by Alexie Aaron
“They contracted me to move a vehicle from Summerville, a town near Kansas City,” Cid answered honestly. He thought the sooner he could satisfy his captors, the sooner they would let him go.
“What is your relationship to the aliens?”
“Aliens? My mother hires migrant workers when the beans come in.”
“Not that kind of aliens!” Deep Voice barked. “What is PEEPs doing at the Ridge Road farm?”
“Investigating a paranormal occurrence. Ghosts, I think?” Cid shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Ask them. I’m just a flunky hired to drive one of their vehicles.”
“You’re telling me that all that equipment is set up for a ghost hunt?” Deep Voice was incredulous.
“Yes, you ever see them on TV?”
“No.”
“They’re on cable,” Cid informed him.
“Cable TV isn’t American,” Deep Voice insisted.
“The hell it isn’t,” the higher-voiced man argued. “We wouldn’t know half the stuff we know if it weren’t for cable. The government controls the airwaves.”
“You moron, you think they don’t own cable?”
“We’re fucked.”
“You talk to your mother with that mouth?” Deep Voice spat.
“Do not bring up my mother!”
Cid heard a scraping sound and the oof of someone getting punched. More sounds and he felt the floor vibrate as one of his captors hit the floor.
“You bastard!”
“Put the taser down!” Deep Voice shouted.
“You first.”
Cid heard a sizzle of electricity and a large mass fell on him twitching. The combined weight caused the wood chair under him to fall apart, wrenching Cid’s shoulder as he fell to the floor.
The fall freed one of his arms. He pulled the other arm free. A large man lay on his legs. He was hard to shift, but Cid managed to roll him off his legs. Part of a broken chair leg clung to his ankle. He pulled it off, working as fast as he could considering he couldn’t see a damn thing. He heard a gurgling close by and came to the assumption that the captors had tasered each other in their fits of rage. He knew he didn’t have much time. He had to get out of there and get distance between him and his recovering kidnappers.
He squinted, as if it would help, and followed the blur to what looked like a window. From there he traveled around the room until he found a door. By the size of the locking mechanism, he knew he had reached an outside door. He opened it, and an icy wind confirmed that it was an exit. They had taken his jacket when he was unconscious. He felt to the other side of the door and was rewarded with a coat rack of some kind. He chose the largest of the two coats and put it on. Inside the pockets were two sets of keys. He knew he couldn’t drive in his condition but neither would they if he took the keys with him. He found a hat in the other pocket. The coat smelled like cigarettes, but it would do.
Cid opened the door and ventured out into the wind. He had no idea where he was. He didn’t hear any traffic, and Mia’s truck, once he found it, was parked on gravel. He fumbled in the pocket for Mia’s keys. He locked the door and pressed the panic alarm and was rewarded with the blare of the horn. Cid took off walking away from the sound. He knew that in his condition it was quite possible he could double back or walk in a circle. He would keep the sound of the honking car behind him.
It was still daylight, but the day was gray and overcast. To Cid, everything looked the same color. After a while he entered scrub, and after that, trees were a constant impediment to his speed. He could still hear Mia’s truck’s horn faintly. He knew he had to make better time. Soon his captors would be on his trail. And they had something he did not, twenty-twenty vision.
~
Angelo brought Martha over to Julie’s house. The Wheybridge police wanted her to establish the identity of the man she had working on the house. She confirmed the information and promised to come in and file a report if she found anything missing from the home. Mia watched as the police strung tape around the outside of the house and put a seal on the front door. She and Mike had the foresight to move the workbench into the backyard before the police arrived. They put it against the building, intending to come back later to retrieve it.
She leaned against the side of the Town Car, much to the irritation of the driver. Who did this and why? Could the DTDs have possessed men? Two of them, according to the police. Or had they already become men? She negated that thought. They were fast learners but this? No, it wasn’t the entities.
Who else had a vested interest in what was going on at the Kowalski house? “Fuck me and send me a rose,” she exclaimed. She picked up her phone and called Tom Braverman.
“Officer Braverman.”
“Tom, this is Mia. Is your uncle still in the hospital?”
“I’m not sure, why?”
Mia explained her theory that Archie may be in the know about who abducted Cid.
“No. I don’t see…”
“Come on, you and I both know that conspiracy theorists run in packs.”
“I see what you’re getting at. Let me look into this,” he said and started to hang up.
“Wait!”
“Yes?”
“Tell me, how disturbed is Archie?”
“On the crazy meter?”
“Yes.”
“Bat shit crazy.”
“Oh no, guano loco,” Mia said. “If he is, then his friends are too, hurry Tom.”
“I’ll do my best, hold tight.”
Mia put her phone in her pocket. She was without her wheels. Whitney was getting his nails buffed somewhere. Ted was stuck in the command center up to his armpits in calculations and designs. He already forwarded his shopping list to Mike. A trip to Radio Shack was a must. They had between them the PEEPs van, Martha’s car and Angelo’s Town Car. She felt trapped and useless.
She felt him before he touched her arm. “You have to be strong,” Angelo told her. “And patient.”
