The Return (Haunted Series Book 21)

by Alexie Aaron

“Nothing, just gossip,” Mia said.

  “Well, stop it. Donny, get in the darn car and drive. I don’t want to miss my biggest opportunity.”

  “I’ll see you there,” Mia said, getting in her truck.

  Murphy slid in beside her.

  They waited until the Bravermans pulled out so Mia could follow them.

  “The spirit draws energy from the lights. There are a lot of lights in a gymnasium, Mia. Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  “No, I’m not sure of anything right now,” Mia admitted. “All I know is, somehow, we’ve got to get the ghost to voluntarily leave Susan’s body. While she’s gone, I’ve got to find Susan and release her from whatever is keeping her from retaking control of her body.”

  Cindy was irked to find the gym empty except for three men. Two she recognized from the college athletic giveaway, but the black gentleman she did not. He must be from Green Bay. She rushed into the side supply room and was aghast to find all of the cheer equipment gone. Mia walked in after her.

  “Whoa, what happened here?” Mia asked.

  “No pom-poms,” Cindy said.

  “You can use mine after I’m through,” Mia offered.

  “Yes, I’d appreciate it. You’re a good sport,” Cindy said. “I’m going to stretch. This body isn’t exactly Packerette material, but I’ll whip it into shape.”

  “Careful,” Mia said. “Pace yourself.”

  Mia walked into the girls’ locker room.

  “Are you here for the tryouts?” Cid asked Susan as she walked across the gym floor.

  “Yes.”

  “You’ll have to leave your stuff. We can’t have anything on the gym floor during tryouts,” he said, holding out his hand.

  Cindy looked at the guy and shook her head. “Donny,” she called. “Watch this for me.”

  “Yes, dear,” Don said, taking hold of the bag. He walked over to the bleachers and sat down and waited for Susan’s attention to be elsewhere.

  Cid stood by. He had a Ziploc full of salt waiting for the right moment.

  Ted walked over with a clipboard. “Hi, I’m glad you could make it. We’ve already seen so many girls. Do you have a routine prepared?”

  “Yes, I do. A real corker,” Cindy said proudly.

  “Name?” Ted said, holding his pencil ready.

  “Susan… No! Cindy Kruger.”

  “Is that Cindy with an I or a Y?” Ted asked.

  “A Y. C I N D Y K R U G E R,” she spelled out.

  “Fine. We’ll call you. We have one girl before you,” he said and walked away.

  Cindy looked at her wrist, and it was purple in spots. She pulled down her sleeve. She wouldn’t be able to cartwheel, so she’d have to stick to a dancing routine, ending in a split? She’d check out what Mia was doing and make her choice.

  “Mia Cooper?” Ted called.

  The speakers overhead popped with static before music filled the gymnasium. Mia ran in and did a gymnastic run more suited to a Karate exhibition, but it took Cindy’s breath away. That little blonde had upped the game. She jumped higher than Cindy had seen in a long time, and her energy was awesome. The only fault Cindy could find, with the exception of the strange routine, was that Mia’s voice didn’t carry. It was almost as if she were embarrassed to be trying out. Maybe it was nerves?

  “If I’m going to beat her, I can’t be in this body,” Cindy said.

  When Mia finished, she walked over and handed her pom-poms to Cindy.

  “I won’t be needing those. I have my own,” Cindy said.

  The lights surged and went out. Mia saw the spirit pull out of Susan’s body. Mia caught the vessel and dragged it off the gym floor. She put her hand on Susan’s face and entered her mind palace.

  Mia stumbled over the threshold of a large stadium. Her heart sunk as she saw how big Susan’s mind palace was. How was she going to find her?

  “Mia, I’m here,” Murphy said, walking in behind her. “Let’s split up. I’ll take the upper floors, and you go down the ramp.”

  “Thanks, Murph,” Mia said, running down the ramp, calling, “Susan!”

  The lights surged again. In the middle of the gym appeared a woman. She was dressed in a vintage cheer uniform. She started her routine.

  Don handed Cid the trophy.

  Cid put it in the bag of salt.

  Inside, Murphy and Mia ran the complex. Mia almost missed the ladies’ locker room. She walked in, and it was dark. “Hello, is there anyone in there?”

