Things that Go Bump in the Night (Haunted Series) Read online

  Things that Go

  Bump in the Night

  A novel by Alexie Aaron

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ~

  Copyright 2013 – Diane L. Fitch writing as Alexie Aaron

  ALSO BY ALEXIE AARON

  HAUNTED SERIES

  in order

  The Hauntings of Cold Creek Hollow

  Ghostly Attachments

  Sand Trap

  Darker than Dark

  The Garden

  Puzzle

  Old Bones

  Things that Go Bump in the Night

  PEEPS LITE

  Eternal Maze 3.1

  Homecoming 3.2

  CIN FIN-LATHEN MYSTERIES

  Decomposing

  Death by Saxophone

  Discord

  I live in Bliss Cottage, a small home nestled in a warm, friendly subdivision in Illinois. This house keeps me safe from storms and warm on cold chilly days. It also gives me the freedom to write scary stories while protecting me from the bumps in the night. I live with several characters who, if written on the page, you would find a hard time believing they are real. Without them the haunted series would not be possible.

  And so I dedicate this book to Bliss Cottage and the denizens within. May you know my appreciation and my love.

  Table of Contents

  The Brass Star

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Alexie Aaron

  The Brass Star

  The music filtered its way backstage. It moved through the crowded corridors, past the magician’s props, alongside the barking caged dogs, until it found its way under the door with the large brass star on it.

  Cherry smiled as the strains of Marvin the Magnificent’s closing music filled her small dressing room, cuing her that she had five minutes before showtime. The busty bottled-blonde powdered her nose. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror and frowned. Was that a worry line on her forehead? Surely she was too young for such nonsense? Cherry leaned in and studied the flaw. Drawing a carefully varnished nail over her brow, she poked at the dark line. She moved her head and laughed. The line moved to her ear. She picked up a long discarded costume remnant and wiped the mirror furiously. She polished it until nothing but her reflection shown in the dressing table’s mirror.

  “There you are, you fresh young beautiful star.” Her voice held the right amount of effected nasal quality that was so popular this year. “You’re still gorgeous, Cherry Pie,” she assured herself. Standing up, she wiggled this way and that to check that there wouldn’t be any unwanted disasters with her costume. Her signature cherries sat nestled in a cluster in her teased hair. She smiled and rubbed at the red smear her lipstick had left. She pulled open the drawer and found some Vaseline and quickly rubbed it on her teeth. She smiled again and watched as her full cherry red lips slid over her teeth without leaving a stain. The taste of the jelly was horrible, but it would have to be borne. She wanted to look perfect. This was her night. Nothing would stop her from taking the stage and the world by storm.

  A light tap on the door signaled her to start to make her way to the stage. Cherry pulled on her elbow length red gloves, took one last look at her reflection and blew it a kiss before leaving.

  She made her way to the stage teetering a bit on the high heels. She winced at the bunion forming on her left foot. She took a deep breath and vowed to buy a better pair of shoes with her next pay.

  “Gentlemen, gentlemen,” the announcer started, “we all know that there are certain girls you date, and certain girls you bring home to momma. Here’s a delight to tempt you to bring home regardless…”

  Cherry moved out to the center of the stage and waited for the curtains to part.

  “Miss Cherry O’Kelly!”

  The small orchestra was cued and they began to play.

  The curtain opened. The harsh spotlight hit Cherry in the face. Being a professional, she no longer blinked or paid attention to the blue dots blocking her vision of the audience.

  “There are girls who blush…” Cherry said, affecting a chaste pose in her Sunday school, flowered frock. “At the mere thought of a touch.” She shivered and rubbed her shoulders with her gloved hands. “And there’s girls who tease, showing you their knees.” Cherry raised her dress seductively over her knees. She put her hand to her mouth in feigned surprise as a few catcalls were heard from the audience. “But I’m not one of these,” she said and dropped her skirt to the disappointment of the viewers. “I prefer to sing…” Cherry waited for the orchestra to start the strains of the folk song.

  “Can you bake a cherry pie…” she crooned as she gathered her skirts and advanced up the stage. “Billy boy, Bill boy?” she asked in a sweet alto voice. Cherry turned around and flipped her skirt up showing her panties adorned with bunches of cherries. Dropping her voice she rasped, “Can you bake a cherry pie, charming Billy?” She wiggled her bottom and waited until the roar died down from the audience before standing up, and in one motion, flipping the dress over her head. Cherry stood dressed in a white corset with her back to the audience. She listened as the band continued the song and turned singing, “For I’m a young girl and shall not leave my mother.”

