The Mystery of the Dancing Lights: Baker City Mysteries, #4

By Éric Desmarais

Mysteries are Elizabeth Coderre's life, and after wizards, hags, artificers, vampires, kobolds, genies, and killer kittens, she thinks she's seen everything.

She's wrong! 

And when she goes to Riding Thorpe summer camp, which is built on an old government experimental facility, she discovers that there's a lot she doesn't know.

Can she solve the mystery of the dancing lights, save her friends, and escape a time loop? Or is she cursed to relive her friends' deaths forever?

Includes a brand-new murder mystery novella by Jen Desmarais starring Kennedy Fairfield (from Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers) about her 1995 summer vacation in Baker.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Renaissance Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781990086571

Éric Desmarais

Éric has had an eclectic career which ranges from casino dealer to canal boat captain to radio station DJ. Since 2009, he's worked as a desktop publisher for the federal government. During his off time, he works as a freelance typesetter for various Canadian-based authors and publishers, roasts gourmet flavoured coffee, runs several pen-and-paper role-playing games, writes, and helps run JenEric-Designs.ca (Home of the TravellingTARDIS.com).He lives in Ottawa, Ontario with his author wife, daughter, and son. Visit him at www.EricDesmarais.ca.

Book preview

Prologue

July 25th, 2015

This place is freaking creepy! Eli shuddered as he talked. I hate cleaning up after adult summer camps. They’re disgusting.

Cait shook her head and fought the urge to scratch the itch behind her tight hair bun. She knew that he was just talking to avoid the odd silence of the place.

Camp Riding Thorpe was pretty nice compared to some of the places their family had been hired to clean. The main building, which housed the dining room, kitchen, and staff quarters, sat in the middle of a large open field with twenty smaller buildings surrounding it.

At least they have electricity, and we can use the vacuums this time, Cait said, trying to look on the positive side and ignore that insistent itch. The last place they’d cleaned was rustic and they’d had to use brooms until their mother came back with a generator. That may seem like not a big deal, but these camps could be pretty terrible without a wet vac as backup.

I don’t like this place. It’s too quiet. Where are the birds? Where’s the wind? There’s a lake out there; I can see it, but I can’t hear any water sounds. How is that normal? Eli stuck his head out of the small bathrooms he was cleaning to complain.

We’re probably in for a storm and this is the calm before it. Relax and maybe you should cut down on the horror movies? One of the things that made the family business more fun was that she could tease her little brother while they cleaned.

It’s just creepy, okay?

Okay, let’s get back to work. If we can finish this soon, we might have a chance to roast some marshmallows before bed.

Do we have any wieners left?

Cait opened her mouth to answer, but a loud scream cut through the silence of the evening.

They both dropped what they were doing and ran. The scream was still going as they ran up the creaky wooden stairs. As they reached the second and top floor, the scream changed into a series of disgusted noises.

They rounded the corner and found their youngest sister, Sonia, dancing around the middle of the hall alternating between screams, gagging noises, and repeating, Yuck, yuck, yuck! Her short brown hair bobbed up and down as she jumped around.

What’s going on? demanded Cait.

I found a condom!

So?

It’s used… and it’s not alone. There are a bunch of used condoms all over these rooms. What kind of animal doesn’t use a garbage? She followed her rant with another scream.

Well. Good talk, I have a washroom to clean. Eli turned around; his wide shoulders almost touched both sides of the hall. He looked so much like their father.

That kitchen won’t clean itself. Cait turned to follow him.

NO! screamed Sonia. You are not leaving me to clean all these… these… these… things on my own.

This is totally a job Dad would do. Cait pushed back the sadness. Their father had died the year before from a heart attack.

I wish he was here, Eli sighed. I wish Mom was too. This isn’t as much fun without them. Their mom was taking a year off to spend it with their grandparents. The three of them had decided that it was worth taking some summer contracts to pay for college and university.

Fine, we’ll help you take care of this love den if you help us after with the first floor. Cait knew that Eli would agree before she suggested it.

