by Alexie Aaron
They turned right, and the house came into view.
“Oops, someone left the lights on in the attic. See those dormers? It’s just attic space. In the city, they would have the staff living up there, but old Kip was happier with the staff living off premises, with the exception of the housekeeper and the butler. They had suites on the bottom floor next to the kitchen. There used to be these cottages about 200 yards on the other side of the hill, but they didn’t make it past WWII. Jesse and I found some good stones to repair the east chimney down there. Going to save Hal a bundle.”
“Have you ever met this Hal?” Cid asked.
“Nope. He is crazy busy according to Kiki. Once the cell tower is put in, he’ll be around. But the man has to be plugged in at all times.”
Walrus pulled the truck around back. As suspected, the tarp was popping in the wind. It wouldn’t be long before it popped completely loose and the rain would ruin the kitchen floor. Cid and he pulled it taut, added another layer, and secured that also.
The rain started, and they sought out the safety of the house while Walrus made a call. “Hey, Pete, any reason for the lights being on in the attic? No one drying paint? Okay, we’ll turn them off.” He tucked his phone in his pocket. “Let’s head up there. I hate these stairs. It’s not that they aren’t beautiful, but I hate hauling this ass up. Ah, to be young and skinny again.”
“One of our investigators hates climbing stairs, although she’s pretty fit. On one investigation, she puked after the third set. She brought along a garbage bag and used it. Fortunately, I wasn’t around to have to deal with it.”
“How long have you been with these paranormal investigators?” Walrus asked.
“Three years. I’m living off my friend Ted, but I give PEEPs a hand with techie things. All around dogsbody.”
“Now there’s a word you don’t hear that much. You’re a reader aren’t you?”
“I love books.”
“So does my missus. She brings home a stack every couple of weeks from the library. Me, I like my television, especially sports. You wouldn’t know to look at me, but I used to be a professional hockey player. I dominated as a defensive bruiser.”
“Ted’s got a foster son who just learned to skate. He’s been sitting the bench in the backup goalie position.”
“Stressful position to be in.”
“I think it’s a phase. I see him moving on to football. He’s tall and fast.”
They had reached the top floor. Walrus stood there a moment. “What end were the lights on again?”
“West.”
Walrus stood there a moment before he turned right and started walking. “I get turned around on the stairs. The steps to the attics are on the very end of the hall on either side.”
“This place is mammoth. No one wanted it as a hotel?” Cid asked.
“Nothing out here to attract people. Sure, you have two good-size towns but nothing to do there. If you’re living out here, you’re making your own entertainment.”
“How about that lake?”
“Two reedy for swimming, okay for fishing,” Walrus said. “I suppose if you dredged it and poured in a butt load of sand, you could. A lot of expense.”
“I see you’ve thought this out.”
“Cid, there’s a lot of downtime waiting for tile to cure and paint to dry. I spend it fantasizing that this property is mine and what I’d do with it.”
Cid switched hands on the go bag.
“What’s in that thing?”
Cid stopped and put it on the ground and opened it up. “Salt, two iron crowbars, holy water, light discs, mountaineering rope, and a first-aid kit,” he listed. “I also have a camera, EVP meter, tape recorder, and a Swiss Army knife.”
“That looks like it’ll cover it, I guess.”
“You ever deal with a ghost before?” Cid asked.
“I’ve seen one. I was working in Harrisburg, and I walked around the corner of a building and stopped dead. I stood eye to eye with a sentry. I could’ve sworn the bugger was real, until he faded and wasn’t there at all. Scared the crap out of me.”
“Sounds like a residual haunt. That’s an echo from the past. Before we go any farther, if I sense something bad may go down, I’ll pour a circle of salt. Stay in the circle. It’s like a force field against the ghosts. Just don’t break the line of salt,” Cid warned. He picked up the bag.
Walrus opened the door, and they climbed the steep stairs. The attic door was closed, but light pooled on the landing from the space under the door. Walrus opened the door. It swung in.
The men shielded their eyes from the brightness.
“What kind of bulbs are they using up here?” Walrus asked, stepping into the room.
Cid caught hold of his shoulder and pulled him back. “Look!” he said.
A black silhouette of a very tall man, stooped over with a hand on a walking stick of some kind, dominated the far end of the empty space.
The being slowly turned, moved his stick back, and sent it forward, hitting an unseen object on the ground.
The scraping sound preceded the object as it slid in front of Walrus.
“It’s a hockey puck. What the fuck is going on, Cid?”
Cid reached in his bag and lit a disc to replace the icy-cold puck. “Slide this back,” he said.
Walrus pulled his foot back, aimed, and thrust his foot forward, catching the disc center, so it slid along the floorboards instead of toppling over upon itself. It stopped in the middle of the room. The lights cut out. All that was lit was the disc.
They heard the thump-drag thump-drag of an impaired walker before they saw the creature move into the light. It was a stretched-out humanoid made of bone, skin, and darkness. The head rolled to the side from its downward position to look at Cid and Walrus. It had no eyes but a wide jack-o-lantern smile. It motioned with long stick-like fingers for them to come closer.