  Cherry mimed virginity as she placed a gloved hand over the tops of her exposed breasts, and the other guarding her groin. She waited until the music rose and the drummer started a beat before she stepped and bumped her hip to the right. The crowd whistled and cheered. Cherry bumped her hip to the left, lifting her hand away and exposing the large bunch of cherries adorning the middle of her panties. She continued to sing the folk tune while she strutted across the stage, alternating hips as the music demanded. She turned around and wiggled her bottom, causing the cherries to dance, as she seductively drew off one red glove after another. She looked over her shoulder as she tossed them aside. “Can you bake a cherry pie?” she asked in her nasal voice as she unhooked the corset, keeping her back to the audience.

  Yeses were heard shouted from the males in the audience.

  The music rose again, and Cherry wiggled as she let the corset drop from her body. She turned around, showing her dressed in nothing but her cherry panties and two red pasties covering her breasts. Attached to each of the pasties was a long sparkly tassel. She shimmied her shoulders, causing the tassels to dance. “I’m a young girl…” she stated and dropped her left shoulder. The corresponding tassel twirled. She dropped the other shoulder and that ta
ssel spun. “I’m a very talented young girl, Billy,” she said and strutted forward with her tassels spinning to the music. She picked cherries off her panties as she neared the audience and tossed them to the crowd as she bumped and ground her hips to the established beat. She strutted and shimmied and enjoyed the uproar she caused in the audience as her breasts moved and her bottom bounced. She moved to the edge of the stage, and caught the red velvet curtain and pulled it across the stage after her. She stopped at the edge, and the music quit. Cherry sang out, “I cannot leave my mother.” She let the curtain drop, enjoying the moment.

  She moved to center stage. The curtain parted, and she waited for the expected catcalls and applause. There were none, just the echo of an empty building. She looked around puzzled. Where was the band? Why were the chairs covered in paint-spattered cloths? Where was her audience? She screamed and heard it as it bounced off the walls of the empty room. The bunion on her foot throbbed. She took off the offending shoe and threw it in the direction of the spotlight. “Turn that fucking thing off!”

  The light died, and darkness wrapped her in its cold arms. Cherry O’Kelly limped back to her dressing room and slammed the door.

  Chapter One

  “I still think this is a big mistake,” Mike said as he waited for Ted to adjust the big camera. “Every paranormal investigating group has come up with the same result. Fakery, funny business, frauds…”

  “But still, the guests complain about bumps in the night,” Burt pointed out. “How much longer, Ted?”

  Ted glanced up at the two senior members of Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners briefly without comment. The two of them had been dancing around the other like boxers for the past few days. Burt had taken on this job without the team voting on it. Mike wasn’t pleased. He had already coerced promises from the newbies to vote against the Rosemont Hotel investigation, but Burt surprised them all with a signed contract before the investigation could be brought to the table. His reasons were that this was an excellent training exercise and that he had a funny feeling about the place when he visited it.

  “It’s an advertising stunt,” Mike said as he checked his teeth in the hand mirror he pulled from his pocket.

  “We’re getting paid, and we have exclusive rights to the footage and interviews. It doesn’t have to air if we find out that there is no paranormal activity,” Burt argued.

  “What’s next, the fun house at the county fair? I’m telling you, you’re tossing our reputation in the toilet.”

  Burt glared at his partner but said nothing.

  Ted handed Burt the camera, advising, “If the focus won’t hold, push this button once, don’t hold it down, the camera will revert to manual and you’ll have to…”

  “I know how to focus a fucking camera,” Burt snapped.

  Ted ignored Burt’s tone. Mia warned him not to get between Mike and Burt when they were having a bromancial spat. They would both turn on him. She would know because her foot-in-mouth approach to life had landed her many times in the doghouse when it involved Burt Hicks and Mike Dupree.

  “Where’s Mia?” Mike asked.

  “She’s not in this shot,” Burt explained. “We’re going to use Audrey for the meet and greet.”

  “You’re taking a green investigator into the first section?” Mike asked, clearly appalled. “Since it’s my segment, shouldn’t you have informed me?”

  Ted felt the tension meter hit a whole new high. He backed away quietly and turned to head back to the mobile command post.

  “Ted, you’re a senior investigator and the tech manager, what do you think?” Mike asked him.

  Ted turned around and faced the firing squad bravely. He knew nothing he could say was going to please both men. “I think Mike’s right, it should have been Mia, but Mia’s not fond of being in front of the camera and supports Audrey’s continuing education,” he said quickly and took another step towards the truck and freedom.

  “So…” Burt encouraged.

  Ted’s body stiffened as he fought for the right words.

  “Ted, you’re needed in the command center. We have major meltdown happening. Cid’s tearing his hair out!” Mia called, approaching the trio in a full run.

  Ted took off running, leaving Mia to sort out the egos by herself. He knew he owed her one.

  “Burt, I was wondering if I could take Cid to the third floor and do some EVPs?” Mia asked.

  Burt looked at her a moment before replying, “As long as Ted doesn’t need him.”

  “Cool beans.”

  “You’re wasting your time,” Mike said.

