Falling Capricorn (13 page)

“So instead of explaining it to me, you kick me out? Is this why you been so nice and so sweet to Christen, lately?” she asked walking to the door.

“Originally, no. Joey asked me to take care of his girl, and that is why I have been so nice to her. I promised Joey this, so I intended to keep that promise,” Eric revealed. He got in front of Kat and opened the door, tapping his foot while waiting for her to leave.

“Hmm, well, if you listened to ‘Joey’; it was correct that I indeed would have understood if you explained the ritual and Voodoo things. Now it is too late for that, and you know that promise? Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.” Her words were like a knife plunging into his heart.

“What do you mean-” Eric started but Kat had already walked out the door shutting it behind her. She left Eric standing there at the door with Joey buzzing in his ear.

“Dangerous and a cruel one, that girl is,” he chimed. Eric let his hand hit the wall next to the door taking a deep breath in.

“Don’t keep promises you can’t keep. What the fuck does she mean? I have been giving her everything. I have been trying to raise her up. What has Kat done for her?” He spat the words like bullets before collapsing back on the couch.

First thing that evening, Christen and Kat went out for dinner. Kat really needed to speak to her about what happened with her and Eric. They sat across from each other at the table. They looked at the menus in awkward silence. Soon, they both open their mouths to speak.

“So I want to talk about Eric,” they both blinked as they said the same thing. They both knew something was off, and Kat was taken by surprise. She wasn’t the only one that saw that something was wrong. It could not be a coincidence. 

“You noticed something was strange?” Kat asked with surprise. Christen nodded her head slowly with a small look of disbelief. Apparently, the change was obvious. Kat must have seen it, as well. She sighed.

“It is hard to miss when he sneaks into your apartment,” Christen muttered. She wasn’t able to get it out of her head. How did he know the name of Mr. SnugglePaws? How did he know she always forgets to lock her apartment? She was confused. She never was that close to Eric. She knew they were friends through Joey, but other than that, they were strangers. How could he have known this? Her head was swimming with questions.

“He what!?” Kat exclaimed, but Christen put a finger to her own lips to sign to her that she needed to quiet down. She wanted to see her best friends’ opinion on this, but she wanted to keep it quiet.

“It’s exactly as I said, and it was beyond creepy. Then, he said something…that was…well rather odd,” she sighed. She was getting tongue tied. She was also slightly scared Kat would laugh at her. She glanced up as Kat reached out, putting a hand on hers. Would she believe that she thought that Joey was trapped within Eric, or that Eric could have taken Joey’s place in the war, or something? There were multiple possibilities she realized but… her Joey was still alive. She could feel him closer than ever.

“Sweetheart, just tell me. It can’t be anything that bad,” Kat stated calmly. In her mind though, she was not as relaxed as she made it seem. She knew there was something wrong with this man. She just was not as unrealistic as Christen. The only thing she could honestly believe was that Eric was showing signs of a split personality. Maybe the trauma of losing Joey was starting to surface. He seemed unaffected by it from a distance, but no one could remain that calm after losing someone that meant so much. 

“He said something that only Joey would have known,” Christen stated quietly. It probably sounded funny, but it was true.

“Oh really now?” Kat looked out the window with a pondering expression. That was extremely odd. First she heard him ‘arguing’ with Joey, and now he was telling Christen things that apparently, only Joey knew. She could have laughed out loud at how unrealistic it sounded. Eric and Joey were best friends. She was nearly positive Joey must have told him these things.

“You don’t seem very surprised about this, Kat,” Christen pointed out. “What was it you were going to say about Eric?” she asked in a curious tone. What was it Kat had seen or heard? She wondered.

“Well I’m not sure if you noticed or not, but when Eric returned the ring to you, he really was acting creepy. He was unusually nice to me. I overheard him talking in the bathroom at the Gallery. It sounded like he was in an ‘argument’ with Joey.” Kat sighed, placing her hands under her chin and rested her elbows on the table.

Christen was dumbfounded. He was arguing with Joey? She wondered if it was possible that Joey really was somehow with them. The thought of him being at a distance that she could touch him made her heart jump.

