The Hauntings of Cold Creek Hollow (Haunted Series) Read online

  “Oh,” Mia’s voice was low.

  Whit pushed the attic door inward and reached around for the light switch. Mia moved beside him, and when the space was illuminated, Mia caught her breath. Whit assumed that she was awestruck by the amount of space.

  “See these exposed beams? Sherry really loves them. I’m going to put in some dormers or maybe a skylight, really open the space up. I’ll clear out all this old lumber. I wonder why the workmen left the saw horses. Seems to me they left in a hurry.”

  Mia only half listened. The creaking sound bothered her a little.

  “It’s a big space...”

  “Do you think Sherry would mind sharing it?” Mia asked, looking at the beams at the far end of the room.”

  “With me? I don’t know maybe. I don’t really have any use for it.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t talking about you,” Mia whispered as she gazed down the room at the rope swinging back and forth. Creak... creak... creak. The rope was attached to a neck, a broken neck. The neck was attached to a broken man, a tall man, tall enough for the tips of his toes to drag on the ground. Scrape... scrape... His tongue protruded black against his pale face. His eyes were closed. Creak... creak... scrape... scrape.

  “Mia, what is the matter with you?” Whit’s voice was barely heard over the scrape of the toes, the creak of the rope.

  “What happened to you?” Mia asked quietly, not expecting an answer.

  “Me?” Whit said, turning her head to face him. “Look at me. There’s a girl, come on, Mia.”

  “Oh, Whit.” She focused her eyes on him. “I think I’d like to leave now.”

  “Sure, we’ll go now.” Whit moved over to turn off the lights. As his body moved, Mia looked back over at the swinging man. She could now smell him, urine, feces and despair. Thump... creak. Her eyes snapped up, and she saw what seemed like an old movie stuck in a loop. The strobing effect made the vision in front of her seem to move at double speed. Mia watched in horror the man hang himself over and over again. Thump... creak... scrape... scrape.

  “No... Please...” she pleaded, but the only answer she got was after the scraping stopped. His eyes opened. Mia’s eyes rolled backward. Mercifully, she fainted before the blackened tongue slid back in-between yellow teeth, and the corpse smiled.

  Chapter Ten

  Mia wasn’t aware of Whit picking her up, first banging her head on the attic door frame before dumping her over his shoulder with his version of the fireman’s carry. He hit her head again as he turned too fast, causing her upper body to pull away from his and into the master suite’s doorframe.

  All Mia knew was that she had a hell of a headache. Opening her eyes, she saw Daisy standing over her, fanning her lace hanky, superimposed over Whit who was gently tapping her face.

  “Whoa, I’m okay, thanks.” Mia sat up, and Daisy danced with glee while Whit had her wrist in a stranglehold attempting to take her pulse. “The question is, doctor, will I live?”

  “You scared the hell out of me. Never, never, never...” he dropped her wrist, “do that to me again.”

  “Wasn’t a picnic on this end, cowboy,” Mia said, trying to get to her feet.

  Whit took an arm and hefted her up. He pushed her hair this way and that, looking for obvious injuries. Her forehead had a red knot forming, and the right side of her head was a bit lumpy.

  “Shit, did I do all of this when I fainted?” Mia asked as she hobbled over to her truck and looked in the side mirror. “I didn’t fall down the stairs?”

  Whit stood there silently, hoping she wouldn’t put two and two together. “Mia, what happened up there?” he asked cautiously.

  “You got yourself a ghost hanging around.”

  “Hanging...”

  “Yep, from the rafters at the other end of the attic, away from the door.” Mia fussed with her hair a bit, trying to hide the lump. “Man, that’s gonna bruise.” She looked over at Whit and wondered if he was pale because of the ghost or was feeling guilty about something. “First, I thought he...”

  “He?”

  “A man dressed in early nineteenth-century clothes, spats, I think.” She paused.

  “Go on.”

  “I thought he was a memory, you know - residual haunting. In that case, he wouldn’t be interacting with your family but...”

