Mind Fray

by Alexie Aaron

  Mia sipped the coffee and studied Glenda’s face a moment.

  Glenda looked back at her and shook her head. “You’re not going to get any pearls of wisdom from me, sister. All I’m going to tell you is the truth. Mike said you think you’re all fucked up in the head.”

  Mia sat straight up. “I didn’t tell him that. What I said is, I’m confused. I’m very emotional. I’m up one moment, and then I crash down hard the next. I see it on their faces, ‘Mia’s hormonal,’ is whispered around. The men avoid me as if I’m catchy. If I get another hug from Audrey, I’m going to fall apart.”

  “So? Be hormonal, even if you’re not. Let them pamper you, even if you’re well. Because, sister, the moment that infant leaves the hospital, it’s all on you. You’re the one feeding, diapering, and rocking him. Sure, I imagine Ted’s an enlightened male, but, honey, after a few sleepless nights, he will revert back to a caveman. He’ll sneak out and leave you alone with the young booger-meister. So store up the pampering, you’re going to need the good memories.”

  “I’m getting the idea you don’t think I’m crazy.”

  “Oh you’re nuts, but nuts in a ghost hunting way. You’ve got a handle on the spirit world but not much of one on this world. Let me help you adjust. Kick me out when I get tiresome. Trust me, kid, aside from a killer thirst for alcohol, there’s not much wrong with me. I won’t lie to you, that’s a promise. Now eat up, and help me spend some money.”

  Mia felt the stress roll away from her. She picked up her fork and ate her dessert first.

  ~

  Burt woke to a quiet house. He looked at his watch and was surprised at the time. He looked out the window and saw that there was still daylight left. He made the bed and returned the green-eyed oil to the wall. He walked out to see a multitude of unexpected cars. Two large black limousines dominated the street, and Audrey’s car was parked in Irma’s driveway next to a faintly familiar sedan. He shook his head and said, “That can’t be Glenda Dupree’s car?”

  “I assure you that it is,” Glenda said from the rocking chair beside him. “The gang is almost assembled. You better get your butt over there if you want any say.”

  “Mind me asking why you’re here?”

  “Yes I do, now get!”

  He scratched his head as he walked over to the tent. He was surprised to see Tom Braverman there. He nodded at the young deputy who was deep in conversation with Angelo Michaels’s driver. He didn’t see the big guy around, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t there. Audrey sat at the table, methodically organizing some papers she had in front of her. Bev wandered around talking with who he assumed was Murphy. The Cooper women did talk to themselves but rarely in full conversational mode. He stepped up into the back of the trailer to find Father Santos and Gerald Shem running through the video footage with Ted.

  “Where’s Cid and Mia?” Burt asked, putting his hand on Ted’s shoulder.

  “I expect they are still doing house-to-house with Mike.”

  “Want to explain that?” Burt asked.

  “Things are escalating in the lot. Cezar Gabor is rebuilding the Fletcher house. Mia fears, and Gerald just confirmed, that something is imminent. We want to remove any innocents who could get hurt. Take away the hostage variable.”

  “Sound thinking, yours?”

  “Mia’s.”

  Burt bristled. “Really.”

  Gerald and Father Santos exchanged glances.

  “Mia’s been on the nose this entire investigation so far,” Ted defended. “I think you need to listen more and judge less.”

  Burt didn’t want to get into a discussion about Mia with two of her most ardent supporters standing by. He just hunched his shoulders and asked, “I take it we’re expecting Angelo Michaels?”

  “Due to arrive with help,” Gerald informed him. “Depending on the ether, they should be here within the hour.”

  “Why doesn’t that make me feel any better?” Burt said. “In my experience, when the birdman feels a need to be here, we’re in for trouble. Two birdmen means we’re in for a world of hurt.”

  Father Santos put a hand on Burt’s shoulder. “Sometimes we all need to seek out answers and accept help graciously when it’s offered.”

  Burt relaxed. “Good words, Father. I’ll try to remember them when my blood pressure rises.”

  “Ted,” Mike’s voice came over the speakers. “We’re heading back now.”

