by Alexie Aaron
“Mia, we’re all assembled, over,” Ted said into the com.
Cid looked over at him, worried. “I’ll go look for her.”
“Her OOB monitor has her on the property line between the Malone’s house and their east neighbor,” Ted said.
Cid left the lot at a light jog while Ted continued to try to raise Mia. Burt walked over to the console and asked, “Can I help?”
“Mia’s not responding,” Ted said. “She was out walking the property line and was on her way back when we lost communication. Cid’s…”
“Ted, Cid here, over.”
“Yes, did you find her?”
“No, but you need to get over here and see what I did find, over.”
“On my way.” Ted looked at Burt.
“I’ve got the com. Go,” he said, sitting down.
Ted jumped out of the truck and ran into the side yard between the houses. Cid was on his knees moving his hands over the grass.
“I was just rounding the corner when I saw it. A mist, very similar to the vapor dry ice has when it hits the air, was oozing out of the ground here. I found this too,” he said, handing Ted Mia’s ear com, the broken chain of the OOB necklace, a strange ring of keys and one of her gloves. “The glove was half in and half out of the ground. It was like the ground tried to swallow it,” he explained.
“What’s under here?”
“Nothing I know about, but it’s very near the hollow wall Burt wants to cut into.”
“I say, let’s do it. The sooner the better,” Ted said as he watched Cid put his ear to the ground.
“Do you hear anything?”
“No, but dirt is an excellent soundproofer.”
“Come on. We’ve got tools to get. Where the hell is Murphy?” Ted asked, looking around. “I hope he’s not a casualty of this too.”
Mia opened her eyes and coughed at the stale, fetid air she was breathing. She reached for her ear com but only found packed dirt, which she dislodged with her pinky finger. She opened her mouth and felt the pressure pop in her ear. Her face and left hand seemed raw. She carefully touched her cheek and winced. Tiny particles of stone and shell clung to the abrasion. She fought the fog in her brain to remember what had happened to bring her to this state.
“Oh my god,” she said as she remembered fighting the hands that pulled her into the ground. She had managed to turn her face into her right arm, protecting her nostrils and mouth from the dirt that pressed in on her as she was pulled deeper and deeper into the ground. Her feet seemed to be free of the pressure of the ground a moment. There was a sudden yank on them, and that’s all she remembered. “I must have fallen and hit my head.” Mia noticed there wasn’t an echo to her spoken words. She must be in a small space, not a cavern like she expected. She moved her gloved hand carefully down her body and into her cargo pocket. She sighed in relief as she found the small penlight she carried there. “Here goes,” she said, turning on the light.
Mummified bodies surrounded her. Open-mouthed corpses frozen in the death scream faced her. One had died reaching for something. Mia carefully got up and inched her way to see what was so important. She found a metal door. Mia tried to turn the handle, but it would not budge. She pounded on the door, and as she did, dry particles of dirt rained down on her. She stopped and turned around, sensing she wasn’t alone anymore.
Rising out of their air-starved bodies were the seven clowns. Mia fought her nerves and managed to release the side flap of her cargo pant leg and quickly drew out the tiny Morton saltshaker. She quickly poured a ring around herself, connecting it to the stone wall behind her, before she became to faint to stand. She sat down and forced herself to breath shallow, slow breaths.
The men moved towards Mia and were stunned when their reaching hands met with an invisible shield.
“Let me out. Leave me be,” she said before she passed out.
“Burt, call an ambulance. Then I need you and the chainsaw in the basement now!” Ted called as he ran into the house, followed by Cid.
“On my way.” Burt jumped out of the truck and pounded on the door of the RV. A sleepy Bev pushed the door open.
“What the hell, Hicks?” she asked.
“Mia’s trapped underground. Call an ambulance, and get Audrey to man the console,” he ordered and left.
“Shit,” Bev said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
Burt ran into the house and down the stairs. He found that Ted and Cid had pulled the paneling off the basement wall and were pounding on an old, thick wooden door, trying to get a response from Mia.
“I hear her breathing, but it’s slow. I expect there isn’t too much air in there,” Cid said.
