The Siege (21 page)

“We’re safe for the moment,” Murphy voiced.  “Need energy soon.”

Cid nodded in understanding.  “I’ll grab a disc…”

“Two.”

“Two discs.  I take it the Confederate is on our side?” Cid said, feeling somewhat better.

Murphy encouraged the corporal to follow him inside the farmhouse.

Ted had insisted that Mia get off of her feet.  He had settled her on the sofa in the living room where he was just starting to light the fire.

“Ted, I’m fine.  The baby is fine.  We’re fine.”

“Fine is not great,” Ted said.  He turned around and moved crablike across the floor until he sat at her feet.  “I don’t know what I’m doing.  This baby stuff is all so scary. Add to it that the paranormal want a piece of you, and like our new friend here, I’m lost.”

Mia reached out and took off Ted’s Kansas City Royals hat.  She put her hands through his curly hair.  It comforted her to have him close.  “I warned you, I had baggage.”

“Yes, you did.  Okay, what happened to upset Murphy enough to split our table in two?”

Mia looked over at Murph and narrowed her eyes.  He looked back at her with a stone face.  Mia broke the stare and said, “Murphy is concerned because, frankly, so am I.  Let’s wait for Cid to get here so I can tell you both all about it.”

“Mia, the corporal wants us to move to higher ground,” Murphy said, using energy so that Ted could hear too.

“Let him.  I think that we’re okay down here for a while, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a lookout.”

Ted paled.  “How serious is this threat?”

Mia didn’t get a chance to answer. Cid came in from the kitchen with a snowy Maggie on his heels.  “It’s really starting to come down now.  I’m going to call Burt and leave a message telling him to keep Dave with him tonight.  The roads are going to be a mess.”

“I thought Burt and Dave were here?”

“Well, they were, but when Burt found out that there was a tunnel full of bones and Sheriff Ryan was in charge, he wanted to offer PEEPs help before any other concern did.  Due to the lack of cell service, the dispatcher did not want to compromise their bandwidth with his request to talk to the sheriff, who was still onsite,” Cid explained. “So, he decided to drive out to the old factory to talk to him in person.”

Mia shook her head.  Those bones weren’t going anywhere, not in this weather.

“Dave offered to keep him company, and Ted and I’ve just about had enough of the kid, so we encouraged them.”

Mia’s face broke into a wide smile.  “No Dave?  Really?  Cool beans.”

“Now that Cid’s here, tell us what happened,” Ted urged.

A loud ping emanated from Cid’s pocket.  He drew out his iPhone.

“Do we have cell service?” Mia asked.

“No, that’s our Wi-Fi.  Jake must be checking in,” Ted said.

Cid nodded.  “The outside cameras are set for infrared.  Anything hotter or colder than a snowflake will set off an alarm.”

“What about birds, mice, and other woodland creatures?” Mia challenged.

“We can’t have everything.  Plus, it’s got to be a brave bird to wander into Murphy’s territory,” Cid answered.  “Before I forget, I’ve got a bucketful of energon cubes in the kitchen.  I thought, just in case we got snowed in.”

“We?” Mia asked.

“Oh, I’m not leaving this house,” Cid claimed.  “We’re in full survival mode tonight, sister.”

“K.”

“Once again, we’ve got a full house, but for a good reason.  We’ve got ghosts protecting
three
farmhouse floors,
two
able men, and a bacon-loving dog named Maggie,” Ted sang.

“Some Christmas carol.  Speaking of Christmas, we are seriously late on our Christmas cards, Teddy Bear.”

CRACK!

The trio of humans jumped and Maggie barked.

“I think that’s his way of getting us back on the subject,” Mia interpreted.  She looked at Murphy and asked, “Can we eat first?”

He stubbornly shook his head.

“Okay, you might as well sit down, Cid. This isn’t going to take long to tell you what happened, but explaining why it’s happening is another matter.”

Cid walked over and sat in the chair opposite Mia.  Ted moved up onto the sofa, and Maggie curled up in the warm spot he left on the carpet.

“I’m going to work backwards.  Tonight I was approached by an entity called
Other
in most cultures.  It’s not a bad guy, nor a good one, but it is definitely
other.
  It’s a wheeler-dealer who works both sides of the fence.”