  “Any success?” he asked.

  “For the most part. The homeowners are curious, but caution won out, and we’ll have a four house buffer if the shit hits the fan, over and out.”

  “Let’s pray it doesn’t come to that,” Santos said quietly.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Murphy waited patiently for Mia to return. He felt a bit like the odd one out when she wasn’t near. Her aunt had taken the time to seek him out to get his opinion on the entity inside the house. “Well played,” she had said when he told her about not acknowledging the hallucination Cezar had conjured up for him. She listened intently to his observations. It was hard to hold a grudge with this woman. She was really two people, the intense investigator and the wild, selfish seductress. It was the investigator who spoke with him now.

  “Mia isn’t mad at you. She’ll never be mad at anyone. She’s just irritated that no one seems to be listening to her. I feel for the kid. She still thinks that she’s got to be liked by everyone. Me, bah to that malarkey. I’m not going to waste my time making friends with morons. Stephen, there is trouble afoot here. What is most troublesome is that it’s unbalancing the scales. Why is it so easy for the darkness to take hold? Do you feel the pull?”

  Murphy took her question to mean, in general, did he feel the pull. “Some. But here,” he said, patting his chest. “Here I am strong.”

  Bev nodded. “You’re stronger than I. Here,” she patted her chest. “I am weakest.”

  “Guillaume?”

  “Yes. He’s my Achilles heel. Much like Mia is yours,” Bev observed.

  Murphy winced.

  “You and I, old man, have a lot in common. But take a page from my book. You can’t have her, no more than I could have Guillaume, even when he was alive. He was never totally mine. It doesn’t make it hurt any less, but I’ll tell you this. People like Mia and Guillaume will never understand their draw. They are oblivious to how their power attracts those around them. I’m not talking about the hocus pocus; I’m talking about the way they treat others. Mia is kind, and she doesn’t judge anyone. She takes you for who you are. In your case, you’re her knight, and she’s your protector. Her love for you is greater than the earthly love she has for Ted, but she’ll never figure this out on her own. It won’t do you any good to tell her either.” Bev sighed. “I’ve been there. All you can do is either move on or suffer in silence. Remember, she isn’t a tree. She’s more a vine or a mushroom.”

  Murphy laughed.

  “Maybe not a mushroom, but she does seem to survive in a truck-load of shit. Now you, I’ve underestimated and misjudged. I still think that Mia should steer clear of you, but that’s the auntie in me. I didn’t see your rectitude until most recently. Stephen, it’s your honor that will hurt you now, but in the end it will be your reward.”

  “Thank you.”

  Bev seemed pleased by that. She smiled. Murphy noticed that she was really beautiful when she smiled. He saw the Cooper resemblance. She and Mia had large eyes that caught the starlight even when the sun was shining. They were petite in stature but strong as cast iron, and if rumors were true, Bev and Mia both had voracious appetites for food and other earthly delights.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Mia’s voice startled Murphy. She laid a careful hand on his arm. “You were so far away, you didn’t hear me call you.”

  Murphy looked down at Mia. “Wool gathering.”

  “Baa Baa Black Sheep, have you any wool?”

  Murphy laughed and whistled the rest of the rhyme. His steely gray eyes gazed at Mia a moment. She wi
nked at him. “Come on, we’re assembling in the tent, but I need to put some precautions in place first. I don’t want you to get shut out.”

  The sound of wings drew their eyes upwards. A large black bird and a small humming bird moved overhead.

  “I expect that’s Angelo and company,” Mia said. She called upwards. “Your clothes are in there.” She pointed at Irma’s house. She picked up a small walkie-talkie and signaled before instructing, “Glenda, open the front door.”

  “Not birds,” Murphy said.

  “Not birds,” Mia agreed. “Come on, time to get to work.”

  ~

  Orion looked at himself in the mirror and over at Angelo. “I fear I look like mini-you,” he joked, pulling on the soft, black leather jacket.

  “I fear my driver took me too literally when he asked what clothing to purchase for you. I said something I would wear.” Angelo decided not to wear the jacket in deference to Orion’s feelings. He unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled them over his muscular forearms. “There, now we’re not twins.”

