by Alexie Aaron
Tom watched Blair approach the abandoned houses. He climbed through the broken window of a roofless shell, dragging a pack and a large plastic box in after him.
“What horrors are you planning?” Tom asked silently. He tapped out a text to the others before he changed his position.
Lazar had found an observation point by climbing a tree. He could see into the house from above. He whispered a warning, “Seen this type of case before. It’s a Pelican case, probably holding an automatic rifle.”
“Shit,” Tom said, pulling out his handgun and arming it.
Ted dug in his pocket and pulled out a fistful of tiny Oculars. These little wormlike robots could function in any dry environment. They would not only act as little spies but could be coordinated to produce an electric charge large enough to stun a human. He pulled up an app he developed for this purpose and began to move the Oculars into position.
“Mr. Martin?” hissed Rory.
Ted kept his eyes on the job at hand and said, “Rory, you’re early. Hold up a moment. Blair has an automatic weapon with him. I’d like to get a camera on you for your safety.”
“I don’t have much time,” argued Rory. He let Ted clip the button cam to the top of his Ace Hardware uniform polo.
They barely heard the sound of feet connecting with ground behind them. The men turned around to see Mia moving towards them quickly. “Rory, Ethan just called. Deb’s out of danger. Time for me to take you home.”
“What about Blair?” Rory asked.
“Deputy Braverman is on the scene, and Blair will be taken into custody. We need you safe. You’re going to have to testify to his part in this,” Mia stressed. “He’s an adult now and has committed a federal crime. We can put him away this time.”
“I want to see this through. I’m also an adult,” Rory said stubbornly. “If I don’t confront the bastard, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Ted received a text. It flashed briefly on his app screen. “Mia, Tom says Jason Jones is headed our way.”
“But he’s dead?” Rory questioned.
Mia drew Rory back. “Yes, he his. But he still could be dangerous, depending on how much power he has amassed.”
“Maybe Blair is using him as a scout,” Rory said.
“I doubt Blair can see him,” Ted said. “The only reason Tom can is because he died and was brought back by a ghost.”
The Rem-Pod sent a message to Ted’s screen. “Creature alert. She’s coming underground. Mia, be prepared to lift off.”
Rory looked at Mia as she unleashed her wings. He staggered a bit but found his footing. “I’m not seeing this,” he said. “This is impossible.”
“Nonsense, everything is possible to a certain degree,” Mia said.
“What are you?”
“Cautious.”
“Mia’s got strange genes,” Ted mentioned while he continued to maneuver the Oculars.
“Are you an alien?” Rory asked.
“I don’t think so. I’m a throwback to a few species that originated here on Earth when humans were hanging around in herds. You’re probably more alien than I am.”
“Good point,” Ted said.
“Me? Mrs. Martin, you’re teasing me,” Rory realized.
“We’d appreciate if you kept this to yourself,” Ted stressed. “The town is plenty happy to call her Crazy Cooper. I’d hate to think what would happen if they knew she could fly.”
“Guano Loco Cooper,” Mia said. “Come over sometime, and I’ll show you how many things there are around you that you can’t always see. You’re never alone, Rory. Someone is most always with you.”
“You sound like our pastor.”
The ground broke between Mia and Rory. He took a step back as a wooden hand reached up, followed by another, as the creature crawled out of the ground. She stared Mia down.
Mia pulled out a sword. “I don’t want to use this, but I will unless you back down, sweetheart.”
The creature growled.
Ted looked over and said, “Girls, if you’re going to fight, take it somewhere else. I’ve just got video feed on Blair from an Ocular, and he has assembled his automatic weapon.”
“Do you think he planned on cutting me down?” Rory asked, horrified.
“No, I think it’s for her,” Ted said. “He’s afraid of the creature. But I do suggest you call out before advancing, if that’s what you’re planning to do.”
“Do you think he knows that Deb is gone?”
