Crossroads

by Alexie Aaron [Aaron, Alexie]

  Sariel watched as the light flowed through Mia and down to the demons. They rose and changed into golden particles of light. The blue and the gold resembled the turquoise stones that the first people of the west valued. He felt a pull and fought to maintain his position.

  As The Balance moved through Mia, she heard all their stories and adventures at once. Her mind expanded to hold all of it. The Balance moved on, and Mia heard in the cosmic wind, “Welcome, my children, I have been expecting you.”

  The connection ceased, and Mia, although exhausted, took a moment to reflect. She looked over and saw Azrael’s light and beckoned it. It followed her. She landed, and she encouraged the souls of the last settlement to leave. When they had, she looked around for the two remaining convicts, but they were gone. She released the light.

  Sariel and Altair landed. Mia ran over and hugged her friends. She looked over Sariel and said, “You look no worse for your experience.”

  “I felt the pull of the blue light,” Sariel told her.

  “The light healed you. I suspect you will always be drawn to it. Nyx’s gifts tend to have strings attached,” Mia said. “If there was any other way to keep you alive, I would have done it. I worry about Angelo. He got a blast of it.”

  “As you did,” Altair reminded her. “Mia, it’s time for me to go.”

  “I had hoped you would stay for the christening.”

  “The Neyers need me, and I need to be needed. Sariel is whole, and I trust that you’ll not give him too much of a problem.”

  “I fear he will be bored. I’m so well-behaved,” Mia said, her eyes glistening. She ran to Altair and held on to him. She transferred power and love into him. “I will miss you.”

  “Come bring the girls to meet your grandmother. We will continue our chess game there.”

  “I will.”

  Sariel put a calming hand on Mia as Altair shot upwards and disappeared. She turned and sobbed.

  “There, there, Mia, the ache will ease.”

  “You are always stuck mopping up my tears,” Mia realized.

  “It’s what I do.”

  Mia looked at Sariel and asked, “How are you?”

  “My bones creak a bit. I’m feeling my age.”

  “You caught a van. I’m thinking of being your agent. I believe the Cubs need an outfielder.”

  Sariel laughed. “The crossroads demon…”

  “Roumain and I rewarded him. His name is Takemi.”

  “He said something odd. He said, ‘Thank you for saving my little girl.”

  Mia blushed. “I think he was the demon who kept me safe from the dead when I was a child.”

  “Takemi?” Sariel asked.

  “Yes.”

  “He’s a fallen.”

  “I assumed so. He has fallen eyes.”

  “How does a fallen become a crossroads demon?” Sariel asked.

  “With a lot of hard work. Are you looking to change jobs? Has watching over me been too much?”

  Sariel laughed. “I’ve not seen your daughters yet. Take me home, Mia.”

  “With pleasure.”

  ~

  Burt walked into the Monroe headquarters with Enos and Stephanie. It was an impressive building clustered with a dozen others on a commercial campus just outside Chicago’s city limits. According to Jake’s research, the Monroe Company used to be diversified. They were the founders of a produce-shipping company, a plastic-recycling plant, import/export businesses, and land management specialists.

  Stephanie took pictures of the founders’ paintings. The Monroes had been a prolific family. They started to look uncomfortably like each other as the decades went by.

  Burt looked at Hiram and wondered why the artist would paint the man with a lazy eye? I mean, weren’t oil painters the originators of photoshop? Burt mumbled, “Oil shop.”

  “I’m sorry, did you say something to me?” Enos asked.

  “No. Just a bad joke,” Burt admitted.

  A college-age woman, most likely an intern, walked out to greet the trio. She introduced herself as Amy Burnette. Burt had made the appointment with Gloria’s secretary under the guise of an internet magazine wanting to interview Gloria Monroe, the new managing director of what was left of the Monroe corporation. Burt had never met the medium. Mia and Murphy had handled the situation at the cemetery when Gloria was working with Jones. Gloria’s job was to watch the hostage who was being kept in a sarcophagus with an oxygen bottle for air.

  “Miss Monroe will meet with you in the conference room. I have taken the liberty of leaving a carafe of coffee and some snacks.”

  “That is most kind, thank you,” Enos said to Amy.

  Amy looked at Enos a bit too long for Stephanie’s comfort. Stephanie didn’t completely know why it irked her. Possibly because it was reverse sexism? It couldn’t be that Stephanie was attracted to the gentle giant, could it?

  Cid pulled the rental truck into an overflow lot of Monroe Industries. He picked up his earcom and said, “Red Leader, we are in place.”

  “Thank you. Burt, if you can hear me, tap twice,” Ted asked. Ted heard the taps.

  “Mia has reported in, and The Balance have been relocated. She warns that she suspects the demons have left the site boobytrapped. Also, she crossed the lost settlers. Murphy is on the other side of the building you’re in, watching for two errant ghosts who escaped the preserve.”

  Burt tapped that he got the information.

  Cid slid in the back after he put on the phony license plates. “I’ve put Jake’s portable security cameras up.”

  Ted brought up the big screen.

  “How’s the audio?” Cid asked.