“Move aside,” Burt said before he started the chainsaw.
Ted and Cid watched as the man made his first cut. He managed, in seconds, to make an air vent. He punched the cut wood through the space before starting on the hinges.
By the time Bev had Audrey awake and running the console, Burt had the door down, and Ted was at Mia’s side. He picked her up and brought her out into the fresher air of the basement. He tapped her uninjured cheek until he saw her eyes flutter.
“Come on, baby, wake up,” he pleaded.
“Trapped, ghosts coming for me, salt, Ted!” Mia said and tried to reach for her husband. She didn’t know her left arm was out of the socket until the pain shot through her. She screamed before she passed out.
Burt was on his knees. “Ted, we have to get her on her back. The EMTs are coming. She’s breathing.” He took off his hoodie and put it under Mia’s head as Ted gently lowered her to the ground.
Cid tapped Burt on the shoulder. “You’ve got to see this. Maybe take a few pictures before the police get here.”
“Bev has only called the fire department,” Burt argued, getting to his feet.
Cid had tossed a light disc into the space where Ted had pulled Mia from. Inside, there were seven desiccated corpses. They found where Mia had landed. A broken wooden table lay in a heap of rotted pieces. Something wet and red dripped off the largest intact piece. Burt touched it. “Blood.” Burt ran out.
“Ted, she’s bleeding. Check her head.”
Ted moved his hand carefully under Mia’s unconscious head, and it came away red. “What…”
The pounding of feet stopped his question. The EMTs had arrived.
“Dislocated shoulder, possible head injury from a fall down a hole into that, that root cellar,” Ted told them and reluctantly stepped back and watched them work on his wife.
“Name?”
“Mia Martin. She’s pregnant,” Ted said.
“How far along?”
“Not long,” he said as a tear moved down his face.
“Damn it that hurts!” Mia said, opening her eyes. “Hello, where the hell am I?” she asked in between gasps. “I can’t breathe.”
“Patient is conscious,” the EMT called out. He fitted an oxygen mask over her face. “This will help. Calm down.”
Ted felt Burt’s hand on him, drawing him further back. “Get your stuff. You need to go to the hospital with her,” he said as the EMT lifted a restrained Mia onto the stretcher and headed for the stairs. “I’ll handle everything else. Cid’s going with you.”
Cid, who had preceded the EMTs up the stairs, held the door open for the crew to bring her through. Mia had an oxygen mask on now, and her eyes moved from side to side. Cid realized she was searching for Murphy. “I’ll find him, Mia,” he said as she passed him. “Ted’s right behind you.”
“Keys, Audrey,” Mia managed, pulling away the mask with her good hand. The EMT put it back just as fast.
Cid understood.
Bev watched from the edge of the PEEPs truck as the EMTs loaded Mia into the back of the van and began to stabilize her.
“Tell me what’s going on?” Audrey pleaded, tethered to the console.
“Ted’s getting in, and they’ve closed the back. They’re taking off. Oh shit, here come the cops. I’ll delay them, and y
ou get down there and take some pictures before they disturb the scene,” Bev ordered.
Audrey grabbed the quick kit, jumped out of the truck and headed into the house. Bev smoothed her hair and strode out to meet the local police.
Burt was surprised as Audrey came running down the steps. “I’ve got the cameras. We have five minutes. Bev’s stalling the fuzz.”
Burt, amused by the antiquated slang, suppressed a laugh. He grabbed the portable camcorder and began filming the root cellar. Audrey braved the small space and took digital pictures of everything.
Bev took the officers across the lawn. “She was standing here one moment, and the next, she was underground. Be careful, I don’t think this ground is stable.”
Between Burt and Audrey, they had the place filmed, readings taken and all the gear packed up before the police, guided by Bev, walked down the steps. Audrey strapped on the backpack, and when their attention was on the root cellar, she climbed the steps quietly. She moved quickly through the house and out the door. Glenda was seated at the console in her pajamas. “About time you showed up. I can’t program my VCR; how the hell am I going to run this thingy-ma-jobber?”
