Walnut Grove House

by Alexie Aaron

  “No. I’m not suicidal,” Jesse insisted, “just a little crazy.”

  The doctor smiled an indulgent smile. “We’ll see.”

  ~

  Cid stared down at the broken glass and pondered whether he should just leave it? Gary cleared his voice, “Come on, Cid, Kiki is going to be here any minute.”

  “But…”

  “We need to get out of this contract clean. Then we can come back and clear the house. Hell, maybe the owner will want us to deal with it now.”

  “Where’s Father Santos?”

  “Still outside with Carl,” Gary answered.

  Cid pulled out his phone and looked at it. The temptation of calling Mia was too much. This was his investigation, and he had the right people in play. He normally didn’t have any problem leading but, then again, his good friend didn’t almost die either. Plus, there was Sally to consider. He took a step back and said, “Gary, I’ll clean this up, but first I want to call Sally, just to get her perspective on the situation.”

  “Fine with me. I’m going to start to gather my tools, just in case we have to beat feet out of Dodge.”

  Sally looked at her phone and answered. “A bit early for your call,” Sally teased.

  “I need your military perspective.”

  “I can only give you a grunts-eye-view, but have at it.”

  Cid told her everything that had happened since the last time they spoke. He didn’t leave out one detail. His pedantic self not only gave her what he saw but what he felt. To give her credit, she didn’t interrupt him once. When he had finished, he said, “My instincts are to stay and finish this, but it’s not my call.”

  “Morally it is, but Kiki is your general,” Sally reminded him. “You said that Father Santos and Carl were on the grounds with Stephen…”

  “Yes.”

  “The contract I signed didn’t say anything about the walnut grove. Sweep up the glass and take it with you to the grove. Hide the evidence of Wayne’s attack there. Also, they may want the keys back. Tell them they are at the bottom of the lake.”

  “But everyone knows that they were recovered.”

  “Have Faye tell them to lie.”

  “Have Faye tell two priests to lie?” Cid clarified.

  “Yes. In Europe, priests lied all the time in order to protect the people they were hiding. These men, from what Stephen tells me, are used to having to bend the truth a bit in their line of work.”

  “You’re right, they are. I feel so paralyzed, afraid of making the wrong decision.”

  “You’ve been investigating for years. What’s different?”

  “Burt, Mia or someone else was calling the shots.”

  “But not always.”

  “Jesse died. I almost died saving him. I’m no longer a man without a care in the world. I have…”

  “You have me,” Sally said tenderly. “I can’t express the wonderous tingle that just went through my body. Cid, I will never ask you to change. Don’t use me as an excuse. Trust me to understand the perils of your profession. Now go out and see what can be done out of the house while Kiki handles things from within.”

  “You’re right.”

  “Wrap this up and come home. Or send Stephen.”

  “Hold on now…”

  Sally giggled. “I knew it! There is nothing to worry about. Stephen has been a gentleman, and I have enjoyed hearing about your and his adventures. I’m just a placeholder for you or the Martins. He’s a placeholder for you. Together, we enjoy conversation and a few laughs. I think maybe he even thinks of me as a friend. I certainly see him that way.”

  “I’m glad. Now I better be a good friend and liaise between him and Father Santos.”

  “If he gets sent to Heaven in error, there will be hell to pay.”

  “Clever,” Cid said.

  “I’m quite proud of that,” Sally said. “Goodbye and good luck. Bring me back a walnut.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Cid heard them before Murphy sensed him. They met halfway.

  “Lower your axe,” Cid said. “Sally wouldn’t want two ghosts playing suitor.”

  Murphy dropped his axe and pushed his hat back. “That’s not…”

  “I’m teasing you,” Cid said. “Come on, show me what you found.”

  Father Santos was flipping through a book and holding pages up next to some of the symbols carved on one of the stones. Carl was clearing the drifts away from the standing stones with his foot. He had Sariel’s dagger stuck through his belt.

