Puzzle (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  “I didn’t think he still had it in him,” John commented. “He blew out his knee a year ago. Looks like the Dupont Dynamo is back.”

  Chuck approached the rope. He reached as high as he could and pulled himself up, using his knees and feet to stabilize his weight. He moved steadily upwards, tapping the top girder before descending. When he reached the bottom, the gym door they had come through opened. Chuck gave the others a thumbs up before exiting the gym. The door closed, and the whistle blew for the next competitor.

  ~

  Mia paced the command center as Dave watched the cameras for any movement.

  “What’s your problem?” he asked as she sighed loudly.

  “I was hoping to OOB while Homer and Doc were here.”

  “What the fuck is OOB, and why can’t you do it without them?”

  “I’ll give you the Cliffs Notes version. Basically, I can move out of body and go walking in the same dimension that the ghosts exist in. But I move much faster, like Superman if you will. Ghost can’t see me unless I slow down. I think that I can find a break in the security shell and check on the guys.”

  “He’ll see you, you’re too big to miss,” Dave pointed out.

  “I can change my persona to something smaller. As long as I know how the thing I imitate moves, I can become it. A mouse, a fly, a bird, whatever I need to be, I can morph into it,” she explained.

  “You’d be invisible to the guys, so what good would it be? A lot of trouble for nothing.”

  “Burt’s got his glasses on. Ted says my EMF is quite impressive when I’m OOBing. I’ve got to try. They are depending on me,” Mia said.

  “Then do it.”

  “I leave my body, you’ve got to watch it, and no funny stuff,” Mia warned.

  “Listen, grandma, I’ve got no interest in you,” Dave spat back. “Just get on with it. I’ve got plans. I can’t be hanging around here when the cops arrive.”

  Mia wondered how much of what he said was true and how much was for her benefit. “Okay, I’ll prepare. Find me a video of a cockroach and a humming bird,” she instructed.

  Dave went to work, looking on YouTube and nodded when he was successful. Mia, in the meanwhile, opened up a folding lounge chair and had pulled on some heavy clothing over her outerwear. She watched the two videos and smiled. She took a deep breath and rolled her neck. “I’ve been called a cockroach before. I hope I can do it justice. The bird is a challenge. When I do this, you may be able to see me so don’t piss yourself,” she cautioned. “And keep me warm. I lose circulation and can’t warm my extremities.”

  Dave nodded and said, “You can depend on me. I talk a good game, but I realize you’re doing this for more than the PEEPs. You’re doing it for Richie and me. Time’s a wasting, get.” He watched as she raised an eyebrow, taking in what he said.

  Dave picked up an IR video camera and trained it on Mia. She sat down and pulled a small blanket that had seen better days over her. She lay back. As her head hit the back of the chair, a transparent Mia sat up out of her body. She stood up and pushed the hood she wore off her head. She winked at Dave before morphing into a small bird and flew out of the command truck. “OOBing is such a lame word for what she just did,” he said to the empty trailer.

  Mia flew quickly to the top of the school. She hoped to find one of the rooftop air vents that she could crawl into. The smaller the opening, the less the entity would have thought to protect it. She was rewarded by finding a vent without moving blades over the west side of the building where they found Mason. She had rerun the camera footage and got the idea that it may just be a gymnasium. Mia landed on the silver mounting and edged her way inside. She morphed into a cockroach and began to descend.

  Chapter Nine

  Josh was having trouble with the hurdles. He would clear them with his front leg, but the trailing leg’s pants caught on the hurdle bringing it down.

  “Take off your pants, dude,” Ted shouted. He received a toot of the whistle to warn him to be quiet for his trouble.

  Josh slipped off his cargos and tied the legs of the pants around his neck. He had a bad feeling that he wouldn’t be allowed to go back and get them. He ran the course, and this time he cleared each hurdle. At the finish, he quickly donned his pants before he climbed the rope.

