Never Forget (Haunted Series Book 15)

by Alexie Aaron

  "Mia, isn't the Anderson Mill haunted?"

  "Yes it is."

  "If memory serves me, you had quite an uncomfortable experience there," Tom said with concern, remembering an incident in their teens.

  "I'm older and wiser. Two Face Tony will not try anything, not with Murphy and twelve tons of elephant with me."

  "Be careful."

  "Thanks, I will. See you there," Mia said before pocketing the phone. A low rumble in the distance spurred her into action. "Jane, the time is now."

  Jane patted Bilbo's side, and he lowered his trunk. Jane used it as an aid to get on top of the beast. She wound her hand around the lead she’d secured around the animal's neck, more to steady her topside than to control Bilbo.

  "Little Suzy is still strong enough to carry you, Mia," Jane called down to Mia.

  "No, I'll lead you. You can't see Murphy, but I can. Will Little Suzy follow Bilbo?"

  "In normal circumstances, yes."

  Mia noticed the doctor wasn't even giving odds on their present circumstances.

  "African elephants are trained on a reward system. They do want to please. Every so often, place a handful of these where the elephants can easily get to." Jane tossed down a sealed plastic bag with some pellets in it. "I know it doesn't look like much, but the San Diego elephants go gaga over it."

  "I'll take your word for it,” Mia said, tying the bag to the back of her belt. "We'll give them the first treat after fording that stream."

  "Good thinking," Jane said.

  On the hillside, Burt and Tom waited until the girls had successfully crossed the shallow stream with both elephants before they felt confident to go to their vehicles.

  Burt called Ted and told him to expect a call from Mia and the elephant rescue squad. "I know it's a lot to ask, especially with Cid gone today."

  "Don't worry, the Martin boys have everything under control. If my wife wants to play Tarzan in the woods with elephants, then we'll pick up the slack here."

  "I got the feeling that Tom's not exactly pleased that she’s taking the creatures to the Anderson Mill. Something about it being haunted?"

  "If memory serves me, the place is haunted by Two Face Tony," Ted said. "And he got the name not for being wishy-washy. He has two faces."

  "Oh dear. You might want to call Cid and give him and Audrey a heads-up on what's happening. I'll call Mike."

  Ted looked over at his son who was busy blowing saliva bubbles while lounging in the carrier on top of the kitchen table. "Your mommy is playing with Uncle Murphy and two elephants."

  "Pblsst."

  "That goes double for me," Ted said. "I'm going to call Uncle Cid and tell on her."

  Brian responded with a vowel rant ending in a hiccup.

  Ted laughed while cleaning up the rant-induced drool before he called Cid.

  ~

  Cid put the phone down and looked at Audrey. They had made it into the open mall area of their tour when he excused himself to take the call.

  "Evidently, Mia's in the woods guiding two African elephants to an old haunted mill."

  "Why?" Audrey asked, not fully taking in what Cid just said.

  "It's for the elephant’s safety. A big storm is brewing out west, and she needed to get the animals into our county, something about trigger-happy yokels."

  The word elephant crept into Audrey's mind. Her eyes opened wide. "You did say elephants, didn't you?"

  "African elephants," Cid specified. "They're the big ones with..."

  "The beautiful flapping ears," Audrey finished. "Why does Mia get all the fun jobs?"

  Cid looked at the wistful expression on Audrey's face and shook his head. "You know, right now, she's knee deep in elephant doodoo wishing she was here with us."

  Audrey laughed. "You're right. Mia's not one to appreciate the situations she gets into until after they’re over. But damn, she does get into it, doesn't she?"

  Cid nodded. He turned around and studied the area of the mall where they had stopped for him to take the phone call. It was a second-story retail space leading to an open area in the heart of the mall. He could see the green branches of a mighty tree in the middle of what should have been an open courtyard.

  "Is that the tree?" Audrey asked Norm.

  "Yes, it is. There was a movement to rid the mall of the tree, but that all got forgotten when the customers didn't return to the mall."

