The Return (Haunted Series Book 21) Read online

  The lock sprung back. Mike opened the case, and the spike took off. He followed it, mindful of the twists and turns he had to make to keep it in sight.

  The ghost sent another bevy of books at Mia, one catching her full in the face, breaking her nose.

  “MOM!” Brian cried out.

  “Protect your brother. Stay in the salt ring,” Mia ordered, unable to stop the flood of blood leaving her nose. She pushed the books back with her mind while bringing the iron spike to her. A large tome hit her in the ribs. Mia lost control of the spike and the books.

  Mike saw the iron spike fall to the ground. He scooped it up and charged towards where he heard Brian calling for his mother.

  Before him was a very angry spirit. His stomach clenched as he got closer to the vile ghost. He saw Mia broken and bleeding on the ground. The ghost was dropping book after book on her damaged body. The weight of the books were crushing the very life out of Mia. Soon, it would be too much for her already injured body.

  The salt line was holding, but a tumble of books off a pile could possible smudge the line, since they would have fallen naturally and not been touched first by the entity. Varden’s eyes were open, and he was emitting a sound not unlike an eagle’s cry.

  “Dieter!” Mike shouted. “Over in Maritime! Hurry!”

  The ghost turned her attention to Mike.

  “You get away from them. If you want someone to play with, you come after me, you old bitch!” Mike taunted.

  “Sir, your language is appalling. Evidently, you’re the father of that child. I shall strike you down like your wife. Then I’ll tear the voice out of the boy before I shred him in front of his helpless baby brother. Manners must be taught!”

  Dieter slid behind the ghost and started calling for her soul. Nothing happened. He stamped his foot and called again. The soul was so bound to the energy that he couldn’t separate it. He gave up and worked his way around to see if he could get to the boys while Mike distracted the ghost, armed only with an iron spike.

  A tapping caught his attention. He looked and saw that a large black bird was tapping on one of the basement’s casement windows. He reached up and opened the window. The bird flew past him.

  Varden continued to shriek. Brian tried to comfort his brother, but he wasn’t feeling too comfortable himself.

  “Mia, if you can hear me, don’t move. The books will fall on the stroller,” Mike said.

  The creature before him smiled. “You’re not as dumb as you look.” She raised her hands and a line of history tomes flew off the top shelf as if they were playing cards. Mike dodge them and winced as he heard them fall on the pile behind him.

  He ran at the ghost but was blocked with the tumbling of a shelf. The ghost must have sensed the danger in his hand. He had to get close enough to either plunge the spike like a dagger or throw it into the center of the ghostly mass.

  A bird swooped down before the ghost and flapped its wings in the face of the startled woman.

  “Go away! Nasty creature. Go away!” she repeated.

  Mike took his chance and barreled towards the distracted ghost and plunged the spike into her heart. She disappeared. The spike fell to the floor.

  Mike picked it up, knowing that the ghost wasn’t destroyed; it was just building power. “Dieter, you get the boys out of this building. I’ll dig Mia out!” Mike ordered.

  Dieter found the boys still in the stroller. There was a bird perched on one of the handles.

  “I’m their big brother,” Dieter explained. “Show me the quickest way out.”

  The bird seemed to understand and turned its head in the direction of the stairs.

  Dieter scooped up the boys and took off running. The bird led the way through the stacks to the stairwell where Dieter found an emergency door. He twisted around and hit the door with his back, protecting the boys with his body. They found themselves outside on a concrete landing that connected to a set of cement stairs leading up. Dieter took the steps two at a time and ran to the van. He tossed the kids inside.

  “Brian, buckle Varden in, but keep the doors and windows wide open. Lay on the horn if anyone approaches the van,” Dieter ordered as he grabbed Mia’s go bag and ran back into the library.

  “What’s going on?” demanded the librarian.

  “You have a haunted basement. Something down there is trying to kill my family,” Dieter said, running to the stairs.

