Something Old (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  No one raised a hand.

  “Those who want to hunt this sucker down and make him pay for what he did to dopey smurf…”

  The vote was unanimous. They put their heads together and devised a plan to flush Rory out of hiding so all of them could get a shot at him.

  ~

  Miss Osborne looked at her watch, looked at Mia who tried to look respectable and contrite, and back at her watch again. The last time Mia visited the library and the historical preservation room, she left with several articles without permission. Actually left with, wasn’t exactly right as she tossed them out the window to her accomplice waiting for her below.

  “We just need to check and see if Mr. Taylor had put away any books or papers that would tell us more about Sentinel Woods,” Mia explained.

  “The copy machine is down so you’ll have to return on Monday if you want copies,” the librarian said, reaching in the drawer and pulling out a set of keys. “Follow me.”

  Audrey took in the atmosphere of the small town library as they walked to the back of the building. There were computers nestled amongst the stacks of older plastic-wrapped hardcover books. They passed a card catalog that still shown from a recent application of wax and elbow grease.

  Miss Osborne unlocked the door, reached in and turned on the light. Mia noticed she wasn’t comfortable standing in the doorway, and reaching in to turn on the light was almost more than the woman could handle. She walked away, saying crisply over her shoulder that they had forty minutes before the library closed.

  Mia walked in and nudged Audrey. “Mr. Taylor, it’s good to see you,” she said, directing her salutation to the right corner of the library.

  Audrey nodded in that direction.

  “Sir, this is my friend Audrey. We are looking for anything that you may have on Sentinel Woods.”

  Mia watched as the librarian thought a moment before moving along the shelves. He touched various volumes, causing them to move forward out of alignment with the other books.

  Audrey reached over and plucked the books as they moved. Mia continued to follow the man who pointed to a stack of dusty paperbacks. Mia coughed as he quickly shuffled through them, producing two dog-eared penny novels. He handed them directly to Mia who was surprised by the titles. She read them aloud to Audrey who was already thumbing through a heavy volume sitting at the table, Legend of the Swamp Monster and Pumpkin Head Returns.

  “Pumpkin Head?” Audrey questioned, getting up and looking over Mia’s shoulder. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  Mia looked over at Mr. Taylor and studied his face a moment. “If Mr. Taylor says this is about Sentinel Woods, then it is,” she said, handing Audrey the thin, soft cover book. “It looks like I can take these out,” Mia said. “Why don’t you concentrate on the reference books while I go and check these out.”

  Audrey handed the book back to Mia and returned to the dry history book she had opened.

  By the time Mia came back, Audrey had scanned several pages of the book into her phone. She put her finger to her lips, explaining, “Most libraries frown on scanning. Watch the door while I finish.”

  Mia smiled and stood there rotating her gaze between Miss Osborne and Mr. Taylor who was standing behind Audrey, watching what she was doing. She closed the volume, picked up the geological survey of 1920 and ran her hand down the index until she came to Sentinel Woods. Audrey flipped to the page and read a bit before scanning the materials.

  The lights dimmed once before an announcement played over the speakers. “The library is closing. Please bring your materials to the front desk to be checked out, thank you.”

  “Miss Osborne is on her way,” hissed Mia.

  “I need another couple of minutes. Stall her,” Audrey ordered.

  Mia walked and met the librarian halfway. “Why don’t you let me lock up? The room has gotten chilly. Are you sure it isn’t haunted?” Mia said, feigning innocence.

  Miss Osborne tossed the keys to Mia and retreated back to her counter. Mia walked slowly back to the room. Audrey had just replaced the books on the shelves when she arrived. Mia reached in and picked up the books she checked out and followed Audrey to the door where the investigator stopped, turned around and said, “Thank you, Mr. Taylor.”

  Mia didn’t know whether to be impressed or creeped out. She nodded to the old man as he retreated into his stacks before turning out the light and closing the door.

  “He’s a nice man,” Audrey commented, watching Mia lock the door.

  “If you like creepy librarians,” Mia teased. “Remember, dear, I can see him.”