“Something isn’t right with that boy", Kat continued. "Eric’s got some serious problems. I would be wary of you spending any more time with him,” Kat suggested, shaking out her hair. Christen's insides screamed with questions that were about to make her head explode. The possibilities would not stop pulsing through her mind, no matter how irrational they seemed.

“Not spend time with Eric anymore?” Christen felt a sudden heart-breaking sensation inside her chest. It was becoming more and more clear. Eric was the only way to reach Joey, to get the closest she could to him. How could she just throw that all away casually? “You really think that would be for the best?” she asked. Kat gave her a detestable look, sitting up straight. Yes, she really did; but, Christen didn't seem to be on board.

“Are you really asking me that?” Kat questioned her with a raised eye brow. "He snuck into your apartment because the door was unlocked. He’s obviously delusional! He suffers from a split personality. He brought this all on by studying concepts of Voodoo that escalated into full-blown psychosis!” Kat exclaimed loudly with a disappointed look. She couldn’t believe this. Kat started to wonder what was going through Christen’s mind. “Don’t tell me that you think talking to him still is a good idea, Christen. He’s obviously going to drag you into this craziness if you get involved,” she stated in a low, cautious tone.

“Kat… he knew things that only Joey knows,” Christen started but Kat coughed, cutting her off.

“Knows?” Kat asked with narrow eyes. “Firstly, Joey is not around anymore. And there is nothing that says Joey didn't share this 'private knowledge' with Eric before he died.” Christen shut her eyes. There was no way, though; she was convinced that it couldn't be Eric. It had to be Joey.

“Voodoo involves bringing people back from the dead… doesn’t it?” Christen asked.

Kat's hand covered her face as she let out a long sigh. “To understand what I am saying I need to explain a few things. In Voodoo there is only one god. Next there are three other important spiritual beings which are the lwa, the twins, and the dead. Iwa interact with the living and even mount people during religious ceremonies, in which they can either cause good or bad things to happen to people. The twins are sets of contradictories like good and evil, happy and sad. The dead are mainly souls of one’s own family members who died, and had yet to be reclaimed. These are dangerous when they are not claimed within a certain time."

Kat continued, "There are two primary sorts of Voodoo; Rada is a family spirit of Voodoo. It relates to the relatively peaceful and happy lwa. Then there is Petro, which is black magic Voodoo. It relates to angry, mean, and nasty lwa. In both though, the lwa mount a person’s body for a time. The body is still seen as the person’s, but the soul is not. The person’s soul is gone, or rather, sent away for a time so the lwa may control and speak through their body. You got me so far?” Kat asked. Christen’s head stirred with millions of questions.

“Yeah, I got you, but I have so many questions. Like how does this even matter?” she asked with a sour expression. Kat sighed softly.

“I guess you really aren’t interested then are you?” Kat sighed.

“I just want to know why this is important Kat,” Christen said softly.

“Because this is all of Eric’s thinking. I honestly do not believe in these things, though I will not argue against someone who does. It does make you wonder. Religion has such a heavy impact on people. It’s so interesting to see that most religions have that same thing in common. They impact people. Not only that, but all religions center on at least one absolute theory; that 'something', that 'someone', some spirit, some big bang. There is some general 'unknown' that many people will flock to in hope, and sometimes, desperation."

Kat blinked from the realization that she went a bit off topic. “Sorry about that. I was only telling that to describe what I think Eric is thinking. Eric did a Voodoo ritual in hopes to contact Joey. Through this, I feel he has created a split personality. He, in turn, thinks he is Joey; or at least has Joey living within him. The stress of avoiding the ultimate truth has brought this to him. Now I know a therapist that I was going to have him see, but he made me leave before I got a chance to tell him about her. Do you understand what I’m trying to get at?” Kat asked, hopeful that Christen would get what she was saying.

“Kat, can we just eat now? Let me think about all of this. We can discuss it some more later, okay?” Christen asked. She was hopeful Kat would drop it until she could wrap her mind around everything Kat was saying a bit more.