“I’m not sure. Evidently, Vince was being watched by Blair using his home security camera’s app on his phone. I seriously doubt that there is any video feed or cell coverage getting to Blair in here.”
“How then are you communicating?”
“Ted had me put a booster for our independent system on top of that old pine over there,” Mia said, pointing. She looked over at the creature and said, “You leave it there, or I’ll prune you.”
“Mia,” Ted warned. “Don’t rile her.”
“She’s not bad,” Rory admonished. “She saved me.” She pulled out the fencepost I was tied to. I never got a chance to thank her.”
“Now’s not the time for a sentimental moment,” Mia said. “All hell is going to break loose soon.”
The creature angled her head and reached out, placing a new-growth stem under Rory’s chin. She nodded. She moved up the rise, looked down at the houses, and growled. She moved back and pointed to Rory and then pointed west.
“She doesn’t want you to go down there,” Mia said. “Listen to her.”
Jason Jones rose above the cliff edge and gazed down at the odd assembly of people and creatures. “Nerds, losers, and Pumpkin Head, oh my,” he said, raising his marker.
Mia looked over at him and hissed, “Don’t, you’ll anger her.”
Jones laughed and aimed his spectral gun at Rory and pulled the trigger.
Rory had no idea what was coming at him. Mia doubted it could hurt him, but still, she moved to intercept. The paintball never reached them. It splattered against the blade of Murphy’s axe.
He looked at the purple-stained blade with irritation.
“Mia, what’s going on?” Ted asked, his head down, concentrating on lining up the Oculars.
“Jason Jones shot at Rory, and Murphy intercepted the paintball. Now Murph’s pissed because his blade is purple.”
“What’s Pump… the creature doing?”
“You were going to call her Pumpkin Head,” Mia accused. “Why don’t we just call her that and save confusion with all the shes?”
“Copyright infringement. Blair’s already headed to federal prison; I don’t want to be sharing a cell with him,” Ted said.
The creature didn’t understand what was being said. All she knew was that the new ghost had tried to hurt her baby. She reached out, grabbed Jason, sucked the spectral energy out of him, and tossed him away like a Capri Sun juice packet.
“That’s cold. Murphy, watch out,” Mia warned, stepping in front of him, taking a battle stance.
Rory took this moment to head over the ridge. He quickly slid down into the flatland before the house. He called out, “I’m here, Blair. Release Deb, please.”
Blair looked out and set the weapon down. “Why, Rory, I’m sorry to let you know that Deb isn’t here right now. Come and play with me, and I’ll let her go when we’re finished.”
“That’s not what you promised,” Rory said, trying not to have his eyes shift to where he spotted Deputy Braverman advancing.
“What’s he doing?” Mia hissed. “Deb’s fine. He knows that.”
“I think he wants all this to stop,” Ted said. “He knows about the automatic weapon and the odds of someone getting hurt apprehending Blair. Plus, we have a shit case. Not much evidence aside from witness testimony. I wired him with a button cam. He may be going for a confession.”
“Why, Mr. Martin, I believe you put that thought into his head.”
“No, I just gave him the tools to do what he origin
ally came here to do,” Ted answered. “Shush, the audio is a bit crap. I need to adjust the volume.”
“Do me a favor, will you? Explain this all to me?” Rory asked.
Blair couldn’t resist showing off. He climbed out of the window and approached Rory. “You see, I thought I’d start off and mess with Ethan. If you don’t know this yet, they had the audacity to release him early. Yes, my boy, your convicted tormenter is walking free on the sidewalks of your town. He can’t legally get within fifty feet of us, so I decided to visit him in a public place and close the gap. I did this because I knew the whiner would run to his new daddy Braverman. So, while all eyes are watching out for poor little Ethan, I lured Sean into my web of deceit. Sean thought we were going to play catch the flag. He volunteered to be one flag while we kidnapped Deb Booker to be the other flag. His brother stormed my house to rescue his drug-addled sibling, only to find a picture of the kid taken in the trunk of a car somewhere with me standing by with a gun to his head. I told him that he had guard duty. If he let Deb get away, I would shoot Sean in the head. Vince knows better than to doubt my words.”