  “You’re just trying to frighten me,” Audrey argued. “Honestly, Mia Cooper, you are a bad one.”

  Miss Osborne listened to the women as she followed them down the steps to let them out the front door. As she locked the door and gazed at them crossing the parking lot, she agreed with Audrey. “Oh yes, Mia Cooper’s a bad one. You should have seen her in Kindergarten.”

  ~

  Rory pulled the top of the jacket closed and buttoned it. Darkness had fallen and with it, the temperature. He was hopelessly lost. He thought he was going in a straight line, but after he found were he had previously marked a tree with the end of his gun barrel, he knew he had been going in circles. What time was it? He looked at his watch. Unlike most people these days, he didn’t depend on his phone to give him the time. “Damn!” he said, realizing that he probably had missed his dad’s phone call. His mother would be worried, and he was in a hell of a lot of trouble.

  Part of him knew that these boys didn’t want to do more than to humble him with their awful game. But he also knew that being shot with pellets hurt, and he was not in the mood to put up with that kind of abuse. Who the hell did they think they were? What gave them the right to use him this way? His stomach growled, and he was thirsty. He remembered crossing a stream a ways back. Hunger he could do nothing about, having eaten all the food he had brought along with him hours ago, but he didn’t have to go thirsty. Rory turned around and headed towards the sound of running water.

  Ethan approached the small stream quietly. He had come upon some tracks in the mud he was certain were made by Rory. The kids cheap sneakers were, by this time, caked in mud. It wasn’t hard to pick up the trail of clumps of drying earth with his flashlight. Ethan followed the clumps to a pool where the river had deposited its excess water on its way through the woods. The water in it was still. He looked into the water and could see the shadow of his reflection illuminated by the stars overhead. Ethan looked up and smiled. The moon may have only been a slice tonight, but the stars, unimpeded by clouds, lit the landscape enough for Ethan to move about without the aid of his flashlight. He turned it off and stared back at the prints in the sand. He saw where Rory stopped to drink the water. He put his hand in the grooves where the teenager had knelt, reaching into the water.

  Ethan stared down into the water and stopped. Reflected in the water, just behind him, he saw two blue-green illuminations about the size of a nickel. Buttons? Could Rory be sneaking up behind him? Ethan set his weapon and advanced the pellets. He turned and fired, aiming at what he thought were illuminated buttons. The buttons turned sideways and rose. Ethan fired again. “I got you fair and square, Rory, give it up!” he called out.

  The lights moved closer. Ethan backed up, conscious that he stood perilously close to the water’s edge. As the lights moved out of the tree line and across the beach towards him, Ethan could see that they weren’t reflective buttons but eyes. The round green dots narrowed, and he thought he heard a low growl. Was it a bear? Here in northern Illinois? If it was, he was a dead man.

  “Stay away from me!” he ordered. “I’m armed and will shoot your fucking head off!” He clicked over to high velocity and fired six pellets at the advancing form.

  The figure jerked as the pellets hit it. The paint gels burst outward, decorating what Ethan could now see as wood. Twisted wood.

  “What the fuck are you?” he asked, not wanting t
o know the answer. He backed up and fell into the stream. The icy cold water was only a foot deep, but the shock of it caused pain all over the his body. He struggled to get up. The slimy rocks on the streambed weren’t helping his situation. In his panic he forgot what he was retreating from, concentrating instead on regaining his footing and getting out of the water. His goggles were fogged, making it nearly impossible to see well enough to find a way out of the water.

  Out of the shadows a hand was offered, and Ethan took it. As thorns cut into his palm through his wet deerskin glove, Ethan screamed. He ripped off his goggles with his free hand while he twisted away from the firm grip of his adversary. Another hand caught the back of Ethan’s head and pulled him towards it.

