by Alexie Aaron
“Some investigators we are. What else did we pass?” Mia asked for both of their benefits.
“I’ll ask the boys, maybe they saw an elevator on the first floor. I think it’s time to meet up with the crews. I’m also going to have a long chat with the OIC and find out when we’re going to get some more men here to search this monstrosity.”
“I’m hungry, are you?”
“Haven’t eaten since lunch, lord, that was hours ago. My stomach is growling louder than a rabid dog chasing two fools down a dark hallway.”
Mia laughed before complaining, “At least you had lunch.”
“Mia, I have a question of a personal nature.”
“Nice of you to ask, not just probe my brain,” Mia said sarcastically.
“You’re getting good at blocking me, missy.”
“I have many talents. But go ahead with your question.”
“What the hell do you have jammed down your trousers? When I picked you up you had the flexibility of a metal folding chair.”
Mia hesitated. “Do I have immunity from prosecution?”
“I think you have earned some leniency.”
Mia let the thermal imager dangle from the safety strap and reached behind her. She drew out a sawed-off shotgun and handed it to John.
He whistled as he handled the gun. “It’s primed with rock salt. Has it been used.”
“Hypothetically, it could have been used a few times.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Hypothetically, is it licensed?”
“As a full shotgun. I got the idea from the ones you put together for the problem in the hollow, John.”
“They were only good for one blast. Ruined the barrel,” he mused, “but this has almost no barrel, so…”
“Hypothetically, it could be fired and reloaded numerous times.”
“The blast area must be wide and scattered.”
“Rumor has it that Murphy was stung by a few stray pellets. Took him time to recover. Told someone that it burned like hell fire.
“Clever,” he said and handed the weapon back to Mia.
“It won’t hurt a human unless they get a pellet in the eye or get it too close to an appendage. It will slow them down, I suppose. An entity will have to return to a power source and recharge.”
“Whit know about this?”
“Hell no, he’s a law enforcement professional,” Mia said.
“Good. Don’t compromise the boy, Mia,” John warned.
“I hear you loud and clear.”
They had made the landing, and before they went down the stairs, they decided to take a moment to examine the wall opposite the stairwell. Frustrated, John pulled out a cigarette, lit it, drew in smoke, and blew it out near the floor. Mia trained her light on the smoke. They watched as it was sucked into the wall. John knelt down and moved his fingers along the floor and up the wall. He smiled as he found a brass disk. He managed to turn the disk and a panel slid back. In front of them was a set of gray elevator doors. After further examination, he found a button under the disk. The doors screeched as they slowly opened.
Mia screamed as Melanie, dressed in a little girl’s dress, fell out of the elevator and lay convulsing on the floor. Pushing through the immediate shock, John knelt down and quickly removed the red ribbon that was cutting off most of her air supply from around her neck.
“We need an ambulance,” Mia told Ted. “We found Melanie, she’s still alive. She’s in convulsions. Sheriff Ryan is working on her.”
Mia tore off her hoodie and balled it up. John put it under Melanie’s head. Her body was ice cold.
“Blankets, we need blankets. Tom! Ted, get Tom here. He’s done this before, with Sherry Martin, hurry.”
Memories overlapped the present as she watched the young girl wither and fight for air. She barely heard Tom charge up the steps. He arrived with Butch who had extracted the first aid kit from the sheriff’s vehicle. He proceeded to open an airway below the crushed larynx of the teen. Unlike Sherry, they weren’t too late.
Mia looked around her and then down the stairs. There on the landing stood Whit. He too was reliving Sherry’s death. She ran down to him and led him away from the three men working on the teen.
She didn’t recognize the EMTs that pounded up the steps and didn’t hear the radio chatter. She was stuck in hell with Whit. They moved out of the way of a pair of state officers that had followed the EMTs. She heard the swish thud of Sherry hanging herself with each of Mia’s own heart beats. She moved stiffly but managed to keep it together. She needed to be there for Whit. He wasn’t talking. The door opened, and Burt stood there looking at her. He walked over, understanding more than anyone else what she and Whit were going through. He gently guided Whit out of the building and over to the equipment van. Mia followed them silently.