“I feel responsible.”
“Why? Seems to me Cid is a big boy and took on this job without your coercion,” he pointed out. “Come sit in the car and warm up,” he encouraged. “I have to go and calm down the grandmother.”
“You?”
“Yes, women find me irresistible. I am Italian,” he said and smiled. “You rest. Soon we will all be needed to be on our A game.”
Mia wondered if he knew what an A game was. She dismissed the thought and got into the car. The rich leather smell enveloped her. She scooted over and fidgeted with some buttons. One of them to her dismay lowered the window between the driver and her.
“Yes, miss?”
“Do you have a name?”
“Everyone has a name,” he said dryly and raised the window.
Mia started laughing. She leaned back into the comfortable leather seat and closed her eyes. Her eyes popped open when she came to the realization that she didn’t need a freaking vehicle, not when she could OOB. She briefly acknowledged that she shouldn’t do it. It had recently been established that it took too much away from her. But time was running out. She tapped on the window.
“Yes, miss?” the driver said when he lowered it.
“I’m going to shut my eyes for a while.”
“I’ll see that you’re not disturbed.”
“Thank you,” Mia said and waited for him to raise the window before she bilocated. She moved quickly out of the car. She stood outside and pushed upwards. As she rose, she concentrated on ley lines. Below her she saw nothing, but when she turned in the direction of Chicago, she started to see them radiate outwards. They resembled landing lights at an airport. She moved to the nearest one. A vortex opened up, and she said, “Take me to Murphy,” and stepped in.
Chapter Twenty
Murphy ran his hand over the weeping tree. Would it develop a scar in time to save itself? He doubted it. What was so damn important to destroy trees for? He rolled his eyes and set the axe down that he was bound with for eternity. He never thoug
ht of it before as he cut through the rings of the mighty giants. He was thinking of his and his wife’s survival through the long hard winter. They needed wood to heat the house, wood to cook the food, not to mention wood to build the home itself. He thought about the way most tribes respected the earth by thanking the prey they killed, using everything, wasting none. In his book-learned knowledge, they also respected the rivers, the soil and yes, the trees. What was so important to wound these denizens of the forest?
A familiar sound broke through his thoughts. He turned to see a whirlwind picking up the dry leaves and spinning them. The cone of the miniature cyclone changed attitude exposing a vortex. He saw a hand emerge grasping for something. He set down his axe and ventured forward. He assumed this traveler was Mia as she had arrived this way before. He grasped her hand and pulled hard, freeing her from the magnetic field that held her. She stumbled forwards and into his arms.
Mia felt the rough fabric of his work shirt and smelled the deep rich scent of the forest. For one moment she imagined he had a heartbeat, but that was impossible. Too long he had been haunting his land. She had to be careful. They had succumbed to the desire of their attraction before. In her present state she was in his plane. The closer to the ley line that brought her to him, the more she was like him and he like her.
He had saved her, time and time again. The last time, he had reached into her chest and squeezed her heart to restart it. This declaration of love was not forgotten. She started to cry.
Murphy was alarmed, not understanding the type of tears that fell from her eyes. “Is everything alright? Has someone passed? Mia, tell me what’s wrong.”
Mia took in his words and cherished them. She rarely even with her power heard him speak. It took a lot of energy to break through the veil in order for Murphy to communicate with words. They had a visual language in order to communicate. But here close to the vortex she could hear the deep timbre of his voice tinged with the second generation Irish immigrant accent.
“I’m sorry for the tears. It’s relief mixed with all that other crap,” she told him honestly.
He wished she didn’t refer to their unnatural attraction for each other as crap, but Mia was a woman of a different century.
“How are you?” she asked, suddenly shy. She tried to move away from him. He wouldn’t release her.
“Perplexed.”
“That’s a fifty dollar word. You learn that on PBS?” Mia said and felt the rumble of his laughter move through his chest.
“Is it so hard for you to believe I may have read a book or two in my time?”
“The bible doesn’t count.”
“It should,” he said and exchanged his hold from the total enveloping arms to holding her hand. With his free hand he pushed back the hood of her sweatshirt. Her hair fell around her face. It was growing longer he noticed.
“What are you perplexed about?”
Murphy told her about the trees, the Iroquois burning the tobacco and getting up trancelike, each carving a face in the trees only to remove them.
“I think it’s a way of communicating with their spirit world,” Mia offered. “Beth called it a False Face ceremony. The spirits reveal themselves this way. I was only listening halfway so don’t take my word as gospel,” she warned. “I think they paint them next.”
“I get the idea that these men have come here for a reason. There are more and more of them every day. They are from many different tribes. I get the feeling they were enemies in life, but in death, at least right now, they have become brothers.”
Mia thought for a moment. “Let me tell you about what is going on in the investigation we’re doing not too far from here.” Mia began her story, leaving nothing out. She watched as her friend took in the information that Angelo was in the vicinity in his stride. She interrupted her tale to tell him. “I will not let him hurt you, but keep your distance just the same.”
He nodded. “Tell me more about this shape shifter, Chenille.”
Mia gave him the full story.