  The librarian rolled her eyes. She had felt chills down there before, and books did move on their own, but haunted? “Pah!”

  Mike carefully pulled the books off Mia. She wasn’t moving. The closer he got to the bottom of the pile, the more blood he found.

  “Hold on, Mia. Don’t you die on me,” he said.

  The bird landed and pecked on a book. Mike picked it up off the pile. It was a book about maritime triage in the 1800’s. “I don’t have time to read, but thanks anyway.”

  Mia moaned. She tried to rise.

  “The boys are safe. Lie still.”

  “We’re still in danger. I can feel her pulling power,” Mia said through her cracked bleeding lips.

  Dieter arrived and started to unpack the go bag. He watched as Mike took the first aid kit, and with a few glances at a page the bird pecked at, wrapped Mia’s head and supported her neck before turning her over.

  “Ribs,” Mia moaned. “One in my lung,” she said.

  There was a flutter of wings and a large crow appeared. It morphed into a very tall, very naked Victor. He knelt and moved his hands over Mia’s body. He tore off her shirt and seemed to reach his fingers into her body. With a grunt, he pulled them back out. “She needs a Gray Lady. Help me undress her.”

  Dieter turned away as Mike assisted the birdman. Victor picked Mia up in his arms and extended his wings. His mighty wings pushed the stacks of books over. He wrapped them around himself and Mia and then disappeared.

  “You can turn around now,” Mike said, getting to his feet.

  “Where are they? Why did Mia have to be naked?” Dieter asked.

  “Come on, we have to get out of here first. I promise, I’ll explain everything I can later.”

  Brian looked at Varden in disbelief. “You called the bird, didn’t you?”

  Varden’s eyes gave nothing away. He was worried. “Mm.”

  “Mom is still there. She fought hard for us. Uncle Mike and Dieter will save her.”

  There was a tapping on the glass.

  Brian turned to see the bird that had saved them perched on the hood, looking in at them.

  “Look, Varden, it’s your friend. He’ll watch over us until the grownups come.”

  Varden smiled.

  Dieter ran to the van. He saw the black bird perched on the vehicle. He slowed his approach. “I don’t know who you are, but thank you.” He moved into the van from the open sliding door and meticulously checked his little brothers. Aside from a wet diaper, Varden was fine. Brian had a hundred questions. “Later. I have a few of my own. Right now, Uncle Mike is trying to seal off the basement and close the library, and then we can go home.”

  “Where is our mother?” Brian asked.

  “Victor took her.”

  Brian gasped. He looked at Varden. “Did you call Victor?”

  Varden gave him a baby look that gave nothing away.

  “I think that Varden acted instinctively,” Dieter said as he slid a clean diaper under his baby brother’s behind. “Remember, Brian, we are all part of something else. It’s important that we don’t call too much attention to ourselves. You have to watch what you say, because you’re supposed to be a two...”

  “Two and a half.”

  “Let’s just say three-year-old.”

  “I didn’t mean to cause a problem. I was just repeating what Uncle Murphy said,” Brian said and started to cry.

  Dieter felt bad that Brian was crying, but if he caused that hullabaloo with that ghost, then he had to recognize what he did and never do it again.

  Mike walked
out of the building. He stopped and pulled out his phone. He wasn’t going to enjoy making this phone call. He selected the number and hit send.

  “Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners. Cid Garrett speaking.”

  “Put Ted on the phone and listen in,” Mike said.

  “Will do. Ted, it’s Mike.”

  “What’s wrong?” Ted asked.

  Mike told Ted all he knew. “I don’t know what started the ghost up. I suspect Dieter is finding that out now from Brian. But Mia was hurt very badly. Victor…”

  “Victor, Angelo’s Victor?” Ted asked for clarification.

  “Yes, he arrived not long after the black bird. I think it was a raven. I think your youngest called for the birds, and thank God he did. Anyway, he took Mia, via Angelo’s naked way, so…”

  “She’s been taken to the Gray Ladies’ Aerie,” Ted surmised. “I’ll call Orion. Talk to Cid,” Ted said and left the phone.