  Susan banged on the locker. “In here! Help me, I can’t get out!”

  Mia stepped out of the locker room and called, “MURPHY!” before she ran over to where the lockers were. “Which one?” she asked.

  Susan kept banging. The sound echoed through the room, making it more difficult for Mia to find her.

  Murphy ran into the room, and the two worked from opposite ends opening each locker. A third of the way through Murphy’s end, he came across a locker he couldn’t open.

  “Mia, over here. Mrs. Braverman’s stopped banging, but I’m sure it’s this one,” he said.

  “Susan, can you hear me?” Mia asked.

  “Yes,” Susan said faintly.

  “Squeeze yourself to the back of the locker,” Mia instructed. She waited until she heard Susan do just that. “Hold still. Murphy, please open this door for me.”

  Murphy lifted his axe and brought it down, hard slicing the hinges off. The door fell forward a few seconds before Susan followed.

  Mia caught Susan in her arms.

  “So much pain, Mia, so much pain,” Susan said weakly.

  “Can you heal her from inside?” Murphy asked.

  “No, I have to leave. You do too before you run into Susan’s memory of you. A few minutes ago, I passed myself, and damn, my hair does look awful in the back,” Mia said.

  Murphy smiled. “That’s what you get for trying to impress the boys.”

  Susan giggled. “Mia, just be yourself. You’re lethal that way,” she advised.

  Mia angled her head. “Susan, Murphy had to spank Brian.”

  “I’m sure he did it respectfully,” Susan said, standing a bit taller.

  Mia and Murphy continued to ask questions where Susan had all the right answers. With each one, she got stronger and larger.

  “We better go. There’s only room for one soul in here. See you on the other side,” Mia said and took Murphy’s hand. The two of them ran as fast as they could to the threshold. Mia pulled her hand away, and Murphy moved out of Susan.

  Don was sitting, holding her head. Susan’s eyes fluttered open. She was going to be fine.

  Mia looked over at the spectacle that was going on in the middle of the gym. The more Cindy performed, the weaker she got. Cid had her trophy covered in salt. Father Santos donned his collar and called for the light.

  Ted walked over and scooped Mia up in his arms. “You’re a lousy cheerleader, Minnie Mouse.”

  “Thank God, there is something she’s bad at,” Cid said, “Besides cooking. She’s horrible with meats.”

  “Murky Meats,” Mia said, leaning back, watching Cindy slowly lose power.

  Cindy was oblivious to what was going on. Sure, she was tired, but she finally had the attention of a small crowd of people. Real live people. She also sensed that someone had put a spotlight on her. She turned around, and the light was brighter than the ones in the equipment room. She danced over to the light and did a backflip landing in a split.

  That’s the last they saw of Cindy Kruger.

  Ted had pulled Mia close into him to stop her from being pulled along with Cindy. He still held her, long after the light left the gymnasium.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Burt looked at the group before him with a hurt expression. Not only was he kept out of the loop regarding the haunted library and the possession of Susan Braverman, but not one of the PEEPs took a camera with them. He expressed his disappointment and waited for an answer.

  “He does have a point,�
�� Mia said. “I guess you just had to be there. The organic way the resolution happened with Susan was so quick. Most of the stuff I did, I couldn’t film. Plus, with the upcoming election for Sheriff, I don’t think we would have gotten the Bravermans’ okay.”

  “What about the library?” he asked.

  “We do have some footage,” Cid said. “Dieter was wearing a voice-activated video camera at the time, for the purpose of covertly filming the text of the pamphlets. Jake, would you please run what we have?”

  The monitors lit up. The team watched as Dieter’s hands turned the pages slowly for twenty minutes.

  “Okay, I see your point,” Burt started.

  “But wait, there’s more,” Cid said. “Watch.”

  They saw as Mike’s hand picked up his vibrating phone. “Brian? Don’t move outside the circle of salt! We’re coming. There is a ghost downstairs attacking Mia and the kids,” Mike’s voice said.

