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

  Sherry noticed the attic door was open. She smiled as she ascended the stairs to her new studio. The light was on, and the room was filled with music and people who turned and applauded her entrance. She gave a little bow. “I thank you,” she said, caught up in what she thought was her fantasy.

  Gone were the roughhewn lumber and the smell of pine. Instead, the odor of expensive perfume and cigars filled the room. Wisps of white danced into gowns worn by beautiful women. A flutter of sound formed into a murmur before becoming the deep baritone voices of the gentlemen who guided their ladies around the room, stopping to admire Sherry’s paintings that were housed in priceless frames held aloft as if by magic.

  A tall man approached smiling and turned, giving her his arm, which she took. He encouraged her to the small stage at the end of the room. “Come, your public awaits. Just open up and let go,” he said as he wrapped a colorful scarf around her neck. He handed her a champagne flute. Sherry took a drink and giggled as the bubbles tickled her nose.

  “Speech, speech...” the crowd chanted.

  “Ladies and gentlemen...”

  “Can’t hear you,” a voice interrupted.

  “Here,” the tall man helped her up onto a small platform.

  “Thank you,” she said, a bit wary as his smile was too wide, his eyes too dark. “Ladies and...” Sherry lost her balance and fell.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “You realize that in searching for this cellar, the team may damage...”

  “How much damage?” April asked.

  “I don’t really know,” Beth admitted.

  “Maybe you want to stick around. That way you can tell us what we can and can’t do,” Burt recommended.

  April stood shivering on the front porch with just a sweater around her shoulders. She had arrived in the full sun, and now that it was dark, the temperature had dropped drastically. She looked down at Mia for help. “What do you think?”

  Mia screwed up her face a moment before replying, “If the cellar is the source of the haunting, maybe it would be worth replacing some drywall in order to find it. I was hoping to find an exterior entrance.”

  “But if you can’t, they want permission to tear down a few walls,” April confirmed.

  “That’s what they’re asking. I don’t know what they’ll do once they find it...”

  “If it’s the source, then we stand a chance of finding out why the apparition is here. Clues,” Beth said calmly. “There have been documented cases that once a spirit has been satisfied, they move on.”

  The sound of an axe falling stopped the conversation. Mia looked off into the distance. “Excuse me, I think I left my phone in the truck,” she said to the group before walking off.

  “Hey Murph, I hear you, but I can’t see you,” Mia whispered as she neared the corner of the house. She scanned the darkness, looking for a darker patch holding an axe. She felt a tingle on her arm and turned to look into Stephen Murphy’s face. “K, here we are, just the two of us. Hell, back off a bit. If you were flesh and blood, we’d be breathing the same air.”

  Murphy walked in front of her and motioned for her to follow him. They were at the back side of the farmhouse. Murphy kicked at a group of young yews. He took his axe and let it drop through the bushes without making a sound.

  “It’s here. You’re telling me the entrance to the root cellar is here.” Mia ran over and pulled on a young bush. The roots held for a moment before letting loose which sent her ass-over-tit to the ground. Being a tough girl, Mia got up and began digging under the uprooted bush. Her nails hit wood, and she stopped and reached into her pocket for a penlight.

  “It’s wood, the doors. Oh, Murphy, I could kiss your scratchy face,” Mia said, getting to her feet. “I’ve got to run, be right back.” She took off running around the house.

  The group was still debating taking down the pantry wall when an out of breath Mia lunged out of the darkness. “Stop, wait.” She raised a hand and waited until she had caught her breath. “The good news is that I found an entrance to the cellar.” She raised a finger again. “The bad news is, you’re going to need a landscaper after we’re done.”

  “What do you mean?” April asked. She was relieved her drywall was no longer in danger of being destroyed, but what was this about her plants?

  “Follow me.” Mia straightened up and led the group around the house. “Mind the yew.” She pointed out the bush with her penlight. “It’s under the bushes. Do you see where I dug?”