  “Sanskrit,” Cid said, recognizing the symbols. “You’d think they would be Enochian, or maybe Spanish.”

  “Yes,” Father Santos said closing his book. “How did you know?”

  “Altair mentioned that demons found Sanskrit easy to pronounce with their elongated palates. Seems to me, they would use the language to mark their stones too.”

  “Can you read Sanskrit?”

  “I recently read a book on it, but I do have a working iPhone and Google all cued up.” Cid looked at each stone. He smiled and walked and patted the top of one. “North.” He pointed across the circle. “South…”

  Father Santos hit his forehead. “Of course.”

  “Why would they need a compass?” Carl asked.

  “Demons travel in many dimensions. What we take for granted as being north may actually be west in another dimension. Down may be up and so on.”

  “Why would knowing where north is be important?” Carl asked.

  “Many spells use true north. Alchemists use magnetic north in their conjuring,” Father Santos explained. “I’m betting this is true north.”

  “I hate to be the D student but why north?” Carl asked.

  “Power,” Father Santos said. “North is the most powerful direction in the demon world. There was once talk that perhaps the primal demons came from Polaris, also known as the North Star. Mia disputes that theory. She has a blasphemous theory that God made demons.”

  “And angels at the same time,” Cid told Carl. “Mia sees God as someone bigger than Father Santos is comfortable with.”

  “But she still believes in God, and that’s fine for right now,” Santos conceded.

  “I take it your friend Mia studies demons,” Carl said.

  “Sort of,” Murphy said. “But that’s a story for another time. Father Santos, have you figured out how to render the circle powerless?”

  “Why?” Cid asked.

  “It feeds Gadus and maybe Arnold too. If it falls into August’s hands, then I feel that no good will come out of that pairing,” Father Santos said. “It’s best to break the spell and offer the sacrifice victims a way into the light. Or if they refuse, I will call for the reapers.”

  “What do reapers have to do with ghosts?” Carl asked.

  “When a ghost goes against the rules, the reapers are called, and the ghost is taken to the dark world where it walks alone in the dark forever. Never meeting another spirit, always alone,” Father Santos said.

  “Now I’m going to have to ask you gentlemen, what are the rules?” Carl asked.

  “A ghost may not interfere with living humans. That means no hurting, killing, or having marital congress with the living being. They may not possess a living person unless requested to do so,” Murphy said.

  “They may not consort with demons,” Father Santos added.

  Murphy didn’t comment. He had consorted with quite a few fallen and demons when they fought a war together with the frost giants.

  “So what is the game plan?” Cid asked.

  “I’m not sure?” Father Santos realized.

  “Pull the north stone out,” Carl said impulsively. “If the power comes from Polaris, then you’ll be able to disconnect it this way. I’m not one of you guys, but I know my power systems,” Carl said.

  “He’s the best,” Cid said. “I’ll get the guys. Maybe we can hook up Pete’s truck and pull it out?”

&nbs
p; “Why? When we can simply lift it out,” Carl said.

  “I think you’re overestimating your strength.”

  “No, he isn’t.” Father Santos explained, “While we’ve been standing here, we’ve been growing stronger.” Santos walked over to take one side of the stone.

  “But it’s been set in the ground, and the ground is frozen,” Cid argued.

  Murphy took a swing and sank his axe into the ground in front of the stone and then in back of the stone. “That should loosen the ground.”

  Carl and Father Santos wiggled it like a loose baby tooth and pulled upwards. The stone only had three feet showing of its six feet. The men lifted and set it down outside of the circle.

  A rush of wind came through the trees from the lake. It first hit the west side of the circle and then moved around and entered the circle where the stone was absent. The ground shook underneath their feet.

  “Move away from the graves,” Murphy warned.

  The men backed away from the center of the circle and watched in amazement as the four stones that covered the graves pushed upwards as if lifted by an unseen hand before they fell over and away. One landed a few inches from Father Santos’s feet.