Audrey didn’t comment. She sat down, began a sweep of the feeds and saw to her relief that there wasn’t any spirit activity. She stood up and took off the backpack. “Guard this with your life,” she said. “Burt will be in as soon as he can. Then we’ve got a mystery to solve.”
“I’ve looked everywhere,” Cid said, climbing into the truck. “I can’t find Murphy. He didn’t respond to any of my calls. Oh, here,” he said, pulling the key ring from his pocket. Mia says these are for you. I think they’re for 1303. I don’t know why she had them, but I have done my duty. I’m heading to the hospital to keep Ted out of trouble. You okay with that?” Cid asked, pointing at the console.
Audrey mentally caught up to Cid and nodded. “I got the gist. Give Mia my love. I’ll have Bev look for Murphy. I have a suspicion he went home. He wasn’t feeling so good last night.”
Cid wrinkled his brow.
“Emotionally, she explained. “He’s not himself.”
“Oh. Okay, I’m out of here. Good luck,” he said and left.
Glenda pulled a cigarette case out of her robe pocket. “Mind?” she asked.
“No, as long as you blow the smoke out of the truck,” Audrey said.
“Nerves and vodka are the only reasons to smoke,” Glenda said, lighting the cigarette. “It was a hell of a way to wake up this morning, and come to think of it, a drink would be nice. Don’t worry, I’m just teasing you. Audrey, you’ve got to lighten up. Everything is going to be alright. If not, we’ll fix it.”
“Broken bones can heal, but a broken heart…”
“Needs time. Don’t worry, that too can heal. One just has to be kept busy.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Preggers huh,” Doctor Walters commented as he examined the back of Mia’s head. “How long?”
“Not long,” Mia answered. “Before you ask how I know, just take it from me I know, and in a few weeks, you’ll know.”
“Really, well, we’ll see. So you fell down a what? Sinkhole?”
“I’m not sure. All I know is, one moment I’m standing on the lawn, the next I’m lying underground in an old root cellar. It was like I was sucked in.”
“Could have been an old vent that collapsed after you,” Doctor Walters suggested.
Mia made note to tell the cops just that. “You’re a genius.”
The doctor blushed. “I am, aren’t I? Now since I know this body better than most, husband excluded, I’m going to try to pop in this arm without the benefit of an x-ray. Mia, it’s going to hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, and because of the pregnancy, I can’t give you anything strong enough. So if you feel like passing out, do.”
“Gee, you make it sound like so much fun.”
He chose that moment to adjust her arm.
Mary Margaret walked into the room just as Mia let out a string of curse words before she fainted. “Well, that’ll teach her to swear,” she said. “Did you have to rip her arm off?”
“I’ll have you know, I put it back on. Good thing I used to have to replace my GI Joe’s arms frequently. Who needs medical school?”
“Please don’t let the insurance company hear that,” Margaret Mary warned. “Husband’s wearing out the carpet outside. Mind if I let him in?”
“Give me a moment. She took quite a fall, and I want to do a head to toe evaluation. Stick around, would you?”
Margaret Mary, M&Ms to her patients, gave the doctor a wry look. “As if I have a choice.”
“Come on, if you behave yourself, I’ll tell you a secret,” Walters bribed.
“Secret first, you’ve tricked me before,” she said, lifting an eyebrow.
“Mrs. Martin claims she’s pregnant.”
“Oh, how wonderful! They’ll make such good parents. The kid will be, well, interesting looking, but nothing that a good plastic surgeon can’t fix.”
Doctor Walters almost choked trying not to laugh. “Come on, they’ll be beautiful. Just look at Mia. Petite, small-boned, blonde, wide eyes, nice mouth, pert nose.”
“And Ted, tall, thin, big head, brown eyes, auburn hair, freckles, oddly-shaped nose, wide mouth. The kid could lose the genetic bet and end up looking like a small jack-o-lantern,” M&Ms said.
