Sand Trap (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  “Her ghost mother,” Burt qualified.

  “Yes, I guess so. Thank you. Let me start again. We were visiting them at their house near the hollow when Ralph heard a noise in the attic and went to investigate. We didn’t even know they had a child. She was never mentioned. He found her playing in the attic, covered in dust. She was about three. Her clothes were too small, and she was very dirty from playing. I remember Ralph telling me that he opened up the attic door, and when she saw him, she asked, ‘Are you my fairy godmother?’ He bent down and said, ‘Of course I am!’ He visited every time he could. When he was in New York, he would call her on the phone. That’s why we stayed friends with the Coopers. Mia was worth the blah blah blah of Amanda.”

  “Poor kid, I didn’t know,” Mike said quietly.

  “I did, but didn’t feel it was my place to tell,” Burt reflected.

  “Good thing, Mia hates big mouths,” Ted said wincing.

  ~

  Whit walked into the office quietly and looked down at Mia. He heard a rustle of papers and saw Clara sitting, quietly reading a magazine.

  “Hello, I’m Whitney Martin, a friend of Mia’s. I’ve come to check on her.”

  “I think she is sleeping. She wasn’t when I got here, but after you caught the evil witch, she started sleeping. I could tell because…”

  “She snores,” Whit filled in.

  “Then you are more than just friends.”

  Whit laughed. “Well, maybe good friends, since we were kids.”

  “Ah, sleep overs.”

  “Yes,” Whit agreed and changed the subject, “Clara, you were very brave I heard.”

  “I wanted to be strong like my mama.”

  “She would be proud of you. Would you like to go and see the evil witch?”

  “Part of me, yes, part of me, no.”

  Mia eased out of sleep slowly. With her eyes shut, she listened to Whit and Clara for a few minutes. Whit was an onion. He had so many layers. Just when she had an idea of who he was, she would find another layer.

  “Hello,” she said, sleepily opening her eyes.

  Whit sat down next to her and took her in his arms. Clara smiled and concentrated on the magazine in front of her.

  “Whoa, what’s that for?” Mia asked.

  “I’m just making Clara jealous,” Whit said and winked at Clara who blushed.

  “You are a tramp, Whit,” Mia accused.

  “We, Clara and I, were going down to look at the evil witch and wondered if you might want to tag along.”

  “I rather go clothes shopping with Ralph, but since the stores are closed, I’ll hang out.”

  Clara looked at Mia oddly.

  “She’s being dramatic, Clara, don’t mind her,” Whit explained. “Come on, ladies, I have two arms and no waiting.” Whit got up and helped Mia to her feet. She clung to his arm and stamped one foot until it woke up.

  “The longer I’m out, the worse it gets,” she complained.

  Clara got up and put her magazine in her tote bag and graciously accepted Whit’s arm. The three of them left the office and headed for the lab.

  “Did you see Murphy?” Whit asked Mia.

  “He came in, saved the girl and then guarded the pass with a zombie.”

  “Rough going?”

  “It will give me nightmares for quite some time. We’ll talk later. Clara doesn’t need to listen to my boring prattle.”

  “You could never be boring, Miss Cooper.”

  “Thank you, Clara but…”

  “She can be very boring. Don’t get her started on the proper way to pour salt,” Whit said, feigning a yawn.

  Mia punched him in the side.

  “Brutal too. Ouch.”

  Ted was waiting for them at the door. “Why are you limping?” he asked Mia.

  “Foot’s asleep.”

  “Where’s Murphy?”

  “Out making friends? I don’t know.” Mia added, “Sheesh, nice to see you too, Major Pain, in my…” Mia stopped, remembering Clara and Bernard.

  Bernard came forward and led Clara to an empty chair. “Excuse the kids, they get hyped up on sugar, and you can’t settle them down.”

  Clara laughed. “Dr. Wesley, you are making fun of a very courageous girl. She’s brave and kind.”

  “And here,” Mia said, plopping down in a chair next to them. She stared into the trap and watched the bottle for a moment.

