Ghostly Attachments (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  Sabine’s face softened, “Thank you, Beverly, it means a lot. I don’t have anyone to tell me the things you share with me. You have been a wonderful mentor.”

  “My aren’t we getting chummy,” Bev said to push the heartfelt emotion away. “How did the bonding go with Angelo?” she asked to change the subject.

  “I guess fine. Komal doesn’t trust me for some reason. He had to ask Mia if Angelo was on the up and up.”

  “He sees you as a child, a very easily influenced child. Give him time to know you, and he will see what we see in you.”

  “I’m older than Mia,” Sabine pointed out.

  “Yes, but you’re not as cynical. You’ve been loved all your life. Mia has just found love. She also bonded with Komal when they did that dragon spin. That was out of this world!”

  “How did she know to do that?”

  “How do any of us know what to do? Instinct, maybe? Trial and error, certainly.”

  “Is that how you know what to do?”

  Bev laughed and pushed down a few memories at the same time. “Oh, I’ve made some errors, my dear. And…”

  “She certainly is a trial,” Gerald’s voice drifted into their minds. “Come open the door, ladies. I have Gumbo!”

  Sabine stood up and waited for a dizzy spell to pass, meanwhile Bev was at the door pulling bags out of Gerald’s hands.

  ~

  Mia squeezed Burt’s hand before opening the nursery door. “I really don’t know what to do here. I know these boys and Grandma have to move on. If they choose to ascend, then we must bury the toys and perhaps the rocker in their graves, in order to help send them on their way. But they need to have their say too. Like Murphy, they can choose to stay here.”

  “Speaking of Murphy, have you seen him?”

  “Not since we broke into his tomb.”

  “Perhaps it takes time to relocate or… Hell, I don’t know. Are you worried?” he asked Mia, turning her to face him. He could see concern and sorrow in her eyes.

  “I just hope we did the right thing,” she said, “You know…”

  “I know, bebe,” he said and drew her into his arms for a hug.

  Mia enjoyed his warmth for a few minutes and then gently pushed away. “Time to visit my other boys,” she said and asked, “Ready?”

  “As I will ever be.”

  Mia opened the door and flipped on the overhead light. The bare bulb fixture was jerry-rigged by Ted before they left to dig up Murphy. Before them on the nursery floor was a house built of Legos and Lincoln Logs. Mia went on one knee and then crawled around it, looking in all the windows. She stood back up and marveled at the detail of the house and yard. She looked over at Burt and said, “You do see it, don’t you?”

  He shook his head trying to grasp why the building looked familiar.

  “Look, bebe, at the trailer in the driveway. The command center and…”

  “It’s here!” he realized slapping the side of his head as if to knock the cobwebs out. “Aren’t they clever? Whoa, they seem to have a bird’s eye view of everything.”

  “It’s more than a replica, it’s a three dimensional map.” Mia pointed out places where there were tiny Lego guns stacked in the yard. “They are trying to show us where the stashes of weapons are. Quick take a picture. I am going to carefully remove the roof and look in the attic.”

  Burt took several shots where Mia pointed out the two cashes of weapons in the yard. One he had found earlier. She next opened up the house by carefully removing the structure and setting it on the floor. In the attic there was another weapon. He snapped that with the digital.

  “Okay?”

  He nodded and watched her take off the attic floor. He could see the second floor. The master bedroom, guestroom and the nursery were furnished with tiny blocks to resemble the remaining furniture. In the nursery he saw Lego men one representing him with a black box that looked like a camera and one that looked like Mia on the floor at a mini replica of the house.

  “Did they just do this?” Burt was stunned.

  Mia, impressed, nodded quietly before ordering, “Quick take a picture!”

  He took the shot, and she pulled up the floor to show the bottom floor. Grandma was in the rocking chair, and there was a set of guns placed under the stairs. He took the shots, and Mia pulled up the last floor to show them the crawl space. Sure enough another cache of weapons were there. Burt took the picture and watched as Mia reassembled the house. She took care to make sure each block was secure. When she finished she addressed the room, “Thank you, Erdmut and Garrit, for having our backs.”