  Burt dropped to a kneeling position, reached into the hole she had scratched out, and his fingers found the wood. He shook his head. “You’re one crazy broad. I think it could be a door. Beth, better get Ted. We’ll need his muscle. Leave Mike be, he has a bad back. Miss Johnston, do you by chance have a shovel or two?”

  “In the garage. Wait, you’ll need the keys.” April dug in her pocket and produced a set.

  Mia intercepted the keys. “I’ll get the shovels.” She set off and came right back. “Don’t mean to bother you, but maybe we could use some lights?” She turned and disappeared again.

  Burt thought a moment and picked up his walkie-talkie. “Beth, over.”

  “Beth here.”

  “We need to get this place illuminated.”

  “One ahead of you. Spotlights are on the way with Ted.”

  “Well, Miss Johnston, you better grab a coat or get yourself inside because we’re going to be here a while.”

  “I think I’ll go back to the B&B. You can reach me there.”

  “Fine, then we have your permission...”

  “Yes, just get rid of it,” she said and left.

  ~

  “Murph,” Mia called as she entered the converted barn which was now used as a garage. She turned on the lights, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. “Oh, hell.” She had run into a sack of fertilizer.

  Mia rubbed her toe as she scanned the space, looking for the shovels. On the near wall she found two spades. She grabbed them, and as she walked over to turn out the lights, she noticed a hand waving a hankie.

  “Daisy, good god, how did you get here?” Mia asked. Not expecting an answer, she spoke again, “Wait here, I will be right back. Don’t move.” Mia took off running with the spades. Burt and Ted were already clearing the area of small plants. “Here’s the shovels. I have a small emergency to see to. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said, and Burt just waved her on distractedly.

  When she got back to the garage, Daisy had managed to form a shoulder and part of her face. She beckoned Mia to come to her. “Okay, I think I understand. I’ll be there soon.” Mia watched Daisy fade before turning out the light. She flipped open her phone and called Whit.

  “Sherry?” Whit’s panicked voice asked.

  “No, Mia. Listen, Daisy showed up here at Murphy’s. Has Sherry come home yet?”

  “Who’s Daisy? No, she’s still gone, and I called everyone.”

  “Would Sherry go to the hollow by herself?” Mia asked.

  “No, yes, I don’t know... Did this Daisy say she saw Sherry?”

  “No, I just sensed a whole lot of fear.”

  “So you’re an empath now?”

  “Listen, you idiot. Something from the hollow is here at Murphy’s. I think she was trying to get me to go with her. I’m going to head out there now. I suggest you get a ride over there pronto. I’ll call you soon as I know anything.”

  “Mia, don’t hang up!” she heard as she shut the phone and shoved it into her pocket. She ran right by Murphy and jumped into the truck. He pushed his hat to the back of his head, puzzled. “I’ll be back,” she told him as she drove down the drive.

  The Ford’s shocks had a major workout as Mia’s speed increased. She wasn’t far away as the crow flies, but the way the roads were laid out, it would take her some time to reach the hollow. “Hell, what am I doing? Going to the hollow in the dark. I must be insane.” The Ford skidded on the last turn, but Mia managed to keep it from ending up in a ditc
h. When she straightened out from the skid, the truck’s headlights cut through down the dark road, reflecting off Whit’s sedan.

  She hit redial with her thumb.

  “Yes?”

  “Your car’s here,” she shouted at the phone as she continued to drive full out towards the houses. Jamming on her brakes, she jumped out of the truck and ran over to the car. “Whit, she’s not in the car.”

  “Mia! Put the phone to your ear!” Whit’s distant voice commanded.

  She held the phone to her ear. “Shit, Whit, it’s so dark here, wait...” Mia saw Daisy pointing away from the graveyard at the houses. She turned and looked. “There’s a light on upstairs in the brown house... We locked that house, didn’t we?”

  “Mia, I’m almost there. Don’t go in alone.”

  She started running. “Hurry, I don’t think there is much time. I have to go in. Daisy’s frantic.” Mia shut the phone off with her thumb. By the time she hit the steps, the phone was stuffed in her pocket.