The main building took them another few hours and it was late by the time they were done. They locked the door and both Eli and Sonia looked pleadingly at Cait with matching light brown eyes.

It’s past eleven, we have two more full days of cleaning left… she started saying, but both of her siblings stuck out their bottom lips. You’re such children. Fine. Get the fire started and I’ll go get the marshmallows. As she spoke, she took her long multi-coloured hair out of the tight bun and ruthlessly scratched her scalp.

And wieners, added Eli as Cait walked toward the RV they shared.

You’re a wiener, mocked Sonia.

What does that even mean? Have you been sniffing the bleach again?

The RV meant they didn’t have to use the camp’s cooking or sleeping facilities. It was also nice to have a place that was stable. They went from camp to hotel to houses all summer and it felt nice to have a place to call home; even if Eli never cleaned his dishes and Sonia insisted on putting up posters of her most recent crushes.

With marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate, and wieners in a bag, Cait headed back toward the large fire pit for the camp.

The sky was clear and the night was humid. Despite the July heat, Cait shivered. There was something off about this camp. She’d been to a lot of different places and even some that were said to be haunted, but this place felt wrong. Like it was artificial or fake.

She looked at the nearly full moon and its reflection on the mirror-like surface of the motionless lake. The moon looked huge and bright tonight. She was so distracted by it and the odd feeling of the camp that she tripped on a root.

Tumbling forward, she dropped the bag of food and fell. She tried to catch herself, but she landed flat on her stomach. The ground wasn’t hard, but it still knocked the air out of her.

Lying on the ground trying to catch her breath, she saw stars. At least, she thought she saw stars, but they danced and moved around like someone was shining a flashlight and swinging it around. The lights were pale, but they filled her with a feeling of warmth.

She has rainbow hair. Do you think she’ll play with us? The voice sounded like a child but softer. After a few moments of waiting, she wasn’t sure if she’d really heard it or if it was her imagination.

"Maybe I should lay off the horror movies," she said into the night. She dusted herself off, picked up the bag of food, and went back to her siblings, who’d started a roaring fire.

The warmth of the fire combined with the outdoors heat made her start to sweat the moment she got close.

Food! exclaimed Sonia as she grabbed the bag.

You know what would have made this better? Eli asked but didn’t give them a chance to answer before saying, Beer.

Right. That’s what I want to do, get drunk with my little siblings. You know Mom and Dad’s rules. No alcohol, it’s unprofessional. Plus, she’s not old enough. Cait gestured at Sonia.

I’m eighteen!

We’re in Ontario, not Quebec. Cait deadpanned.

Are we? This is, like, the sixth camp in the past month. I have no idea where we are. Sonia shoved a double-sized s’more into her mouth.

Should we tell ghost stories? Eli asked as he stuck some wieners on a stick.

No! Cait replied, failing at keeping the panic out of her voice. I mean, I don’t want you having trouble sleeping. You keep saying this place is creepy. The other two stared at her with dubious looks and after a few more moments, she asked, Have either of you seen weird lights?

I thought we weren’t telling ghost stories? Sonia’s voice cracked part way through her sentence.

I’m serious…

I haven’t. This place is creepy, but I haven’t seen any lights… Eli trailed off.

I fell on the way here and I thought I saw something. It sounded silly now that she said it out loud.

That explains all the broken crackers, said Sonia.

My wieners are fine. I guess wieners are tougher than crackers. Eli smirked. The three of them burst into giggles and the creepy atmosphere that had built up disappeared.

The night grew old, the sounds of the crackling fire softened, and the three siblings started to fall asleep. Eli dumped a bucket of sand on the last embers and they stumbled toward the trailer.

Falling into bed, Cait fell asleep immediately. Her dreams were filled with floating lights and voices of giggling children. There was a song in her dreams and violin music.

The morning came too quickly, and she was roused by the dawn sunlight streaming through her window.

The RV was empty, and she felt like that was wrong, but the more she thought about it the harder it was to concentrate. Finally, she decided to just pour herself a bowl of cereal and get to work. She had two days to clean twenty cabins. How had she agreed to clean this whole place by herself?

