Mind Fray

by Alexie Aaron

  “Are they back together?”

  “I’m seeing the usual signs. Bev’s broke, and he’s smitten. Speaking of smitten, how’s your steady?”

  Audrey gushed, “He’s wonderful. Don’t get me wrong, he’s got his quirks, but I’m learning to appreciate them.”

  “Quirks? Care to share?” Mia prompted.

  “He sits real close.” Audrey scooted up her chair next to Mia’s to demonstrate. “He angles his head and stares at you with unblinking eyes.”

  “Seems to be a habit from his pediatric practice. I’d like him to be little genius’s doctor, if you’re still together, that is.”

  Audrey didn’t know how to take Mia’s comment. “I hope so,” she said in a hurt voice.

  Mia realized her stupidity, shot a hand out and gripped her friend’s arm. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to say in my clumsy way that if, and that’s an iffy if, if you’ve moved on, I wouldn’t have him as our doctor because it wouldn’t be loyal to you. Gee, that doesn’t sound any better,” Mia moaned.

  Audrey rolled her eyes. “That was silly of me to react that way. I guess it’s because, Mia, I really want this. I really want to be with Matt. I’ll take his quirks and his dead relative kicking around the attic gladly if I can have Matt.”

  “Aw, that’s so beautiful. Would you quit PEEPs if he asked you to?” Mia asked.

  “I don’t think he would. He’s talked about how proud he is of what I do, and he wasn’t just talking about working for the charities.”

  “So when do you meet the parents? Has he met yours?” Mia fired off.

  “Whoa, give us some time. Although, I’m sure with the holidays coming up, we’ll be doing plenty of that.”

  Burt walked over from the trailer. “Are you two just going to sit here? We’ve got work to do.”

  “I’m on a break, and I’m filling Audrey in on what she’s missed. Are you going home or taking a nap here?”

  “I’m not tired.”

  “Yes, you are,” Mia challenged.

  “Because I’m cranky? I could just be trying to manage my wayward crew,” he said yawning.

  “You’re very convincing,” Mia said. “Father Santos recommends the guest bedroom. Although, Ted prefers the couch. He says he can’t sleep with all the big-eyed children looking at him.”

  Burt looked at her strangely.

  “You’ll see,” she said.

  Burt walked into the house, straight into the guestroom and turned on the light. There, adorning the wall opposite the bed, was a tasteful arrangement of big-eyed children paint-by-number paintings. He leaned in and admired how Irma had painstakingly filled in the colors. If they hadn’t been on black velvet, he wouldn’t have minded having them in his home. The green-eyed little girl looked too much like Mia, so he lifted it from the wall and set it down facing the wall. He took off his shoes and crawled under the comforter. He was asleep seconds after his head hit the pillow.

  Chapter Twenty

  Mike arrived and parked his car next to Mia’s truck. He found her sitting on the tailgate staring off into the field. He sat down beside her and turned her face to his, noting the dark circles under her eyes. “Shouldn’t you get some rest?” he asked.

  “Too much on my mind,” she said. “Once I get it sorted and tucked away, I’ll be headed for La La Land.”

  “So I understand that things have changed since I left,” Mike said, gazing over the lot.

  “I can’t figure out where he’s getting the energy from,” Mia mused. “I’ve had Jake do a check on the geological survey of the area, and aside from some limestone, there’s not much here to fuel what’s happening out there.”

  “And what is happening?” Mike asked

  “What can you see?” Mia asked.

  “I see old stone foundations of a large home.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Aside from survey stakes and that little maniacal bot running back and forth, nothing.”

  “Good.”

  “Why?”

  “It seems you have a natural defense against, for the lack of better words, mind blasts, from Cezar Gabor. I’ve been sitting here worried that the image of the house rising was just a mass hallucination that Gabor was sending PEEPs.”

  “Why do you think he’s bringing back the old place? From what you’ve learned, he isn’t from around here.”