  The door was standing open, so Mia barreled into the house and took the steps two at a time. “Sherry,” she called over and over until she heard Sherry talking from the attic stairs in the master suite.

  “I’m coming,” she answered, barely able to breathe. Ignoring the stitch in her side, she pushed herself to run the last few feet. She saw the open staircase and climbed the stairs two at a time. When she burst through the door, the sight that greeted her nearly took her sanity away.

  Sherry stood smiling with a rope around her neck. She was talking. “Ladies and...” She wobbled and fell off the saw horse she stood on. There was an audible crack as Mia reached her. She caught her body and pushed upwards with all her strength. Sherry’s body began to shut down as Mia grabbed at the rope and loosened it until she could free the woman.

  Sherry’s weight overcame Mia, and the two of them fell to the floor. Mia moved quickly to try to stabilize the broken woman.

  Mia opened the phone, hit redial. “Send an ambulance, Whit. It’s Sherry, and it’s bad.”

  “Tom’s calling it in. Talk to me, Mia, tell me.”

  “She was hanging from the rafters. I came too late, but she’s still alive, hurry.”

  “Less than a minute away.” Whit hung up, and Mia was left with silence and fear.

  “Sherry,” Mia cooed. “Honey, Whit’s on his way. Everything will be okay when he gets here,” she said, more for herself than the woman who was rapidly slipping away. “You’re so cold. Let me find something to cover you.” Mia took off her jacket and gently covered her. She knew Sherry needed more warmth. Mia remembered the old wool blanket in her tool box. Mia left her and headed down the attic stairs.

  The sound of the speeding patrol car brought Mia to the window of the master suite. She unlocked the casement and pushed it upwards. She yelled down, “Blanket, bring blankets, first aid, hurry.”

  Tom went to the trunk while Whit ran into the house and up the stairs. He entered the room and saw his too-still wife. He crouched down. “Oh, honey, Sherry.”

  Mia ran out to meet Tom for the blanket. She grabbed it and ran up the stairs. As she panted up the last flight of stairs, her heart broke as she witnessed her strong friend reduced to a pleading boy asking God for help.

  “Whit, I’m going to cover her now. She’s still alive, but she’s too cold.

  “Shock,” he said, rocking Sherry in his arms.

  “I imagine so, here...” she comforted, “Come on, let’s get her covered so Tom can help us out.” Mia maneuvered around Whit to bundle Sherry in the blanket. “There now, Tom’s coming in.” Mia motioned with her hand to Tom who was hovering in the doorway.

  She got up and let the professional lawman help his friend and what was left of his friend’s wife while she ran down to wait for the ambulance. The minute she left the house, her anger surged to the surface. What good was her gift if no one paid any attention to her? She told them not to mess with the hollow houses. It was more a curse than a gift. All she got out of it was grief. Whack job, nut case and loony were the nice tags she’d gotten for her trouble. Now a woman was hurt, maybe beyond recovering.

  The flashing lights of the approaching vehicles did little to comfort her. She flipped the porch light on and off to signal them. She didn’t even want to think of what could be lurking in the other two houses.

  Tom came down the stairs to manage the emergency workers. Mia stepped aside and walked over to the one place she would feel safe. Daisy greeted her with a wave of her handkerchief.

  “Thank you, Daisy.”

  Daisy angled her head towards the house.

  “She’s still alive but... bad.”

  Daisy nodded solemnly.

  “How did you get to Murphy’s?” Mia asked. “I recognized the hanky.”

  She raised her eyes upwards and smiled.

  “Ah, a secret, a divine secret,” Mia said, trying to feel comfort from the idea. “It would be nice to think we had a little help from upstairs from time to time.”

  Daisy moved over to Mia and pointed to her chest.

  “My heart?” she asked.

  The apparition nodded and put her own hand to her chest and faded. A gentle rain started to fall, causing Mia to seek shelter away from the graveyard. She ran back to her truck and got in to wait until they brought Sherry out of the house.