Looking at the dishes in the sink, she didn’t remember dirtying them. Why hadn’t she cleaned them?

Her shower was warm and she reminded herself that next time she went into town she needed to refill the RV’s reservoir. As she dressed, she looked at the posters of semi-naked female celebrities and wondered why she’d put them up.

She put on her shorts and a shirt. The shirt hung off her like a sheet, it was way too large. Why would she have a double-XL t-shirt?

Suddenly her head hurt as if someone had hit her with a baseball bat. The pain wasn’t important to her. Eli and Sonia weren’t in the RV, and she’d forgotten about them.

Running outside, still wearing the too large shirt, she screamed their names. Echoes and silence were her only response and her heart started to beat too fast.

Taking a few deep breaths, she fought the urge to hyperventilate. They probably just went to the fire and decided to make eggs and bacon. Their parents would always make a big breakfast for the last day on a job and she hoped they decided to do it early.

Cait ran to the fire pit and found nothing but the remnants of last night’s fire and graham cracker crumbs. She looked around wildly, her hair whipping into her face by a strong wind. The wind carried with it the sound of violins, or maybe fiddles; she never could figure out the difference. The music was haunting and beautiful.

Without her permission, her bare feet took her toward the music. Inside her, a voice that sounded a lot like her father, screamed for her to stop but she couldn’t. Mist blanketed the forest making it impossible to see where she was stepping, but her feet knew the way.

She didn’t feel the stones or weeds she stepped on. She didn’t feel the sting of her flailing hair which created a multi-coloured halo around her shoulders and head. She didn’t feel anything but the clashing emotions of joy and panic.

She walked into the forest and her mutinous feet started to dance. She danced her way into a clearing, the clearing was filled with beautiful lights. The lights dipped and weaved pulsing in every colour imaginable.

The dance took her to the centre of the clearing; her possessed feet and hair joined the dancing lights. The voice of her father faded to almost nothing as she gave herself to the music.

The mist on the ground swirled around with her and dissipated, revealing her two bare footed siblings lying down on the ground motionless.

The music became hectic and Cait regained control of her feet. Bending down, she tried to reach for Sonia and Eli, but the lights blocked her way.

They wanted to play with us. Why don’t you? Why don’t you want to play with us? The child’s voice was dissonant and sounded like an angry violin.

The dissonance, panic, and pain hit her all at once and she released a scream that echoed through the otherwise eerily quiet Camp Riding Thorpe.

Chapter 1

July 31st, 2015

A large porcupine quill flew just above Angela’s short black hair.

Good thing I’m short, she said, making Jackie laugh. Why are we here… and why is that thing here? Even sweaty and a little disheveled, she still looked stylish.

Using a metal baseball bat as a combination shield and weapon, Elizabeth replied, I want to make sure the vampires I fought in nineteen eighty-five were actually buried. Swinging at the large creature that was a cross between an ostrich and a porcupine, she missed its head and hit its body. The bat connected with a thump. The creature squawked and backed away. I have no idea what this thing is or why it’s here, but it’s definitely not a Fay-creature. If it had been, the metal in the bat would have hurt it. Something about Fay magic didn’t do well with forged metal.

The creature started a strange series of guttural noises before shooting a spine at her. She wasn’t fast enough to stop it with her bat and she was certain it should have impaled her. The spine hit an invisible barrier and fell to the ground.

From the corner behind her, Jackie said, Good thing I’m getting faster with putting up shields. We almost had to change your name to Bob. Less than a year ago, Jackie had discovered his father was a wizard and that it was a genetic power. Since he’d almost died from using his powers without training, his father had been training him. He’d just recently passed his first Chain, or test, which let him safely use his powers.

What? she asked as he smiled mischievously.

Moving up next to Elizabeth with her own bat, Angela replied for Jackie, Shish-ka-Lizabeth just doesn’t have the same ring as Shish-ka-Bob.

You really get me. Jackie was a tall gangly shadow in the darkness of the catacombs beneath Baker City.