“Fine. Oh, here comes the waiter anyways,” Kat said as she faked a smile for the sake of her friend.

Chapter 8

The next night Christen stayed planted on her sofa watching some romantic comedies by herself. She wasn’t really watching the shows. It was just a provider of background noise. She was stuck in her thoughts with what she and Kat had talked about. Possession? Voodoo? Spirits? How was any of this possible? Before, she never believed in that sort of thing, but it all made sense when it came out of Kat’s mouth. A split-personality did seem possible; very likely even. Still, it was Eric who had always been so composed and strong. The idea of him even falling into a mental disorder just seemed so, not natural. Plus, that still didn’t explain how he knew things only Joey had known. This was getting a bit too crazy for her; but then again, didn’t Kat say there was something off about Eric? She knew she should probably listen to Kat more. Her cell phone buzzed from a text message which pulled her back to reality.

                         
Coming up Chris. Get your dancing shoes on. We are going clubbing.

Christen groaned. All she wanted to do was continue her thoughts and maybe sleep in a little, but no. Kat wasn’t about to let her do that. She knew very well there was no escaping Kat when she had decided to do something. It wasn’t long until Christen pulled herself up to open the door before Kat slammed it open. She stood there with a giant, cheesy smile on her face. Her red tight dress shined in the light, and her hair was up in a ponytail. She looked like the devil himself with red and black makeup putting the entire dress and the fishnets that covered her legs together.

“Hello there beautiful.” Her smile faded as she looked Christen up and down. “You are not dressed yet? Now don’t tell me I need to dress you, Chris.” Kat said with an unamused expression. Her arm moved up, and she pointed her finger towards Christen’s room.

“What?” Christen asked her, but already knew what she was going to say.

“Go get dressed!” She pushed Christen into her room and closed the door right behind her. “Wear something sexy!” she called from behind the door. Christen stood in her room. Perhaps she could lock the door and take a nap? She would if it wasn’t for the fact that she would feel bad for doing that to Kat. Why must she be so kind? She headed to her dresser and pulled out a tight fitting, lime green dress that showed off her curves. She took a deep breath in, remembering when she and Joey went shopping. He had picked it out for her. She indeed thought it was a good pick on his part. He even bought it for her. He always got a stupid smile on his face when she wore it. She removed her lounging clothes and put the dress on over her strapless bra and panties.

Her heart felt heavy when she looked at herself in the mirror. It reached her mid-thigh showing off her smooth and silky looking legs. “Joey, I’m wearing your dress. It is still as lovely as it was before,” she said quietly, not knowing if he could even hear her or not. If Joey was in Eric… could she get him back again? She wondered as she started on her makeup.

“Hurry up!” Kat knocked a few times on the door, tapping her foot on the ground. Christen put her make up on in a rush. It was simple but still made her glow in beauty. Her lips and the look in her eyes disrupted this, showing not a lick of happiness. She looked miserable, and in some people’s eyes, pathetic. She could even see it. She tried to smile, but it looked wrong as she tried to force it. She gave up with a sigh, opening the door.

“I’m ready to go,” she said, walking past Kat. She grabbed her purse that was hanging off the chair, turning to look back at Kat. The smile that tried to return to Kat's face faded, yet again. She looked pretty, but the look Christen had was depressing.

“Cheer up Christen. I’m telling you, hanging onto his memory like this is not healthy for you. Remember the good times and be happy about them. Don’t sit here letting all those precious and amazing memories rot just because he is no longer in our world.” Kat walked over to Christen and put her hand on her shoulder. Christen shrugged her shoulder, opening her apartment door.

“I’m fine. Now let us get going,” Christen said with a careless tone, waving her hand in the air. Kat walked out of the apartment, but said nothing to her. She wasn’t going to push the issue with Chris any more than she needed to. Kat started to fear that if she pushed her to hard by mistake, she might just break. She decided the best thing she could do for her friend was help her try and have some fun.

They called a taxi over with a wave of their hand and found themselves at a night club in no time. The lights and sound from the thumping bass lines swirled about the two women as they entered. “Isn’t this great!?” Kat called over to Christen.