That was all Walrus could handle. He pushed Cid out of the way and ran down the stairs. Cid stood there a moment and steeled himself to stare down the creature. Inside, he was shaking so much, he feared his spine would unhinge.
“What do you want?” Cid asked.
“What do we all want?” it hissed back, taking its stick and pushing the disc back to Cid before the lights all went back on, revealing an empty attic.
Chapter Three
Cid found Walrus in his truck. The big man sat there shivering, even though he had the heat blasting high enough to have rivulets of condensation rolling down the inside of the windows.
Cid reached over and calmly adjusted the temperature. “Wayne, why don’t you let me drive us back?” Cid suggested.
“I ran. I ran and left you there. I’m such a coward. That thing got into my head. I’m so sorry!”
“Breathe, buddy, breathe,” Cid instructed. “I’m fine. Hell, my beer and pizza have turned into smoothies that are ready to come back up right now.” Cid turned the truck off, snatched the keys, and ran around the truck and got in the driver’s side, pushing Wayne over. “Come on, it’s starting to rain again.”
Lightning lit up the night sky, followed by a crash.
“That’s a mile away. Let’s get on the main road. I don’t want to be in that log chute of a driveway when the next downpour hits,” Cid said.
Cid started the truck and eased it away from the building.
Walrus started talking, “When I was a little boy, we visited my grandparents at their old farm. My brothers and I fought to sleep outside in the barn. My mother allowed it as long as we slept fully-clothed in sleeping bags. In her mind, it would keep us from getting fleas or lice or whatever a city girl would fear of catching. Anyway, that night, something drew the top of my bag together and hung me from the center pulley. I was trapped in the bottom of the bag. That something smelled like spent matches, just like that thing in the attic.”
“I didn’t smell that, but I’ll take your word for it,” Cid said. “Unfortunately, if you did smell sulfur, then that th
ing wasn’t a ghost; it was a demon.”
“Demon! For fuck’s sake. You mean Gran and Gramps had a demon in the barn!”
“Maybe. Mia says not all demons are looking to take over our bodies. Some are just hanging out. What happened after you were hung from the pulley?”
“My brothers caught holy hell from my parents. They didn’t do anything, but you couldn’t convince my parents of that. My brothers said I must have done it to myself. I mean, who would do that and then pee in the sleeping bag?”
“The demon probably was enjoying the chaos,” Cid said, breathing easier as they left the narrow drive and headed for the motel.
“What happened after I left?” Walrus asked.
“I asked it what it wanted.”
“And?”
“It said, ‘What do we all want?’ and then it slid the light back to me and disappeared.”
“What does that mean? Who are we, and what does we want? You don’t think there are more demons there do you?”
“Honestly, I don’t know, but hang on, I’ll get an expert on the phone.” Cid put the phone on speaker and called Mia.
“Cid! Oh my god, I miss you so much!” Mia said. “I’ve burnt supper.”
“Mia, I’m on speakerphone with a new friend.”
“Hello, new friend,” Mia said.
“Wayne, but they call me Walrus here.”
“They call me Crazy Cooper, but I like Mia better, Wayne,” she said, hearing the nerves in his voice.
“Mia, we’ve had an interesting encounter.”
“Spit it out, Cid,” she ordered.
When he finished explaining, he asked, “Wayne and I would like to know how probable it is to have more than one demon there?”
“It sounds like a house demon. They are territorial, so you won’t find another in five miles of the place.”
“Good. How dangerous is he?”
“House demons rarely show themselves unless they want you fully aware that you are messing around with their home.”
“Ma’am, it didn’t have any eyes, but it still looked at me,” Wayne blurted out.
“It was sizing you up.”
“It knew about me playing hockey…”
“Ah, it was messing with you. Wayne, I would avoid the attic. Leave it be. Otherwise, I don’t think you’ll see it again. I sense that there’s more, Cid?”
“A black mass attacked Jesse in the attic over the hall. He was looking for wood rot and…” Cid filled her in on the incident.
“He hung Jesse up,” Wayne pointed out. “Was he a demon? Are we going to have a demon war?”
“No. Cid used salt, and it took away its power and gave it a lot of pain. Demons aren’t affected by salt. I could come down and…”
“No, you’re pregnant,” Cid said. “I’ll handle things here.”
The men heard Mia’s warm laughter. “If you’re sure, but don’t hesitate to call. I could send Angelo…”
“No, Mia, I’ve got this,” Cid insisted. Last thing he needed was the very well-endowed birdman showing up.
“Okay, well, Ted’s waiting. We’re going to watch a movie with Murphy. He’s looking like he’s lost his best friend.”
“You love to rub in the guilt,” Cid told her.
“Is it working?”
“No.”
“K, well, I’ll work on something else. Nice to meet you, Wayne.”
“You too, Mia.”
“Later, Cid.”
“Bye, Mia,” Cid said and hung up.
“She sounds nice.”
“She is.”
“She knows a lot about demons…” Walrus led.
“Mia’s probably one of the strongest sensitives around. She’s seen a lot of action.”
“Really…”
“Wait that came out wrong. She has been called into a lot of paranormal situations. She’s my best friend’s wife.”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t go that far,” Walrus chuckled. “I do feel better. Though, from now on, I’m going to send Gut to the attic.”
