some evil spirits all alone isn’t in our best interests, and I assume that option won’t be in your best interest, either.”

  “Oh, no. That sounds more like the worst-case scenario.” I shook my head several times, shuddering. Visiting this spooky place was bad enough. Getting lost in this area could have resulted in yours truly being discovered in the form of a skeleton a year later. On the plus side, I’d appear super-thin to the poor person who’d discover my bones, but in such a situation, being on the chubby side would be the least of my problems.

  “It’s okay, Mandy. I won’t leave you alone. What’s a date for?” Nate patted my shoulder.

  “Ooh, thanks!” I smiled, mentally pumping my fists. At least the psychological distance between him and me seemed to be shrinking, and I could easily picture a sweet romance about to be budding between us.

  Katie rolled her eyes, but indicated the muddy swamp in front of her. “Okay, then. Let’s get started. Mandy, will you come closer and cover our back?”

  “O-kay.” I took a few steps toward her. I wasn’t all that convinced about Adam’s theory of me being a ghost magnet, but I was beginning to be thankful for this occasion. For starters, I knew I’d have spent the rest of my high school days just ogling Nate from a distance—totally like a stalker. How pathetic is that?

  As I stood behind her and Adam, Katie nodded contentedly and turned back to the swamp. Holding the rosary in one hand, she started chanting something like a spell. By her side, Adam started chanting something like a song, which was slightly out of tune. As for Nate, he took a camcorder out of his backpack. Humming happily, he started recording this slightly surrealistic and mostly silly scene.

  Other than doing this very important job of just sticking around the gang, I had nothing to do. Good thing Nate was standing where I could see without over-stretching the muscles around my neck and shoulders. I enjoyed a stunning view of Nate working as a camera man. His shoulders were wide, his biceps were making nice bulges, and his blond hair turned golden, reflecting the setting sun.

  A while later, by the time I’d had enough of ogling Nate, the sky on the east side had turned indigo. As it was late October, the temperature literally nosedived as soon as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. I tried to ignore the coldness by rubbing my arms, but as the time passed by, it was getting bone-chillingly cold—to the point that my teeth were chattering nonstop.

  At this point, I was seriously regretting declining Nana’s suggestion to put on my winter overcoat before leaving for this double-date thingy. I wasn’t rail thin, and I didn’t fancy adding the extra bulk on me, and honestly, I was secretly fantasizing such a scenario of Nate warming me up with his embrace.

  But, the reality wasn’t as sweet and fluffy as my fantasy. The others didn’t seem to be experiencing the chilliness like I was. Maybe it wasn’t just the temperature that felt so cold.

  I glanced at Katie as she went on chanting the spell, still standing at the edge of the bank. Somehow, she looked much tenser than she did when she started all of this. Deep frown lines had appeared between her eyes, and I could see perspiration above her lips. Honestly, I’d never seen her sweating like that, and I was surprised. She was the kind of a girl who breezed out of gym classes, even in the middle of an Indian summer.

  Her eyes were fixed on the center area of the muddy green water, and the frown lines between her eyes were turning deeper.

  Just out of the blue, I followed her gaze to the swamp, and realized something seriously strange. At the central part of the swamp, little bubbles were forming, as if someone had sprinkled breadcrumbs, attracting the little fishes residing in this swamp. The water looked too muddy, filthy, and stinky for my preference, but as they say, there’s no accounting for taste, so I assumed this water was good for some fishes. At the same time, a part of me was extra-curious, wondering if the bubbles were coming from something like a stray alligator. We weren’t in Florida or Louisiana, but irresponsible people were everywhere. I wouldn’t be shocked if some idiot decided it was a good idea to have an alligator as a pet, but then dared to release it in a swamp as it grew out of this idiot’s hands.

  As I observed the swamp’s surface, what used to be little bubbles grew gradually larger. Squinting at the surface, I tilted my head. Were the fishes bigger than I’d expected, or was I looking at a gator?

  “Hey, Nate, can you see the bubbles over there?” I whispered to him, touching his arm.

  “Bubbles?” He moved his gaze, following my hand indicating the center area of the swamp. “Oh… you mean, the waves?”

  “The waves? Oh my God…” My eyes widened. He was right. The water surface was now moving like it had suddenly channeled into a sea—or some mysterious creature, which was huge enough to make waves, was about to rear its head. “What? Are we looking at some kind of Nessie?”