  “What do you see?” Burt asked her from the other side of the trap.

  “Oh hello, Burt, didn’t see you. Man, it’s dark. Are we having a séance or playing hide and seek?” Mia asked irritated.

  “We thought it was best to not offer her any energy by turning on the lights.”

  “K. I guess it doesn’t hurt to be safe.”

  “We were trying to figure out what to do with her.”

  “After what she did to me, blow her up. Toss her in that bar with those Hell’s Angels sons of bitches, sorry Clara, and blow them up. Evil is evil is evil is evil,” she lectured.

  “Do you feel better now?” Burt asked dryly.

  “A little,” Mia said. She got up and looked around for something. She walked over and took Ted’s super mini light from his pocket protector. She trained the light on the bottle and said, “Wake up, you bitch.”

  The smoke swirled and half a face formed. Clara gasped.

  “Is that the woman that killed Dr. Tan?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Thank you, Clara. Again sorry about my language, but my parents well… I got issues.” Mia knelt down and asked, “Are we recording yet?”

  There was a scramble of chairs and bumping of bodies, and soon there were two cameras and someone, Mia assumed it was Mike, as it was too dark to see, handed her a digital recorder.

  “Thanks.” She turned the recorder on. She slid a panel back and put the recorder on the sand by the bottle. She cleared her voice, “Ahem. This is Mia Cooper, consultant to the Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners. I am going to try to communicate with the spirit that has been haunting the Chicago Field Museum. Through meticulous research by Mary Westfield, we have determined we are dealing with the disembodied soul of a young woman killed by a lightning strike on a Florida beach in the early 1960s. She is under restraint as she is very dangerous. Let the record show that she entered the museum in a cylinder of fulgurite. Whether she burst the cylinder or it was dropped isn’t clear. But she moved from the fulgurite to glass objects and windows in the museum. Okay, that’s enough background.”

  Mia rolled her head and cracked her knuckles. “Are you Courtney Fairchild?”

  “You know damn well I am,” is what she said. What the other people in the room heard was a hiss.

  “Are you aware that you are dead?” Mia asked.

  “I’m not dead. I am alive!”

  There was a click and a hiss.

  “Would you like to move on?”

  “Are you freaking kidding me? I am a goddess here. A smoke goddess. You all will die. Especially you, bitch!”

  The room heard a squeak and a burble.

  “Anybody else have a question?” Mia asked.

  “I have one. How could you kill the nice Dr. Tan?” Clara asked in a shaky voice.

  “Because it felt good.”

  Clara heard a hiss.

  Mia heard everything.

  Clara’s phone rang. She excused herself and walked into the hall.

  Whit gently drew Mia away from the trap. “Sit down. Let the boys play.”

  Ted watched as Mia relented. He could see that she was a bit wobbly. He guessed that she was running on vindictive hate. Something had set Mia off. He suspected it was the bitch in the bottle. He walked over and suggested, “Whit, why don’t you take Mia to the hotel so she can get some rest. We’ll be here running film and tests for a while yet.”

  Mia looked at Ted, “How will you know what she’s saying?”

  “She’ll be on tape. You can listen tomorrow. Get some food. Get some sleep and come in
early,” he instructed.

  “Yes, sir. Major.” Mia saluted.

  “Yes?” He was puzzled at her compliance.

  “You did a great job here tonight.”

  “Thank you, Mia. Sorry about the rough time.”

  “It’s okay, I’m used to it.” Mia spotted the pack holding Murphy’s axe and headed towards it.

  “Mia, leave Murph with me tonight. We might need some backup.”

  She looked at Ted shrewdly. “K, but don’t throw him in the lake no matter how much trouble he gets into. He’s probably pitting the cowboys against the Chinese right now.”

  “Don’t worry. I got his back.”

  Whit helped Mia find her stuff in the dimness of the room and led her away. When they were out of earshot, Ted sighed. Burt walked up and patted him on the back. “You did good. She was exhausted.”