  Ethan was powerless to look away from the sunken green slits. He started crying as the mass of thorns formed a mouth and smiled. Ethan could see thorns lined up like teeth. For one brief moment he thought that the purple-painted, twisted thorn man wasn’t going to hurt him. That changed when the creature opened his mouth wide. Ethan could see his purple paint dripping off the thorns, pooling in the vast cavern and running down the front of the monster like drool. He screamed as more and more thorns appeared in the open maw. Ethan made one last attempt to save himself. He stuck the marker in the side of the thing and fired.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Ted found Mia on the living room sofa, her head resting on the mended cushion. She was so focused on her reading that she didn’t hear him approach. When he said hello, she launched herself off the couch, taking a defensive stance.

  “What the fuck are you trying to do?” she said as soon as her brain registered it was Ted and not Pumpkin Head.

  Ted was speechless. He leaned over and snatched the book out of her hand. “What are you reading?” He scanned the title and started laughing. “Mia, there are better books to be read. Besides, they made this into a movie. Although it’s got a lot of good people in it, it isn’t exactly on the must see list.”

  Mia looked up at Ted defiantly. “I’m doing research.”

  “Into B movies?” he guessed.

  “No, Sentinel Woods,” Mia replied. She reached down and plucked the other novel off the floor and handed it to Ted explaining, “Old Man Taylor, the ghost librarian at Big Bear Lake Library, recommended these when I asked about Sentinel Woods.”

  Ted looked at the cover of the second paperback and winced. “Minnie Mouse, I think the guy’s having fun with you. Swamp Monster? Is there even a swamp out there?”

  “Sinkholes, lots of them according to Audrey.”

  “How does Audrey know about the sinkholes?”

  “Research. You see…” Mia explained their trip through the woods and stop at the library in town. “I wanted to know if what I was feeling had been attached to an event of some kind. All my life I’d been warned by the old folks not to venture near those woods, being told that ‘nothing good ever came out of Sentinel Woods.’ So I didn’t. I put it out of my mind until Cid stopped there,” she explained. “Audrey and I, we split up the research.”

  Ted looked from one book to the other. “Let me get this straight. Audrey is researching Sentinel Woods too. What is she reading?”

  “Some geological study and a local history book.”

  “And you’re reading horror fiction. You can see my problem with your approach, can’t you?”

  “Hear me out. I googled the authors. One mentioned he got the idea for his novel from an old journal passed down through his family, and the other got his from newspaper accounts. Local newspaper. Big Bear Lake Gazette to be precise.”

  Ted started to speak, but Mia held up her hand.

  “I know what you’re thinking, but most things we PEEPs deal with are thought to be just stories. A lot of fiction is written from real facts. I too was a bit dubious about the books, but the more I read, the more I could pick out landmarks and things that itched in the back of my mind.”

  “Pumpkinhead isn’t real. It’s a horror movie about a revenge monster that is called up by a distraught father to avenge his son,” Ted summarized.

  “Pumpkin space Head is based on an entity that is called up by extreme emotions and runs amok until the person affected stops it,” Mia countered.

  “Very similar, I think the plagiarism fairy has been at work,” Ted said. “Okay, tell me about the Legend of the Swamp Monster.”

  “In this book, there is a monster lurking beneath the water. A person fishing accidently cuts himself and drips blood into the water. The blood attracts the monster and… I don’t think it pertains to Sentinel Woods at all, but I read it anyway,” Mia confessed.

  “Which book came from the journal?”

  “The swamp one.”

  “So you’re telling me that the Big Bear Lake Gazette reported that Pumpkin space Head was terrorizing the woods east of the lake?”

  “Supposedly. I haven’t read their account yet,” Mia confessed.

  “When did this happen?”

  “1963. Apparently, a group of hunters spent the weekend in the woods. All but one was found dead. Their bodies were found gutted and hanging from the trees, according to the author and google,” Mia added. “The one survivor claimed that the others disappeared one by one into the darkness, never to be seen again alive. He escaped with minor injuries that were caused by two of his friends beating the crap out of him the first night after finding out he forgot to bring the beer.”

  Ted started laughing. He couldn’t help himself.

  Mia set her mouth and put her hands on her hips. “There is something in those woods, something that scares the game away. I felt nauseous both times we drove through it, and today’s adventure gave me a good case of the runs. Sure, this is a fictional account. I’m not a complete moron. All I’m saying is that I’m not going to discount the idea of a revenge entity.”