“You got there in time, Mia,” he gently said. “Melanie’s going to make it.”
“Sherry didn’t,” Whit said with dead eyes.
Burt and Mia helped him into the van, where Whit allowed himself once again to grieve for his murdered wife. Mia stood helplessly by him. Later she would remember Beth bringing blankets and a hoodie, way too big for her, that smelled like Ted. Whit turned away from Mia when she wrapped the blanket around him. She felt a cold wave of hurt and betrayal come from him. It was a twisted reasoning, but she knew that Whit thought she was the cause of his having to relive Sherry’s death again.
Burt drew her away, and she let him. Beth said something about staying with Whit. Mia closed in on herself, and then there was nothing.
Chapter Seven
She heard the chatter of the police officers before she opened her eyes. Mia smelt strong coffee being poured and heard the rapid fire of Ted’s fingers on the keyboards. She lay on the lounge chair Ted had set out for her hours ago. She paid attention to the rain drumming on the roof of the truck. The typing stopped, and she felt the heat of his body as he moved near her. She opened her eyes and smiled sadly.
“Do you know who I am?” he asked.
“Ted, from which all technology doth come.”
“Phew! Last time you were in this state you thought I was your father.”
“I remember, not good,” Mia said trying to sit up. “How exactly did I get here?”
“Burt carried you.”
“Burt?”
“Yes, he caught you as you fainted.”
“Surprised he didn’t let me fall.”
“So were we all.”
“Wanna tell Teddy bear what the fuck is going on in your head?”
Mia snorted and tried to form words. “I don’t really know. Wires crossed. Emotions overwhelming my sensitivity, all I can do is guess right now.” Mia looked down at her hands. “I failed him, and there isn’t any way that this is ever going away. She died. His Sherry. By the time I figured out she was in trouble and raced to the house and up to the attic, it was too late. I saw her step off the sawhorse and hang herself. I ran to her and held her up and was able to get her off the rope, but her neck was broken, she was already dying. Whit got there, and Tom rushed to help… We failed. I failed. Tonight, I couldn’t tell Melanie from Sherry.”
“I know, Minnie mouse, but your quick thinking saved that girl. Tom has been practicing tracheotomies on med school dummies ever since he couldn’t save Sherry. It wouldn’t have mattered if he could do them then, her neck was broken, her brain was dead. But this time he saved the girl.”
Mia looked at Ted and her eyes brimmed with tears. “That’s good, I guess. Poor Whit. If I was seeing Sherry then it’s damn certain he was too.”
“John Ryan is going to be talking to him. Give him time. Don’t write him off yet.”
“That’s big of you, Ted.”
“In matters of the heart, I always play fair.”
They heard a scratching sound.
“Speaking of matters of the heart, Murphy’s been scratching nervously for some time now. I can’t let him in because he drains my batteries and fucks up the monitor. Mind if I kick you ou
t so he can see that you’re all right?”
“How are you keeping him out?” Mia said as she tested out her legs.
“Yellow dolomite. I had some left over. I lined the cracks of the command center to protect it and me from whatever crazy spirits are attached to the asylum. Seems to work on Murphy too.”
“Smart man.” Mia stopped and remembered that she had on his hoodie. She started to take it off.
“No don’t!” Ted said. “Keep it.”
Mia looked at him suspiciously. “Thank you, I’ll launder it and get it back to you. You wanna tell me why you want me to wear it?”
Ted blushed. He motioned for her to come closer. “You see. The stateys think that you’re my girl because you’re wearing my hoodie. Their assumption, nothing to do with anything I said.”
Mia smiled. “I’m complimented.” She walked to the end of the truck, and Ted lifted the door. She hopped down, happy that everyone was busy, and no one noticed her leave the truck. No one but Murphy.
