The Siege by Alexie Aaron Read Free Book Online Page B

the hall listening.  He came just in time to hear about Mia’s former lovers.  He thought that Mia and Ted had always been together.  Even when he was observing them from his drug-hazed perch on the roof of Lucky’s, he could see the attraction.  But no one asked him.  They just thought he was a dumb kid.  He cleared his voice and strolled into the room.  “That was the best meal I’ve had yet.  You should exchange your apron for a chef’s hat, Cid.”
    Cid got up only hearing the word apron .  Mike got between the two.  “I think he was giving you a compliment.”
    “You don’t have to defend me, old man ,” Dave said a second before Mike turned around and punched him.
    Dave fell like a length of pine.  Maggie walked over, and instead of licking the face of the fallen teen, she cleaned the plate that fell to the floor with him.
     

     
     

    Chapter Four
     
    “It wasn’t fully formed and only had the strength to manifest for a few minutes,” Mia said.  “But it did unnerve me.”
    “I’m not leaving you alone again.  Either I or Murphy is going to be with you until you’re back one-hundred percent.”
    “Ted, I’m pregnant, not a cripple,” Mia argued.  “I just think that if we are going to live out there, we should have a safe room or exit strategy just in case.”
    Ted and she were walking to the front of the house to retrieve Curly from the foyer.  He had run through all of the rooms twice with Ted and Mia watching the feeds for anything that needed their immediate attention.  The poltergeists, having no one to impress, had ceased their assault of the home for the time being.
    “I hope you’re not upset with me,” Ted said softly.  “I agree with you on the room.  Maybe the nursery since it has its own bathroom, and Cid put in a few extras on Murphy’s insistence.”
    Mia stopped and asked, “What did they do?”
    “According to Cid, they ghost-proofed the room. He says as long as the windows and doors are closed then no ghosts can get in.  Murphy tested it from all angles, and the room, including the plumbing, is secure.”
    “There goes my babysitter,” Mia said.  “Why would Murphy do that?”
    “If the door is open, he can come and go that way, or the window for that matter.  He told Cid that he wanted our baby to be safe from his kind.”
    “So he sacrificed his access to our little one for the baby’s safety?” Mia asked.
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t know whether to hug the old goat or smack him for not telling me.”
    “You two have an interesting relationship,” Ted said.
    Mia turned their attention back to the task at hand.  “I had a look at those interviews while you were at the gas station.  I sensed a trend in the attacks on the household members.”
    “Really? Tell me.”
    Mia pulled out a memo pad and looked at her notes before speaking.  “The twins, Tracy and Tricia, mentioned they were having a tug of war with the unknown involving clothes they hadn’t worn in a while.  Tracy said she didn’t appreciate them until something was trying to take them away.  The older boy, Nathan, received a smack in the face when he was watching television while his younger brother Joel heard a snapping of fingers whenever he was playing his Gameboy.  You do that to people who aren’t paying attention.  And Mr. Dawson was trapped in the garage by the doors shutting and locking themselves over and over.  Mrs. Dawson was trapped in her bathroom by all her beauty products being stacked on top of each other, filling the doorway.  They each had lost their freedom.  There were other poltergeist attacks with each falling under the themes of attention, appreciation and freedom.”
    “Whoa, that’s interesting.  You may want to run that by Cid.”
    “Didn’t he quit?”
    “He’d still be interested.  He’s into all that mind babble.”
    “Mind babble?” Mia asked amused.
    “Yes, psychology.  I think the Dawsons are conjuring the poltergeists