  Ted sobered up and listened to what she was saying. “What’s your next step?”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going out there. That would be insane. I’m just going to follow up on any legit leads. The more I know, the more I can defend myself if we ever drive that way again.”

  “Knowledge is power.”

  “Yes it is.”

  “You want to know where I’ve been all night?”

  “According to your fifty-two messages, you were at your bachelor party. Did you have fun in between updating me?” she asked sweetly.

  “Cid thought an Ironman marathon, at the IMAX Theater in Naperville, would be the best way for me to celebrate my last days of freedom. He invited Burt, Mike, Tom and Nathan.”

  “Big baby Nathan from our last investigation?” she asked surprised.

  “Yup.”

  “Most guys go to strip clubs.”

  “So Mike told me over and over again. He left after the second movie, saying one of the actresses gives him a rash or something like that,” Ted said.

  “Did you have a good time?” Mia asked.

  “Not really, but don’t tell Cid that. Burt and Nathan had a great time. They spent the intermissions arguing the differences between the comic series and the movies.”

  “Sounds like a nerd fest, I’m surprised you didn’t enjoy yourself,” Mia said, walking over and climbing on the couch. She reached for Ted and kissed him.

  “I missed you,” he said honestly. “I don’t find singledom anything to celebrate, I guess.”

  “Wow, now that’s a compliment. Wait until we’re up to our armpits in dirty diapers and teething rings. You may look back fondly at your comic book years.”

  “Could be, but I doubt it. As long as you’re with me, I think I will be happy no matter the situation.”

  Mia looked into Ted’s eyes and saw the sincerity there. “I’m glad,” she said. “Want to accompany me on Maggie’s evening walk? The stars are out.”

  “Technically, they are always out,” Ted said.

  “What a way to romance a girl, Mr. Science,” Mia said, taking his hat off and mussing his hair before returning the hat to hi
s head.

  “What was that for?” he asked, following Mia to the kitchen where she approached the gate to get Maggie out of purgatory.

  “Thought you needed to get air to your ’ead,” Mia said. “Besides, I like the way your curls feel.”

  “I hate them. I need a haircut.”

  “Tough. Ralph said no haircuts, no dye jobs, no nothing before the ceremony,” Mia reminded him, reaching over the gate, grabbing Maggie by the collar.

  “He’s not the boss of me,” Ted said defiantly.

  Mia attached the lead to the squirming Maggie and opened the gate. She jumped up on Mia and gave her a big kiss. Mia laughed and looked over at Ted. “Keep telling yourself that Ralph’s not the boss of you. I’ve been doing it for years.”

  “He isn’t, is he?” Ted asked, opening the door.

  “No, of course not. I’m the boss of you now,” Mia confessed.

  “Well that’s different,” Ted said.

  The stillness of the night greeted the three. Mia breathed in the cold air and enjoyed how it made her feel. She blew it out. Maggie jumped up and tried to bite the smoke.

  “Hey, Mags, if that was real dragon fire, you would be in world of hurt,” Ted commented, taking hold of Mia’s hand as they walked.

  “I’m glad you’re around,” Mia said.

  “Why?”

  “Who else is going to teach her about dragon smoke? I don’t know the least bit about it, except when I tried to imitate it oobing, it almost burnt my eyebrows off.”

  “Exhale, not inhale, Puff,” he instructed.

  They passed Murphy who acknowledged them with a tip of his hat. He was headed into the barn to watch Craig Ferguson. Sometimes Cid joined him, explaining why Craig chose to interact with a fake skeleton instead of a real one. Murphy didn’t really care, but it seemed to give the lonely investigator purpose.

  ~

  “Fuck, it’s cold out,” Keith complained, leaning over the rusted bucket as he dipped his hands in the water one of the Smithes had carried from the stream. He didn’t like the way the paint made his face itch. He feared he was allergic to whatever made it blue. He scrubbed at the patch behind his ear.