“Like you do,” Cid said.

“Yes, I think that’s the problem here.  I’m all for team good, but I can see team evil’s point of view, so I’m a fence sitter.”

“Tell us about these
Others.”

“According to my grandmother Fred, they are creatures that are beyond classification.  If they were to participate in a census, they would check…”

“Other,” Ted and Cid chorused.

“They work similar to reapers, but instead of following natural law, they make deals.”

“Deals?  You mean, we can make a deal?” Ted questioned.

“Like crossroad demons?” Cid asked

“No and… no.  We’re the commodity brokered,” Mia answered.

“Okay, I get what they are.  But why is one after you?” Ted asked, squeezing her hand.

“Someone has made a deal for me.”

“Angelo!” Cid spat.

“No, I don’t think you understand.  The deals are made between agents of heaven and agents of hell.  What we think of heaven rarely intrudes so…”

“It doesn’t make any sense.  You’re a good person,” Ted argued.

“I am now, but I wasn’t always,” Mia stated.  “Before you ask me more, I’d like to tell you more about the way an
Other
does business.  We may be able to stop this if we can subvert him.  He’ll get bored and realize, to continue, he’ll lose more than he will gain in the deal.”

Ted pulled out his smart phone and started to take notes.  “Go ahead.”

“Others have to be invited into your home to present the deal.  They will then notify you of the interest in you and offer earthly compensation for your soul.  They will give you some time to consider the deal.  If you turn them down, they are then able to simply take you.  You can battle them and their thugs, but Grandma never knew of anyone that had won.”

“Why did your grandmother think you needed to beware of an Other?” Cid asked.

Mia crossed her arms.  “To get that out of me, you’ll have to feed me first.”

Cid got up and headed to the kitchen.

Ted pulled Mia close to him.  “Don’t worry, no matter what, I’ll not let anything bad happen to you.”

Mia felt a depression on the other side of her.  She looked over, and Murphy sat there with his hat in his hands.  He put his hand on his heart and then on the edge of his blade.  Mia felt a shiver run down her arm.  Murphy intended to pay for Mia’s freedom with his own soul.

“Sorry, old friend, but it doesn’t work that way.”

Chapter Sixteen

He watched her from the darkened corner of the small wallpapered room.  She smelled faintly of smoke, and her face was awash with tears.  Her room in the McGuire rooming house faced the back alley, not much of a view unless you enjoy hundred-year-old brickwork.

Seventeen-year-old girls didn’t normally register on his radar, but this one had sent alarm signals up, and he was compelled to come and see her for himself.  Mia Cooper was an underweight yet overdeveloped woman/child.  Her moss green eyes were amplified by the black circles under them and hollow cheeks.  If he were capable of love, he would have loved her, crossed the veil and taken her away to his lair where he could study her in the firelight.

A knock on the door brought the teen out of her self-pitying trance and pushed him further into the shadows.

Mia sniffed before calling out, “Come in.”

A very stout woman bustled into the room.

“I’m sorry, Mia, but there is a policeman here to talk to you.  It’s about the fire.  I put him in the front parlor.”

“Thank you, Mrs. McGuire.”

He could see the woman fight the battle between being a landlady and a mother.  Her strong but soft hands flexed, fighting between keeping a professional distance and enveloping the child in her strong arms.  He admired the woman and found her plumpness beautiful.  Too often, women angled their bodies with diets and, in doing so, made their faces age prematurely.

Mia rose from the bed and stopped a moment and turned in his direction.

“Is there something wrong, dear?” Mrs. McGuire asked.

“No, I just thought I saw something.”

“Could be a spider.  No matter how I keep at them, those daddy-longlegs find their way in.  I assure you, no one has ever died from being bitten by one of those.”

“I don’t like spiders, but I agree on the placid nature of those type of spiders.”  Mia turned back and walked out the door.

He pondered the worth of taking her now.  She was young, and even though she had come from a great lineage of talented sensitives, she hadn’t developed.  He would wait, watch and then act upon the need when the time was right.

He brushed the snow from his shoulders.  It didn’t melt into his garments because he had no body heat.  He examined his immaculate nails as he waited for the three stooges, a nickname he never spoke aloud.  These ghosts had been with him for centuries.  They were bunglers, but they had talents.  As long as he was there to guide them, they got the job done. First, the cell tower had to be taken out of play.  Next, the landlines, and now Mother Nature was providing a much needed element.  Plan A, isolation, was reaching fruition.