  Ted’s voice sounded in Burt’s ear. “Dude, the doll opened its eyes.”

  “Mia, the doll,” he pointed out.

  Mia saw the doll nodding its head, acknowledging her thanks.

  “We have to run now before they move the weapons. I’ll be back. I promise.”

  The doll winked at Mia before closing its eyes.

  Burt followed Mia out of the room. She stopped dead in front of him. His body bumped hers, but, prepared, Mia just absorbed the tap.

  “Whoa, little lady,” Burt said steading himself. “I thought we would be going back to the command center to print these up for our treasure hunt?”

  “Attic first. I memorized the attic map. Go and get the pictures. In the meanwhile I will search the attic.” She jumped up, trying to grab the pull down cord.

  “Allow me,” Burt said sighing. He reached up and pulled the access panel down and then the stairs. “I’ll get these started. Be careful.” Last he saw of Mia were her legs disappearing up the ladder. He turned on his walkie and barked orders to Ted to get the printer ready and send out an all hands on deck to the rest of the team.

  Mia regretted not having Burt with her as soon as she faced the attic light cord. She jumped and missed it the first three times. On the fourth, her hand caught the string, and she yanked the light on before the cord snapped off the fixture as Mia hit the floor. She brushed off the dust and headed for the spot the boys’ map had shown her. While she walked, she pulled her gloves out of her back pocket. She wasn’t thinking fingerprints as much as she didn’t want to get pulled into the mind of whatever entity last touched the weapon.

  She found a small cache of two revolvers and a box of bullets. They resembled guns she saw in a WWII movie. “German, perhaps?” Mia questioned as she stuck them down the back of her pants, hoping the waistband would hold them, and put the box of bullets in her pocket. She regretted leaving the light on, but time was not on her side. Once Wyatt and Cobb figured out that someone was raiding their ammo stores, then all hell might break loose.

  Mia climbed down the stairs and managed to close them and let the spring take care of raising the panel closed. She didn’t see the hand that reached out from above her as she ran down the staircase. The outstretched hand turned into a fist before it disappeared.

  Burt had three maps printed before Mia joined them. She pulled out the revolvers and placed them on the console table, asking as she searched her pocket for the bullets, “Do we have a list of how many guns were taken?”

  “No,” Beth answered her, looking at one of the Lego maps. “They might be in the police data base.”

  “Already on it,” Ted said as he proceeded to set up to hack the local PD’s computers.

  Beth groaned, adding up the laws broken in this investigation so far. Impersonating a federal agent and now hacking a government law enforcement computer system. But time was running out. Mia said that Wyatt and Cobb could pull enough power soon to send more deadly projectiles in their direction.

  “Good, you work on that. Catalog them regardless if you find a record or not. Mike, go with Beth and start with the outside, and Mia and I will take the crawl space. Remember gloves, people. We don’t want to leave prints,” Burt ordered.

  Mia was already on her way to the access panel. She pulled a Swiss Army knife set out of her cargo pants pocket and began unscrewing the plate.

  Burt marvel
ed at how quick she was but remembered that his girl was used to mechanical endeavors as she had made a small living out of doing odd jobs in her hometown. She pulled off the panel and groaned as the webbed interior of the space meant moving through spiders. Burt flashed his light in the space and pointed to the area the map said the firearms would be.

  Mia ran back to the command center and grabbed her hoodie. She pulled it on as she ran back. Securing the hood tightly around her head she moved Burt aside and crawled into the insect death trap of intersecting webs

  Burt sat back on his heels, not offended by her pushing him away, but he did wonder who was in charge at the moment. He, however, was relieved that the now cussing Mia chose to put herself in creepy-crawly-ville.

  “Burt, shine that light over, not in my eyes, you son of a bitch. Bloody hell, is that for real,” Mia stopped her tirade and gazed upon a large, black meaty spider. She moved away from the beast and resumed her crawl to the far end of the house. “How the hell did the shit kickers do this?” She reached the spot and found an old musket, no ammo, and three BB guns.