  “What can I do?” Cid asked.

  “We have a big problem here. It’s an entity with a lot of power. I sense that it’s been dormant for a long time. I don’t know what Brian said to it, but it was very angry. Angry enough to kill. We can’t just leave it this way. It’s our fault.”

  “No, it’s no one’s fault,” Cid insisted. “I’ll call Burt. Stay put and see if you can get the librarian to leave the building.”

  “She’s…” Mike said and stopped talking. The sky was dark with birds. “Something is happening here. Birds… birds everywhere.”

  Angelo morphed into his fighting form. He approached Mike and placed his hand on his head without invitation. He stopped. “Take the children home,” Angelo instructed. “I have this.”

  Mike walked backwards towards the van. “Angelo is entering the building with a hundred or so birds.

  The librarian ran screaming outside. Mike’s chivalry had his feet moving towards her, but the appearance of a gnarly old bird warrior stopped him. The bird placed a hand on the woman’s head and she fainted. The birdman picked her up and set her on a bench outside the building. Mike ran to the van.

  Dieter closed the sliding door and jumped in the passenger side.

  Mike started the van and took off towards home.

  “Was that Angelo?” Dieter asked.

  “Yes. He told me to take you guys home,” Mike said through gritted teeth.

  “You don’t like him very much, do you?” Brian said from the backseat.

  “Angelo and I don’t agree on a lot of things, but I respect him and his decisions regarding the paranormal,” Mike said. “I feel so guilty leaving that woman like that.”

  “She won’t remember a thing,” Brian said. “Birdmen have been saving children for hundreds of years. They take away the bad memories and replace them with something else. Anyway, that’s what Mom says. Where is our mother?”

  “Victor took her to the Aerie of the Gray Ladies. They are great doctors. They will know how to heal your mother.”

  “I think Varden called for the birds. First the raven, and then Victor. Victor must have sent Angelo and his army,” Brian said.

  Varden burbled something.

  “The raven saved us. He turned the tide,” Mike said. “I wonder which birdman he was?”

  “He’s just a bird,” Brian said. “Uncle Murphy said, ‘Those damn birdmen enlist the help of ordinary fowl to help with their nefarious deeds.’”

  “Are you quoting Murphy or did you just paraphrase?” Mike asked, glancing in the rearview mirror at Brian.

  “Quote. I think it was another quote that started off this whole thing.”

  “That you’re going to have to explain, but let’s wait until we get home. There are many questions and lots of answers to share. But right now, I’m going through the Dairy Bar drive-thru. Who wants an ice cream?”

  Dieter smiled. Mike knew how to shut Brian up, give him an ice cream cone to lick. “I’d like a chocolate cone, please,” he said, more to help the situation with the young boys than because he was hungry. Right now, Dieter’s stomach was in knots. Why couldn’t he pull the soul away from the ghost? Was he losing his powers?

  Mia looked up into the face of Elizabeth. “My friend, it’s so good to see you,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

  Elizabeth lifted Mia’s head into the cradle and said softly, “I’m just sorry to meet this way.”

  “How bad?” Mia asked.

  “Your back is broken where your wings used to be. We can’t fix it. Idra has gone to look for Altair. We will continue to try to heal the rest of you. But, Mia, it doesn’t look good. A broken back kills most birds.”

  Mia turned her head to see Victor sitting in a robe staring back at her.

  “He’s not left your side. It’s got to be hard for a warrior to play nursemaid,” Elizabeth commented.

  “How did he know to come?” Mia asked, ignoring the tears that streamed down her face and pooled beneath her head.

  “He said a voice he hadn’t heard in a hundred years called to him.”

  “I thought it was my son Varden. They are connected.”

  “We know. But little Varden’s voice would only travel so far. He is young and hasn’t connected mentally with the Brotherhood yet.”