  Carl drew the sword out and handed it to Cid. “I’ve never played with swords. I suspect you have.”

  Cid took the dagger and watched as the dirt moved away from the wooden boxes as if scooped up by a phantom hand. Murphy jumped down and planted an axe into the center of each lid and pulled upwards, exposing the iron-chained remains inside.

  After a few moments, it became apparent that whatever had uncovered the graves could not interfere with the iron locked chains.

  Cid pulled out the keys and inserted the one he was sure fitted the north box in the attic into the north-facing grave. He first brought his fist down hard and knocked off as much rust as he could before fitting in the key. He turned it. With a scream worthy of a female fox calling for her mate, it opened. He looked at Carl.

  “The south grave, then east, then west,” Carl instructed.

  Cid did so. He then moved away from the graves. Light was quickly leaving them. Cid was about to pull out a light disc when a greenish mist rose out of the north box. It formed into a ghostly representation of a hooded individual. The sex of the deceased was not immediately apparent.

  Father Santos greeted the spirit in Spanish. He asked if the spirit wanted to confess its sins. The mist wavered and an armlike appendage moved out of the swirling mass. Its hand opened, and a black crystal dropped on the ground in front of the priest. The black seemed to drip off the crystal until it reverted back into the original white.

  “Gentlemen, stand back. This indicates that the spirit is evil. The white crystal was put in the mouth of the dead acolyte in order to absorb any latent evil and, in doing so, rendered the man or woman powerless.”

  “Yet their sacrifice gave another power. Amazing,” Carl said.

  The three other spirits rose and surrendered their crystals to the priest. They seemed to look around.

  “Tell them that the other two are imprisoned inside the house,” Cid said.

  Father Santos cleared his voice and told them this in Castilian Spanish.

  The first spirit spoke in kind, “We are the servants of Gadus, queen of the demons.”

  “Did you volunteer to be sacrificed for your queen’s consort?”

  “We are her servants. We did not volunteer.”

  “I can bring the light, or do you still wish to serve your queen?” Father Santos asked.

  “We wish to find the other two, and then we will make our decision.”

  “Very well, as long as you behave yourselves, you may travel with us into the house.”

  The spirits seemed to jump into the crystals. They returned to their blackened hue. Father Santos removed a white cloth he had in his satchel. He put the crystals in the cloth, chanting something in Latin that Cid was not familiar with. He tied the handkerchief up and placed it into his trouser pocket.

  “Gentlemen, let’s go into the house. I hope you’re feeling strong. I fear we are headed into a storm. A storm of which I do not know the outcome.”

  “What fun would that be?” Murphy asked no one in particular.

  ~

  Kiki and Alan waited for the congressman and Miss Gee outside. Kiki stood away from the shadows of the house, trees, and even Alan’s shadow. He teased her by making shadow bunnies that chased her shadow up and down the stately porch.

  The tension eased from her shoulders. She pinched his arm. “Shame on you.”

  Cid and company walked out of the walnut grove and over to where they were standing. Murphy and Father Santos walked into the house without speaking to either of them. Carl shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

  “Was it something I said?” Kiki asked.

  Cid set the doubled paper bag containing the broken jars down before speaking. “Don’t be offended. They’re escorting some spirits inside. Hypothetically, we could have released the four sacrifice victims who were chained in the grove.”

  Kiki frowned briefly, turned, smiled, and said, “They aren’t mentioned in our contract. I take it they are now in the house, which means we can’t fool with them.”

  “We can’t,” Cid said. “Father Santos however can. For some reason, he isn’t keen at the moment. I think we have time to come to some kind of agreement with the Atwaters.”

  The sound of an approaching vehicle stopped their conversation. It was a cream-colored sedan driven by a liveried older man. Inside the backseat were two people.

  “Dare we hope it’s Miss Gee and the congressman?” Alan asked.

  Their question was answered when the driver opened the door and the two aforementioned beings exited.