  Ted moved into position and moved through the stations as if he were an avatar. Burt watched him climb the rope. He was reminded of another time, when Ted’s rope climbing ability saved Mia. Ted’s comic book favorite was Batman, and in many ways he was the personification of the dark knight. Smart, strong, determined and stubborn. As Burt watched Ted approach the top of the rope he said, “He is Batman.”

  Ted tapped the girder and began his descent.

  “I think you may be right,” Mike agreed.

  The whistle blew, warning Burt and Mike to be quiet. Ted had finished his climb down, and the door opened for him. He walked out to join the others.

  Cid’s natural physical abilities had him through the course in record time. John had trouble with the rings but managed to hold on long enough to satisfy the invisible judge. Richie had no coordination, and his bad knee did not help matters. He had to repeat the balance beam and the tires several times. His light frame aided in his climb. There was one heart stopping moment when his legs lost the rope, and he swung sixteen feet off the ground helplessly.

  Richie was losing his cool. If he jumped down now, he would break a leg. He wanted to continue, not be thrown out like Mason was.

  Burt risked the wrath of the entity and called, “Come on, Richie, you can do this!”

  Mike stood up and instructed, “Squeeze the rope with your knees, one hand over the next.”

  The shrill whistle blasted Mike’s eardrums, but he continued to give Richie instruction and encouragement. “Breathe, kid, you can do this.”

  Richie took a deep breath and was able to grasp the rope once again with his legs.

  Mike took a punch to his back. He grunted in pain but continued to coach him. “Reach, pull, reach, pull…”

  Richie listened to Mike and began to move his hands to the cadence of his voice. Soon he was at the top. He quickly moved downward. He kissed the floor after he landed. He took the time to give Mike and Burt their due, saluting them before running out the open door.

  Mike turned to Burt and said, “Time for the old men. Good luck, grandpa.”

  The whistle blew, sounding over Burt’s less than gracious reply.

  Mike’s practiced grace and gym-strengthened body had him to the rope almost as quickly as Cid. He climbed up the rope as if he were auditioning for a Tarzan movie. He slid down and nodded to Burt before walking through the open door.

  The door shut hard. The ring of metal hitting metal echoed through the empty gym. Burt scanned the floor, looking for the entity to no avail. He adjusted his glasses as he got up and feared that they had lost their charge. Burt took them off, worried the weight of them would hamper his movement. He put them in his shirt pocket and buttoned them in for safety.

  The whistle blew. Burt climbed on the balance beam. He wavered a bit but managed the walk. The rings were tough. He cursed himself for all the fast food meals he had consumed prior to living with Ted. He had lost fifteen pounds on Cid’s cuisine but not enough to make holding his own weight comfortable. He felt a tingle move down his left arm and stop in the middle of his chest. He hoped to hell it wasn’t a heart attack. The tingle moved down his right arm to the same spot in his chest. He directed all his energy there. Soon he had pulled himself up to some semblance of an iron cross and the whistle blew, releasing him.

  He moved through the tires quickly and stopped to take a few deep breaths before starting the hurdles. “There’s no way,” he said to himself. “But what the fuck, might as well try.” The whistle blew, and he started running. Before he reached the first hurdle it fell over. He jumped anyway and continued. No whistle. The same happened to the second hurdle. After the third did the same, he realized that the entit
y was giving him a pass. He crossed the finish line and stood looking up at the rope.

  The whistle sounded, and Burt began to climb. “Ted may be Batman, but I’m Supernerd. This is all just physics,” he said as he used his weight and strength together to move up and down the rope. The doors opened, and he ran through them.

  The smell of cigarette smoke clung to the air in the hall. Burt figured that as soon as the doors had closed behind Josh, he’d lit up his cigarette. The doors slammed behind Burt. The others looked over at him. All but Ted seemed surprised to see him standing there.