  “I can hear Burt breathing. I’ll put it on speaker as soon as our target enters the room.”

  Gloria walked into the room and stopped briefly so her entrance would be noticed.

  Stephanie and Enos took a few photos. Enos set his phone on video before he put it in his shirt pocket like Cid instructed.

  “If you come up with a good photo, make sure to send me one,” Gloria said. “Now what can I help you with?”

  “As I told your secretary on the phone, we’re interested in your rise to the top,” Burt said, opening his notebook. He also set out a tape recorder. “Do you mind if I tape this? I may need a backup.”

  Gloria, very full of herself, waved her hand, and said. “Whatever you need.”

  Murphy moved into position. He noticed other spirits in the parking lot. It confused him at first. He moved around, looking at the trees that tried to take hold between the parking areas. He was approached by a pair of females. They studied him before trying to communicate.

  “What’s going on, farmer boy?” one asked.

  “I’m interested in trees. How are you two young ladies this afternoon?”

  “He’s a charmin’ toy for a farmin’ boy,” the other female spirit sang.

  “We’re curious, what are you doing here?” the first one persisted.

  “I used to cut down trees, and the light never came. I suspect I may have to plant a few more trees before God will take me.”

  “I seem to remember an axe man walkin’ down the avenue, was that you?” the singsong spirit asked.

  “Depends, where are you from?” Murphy asked.

  “N’awlins.”

  “I’ve been there.”

  “You traveled far, without a car,” singsong said.

  “I rode the ley lines.”

  “I’ve never done that,” the suspicious spirit said.

  “It’s easy once you know how. What are you two doing up here?”

  “We’re spirit guides.”

  “You don’t say,” Murphy said, pushing back his hat. “What’s that pay?”

  “Pay? It doesn’t pay.”

  “Then why do you do it?”

  “We’ve got no choice, we’re dead we have no voice,” singsong said.

  “She’s got our
bones,” the other one claimed.

  “Who’s she?”

  “Gloria. She’s a medium from down our way. She has this job up this way and she says she’s going to get rich.”

  “Is she going to set you free once she’s rich?”

  “I fear not,” the suspicious spirit said.

  “Are you happy?”

  “We’re dead.”

  “I’m dead, but I’m happy,” Murphy admitted.

  “Interesting…” the suspicious one mused.

  ~

  Sariel waited for Mia, and she took his arm, and they walked down the hill together. They watched the boys running and playing in the sunshine under the watchful eyes of Nanny and Paula.

  Noah stopped when he saw the man with the beautiful navy-blue eyes. He was battle-worn but had so much power. Noah would remember this image his whole life. As a young adult, he would capture it on canvas and ride the fame of his masterpiece for quite some time.

  Varden walked up and pushed the man away from his mother.

  Sariel knelt. “Don’t you remember me, Varden?”

  Varden looked and saw the blue aura the man shared with his mother. He was confused.

  “Varden sees auras,” Mia said. “Varden, Sariel protects our nest too.”

  The boy looked at the archangel and studied him before he nodded. “I see you now, Sariel. I’m sorry.”

  Altair’s worry over the boy didn’t rest only on his glimpse of the future but from observing the boy since Mia’s accident. He had told Sariel of his concern. “He will die young.”

  Sariel waved the shy Adam over. “Sit down, boys, I’m going to give you a lesson on protecting the nest.”

  Varden gasped, putting his hand to his chest. He sat down, giving Sariel his rapt attention.

  Sariel picked up one of the action figures the boys had been playing with. “Noah, would you do me the honor of playing a dragon?”

  Noah smiled and growled how he imagined a dragon would growl.

  “Look at the difference between the might of Noah the dragon and this little man we shall call Imp. Who do you think would win in a fight?”

  Adam and Varden pointed to Noah.

  “I agree. If Imp stood here with his hands on his hips blocking your way, Noah, what would you do?”

  Noah lumbered over pretending to breath fire and, when he was near, batted the toy away with his hand.

  “Poor Imp,” Mia said. “How can he possibly win against Noah the dragon?”

  “With this stick,” Sariel said.

  The boys laughed and shook their heads.

  “Watch. Noah,” Sariel whispered some instructions, and the boy giggled.

  Noah took a few steps back.

  Sariel put the stick in Imp’s hand. Noah lumbered over breathing fire and stomping his feet. Under Sariel’s control, Imp ran under Noah and turned and smacked him on the Achilles with the stick. Noah jumped up and down on the good leg. Imp scurried around and hit Noah’s other Achilles. Noah dramatically fell to the ground, and Imp jumped on him and then scurried around so Noah could not catch him. He ended up with Imp on his nose.

  “I declare Imp the winner,” Mia said.

  Sariel helped Noah up. “How did Imp lose the first time? he asked.

  “He was too small to stand in the way of the dragon,” Varden said.

  “Adam, tell me how Imp won the second time?”

  “He ran fast like a mouse,” Adam said.

  “He used his speed and his small size to confuse and frustrate the dragon,” Sariel said. “When you’re small, use it to your advantage. Sometimes saving the nest is hiding until you can get help. Sometimes, it’s distracting the dragon so someone bigger can defeat the dragon.”