  Orion studied the large birdman a moment and rolled his eyes. He knew Angelo absolutely couldn’t see the difference between himself and Orion.

  “About the wizard thing… Let’s not bring that up,” Orion requested. “Americans are so Potter and Dresden when it comes to wizards.”

  “This group is more into comic books. I believe they call themselves nerds.”

  “Fascinating,” Orion said. He looked around the room in which the two had dressed. “Americans have such large rooms.”

  Angelo looked around and disagreed. “This isn’t a large room. The ceiling is too low.”

  Orion looked at the large birdman and just shook his head. He picked up his satchel and followed Angelo out of the house. On the porch, they were greeted by an older stylishly-dressed woman drinking out of a flask.

  “You two done in there?” she asked gruffly.

  Orion nodded.

  “Good, because mama’s got to go,” Glenda said and breezed past them, shutting the door.

  “A friend of yours?”

  It took Angelo a moment to figure it out. “She’s the mother of one of the PEEPs, I think.”

  “I’m anxious to meet these PEEPs. Anyone who would bring their mother to a haunt must be confident of the outcome.”

  Angelo really didn’t have an answer. He walked slowly, taking into account the shortness of Orion’s stride. They stopped and gazed at the spirits at the far end of the lot through the overlay of the rising house.

  “I see two Romanians,” Orion identified. “One male and one female. Anatolie and Uta perhaps?”

  “I think your instincts are sound. I wonder who the others are?” Angelo asked as they continued towards the large tent.

  Cid and Tom had attached a clear windbreak at the street side of the tent. Gerald’s and Angelo’s drivers maneuvered the limos closer to further protect the group from prying eyes. Glenda had invited the two drivers to spend some quality time playing cards in Irma’s kitchen. Mike took a moment to warn the men that his mother cheated and not to let her little old lady act fool them.

  Mia walked over and greeted Angelo, extending her gloved hand to Orion. Angelo bent down and whispered, “She means no offense; she sees through touch.”

  Orion grasped the offered hand and clasped it in both of his. “An honor, my lady.”

  Mia blushed. “Thank you for coming to our aid,” she said.

  “I haven’t done anything yet,” Orion protested.

  “Ah, but just your being here gives us all confidence,” she said. Mia looked up at Angelo and asked, “Did you see?”

  “The line of souls behind the rising house? Yes, sad but deceptive.”

  “Ted calls them thralls.”

  “Ted is right,” Angelo said. “All but one is enslaved to Cezar. Anatolie is not strong enough to fight his cousin, but he is strong enough to have his own mind still. The others not so much.”

  “Don’t discount Uta,” warned Orion.

  “Uta?” Mia questioned.

  “We should share this with the group. This way, we don’t have to repeat ourselves,” Orion suggested.

  “As you wish,” Mia said. “Come, and let me introduce you.”

  Angelo watched as Mia moved amongst her people. The former introvert gracefully acquainted the wizard with the other members of her group.

  “Is that who I think it is?” Gerald asked, forcing his question into Angelo’s mind. “Does this situation warrant a level thirty wizard?”

  Angelo pushed back. “It needs him and a lot more. Beverly is looking ravishing this evening.”

  Gerald laughed at the change in conversation. “She is always ravishing. Do try and keep your mind on the events at hand.”

  Angelo pushed Gerald out and locked the door to his mind.

  “I was looking at your page the other day,” Orion started and waited until he had Mia’s full attention and continued, “It needs to be updated. I see from your eyes, telekinesis has been obtained.”

  Mia wasn’t shocked how easily the little man read her but was surprised by her having a page. “A page?” she prodded.

  “Does it surprise you, you’re listed in the Great Book?” he asked.

  “Well, since I didn’t know about any such book until recently, I’d have to say yes.”

  “Every magical being is listed with their own page and then cross-referenced according to their gifts. You seem to be constantly evolving. I venture there are a few red lines through your classifications.”

  “I trust I’m not alone in this?” she queried.