~
Kiki heard Walrus’s truck drive by her cabin. She was worried. The longer he and the new guy were gone, the greater chance there was something wrong at Hidden Meadow. She wanted to know what had happened, but communicating with any of her crew this late at night sent the wrong message. As a woman in charge of a team of male contractors, she had to be unavailable and uninterested. She had overheard a few of the men discussing whether or not she was a lesbian. Kiki couldn’t blame them. She was a female in construction who didn’t flirt with the guys. But she didn’t flirt with the girls either. If she wanted to have a relationship, she had to look further afield than work. She stole the best contractors away from other projects and wanted to use many of them again. There was no way she was going to let mild flirtations get in the way of her becoming the go-to person when it came to renovating the large mansions of the wealthy.
Kiki loved these houses. She had since she was four when she went with her mother to visit her mother’s brother Mikio. He was a strong man with hands used to manual labor. Uncle Mikio was working for a contractor who was working on one of the Painted Ladies in Alamo Square. The Victorian house, with all its hidden nooks and crannies, called to Kiki. Mikio’s job was to duplicate missing pieces of trim.
She begged to return and did, again and again. Her mother allowed Kiki to stay with her brother’s family, so the girl would understand the hardness of the work: getting up before dawn, working in all weather, and going home tired and sore in the evenings.
It backfired. Kiki loved it.
A light tap on the door woke Kiki from her memories. She looked at the clock. Ten really wasn’t too late, so she looked out the peephole to see Walrus and Clark standing there.
“Come on in, gents,” she said, swinging the door wide.
“We don’t want to cause you any bad gossip, so we’ll stay out here,” Cid said, holding on to Walrus’s belt. Walrus would have liked nothing better than to check out the boss’s cabin.
“Alright. What’s up?”
“You’ve got a problem at the house. A supernatural problem,” Cid specified.
“Did you run into that ghost again?” she asked, interested.
“No. A demon,” Walrus blurted out. “A scary mother of one.”
“You guys better come in. Everyone thinks I bat for the other team anyways.”
“You mean you’re not a lesbian?” Walrus asked.
“Don’t act so disappointed,” Kiki said, wounded.
Walrus laughed and walked in and sat down in one of the side chairs.
Once everyone had gotten settled, Kiki asked for a report. Cid told her a play-by-play account of their attic adventure.
“So your friend doesn’t think this is a problem?” Kiki asked.
“The recent thinking is, unless the house demon is bothering the living, just leave it be. You can’t kill them… Well you can’t. I know someone who can. You can send them to hell, but they will eventually return. And when they come back, they will bother the living. They will let their discomfort be known.”
“So you’re recommending leaving the beast be?”
“Yes. I don’t see any reason for us to be up in the west attic unless you plan on air conditioning the place.”
“I think the fans that are there, which pull the hot air out, are enough,” Kiki said, looking through her notes. “What about the ghost?”
“I don’t know. It has interfered. I’m not at all sure that it may quiet down once we leave the home. There also could be more. If we knew what it wanted, that would help. It takes a lot of energy to do what it did. I live in a haunted farmhouse. I have no problem coexisting with spirits, but I’m not the owner of this property.”
“Some people brag about their houses and castles being haunted,” Walrus added.
“Hal isn’t most people. Tell you what, in relation to the demon, let’s leave him alone. The ghost we need to be careful of. I’ll look through th
e papers on the house and see if we can find any reason for the ghost to be there.” Kiki got up, indicating that the meeting had ended.
Cid walked to the door and motioned for Walrus to follow him.
“Gentlemen, this demon, and the ghost for that matter, let’s keep it between the three of us.”
“Yes, Boss,” Walrus said.
“Yes, ma’am,” Cid answered and opened the door.
Kiki shut the door after them. She wished she hadn’t opened the door and invited them in. One, she was going to have a devil of a time going to sleep, and two, she could still smell Clark’s cologne.
She pulled out her laptop and accessed the internet. Kiki typed “demons” into the search engine and quickly clicked off the search. The images that filled the screen were, for the most part, from internet games, but they still frightened her. She typed in “paranormal investigators” and waited. A bevy of groups popped up. She read reviews and came to the conclusion, if she wanted to employ a legit group with a great repetition, it would be Cid’s group PEEPs.
Pictures of the team were presented on the site, along with urls to take her to the television show. She returned to the list of investigators, and sure enough, Cid’s picture was there. She must have lingered too long because a “chat with an investigator” window popped up.
My name is Jake. May I be of some help?
Kiki scanned the pictures, but there wasn’t one of this Jake. She did, however, find his name under a list of research investigators, along with Audrey Stavros.
Jake, I have a question about house demons, she typed. My name is Kiki.
Jake: Go ahead, I’m listening.
Kiki: I’m told I have a house demon existing in my attic. Is he dangerous?
Jake: Historically, they don’t like to interact with homeowners. If they appear to you, they want to express their displeasure about the way their house is being treated.
Kiki: I’m a contractor…
Jake: I suggest that you approach the house demon and explain your plans for the home, by either leaving blueprints or speaking respectfully with it in person.