  Chapter Twenty

  It started raining, and Burt decided that digging in the rain and in the dark was just plain lunacy. Plus, Mike and Amber wanted another go at the ghost in the house and thought the noise the digging made would be picked up on the microphones.

  He was too tired to hold a camera so he assigned the job to Ted. Beth, by this time, was mud covered and was sent back to the B&B to get cleaned up. “You might as well call it a night. Check in with April. When she left here, she was a bit uncomfortable.”

  “Enough said,” Ted replied. “Come on, Beth, Burt’s getting cranky.

  ~

  Murphy stood and stared at the half-covered cellar doors. He raised his axe and let it fall. The sound was muted because of the rain, but Burt still heard it and vowed to get that rascal on film.

  ~

  Mia parked her truck at Murphy’s and noticed they were short Beth’s vehicle. She almost turned around at that point, but she said she’d be back, and rain or no rain, here she was.

  She tapped gently on the back door of the van, and Burt opened up the doors and invited her in.

  “Sorry, I didn’t expect to be gone so long.”

  He looked at her face, and where he expected to see exhaustion, he found also a deep sadness almost verging on despair.

  “I’ve got a thermos of coffee. Want some?” he offered.

  “Yes, I think I’m not going to get any sleep tonight anyway.” Mia climbed in and inched her way to a chair, mindful of the cables and discarded fast food wrappers. “Do you mind if I watch for a bit?” She accepted the mug of coffee. “I love your mugs.” She couldn’t help but smile at the little yellow chicken on the side. “The marshmallow peep, your idea I assume.”

  Burt smiled. “You’re very perceptive. How did you figure it out? Did Beth tell you?”

  “Nope, I thought about it awhile. You’re serious about your paranormal investigations but still understand the campiness of the whole operation. The PAC-MAN ghost on the side is inspired. I want a t-shirt before you go.” Mia stopped to take a drink of her coffee. The rich, strong flavor warmed her very soul. “Maryanne make this?”

  “No, me. After April left, I found a coffee pot, and in her freezer was this Kenyan Coffee. I put everything back afterwards, but she’s gonna have a shit-fit. So enjoy it now because I don’t think I will be around to make you any more.”

  “Too bad, this is so good.” Mia tapped the edge of the large viewing monitor. “How many cameras do you have in there, six?”

  “Actually, six that have feeds into the computer, and Ted is manning one. Let’s see, they were headed for the kitchen... Yes, see them there?” Burt tap
ped the screen.

  Mia looked in the middle of the top tier and could see the trio walking around the kitchen. Mike was holding out a digital microphone. “What’s he saying?”

  “Oh probably the same mumbo jumbo. Make a sound, let us know you’re here, we can help...”

  “Can you?” Mia asked seriously.

  “No, probably not. By the time we hear - and that’s if we hear - any voice on the recorder, it could be days later. Most of the time, the voice doesn’t really respond to the questions.”

  “That’s frustrating.”

  “Yes, the team...”

  “I mean the entities,” Mia interrupted. “Must really rile them up.”

  “You have a different perspective, I imagine,” Burt fished.

  “Just had more time to think about it.”

  “Guess so.”

  They watched the cameras in silence. Mia tried to take in all of them at once and decided that was insanity, so she concentrated on one at a time. She waved her hand at the screen and asked, “How do you see all this without getting a headache?”

  “I get migraines actually.”

  “I hear ya. So what do you do?”

  “I concentrate on the middle set and use my peripheral vision to alert me to any movement,” Burt explained. “Try it.”

  Mia nodded and focused on the middle camera shot of the kitchen. Amber was sitting at the dinette waving her hands around. “She real?”

  “Thinks she is, but I doubt it. Are you?”

  “Real. Pinch me, but I warn you, pinch me too hard, and I’ll deck you.” Mia held out her arm.

  “You know what I mean,” Burt grouched.

  “Ah, I’d be willing to tell you my story, but not here. There are too many recording devices.”