  "I'm confused," Cid admitted. "The mall is called Double Tree; where is the second tree?"

  "What you're seeing is actually two trees intertwined. Quite a big deal. Oaks don't grow that way," Dev said. "I've seen a few birches and maples do that, but that tree is one of a kind."

  The closer they got to the courtyard, the more the cement and tile second floor became littered with nature's castoffs. Dry leaves crunched under their feet as they made their way to the iron railing to look down into the center courtyard.

  There, fed by the rain and sunshine that the broken skylights meted out, was a garden of sorts. Whatever had been planted in the raised beds was taken over by what the squirrels and birds had brought in with them. Ivy crawled over the beds, uprooting tiles as it moved across the first floor of the mall. Moss thrived, making the floor around the tree treacherous. A pair of escalators were still, their steel spiked edges dulled by several years of rain and snow.

  "I admit to feeling a mixture of awe and revulsion. On one hand, this is a testament to what nature can do when reclaiming where man once built. On the other hand, why did the owners let it get so bad?" Audrey asked, not expecting an answer.

  They skirted the courtyard as they proceeded to inspect the second story. Audrey knew, sadly, that she was going to fail this project. The damages were too great. No pockets would be deep enough to rehab this building. It had come too late to the veterans to fix. She was going to recommend it be demolished and the land sold to the highest bidder.

  "Audrey, I had a thought," Cid said as if he were reading her mind. "If we could get a film crew interested, we could tell them that they could run havoc here as long as they fixed the place up afterwards. There are several film companies that have been calling Chicago their home. Seems to me, it would be one way to ease the rehab budget a bit."

  "It does look tailor-made for either a fantasy feature or a sci-fi series," she said, seeing the place with a whole new set of eyes. "The idea of filming a horror picture where previous horrors had taken place would be quite a draw."

  "I'm sure Gerald knows a guy who could market this," Cid said.

  "Oh no, we promised Mia no Gerald favors," Audrey said firmly.

  "But the VA made no such promises," he countered.

  Audrey's face lit up. "Look at you, Mr. Con Man. Who would have thought Superman had a sinister side?"

  Cid blushed beet red.

  Audrey didn't mean to fluster the tech/carpenter, but she found his blushing charming. Taking a deep breath, she returned to the courtyard and started down the steps.

  The guards ran after her. Cid followed chase, calling out. "Audrey, that's dangerous!"

  "Might as well check out how dangerous. Time to stop pussyfooting around and dig into the worst of it and make a decision," she announced.

  Chapter Five

  "Tell me more about this mill," Mike requested.

  "All I know is that Mia thought it was sound enough to house two African elephants," Burt said. "Tom told me the mill does have a downside, especially for our Mia."

  "And that is?"

  "It's haunted."

  "This puts a different perspective on your news. What about getting some film on this?"

  "I wouldn't want to disturb the elephants," Burt said honestly. "But I've asked Ted to bring along a few of the small cameras just in case."

  "Good thinking. Do you want me to head out?"

  "No, we’re going to be besieged by a weather front soon. I just wanted to give you a heads-up."

  "Thanks, bud, I appreciate that. How was Mia when you last saw her?"


  "Limping but determined."

  "I just had an unusual phone call from my mother. Evidently, Mia was at the healing spa and stormed out."

  "Why?"

  "According to Ma, Mia and Judy had words," Mike reported.

  "That's unusual, but Mia can get her back up when cornered. I'm sure those two will work it out."

  "Women, right? If they're not fighting with each other, they're gossiping."

  "Like we just did," Burt said.

  Mike laughed. "I guess we are a couple of old biddies, aren't we?"

  "Not that old. I'll keep you updated," Burt promised, ending the call. He followed the sheriff's vehicle down a rutted road. The deep potholes illustrated that this route hadn't been used in years. Beer cans littered the area. It was probably one of the local teens’ illegal party sites. It was a shame considering the view of the river and the historic millhouse that hugged the east side of it.

  He got out and joined Tom as they made their way to the mill, lamenting at the dumped old appliances and tires that made their progress slow.

