Sticks and Stones

by Alexie Aaron

  Mia stared into the camera. “Hello, I’m Mia Martin from PEEPs. My husband Ted is on camera. We’re going to take you into a dark cupboard under the stairs. And no, we’re not cleaning house,” Mia said. “We’re going there to investigate the feeling of dread the homeowner has felt when in the basement. It could be a fear cage. This is the most common explanation. But since we are in a house experiencing possible poltergeist activity, I’ve got a hunch it’s something else.”

  “And cut,” Ted said. “Cid, place our explanation of fear cages in here. I think Mike did one a few years ago.”

  “Do I look okay?” Mia asked Ted. “My shirt keeps riding up.”

  “It’s rather small,” Ted said. “But, baby, does it film great.”

  Mia and Ted descended the stairs.

  Burt climbed in the trailer and watched. “Ted’s focusing in on her butt again.”

  “Ted, adjust your focus,” Cid directed.

  Mia’s shirt rolled up exposing the top of her underpants.

  “Why don’t we just get into the porn industry,” Mike said.

  Mia pulled her shirt down.

  “Good thing he’s not filming her from the front,” Audrey said.

  “Hey, the object of ridicule can hear you,” Mia grouched.

  Audrey put her hand over her mouth.

  Mia stood in front of the door. She turned around. “Here’s an example of how you don’t enter a dark cupboard under the stairs,” Mia said.

  Jake ran the tape of the bee attack.

  “Very funny, Cooper,” Mike said.

  “Touché,” Audrey said laughing.

  “Ted, time for the infrared camera,” Cid directed.

  Mia waited until Ted was ready before she opened the door. She turned her back to Ted and lowered the night vision goggles.

  “It’s dark in here. The room is lined with shelves. I can see boardgames of all sorts. I wonder who left them here,” Mia said. “Changing directions.” Mia turned around, keeping her back always to the camera to avoid any distortion in her night vision. “There are a few remaining bees. We should leave the door open when we leave. I’m puzzled. The space seems to continue beyond the wall. This could be an entrance to a root or wine cellar. Cid, did the beekeepers mention anything about a room?”

  “No, Mia.”

  “K. Ted, we’re backing out now. Hand me the camera.” Ted lifted the camera over Mia’s head, and she had it in her hands. She focused. “Do you guys see that area of cold?”

  “Yes,” Burt responded.

  “I’m not sure, but it looks like someone has set up house. Excuse me.” Mia started off with Low Demon and asked, “Can I be of assistance? Are you trapped here?” She repeated it in Mid and High Demon. She turned around and started to leave. There was a low throaty growl.

  Mia tossed the camera to Ted and turned in the direction of the growl.

  “I’m Mia Martin of the House of Abigor, can I help you?” she said in Low Demon.

  “Trapped,” the demon gurgled. “Girl open door. Door shut.”

  “I understand. Do you want to return to Hell or have me open the door for you?”

  “How, Hell?”

  “Pit of Despair. Believe me it sucks, but I survived it,” Mia said.

  “Come back tomorrow. Will know then,” the demon said.

  “Wait, are you making the things float upstairs?”

  “No.”

  “Ask him his name,” Cid prompted.

  “Do I look like a priest? You never ask a demon his name unless you want to have bigger problems,” Mia said. “If he offers it, then he wants to cooperate.”

  Mia asked in Low Demon, “The hunters here want to know your name. I told them it wasn’t mannerly.”

  The demon laughed.

  “I will leave you until tomorrow. I take it the witch board still exists?”

  “Girl took it.”

  “Then you’ll have to go to Hell first. I’m sorry. Humans can be so stupid.”

  “I’ll go now.”

  Mia tapped her com. “Do we have any green chalk?”

  “Look in the file labeled No Christmas presents for Brian,” Ted told Cid.

  “You don’t smell like a demon,” Mia observed.