“You basically kidnapped two people, why?”
“Rory, if I called you and said, ‘Pal, would you like to play a game in the woods?’ What would you tell me?”
“To go and fuck yourself.”
“Exactly, so I made it too tough to refuse.”
“You told me Deb would be released.”
“Oh Rory, she’s never getting out of that basement alive. Just like you’re not leaving these woods alive. I’m going to kill both of you and lay the blame at Ethan Aldridge’s door.”
Rory threw a punch at Blair, catching him on the chin. Blair stumbled backwards, pulling the revolver from his back. He flipped the safety and shot at Rory.
Murphy anticipated this and pushed Rory down on the ground. The bullets whizzed past Rory by inches. Blair turned around and vaulted over the windowsill, picked up the M110, adjusted the stand, and aimed.
Just before the first shot, Mia dropped down from the canopy and covered Rory and herself with her armored wings. The creature advanced on Blair and was cut in two with the next three shots. The bisection didn’t kill her. She dug herself into the ground with the upper half of her body.
Ted had flattened himself against the ground, still working the controls. He lined up the Oculars and commanded them to send a charge of electricity in Blair’s direction.
Blair fell back from the gun as his body shook uncontrollably.
“Now, Mia, now!” Ted shouted.
Mia wrapped an arm around Rory as she launched herself upwards. The edges of her wings shredded the leaves on the trees whose canopies stood in their way of freedom. The quick ascent caused Rory to pass out. Mia let her momentum slow before she chose to level off, afraid what the G’s she was pulling were doing to Rory. She turned back towards earth and sped to the PEEPs command vehicle.
“Mia’s coming in hot,” Ted warned Cid. “Blair’s down but conscious. Lazar says he’s still got rounds in his weapon.”
Mia hit the ground running. She stopped just short of the truck and knelt down and examined the unconscious teen.
“Has he been shot?” Mike asked, dialing 911.
“No, but I think I may have been moving too fast.”
Rory coughed and tried to sit up. His eyes opened, but they weren’t focused. Mia continued to apply the knowledge of the mages to get his blood pressure to stabilize. “My god, he’s got a damaged collarbone.”
“Did you break it?” Mike questioned.
“No, this is an old break but mended wrong. This boy has to be in pain every day. Hang on to him,” she ordered.
Mike did and winced as Mia rebroke the left side and realigned it. She applied what she called an angel patch, and the bone healed instantly. “That’ll do it,” she said, standing up. “I’ve got to get back,” she said and flew off.
Rory stared at Mike. “What just happened?”
“Give me time to figure it out myself, and I’ll give you a full report. In the meanwhile, I’m going to walk you to the cross street. I’m going to tell the ambulance, I found you passed out on the side of the road. I’ll tell them I feared it may have been a hit and run. We can’t have the cops coming in here until we disarm Blair. So, I’m going to ask you not to correct me in front of them.”
“Something saved me. Blair got off two shots with his handgun, but I was pushed out of the way.”
“Mia?”
“No, but whatever it was swung a mean purple axe.”
“Purple?”
“Yes, it was purple,” Rory said, scratching his head. “How did I get here?”
“You don’t remember?”
“No. I know I came to… Wait! It’s all on here,” he said, handing Mike the button cam.
Mike smiled. “Maybe don’t mention this until we can get a handle on it.”
“What do you think I am, an idiot? As it is, my mother is going to fry my ass for missing a day of work. When she finds out I was in Sentinel Woods again, I’m dead.”
“Maybe just tell her you don’t remember what happened.”
“Lie to her?”
“I know it’s bad, but sometimes we have to protect ourselves from our loved ones.”
“I thought you were going to say we have to protect our loved ones.”
“Do I look that lame to you, Rory?”
“You look a lot like that guy on PEEPs.”
