“Mia, stall a moment,” Ted requested. “I’m sending Curly around back.”
Mia nodded. “Mike, I’m having a problem with my pack,” she said, arching her back, trying to reach behind her.
“Mia, you nasty thing,” Ted said, shaking his head.
Mike spent five minutes adjusting the pack as Mia did her best to distract the investigator while Burt fumed.
“Okay, Mia, we’re ready,” Ted said. “We better sleep with our doors locked tonight,” Ted teased.
“I’m ready,” Mia said.
Mike looked at her oddly.
“Not for that. There’s a child here,” Mia scolded.
Burt sighed and gave Mia and Mike that look. He turned to Mark and said, “Okay, Mark, I’m going to have you lead Mike around the interior of the place. Mia will hang back a bit. She needs a little room to sense things. I want you to talk freely, but watch your language. Remember we’re on television. Cooper, that goes double for you.”
Mia saluted.
“If at any time you feel uncomfortable and want to leave, just say so. If you can’t talk - sometimes that happens when a person gets scared - tap the earcom three times. Ted or Cid will talk for you. We’ll get you out of there. There are no heroics. This is a simple walkthrough for us to assess the situation here.”
“If I see a ghost, can I speak to it?”
“Yes. Please do,” Burt said and patted the young man on the shoulder.
“Okay, team, let’s go. Mike, start with the introduction.”
“Hello, everyone. Today, we are in northwestern Illinois with Mark Leighton. He’s asked us to investigate an old house where he has seen evidence of ghosts. Mark, tell us about the place and how you came to discover it.”
Mia looked around, taking in the ambiance. She didn’t like the feeling she got, the closer she got to the house, but the moment she stepped onto the porch, the feeling changed. Instead of malevolence, she felt benevolence. She stepped down and malice returned. She got back up on the porch.
Mark and Mike had entered the house. Burt waited for her, and she rushed in. This room was large, the ceiling high. She suspected that it was a large company room of some kind. The room started to waver, and she was about to call for help when it settled down, as if it knew she was frightened. It slowly came into focus. “Oh my,” Mia whispered. “The room is showing itself to me. It’s beautiful, Ted. Rich but worn furniture, and there are rag rugs here and there. Rich reds and browns.”
Mike and Mark stopped. “Here is where I saw the man the first time. He was bent over a desk. He turned and seemed to act as if he knew I was there but wasn’t sure if he could trust his eyes.”
“I knew he was in the house,” Sam said. “I’m not going to punish him, but I will speak to him.”
“The pull of a haunted house is too much for kids his age,” Cid told him.
Mia moved to the spot and ran her hand along the roll top desk. She raised the lid and saw a stack of papers. “He was writing a book,” she said. “By hand.” She looked at the top paper. “He was calling it Strawberry Wine. I wonder if it survived the cleanout.”
Burt focused in on his sensitive. Mia was captivated by something they couldn’t see. He watched the childlike wonder that filled her beautiful features. Gone was the seductress that teased Mike. Here was the innocent child that had yearned for acceptance. He saw her as a child with scabby knees. He touched his earcom. “Ted, what are you seeing?”
“Mia looking at nothing we can see.”
“Is it normal Mia or…”
“She looks the same as when she went in there. Why?”’
“I’m seeing a four, maybe five-year-old girl.”
“Look over at Mike and Mark. What do you see?” Cid asked.
“Mike’s in his baseball uniform. There is a big grass stain on his knee. Mark looks the same.”
“The house is showing you how you see Mike and Mia. They sometimes act like children, so you’re seeing them as children,” Cid explained.
“Oh shi-oot, back to the shrink,” Burt said.
“Mike, do me a favor and look over at Mia. What are you seeing?” Cid asked him, putting a restraining hand on Ted’s arm.
“I… Oh my, I see the Ice Queen.” Mike shook his head. “She’s back to normal. What the fu… fun was that?”
“The house is giving you all a gift,” Cid said. “Mark, this is Cid. Look over at Mia. What do you see?”
“An angel with luminous wings. She’s wearing armor, but it’s still Mia.”
Ted leaned back and put his hands through his hair a moment and then leaned into the microphone and instructed, “Burt, switch to the ultraviolet lens.”
Sam put his hand on Cid’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“They are having hallucinations. Mia is seeing the house as it once was. The others have convoluted images of each other,” Cid explained.
“Mia, talk to Teddy Bear.”
“Ted, the house is so beautiful. I feel a breeze. I need to close a window. The rain is coming, and I don’t want the carpet to be spoiled.”
Ted motioned to Murphy to go in there. “I’m sending Murphy in to get all of you out, just until we figure this out.”
“If you think it’s necessary,” she said.
Murphy leaped onto the porch and moved quickly into the room. Mia looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. “Hello, have we met?”
“Mia, it’s Murph,” he said, touching her face.
Mia snapped out of it. “Hey, Murph, what’s going on?”
“We have to get them out, now,” ordered Ted.
“K,” she said dreamily, falling quickly back into the vision of the beautiful room.
“Mia, wake up!” Ted called.
“Cid, get them out now!” Ted said.
Cid launched himself out of the truck and was inside in a flash. He guided Mike and Mark outside before returning for Burt. He took the camera from the investigator. Cid
