Encounters (15 page)

That pesky Konrath put up a challenge on his blog that I just couldn’t resist. Write, format, make a cover and publish a book in 8 hours. Length wasn’t an issue. Just go write. I wasn’t going to participate because I didn’t feel ready but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. So I dove right in.

I am fascinated by history and one of the eras that gets the least attention is the late 1800s early 1900s. One of my favorite historical figures is Teddy Roosevelt and the rough riders. I chose to set my story during the Spanish American war. From there I just let my inner kid out to run wild. Dead soldiers brought back with voodoo.
Ancient goddesses. Witches. It was a blast to write. I just barely squeaked in under the deadline but I did it. I’m already thinking about a sequel.

How the hell did I wind up here? That’s what I was wondering as I charged up San Juan Hill rifle in hand. I suppose that I didn’t have much choice. When your country and Teddy Roosevelt call for volunteers then you sign up. That’s how I wound up in this humid little island country fighting a host of little Spanish men who just wanted to go home as badly as I did. When that same Teddy Roosevelt charges up a hill you drag your sorry ass up the hill after him.

I ran up the hill, legs screaming, lungs burning and I realized that I had yelled my throat raw. I could hear bullets whizzing by my ears. Men were falling around me. Those damn Spaniards were too good a shot. That’s when it hit me. The hammer of Thor himself slammed into my chest throwing me to my back. I fell limply to the ground. Head pointed downhill.
Legs akimbo. My rifle tumbled from my grasp. I sucked in air but surprisingly I felt very little pain.

I could see the shapes of other men run past me as my sight dimmed, Rough Riders and Buffalo Soldiers alike. Slowly my field of vision faded to a pinprick of light. I felt my body loosen its hold on me and I drifted off towards that light. My role in this fight was over. I didn’t realize that I was preparing for another fight even grander.

***

I woke up still on my back in the grass. I opened my eyes and lay still while I looked around for a moment. I quickly realized that I was no longer on San Juan Hill. For one there were no explosions around me. For the second I wasn’t lying downhill anymore. I figured that my brothers in arms had moved me after the battle but I wasn’t in the hospital tent.

Sitting up I took a look around and saw that I was lying next to a stream in a clearing. Surrounding me were stands of pine and oak trees.

“This looks just like back home” I said out loud.

“Of course it does” I heard from behind me.

I jerked my head around. Beside the creek, sitting on a rock, was a man in a black suit. He wore spectacles and vaguely reminded me of a Baptist preacher. I stood up slowly and walked over to him.

“Who are you” I asked. “How did we get here? Am I dead?” That last question slipped out almost subconsciously.

“Of course you are dead Michael. You got shot in the chest by a 7mm
Mauser. That leaves a mark on a man.”

“Then where the hell am I” I demanded.

“Calm down. Hell is exactly where you aren’t. As to who I am, let’s just say I serve a higher power. Now, we need to talk. Briefly. Come sit down.”

Being dead I didn’t think it was prudent to argue with the servant of a higher power so I sat.

“Good. Now, there are a few things you need to know. Firstly, you still have a job to do. A very important job.”

“What job is that?”

“That isn’t for me to explain. The man who is currently trying to draw you back will tell you what you need to know.”

“Draw me back?”

“Yes. One of those pesky Hoodoo priests is trying to resurrect you. Just this once we are going to let him.”

He leaned in close to me.

“He has a job for you. Do what he tells you. It is very important. A very dark thing is about to be loosed on the world and you need to stop it. Now, he’s getting insistent. I think it’s time for you to go. Good luck.”

He stood up and made a shoving gesture in my direction. I fell over the back of the rock into the creek. Only, I never hit water. I kept falling.
And falling. And then I landed in the bed.

***

I sat up gasping for air. Well, trying to anyway. My lungs didn’t seem to work. I didn’t feel like I was choking I just couldn’t take in any air. There was chanting going on somewhere to my left. The room was dark, lit only by candles, and there was a strong smell of incense. This much I noticed even though I was preoccupied.

I started to panic. That’s when I realized something else. My heart wasn’t racing. My heart always races when I get scared or excited. Except that it wasn’t.
Because it wasn’t beating at all.

“Oh hell.”

“Good. You are awake.”

“Of course I’m awake! Why can’t I breathe?”

“Because you are dead.”

I turned to glare at the little man to my left. He was an old man, small and hunched with age. He had dark brown skin and was leaning on a staff carved like a snake.

“I know I’m dead, but if you brought me back then how come I can’t breathe and why” I put a finger on my wrist to check for a pulse, “is my heart not beating?”

“The dead do not need air or blood. How did you know that I brought you back from the dead?”

“Because I was told by a man in a dark suit.”

The little man made a sign with his hand. I’m not sure what it meant exactly but I guessed it was to ward off evil.

“Why did you bring me back? How long was I gone? And who the hell are you?”

“My name is Raul and I am a
Bokor. You have been dead for over a month. Just long enough for your countrymen to beat the Spaniards. I brought you back to help me fight a great evil.”

“Tell me everything.”

***

“There is a witch who seeks revenge against your country for the death of her parents in the war.”

While he spoke he tinkered with a necklace. It was a small gold chain with a locket on it. His hands were surprisingly delicate to be so withered. I had followed into his workshop and while he worked I put my uniform back on. The trousers were still usable but the blue shirt had needed to be replaced. Perhaps the hole could have been sewn up but the blood would never have come out. It was sobering to see the hole that had taken my life. It was even more sobering when Raoul produced the bullet that had ended me.