~

In the kitchen, comforted by the aromas coming from the oven, Mia told her story of Misty Mom again for Cid’s benefit.  After, she moved on to explain why her actions would have attracted an Other.  “It’s when a person does a horrible thing in order to do the ultimate good. Burning down a house to release a trapped spirit certainly qualifies.  The method by which Angelo works puts him on the list too.  But in his case, he has the Brotherhood to protect him.”

“You have us,” Ted said.

“I know.  That’s why I’m not cowering in the corner.”

“What does he intend to do with you if he gets you?”

“I don’t know.  I haven’t heard his proposition yet.  But it’s not going to be roses and sunshine, I assure you.”  Mia frowned.  “What gives anyone or anything the right to enslave a person or a soul?  It’s not natural, but still they do it.  So much tragedy and hate has been the result of this kind of greed.”

“Amen,” Cid said and set a large helping of the lasagna in front of her.

“Where’s Murph?” Mia asked, looking around.

“He left to check on our unexpected ally while you were talking,” Ted explained.

“We really need to work on figuring out the young man’s name,” Mia said.  “I’m sure once Audrey is feeling better, she will embrace the search and come up with it.”

“Oh, oh, Audrey is already on the case. She sent an email,” Cid said, methodically patting his pockets.  “Wait, it’s in my coat.”  He walked to the mud room and dug into the red parka’s deep pockets.  “Here it is.”  He unfolded it as he walked back and set it before Mia.

Mia read the email.

Nancy Drew has received the information and is hot on the trail.  The Mystery of the Armory Tunnels has struck a chord with one of my dad’s friends.  He’s a civil war - get this - conspiracy theorist. I’ll have more to tell you soon.  Have Murphy cut more wood, I hear you’re going to get buried in snow this evening.  Love, Audrey

“Looks like Audrey may still be hyped up on pain meds,” Mia observed.  “But there is no stopping that positive enthusiasm, we have all come to love.”

“Optimism is always appreciated,” Ted said, serving himself the last of the lasagna.  “As is fuel.”

“Speaking of, perhaps we ought to get more wood under this roof.”

“Mia, Murphy filled half of the basement and most of the mud room before I made him stop,” Cid informed her.

“I wonder how the windmills are handling the snow?” Ted queried.

“The wet snow isn’t helping, that’s for certain.  But we’ve stored a lot of battery power,” Cid said, looking at his iPad.  “Why?”

“Heavy snow and electrical lines don’t mix well.  Come to think of it, phone lines are a problem too if they ice up,” Ted said.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” confessed Mia.

“Don’t worry, Minnie Mouse, aside from a few comforts, we can be off the grid for a week or more without inconvenience,” Ted assured her.

“I’d like to give Angelo a call and consult him on our little problem here.”

“I told you, Cid stays,” Ted teased.

Cid shook his head at once again being the butt of Ted’s joke.

“Really?” Mia challenged.  “Cid’s a big problem.”

“Hey!” Cid said in mock surprise.

“If Angelo has a solution for Cid, then I’ll take back a third of the things I’ve said about him,” Ted said.

“I’m feeling a little underappreciated,” Cid warned.

Mia got up and gave Cid a reassuring hug before she walked over and picked up the wall phone.  She listened and was relieved to hear a dial tone.  She pulled out her cell and dialed the local number she had stored there for Angelo.  She didn’t get an answer so she left him a message, “Angelo, this is Mia.  I’d like to consult you on what information you may be able to obtain about Others.  That’s o t h e r.  If you can’t get through, it’ll probably be that the storm brought the phone lines down.  And before I forget, the Other’s goons already took down the cell tower.  I fear mischief is afoot.”

“If I heard that, I’d be sprouting feathers,” Ted said.

“Good.  I think that we’re overmatched here,” Mia said honestly.  “Now, I suggest we prepare the nursery for the three of us.”

Cid paled.  “You are worried, aren’t you?”

“Cid, I’m just preparing for the worst.  You know.  If you have insurance, then you probably won’t ever need to use it.  But if you’re foolhardy, then catastrophe strikes.”