  “But...” he encouraged.

  “No, the bastard looked at me. He’s a baddy. Maybe a priest, if the spirit was a churchgoer, could send him on his way by blessing the house. I hear it’s expensive but...”

  “With resale and all,” Whit mused. “Damn it to hell.”

  “Maybe, I don’t know. My best advice is, don’t buy it.” Mia walked over to the middle house and saw that there were three faces in the downstairs windows alone. “This house sucks, and don’t get me started on the one on the other end.”

  “What happened here?” Whit asked.

  “I don’t know. I just know it was bad. Spirits don’t stick around usually. Some are happy,” Mia said, watching Daisy waltzing by herself. “Most aren’t.”

  “Ask them,” Whit snapped.

  “Do I look like a freaking ghost whisperer?” Mia stomped back over to her truck. “I came here to do you a favor, not get sucked down a hole so deep that I’ll never climb out.” Mia opened the door and climbed in. She shut the door, started the truck and rolled down the window.

  Whit walked up to the truck. “What’ll I do? Sherry wants a house, and I can’t afford to build a new one.”

  “I have a feeling that Murphy’s place will be real cheap, real soon,” Mia said as she shut the window.

  Whit watched her back out and wasn’t surprised when she spun a little gravel on her way down the street.

  “Murphy’s place, huh,” Whit said aloud as he opened up his car door. “Of course, that would mean sharing it with Axeman.” He got in and started the engine. “Could have its benefits, plenty of firewood...” his voice trailed off, and as he drove away, he took one last look at the brown brick that had now lost all its appeal.

  Daisy waved her hanky at the car as the tall man left. She wasn’t the only one watching as Whit drove away. It seemed like a crowd had formed, an angry crowd.

  Chapter Eleven

  Mia put on her flashers and pulled the truck over. Her head was killing her, but she had a job to do. There were more markers to activate before she could go home for some needed R&R. The hollow was getting to her. Her adventures in returning favors were taking a toll. Every time she reached out and befriended this community, it cost her.

  After she replaced the battery cover, she stopped a moment and surveyed her surroundings. This particular tract of land had been cleared of trees thirty years ago. Developers thought that the new highway would bring commuters to this far edge of northern Illinois. Unfortunately for the investors, the highway commission neglected to put an exit ramp within twenty miles of the road into the hollow.

  Still, people had found their way here, mostly vacationers, hunters and the like. But they didn’t buy, they rented.

  Mia brushed off her hands and checked her boot bottoms before getting back into the truck. “Two more to go,” she reminded herself.

  ~

  April checked her watch again. She was late. The team was due at her home in less than thirty minutes. Her Jeep Cherokee that she had purchased more for show than for the four-wheel drive was filled with catering. She opted not to cook anything herself as that meant more time in her home, alone. Or not so alone.

  She tapped her horn lightly as she passed Mia who was working on the last marker before her home. One more turn and there it was, her dream house. “I’ll write a book about this one day,” she said to encourage herself to get out of the jeep. “They’ll make a movie out of it.” She smiled wondering who would play her. “Someone young and stylish,” she thought. April had kept her size four frame tight with constant diets and Pilates. This left her with ropey arm muscles, but everyone who was anyone had them.

  She decided t
o bring the platters of sandwiches and buckets of bottled water and soda pop to the porch first. She didn’t want to be alone in the house any longer than necessary. After her third trip to the jeep, she saw Mia pull in at the end of the drive. She waved at her and motioned for Mia to join her when she was finished.

  “Damn, she saw me,” Mia said to Murphy who greeted her with a crack of the axe. “Now don’t you go smashing up my markers, hear?”

  Murphy shot his body to attention and saluted.

  “Now, where did you learn that? Are you watching television?”

  Murphy looked guilty and kicked the dirt.

  “Ah, don’t worry about it, I’m just surprised.” She wanted to comfort the ghost, but how? “Remember, for your sake, I would stay away from anyone with a camera.” She mimed holding a box in front of her eye. “Camera.”

