Crossroads

by Alexie Aaron [Aaron, Alexie]

The two female spirits moved out from the back of the vehicle. They pointed to the warning sign. “The sign says beware, shouldn’t we park elsewhere?” the singsong voice of Nicki asked.

  “You’re dead. What is your problem?” Gloria asked.

  “Marty said Butch was stabbed with a sword and turned to ash. There is no coming back from ash,” Elenore said.

  Gloria pulled out a very large handgun from her boho bag. “This is just in case Mrs. Martin shows up. I looked it up, and as far as I can tell, she still bleeds.”

  Marty nodded. “So do you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Gloria snapped.

  “Just pointing out that you’re not immortal.”

  Amy was typing into her iPad. She was trying to ascertain whether she really needed this internship to get her MBA.

  Elenore moved to one of the outer wells and waited for Nicki who was doing her best to draw power. Gloria had their bones locked up in small individual ornate crates. Their bones had long been stripped of any organic remains and were fitted into the smallest space possible. Nicki had been a victim of Hurricane Katrina. Her body had washed into the cellar of Madam Gloria, who took advantage of the situation and prepared her bones for enslavement. Elenore had already come to an unnatural end years before. Her bones came to Gloria when the medium bought the wall vault at auction when Elenore’s family ceased to pay the upkeep. The idea was to push the existing bones backward before burying the newest dead. Gloria, instead, took them and enslaved the spirit.

  In New Orleans, Elenore and Nicki were watched over by the demented spirit guides Gloria used in her fraudulent practice of fortune telling. After the last bad experience, Gloria’s spirit guides were afraid to be in Big Bear Lake, so for the first time in years, the two ghosts acted as guides and minions. Elenore would never admit it, but she enjoyed being with Nicki. Her singsong way of talking brought a bit of home to Elenore, no matter where Gloria dragged them.

  “I’m sorry, El,” Nicki said. “Amy put that rusty box over my crate. The rust made it difficult to get into to charge and regulate.”

  “Fortunately, we won’t be called upon to do any heavy lifting,” Elenore said. “That’s why she got control over Marty and Cecil.”

  “Gloria calls Cecil numb nuts.”

  “That’s because Marty does. Come on. I want you to watch for demons. I’ll keep a look out for their gold.”

  Gloria was surprised by the rapid return of Nicki and Elenore. “Don’t tell me, you can’t get through.”

  “On the contrary, the roots have been pushed to the side, and the way is free,” Nicki said. “There is a ladder cut into a well wall. It must have been put there so no one would fall.”

  “What did you find?” Gloria questioned Elenore.

  “There’s a small island in a cavern with leather bags piled on top. But there is a lot of water around it. We don’t do well with water. We need to recharge.”

  “Marty!” Gloria called. “Bring numb nuts and follow Elenore.

  “But I need to recharge,” protested Elenore.

  “Do as I say, or you’ll have nothing to recharge with,” Gloria warned.

  “Very well,” Elenore said.

  “Nicki, you stay behind and watch Nancy…”

  “Amy,” the intern corrected.

  “Make sure she doesn’t drive off,” Gloria said, putting on a hard hat with a light attached. She handed Amy the lanyard which hung around her neck. “Make sure you don’t lose this.”

  Amy opened her mouth in protest. It was bad enough she had to be dragged out to the boondocks to play upstairs maid to the Monroe woman, but to be treated with suspicion after she had proved her loyalty again and again… She put the lanyard over her head and let the ID hang down her front.

  After the quartet had left, Nicki asked kindly, “Miss Amy, could you move the lockbox off my casket? The rust is making it difficult for me to reset.”

  “I’m sorry, but I will not play nursemaid to New Orleans trash, even if you are dead.”

  Mild and well-mannered Nicki had had enough. She waited until Amy had her back turned. She grabbed the back of the lanyard and yanked the intern backwards off her feet. “Move the top box now or I’ll break your neck.”

  Amy opened the back and dragged the small foul-smelling wooden box out of the back of the expensive vehicle. Nicki pulled her along to the edge of the river. “Open it and toss the bones in.”

  “Why?”

  “I died in water when the levee did crest. In water, I will find my final rest.”

  Amy did as she was told. The moment the last of the bones sunk to the bottom, the lanyard went slack. Amy pulled the damn thing off and stuck it in her pocket. She walked back to the SUV and looked at the other crate. “Elenore, if only you had been nicer to me, I’d set you free too.”

  Down in the passage Elenore sensed the movement of her bones. It was only a slight shift, but she felt it.

  Gloria had reached the edge of the water in the cavern. She couldn’t see anything beyond the dark water. “Are you certain there is an island out there?”

  “Yes. It had a pile of leather bags on it. Send your flunkies out. I have to return and recharge or I’ll be gone forever,” Elenore lied. “There are no demons here. If so, we would have been already set upon. I think those two lied to you to get the gold for themselves, using you to obtain it.”

  “What good is gold to dead men?” Gloria said, shaking her head.

  “What good is gold to anyone?” Elenore asked.

  “I never took you for a socialist,” Gloria said. “Go and recharge and be quick about it.”