  Burt winced as a string of profanity, not fit to print, accompanied his petite girlfriend as she crawled back towards the exit. He got the gist that the weapons weren’t worth the spiders and other crawlers that were congregating under the Hofmann home.

  Mia crawled, dragged and crawled, dragged her way to Burt and handed the weapons to him before crawling out, insisting he check over every inch of her hair and her clothes. She impressed the hell out of Ted who thought he had heard every swear word imaginable.

  “Mia…” Burt cautioned, aware the digital recorders in the home might pick up some of her more colorful profanities.

  She just gave him a go to hell look that shut him up. “Next time, you get to take a spider bath,” she said coldly.

  They took the weapons across the yard and met Mike and Beth who had triumphantly returned with an automatic weapon that Ted doubted was reported missing. Had Cobb been able to figure out how to load it, they would have been cut down. No amount of ducking would get them clear of that barrage of bullets.

  Mike and Beth took the second floor map and headed into the house. Mia ripped off the stairs from the downstairs picture and gave the rest to Burt who she was not presently talking to. He shook his head, realizing his censure just placed him, if not on the couch, in the trailer after this evening’s adventures. She picked up a crowbar from their equipment bin and stomped off. Burt followed her at the shunned male distance of ten spaces.

  Ted pulled up and collated the information on the police reports. He listed the weapons on a spread sheet, making a mental note that the denizens of this suburb had to be firm NRA supporters. As he began cataloging the weapons, he worried that the team wouldn’t reach them all in time. He glanced over at the nursery monitor, and the dolls eyes were still closed. Ted took time to breathe before continuing on with his important chore.

  Burt moved towards the fireplace and sifted through the piles of wood and pinecones in an antique coal scuttle. He moved on to the interior of the immaculately kept fire place. He pulled out the grate and opened up the ash door and found two pearl-handled guns he suspected belonged to the sweet, little old ladies across the way. He carefully stood up, and just next to the damper, he found a box of bullets.

  Mia counted the steps in the picture and began prying off the tread. Inside she found the dueling pistols. She regretted leaving her hoodie as she pushed the cold wood and metal barrels down her shirt, securing them with her bra straps and cups. She replaced the tread realizing that Mike and Beth wouldn’t expect the hole and perhaps plummet to their deaths. She had banged the last of the nails into place when she heard a growl behind her. Mia whirled around and saw who she assumed was Andrew Wyatt standing over her. She whipped her body back around and started to climb the stairs.

  He grabbed her using the power that the stored anger of centuries gave him and held her to him. Mia fought the icy cold hands as they moved over her body in search of the pistols.

  The click of a round being chambered stopped Wyatt’s assault and drew Mia’s attention upwards. Standing on the top of the staircase was Sam Cobb, and he smiled, drawing aim on Wyatt. A horrified Mia knew she was stuck in between, and Cobb didn’t acknowledge her as a casualty. She was just a moving picture to him. He laughed and…

  CRACK! An axe cut through him, hewing him in two at the waist. The rifle skittered down the stairs. Wyatt dropped Mia and began to flee. Murphy moved passed the crumpled Mia, sliding down the banister with his axe balanced on his shoulder. He caught up with Wyatt at the front door.

  Burt heard a loud chopping sound from the hall and ran to see what Mia was up to. He stopped dead as the front door blew open and a mighty CRACK reverberated off of the walls of the home.

  Mia watched as Murphy sliced Andrew Wyatt down the middle from head to crotch. The surprised entity disappeared as his assassin had at the top of the stairs. Mia felt the pistols heat up, and she ripped them out of her clothing, dropping them over the banister to the hardwood floor below. They smoked. Mia looked and saw Burt staring at the space Murphy occupied and then at her.

  “Honey, what just happened?” he asked, moving towards her.

  “I’ll tell you later. First we need to remove those pistols before they start the house on fire. She pointed to the smoking guns that had already scorched the wood beneath them.”