I had tied it onto a length of leather and fashioned a crude necklace of my own. Checking myself in the mirror I adjusted the brim of my slouch hat. I noticed something in the mirror. Frowning I leaned in closer. I was gray. Not as gray as a stone but a light gray nonetheless. Raoul interrupted
my self observation.

"Do you see this talisman" he asked me while holding up the necklace.

I nodded.

"This is the key to defeating the
Bruja. The witch as you would say."

"Who is this
Bruja?"

"I do not know. I only know what the spirits have told me. She has chained an ancient goddess, of storms and floods, to aid in her revenge. Her name is
Guabancex. This talisman will trap her and her two assistants. They are named Guataubá and Coatrisquie. Guataubá  controls storms . Coatrisquie causes floods."

"What do I have to do?"

"You must catch the lightning and tame the floods."

"What does that even mean little man?"

He smiled and replied "I have no idea. I only know that this talisman will be the end of me. The rest is up to you. Be forewarned, as soon as I finish this the Bruja will know that we are on to her. She will try to stop you."

He opened the locket up and laid it on his work bench. Taking out a small knife he pricked his finger and dropped a single drop into it. He immediately went into convulsions and fell to the floor. From out of the air I heard chanting. By the time reached him he was already dead. The chanting stopped. I felt for a pulse but there was none. I stood up and reached for the locket. A charge ripped up my arm and I cried out jerking my hand back. Hesitantly I reached out again but this time it was simply cool to the touch. Snapping it shut I looked into the mirror again.

"Catch the lightning. Tame the flood. Got it."

***

The ship rocked madly on the stormy seas. It had been smooth sailing out of Havana until the wind changed without warning. We watched lightning dance on the horizon making its way closer. The sailors were nervous. That made me nervous. I might not need air but that didn't mean I wanted to try my hand at deep sea diving. The sailors had avoided me for days fearing that I carried some kind of sickness due to my gray skin tone. That was just as well by me. I had some serious brooding to do.

All of that ended when lightning struck the ship. I jumped back and watched men scramble to put out the fire it caused. And then lightning hit again.

"Well what are the odds of that?"

Not likely was the answer. The wind picked up again causing the ship to lurch dangerously.

"On fire and close to capsizing. Lovely."

That's when I heard a sailor beside me begin yelling in Spanish.

"El Diablo! El Diablo!"

He was pointing off in the distance. I followed his arm with my gaze.

"Well Hell!"

In the distance, but closing in rapidly, was a giant ball of light. Electric arcs were lancing out from it. I ran down below to my cabin and came back with all of mu worldly possessions. A canvas sack of clothes, my Winchester rifle and my army service revolver.

The glowing ball came to a stop hovering above the deck of the ship. The glow was so bright that it hurt to look at it. Inside could be made out the shape of man. He looked down at all of us frightened men and the bastard laughed. He threw up his arms and lightning came again and didn't stop until the boat was burning like a torch.

I was busy dodging bolts when I lost my footing and fell to my knees. When I did the talisman around my neck came loose. It slid away from me and I dove for it in a panic. I snagged it before it was lost and it almost burned my hand it was so hot. The spirit, god, demon or whatever it was whipped its head in my direction.

"Oh hell" I said aloud. "Guataubá I presume."

I pulled out my revolver and thumbed back the hammer. I squeezed the trigger and let out some thunder of my own. The thing never slowed down. So I shot the
bastard again. And again. He stopped right in front of me and smiled in my face. So I slugged him with my free hand. His head lurched back and he screamed. I had forgotten the talisman in my fist. Connecting the locket to the man was a thin string of electricity. I realized that my jaw was hanging open. Guataubá seemed even more surprised than me.

"What the hell?"

I holstered my revolver and on an impulse grabbed the band like a rope. I tugged and Guataubá cried out as he came forward. I laughed out loud.

"I got you now! Catch the lightning!"

I realized that I sounded like a lunatic but I wasn't too concerned about it. I was a dead man who had just lassoed a demigod. What was a little insanity?I began pulling hand over hand until we were face again.

"Boo!"

I slammed the talisman against his forehead and he began convulsing the same as Raoul. There was a sound like fabric ripping and the locket began sucking Guataubá in. He was gone in a matter of seconds.

"Well that was easy enough."

That's when the fire hit the ships magazine and the gunpowder exploded.

***

The lifeboat drifted on the water. The waves had calmed considerably after Guataubá made an exit. My little sailor buddy, whose named I learned was Luiz, and I had made it aboard before the ship went down. There were a few other passengers who had made it but they sat as far away from me as they could. I couldn't blame them. I would have avoided me too. The only person who would speak to, or even make eye contact, was Luiz. Unfortunately his English was as bad as my Spanish. I could just barely make out that we were close to New Orleans, our destination, when the attack happened.

"I certainly hope so little buddy" I said. He smiled uncomprehendingly and nodded. We drifted for hours in darkness before we saw a light coming closer. People began yelling and waving trying to get its attention.

***

My boots made full thumping sounds on the plank off if the ship. The USS Venture had picked us up and deposited us promptly in New Orleans.
Great. Now that I was here I had no idea where to go. I looked at Luiz.

"Well my friend, if you were looking for a
Bruja around these parts where would you start?"

Luiz
began frantically shaking his head at me.

"
Bruja? No Bruja!"

"Ok then. No
Bruja. Noted. I think you might want to sit the rest of this out then pal."

He looked at me confusedly and then wandered off. I mulled it over for a bit before it hit me. Hoodoo got this ball rolling. Hoodoo might be the answer I needed. I set off for the French Quarter to find myself another
Bokor.