  There was film of their mad dash down the stairs and Dieter as he ran off in a different direction. “Mom! Mia!” the teen called frantically. There was a rapping on the window, and the PEEPs saw as Dieter let the raven into the basement. They watched as he followed the bird. He got there just in time to see Mike stab a thick fog with an iron spike, and then he panned down to the pile of books and a very recognizable hand twitching in a pool of blood.

  “I had no idea,” Burt said compassionately.

  “I don’t think we’ll keep our PG 13 rating,” Mike said. “Watch.”

  Dieter’s videocamera picked up the lower half of a naked Victor who was, to put it mildly, built to please.

  Cid groaned.

  Ted hit him on the arm.

  “Stop video,” Mike said. “It gets worse.”

  “Thanks,” Mia said. “I think you’re missing my unveiling. Embarrassment factor: two blushes.”

  “No, Dieter turned around if memory serves me. We should have video of Dieter getting the boys to safety and then the arrival of the birdmen and the ride home. We would have to get the permission of the clerk at the ice cream store…”

  “Stop,” Burt said. He sat down and put his head in his hands. “Is there anything else you’ve kept from me?” he asked.

  “Jake, do you have film of the new wings?” Mia asked.

  “Yes, one moment… Here,” Jake’s Marvin the Martian voice said.

  Audrey, who had yet to see the wings, was gobsmacked. Burt just stared. When the armor hit the floor and the sparks flew, he looked over at Mia and said, “Nicely done, Cooper.”

  “I’m still getting used to them,” Mia said lamely. “But I will be able to fly us out of a sinkhole given enough warning.”

  “Speaking of warning,” Ted said. “Cid has made adjustments to our Rem-Pods so we can pick up movement twenty feet below surface.”

  “That’s how she gets you,” Mia said. “She travels underground, especially if it’s raining. She either pops up behind you or pulls you under like she did Jason Jones.”

  “I thought you were dead set against this investigation?” Burt asked Mia.

  “For the record, I think we shouldn’t be in there in force,” Mia said. “Maximum three at a time. Ethan, PEEP, and cameraman. Or Tom, PEEP, and cameraman. I think Tom has a natural GPS. He kept finding us when we were lost,” Mia said.

  “Remember, he did find quicksand too,” Murphy pointed out.

  “That’s right,” Mia said. “Now how could I have forgotten that?” she asked no one in particular.

  “Your memory has been on the fritz,” Ted said.

  “It has,” Mia admitted. “Maybe I’ve been training too hard.”

  “Maybe you need more fat in your diet?” Audrey offered.

  “Bacon?”

  “Alright, bacon,” Audrey allowed.

  Burt blew out air. The meeting was taking another tangent.

  Mia eyed him and stopped talking.

  “Thanks, Cooper.”

  Ted winced. Mia and Mike were the only ones to catch this. Mike elbowed her hard. Reluctantly, Mia drew a line next to an existing line on the otherwise blank sheet of paper.

  “What are the two of you doing now?” Burt asked, snatching Mia’s note paper. He looked at the clean sheet, except for the two lines. He tossed it down.

  Mike reached for it and slid it back over to Mia.

  “Cooper, may I have a moment of your time?” Burt asked.

  Mia drew another line, making it three, before she got up and followed Burt into the barn where he slammed the door shut and started yelling.

  Ted got up, but Cid said, “Let Mia handle her own problems.”

  Ted sat back down.

  “What’s on the paper?” Audrey asked.

  Mike held it up. “Just three lines.”

  “It looks like someone is keeping score,” Cid said. “What’s the deal?”

  “It’s a bet, and none of your business,” Mike said, crossing his arms.

  The door opened, and Burt shouted, “Mike, get your ass out here!”

  Audrey gasped.

  Ted looked at Cid and asked, “What is going on?”

  Murphy manifested and reported, “Burt is lecturing Mia and Mike about being disruptive during a PEEPs meeting.”

  “But they weren’t doing anything,” Audrey said.

  “Actually, it’s Burt’s fault,” Murphy said. “He calls Mia, Cooper, not Mrs. Martin or Mia. Each time he does that, Ted winces. Mike bet Mia ten dollars that Ted would wince five times during the meeting.”

  “I do?” Ted said.

  The monitors turned on. Jake had quickly created a montage of the last ten PEEPs meetings. It was a split camera affair with sound. Each time that Burt addressed Mia as Cooper, Ted winced.

