Healing the Bayou (17 page)

One man told me he had once held the power of a healer. Claiming he was too clumsy and incompetent, Vivian stripped the powers from him. I asked the members in the house about it, and Camille told me the man was actually a very adept wielder of his gift. According to her, Aunt Vivian was only intimidated by his abilities.

Another woman told me that she fell in love with a shapeshifter, but Aunt Vivian did not allow super naturals of different types to mingle. The woman chose to leave the Voodoo religion to be with him, but on their wedding day Vivian had him banished to make it clear such indiscretions wouldn’t be tolerated as long as she was Queen.

It seemed that my aunt’s reign was one of control and domination. She would step on those who were weaker, bringing down anyone who could possibly challenge her. I knew that this did not bode well for me.

I had spent that last week playing politics, and I managed to get these people to understand I was nothing like my aunt. That I would rule
for
the people, in their best interest, not in my own. I wouldn’t let them forget what she did for them.

She nodded gratefully into my shoulder. My assurances pacified her, or at least brought her boiling blood down to lukewarm. I released her and gave her a deceiving, innocent smile.

Marcus led a goat up to the altar and strapped the poor animal down. Aunt Vivian handed me an ancient rusted blade. The same bearded man that was used in the invocation of Legba during our secret ritual stepped forward.

“I thought Camille said Legba had already been summoned?”

Squinting her eyes at me, Aunt Vivian cocked her head to the side. “He was. We chose another member of the congregation for Papa Legba to possess. Tonight Mr. Mueller will have the honor of channeling Damballah. How is it you’re familiar with our history of using this man as a conduit at all?”

“Oh, well…” I searched my mind frantically for a good cover. “He was Legba’s host in my dream.”

“What dream?”

Shit! I hadn’t told her about the dream. “A dream I had last night. I just assumed it was a premonition.”

She pursed her lips. Her face told me she wasn’t buying it, but luckily she didn’t press it. She lit the candles that circled the altar. The man stood straight and perfectly still with a blank, concentrating expression.

Pointing to the goat that was screaming to be released, Vivian said, “It’s time. You must slice the goat from neck to navel.”

“Mr. Mueller, is it?” I spoke to the man I secretly already knew.

“Yes, ma’am.” He bowed his head in respect.

“Are you willing? I don’t want you to do this if you’re afraid.”

“Oh stop stalling!” Aunt Vivian shouted.

Standing over the innocent creature, my entire body began to shake. The screaming was wrenching my stomach and my heart was pounding. Tears stung my eyes and I commanded them back, but I could not keep them at bay. Raising the knife in both hands high over my head, I swung it down hard, releasing it just short of the animal’s flesh.

It fell to the ground and the clink it made when it hit the cement sounded in the air, piercing nothing other than the silence.

“I can’t do it,” I sobbed. “I won’t kill anything just for the chance to speak with this entity. If he wants to communicate with me, he will need to do it without bloodstain on my hands.”

I wanted to smack the smug look off of Aunt Vivian’s face. She knew I wouldn’t kill this goat, and she wanted to expose my weakness to everybody here. This was her way of proving to them I didn’t have the gumption to lead them. Somehow she equated my refusal to commit murder with ineffective leadership.

Thankfully, the followers did not. There was an explosion of applause and cheers approving my decision, and her face scrunched up in fury. Breathing in the victory, I picked up the blade again, using it to slice the tethers that bound the goat to the stone, and set him free.

Marcus reached into a satchel resting over his shoulder and pulled out a jar of honey, handing it to me.

“I knew you wouldn’t do it,” he teased. “This is supposed to work just as well.”

I made a nest on the altar from some leaves scattered on the ground and drizzled some honey into it. Readying to chant, all the people joined hands with their neighbors. Aunt Vivian stood with her arms folded, refusing to take my hand when I offered it to her.

“Take my hand,” I ordered, surprising myself with the authority in my voice.

“
Kreyòl m’ape di ou bonswa. Bonswa Danballah Wèdo. M’ape mande kouman nou ye o! M’ape mande kouman nou ye o! Wi nou la, Wi nou la Damballah Wèdo Lavi nou nan men bondye.
”

A mist appeared to creep at our feet, and the air became thick and heavy. Echoing in the distance was the rhythm of a lone war drum, and it closed in from every direction.

The man that offered himself for use by Damballah collapsed to the ground. Samuel and Marcus climbed on top of him, covering his face in a white shroud. With the force of twenty men, Mr. Mueller threw both of them off with one shove.

He did not stand, but instead undulated over to the altar, his spine contorting as it wound from side to side. As he slid up to accept his offering, the sheet that covered his face caught on a stick and fell to the ground, revealing the serpent-like tongue protruding from the man’s mouth.

His skin was now covered in green, moist scales. His entire face resembled that of a lizard, even his nose flattened with two tiny slits taking the place of his nostrils. Hissing at the crowd, he lurched at them to give warning not to touch his snack. The collective fear of the spectators spawned chaos, but he ignored their cries for saving.

Chapter Fifteen

His jawbone unhinged, and his mouth opened wide. Stretching his lips back, he revealed a ferocious pair of fang dripping with venom and saliva. The leaves laid out with the offering crunched as he chomped down on them, and he closed his eyes with satisfaction at the sweet treat he was devouring.