  Mia smiled remembering the first time Sariel and she killed the elemental Beth conjured.

  “Varden, Adam, and Noah, this is very important. When there are too many villains, saving the nest is hiding until the villains leave. You will survive to grow and fight the villains when you are properly trained.”

  “Yes, sir,” Adam said.

  Varden got up and walked over to Sariel and put his hand on his heart and then on Sariel’s chest. “I will always have your back.”

  “And I will have yours, noble Varden.”

  “Hurray!” Noah said, jumping up.

  “May I offer you a beverage, most noble knight?” Mia asked.

  “I would like to see your daughters first, and then I’ll have some of the good stuff Altair keeps in the aerie.”

  Nanny watched as the archangel, whom it was fabled Mia healed first, walked onto the porch and took turns lifting the girls up to get a good look at them. Neither of them protested.

  “They are beautiful and strong,” Sariel said. He looked into their souls and found them to be good.

  “They wouldn’t be here if not for you,” Mia said silently. “You are the mightiest of angels. I’m sorry for ever doubting your dedication or your love.”

  Paula approached them.

  “Hello, I’m Sariel. Mia’s old dance partner,” he said.

  “I didn’t know Mia could dance?” Paula said.

  “She can dance very well when she wants to,” Sariel said.

  Mia pulled out her phone and selected music with a Latin beat. She curtsied. “May I have this dance, Sariel?”

  Sariel swept Mia up, and the two of them danced the mambo across the lawn. He then offered his hand to Nanny. She twittered, but he insisted, and they danced a courtlier dance.

  Noah took his mother’s hand, and they danced together. Adam and Varden did something that involved a lot of shaking of their behinds.

  Lazar walked out. “So why the cats are away…”

  “The mice are dancing,” Mia answered.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Burt gathered his materials together and stood up. “Thank you. It was very interesting to hear of your rise in the company.”

  “What did you do before you were an executive?” Stephanie asked.

  “I had a consulting business. I was sort of a life coach…”

  Ted did everything he could not to groan. He didn’t want to distract Burt who was doing an amazing job. Burt had sat through this farce of an interview for hours.

  Murphy appeared in the truck. “Convicts. Two of them. They are moving fast through the lobby.”

  Ted relayed the information. Enos wasn’t sure if he had been seen by the convicts. Stephanie did encounter one of them, but how much of her face had been seen?

  “I’d wrap this up,” Ted recommended.

  Burt packed his bag and motioned for Enos to get Stephanie out of the conference room, pronto.

  Murphy watched the cameras. “There. Behind Enos.”

  Ted saw quite a large distortion. “How many?”

  “Two convicts and two women.”

  “Enos, remember your cover is that you can’t see them,” Ted cautioned. “It’s best to get Stephanie out of harm’s way.”

  Gloria frowned when her spirit guides and local flunkies showed up in what she considered to be the middle of her interview. She didn’t know why Mr. Hicks was packing up. She still had plenty to say.

  “Would you excuse me a moment?” she asked, walking out, motioning for the ghosts to follow her.

  “Stephanie, we need to leave now,” Enos said.

  “But I have more questions,” she whined.

  “Your assailant may have just arrived,” Burt said.

  Outside the room, Gloria was livid. “What’s going on?”

  “There is an intruder at the settlement,” one of the convicts said.

  “Why then aren’t you there? Marty?”

  “She has a sword. She killed Butch.”

  “You’re ghosts. You don’t die… Wait, you said she? What did she look like?”

  “White hair, big sword, she looks a bit like the doll the lumber truck slammed into.”

  “Shit! H
ow the hell did she know about our operation?”

  “Who’s that girl?” Marty pointed into the conference room. “She looks familiar.”

  “They are interviewing me for a webzine.”

  “What’s that?” the singsong ghost asked.

  “A magazine on the… Oh, nevermind.”

  Marty moved through the glass and walked around the table and looked at the young woman from several different perspectives. It wasn’t until she picked up her camera that he knew who she was. He rushed back. “That’s the doll I pushed into the river.”

  “No, no, no,” Gloria said. She walked over and picked up the phone. “Security to the conference room!”

  Burt and Enos moved out of the conference room with Stephanie between them. Marty and his cohort rushed at the trio. Enos turned and tossed a handful of salt at them.

  It stung. Marty watched as his partner faded away. Marty was made of sterner stuff, but he didn’t want to go at the big man alone.

  Burt pressed for the elevator but sensed this was a bad idea. “Stairs!” he said.

  Stephanie felt her hair pulled, and someone was yanking her backpack off her shoulder. “Stop it!” she shouted.

  Enos could see the two female ghosts who weren’t acting like ladies. He pulled out the squirt bottle of holy water Mia insisted he carry and squirted the ghosts. They screamed as if they were on fire and disappeared.

  “I don’t know how long any of this is going to hold them. I suggest we get out of here,” he said.

  Burt was feeling his excess weight by the time they hit the main floor. He pushed at the exit door, and it was locked. He moved quickly into the lobby, and those doors were locked too.