  Elenore left. She arrived at the SUV to find Amy looking through Gloria’s purse.

  “Where are those damn keys?”

  “What are you doing?” Elenore asked, manifesting as she drew power from the casket in the back.

  “I wanted to see what Gloria has locked in that rusty box.”

  “A spell book, a letter, and the jawbones of Marty and Cecil.”

  “Why would she have the jawbones? Did she dig them up?”

  “Yes. She found them over there when she first looked over the place.” Elenore pointed to the depression next to the rotted old tree stump. “Someone had planted a tree over the three convicts’ bodies to hold them down. A bolt of lightning from an unnatural storm hit the tree and burned it from the inside out. This gave Marty, Butch, and Cecil unnatural powers. Gloria was warned about them from the letter Hiram left his heirs. He said that they guarded the gold. But in reality, they just hung around looking for an opportunity to take the gold when the demons weren’t looking. Gloria cast a spell and took the jawbones from the grave. This way, she could call them to her, and they would have to obey.”

  “Is this what happened to you?”

  “More or less. Tell me, why do you let her control you? Is she going to share the treasure?”

  “No.”

  “Is she paying you a good wage?” Elenore asked.

  “Interns work for free. I get college credit.”

  “Huh.”

  “I know. I have been questioning my decision since all you ghosts came into the picture.”

  “It is remarkable you can see us,” Elenore said. “Maybe you’re a sensitive.”

  “I don’t normally see you this clear. Gloria supercharges you in some way.”

  “It’s the way with witches.”

  “She says she’s a medium.”

  “She’s a dark witch,” Elenore said. “Where’s Nicki?”

  “I tossed her bones in the river.”

  “Why?”

  “She was choking me at the time.”

  “Huh.”

  “Do you want me to toss your bones in the river too?”

  “Not particularly. How about you open the lockbox and destroy the spell book and bury me someplace nice?”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Have you never be
en fed the milk of human kindness?”

  “Gross.”

  “Don’t you have a decent bone in your body?”

  “Now you’re sounding like my mother. Fuck off.”

  Elenore moved into the crate and waited until she felt she could act upon the new opportunity. Nicki had escaped, and so shall she.

  Marty, considerably depleted from the water, returned to Gloria. “There are leather bags there, but I was too weakened by the journey to open them.”

  “Find me something to…” Gloria stopped talking.

  Cecil floated over in an odd-looking craft. “I found this. Will this do?”

  “Find me an oar, and I’ll share my gold with you,” Gloria lied.

  Marty, feeling dejected, moved through the tunnels. He was surprised by something and backed away slowly.

  Gloria left her boho bag on the shore. There was too much in there to ruin if the boat capsized from the weight of the gold.

  Cecil propelled them across to the island, and Gloria scrambled up to the top of the mound of leather sacks. She adjusted her headlamp and opened one. She wasn’t sure if she was going to find gold coins or gold ore. She assumed coins because Hiram mentioned the demons polishing it. It didn’t even cross her mind that these demons started to hoard their gold before the invention of print molds. They had no monarch’s image to press into the soft coins.

  Gloria undid the bag on the top and reached in to find rocks. She lifted one and frowned. She took two of them and began to rub the two together. An ominous white smoke rose from where the strongest friction was. She dropped it and dumped the contents of the bag out and found the same rocks. Bag after bag she opened, dumping the contents out in frustration.

  “It could be hidden elsewhere,” Cecil suggested.

  Gloria got in the boat. “Let’s look.”

  Marty was in a panic. He dumped out the boho bag and took the handgun and moved quickly back to get the drop on the intruder.

  The rocks seemed to ignite other rocks, and a white gas wound its way upwards. As it hit the ceiling of the cavern, it started to crawl down the passageways.

  Marty slowed, concentrated on being solid, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He backed away from the creature.

  Gloria stepped onto the shore, pissed that the contents of her bag were all over the ground. She started to pick things up. “Marty!” she called.

  Marty appeared with the gun. “It doesn’t work!” he complained, dropping the gun on the ground.

  Gloria picked it up. “You stupid idiot, you have to take the safety off.” She demonstrated it and returned it to the safety position. Distracted, she handed it back to the ghost.

  Above them, Amy pulled out the lanyard from her pocket. She opened the top and shook out a small key. She laughed at, first, her luck and then the stupidity of her boss. Now she could control the ghosts, but she would think bigger than just the procurement of gold. Amy was going to go after industrial secrets.

  Gloria’s head light reflected off of a surface down one of the caverns. She got up, thinking it was gold. She took a few steps and realized she was looking at a wall of tiles. Some of the tiles were gold. She took out her penknife and started to pry one away.

  Marty sped by her.

  Gloria turned her lamp and held the tile up to see if it was gold or painted gold. The light reflected off the tile and bounced off similar tiles in the passageway.

  The ghost killer seemed to loom up in front of Marty. He backed away and fired. It still was there. He fired again, retreating towards the cavern.

  Hearing the gunshots, Gloria retreated to the water’s edge. She coughed, realizing too late that the cavern was filling up with white smoke. She moved her head around, trying to assess what the greater danger was. The smoke, the water, or a lunatic ghost firing a gun. Her headlamp shone down the passage, illuminating the mural at the end. The image seemed to rush out.

