Deadly Chaos (11 page)

Chaos noticed that the depression next to her on the couch was gone. The chill in the air beside her had vanished too. “She’s gone.”

Linda rose to her feet and turned off the recorders. “I guess it’s a good thing that the owners don’t want us to get rid of their ghost. Usually, I help clean a house of spirits and help them into the light but if this lady doesn’t want to go, I couldn’t force her.” She pulled a walkie talkie out of her sweater pocket. “Dakota, can you do some research for us and see if you can find reference to a Susan who lived or died here?”

“Internet connection’s down,” he replied. “I’ll get on it when we’re back in town.”

“Thank you.”

Chaos wondered what he was doing in the van. There was a monitor hooked up so he could watch the images on the stationary cameras. Linda had called him their “protector.” What could he protect them from if he was sitting in a van outside? It bothered her that he didn’t like her but she pushed it away. It didn’t matter. Even if he did like her, she couldn’t, or rather wouldn’t, do anything about it. Everyone she’d ever got involved with had been hurt. Even one night stands weren’t safe. She’d tried it once, assuming if she didn’t get close to a man she could still have a little fun. He’d fallen down the stairs outside the hotel room and broken his neck. There was no way she was going to be responsible for any more deaths or injuries. She’d caused enough pain.

“Chaos, you ready for that coffee?” Sheila asked. “You look like you could use it.”

Numb and still in shock, Chaos stood and followed Sheila into the kitchen. She shone her flashlight around the room. It was a full scale industrial kitchen with three large baking ovens, giant mixers that could probably make fifty loaves of bread and tall carts with empty trays and muffin pans on them. “Can you make coffee in the dark?”

“Sure. Just shine your flashlight on the machine and I’ll do the rest.”

Chaos held her light on the espresso machine while Sheila measured out the coffee and thought about what the spirit, Susan, had said. “Where’d Linda go?”

“Probably back upstairs to the family’s residence. Kat is up there. I think they’re looking for objects that a spirit may have attached itself to since they can’t find reference to any deaths or tragedies in this place.” She threw her hands up in the air. “How in the heck do you turn this thing on?”

Chaos laughed and shone her light on the bright red button in the top right hand corner of the machine. “Maybe you should be holding the flashlight.”

“No, I got it.” She grabbed an espresso cup from the top of the machine, flipped a few switches and stepped back. “Perfecto! I think it needs a minute to warm up. You want milk? I think I want milk. Shine your light over on the walk-in freezer, okay?”

Chaos scanned the room with her light until she came upon a giant silver door. The walk-in freezer. Sheila practically skipped over to it and pulled the giant handle. “You’re not going in there are you?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“It just seems dangerous. What if you get locked in?” She left out, ‘by a ghost’ but Sheila understood.

“Come hold the door open then,” she said, with a casual shrug.

“Okay.” Feeling suddenly uneasy, Chaos swung the flashlight wildly around the room. “I think there’s someone in here.”

“Did you hear anything?”

“No.”

“Smell or feel anything?”

“No. I just…never mind.” She was just being jumpy. That stupid voice on the ghost box and the fact that it was pitch black had her imagination working overtime. “Let me hold the door.” The door was heavier than Chaos expected it to be and it wanted to close. Not because some unseen force was pushing it but rather that’s the way the hinge was designed. The door automatically closed. She stood on the outside of the door and pulled it towards her to keep it open with her good hand.

“I can’t see in here. Come stand on the other side of the door so you can shine your light inside. My light isn’t working.”

“Why not?”

“Batteries are dying. We have more in the van. Sometimes happens when there’s a spiritual presence. They drain batteries pretty darn quickly. We always have tons of extras. No biggie.”

“No biggie,” Chaos mumbled and silently hoped her flashlight would stay strong. Moving around to the inside of the door she leaned against it with her body to keep it open and shone the light inside the freezer. “Butter.”

“Yeah, tons of it. I may never eat a muffin again. They have lard in here too. Cripes. Where’s the milk? Shine your light on the back shelves.”

  Chaos shone her light on the shelves in the back. They were full of bags of frozen fruit. She moved the light upwards. “There it is.” A lone gallon of whole milk sat on the top shelf.