“They were residing in the wood?”
“I think it was their custom to be buried tied to the trees. After the skin rotted away, bones would be entombed.”
“Why does Angelo think that an ancient demon is at work here?”
“He found references to others in his library. Burt looked all over and Beth hit the internet, and they came up empty. So we are temporarily treating these darker-than-darks like ATzxe.”
Murphy tried to say the name and ended up coughing. “Doesn’t roll of the tongue very well.”
Mia smiled.
“So you’ve come to me because?”
“I think that it is too coincidental that your Iroquois and my Illinis have come to the surface at the same time near the same place. I think there’s a bigger picture type of thing happening.”
“Like the hag in the hollow?”
“Perhaps. There is a lot of anger, but Angelo seems convinced that we can stop the ATzxe by easing the hurt. Otherwise, he wants all of them destroyed. He has Ted working on a permanent solution.”
“Why not just do away with all of them?”
“Not all of them are bad. Just as all the ghosts in the hollow weren’t tied to the hag or the Hellfire Club. Everyone, no matter whom or what deity they are tied to, deserves to move on.” She looked at him a moment and added, “If they want to.”
“I think the Indians I have been watching are gathering for something.”
“War?”
“No. But they were sent. There are many campfires. Too many for me to handle so don’t get any ideas.”
“Amends,” Mia said aloud as the idea formed in her mind. “Do you think it’s possible that they have been sent to make amends to the slaughtered villagers?”
“I don’t know. If so then they will be doing it from here to New York.”
“Time isn’t a problem if you’re dead,” Mia pointed out. “Perhaps the Great Spirit knows the Illini are being influenced by this ATzxe and wants to stop it and save the souls?”
Murphy didn’t reject the idea. “I think I will have to do more watching. You may have to return and help me try to talk to them if necessary. Do some of that shape shifting of your own.”
“You have a great mind, Murphy,” Mia said impressed.
“Mia, it’s time for you to return.”
“You’re kicking me out of your woods already?”
“I don’t trust myself with you when we can touch. I made promises to you, and I intend to keep them,” he said sadly.
“Thank you, Stephen, you honor me with your love.”
“As you honor me,” he pulled her to him and kissed her long and hard.
Tears sprang to her eyes again. She waited for him to let her go before turning away and wiping them with the sleeve of her hoodie.
She concentrated on making the marks in the ground that would reopen the vortex. Only after she had done so did she turn to look back at him. He stood there with his axe on his shoulder. His hat was tipped back, and he smiled and waved before walking away. Mia stepped into the vortex and willed herself back to her body.
She jerked awake. The Town Car was warm, and she rubbed her legs until the pins and needles left them. Mia looked at the time and tapped on the window. The driver lowered it. “How long was I sleeping?”
“Ten minutes. Are you feeling better, Miss?”
“Yes, less anxious. Thank you for understanding. I guess I better get out there and do my part.”
The driver raised the window and got out and opened the door. Mia took time to notice him. Driver No Name was tall, solid without being fat. His black eyes appraised her as she looked him over. He smiled, arrogant bastard, and got back into the car.
Mia walked over to where Burt and Angelo stood talking. Mia didn’t see the van or Martha’s car. The police had a few more questions and were dismayed that Mike had left.
“Can I help you? I was here with him,” Mia offered.
The officer purse
d his lips and went down the list. Mia answered him quickly and succinctly. Afterwards, she signed her name to the statement about her stolen truck and filled in the registration number and insurance company.
“When can we get back in there?” Mia asked.
“When it’s been cleared.”
Mia thought, “Well that was vague,” and was rewarded with a chuckle from Angelo. She watched as the team of policemen left, their cars moving silently down the residential street, driving way too fast. “It amazes me that they do that. But they’re all like that. Even,” she stopped, not wanting to bring up Whit in front of Angelo and Burt.
“So, can I get a ride home? I have some things to do there before my watch tonight,” Mia informed the men.
“Your transportation will be arriving soon,” Burt told her. “Gerald heard from Angelo about your plight and arranged for the use of a vehicle until you get yours back. Angelo is leaving for Chicago, and I would be very happy if you could give me a ride back to the motel.”
“Sure, let’s hope Gerald isn’t up to his old tricks. Last time I needed a ride it was a Mini Cooper. Try folding your tall self into that.”
“I’ll manage.”
“If the two of you will excuse me then. I’ll be in touch. Mia, I will be calling you later, yes?” Angelo asked.
“Knock yourself out.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes, call me,” Mia said, trying not to let her irritation show in her voice.
They watched the driver get out of the Town Car and dance attendance on Angelo. They drove off, and Mia sang a song in her head until Angelo was out of range.
“So you want to tell me about it?” Burt asked.
“It?”
“I imagine you were bilocating.”
“That’s what I like about you, boss, you know your employees well.”
“Angelo told me.”
“Chatty bastard.”
“He tried to read you and nada, no brain waves.” Burt smiled then said, “I told him that wasn’t unusual.”
Mia laughed. “You’re a bastard too. I seem to be surrounded by you fellas.”