  Burt ran through Grandma who had gotten out of her chair to see what the commotion was all about. He grabbed a decorative coal bin and tongs from the fireplace and jogged back to the hall.

  Mia watched as he picked up each pistol and placed it in the bin. She also watched Grandma Hofmann as she noticed Stephen Murphy for the first time. She nodded her head regally, and Murphy took off his hat and smiled.

  “Anneliese Hofmann, may I introduce, Stephen Murphy of Cold Creek Hollow,” Mia said, getting to her feet and continuing with her introduction, “Murphy likes to watch public television and arrive in the nick of time.” Mia gave him an appreciate look then a scowl. “Anneliese likes to read romance novels about men like you, Murphy.”

  Murphy pushed a hand through his hair as to neaten his appearance for the old woman. She smiled at him, and Mia actually thought she saw the spirit blush. He walked over and gave the old woman his arm. She twittered about something and Murphy nodded. He helped her back to her chair. She picked up her e-book, and Murphy drew the afghan around her shoulders. She twittered about something else and Murphy smiled. He put his hat back on and strode back to the hall and up to Mia.

  “You done good,” Mia said, adjusting her clothing. “Pretty good company manners for a son of bitch,” she commented as she stood up.

  “Soap,” Murphy warned just before he disappeared.

  “I take it Murphy has arrived,” Burt commented dryly, hiding his excitement of the previous minutes.

  “Yup, just saved my life and flirted with Grandma before reminding me to watch my tongue,” Mia said as she negotiated the last few steps.

  Burt met her at the bottom and scooped her up into his arms.

  “Get a room!” Mike said from the top of the stairs, holding an elephant gun on his shoulder. “You wouldn’t believe where we found this!”

  Beth walked up behind him and stared down at Mia in Burt’s arms and asked, “Did I hear a familiar crack of an axe?”

  Mia nodded as best she could, being crushed to Burt’s chest with his strong arms at the moment.

  “Woo hoo! Murphy’s joined the team,” Beth crowed.

  “Oh great,” Mike said dully. “I suppose he’s going to want a cut…”

  Beth groaned at the pun.

  “Of the proceeds,” he finished smiling at his witticism.

  Burt let Mia go. She picked up the two-barrel on the landing. Burt grabbed the smoking coal scuttle asking, “What exactly do we do with these?”

  “I haven’t a clue. Gerald might know of someone…”

  “Who knows someone…” Beth sai
d from the stairs.

  “Who knows someone…” Mike continued, pointing out the wobbly tread to her.

  “Who knows someone,” Burt finished before the four of them laughed.

  Chapter Thirty

  Sabine walked into Brian’s room. He had just received his lung treatment and was pale and waxy. She smiled at him as she approached the bed. He mimed that he couldn’t talk yet.

  She just put her finger to her lips and crawled into the bed with him, much to the surprise of the retreating inhalation therapist.

  She put her head on Brian’s shoulder, and the two fell asleep.

  Gerald popped his head into the room minutes later, and satisfied the two were indeed sleeping and not bi-locating, he closed the door and walked down the hall to consult the specialist Holly had given him permission to speak to.

  Bev paced the waiting room. She reached out with her thoughts and took in the concern of the family members scattered in small groups waiting for their child, parent or sibling to be made ready for evening visiting hours. Eavesdropping Bev’s way was bad manners she supposed, but she was bored, having read all the glossy magazines previously. A pale man in his forties entered the waiting room. Bev became wary as he had the darkest aura Bev had seen since her brother’s. He was dressed in an expensive suit of clothing and Italian leather shoes. She probed his mind and came up with suppressed hatred.

  Gerald had just finished with the specialist when Bev’s voice screamed in his head. “He’s here, the fucking son of a bitch! He’s standing here in front of me!”

  Gerald ran down the hall, sending a text to his driver at the same time. He rounded the corner and understood how Bev had been able to see through the man’s corporal disguise of calmness. His soul radiated evil. Gerald choked down the bile which rose in his throat as he probed the man’s mind. He walked up to him and asked, “Can I help you?”