  “You mean, the famous Loch Ness monster?” He tilted his head.
“Still, considering that we’re talking about the monster at La Petit Swamp, maybe we want to call him Pettey.”

  As he commented matter-of-factly, the water started to swirl like a washing machine, and—

  “Holy moly!” Nate and I exclaimed in unison.

  All of a sudden, the swirling water shot up like a pillar, and something jumped out from inside. Dripping with greenish-brown water, it floated about a yard above the surface.

  “What?” My jaw dropped.

  In my opinion, whatever had jumped out of the water should have moved down, back into the water—because that was how stuff with mass should move, following the law of gravity! However, it stayed there, hovering above the swamp as if it had drones pulling it up from above. Except, drones weren’t available for most people back then.

  “What’s up, Mandy?” Nate gave me a sideways glance as he kept his eyes at the hovering something. With one hand, he scratched his head. “What’s that floating over there? It looks just like that doll from hell our dog brought from the little pond at our garden.”

  “Wha-what… what’s the doll from hell?” I stuttered in panic and confusion, peppered with a dose of fear. This special something hovering in front of us was shaped like a super-fat human. For some reason I couldn’t quite fathom, this human-shaped something came in dirty shades of brown, gray, and greenish-black, all mixed up like Jackson Pollock’s palette.

  “The doll from hell is a doll Steph, my older sister, lost while playing at the park in the neighborhood,” Nate explained. “After losing it, she’d sobbed nonstop for hours, but stopped crying as soon as Dad bought her a new doll. Shortly after, we forgot about the lost doll. But three years later, our dog brought us a chunk of slimy weeds, dripping with muddy water out of the little dirty pond in our garden. It looked so gross and was stinking like garbage, so we tried to discard it, but the dog wouldn’t give up. Once the weeds dried up, we realized it was Steph’s doll —looking brownish gray just like that gross thing out there. Like, it came back from a trip to hell.”

  “Oh… I see.” Bobbing my head as he talked, I wrinkled my nose. The fumes coming from the floating object smelled like sewage. It seemed more swollen than fat, and then I realized its skin had fallen off in many places and what looked like the bones and teeth were playing peek-a-boo. Without giving it much thought, I gasped and immediately regretted it. The stink of rotten meat, wet mud, and festering weeds literally assaulted my olfactory nerves, prompting me to gag from sickness.

  “Are you okay?” Nate took a step away from me.

  “I’m fine… I tend to get sick when I inhale disgusting air,” I replied. As I was pinching my nose with my fingers, my voice was muffled, but I was too sick to worry about my attractiveness.

  “So, Mandy… is that a bird?” Nate cocked his head, pointing at the hovering something. “Why is that shaped like a sumo wrestler…?”

  “A bird? I’m afraid not…” I replied, shuddering. “To me, what you’re looking at seems more like a bunch of human-shaped shadows flocking around that sumo wrestler. Oh my God, did you just see that fire ball? I mean, something pale blue that flew so fast across the swamp?”

  “I don’t know… Maybe you’re the only one who’s seeing them…” Nate shook his head.

  In the meantime, Adam and Katie were still at work, chanting the spells, swinging rosaries, and sprinkling holy water—but from my perspective, nothing seemed to be working.

  “Adam? Katie?” I called to them from behind. “Let’s leave. I’m afraid it’s so beyond us.”

  “You have a point,” Adam agreed. “Apparently, nothing we’ve done has worked so far. Maybe it’s about time to give it up for today and consider other options.”

  “Hey, Adam!” Nate waved at him, moving his eyes from the camcorder for the first time since coming here. “How is that sumo wrestler staying in the air?”

  “I have no idea!” Adam snapped. “Holy cow, this is not something we can handle as amateur high school exorcists. Let’s get the heck out of here!”

  “Yes, let’s!” I chimed in, bouncing with excitement. I didn’t fancy this ghost hunting opportunity in the first place, and visiting the café for a nice chocolate parfait sounded like a much better option than the current one.

  4

  “Oh my God, I’m so torn!” Nate crossed his arms. “What should I go for? So, their chocolate parfait has a reputation for being yummy, but I have a sweet spot for orange and champagne crepes.”

  “Wow, they have orange crepes?” My ears perked up.

  “Yeah. They complete the dessert at the table by flaming the crepes,” he said, looking dreamily.

  “That’s a must see and must try.” My mouth watered just by imagining the finishing touches, so dramatic. “Hey, why don’t we order one of them for each other and split them in half?”