He was at her side immediately. She saw worry line his face.
“I’m fine,” she said quietly.
He smiled. He mimed a lasso and roped her with it and tied the other end to him.
“K, we stay together.”
Murphy tried to put his hand on her forehead and ended up halfway through her head.
Mia started laughing. It tingled like crazy and had the effect of four coffees. She backed up and grinned. “Do it again,” she said.
He tilted his head, raised an eyebrow and refused.
“Spoil sport. Come on, I have questions. Like how the fuck does an elevator run if there isn’t supposed to be any electricity?” Mia strode off in the direction of Butch.
“Hey, Superdude, who’s in charge now?”
“The OIC is stuck in an acre of mud so… I guess it’s Sheriff Ryan.”
“I thought I saw state police here?”
“Just highway patrol. They’re here to help us.”
“K. Before I go. Butch, you were amazing in there. No offence, but you’re wasted in dispatch.”
“Thank you, miss.” Butch blushed. “Sheriff Ryan is just inside the door. We invaded the lobby while you were indisposed.”
Mia nodded and turned to go and stopped. “Where are the dogs?”
“Animal control came and got them. Don’t worry they won’t be destroyed or anything. That Beth says one of the dogs is from Chicago. The other is from a junkyard in Topeka.”
“How did they get here?”
“Both were taken from their owners at a rest stop off Highway 80.”
“The ribbon?”
“Don’t know yet,” Butch replied.
“I see grass doesn’t grow under your feet.”
“Don’t let this male model body fool you. I’m a working man.”
Mia nodded turned on her heel and went in search of John. She found him looking over a copy of a blueprint on a metal table that looked like it belonged in the morgue. Mike was pointing out something to him so Mia hung back.
“So you think this is where the electricity is coming into the place.”
“Looking at this, I’d say whoever is using this place is getting the juice for the elevator here,” Mike insisted.
“I see what you’re saying.”
Mia felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Burt looking at her. “How are you feeling?”
“Stupid.”
He laughed.
“Thanks for the rescue. How long was I out?”
“Just an hour. I left Ted in charge of you. I expected you to wake up with a clown nose or Spock ears on.”
“He took it easy on me. But thanks for the warning. What’s going on? We haven’t stopped searching have we?”
“No, the state police have the third floor swept, but we can’t get to the fourth floor.”
“Why?”
“As far as we can tell there is no entrance from the stairwell. It goes up and a brick wall without a door greets you at the top. It looks as if someone bricked up the entrance.”
“Well that’s a damn inconvenience. That’s why they’re looking at the elevator?”
“You’re quick for an eavesdropper.”
“It’s a special power,” Mia teased. “You want me and Murphy to go up and take a look?”
Burt’s face paled. “No.”
Mia looked at him and waited for him to explain.
“Ted says that you can die OOBing.”
“It’s a risk, but those little girls don’t have much time,” Mia argued.
“You just had an incident, and Ted says you had two others at the museum. One in the exhibits, the other in the bathroom.”
“Effin hell, the boy has a big mouth.”
“He cares for you. Says if I let you do this and you get hurt, he’s leaving with all his toys.”
“Taking his toys and going home, huh?” Mia thought a moment and pointed out, “Murphy will be with me.”
“Didn’t help you much when you faced the bikers.”
“That was fifty to one. Damn, Burt, if you could see how the guy hewed those berserkers down to size…” She demonstrated with an air axe.
“No. Not without a way for us to get in there. You can’t extract the girls in your bilocated state.”
“True, but I can see if they are up there.”
“What if you’re seen? And whatever sees you can communicate to the monster in charge. Those girls are dead in minutes.”
Mia sighed. “I see your point. I can see why you get the big bucks.”
“You’re listening to me?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t do that, it freaks me out!” Burt raised his voice.