  He smiled, took off his hat and smoothed his hair back before replacing it.

  “So you want your picture taken? Cool beans. It’s your life... afterlife, whatever.”

  Mia finished activating the light and got in the truck. She pulled it around so it was facing out and wouldn’t get blocked in when the PEEPs team arrived.

  ~

  April grimaced as the dusty woman climbed the steps.

  “Need some help?” Mia asked, nodding at the assembly of snacks.

  “Yes, but could you take off your boots first?”

  “No problem,” is what she said, “Take a flying leap” is what she meant. She untied her boots, pulled her feet out and opened the boot tops real wide so she could jump into them if she had to in a hurry.

  April took a deep breath and unlocked the door. “Between you and I... I don’t want to go in there.”

  “Neither do I,” Mia comforted. “But let’s be brave, shall we?” She bent down and picked up a platter. “After you.”

  The door swung open easily. April sped through and switched on every light downstairs before Mia made the kitchen. Mia didn’t see or feel anything, much to her relief. It was early, and - with one exception who was nosing around the soda bucket at the moment - most entities on this property waited until dark to roam around.

  April swept past her with two more trays. “Just the two buckets left. Could you get those? I’m going to pull the car around.”

  “Pull it behind mine if you’re looking for a quick exit,” Mia counseled. She watched April leave the house in no less than a full-out run. “Hey, Murph, I betcha Whit’s going to get this house for a song.”

  Murphy smiled. He liked the tall sheriff’s deputy.

  ~

  As promised, the markers were lit, and as the lead driver of their convoy, Burt appreciated them. With the overgrowth of low vegetation and young trees, every corner looked like the one before.

  “She did a nice job,” Mike commented as they pulled into the Johnston place.

  “Yes, she did.” Burt parked his SUV around the drive and backed in near the front porch.

  Mike jumped out and directed the other two trucks into place. The former SWAT truck was painted black with a yellow marshmallow chicken on the side chasing a marshmallow ghost, the logo for PEEPs, on each side. Ted backed the van in before he started wiring a new gadget he had envisioned on the trip over.

  The girls were in Beth’s Honda. Amber was busy retouching her makeup. Beth was thrilled to be out of the car. Why did she always have to travel with the young and fraudulent? Between the two of them, conversation was filled with non-starters, and they argued constantly about the music on the radio.

  Mia nodded at Burt as she passed the SUV on the way to her truck. Mike reached out and caught her by the arm.

  “You’re not staying?”

  “Nope.”

  “Not interested?” he asked.

  “Nope.” Mia pried Mike’s fingers from her arm. “We are done here,” she insisted. “Don’t touch me again.”

  “What is your problem, bitch?” he called after her.

  Mia tucked her head down and drew all her walls up around her as she did when the tangible world hurled abuse at her. She almost walked through Murphy. She saw his feet and pulled her body up in time to look deep into the farmer’s soulful eyes. He reached out, and she could almost feel him. His eyes darted towards Mike.

  “No, no. Come with me, please,” she pleaded. She unlocked the door of the truck and climbed in. Murphy preferred the fresh air, so he climbed in the truck bed. Mia drove away from the house, turning left instead of right and quickly pulling off the road. She didn’t know how far Murphy could go.

  Getting out of the truck, she walked around, opened up the tailgate and sat down. Murphy sat down beside her. “I’m sorry,” she began. “I was afraid you would think that man, Mike, was hurting me. He wasn’t. It was me. I wasn’t in the mood to answer any questions. Do you understand?”

  Murphy turned and raised his hand towards Mia’s face. She felt a static between his hand and her face. It tickled and she laughed. He nodded and withdrew his hand.

  “That was so cool. Thanks, Murph.” Mia jumped down off the tailgate. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

  Murphy nodded, picked up his axe and fell into step beside her.