  Mike looked at him, amazed. He walked over and patted the sweat-stained investigator on the back. “I didn’t think you could…”

  “I had some help. I don’t know why, but it wanted to pass me. I did have to climb that damn rope though.”

  “How’d you do?” Ted asked, making his way over to Burt from the trophy case, where he and Cid had been standing, staring at the multitude of physical education achievements the Clinton Cougars had won within a recent three year period.

  “I barely passed. I don’t get it, why these tests? Is this a torture chamber for the body and the mind?” he asked them. He handed Ted the glasses, whispering, “They’re out of juice.”

  “I keep thinking that there has to be a reason,” Ted said loudly as he pulled out a nine-volt battery and connected some wires to the frame.

  “Sorry, but I think the fucker is playing with us for his own amusement,” Mike argued.

  “Or training us,” Burt offered.

  “Mr. Burt,” Chuck called. “The lights are flashing at the end of this hall. I think we have to start moving.”

  “Lead the way, Chuck,” Burt said.

  Ted pulled the wires off the glasses and handed them covertly to Burt, pocketing the charging device.

  The group of eight moved down the hall slowly. Some were winded from the exertion; others were frightened of what the next test would be.

  Burt pondered why the entity spared him after knocking the shit out of him at the door. Was it because he was beaten? No, the others had sported various bruises. What did he have that the entity needed? What valuable asset did he have that the others didn’t have? He could see EMF, but the entity didn’t know that. He was an overweight, over thirty cameraman who had a vast knowledge of the paranormal. Was that it? Was it his knowledge? Was that his superpower? He pulled himself out of his thoughts and concentrated on the task at hand, keeping up with the others who had just turned a corner ten feet in front of him.

  ~

  “How long has she been out?” a familiar female voice broke through the fog.

  Mia opened her eyes to see the deep brown eyes of Audrey McCarthy looking down at her. “She’s waking up,” Audrey informed Dave who was sitting at the console watching the video feeds. As she turned back to Mia, her red curls bounced around her face.

  “Hey, Shirley Temple, mind giving me some air?” Mia asked the woman. “On this Good Ship Lollypop, the cap’n needs room to breathe.”

  “Welcome back, how was your voyage?” Audrey said, getting off her knees.

  Mia looked up at her and frowned. “Fruitless. I was able to get no farther than a line level with the roof. No matter what crevice I found, it barred me from the building,” she told them. “At least we have the guys in there. I can’t believe Burt was able to hold the door that long to get Troy out.”

  “Burt, door? What’s going on, Mia?” Audrey asked.

  “First things first, what brings you down here, and how the hell did you find this place in the dark?” Mia got up and rummage under the command console and came up with one of Ted’s special thermoses. She poured herself a hit before offering some to Dave and Audrey who both declined.

  “Burt called me and asked me to do some research on this school. Why it was closed, that sort of thing. When I started digging, I expected to find budget cuts or health reasons. What I found was a closed file, two lawsuits pending and a lot of red tape to get through.” Audrey waited until she was sure Mia was alert enough to hear her information before continuing, “I called Alan and got Brenda, his secretary’s, help. She says hello by the way. Wants to know when she can take you to lunch.”

  Ted’s special brew shot caffeine and sugar through Mia’s system. She was able to pull out of the fog OOBing had produced enough to process what Audrey was telling her. “I don’t do lunch,” she said, weeding out that information. “What lawsuits?”

  “Everyone eats, Mia, you more than most,” Audrey criticized before continuing, “The school system is suing the makers of the gym flooring. The EPA closed the school down for high levels of mercury. They found the mercury in the gym floor was poisoning the children and the staff. It’s been going for months, the lawsuit, I mean. The second lawsuit is about a child being exercised into a coma. A boy, Ira Levisohn, Inky to his friends, was doing detention afterhours with the gym teacher when he collapsed in the hall after running in some kind of a drill involving steps and wind sprints. His parents claim the gym teacher was responsible, didn’t take Ira’s health concerns into account before torturing the boy.”