  “My working theory is that something happened in that old house that gave him power. I asked Audrey to contact the nephew of the writer to see if his aunt’s notes were kept after her death. Maybe she didn’t include the whole account in her book.”

  “How’s Murphy doing? Has he become a real boy yet?”

  Mia didn’t want to answer that question. Instead she said, “He seems recovered.”

  “Do we have a plan yet?”

  “The present one is to suggest to the remaining people on this street and the houses which have property that backs this lot, that it may be safer if they found other accommodations for a while. For that we need someone who can charm the pants off of a virgin.”

  “Sounds like me.”

  “Yup. I’m pondering whether we could get into trouble if we start a rumor of a sinkhole developing?” Mia asked.

  “The rumor can’t come from us. We could get into big trouble.”

  Mia frowned.

  “Surely, you’ve thought that far,” Mike said.

  “Yes,” she admitted.

  “You see, even if I could get the people to move out, I don’t think we’re going to do them any favors. For most of them, their house is all that they have,” Mike explained. “Unless it’s something that homeowners insurance is going to pay for, I doubt that we’re going to see much success.”

  “How about if we say that we’re monitoring some seismic anomalies, and we’d just like them to be aware that the area is being studied?”

  Mike angled his head as he thought. “It could work. Do we have seismic anomalies?”

  “Yes, ever so slight vibrations, probably caused by the shifting of rock and stone as that building’s foundation rises.”

  “That lot is owned by the township, isn’t it?” Mike confirmed.

  “Yes, but we have a legal document that gives us permission to investigate the stability of the property,” Mia reminded him. “Audrey was very thorough.”

  “That she was. I have a copy of it in the command center. Let me look at it.” He scooted off the tailgate, turned and looked at Mia. “I’m a little worried about you.”

  “I’m a little worried about me too,” Mia admitted. “I’m healthy, but my mind is frazzled. I’m not sure if it’s hormones or some sort of residual effect from that thing probing my mind. I’ll feel better when I can talk to Judy. She spent quite a lot of time in my head if you remember. I hope she can help me regain my balance.”

  “I wish I knew what to say. Ma would be a good sounding board if Judy can’t find anything wrong with you. I know she’s a bit off her nut at times, but my mother is a good woman and has had to deal with a whole lot by herself. Call her, Mia. I know she’d love to hear from you.”

  “Somehow I’d feel as if I was imposing. After all, I have a mother…”

  “Who is far from nurturing,” he said, studying her face. Mike pulled out his phone and dialed while putting a restraining hand on Mia’s shoulder. “Morning, Ma, I wonder if you’re busy? No, I wasn’t checking up on you. It’s just I have someone that could benefit from your counsel. Who? Oh, just some prego I picked up on the street. No, I didn’t knock her up. Yes, it’s Mia. Here,” Mike said, handing her his phone.

  Mia put the phone to her ear and said nervously, “Hello.”

  “Landsakes, girl, it doesn’t sound like you,” Glenda barked. “Give the phone back to Mike.”

  Mia handed it back to Mike, confused.

  “Yes, I’ll send you the address. Yes, I’ll stay with her. No, I didn’t knock her up. I swear. Sorry. Ma, she can hear you.” Mike blushed. “Okay, I’ll tell her. See yo
u soon. Bye.”

  Mike put the phone in his pocket. “Ma’s on her way,” Mike said.

  Mia burst into tears.

  Mike leaned in, well aware that a lot of eyes, including Ted’s, were upon them. “Don’t cry. Why are you crying?”

  “It’s just…” Mia sniffed. “It’s just that when I heard her voice, I felt that I could cry.”

  “She makes me cry, but it’s for other reasons,” Mike said. “She’s coming over. Take the time, no matter what the fuck is going on, and talk to her. She just has this way of making everything alright. I don’t think you have Cezar causing the trouble. You just have normal womanly – don’t hit me – things going on. Ted, as sweet as he is, can’t help you. I’m sure you’re scaring the crap out of Murphy too. Give Ma a shot, and if you still feel horrible, then I’ll have you committed. Deal?”