  “I don’t want you to miss out on what’s going on. I’ll be back later to check up on April’s guests. I don’t have a good feeling about what’s building in that house.” She had reached the edge of the drive, and Murphy walked up to her and touched her again. He left her with a tingle that turned into an ache as he disappeared down the drive.

  ~

  April impatiently waited while Ted set up his walking camera. Mike wanted her to run through again what happened two nights before, this time for the camera.

  “Okay, on one. Three... two...” He held up one finger.

  “Ms. Johnston, can you tell us what happened?” Mike began.

  Burt quietly slipped out the front door and ran down the drive. He had just seen Mia looking in at the place, and he hoped to catch her before she drove off again. He found her twenty feet from the entrance. She was sitting on the tailgate, one foot swinging back and forth.

  “Excuse me, Mia. Can I have a moment?” Burt asked.

  She looked up and swung her body around and patted the tailgate. “Have a seat.”

  “I want to apologize for Mike, he’s...”

  “He didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve just had a bad day.”

  Burt hoisted himself up and sat down. “We are so excited. I think this will be the big break we have been looking for,” he explained. The setting sun broke through some low lying clouds, and as it illuminated Mia’s face, he saw what she was trying to hide with her hair. “My god, what happened to your face?”

  “You know that old cherry ‘a door hit me’? Well, I hit a door jamb.”

  Burt pulled off her cap and felt her scalp. “How did you get hit on both sides?”

  “Now, for that, you’ll have to ask Whitney.”

  “Who’s Whitney?”

  “He’s a deputy. You may have seen him the first day you were here.”

  “Why did he hit you?” Burt Hicks felt his blood pressure climb.

  “No, I fainted, and the goof was carrying me and... Well, he won’t own up to it, but I think he used my head as a pry bar. Anyway, that’s how it feels right now.”

  “Care to elaborate?”

  “Off record?”

  He laughed. “Off record.”

  “I saw something so horrible in the attic of a house he wanted me to check out that I fainted, and Whit got me out of there.”

  “This happens a lot?”

  “Seeing things?” Mia’s face twisted.

  “No, fainting.”

  “Fortunately no. I’m okay now. Thanks for asking.”

  Burt looked at his watch. “I got to get back.”

  “Good luck. Be safe. Remember, things you can’t see, can hurt you...”

  Burt did a double take. “What?”

  “Just a pear of wisdom.”

  “A pear?”


  “Don’t like pearls...”

  “And you like pears.” He smiled and started walking back. Turning around, he asked, “Why are you still here?”

  “I don’t really know. If you need me...” Mia said, jumping off the tailgate, “call Rose.”

  Burt nodded, waved and turned back around and ran back. He heard her slam the tailgate, and as he turned in, he heard her truck start up. As she drove off and her engine noise died down, he heard a horse galloping. He ran faster. If they were lucky maybe they would get the sound on tape.

  Chapter Twelve

  After they set up the cameras, Ted took the remainder of the sandwiches out to the van where Burt was working out a schedule. The house needed to be covered by two investigators and a cameraman or woman at all times. One of the problems with this schedule was that he knew better than to put Amber in front of a camera held by Ted, as all he focused on was her chest.

  Mike was no help as he felt he was the talent. It would be his face and not his knuckles holding a camera that would be seen.

  “Did you get any of these?” Ted asked, setting the tray down.

  “Not my thing, all those cucumbers.” Burt barely glanced at them. “But you enjoy yourself.”

  “They’re not bad if you eat them with your pinkie out,” Ted said, delicately holding one up.

  “Who’s got their pinkie out?” Amber’s sultry voice warned them of her approach. “If it’s you, Ted, I warned you about public displays...”

  “Don’t worry, it’s so small, we won’t even need to blur it in editing,” Burt joked.

  “Hey now, let’s not get into a cock fight,” Ted growled.

  “He’d lose,” Burt said. “I feel sorry for his momma. No grandchildren coming out of...”

  “Boys!” Amber scolded as she climbed in and snagged a few sandwiches before sitting down.

  “So what did you think of April?” Burt asked her.