  Ted nodded. “OK. Time to get some readings. Where is Dr. Wesley?”

  “Here,” Bernard said from the back of the room. He walked up and shook Ted’s hand. “Great investigation tonight. I’m going to leave my museum in your hands. Yours and my security team,” he qualified.

  “Dr. Wesley, think about what you want to do with the entity. It’s your museum’s property. I’d like a day to take some more readings, but after that you can have it.”

  Bernard nodded. “I will take it up with the board and let you know. How long will she stay contained?”

  “Don’t really know. A year, ten, twenty,” he guessed. “As long as the glass holds and the sand is around it, there’s no time limit. We will have a smaller containment box built by the time you come in tomorrow morning.”

  “Thank you. I’m going to see to Clara, get her cab and go home. Call me if there is any problem.” He patted Ted on the back. He looked over at the Burt and Mike and called, “Good night, gentlemen.”

  Burt and Mike waved while they kept the cameras focused on the swirling mist in the bottle.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  When the cool air of the night hit Mia’s face, she twirled around. “It’s so fresh.”

  Whit watched her twirl and steadied her when she became dizzy. He led her to where he parked his car. She smiled when she saw it. Memories of seeing him bent over the engine stirred something primal inside Mia. She shook it off. “Hey, you still have the sedan.”

  “Yeah, no money, so I’m driving this until I get the settlement on the house.”

  “Are they really going to tear it down, the purchasers?”

  “The land’s worth more than the house. The area’s been rezoned. I won’t miss it,” he said flatly.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories. I’m not firing on all cylinders right now.” She got in the car. Whit reached in and seat-belted the drifty Mia in. She waited for Whit to get into the car. He snapped his belt together and asked for directions to the hotel.

  She patted her pockets and pulled out her phone to check the time. “It’s not as late as I thought. Maybe we could stop in the hotel bar... have us some drinks and order room service,” she suggested, examining an envelope she found in her backpack. She pulled out a wad of bills tied in a ribbon that smelled like Ralph.

  “May be a little steep on a deputy’s salary,” Whit said, starting the car.

  Mia fanned the cash and thrust it in front of Whit causing him to break hard. Fortunately they hadn’t left the parking lot yet. “Are you trying to kill us?”

  “Nope. I’m sorry. I was just showing you that Ralph is one step ahead of us.” She handed the wad of bills to Whit.

  He whistled. “Are you sure this is for us to spend?” He counted out several hundred dollars and handed the rest to Mia.

  “I’m sure. You see. Ralph is convinced that he wants you to be my boyfriend. Bernard wants Ted. And my aunt Beverly wants me to screw the nation before thinking about settling down.”

  Whit tensed. So Ted was a rival. “What do you want?”

  “Well, that’s the question isn’t it?” Mia tapped Whit’s arm and pointed out, “Next left, and the parking garage is just the other side of the main entrance.”

  He followed her instructions. He noticed that she didn’t answer his question. He would ask her again later after much alcohol had been imbibed.

  ~

  Ted tightened the final screw of the acrylic glass box. He shifted yellow dolomite in the bottom. He put on the rubber gloves before he donned the heat-resistant pair and flexed his hands. Burt put a tether around his waist and stood ready to yank him away if the bottle became too charged with electricity. There was always a chance that Courtney would burst the glass and escape again, but they couldn’t keep her contained in the large trap, it was leaking at the seams. The smaller box would be easier to transport or lock in a lead-lined case that Bernard suggested. Being a museum of antiquities, they actually had a few lying around in storage.

  Mike slid the plastic panel of the trap open. Ted reached in, secured his hands around the bottle and brought it carefully out. Speed was an issue, but safety dictated that Ted take his time. He moved to the table and put the bottle into the container making sure that the stopper was still in place. Burt poured in more of the sand to stabilize the bottle and closed the lid. If Bernard chose to keep the bottle in his vault, they would fill the case with sand. Right now they kept it low so that they would be able to monitor any changes in the whirling smoke contained within it.