  Mia laughed and allowed Mike to wipe her tears away with his thumbs. “I’m not sure I want to be committed.”

  “The way I see it, kid, it’s going to happen eventually,” Mike teased. “Now I’m going to leave you, find my testicles, and make some manly small talk in there. Leave things in old Mikey’s hands for a while.”

  Mia nodded and watched him walk away. She returned her gaze to the emerging house that only she and Murphy could see. It wasn’t just the foundations that were rising from the earth, but the whole house was rebuilding itself.

  ~

  When Cezar had finished feeding off of Uta, he left her just enough energy to probe Anatolie’s mind. She smirked at the whiney child of her uncle. True, he had made a name for himself in this busy land. But he was no Cezar. Her brother could probe the mind of the mightiest and reduce them to quivering babies. He was responsible for the rise of the house of Ungur. That beastly group of barbarians was nothing before Cezar reduced their enemies to ash. And he did it without a sword or a flame. He did it with his mind.

  Their people were born with the gift to read the minds of those near them, the men more so than the women. The Gabors had used their gifts to move above their class and live amongst the rich and powerful. Cezar had been able to do much more once he committed himself to the dark ones. Because of this connection, he was able to bring the memories of the weak to life. He was able to frighten and influence them using the memories of their own sins. She and Cezar had laughed at how easy it was to make puppets out of the royals.

  Then the house of Gabor collapsed. She wasn’t sure what had gone wrong. Was it the jewels? That was just a prank they played on the insecure princess, taking her necklaces and replacing them with chains of thistles. Under Cezar’s influence, she wore them to court. Blood oozing from where the barbs had pierced her skin. No one noticed that they weren’t the fabled crown jewels. Cezar held them all spellbound. And when he released them to show them his power, they rebelled. How dare he harm a royal! Uta had managed to slip away unnoticed in the confusion. Her gift was knowing when to call it a day. Cezar stood his ground, maintaining that it was just a demonstration of his power, until his rooms were searched and they found the jewels there. He was arrested and branded a thief.

  Uta hid herself in the woods until after the execution. Her mother found her and told her all was not lost. Cezar was still with them. They just needed a few things to bring him back from the dead. She and her mother stole into the courtyard of the castle and took the executioner’s block. Her mother vowed to bring her son back. They took the wood and made paper out of it. A plan was devised, and the wheels were set in motion. All they needed was a patsy, preferably one from their bloodline.

  Anatolie was a young, ambitious Gabor. He had chosen to emigrate to the land of opportunity. He was doing well but was hungry for more. His hunger would be used against him.

  ~

  Ted handed over Curly’s controls to Cid. He walked out in search of Mia, who had last been seen on the back of the pickup truck. She was still there. Her eyes were red from crying. His heart broke seeing her in such a state. Mike told him in confidence that he had asked his mother to come and be with Mia for a while. He thought that having a mature woman around would help her.

  “Bev was here last night,” Ted mentioned.

  “Beverly Cooper on no level can be considered mature. Oh wait, she’s old, but that’s it,” Mike pointed out snidely. “I still don’t know why Mia let that parasite back into the Cooper fold.”

  Ted shook his head amused. “The Cooper fold only has Mia, Charles and Amanda in it. It’s not like it’s bursting with relations. And aside from Charles who’s coming around more and more, Mia has no family.”

  “Family that sells you, is no family I’d like to have,” Mike commented.

  “It’s complicated,” Ted admitted.

  Ted didn’t say a word to his wife, just sat down and put a warm arm around her. He smiled as she scooted closer.

  She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie. “Teddy Bear, I’m not real sure what’s going on with me. I’m all over the place.”

  “Mia, I wish I could help you, but the last time I gave birth, it was to an idea, and I only had to endure three months of gestation.” Ted felt Mia’s body tremble before she laughed. “Took you long enough,” he teased. “I was using my best material.”

  “You big goof, I love you.”

  “Whatcha staring at?” he asked.