  “What happened to the teacher?”

  “He refused to take the blame, cited his impressive history of producing athletes that won trophies. They fired him, tagged him with mental health issues, manic behavior, before and after the fact. He returned to the school and hung himself over that poisonous gym floor. His wife claims the mercury made him crazy. His behavior changed as soon as he started teaching here. They closed the school soon after.”

  “Did Ira die?” Mia asked, interested.

  “No, still alive. I have an appointment to see his parents in the morning in the coma wing of a hospital in St. Louis. He’s been there for just about a year.” Audrey looked up and counted off something on her fingers silently. “I got lost six times, but I finally found the school. Does that answer all your questions?”

  Mia started to open her mouth.

  “Burt wasn’t answering his phone. I had to come down here for tomorrow’s meeting, that’s why I’m here,” Audrey added quickly.

  “K.” Mia looked at her and pointed to a chair. “Sit down. Sorry about the questions, but I’m a bit grumpy and fuzzy right now. I’m glad you came. We need, hell, I need you here. I take it you’ve met Dave.”

  “Briefly. He wasn’t going to let me in here at first.”

  “I wondered about that. I ordered him to watch over me. Didn’t want any degenerates running off with my body.”

  Dave spun around in his chair. “This woman comes driving up, honking the horn, asking for Burt. I tell her to fuck off, but she won’t. Murphy comes over to see what the problem is and tells me - well not exactly tells - but I get the idea she’s one of you so I let her in,” he explained. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “Nah, you did right. I was just surprised,” Mia said. “I’m just bummed I can’t get into the school.” Mia turned to Audrey. “I need to bring you up to speed, starting with Dave here. If Burt already went over this information with you, I apologize.”

  Audrey sat and listened while Mia told her about her connection with Dave, his phone call to her and why they hadn’t brought in the police. She stopped and asked Dave, “Did Homer or Doc call?”

  “Homer did. Mason’s going to be alright. His ribs are either bruised or busted. He told the admitting nurse that he got beat up at a rave in St. Louis. Troy got him out of there. Homer said he found them wandering the road after they got dropped off. Troy said he took something someone gave him at the rave. This explained his condition.” Dave stopped for a breath before continuing, “They don’t think the police are going to be involved. Mason’s brother showed up and confirmed his story, acting upset that his brother snuck out of the house and went to St. Louis without permission. Troy’s mother came in and fussed a bit, but she took Troy home after promising to bring him in to talk to a drug counselor next week.”

  “A lot of lies going on,” Audrey said disapprovingly. />
  “Don’t look at me. I’m just trying to get the delinquents and the PEEPs out of that building,” Mia said. “There’s more going on here than just a demented entity playing games with the guys in there. We also have a plethora of Union soldiers encamped on the property. They can’t leave. They didn’t die here but found themselves stuck here. Audrey, we need a truck load of research done if I’m going to get a handle on all of this. We only have my brain and that halfwit over there to work this out. And we have to do it in the next twenty-four hours.”

  “Why so soon?” Audrey asked.

  “Because our mothers are expecting us home, ten o’clock tomorrow night,” Dave answered. “They’ll call the cops. I have a juvi record for drug use. I’ll be sent away if they learn the real reason we broke into the school.”

  “Which was…” Audrey led.

  “Theft. We were going to rip out the copper and sell it.”

  “Do you need the money?” she asked, trying to work out why these young people had taken to thievery.

  “I don’t, neither does Richie, but these guys are our friends and…”

  Audrey raised her hand and said, “Say no further, I get it.”

  “Stupid asswipes,” Mia said. “Not that it excuses them, but they have been through quite a trauma recently. Dave also, as your bright mind picked up, is a sensitive. Life in school is hell for sensitives, Audrey. We don’t make friends easily. I had hoped to work with Dave after he graduated, bring him slowly into the world of the paranormal, but this little adventure has forced him to jump into the shark pool without floaties.”