  “No. Mine is so covered in red that a bull would be quite angry.”

  Mia laughed. “You are a treat. You really must meet my husband. I’ll warn you, he thinks he’s Batman and his best friend is Superman. I worry where he’ll place you.”

  “Mxyzptlk, I suppose, but I’m really not a villain, I assure you,” Orion said.

  Mia was dumbfounded.

  “I spend my time reading. Do you think that I haven’t read a comic book before?”

  “I hadn’t before I married Ted, and now only under duress.”

  “I venture you’ll be reading a few to your son,” Orion counseled. “Start with the classics and move on to the absurd.”

  “I’ll take that advice to heart. Come and sit beside me. It will be nice to have a handsome stranger at my elbow to keep the hubby on his toes.”

  Orion laughed. “It’s I who will be standing on my toes. I take it that gentleman is he?”

  Mia looked at the approaching techie and nodded. Ted was, as ever, donned in a baseball cap, which he twisted around to the front when he was away from the keyboard. His strong arms were hidden under an oversized Kansas City Chiefs jersey and blue jeans hugged his lean legs. She knew that eventually the two of them may have to put on grownup clothes, but she did so love Ted the way he was – although, she questioned the wisdom of wearing a Chiefs jersey in Bears country. She sensed Orion’s interest; she turned to him and voiced, “I never tire of looking at him.”

  “That’s good,” Orion commented, remembering to add to Mia’s page, love blindness.

  Mia introduced Ted and Orion. Ted was spellbound by the small birdman. He just nodded, fearing an inappropriate word would Freudian its way out accidentally.

  “I think we have everyone,” Burt started. “Is Murphy here?”

  A chorus of six said, “Yes.”

  Orion looked over at the famed ghost. This must be the ghost who Angelo called his friend. Murphy looked at Orion and nodded, indicating that he knew the little man could see him. Orion put two fingers to his head and saluted. Murphy, puzzled by this, pushed his hat back on his head. Orion studied the farmer and noted the spectral sharpness of his axe.

  Mia leaned in and whispered, “That’s Stephen Murphy. He’s one of the good guys too.”

  “I’m glad because from where I’m sitting, he’s formidable,” Orion confessed.

  “He looks a
bit silly right now to me,” Mia said amused. “You should see him swing that axe though, whoa.”

  “Ahem, Mia, care to share?” Burt asked irritated.

  “No, go on, start the meeting,” she said embarrassed.

  Orion felt Mia stiffen and pondered the effect Burt had on her. He picked up frustration, hurt and wariness from both him and Mia. Past lovers probably. Not that this explained, nor excused, the conflict. It just was curious to Orion.

  Burt waited until he had all eyes on him before proceeding. “I’d like to welcome Beverly Cooper, Father Santos, Gerald Shem, Angelo Michaels and Orion Stravros. Your help is welcome and appreciated by all of us. Please feel free to interject your thoughts and information during this meeting. First things first, we have more information on who we are dealing with. I’d like Audrey to start.”

  Audrey brought the team up-to-date on the Burlington Theater disaster. She shared with them Mildred Styles’s notes. “I had a hunch that there was more to this story. Kip, her grandnephew, and I looked through the author’s papers and found these.” Audrey passed around the pictures and news clippings. She waited until all had viewed them before continuing, “Mia mentioned the possibility that there were more than the two handbills that we have already accounted for. I thought, perhaps Cezar used them to enter the other’s homes? Maybe he influenced the murder suicide?”

  Gerald, who had just finished noting the names, spoke up, “I think you are on the nose, Audrey. I see a total of fourteen spirits on the feed-line of Cezar’s. I suppose they are victims of the mentalist.”

  “I disagree,” Orion said. “If I may,” he turned to Audrey and she nodded. “Cezar came from a very powerful group of mentalists…” He continued to enlighten the group on the information he and Angelo had found in the Great Book. “Uta, his sister, is here, probably playing at being a victim. Most likely, she killed herself as a sacrifice. This is only a guess, mind you.”

  “There was a Jane Doe included in the victim list,” Audrey said, sliding over the copied form to Orion.