  "I just don't get it," Tom said. "In this day and age… Most of this is recyclable or the trash companies would take it away, but no, some cheap bastards just ruin the countryside instead of parting with a few bucks."

  Burt agreed with him. "Tom, do we know who owns this property?"

  "I called my mother, and she's looking it up. I'm worried that we may be trespassing."

  "What's the history of this place?"

  "I think it was an active mill until they dammed the river in the 1950s."

  "The river looks healthy now."

  "That's because of all the rain we've had lately. Usually it's not more than a stream. We kids used to dare each other to spend the night here. It wasn't as scary as Murphy's place, but it does have an active ghost according to Mia."

  "Two Face Tony..." Burt prompted.

  Tom nodded. "It wasn't one of my finer moments," Tom said and explained, "When I was a freshman in high school, the usual gang I hung around with went looking for trouble, as we always did on Saturday nights. Mia came along sometimes. Whit seemed to like having her around. I don't remember clearly if he liked her or just wanted to torment her in some way. Anyway, most of the crowd shunned Mia. Why she put up with it is beyond me."

  "She's stubborn, probably thought she'd wear you all down."

  "Maybe or that school girl crush she had on Whit was enough to make her walk through fire. Anyway, we hit the mill just after dusk. The place, as I remember it, was cold even in the summer. We built a fire outside. Whit probably had dragged his latest girl off into a dark corner somewhere. Most of us paired off. Mia and a few others were left to roam around or drink at the campfire. I remember it had started to rain. It was a light drizzle, but enough to force us all inside the mill. We had congregated in the main room. There we heard creaks and a few pops, but all of it could be explained away. At one point, Mia yells, 'Quit it!' She was backing up, holding a hand in front of her to ward off whatever was pursuing her. One of the guys said, 'Crazy Cooper's going off her nut' and pointed a light towards the ledge between the wheel and the millstone. There, Mia was bent over backwards, her arms clawing at something in front of her. I ran over and grabbed her before she fell into the millpond. She could barely speak through the tears of humiliation that were drenching her face. She kept mumbling that two faces came at her in the dark. I told her that we didn't see anyone. She snapped, 'Well you wouldn't would you,' and stormed off."

  "It must have been so hard for her," Burt sympathized.

  "It got worse. The rain had stopped, but Whit wanted to have more fun, so he convinced Mia to come back. She followed him back into the mill. There, the other guys periodically jumped out at her from the dark. I refused to play their game which irritated my date at the time. They pushed Mia into a dark corner, and then everyone ran out of there. She was left to face whatever this thing was herself. We cowards all huddled around the fire while Mia was left in the dark without a flashlight to find her way out. We heard periodic shrieks and curses, but she didn't come out. I think Whit's conscience got the better of him or his date's. I don't know which. But he took a flashlight and a few of us guys to go and get her. We found her..." Tom's voice trailed off.

  "I take it she wasn't in good shape," Burt said.

  "She was lying curled up on her left side. Whit called her name, but she didn't move. He turned her over, and her nose was bleeding. Her shirt was ripped open and the name TONY was written on her stomach with her own blood. Later, the rumor spreaders would say she did it herself, but Whit and I knew different. We left her inside that mill with a monster. Once that thing figured out that she could see him, then he went all out to bully and scare her."

  "That's awful."

  "I think it was that night when Whit stopped seeing her as a loon and more as a victim. She wasn't invited anymore to hang with the group except for that time at Murphy's farm..."

  "Yes, Whitney Pee Pants," Burt said and laughed. "I see now why Murphy is so damn important to Mia. He was her knight."

  "I think he still is. Mia may be married, but Murphy will always have her back," Tom said.

  The two were silent for a while as they navigated the remaining litter-strewn lane to the millhouse.

  Mia heard the river ahead. She motioned for Jane to slow Bilbo while she went to investigate. It wasn't this deep when she had last been through there. She pulled off her boots and tied the strings together, attaching the plastic bag holding the remaining pellets to one of the boots, and put them around her neck, and began to wade in. The current was quicker than she'd have liked, but the water never got more than waist deep. She removed her burdens, turned around, crossed the river, and approached Jane. "The water is waist deep and quick moving," she reported. "But the streambed is solid, no quicksand."