  “Ooh, perfect!” Nate applauded. “Let’s go with that option. I’m so glad we’re going on this double-date thingy together.”

  “Me, too!”

  At this point, I was completely focused on the selection of sweet delights, and I was so ready to indulge in the decadence of fluffy crepes and sweet and velvety cream. Honestly, I could almost taste the decadence of the venue’s signature menu in my mouth, but unfortunately, I was still at the swamp with the rest of the gang—with the stench of whatever lurking in the water reminding me of reality. Katie was still standing at the edge of the swamp’s bank, facing the water and the monsters. Adam shook her shoulders with both hands. “Katie? What are you doing? We’re leaving here. This isn’t something we can handle, you know that, right?”

  “What?” Katie looked perplexed. “Come on, Adam. We can’t just abandon this case and leave here like a bunch of losers. I’ve got to cleanse this swamp…” She took a new talisman card out of her sleeve, clutching it so strongly that her knuckles turned white.

  “Get real!” Adam persisted. “You can train as much as you like—only with less deadly cases.”

  Katie looked at him, making tsk-tsk sounds. “I made a promise to Nancy.” Defiantly, she continued, “Anyway, I can’t just leave here without trying my best.” She brushed off Adam’s big hands and turned back to face the smelly swamp monster still hovering over the dirty water.

  And the next moment, I realized that this monster was charging toward us, with the wet water grass dangling behind.

  At first, I wondered if I was in some kind of a daydream. At this point, the sky had turned a deep shade of indigo. And, with the neighborhood pretty much scarce with houses and lights, it was dark, and I should have needed a good source of light to be able to see what was happening, but somehow, I was able to see the disgusting details of the monster—along with the smaller monsters floating around the decaying sumo wrestler.

  “Seriously, Katie, sticking around here is a really bad idea.” I went closer to my friend, flapping my arms. “Look at that sumo wrestler over the water. It looks sooo evil! No, evil is an understatement. You see? What looks like its flesh is coming down like the walls of some abandoned building. Ooh, you see that bone in its arm? Look at that gross shade of brownish yellow. I don’t know what we’re looking at and I don’t even want to know, but whatever we’re looking at is an impossibly ugly monster!”

  “Shut… up… scum!” a thunder-like voice boomed, rattling the ground.

  “What?” Katie and I said in unison.

  “For your info, I didn’t call you scum, you know.” Katie looked at me, her eyes softening.

  “I know, I know. The voice didn’t sound like you,” I assured her. “I didn’t badmouth you either, you know.”

  “Of course not!” Hugging each other, I appreciated the friendship between us, completely forgetting about the mysterious voice.

  “Listen to me, idiots!” the voice boomed again. This time, it came with a sound of something heavy hitting the water.

  When I turned back, the monster was spitting muddy water onto the swamp’s surface, as if it was channeling the Merlion.

&
nbsp; “Did you see that?” Adam hooted.

  “I’ve never seen any spirits materialize so clearly!” Nate exclaimed.

  “Am I dreaming?” I muttered, not quite sure if what I was looking at was real or if I was hallucinating. I was a decent student who’d never used recreational drugs, so I didn’t think my brain was whacked out enough to concoct such spooky monsters. Still, I couldn’t rule out the hallucination theory; as they say, there’s a first time for everything.

  In hopes of figuring out the reality, I blinked. Not just once but several times, as if my eyelids were having a heck of a spasmodic episode. A part of me was expecting this rotting sumo wrestler to disappear as if it never existed in the first place, but the reality wasn’t as easy as I’d desired.

  The monster was coming closer to us, with its eyes gleaming red. “I… will… kill… you… all…” Its monstrous voice was muffled, but somehow, I could easily understand the words.

  “You can’t kill us!” I countered out of reflex. “Killing innocent people is a big no-no!”

  “She’s so right!” Katie chimed in. “You don’t want to upgrade your sin by killing innocent and defenseless young people.”

  “Ooh, I’m so touched to hear those words coming from stupid kids who tried to sweep me out of this world!” the rotting monster snapped. Compared to minutes ago, it was talking more smoothly.

  “Whoo-hoo! This is sooo awesome!” Nate raised his camcorder and started shooting another video. “Seriously, this is gonna be the video of my lifetime! Hello, world! Here comes Nate Cooper, the next top producer of movies you’ll never forget!”

  “Shut up!” Roaring, the monster moved one of its arms to the side, splashing muddy water towards him, hitting his camcorder.