“Just a coincidence. Actually, I’m Mia’s next husband.”
“Good one,” Rory said, laughing.
Chapter Thirty-one
Tom moved in quickly. He placed a well-aimed kick in the direction of the M110, sending it to the ground outside of the house before turning over Blair to start first aid.
Blair stared up at him and smiled as he fired his handgun into Tom’s chest.
Tom’s vest stopped the bullet, but the momentum of the blast knocked the air out of him as it knocked him off his feet. He lay exposed and vulnerable.
“Well, if it isn’t Ethan’s new squeeze,” Blair said, getting to his feet. He bent over. “Damn, a vest. Unfortunately, a vest can’t protect you from a head shot,” he mocked.
“You need to stand down. You go any further and no fancy pants lawyer will be able to get you off,” Tom threatened.
“Oh, it won’t be me that will go to jail for this. It’s going to be my old pal Ethan.”
Lazar pulled up the rope he had tied to his observation post. He calculated the angle and swung down out of the tree. He let go of the rope and let his body fall. He hit Blair in the back, sending him flying against the wall of the house, crumpling on top of his backpack. Lazar rolled and used his strong arms to right himself. He charged Blair but stopped as the psychopath held up a very distinct item. Lazar raised his hands as he looked at the M67 hand grenade and asked, “Where the hell did you get that?”
Blair dragged himself to his feet and hefted the backpack, he had fallen on, to his shoulder. “Daddy has this amazing room of toys he wouldn’t let us touch. I saw all these collectables just sitting on the shelves. I decided it was time to take them out of their boxes.”
“You let go of that, and you’re not going to be able to get far enough away to not lose a limb. Take it from me, life isn’t the same after that,” Lazar said.
“I’m not some stupid grunt,” Blair said. “But I don’t intend on being someone’s prison bitch either. So back off.” Blair squatted down and picked up his handgun before stepping out of the window and taking off running.
Lazar tossed his body over Tom’s as the expected grenade came sailing over the wall.
The light went out just before he heard the sound of the grenade exploding in midair. Lazar felt another body atop his and smelled a familiar scent.
“Give me a moment, gentlemen,” Mia said as she struggled to her feet. “Damn, my ears are ringing.”
Ted climbed through the window and rushed over to Mia.
She waved him off. “I’m fine. Where’s Murph?” she asked, looking around her.
“Where did you last see him?” Ted asked, annoyed.
“He was lining up to hit the grenade with his axe. I was too busy with my threesome to see what happened.”
“What did I tell you about threesomes?” Ted asked, helping Lazar to his feet.
Mia rolled her neck and muttered, “You told me no.” She knelt and pulled Tom’s vest off and opened his shirt. She whistled. “Purple as Murph’s axe,” she said.
Tom tried to get up.
“Down boy. You’ve got cracked ribs. Hang on a moment.”
“The longer we take, the farther away he gets,” Tom said through the considerable pain.
“Where’s he going to go that we can’t find him? Ted had an Ocular microchip him while the boy was having the shakes,” Mia said matter-of-factly.
“Is this true?” Tom asked, feeling his chest tingle as Mia moved her hands on it.
“Yes. Unless he can reach the middle of his back and dig it out, he’s tagged,” Ted said, sorting through the debris outside the window. “The doohickey…”
“He means the M110,” Mia translated.
“Is gone. I didn’t see him pick it up when he left,” Ted said, puzzled.
“Murphy!” Mia called.
Murphy materialized before her. He was holding something behind his back.
“Watcha got there? Flowers?”
He shook his head.
“A M110 semi-automatic sniper rifle?” Tom asked hopefully.
Murphy shook his head. He frowned and brought out his axe. “It’s still purple!”
“Damn, it is. You deflected a grenade with it and it’s still purple?” Mia said sympathetically. “It could be worse. It could be Pepto-Bismol pink.”
“Did you see anyone pick up the rifle while we were busy in here?” Mia asked.