  Ted thought back to Mia asking why he had problems with Mike but not with Burt. “I guess I do have problems with Burt,” Ted said softly to himself.

  Mia walked away from the scream-fest Burt was indulging in. She knelt and examined the chips in the concrete. They didn’t appear to be cracking, but she would have to do something about them before they did.

  “We sit there, meeting after meeting, listening to you. We get bored,” Mike said. “Mia loses focus. I’m just trying to keep her in the meeting and out of her head.”

  “Is this true, Cooper?” Burt asked.

  Mia looked up. “I’m not bored, just twitchy. I had this same kind of problem in school,” she admitted. “Last meeting…”

  “You were rudely reading my thoughts,” Burt said.

  “I was. Sorry about that. But you give me the most hurtful looks sometimes. I was just trying to find out what was going through your head.”

  “Do you read my thoughts?” Mike asked, amused.

  “No. You’ve learned how to block mind readers. Besides, I pretty much know what you’re thinking.”

  “I bet you do,” Mike said, smiling. He looked over at Burt. “No one is disrespecting you. We all know that there is no PEEPs without you.”

  “Yes, no one thinks about replacing you,” Mia said. “You could give me the same consideration.”

  Burt looked over at Mia. “I’m surprised you still are invested in PEEPS. With all you can do, and have to do, it’s only a matter of time before you leave us.”

  “I understand where you’re coming from,” Mia began. “But PEEPs isn’t something that I take lightly. It has brought me so much. If it weren’t for you two amateurs showing up here all those years ago, I probably wouldn’t exist right now. Burt, you guys saved me and Murph. If you hadn’t walked down and sat with me on the picnic table, I shudder to think what I would have become. I was bitter and used, the town’s crazy dogsbody if you will. But the simple acts of kindness on both of your parts started a chain reaction that pulled me off an awful course. I met Ted. No matter what you two bozos think, I’m not worthy of him and not vice versa. I’ll explain to him that, when you call me Cooper, it’s not to demean him…”

  “I call you Cooper,” Mike pointed out.

  “Yes,
but you do it to purposely poke the bear,” Mia said, shaking her finger.

  “She’s right,” Mike said, happy with himself. “Why do you do it, old man?”

  “Stop calling me old man. You’re older than me,” Burt pointed out. “I haven’t an answer for you.”

  “Were you looking to replace me?” Mia asked.

  “Yes,” Burt admitted.

  Anger filled Mike’s face. “Of all the flitch-ridden things to do. We were nothing but debunkers without Mia. We’re supposed to be partners. Hey, and I believe, contractually, Ted is also a partner. You can’t replace Mia. I believe the votes are against you.”

  Burt’s face was red. Mia worried about his blood pressure. She needed to calm him down. “Mike, I think he’s just being prepared. I’m a very complex employee. Sure, this hurts, but I do have a lot of other responsibilities. Maybe I’ve put them before ghost hunting.”

  Burt looked over at her. “How can you be so kind?” he asked.

  “We have history. Just because our lives have moved on to other paths doesn’t mean I cease to care about you or Mike. I don’t want my association with PEEPs to be painful for you. Bring in another sensitive. I’ll back him or her up until I know they’re for real,” Mia said. She walked over to the outside door and walked out.

  “What have you done?” Mike asked. “I know what’s going on. Your petty jealousies have directed your ship into more than choppy waters.”

  “How can you stand it? Sitting next to her knowing she’ll never be yours. She’s beyond us. She heals for Heaven…”

  “Yet, she also has our backs when we’re over our heads. I know that you’ve been left out of a lot of her life. But it’s her life. She chose Ted. He loves her. I know she’ll never be mine. Why do you think we can bait each other like we do? But I wouldn’t change one thing. I get to walk into Hell knowing that she’ll get me out and make me look good in the process. You were once her leading man. I’ve never had the pleasure, but I’m not letting that taint my esteem. She’s fucking wonderful. A mom, a warrior, a sensitive, a healer, a clumsy woman who doesn’t know how heartbreakingly beautiful she is. You just let her leave our group. I no longer have any respect for you. It’s time for you to look for a new mouthpiece.”