Mia was so surprised she laughed, which didn’t make her look good when John looked over and Mike turned around.
“What if I looked in the windows? I could disguise myself.”
“I’m listening…”
Mia motioned for him to lean in.
He did.
“As a bat,” she whispered. “I can do that.”
“Really?”
“I just need to see a picture of one. I bet Beth could help me out there.”
“I bet she could. You talk to Murphy because if he’s not happy…”
“He could blow my cover with his axe whackery,” Mia finished. She turned to her side and said, “Well?”
Burt wasn’t surprised that the farmer was already there.
Murphy thought a moment and smiled.
“It’s okay with him. Where’s Beth?”
“I think she is babysitting your boyfriend,” Burt said slyly.
Mia shrugged. “Where?”
“In the equipment van.”
“I’ll let them be. I can get the information from Ted,” Mia said and walked out the door.
Burt wasn’t sure what just happened, but he didn’t have time for emotional rollercoasters. He walked over to Mike and John and filled them in. He kept his voice low, and when he told them Mia’s plan their mouths dropped open.
“Ted, I need a picture or video of a bat that is indigenous to this area,” Mia announced. “And I need you to break the dolomite seal so I can OOB out of here.”
“That sounds like a command.”
“No, a request.”
“What if I say no?”
“I will kick you in the nards.”
This surprised Ted and he laughed. “What if I told you I’m wearing a cup?”
“You’d be lying.”
He rolled his eyes. “Tell me why you want to be a bat?”
Mia told Ted and said she had Burt and Murphy’s blessing.
“What about the boyfriend?”
“He’s in no state to be consulted.”
Ted walked over and lowered the door. He punched up an internet connection and typed in her request. He not only got her a picture but a video of one flying.
“Ew, that’s ugly.”
“Bats aren’t pretty. You want to be a white fuzzy b
unny, be a bunny, but a bat looks like that.”
Mia studied the creature and watched it fly in slow motion.
“They always turn left when they leave a cave,” Ted said from behind her. “They eat mosquitos by the hundreds.”
She watched the video and asked him to bring it to normal speed. She angled her head and imagined herself a bat. Mia got up and walked back to the lounge, lay back and within seconds she was a bat. She flew out of the truck making sure to turn left. She circled around, taking care to avoid the wires and other things a bat’s natural ability would take care of. As a mere imposter she didn’t have echo location. She used her eyes and prayed there weren’t any owls that were OOBing tonight.
She moved along the fourth floor, gazing in the windows that faced the front of the building. She didn’t see anything. She circled around back, and as a breeze moved by her, she saw a thin slit of light. Black out curtains! Mia landed on the sill. She morphed into a field mouse and moved into the lit room. When her eyes adjusted, she was gob smacked. In front of her was an ornate four poster canopy bed with tapestry curtains. The curtains were open, and on the bed sat a desiccated corpse of a woman dressed in a fine silk dressing gown. There were expensive dolls of all sizes and generations arranged around the corpse. Each wore a red ribbon around its neck.
There wasn’t a corporal being in the room, and the corpse didn’t emanate a spirit. It could be that the spirit passed on, or just was not in this room presently. The room was immaculate, the furnishings rich and the carpet plush. Mia moved through the door and exited into a dimly lit hallway. She kept to the edges of the hall, still not wanting to call attention to herself. She sensed movement and pushed into the shadows. A large entity dressed in a white orderly’s uniform moved past her, entered the room and sat down in a chair by the window. He wore his hair in a blonde crew cut. His skin color was pale and tended to blend into his work clothes. Mia took note of this and moved on. She scurried to the next open doorway and looked inside.
There was a small kitchen set up. She heard the hum of a refrigerator, and the stove top had been recently used. The glow of the electric burner was fading. She wished that she could smell while bilocating, but this didn’t seem to be in her skill set. A quick scurry around netted her only the information that a vast amount of canned chili was stored in boxes. No sign of the little girls.
