The Siege (35 page)
Authors: Alexie Aaron
Tags: #Horror, #Ghost, #Fantasy, #Haunted House, #Occult
Dave whirled around to see a large gruff man bearing down on him. The ghost held a long knife, and it was headed for his neck.
Dave heard a clang of steel upon steel as he fell to the ground. Over him, Freddy’s sword caught the knife before it could do any damage.
Mia heard the spectral noise. She broke away from Ted and ran over to pull Dave away from the scuffle. The lights flickered overhead as the new spirit gained power. Freddy was momentarily confused by his body lying on the table. To the living it was just bones, but to him, it was himself just after the canon ball took his life.
Dave’s assailant moved around Freddy and headed for Mia and Dave. She put her body between the spirit and Dave. The angry spirit pulled her off of Dave, tossing her as easily as if she was paper, and like paper, she crumpled when she connected with the barn wall. Ted ran towards his wife after tossing an activated energon cube to Freddy.
Freddy slid his sword along the top of the mega battery. He not only gained strength, but he filled out. “Stop where you are, muggins! I, Frederic Marsten the third, call you out!”
The angry spirit pulled back from his prey. He drew more energy until the lights blew out. The fuse box popped and sputtered. Cid ran over with the shop fire extinguisher and drenched the smoking fuses with chemicals.
Murphy positioned himself in front of Ted who was trying to wake Mia up.
“Come on, Mia, come to Teddy Bear,” he pleaded.
The emergency battery slowly brought the still-working overhead lights on. It wasn’t daylight bright, but they now could see around them.
“That isn’t possible,” Amanda said as she looked over and saw the two combatants squaring off.
The angry spirit was dressed in wool trousers and had his sleeves held up with garters. His shoes were expensive. His face turned away from the Coopers as he sought out Dave. Locating him, he returned his focus on Freddy. “I do not wish to fight you,” the spirit claimed.
“You cannot attack the living.”
“I just did. It seems I can do a lot of things. Go away, you and I are square.”
Freddy asked. “What happened to my men? The blue coats were waiting for us. They had a cannon all primed. Did you ambushed us?”
“No, it wasn’t I. We were ratted out by him!” The spirit pointed at Dave.
“No, sir, that is impossible. That boy did not exist then. You are confused.”
“He’s my brother’s boy. Can’t you see he has the Brown look about him? He and that Major my brother drank with blocked off the exit. He accused me of being a traitor. I told him, it was just business. The Confederates paid more for supplies. Your brethren fought hard, but we were outnumbered. A few died in battle, and the others were given a musket-ball headache, myself included.”
Mia coughed and opened her eyes. “Since when did tornados come inside?” she asked, trying to shake off the woozy feeling.
“Take it easy, you’ve had a hell of a fall,” Ted said, running his hands along her limbs.
“It’s hardly the time for foreplay, my mother is over there,” Mia warned. She pushed Ted’s hands away and got to her feet. She tried to walk by Murphy, but he would not move out of her way. She was fast, but Murphy was faster. “I give,” Mia said. She waited until he lowered his axe before she ran by him, straight over to the table where the remaining excavated bones were waiting to be sorted.
She whistled to get the angry ghost’s attention. “Hey you, would you like to explain this?” Mia asked as she picked up the entity’s skull and tossed it to him.
All the ghost saw was his head sailing through the air towards him. He dropped his long knife, and as his hands connected with his skull, he exploded.
Mia hit the ground, putting her hands over her head as bone shards from the skull flew outward. Murphy managed to get his axe between the large pieces and her. She looked up at him and gave him a twisted smile.
“You are dangerous,” he scolded. “Bad Mia.”
“No one tosses me around! I’m an effing mother for cripe’s sake!”
“What happened?” Cid asked, helping Dave off the ground.
“Mia tossed Brown’s skull to him. His spirit had taken on massive amounts of electricity as energy. His skull, however, was a pure magnet for negative energy. Throw the two together and science happens,” Ted said smugly. “How did you know to do that?”
“Um, I was just trying to distract the critter,” Mia admitted. “I saw how seeing his body distracted Freddy and thought to do the same to Mr. Brown.”
“Why did he go after me?” Dave asked.
“Evidently, you’re the spitting image of the betrayer,” Cid said.
“Ah, but was he a betrayer or a hero?” Ted argued.
Mia hunched her shoulders. “I think that we have a better idea what happened to you Breeze, sorry, Freddy.”
“I can still see him,” Amanda murmured pointing.
Charles patted her on the back. “Now you know how it is to walk in Mia’s and my shoes, dear.”
“It’s amazing,” she said awestruck.
Mia studied her parents for a minute and then dismissed them to concentrate on the problem at hand. “Freddy, do you remember anything else?”
“I think I can give you the names of most of the others that came with me. I don’t remember past my death. It was as if time stopped, and then I was following the British fellows.”
“Audrey is in the farmhouse. I’ll go and relieve her. She’s my official first babysitter,” Mia said proudly. “She’s also going to be Brian’s godmother.”
“Murphy and I are the godfathers,” Cid told the Coopers.
“A ghost for a godfather, now that’s interesting,” Charles said. “Are you going to be able to get that rascal into a church for the christening?”
Murphy looked undecided.
“We’re working on that,” Mia said. “Cid and Audrey will be there.”
“What religion are you?” Dave asked Mia.
“All and none,” she answered. “Hence my problem with the Other.”
Burt set the camera down in the office. He studied the computer for a moment and sighed. Jake had put together a mock newspaper. The headline read:
SCANDAL AT THE BROWN FACTORY
. He sat down and read the account and nodded. “You’ve got it pretty much verbatim.” Burt moved the cursor lower and saw a smaller article titled, “Burt Hicks is Back: Crowd goes Wild.” “Cute, Jake, cute.”