  “Maybe, maybe not. But let’s go through the motions, shall we?” she said. “I find that there are spirits pretty much everywhere these days. I blame Global Warming,” Mia teased. “Lord knows what it’s doing to the ether.”

  Mike laughed and Burt smiled. The argument for a moment was forgotten by the two men. Mia felt the stress levels drop and sighed. She knew that when she left, the two of them would relate other weird things she had said in the past. They would be once again united by her oddness.

  She left the small conference room, where the team decided would be a good place to interview the hotel employees, and entered the lush lobby of the hotel. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught her reflection in the polished wood of the long check-in counter. “Mia, you’re getting as bad as Mike,” she scolded herself as she smoothed her static-prone Nordic blonde hair.

  Mia watched Audrey approach on her way to join the guys. She was dressed in PEEPs attire consisting of a long sleeved logo shirt and jeans. Her red curls bounced as she walked. The two women saluted each other as they passed. Mia walked out the front door to where the big PEEPs truck dominated the area under the awning. They were given the whole hotel for the duration of the investigation. They could park anywhere, hotel rooms were at their disposal for resting. The team voted and decided to maintain their distance because this haunt could turn out to be a hoax. Besides, it was only over an hour’s drive back to their homes.

  Ted greeted her at the command truck with a hug. “You saved my life.”

  “Just returning the favor. What brought all that on?” she asked.

  “Oh you know. Mike doesn’t want us to look like amateurs. Burt wants to be king of the PEEPs. He’s throwing his weight around and insisting all fall in line behind him. Normal male posturing.”

  Mia lifted an eyebrow. “You males are a confusing bunch.”

  “Yes we are. Now be a good girl and get me a coffee,” Ted said and patted her on the bottom.

  Mia hauled off and slugged him hard on the arm.

  “Ouch, you know I was joking,” he whined, rubbing his arm and lifting his sleeve looking for a bruise.

  “Just making an impression, dear,” Mia said. She climbed in the trailer and looked over Cid’s shoulder at the video feeds. The PEEPs techs pretty much knew, from the other failed past investigations at the Rosemont, the hot spots and had their cameras already in place. Mia spotted something. “Cid, can you run camera ten’s feed back five minutes?”

  “Of course. Mind if I put it on the side screen?”

  “Nope. Ted, come here and look at this,” she asked.

  Ted walked behind her, and the two watched the playback together. The camera was set up to view the landing of the attic stairs.

  “Watch the lower left edge of the hallway approaching the stairs,” Mia instructed.

  Ted did so and saw a dark mass move towards the camera. It stopped and seemed to freeze for a moment before ducking into the room just before the landing. “It could be shadow.”

  “What’s the light source?” Mia challenged.

  Cid, who was listening in, brought up the blueprint of the building he had previously scanned into the computer. “There are windows up there, but they are on the left side. The right side of the hallway is solid brick and mortar,” he informed them.

  “Could be something, could be nothing. Let’s mark this and look at it again,” Ted instructe
d.

  “Where’s the sheet of complaints?” Mia asked, picking up a stack of papers.

  Cid lunged for the stack and pulled them out of Mia’s hands.

  “What the hell, Superman?” Mia asked, managing to hold onto a few of the papers. She backed away and read, “Dear Cid, you are so cute…”

  “Stop it!” Cid demanded and ripped the remaining papers out of Mia’s hands.

  “Fan mail, the boy’s got fan mail,” Ted informed his fiancée.

  Mia giggled. “Dear Cid, you are so cute. I want to have your babies,” she teased.

  “Dear Cid, I think there’s a ghost in my panty drawer, come and investigate,” Ted added.

  Cid blushed a deep red.

  “Dear, if you’re going to humiliate the boy, do it right. Dear Cid, I think there’s a ghost in my panties, come and…”

  “Alright, alright, you’ve made your point,” Cid said, burying his head in his arms.

  Mia patted his back. “Superman has to get used to women throwing themselves off of buildings. You’ll have to take a little teasing.”

  Cid raised his head off the console and looked at the screen first before addressing the couple behind him, “It’s just all so new. When I was stuck in the coke bottle lenses, I was ignored, invisible. But now…”

  “Not a bad problem to have, dude. Remember all the dry years,” Ted said. “We would have killed to have some girl want to talk to us, let alone investigate…”

  “Teddy Bear, I think the lad’s had enough. Let’s go and pick on Mike for awhile,” Mia suggested.

  “Nah, he’s too cranky pants lately. Burt’s power play has him questioning his life choices again.”

  “True. I think Burt’s trying to impress Audrey,” Mia said. “If he only knew that good ole Burt beats Burt the boss every time.”

  “He’ll learn. Remember, all of us, Mike included, are late bloomers. We’ve spent our youth with our heads in comic books, video games and, in Mike’s case, in front of the mirror. We have a lot to learn about socializing.”