“Of course it’s on the top shelf. Darn coffee is going to be cold before we get the milk.”Sheila stood on her tiptoes and extended her arms. “I can’t reach it. You’re taller than me. Come in and see if you can get it.”

“No way. I’m not coming in there and letting go of the door. Grab a chair or a stool or something.”

“Chicken,” she said with a big grin.

“Hey!”

“Kidding. I know you’re dealing with a lot. But really. It’s okay. We’re okay.”

“I’m still not coming in that freezer.”

“Fine. I’ll climb up to it.”  Grabbing the highest shelf she could, Sheila stepped up on the bottom shelf. The toes of her shiny white tennis shoes balanced on the edge of the metal shelf. Stretching, her fingertips brushed the handle of the full jug.

“You almost have it. Just stretch a little bit more.”

“I’m not a rubber band. I’m stretching as much as I can.” The shelf started to pull away from the wall.

“Sheila!” Chaos let go of the door and ran in to push the shelf back. She winced as pain shot through her wrist. The milk toppled and she caught it right before it smacked Sheila on the head. The freezer door slammed shut.

“You saved me,” Sheila beamed. “My hero.”

Chaos shoved the milk at her and ran for the door. “Shit, shit, shit. Please don’t be locked. Please.”  She pulled on the handle and the door swung open.

“Silly,” Sheila said as she strode through with the milk in her arms. “Don’t you think I would have known if it was dangerous to go in there?”

“If you know everything,” Chaos said, letting the freezer door slam closed behind her, “then why are we here?”She was getting grumpy. Her wrist hurt and she was ready to go home. She was even ready to deal with facing Dead Bill if it meant she could lie down in a bed and close her eyes.

Setting the milk down on the counter next to the espresso machine, Sheila turned and put her hands on her hips. “I like you, Chaos. You just say it like it is, don’t you? You gotta appreciate that in someone. No games. No guessing.”

“I suppose.” Sheila set to work making the espresso. Chaos held her flashlight on the machine so Sheila could see what she was doing.

“So why do people call you Chaos? Annie is such a pretty name.”

“I’ve never been called anything else. I’ve always caused trouble, even when I was little. Dad thought it was appropriate, I guess.”

Sheila poured the milk into a jug and put it under the steamer. “Still causing trouble?”

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Point taken. Don’t worry, Chaos. We’ll figure it all out. Here,” she handed Chaos a steaming cappuccino. “Enjoy your cappuccino. It’s been a long night.”

Chaos took a sip and sighed. “Perfect. Thank you. So now what?”

“Well, I think we should go down into the basement and then let Dakota and Linda take the final run through. We can go sit in the van and watch on camera. Do you need something for your wrist?”

“I have pain pills in my bag if it gets too bad. What’s in the basement?”

“Nothing. Storage and laundry. Typical basement. I suspect the EMF is high down there because all the wiring is exposed. High electromagnetic frequencies make people feel icky and imagine things, but we need to check. There’s also a theory that high EMF attracts spirits who use the energy to interact. We can also do a quick EVP. Finish your coffee. I’ll go get some new batteries. I think there are some in my coat pocket. I left it in the front room.”

Chaos took another sip of her cappuccino and made her way back to the coffee machine. She wanted to clean it up and turn it off before they moved on. She flipped the off switch. A stream of scalding water shot from the frother. Chaos yelped and jumped back. “Shit.”

“You okay?” Sheila hollered from down the hall.

“Yeah, must have hit the wrong button.” Though she was pretty sure she didn’t. In high school, she’d worked a short stint at a coffee shop. It was robbed three times in the month she worked there. She’d quit. As far as she knew, it was never robbed again. Grabbing a towel from the counter, she blotted her jeans. Damn, that hurt. She downed the last of her coffee. Walking over to the sink to rinse it out she felt cold fingers on the back of her neck. She gasped as they wrapped around her throat and squeezed like a vise grip on her esophagus. The cup in her hand crashed to the ground. The flashlight fell, bounced and rolled away, leaving her in the dark. Behind her she heard Sheila yelling but she couldn’t make out what she was saying. The grip squeezed. She couldn’t breathe. Chaos clawed at the fingers, trying to pry them off. She realized, too late, that she was clawing at her own neck. Coughing from the pressure on her esophagus, she could feel the blood to her brain slowing down. The pressure increased. Darkness inched in.