  The excess blessed sand would be divided between PEEPs and Mia. Burt thought she could make use of it in places where inclement weather regularly washed her salt away. Having spent more than a few nights with her, he appreciated her need for a sanctuary away from the ghosts and entities that only she could see. He wondered how she was getting along. She had taken quite a beating. Although she was closed-mouthed about what went on, the evidence left behind in the hall suggested a certain amount of torture had taken place.

  Ted suggested that they disassemble the large trap and then, as a reward, roam the museum with cameras, videos and IRs. They had a few hours before the morning cleaning crews arrived, and they probably would never get this kind of opportunity again.

  Burt smiled and contemplations of Mia and Whit vanished as the thoughts of catching a few pictures of roaming spirits filled his head.

  ~

  Mia and Whit sat beside each other in the hotel’s bar. Both were freshly showered and managed to find some clean clothes to wear. Whit was surprised by the ease in which Mia moved these days. Gone was the frightened mouse that avoided loud places like bars and restaurants. He touched on this subject.

  She looked up at him and smiled. “I’ve learned how to tell the living from the dead. I can see the difference, so I don’t make so many embarrassing blunders. I also decided that I was making myself a prisoner of my gifts instead of using my gifts to set myself free.”

  He nodded. “You’ll have to regale me with some of your exploits, sorry, adventures.”

  “No, there were some exploits too!” Mia laughed.

  Whit put his arm around the back of the booth and drew her closer to him. She didn’t push away. He felt this was a good sign.

  “Tell me about what happened after the MOMA?” Mia asked softly.

  “Do you think now’s the time for that?”

  “I think in order for us to move forward, we have to disengage some anchors.”

  “Fair enough.” Whit took a sip of his beer. “I also have a few questions regarding Burt and Ted.”

  “I’m an open book,” Mia lied. She hoped to God he didn’t ask about Murphy.

  “Okay, I went back to my parents’ house in Jersey and slept for two days straight. My mother checked on me and insisted I eat but pretty much left me alone. I was angry at God, the universe, you, and all the people that had a hand in messing with those things in the hollow.”

  “I did not rouse anything. It was the PEEPs that did that, although, according to Father Santos, the evil had been building for a long time. Sherry was looking at those houses
long before Burt and company arrived at April’s house,” Mia clarified.

  “Yes, but I didn’t see it that way at that time. All I knew was something influenced my wife to hang herself. Then she haunted me.”

  “She haunted me too. She was trying to tell us something.”

  “I know. It took me a while to put everything into focus. I lived in my parents’ basement and played video games. Dad got me out to play some golf and tossed the football with me. He counseled me on life, as did my mother. They are good people, Mia.”

  “Yes, they are. You are lucky to have them as parents.”

  “I know. But when my mind cleared, I realized I left a lot unfinished here in Illinois. The house, my job, you. I wanted to come back and see what I could salvage and what I needed to rebuild.”

  Mia smiled at the mention of her.

  “I want to say that you are different, Mia, but that’s not true. You still are the sensitive, nurturing, funny girl I remember. There is a confidence about you that I envy.”

  “Ah, the confidence is part bullshit and part experience,” she admitted. “I spent some time with my aunt Beverly and learned a lot from her. I’d like to say all good things, but my aunt, well, is a different sort of person. I’ve gained some things and lost others. Life for me is hard going. I’m a social misfit, and I doubt that’s going to change much.”

  “I don’t see you as a misfit. I think people that don’t know you will think you are dynamic and a bit unconventional but will learn to love you as I have.”

  “Whoa, did you say the four letter word?” Mia asked, twisting away to look fully at Whit.

  “That’s the other thing I realized in Jersey. I realized that along with all the horribleness of what happened in the hollow, something beautiful happened too. I was too stupid to see it. I fell in love with you.”

  Mia stared at him. Words she longed to hear from this man just came out of his mouth. She thought that there should have been a chorus of angels. Had she become too jaded by his previous rejection to hear them?

  “What are you thinking?” Whit asked seriously.