  “I wasn’t prepared. I saved my children and fought off the entity, but I was without my sword, my shield and…”

  “Your wings,” a familiar voice said.

  Mia turned her head slowly and looked for the speaker.

  Altair stood beside Idra. He looked at Elizabeth.

  “You may approach, Altair,” she said.

  “Mia, Idra has told me of your condition. We have spoken and agree there is only one way you’ll ever walk again or hold your children.”

  “But…”

  “Don’t be so stubborn.”

  “He ripped my wings from my body. The pain, the falling, the bonding…”

  “Don’t upset her further,” Elizabeth warned. “The light is pushing at our defenses as it is.”

  Victor got up and walked over. He glared at Altair, and Altair backed away. “Little Bird, Varden needs a strong mother, and Brian needs a stronger hand. But the light wants you. If the return of your stolen wings can give you more time, it is imperative that you take them. Hide them. Use them when needed. A long time ago, I lost a father, and I have lost a brother. I will not stand back and lose a friend, not when I can stop it.” He reached back and pulled a mighty black feather from his massive wing. He handed it to Altair. “No wimpy angel wings for Mia,” he instructed. “Give this to Michael. He will know what to do.”

  Mia turned her head. The light had burst through the clouds. It was pulling her. “Yes, I’ll take the wings. Hurry, I’m being called,” she said and fainted.

  Chapter Twelve

  Orion turned his head.

  Audrey watched quietly as her husband connected with the Brotherhood’s communication stream.

  “I’m wanted at the library. I could use your help. The entity and the battle that followed has unseated a lot of books. We have only so much time to right the situation before the librarian comes to.”

  “Count me in. Cid would be an excellent aide in this situation,” Audrey said.

  “I’ll have him fetched,” Orion said.

  Ted paced the floor of the kitchen.

  Lazar handed him a coffee. When Cid called him, Lazar had come immediately from rehab, stopping only to bring his mother and grandmother along, from the rental home where they were staying, to help with the young boys. Susan Braverman wasn’t answering her phone. It could be that she wasn’t up to the task of the Martin children after her adventure in her kitchen. Lazar watched fondly as his mother scooped up Varden and danced his worries away, and his grandmother sat beside Brian who eyed her like she was trying to eat his Legos.

  “Why are you so wrinkled?”

  “I’m old. Why is your tongue so sharp?”

  “I’m ill-mannered according to a ghost who tried to kill us.”

  “Sometimes
it’s better to be silent than to pass judgement. This way, you can live to be old and wrinkled.”

  Brian made a face.

  “Brian, this is my grandmother. I call her Babcia. She has come to help out while your mother is in the hospital.”

  “Who is the dancing lady?”

  “That is my mama, Magda Popov.”

  “Why do you have a raven in your bedroom?” Babcia asked Brian.

  “I do?”

  “Yes, I just heard him open the window and hop inside.”

  Brian climbed down from the kitchen stool. “Come on, Babcia! He may know something about my mom!”

  Lazar watched as the tot tugged his grandmother out of the kitchen and down the hall.

  Ted looked over. “A raven?” he asked.

  “Babcia is never wrong,” Lazar told him. “I think this is the bird that Mike spoke about, the one that flew in the face of the ghost so he could deliver the iron railway spike. He left so quickly. Otherwise, we’d have more answers.”

  “He was concerned for the welfare of the librarian,” Ted said, his jaw tight.

  “Ted, Dieter said it wasn’t his fault that the birdman took Mia. Dieter saw the light coming for her. There wasn’t much time.”

  “Why Victor?” Ted asked. “It’s usually Angelo who comes to her aid.”

  “I guess that’s a question that will need to be asked of Victor or of Angelo,” Lazar said, adjusting his prosthetic leg.

  “Is that giving you problems again?” Ted asked.

  “Yes. It pinches when my leg swells. When I’m doing rehab, I use the muscles I have left, and then they swell.”