  The humanoid walked closer. Mia could see that it had covered itself in green pine air fresheners that people usually hung up in cars. “How ingenious,” she said.

  “You smell like primal demon.”

  “That’s because I am. It’s a long story.”

  “Mia, could we have a translation?” Cid asked.

  “He said that he can’t stand the smell of humans.”

  The demon laughed.

  “I’m curious why you didn’t move upstairs? I don’t think this place has a house demon.”

  “I didn’t bring my gold when the door opened.”

  “I hope you have it hidden.”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Don’t tell them you have any gold in the pit,” Mia advised. “They will tell you that you can get out sooner if you pay them, but it just isn’t so.”

  “Where is the girl?” the demon asked.

  “Rehab. Did you have a thing going on?”

  “No, she was pretty sad.”

  “So, you thought you’d just cheer her up.”

  “No. She had a knife and kept cutting herself. I liked to lick the blood off her arms.”

  Mia heard footsteps above her. “That’s the chalk. Do you want to pack anything for the road?”

  The demon began to take off the pine fresheners. Mia wrinkled her nose as the stench of sulfur filled the space. Mia cast her eyes to the wall when Burt entered with the chalk. He handed the chalk to Ted, and Ted placed it in Mia’s hand which she held behind her back.

  “I need your name for this to work.”

  “Latris.”

  “I worked with a Latris Dominicus,” Mia said. “He was in the twelfth legion.”

  “My cousin.”

  “Well, if you see him, tell him Mia thought his spear work was impressive.”

  “I will.”

  “I’m going to say a bunch of crap in English and Latin. You’ll hear your name, and the ground will open up. I would advise just jumping in. Otherwise, the tentacles pull you in, and it’s really hard to get that slime off.”

  “Good to know. May you find gold wherever you dig, Mia Martin of the House of Abigor.”

  “Thank you.”

  Mia slid the goggles to the top of her head before she turned to the camera and explained what she was going to do. She turned back to the demon, brought her night vision goggles down over her eyes, and drew the rectangle. As she said the incantation, she felt Burt put a secure hand on the belt of her pants. The ground opened, and green light poured out.

  Latris hesitated only a moment before jumping in. Mia smudged the chalk. There was a warning rumble. “Out!” she ordered as the packed earth, which was no longer held back by the power of the demon, started to fill the space.

  Burt yanked her up into his arms and ran out with her. Ted backed out, filming the event. He backed out of the closet and reached over and closed the door.

  “And cut,” Ted said. He lowered the camera. “You can put Mia down now.”

  Burt, who was amazed by Ted’s cool, did just that.

  Mia coughed. “Man, oh man, did Latris stink.”

  “How did you manage in Hell, Swee’Pea?” Ted asked.

  “Funny thing, they only smell like that after eating dairy,” Mia said. “Consequently, cheese is rarely served. I think they make those cheeseburgers for Murphy off menu.”

  “Lactose intolerant demons?” Burt mused.

  “May I suggest running a segment here on the dangers of using a witch board?” Mia said.

  “Duly noted. Cid, mark the spot,” Burt said. “We’re coming up.”

  “You were having quite the conversation down there,” Ted commented as he caug
ht up to his wife.

  “He’s cousins with one of my old spearmen, Latris Dominicus. Small world.”

  “I take it he was a weak demon,” Burt said.

  “No, just young. When they’re adults, they aren’t to be trifled with. If I didn’t smell like a primal demon, he would have already torn my throat out. He’s very dangerous. Hopefully, his embarrassing entrapment here will stop him from venturing topside again.”

  “I’m going to do a promo for saving the bees because those bees certainly saved us,” Burt said.

  “How did you know a demon was in there?” Ted asked.

  “I felt the membrane we passed through,” Mia said.

  “I didn’t feel anything.”

  “Neither did I,” Burt admitted.

  “Well, score one for crazy Cooper,” Mia said.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Debra watched the footage of her home in super time lapse. “Nothing happened when I wasn’t here.”