  “This is above my pay grade,” Carl said and excused himself. “I’ll be in the workshop packing my tools.”

  Cid made motions that he was going to leave.

  “Stay,” Kiki said. “Alan, please go and warn the others inside.”

  Alan did so.

  “Hello, we meet again,” Arnold said.

  “Congressman, Miss Gee, I’d like to introduce you to Cid Garrett,” Kiki said.

  Cid shook the hand of the congressman and touched the ends of the gloved hand of Miss Gee.

  “You have a very strong support system,” Miss Gee said, staring at the angel sword tucked in Cid’s belt.

  “I’m fortunate to have had the counsel of many. And the intelligence to listen to them.”

  “And what have you learned from your support system?”

  “That appearances can be deceiving. Never to cast judgement on a being because we were raised differently. To honor love in all forms.”

  “What of obsessive love?” she asked.

  “Is that love? I’ve always thought it fell under control.”

  Miss Gee’s eyes flashed. “Arnold, Calvin was not wrong when he spoke of Mr. Garrett.”

  “How do you know Mr. Franks?” Kiki asked, taking back control of the situation.

  “He and I have sat through many a state dinner together,” Arnold answered. “He’s been an ear when I’ve needed one and has, on occasion, opened his deep pockets to support many of my projects.”

  “I understand you’re stepping down,” Cid said.

  “I thought that it was time. Bridgeton seemed to be ready to pick up the mantle. His views are different but seem right for the present and possibly the future.”

  Cid pressed his lips tightly together.

  “Speak.”

  “It’s not my place,” Cid said.

  “I can see you have reservations,” Arnold said. “Speak your mind without fear of reprisal.”

  “I don’t know Bridgeton. I’m not sure we’ve even exchanged words. I just know that he may be a vessel for August. I think you should be wary.”

  Arnold looked at Miss Gee.

  “What is your proof?” Miss Gee asked.

&
nbsp; Cid opened the bag and poured the glass at Miss Gee’s feet.

  Kiki’s eyes got very big and she made sounds of apology. “I’m so sorry! Cid, what has gotten into you?”

  “No, it’s alright,” Miss Gee said, taking off her glove. She touched a large piece of glass and looked up at Arnold. “We need to go inside.”

  Cid stooped to pick up the glass.

  “Leave it on the doorstep so Bridgeton will know we know all about his lies before he tells them,” Miss Gee said.

  “What lies?” Arnold asked as they walked by Kiki.

  “What have you done?” Kiki hissed at Cid.

  “I’m bringing a little clarity.”

  “At what cost?”

  “There comes a time when you have to stop thinking in dollars and cents,” Cid scolded.

  Kiki frowned and looked up at Alan who had just stepped out the door. “I thought I had. It’s amazing how easy it is to fall back into bad habits.”

  They walked into the hall in time to hear Arnold say, “Bridgeton did what?”

  “He attacked one of the contractors with a heavy jar.”

  “Is this true?” he asked Kiki as she entered the house.

  “My plumbing contractor, Wayne Shipley, is in the local hospital if you want to check for yourself. All I know is, Wayne was having a meeting with Bridgeton in the library, and when he turned his back…”

  Miss Gee raised her hand. “I also saw August. He’s not in the house presently, so I expect he’s possessing Bridgeton.”

  “My contractor wanted to sue, but I told him it would be difficult to prove without a witness. Also, we do have a non-disclosure clause,” Kiki said.

  Miss Gee put her hands up and turned slowly. “There are two unfamiliar spirits in this house, and…” Her eyes opened wide. She turned to Cid and spat, “You were not supposed to mess with the ghosts!”

  “The ghosts in the house,” Cid specified. “These were outside in the grove. You remember the grove, don’t you? I’m sure you also remember your faithful servants, Miss Gee. Did they deserve to be killed, let alone spend their eternity chained?”

  “A necessary evil,” Miss Gee said. “They knew their deaths were for a higher purpose.”