“Or a beautiful scarecrow,” Doctor Walters offered. He continued his examination, calling out the injuries as he came across them. “Besides the now reestablished left arm out of the socket, Mia’s got a large contusion on the back of her head. Broken scalp, no stitches needed. She has abrasions running down her head, left side of her face, neck, her left hand and lower arm. Her little finger… broken. Funny, she didn’t complain about that. I’ll set it. No X-ray. Don’t look at me like that.”
“Funny, I didn’t think I showed what I was thinking,” M&M’s said. “Did I make the I know, idiot face or a simple duh?”
“The first. Crap, she’s got a broken rib.”
M&M’s copied down the location and the healing protocol without comment.
“Look at these ankles!”
Margaret Mary walked forward and viewed the circular bruising pattern around each ankle.
“It’s a miracle they’re not broken. Fell in? Bull, she was pulled in.” He whistled. “It looks like she put up a fight. I think her boots saved her bones from being crushed.”
“I have a strange feeling ghosts were involved,” M&Ms commented.
It was Doctor Walters’s turn to give M&Ms the duh look. “We’re keeping her here for a while. You might as well put her next to Mr. Dupree’s room, so you can keep an eye on her. I’m going to go out and punch her husband.”
“Wait, then we’ll have two Martins to deal with, not to mention Casanova upstairs.”
“Good point. Maybe I’ll just talk to him. Call me when tiger wakes up. We can medicate her but nothing heavy. Don’t want her kid to be a jack-o-lantern with a morphine habit. Not cool.”
Mia waited until he left before opening her eyes. “Your bedside manner sucks, M&Ms.”
“I’ll work on it. Congratulations by the way. Boy or girl?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“Let me know early; I’m a knitter. I’ve got to get you cleaned, wrapped up and put that arm in a sling. It’s going to hurt. I’d appreciate it if you don’t bite me. Cussing is okay.”
“No promises, ouch!” Mia said as she tried to move her fingers.
“That pinky is broken, as is one of your ribs, so lie still,” M&Ms ordered. “You want to tell me the whole story?”
“I’m not sure I know it yet, but as soon as I do, we’ll discuss it over coffee.”
“About that, you’re going to have to cut down,” M&Ms warned.
“What?” Mia was appalled and bummed.
“You know nothing about carrying a child, do you?”
“Nope. I expect I better start reading up.”
�
��I’m going to enroll both you and Ted in a class. I don’t want baby Martin to come out with three arms, six toes and a tail.”
“I think it would be quite useful in tree climbing,” Mia said dryly.
“You’re too much, Mia. Sorry to hear about Father Santos.”
“What did you hear?”
“He died out in the hollow.”
“That’s not exactly true. His body is alive, I think, in a clinic in the Italian Alps. But he’s in a coma.”
“Oh. How do you feel about that?”
“I guess it would be better to be either all dead or all alive, but sometimes we’re not given much of a choice in the matter. Look at me. I didn’t want to be pulled down a hole and end up here, but here I am. Bonus part is, I get to listen to you and Old Doc Walters make fun of my future child’s looks.”
“Sorry about that. I thought you were unconscious,” M&Ms said guiltily.
“Doesn’t matter. So am I getting anything for this pain?”
“Not much, you’re pregnant.”
“Mind if I call in a specialist?”
“You’re entitled to a second opinion. Who are you going to call?”
“Judy… Damn, I can’t remember if she has a last name.”
“Well, she better be qualified or I’ll throw her out of here,” M&Ms warned.
“Oh, she’s qualified. Judy Refugia, she used to work in the very same clinic that Father Santos is residing in right now.”
“Sounds expensive.”
“She’ll do it for a favor.”
“You PEEPs and your favors. However do you keep track of who owes who?”
“If you owe someone, you know. If they owe you, you know. You know?”
“Sorry I asked. Now let me get you a new gown.”
Mia waited until M&Ms left before lying back and calling out in her mind. “Komal, please send Judy…”
Ed walked into the suite of rooms, he and Judy had taken over. Judy, who had been writing a note to her mate, jumped up and ran to him.
“You’re back! How did it go? Did you find Mu? What was it like? Did Angelo behave himself?”