  “You can see why in the early days of investigating these things, the investigators were certain the focus person, usually a teen, was guilty, and in a sense, they were,” Burt said.

  “You’ll have to explain that,” Debra said.

  “We’re pretty sure that the energy is coming from your brain. You may be involved in an involuntary telekinesis event. When this is all over, I’d like to test to see if you have any telekinetic powers.”

  Debra looked at Burt. “Sure, why not? When is this going to end?”

  “It has been running pretty steadily for about two weeks. Only when you are here. You said it followed you to the hospital?”

  “Yes.”

  “How about the hotel?”

  “No. But I have been either changing rooms every night or hotels.”

  “Why?” Burt asked.

  “It seems to work.”

  Burt wrote this information down.

  “Mia mentioned you were going to do some research about the place,” Debra said.

  “That would be Audrey. She is waiting to hear from a former owner before she presents her findings.”

  “Does she know yet what happened under the stairs?”

  “Hang on.” Burt tapped his earcom.

  “Yes, Burt,” Cid responded.

  “Is Audrey still here?”

  “Yes. I’ll put her on com.”

  “Audrey on com.”

  “Did you find out anything that may have happened under the cellar stairs?”

  “Two things so far. I’ll come in with the information.”

  “She’s on her way.” Burt looked around the kitchen. It was pleasant and bright. The appliances were new but not obtrusively. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you spend a lot of time in here, the study, and your bedroom.”

  “I used to spend a lot of time in the living room in the afternoon. The light is good for reading. But the critters ran me out of there.”

  “You have eight more rooms to this house.”

  “The dining room has never been used. The other bedrooms may as well not exist.”

  “May I ask why you bought such a big house if you only use five rooms of it?”

  “It all started with Dr. Klinkhammer. She said, because of the stress, I had to retire. She recommended that I buy a house and use my excess energy decorating it. Do you know how stressful decorating a house is?”

  “No.”

  “I sure do,” Audrey said, walking in. “My husband’s Greek and loves bright colors and doesn’t really mind if they clash. We had a lot of words over a few choices.” Audrey sat down and opened her folder. “Don’t worry, no person died down there, but one of the boys tortured animals in that space. More recently, a teenager was drawn there. That’s where she would cut herself while playing loud music. She took selfies and sent them to her father. The parents divorced years earlier and daddy remarried.” Audrey passed the pictures to Burt and Debra. “I would have thought that this teen would have brought on the infestation.”

  “I’d be interested if anything did happen to this family.”

  “They are the people I’m waiting to talk to. The girl is in rehab. She, evidently, has a problem with oxy, and the mother has moved to a new house.”

  “Poor kid,” Debra said. “What happened to the boy?”

  Audrey displayed a campaign photo. “I sent his info to John Ryan. I think someone ought to watch this one.”

  “Is the house bad?” Debra asked.

  “Oh no. I talked to people who loved it here. Elmhurst is close to the college and is a great place to live if you work in Chicago. There are a lot of up-and-coming executives who live in this area. They make their mark, buy an expensive home like this, and then move on to a bigger house or bigger adventure. Some houses have the same family in it for years upon years; other homes get a lot of traffic. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad house. Mia would have been able to tell when she first walked in.”

  “She never went downstairs,” Debra pointed out.

  ~

  Mia had a death grip on the staircase. Her vision blurred, and the stairs were just off enough to be treacherous. She sat down. Mia pulled out her phone and called Lazar.

  “Hello, Mia, did you sneak out of the house?”

  “No, I’m stuck on the stairs. My equilibrium is off. I’m afraid to move.”

  “On it,” he said and hung up.

  Within minutes, Murphy was there looking down at her.

  He sat down and held her hand. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know if it’s fatigue, but I’m not seeing things correctly. I was afraid I was going to fall down the stairs.”

  He nodded. “Hang on to me and close your eyes. How do you feel?”

  “Better.”