  Marty fired again.

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Mia had just paid for her purchases and extracted Noah from the spray paint aisle when the store shook.

  Dieter caught a few cans from falling. “What was that? Do we get earthquakes here?”

  Mia took her three charges to the car and looked at other confused shoppers and store owners.

  Andy ran out of the park in the direction of the volunteer firehouse. Mia connected with his mind. Explosion north of the river.

  “Gloria Monroe,” Mia said under her breath. She put the kids in the car, waited until the emergency vehicles had passed, and drove by the preschool to make sure everything was alright there before driving home.

  Ted was calling her before she turned back onto the main road.

  “I’m fine,” she told him. What’s going on?”

  “There was some kind of ground-shaking explosion. I sent Enos to find out what was going on. He came back and reported that there is a giant hole where the settlement once was. He smelled gas and was wary of the white smoke that was rising from the ground, so he left.”

  “How much damage did we get?”

  “A few books fell off the top shelves in the aerie. I’m going to let you pick them up. They scare me.”

  “Will do. I’m bringing home a sack of burgers and fries. The boys and I are sick of wholesome food.”

  “Can I put in a likewise order?”

  “I’m not stopping at Taco Bell.”

  “Burgers will be fine.”

  By the time Mia came home, fed the boys, and insisted they settle down early for a nap, Adam had already fallen asleep in his fries. Mia fed the girls and sat on the third-floor patio. She heard wings above her and smiled as Sariel landed.

  “Hello. Would you like some lemonade?” Mia asked, pointing to the pitcher and glass on the table between the lounge chairs.

  Sariel poured himself a glass. “I bet you want to know what’s going on up there?”

  “Yes, but my preservation instincts say to stay put.”

  “Your instincts are correct. Evidently, some foolhardy person thought it would be a great idea to ignite some white phosphorus in a cavern under the old settlement.”

  “Let me guess, Gloria Monroe and her spirit thugs.”

  “I’m not sure. Whomever it was, was driving an expensive SUV. Lots of falling rocks. I fear there isn’t much left of her.”

  “Why would someone ignite white phosphorus?”

  “They didn’t know what it was,” Sariel said. “What I think happened was, when the cavern exploded, it blew outwards along these passages and then upwards out of the wells, taking a lot of rocks with it. It was raining rocks for a while.”

  “Nasty. I knew the demons were up to something. I warned her. Murph and I put up a sign, and I even left a personal letter of explanation.”

  “Azrael would like you to go up there when things calm down to see if there are any spirits to harvest.”

  “They wouldn’t be going up if you catch my drift.”

  “Now, Mia, it’s not our job to judge.”

  “Tell him I’ll wander up there as soon as they’ll let me.”

  “I will.”

  “Gabriel sent word. There will be a Magic Council convening on Sunday as requested. He said you’d been to the courtroom before.”

  Mia sucked air through her teeth. “The demon court. Why there?”

  “It was open.”

  “Thank you. We had a birth last night. Charles Cid Cooperson came in with a lusty cry. Reminded me of a lion.”

  “He will be an interesting child to watch.”

  “How many children do you think you’ve watched in your lifetime?” Mia asked.

  “I’ve been a soldier most of my life. It has only been since you’ve blundered into our lives that I’ve taken part in keeping an eye on children, mostly yours.”

  “Blundered,” Mia repeated. “It suits me.”

  “You have changed so much over the years, Mia. There always was conc
ern that you were a wild card, but I never doubted your heart.”

  “Thank you for that.”

  “You’ve developed into a complex entity.”

  “Not person?”

  “Depends on who you ask.”

  “I guess that’s deserved. Why did Altair leave so soon?”

  “You didn’t buy his exit story?”

  “No.”

  “His leaving doesn’t help your abandonment issues.”

  “Not at all.”

  “He’s too close to you. An angel, especially an archangel, needs to keep from becoming attached to a human.”

  “But I’m hardly that anymore. I believe you said complex entity.”

  “Ouch, using my own words. I’m going to ignore your bad manners and continue.”

  “Please.”

  “When he was a fallen, what was his role in your relationship?”

  “Parental, but not in a creepy way.”

  “And as an archangel?”

  “My counselor, friend, fellow mischief-maker.”

  “Not romantic?”

  “No. You’re the closest I’ve come to angelic bliss.”

  “Stop it,” Sariel scolded. “Throwing stones at me isn’t foreplay.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I think he can handle Ted’s increasing role in your life because Ted is so good for you. Murphy has your back. But he has a problem with Baxter.”

  “He said so. But if he really doesn’t want me to have Baxter continue to help me fit into this society, he should put his foot down.”

  “It’s that he wants to do just that, that is the problem,” Sariel said.

  “Now I’m so confused.”

  “He wants you to himself, and that’s a big no no.”

  “One of the reasons I’m seeing Baxter is so I don’t do stupid stuff and end up having to throw stones at handsome angels. I cause my own problems. I’m responsible for the choices I make. Honestly, I have never picked up an intimate vibe from Altair.”