  Jane looked down at the petite woman and said, "Mia, I don't think it will be much of a problem. If you could wait with Little Suzy until I get Bilbo across, then I'll come back for her."

  Mia nodded. She walked over and patted the tired elephant. "It's just the two of us, sweetheart. Let's be friends."

  Little Suzy eyed Mia but seemed to accept the pairing.

  Jane coaxed Bilbo across. She worried about his weight dislodging the river bank and possibly unearthing other dangers. But the crossing was smooth. She slid down, patting Bilbo on the side. She took off her pack and her shoes before proceeding back across the water. Between her and Mia, they got Little Suzy in the water and across to the opposite bank. It was as Little Suzy was climbing out of the water that a small earth slide occurred. Jane was able to get Little Suzy out of harm's way, but the sudden fall of earth and rock sent Mia falling backwards into the water.

  Mia swallowed a little water but manage to surface quickly. Getting to her feet was another matter. The current had pulled her to where the rocks were slick with green slime.

  Jane didn't know she had fallen until she had Little Suzy settled. She turned around and Mia was gone.

  "Mia!" she called.

  Murphy, who had been scouting ahead upstream, moved quickly to see why Jane was calling for Mia. He saw her in the water and rushed to her. His energy took a major hit, but he managed to upright Mia and drag her out of the water.

  Mia flipped her long blonde hair out of her eyes and looked into Murphy’s amused face. "Thanks again, Murph," she said. "What would I do without you?"

  "Drown." He looked down at her a moment. There was that old tension between them again. He shook it off. "Follow the river north. No more energy," Murphy said and disappeared.

  "I guess we're on our own for a while," Mia said.

  Jane had waited for her. When Mia returned, Little Suzy was resting, but Bilbo was moving his head and body as if he was worried about something. Mia looked behind her across the river, and damn if she didn't see a black shadow lurking in the woods just the other side. "I don't know what you are, but I sense you are up to no good," she said. She heard a rumble of thunder.
If they waited any longer, the black shadow would soon be joined by Wanderers. Mia ran over and whispered to Jane. "We have to get these animals moving now."

  Jane didn't question Mia. She dug out some pellets and rewarded the two before getting Little Suzy back on her feet. "Come on, Bilbo, follow Mia."

  Mia grabbed her boots and shoved her feet into them. "Follow me. We should see the mill in a few minutes.”

  Tom judged that Mia would cross the river downstream where the river was the narrowest. He asked Burt to wait for the support crew at the mill while he walked south. He climbed a small hill and was rewarded by seeing Mia leading the large bull forward. Behind her, Jane was encouraging the small female up the small incline.

  Mia smiled and accepted Tom's hand up. They stood to the side while Bilbo found his footing. Once they all had made this last hurdle, they moved quickly towards the mill.

  "Mia, you're soaked through," Tom said, unbuttoning his shirt.

  "I'll be alright. Last thing I need is for gossipy Burt to see me arrive with you only half dressed," Mia teased.

  Tom shook his head. "You're a piece of work, Cooper."

  Mia ignored his slip of using her maiden name. "Any sign of the support people?" she asked.

  "No. You guys made great time, considering.” Tom looked at his watch. “I think we will make the mill before they arrive. Mia, I understand if you don't want to go inside," Tom said. "Jane can handle her charges. Why don't you wait in my cruiser, and I'll deal with Two Face Tony. I expect if I can see Murphy, then Two Face isn't going to be any problem."

  Mia stopped and put her hand on Tom's chest. "That heart of yours is so strong."

  "It should be, it has Murphy's handprint on it."

  "Mine too," Mia said joyfully. "I've learned a lot since that horrid night. I've faced worse with and without Murphy."

  "Where is he anyway?"

  "He's gone back to recharge. He had to pull my ass out of the river earlier."