Audrey arrived out of breath. She looked at Burt and said, “I hear we may have more names! I can’t wait to contact the Daughters of the Confederacy.”
“Hold on, we still have to work out how we are going to deal with the theft.”
“Mike’s supposed to be talking to Alan about that,” Audrey informed Burt. “I would have, but Alan’s a bit prickly with me lately.”
“I think it’s your new boyfriend.”
“Matt?”
“Do you have other new boyfriends?” Burt teased.
“Sorry, I just don’t understand why Alan would care?”
“Audrey, you’re the girl that got away.”
“You don’t have a problem with Matt do you?” she asked Burt.
“Nope, only when you’re together, do I get a good dose of green-eyed envy.”
Audrey’s eyes softened. “Really?”
“Yes, I always wanted to date a doctor.”
“Oh you!” Audrey exclaimed and stomped out of the office.
Applause erupted around him. The three monitors were filled with clapping hands. Burt couldn’t help laughing. “Jake, I think you and I are going to get along better now I don’t have a flitch inside me.”
WHAT ABOUT THE STICK UP YOUR BUTT?
“How about we put you back on dialup?”
Jake displayed a white flag flying, someone tossing a towel into a boxing ring, and General Yoshijiro Umezu and Macarthur signing the Instrument of Surrender.
~
Ted found his wife upstairs in the nursery, rocking their son. He looked down at the two and felt a surge of love and responsibility so strong it made him dizzy.
Mia looked up. “I just finished feeding him. He’s getting stronger every day.”
“May I?”
Mia nodded, stood up and handed Brian to Ted. Ted took his son and lifted him up before he cradled him in his arms. “I promised myself not to talk to him in baby talk but…”
“I know, I caught myself doing it,” Mia confessed. “Cid does it, Audrey does it, they all do it. My mother on the other hand told Brian, ‘Get the lead out, you’re looking like a paperweight.’”
“She didn’t.”
“She did.”
“It was nice of them to postpone their trek south to help us out,” Ted reminded her.
“Yes, I guess so. I’m not used to them being involved in my life. It upsets my equilibrium.”
“Family,” Ted sighed. “My parents are coming just after Christmas. They intend to stay through the New Year. My mother is insisting that we go out for New Year’s so she can have the kid all to herself. She’s no doubt planning on filling the kid’s head with lies about his father.”
“I hope they bring pictures. Cid’s folks are coming for Christmas. I’m not sure if I met them? Were they at the engagement party?”
“I don’t think so. They aren’t party people,” Ted said. “Cid’s mom’s a great cook, and his dad is a gifted craftsman.”
“We’re going to have a full house. Burt’s not going home this year. I said he could hang with us.”
“Burt Resumed is awfully chummy,” Ted said, sitting down in the rocker.
“Bev’s a bit put off by the implosion of her holiday party. Gerald’s happy. He not only has saved a fortune, but I still owe him the three favors.”
“They’re not coming for Christmas are they?”
“Oh no, they will be with Sabine and the girls. Before you ask, Mike’s spending Christmas in Kansas with his mom, Audrey with her family and Matt, and Tom and his folks are coming for Christmas Eve supper. I think that covers it.”
“Lord, how did we get from being two oddballs to having all these friends?” Ted asked.
“Lucky, I guess,” Mia said. She felt something behind her. She turned to see Murphy at the door. “Come on in, Murph. We were just discussing…” Mia stopped as she saw her tiny son look past Ted to where Murphy was standing. “Are you manifesting?” she asked the ghost.
“No.”
“He can barely see us, and he’s seeing you,” Mia said amazed. “Well, go on, godfather, introduce yourself to the kid.”
Stephen Murphy moved slowly and stood patiently while Ted rose and lectured him on how to hold a baby.
“You have to put your axe down,” Mia teased the ghost. He gave her a foul look.
Ted handed his son to the man who started all of this. He watched as Murphy’s eyes filled with wonder as he felt the baby’s weight. As he brought the child close to his chest, he adjusted himself so he would be soft. Brian opened his mouth, and Murphy looked at him in shock. “He’s got no teeth!”
Mia laughed. “Babies aren’t born with teeth, Murph.”
Ted moved beside Mia and put his arm around her. They watched nervously at first but soon relaxed as Murphy moved back and forth humming, “You are my Sunshine.”
Brian yawned and closed his eyes. Murphy continued to sway for a while.
Mia walked over to the bassinet and prepared the bed for her son. Murphy managed to sway and hum his way over to Mia and, between them, the sleeping Brian was settled down. Mia watched as Murphy continued to stand watch over the boy.
Ted pulled at her sleeve. “Come on, he’s got this.”
Mia turned on Ted’s custom baby monitor and tapped the necklace she wore to test the contact. She heard her son breathing evenly. She followed Ted out the door. She stopped and took one more look at Brian and his misty godfather.
“May you sleep and dream of angels. May you wake to find them near. Your mother and father love you. We will always be here,” Mia said softly and closed the door.
***
Alexie Aaron
After traveling the world, Alexie Aaron, a Midwestern native, returned to her roots where she’s been haunting for years. She now lives in a village outside of Chicago with her husband and family.
Her popular Haunted Series was born from her memories of fleeting shapes rushing around doorways, an heirloom chair that rocked itself, cold feelings of mysterious dread, and warm feelings from the traces of loved ones long gone.
Alexie also writes the Cin Fin-Lathen Mysteries. These cozies set in England and south Florida combine action and intrigue with a liberal dose of humor.
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