Thank you again for saving my life. You two are so cute you disgust me. Elizabeth said the second part without any conviction. She was extremely happy her two best friends had finally realized they liked each other.

The three of them stood with their backs to a dead end in the maze-like underground. It was the place that Elizabeth had been held captive when she’d been sent back in time, but it seemed to have been completely blocked off in the past thirty years.

In all seriousness, what should we do? Jackie asked.

That is certainly not a regular animal. It’s either a Cryptid or an Aether-creature, Angela stated.

What’s the difference? Jackie asked. Elizabeth was starting to worry that the creature hadn’t attacked again. It just stood there making noises.

A Cryptid is something weird that evolved here on Earth or one of the other realms. An Aether-creature can be sent back to the Aether by Mister Therien, if caught fast enough. Their English teacher was also a Gatekeeper, part of a group of people that could send things back into the place where magic came from, or the Aether.

Jackie… How drained are you feeling? Elizabeth asked.

Kinda tired. We’ve been walking all day and this thing doesn’t seem to be running out of quills. Why?

It isn’t attacking. I think it’s trying to keep us here until reinforcements arrive.

Let’s finish this, then. Angela stepped forward, holding her bat in a fencer’s stance; her scarf billowed in the air.

No, it’s just trying to protect its territory. We should let Mister Therien take care of it. I’ll try Vednis’s ring. She put the bat into her right hand and lifted her left. Concentrating on the delicate pink ring on her index finger she activated it and it shot out a bright pink beam at the creature. The moment the beam touched it, it turned into a feathered glove.

The ring had been used by a particularly nasty artificer who turned people into mittens and slowly consumed their life-energy. Elizabeth didn’t like using it, but it was a great non-lethal weapon.

We should call it a quillbeast, Jackie said in a complete deadpan.

Why? Angela asked as she raced forward and retrieved the glove.

Why not? Jackie replied. It was the challenging tone that the two of them used to start an argument. They loved to argue. Angela rolled her eyes. As she gave the feathered glove to Elizabeth, her scarf flew back toward the dead end. Elizabeth’s face lit up.

Oh no. I know that face. What did you just figure out? Jackie asked.

There’s a breeze heading toward the dead end.

Both Angela and Jackie yelled, "Temple of Doom!"

She ignored them as she searched the far wall. It had an ornate set of symbols all the way around it. She’d have called it a gate if it weren’t integrated into the wall.

This stone isn’t the same as the wall, Angela said.

How can you tell? Elizabeth asked.

It’s older and less porous. These symbols are really odd and remind me of something. Jackie, can you sketch them?

Jackie took out his notepad and drew the symbols. When he was done, all three of them felt up the wall and tried to find a secret passage.

It was probably the only time she wished she had a candle or match. The smoke would flow toward the holes in the wall, as in the iconic Indiana Jones scene.

I think I found a seam. But I can’t find anything to open it. Elizabeth looked at her friends and commented, One of us should keep watch in case— She was cut off by a sharp yelp from Jackie. A quill had scraped his leg.

Behind them were another six of the quillbeasts. The first shot had apparently been a warning because the six of them then shot a barrage of quills at them.

They all huddled together and Jackie’s magical shield protected them by deflecting most of the quills. One ricocheted off the shield and stuck straight into the wall, activating the secret passage. They didn’t hesitate and the three friends ran through the new door. At the last second, Elizabeth grabbed the quill out of the wall and was pleased when the door closed behind her.

Reaching into her bag, which was magically linked to a hope chest in her room, she pulled out a towel and wrapped the quill in it, placing the newly wrapped quill into her bag.

As Elizabeth walked through, Angela pointed out a wheel on the far wall. It looked like a metal wheel you’d find in a playground, and it was attached to the stone wall. Above the wheel was a sign that said, Turn to open Emergency Passage.

Are you okay? she asked Jackie.

My jeans are ripped and I’m bleeding a little but it doesn’t hurt. As he talked, Angela took the first aid kit Elizabeth took out of the bag.