  “Stand up and keep your eyes shut. I’ll guide you down.”

  Mia did so. At the bottom of the stairs, Mia opened her eyes. The floor seemed a bit uneven, but she made her way to the kitchen. Lazar pulled out the kitchen chair. “Sit.”

  “I wanted to take the boys to school, but I’m a hazard right now.”

  “Your husband is on his way home. Nanny is here and Murphy. Do you think you’ll be alright for the few minutes in between?”

  “Yes. I think I better see someone about my eyes though. The kitchen keeps expanding and shrinking.”

  “That sounds more like a Baxter problem than an ophthalmologist,” Lazar said.

  “I hate to bother him,” Mia said. “Maybe it will clear up.”

  ~

  Ted arrived home to find his wife sitting on the porch under a mountain of blankets. Murphy was hovering. Cid dropped him off, and he walked up to see Mia fight her way out of the tucked blankets.

  “Relax, pumpkin.”

  “I told Murphy I was fine,” Mia said.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “She’s going blind,” Murphy said. He took off his hat and twisted it. “My grandmother went blind.”

  “I’m not going blind,” Mia assured Murphy.

  “You can’t walk,” Murphy accused.

  “Is this true?” Ted asked concerned.

  “I’m having periods of double sight. When I walk, it feels like I’m aboard a ship. The floor doesn’t look right. If I close my eyes, I can navigate fine. I feel better on the porch.”

  “Lazar thinks she should go and see Baxter.”

  “I’ll take you,” Ted said.

  “After you take a nap. I’ll give him a call and see… What’s that?” Mia asked as a large truck stopped at the end of the driveway.

  “It looks like a car hauler. Cid’s going to see what’s going on.”

  Mia stood up, took a few steps, and tripped over air, and Murphy just caught her from face-planting on the porch.

  “Thanks, Murph,” Mia said embarrassed.

  Ted scooped her up and carried her down the steps. He set her down. Cid returned smiling. He held a clipboard. They want a signature.”

&nbs
p; “For what?” Ted asked. He read the invoice and smiled as he signed it.

  The sound of a powerful engine echoed off the trees. A Dodge Ram 1500 in Patriot blue drove up the driveway. It had a big red bow on top with the vanity license plate QTNs-HUG.

  “Quentin’s hug,” Mia said in awe. “It’s so cool!”

  Ted looked over at Cid. “He couldn’t have picked this out himself.”

  “He called me with a few questions. Audrey helped.”

  Mia staggered over to the truck. The driver handed her the keys. “Here you go, Mrs. Martin.”

  Ted snatched the keys away and opened the passenger door. “Just until your eyes get looked at.”

  “It has car seats, enough for all the little ones,” Mia squealed, looking in the backseat.

  Cid was looking at the engine, and Murphy perched himself in the back. The delivery people left after being assured they could circle around at the end of the street. Lazar pulled in the drive. Brian and Varden waved. He stopped the SUV, and Brian got out. Varden banged on the window until Cid released him. Both boys ran to the truck. Brian started asking questions while Varden climbed inside and put on his seatbelt.

  Nanny walked out on the porch. She put her hands to her face. “What in the world is that?”

  “It’s my new truck,” Mia called back.

  Ted took off the bow and tossed it to Cid. “I guess we’re going for a ride. Brian, get in.”

  Mia clapped her hands. “It’s got gizmos. I’ve never had any gizmos before. Or electric windows… What’s this?”

  “A touchscreen. It can integrate with your phone,” Ted said. “If Jake were here, he’d already be inside.”

  “Take us for a ride, take us for a ride, take us for a ride,” Varden chanted.

  Cid made sure the boys were secure, and he closed the door. He walked over to the porch, took out his phone, took a few pictures, and sent them to Quentin. He titled them “A very happy Mia.”

  Lazar waved as Ted pulled the truck into the lot and turned around. The Martins drove off with Murphy standing proudly in the back.

  “He looks like a statue,” Cid commented.