  “The House of Doom,” she said simply. “It’s rising out of the ground. You can see the foundations, but I can see much more. I bet if you took a picture with that new lens you’re working on, you could see it too.”

  “You’re telling me that the whole house is coming back.”

  “I believe so. Right now we have the first story. It’s not much different than the depiction on that paperback cover. Except I’m seeing it in 3D,” she explained.

  “What’s Murphy have to say about it?”

  “He’s not talking to me. I think I’m scaring the males away with my mood swings.”

  “I’m still here.”

  “Wait, I’m just working up to another explosion of volcanic proportions.”

  “Whoa. I wonder if I should film this,” he teased, taking a light meter out of his pocket. “Hey, do you think you can actually film emotion.”

  Mia gave him the stink-eye.

  “No, I mean, I wonder if your aura changes?”

  “I’m sure the infrared would be picking up the heat that’s generating behind my eyes right now,” Mia warned.

  “Oh, speaking of,” Ted said, taking her hands in his. “Do you think you could use that power of yours and lift Curly up? He seems to have hit a snag and is stuck. I would send Cid to retrieve him, but its damn close to that foundation.”

  “Where is it?”

  Ted pulled Mia to her feet and pointed out the location of the bot.

  “He’s kind of far away,” she said frowning. “I’ve never tried that distance before.”

  “It’s not much farther than when you tripped up Mike with the hose.”

  “I’ll try, Teddy Bear. What if I heat him up or drop him on his side?”

  “He’ll survive. Just lift him over to where he can get traction.”

  Ted covertly filmed Mia’s face while she concentrated on lifting the bot. It took a few tries, but she managed to lift the bot a few inches, drag it towards her a foot, and set him down.

  “How’s that?” she asked.

  “Cid,” Ted said after touching his earcom. “Try to move Curly.”

  Mia watched as the bot surged forward and continued its patrol of the lot. Ted put a hand on Mia’s back and said, “Now that’s pretty cool. I don’t know how you do it, but it’s a superpower.”

  “No, it’s a parlor trick, but thanks for the distraction. How hard was it to pretend that your all terrain bot was stuck?” she asked him, lifting an eyebrow.

  “You bought it.”

  “That I did,” she said and smiled.

  “When did you know it wasn’t stuck?”

  “The minute I touched it with my m
ind… Shit, that’s it. That’s why he’s rebuilding the house. He can’t help it. He touched it with his mind. He has to rebuild it in order to set his mind free from it.”

  “But it was burned down,” Ted argued.

  “You’ve seen pictures of residual haunts where ghosts are walking up staircases that are no longer there.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, Cezar knows the house is destroyed, but he still holds the memory of the house in his head. It’s all mixed together. In his mind he has to rebuild it in order to leave. I fear when he’s finished, he’ll simply walk out of there, and then there will be no stopping him.”

  “Whoa, you’ve lost me.”

  “If we think of the handbill as more of a portal than a curse,” Mia started. “The act of burning it may have unleashed the essence of Cezar into the home. The smoke permeated the bricks and wherever it wafted; it clung to the draperies and so on. All that was keeping him there was lack of energy. I figure that Cezar was active and gathering power when Mary burned the house down. It took a while before he moved from the foundations of the old house into the ranch home and started again. His intellect was free to move about within a few yards of the confines of the original foundation. Much like sound can travel, the mind has a range too.”

  “How does this explain the thralls out there?”

  “I can’t be sure, but I bet he harvested the dead souls from the theater. Remember, there was more than one handbill printed. I’m sure he was able to move about from portal to portal until he found a home in which to work his evil.”

  “So you’re saying he collected souls along the way?”

  “Or they could have followed him,” Mia suggested. “Either way, he’s using them to fuel the rise of the house.”

  “Sounds like a rather round-robin way of manifesting,” Ted discounted.

  “If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. And I’m not talking manifestation. I’m talking about rising from the dead. To do this with but a few dried-out blood cells is impossible without possession.”