They were in a small room with nothing but the secret passage, the wheel, and a plain metal door. The doorknob that should have been on the door was gone and there were gouges around where it had been that looked like someone had bashed at the door.

Where are we? asked Jackie as Angela bandaged him.

Looking at the map on her phone that Jackie had been drawing and expanding, she replied, I think we’re near the university and just over where the vampire nest was.

Saying the word made her shudder. They’d held her captive for less than an afternoon, but she could still remember the feeling of their teeth on the back of her neck and the pain she’d felt as they drained her cerebral-spinal liquid.

There’s definitely a strong magical aura here. It might be a weak spot in the Aether barrier. Jackie shrugged. The barrier prevented Aether, or magical energy, from spilling into their world and running amok with people’s imagination. The city of Baker’s barrier was particularly thin.

Going over to the wheel, Elizabeth put her hands on it and said, You ready? The other two nodded and she turned the wheel. It worked like an airlock and opened the door. She was ready for more passages, or maybe a pit of monsters; what she wasn’t ready for was what they found.

The only light in the room was their flashlights and everything those touched was brightly coloured and made for children. Small chairs flanked a small table with long dried out, half eaten snacks, while an alphabet and number board looked down on the entire room. Everything was perfectly preserved. No cobwebs or dust, but everything looked old.

Why is there an underground preschool? Jackie asked.

"Why is there an abandoned underground preschool?" asked Angela.

It’s abandoned? Jackie asked, having missed the half-eaten snacks on the tables.

Giving a small snort of laughter, Elizabeth said, Okay Abbott and Costello. I think this wasn’t your ordinary preschool. Professor Martin had sat them down to watch all the Abbott and Costello monster movies for Halloween one year when they were kids. Elizabeth pointed at the chalkboard. On the board was the date, October 27th, 1989. Just below the date was the word, Aether.

So, it’s a magic abandoned preschool on top of a weak point in the Aether barrier. Can we leave now? This is how zombie movies start. Jackie’s comments were glib, but he sounded unnerved.

There was a door leading out of the room. Elizabeth turned to close the airlock, but it had slowly closed itself. On this side it matched the wall perfectly and it took Elizabeth a few moments to find where it was. When she did, she noticed a thumb sized carving in the stone. It looked like a child’s drawing of a sun.

What’s this? she asked herself as she took a picture of it with her phone.

The three of them walked to the classroom door and Elizabeth could see that Jackie was limping. How’s the leg?

Cherry.

Cherry? Elizabeth and Angela asked at the same time.

Uh... Sorry, I meant peachy.

They both gave him a questioning look, but he just gestured at the door.

Again, Elizabeth opened it and the other two stood ready. Behind the door was a hallway. It looked exactly like every other school hallway Elizabeth had seen, lined with lockers, cinderblock walls, and cheesy posters.

Great, it’s an abandoned underground magical grade school. Jackie’s voice cracked.

They walked down the hall and looked into the rooms on either side; they were all abandoned in the same way as the preschool, but they were different age levels. There even seemed to be some high school classes.

The corridor made a large square with classes inside and outside. They’d almost made it back to the first classroom when they found a stairwell. It was behind double doors and had stairs going up and going down.

Angela looked at her phone and the notes on it, and said, We’ve never been this far down.

Looking at her incredulously, Jackie took out his phone and checked the map, If my map is right, this is exactly where the vampire nest was. The nest had been a deep cavern.

Fear at what had happened to her clashed with her curiosity. Her neck felt the phantom pain again, but in the end her curiosity won out. Are you okay to go look at what’s down there? she asked Jackie.

If we mustard. I’ll ketchup, Jackie said, straight-faced.

Reaching up and putting her hand on his forehead, Angela said, You don’t feel like you have a fever, but you’re speaking weirdly.

If we don’t check it out now, we’ll have to come back and this place gives me the Williams, Jackie said, sighing.

The next floor held two large gymnasiums, a pool, a track, and several chemistry and biology labs. Elizabeth was impressed; it had better facilities than their school, despite everything dating from twenty-six years before.