Light came on in the room. Stumbling, she saw Linda, Kat, and Sheila rushing at her. “Dakota!” Yelling, Linda started waiving her arms and chanting. She couldn’t make out the words over the roar in her head. Sheila and Kat were holding hands. Their eyes were closed.

Chaos realized she was on her own. Chanting and waving arms weren’t going to get her out of this mess. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. The pressure on her throat intensified. She was going to pass out. The room was dimming. Blackness crept into the edges of her vision. Chaos opened her eyes in a panic. Dakota was there.

She wasn’t sure where he came from but he was there, standing in front of her, his arms stretched outward and his back arched so his head looked straight up to the ceiling. Radiating light like the sun, he too was chanting. His mouth moved rhythmically but no sound came from his lips. Chaos could see swirls of color and wind whipping around him. His hair flapped around him as if he was standing in a hurricane yet those standing near him were still. His clothes didn’t move. Chaos realized that she could see through him, he was transparent – like a ghost. The realization terrified her. Was Dakota dead? Had her bad luck already affected them? Sadness filled her. Maybe she should just stop fighting and let it win. The pressure on her throat lessened a bit but it was replaced by a pressure on her chest.

“It’s trying to possess,” she heard Sheila announce. Sheila rushed her and grabbed her around the shoulders. “Fight it, Chaos. Reject it with everything you believe. Command it away.”

Chapter Fifteen

Mierde

Dakota heard the screams on the walkie. He wasn’t ready to expose this side of himself to their new protégé but he didn’t have a choice. His purpose was to protect and keep his team safe. Responding to their terror, his spirit warrior, Cheveyo, separated from his body with a powerful snap. His soul now outside of his body, Dakota crumpled to the floor of the van. He could still hear their screams. Something awful was happening. He had to get inside. He could feel Cheveyo fighting with something but it wasn’t enough. They weren’t going to make it if he couldn’t get in there. Dakota tried to move his arm. It felt like a wet sock. It didn’t want to obey him. Closing his eyes, Dakota imagined his arm reaching up and opening the van door. He felt the cold night air on his face. It worked. He visualized his legs climbing out of the van. His feet touched the pavement. Gravel dug into his knees as his feet collapsed beneath him. “This will work,” he said, determined to stand up. “It has to.” He heard Sheila scream. Dakota imagined himself standing, crossing the short space between the van and the bakery and walking through the door.

Pushing the door to the kitchen open, Dakota fell to the floor. It took more strength than he thought he had. Looking up he saw his warrior spirit, Cheveyo, fighting with the entity. It was an energetic push and pull. He strove to force it from the building. It wanted to consume, starting with Chaos. The battle left little energy for him to work with. He saw Chaos struggling; she was giving in. He could see the blackness getting closer to her, consuming her. Unable to stand, Dakota crawled toward her. Kat dashed over and offered him support.

“How the heck did you get in here?” She glanced back at his image still chanting in the middle of the room. “I didn’t think you could move when you’re divided.”

He couldn’t find the strength to answer her. Everything inside him hurt. He saw his spirit warrior in the room tearing the darkness away from Chaos but it wasn’t enough. This blackness was strong and it wanted her. For an instant he considered letting it take her. Chaos would be gone and things could return to normal. But he knew that wasn’t the right choice. Every fiber of his being urged him to protect her. Dakota didn’t understand the compulsion but he had to save Chaos. He opened his mind to Linda and sent her a thought like she’d taught him. “Linda, she needs help. Spirit help.”

“Chaos,” Linda said. “Call to your loved ones to help you. Call to those who have passed. “Dakota, get back in your body and help us.”

Dakota closed his eyes and imagined his fists clenching a rope that led from his body to his spirit warrior. He yanked on the cord with everything he had. The spirit rushed him. It slammed back inside him. Dakota stumbled backwards. Thank God for Kat holding him up or he would have collapsed. The shock of pulling his soul back into his body never failed to suck.

Dakota, still holding Kat’s hand, moved over to stand beside Chaos, Sheila, and Linda. The women placed their hands on her to help. “Call your mom,” Linda instructed. “Your dad, your grandfather. Ask everyone you’ve ever loved to come and help. You need their help.”