They did the full square and were headed back to the stairs when Elizabeth saw something. Wait. Turn off your flashlights. They did and Elizabeth waited; it wasn’t long before a small red light flashed from behind the lockers. There’s a secret passage here.

After some playing around, Angela pulled on one of the locks and a stack of four lockers swung outward. Angela looked pleased with herself and said, A secret passage inside a secret passage? That’s paranoid.

Yeah, Elizabeth agreed.

The secret passage was less school-like and more military-bland. It led to a series of offices, a large file room, and an even larger room that was filled with monitors and old VCRs. All of the rooms had blinking red lights over the doors and looked like they’d been trashed.

Someone was in a hurry to get rid of information, Angela held up a metal trash can that was burnt inside.

In the file room, Jackie said, There’s old spells on all the filing cabinets. When Angela opened a drawer, the files inside burst into flames that quickly died into ash.

Do all of them have spells? asked Elizabeth,

Taking some time to concentrate, Jackie looked around. Yes, but this bank has slightly different magic than the others. His voice was strained, and Elizabeth could see he was sweating.

What do you mean? asked Angela, gently touching his back.

I’m not sure how to explain it. It’s like tasting two different vanilla ice creams. They’re similar, but not exactly the same.

Either this filing cabinet has something extra secret in it or it’s another secret passage, Elizabeth said as she felt the seams and drawers of the cabinet.

A secret passage, inside a secret passage, inside a secret passage? Angela asked incredulously. That seems really extremely paranoid.

As Elizabeth felt up the cabinet, Angela walked up and down the aisles looking for something that could help.

Both girls said, Ah ha! at the same time.

Turning away from the filing cabinet, Elizabeth asked, What did you find?

There’s a cabinet here that wasn’t closed. The files are intact.

As Jackie stood, Elizabeth saw that he grimaced.

The filing cabinet was one of the lower ones and the drawer was held open by a green pencil. Drawn in green on the cabinet was another crudely drawn sun. It was similar, but the rays were slightly different. Elizabeth took another picture.

There was one large file in the cabinet. Should I take it out? asked Angela.

Jackie? asked Elizabeth.

Looks clean, Jackie replied breathlessly.

Pulling out the file, Angela flipped through it quickly. There’s a report in here. It says, ‘A report of the failure of Project Paracosm Phase One by Jean O’Brian.’

Seeing the logo and name on the file Elizabeth asked, Elmsley? Isn’t that the military group that threatened to destroy the hospital?

Angela nodded. From what she’d told Elizabeth, there was a group that worked for the Canadian military and made sure to take care of any magical problems inside of Canada. What were they trying to do? What’s a Paracosm? Elizabeth sighed as she mumbled to herself.

Paracosm is a term for a prolonged fantasy world created by children, Angela said, sounding like she was reading a dictionary.

Interesting. Let’s check out the extra super paranoid secret passage. Elizabeth was frustrated. This place didn’t make sense. Secrets and mysteries shouldn’t be nested like Russian dolls. Despite being built into a school, this place still gave her a cold feeling down her spine. She couldn’t forget what had happened to her in this spot last time she was here. There was a small indentation on one of the drawers and when she pulled a little, the front of the drawer opened up to show a handle.

When Elizabeth couldn’t pull it open, Angela did; she barely seemed to exert herself. The door protested with a metallic groan.

So much for the element of surprise… Jackie’s words were slurred and his normally dark brown skin was ashen. He was sweating.

Jackie, you look terrible. We should head back. Elizabeth turned to leave as she spoke, and Jackie started down the stairs.

Sighing, Elizabeth and Angela followed him down the wide set stairs. The air was cold and there were no lights on the staircase. It descended without turning or deviating from its course. Finally, after what felt like too long, they arrived at a flat landing. The floor looked like stone from their flashlights. The room was huge. The light from their flashlights didn’t reach the end. There were multiple rows created by large metal shelves with crates.

What is this place? asked Angela.

I think it’s a warehouse. Elizabeth was fairly certain she was right.

"Just like Indiana Jones!" Jackie said.

Elizabeth looked