My blood turned to ice when he snapped his lids open again. This time, his attention was on Aunt Vivian and me. I envied the other members who had the opportunity to flee. Vivian was holding me in front of her as a shield, her fingernails digging into my skin. There was no escaping her grip. Screaming in my mind for Samuel to rescue me, I caught a glimpse on him trying to dodge through the crowd to answer my plea. There was nothing he could do. The mass of scattering bodies was too thick.

If only I could get these people to settle down. The pandemonium they were creating would only make this creature’s reactions more unpredictable. He could strike a scurrying human out of nothing more than instinct, the way a real snake might react to a mouse.

Determined to not have spent the last week starving in vain, I had to take control of the situation, or risk having everything that was being handed to me taken away again—including Samuel.

“Everybody, stop!” I heard the words before I even realized I had shouted the order.

As if they were my puppets, they all stopped dead in their tracks. No more shouting, no more stamping feet. The only sound left was Aunt Vivian’s chattering teeth in my ear. My word truly did hold weight to this community.

“We summoned him,” I reminded them. “He did not answer our request just to eat us all. Don’t be afraid. He is your loa, not a stranger.”

I waited for the spirit to speak his peace, but he only stared, perplexed by my pretend fearlessness.

“Why isn’t he communicating?” I whispered over my shoulder to my guide.

“He’s a serpent, you idiot!” Vivian hissed. “He can’t speak to you the way that a man does! His wisdom surpasses all of us. He isn’t able to lower himself to suit us.”

In an instant, Damballah slithered to my feet and coiled his body around my legs and up my frame until his demon red eyes were directly in front of mine. Aunt Vivian squealed in disgust and took haven across the graveyard into Marcus’s arms.

“She is not as wise as she believes herself to be, my child.” The words did not come from his mouth, but from the air, though they were audible just the same.

A brief glance from the corner of my eye showed he was not speaking only to me. Aunt Vivian flinched at his words as well, while everyone else stared in wonder.

“Thank you for answering our call,” I barely squeaked out. His body was constricting me so tightly I could hardly breathe at all. Speaking was a feat.

“You’re not afraid?”

“Of course. I’m terrified.” I didn’t think it much use to lie to a spirit.

He stuck out his long, forked tongue and ran it over my face, leaving a trail of sticky saliva behind. His breath was ghastly, filled with the stench of death, and I silent forbid myself from gagging.

Unwinding himself from me, he headed toward Aunt Vivian. I caught my breath as she lost hers. She was screeching like a monkey and her feet were dancing on the earth, which only fed Damballah’s humor. He enjoyed her squirming. She finally gave up and fell to her knees in front of him.

“Damballah Wèdo,” she cried. “Forgive my fear. The awe I hold for your power has made me tremble.”

He arched his back so that he rose above her bowed head. “You would sacrifice your young relative to give yourself safety from a bloodthirsty amphibian? Shame on your selfishness. You’re old enough to be much wiser than this.”

“Yes, I know. I know. I’m weak, my dear loa. Forgive me.”

“It is not me you should apologize to,” he spoke harshly. “It is not me you have wronged.”

“Eliza.” She reached toward me. “Can you forgive me?” Tears streamed down her face, and my heart pitied her.

After accepting her hand, I sat on my knees next to her. “She was afraid,” I said to the spirit. “She acted without thinking. I don’t hold any ill will for my aunt.”

He heightened himself even farther, until he was hovering off the ground, and he addressed the crowd behind us. “And what about all of you? Are you all as naively forgiving as your new Queen?”

“New Queen?” Vivian shouted, this time with anger in her voice. She jumped to her feet. “I have served all of you for decades. Taken your children into my home. Taught them the way of Voodoo because you were too lazy to do it yourselves! I have cured, blessed, and prayed for each and every one of you pathetic souls. And you would simply replace me?”

“You have abused your position—” Damballah started.

“And you!” Reaching down beside her, she picked up a stick and brandished it in the face of the host. “I have spent countless hours that would no doubt add up to days if not years on my knees praying to you. I have presented myself in this very fashion on dozens of occasions, and you never once answered me. But her you answer? A faithful servant you ignore, but a stranger’s call you answer?”

She raised the weapon she brandished and started to bring it down onto the snake’s neck, but he was much quicker. Catching her hand in his mouth, he bit down hard, forcing her to drop the stick.

My neck grew hot with panic. I couldn’t bring myself to ignore her screams of agony.

“Please!” I begged. “Stop this!”

He unlocked his jaw, and she held her arm out in shock as the blood dripped down. I tore a piece from the bottom of my dress and wrapped her wounds tightly. Holding her face to my chest, I coddled her as though she were a child.

“You would protect her after such disrespect?” He genuinely appeared shocked by my humanity.

“I would,” I snapped. “I would protect any one of these people, especially her. Despite her opinion of me, she is the only one living that carries my blood inside of hers.”

“I wonder if you would be so loyal if you knew the truth about your parents,” he pondered aloud.

My heart skipped a beat, and Aunt Vivian stiffened in my arms.

“Which parents?” I asked.

“All four of them.”

“Sir Damballah,” Samuel interrupted. “Perhaps we should turn our attention to the future of the community.”

The serpent hummed. “Eager to begin your new life, my son? I understand. Especially now that I have met this unique young lady. She is special.”

“She is,” Samuel agreed.

My face warmed. It wasn’t the compliment itself that embarrassed me. It was the witnesses.

“Very well then,” Damballah said. “On with it, shall we? Vivian Paris!”

She jumped at the call for attention.

“You will want to pay very close attention to this.” His cheeks slid up into a tight smile, and the tips of his fangs hung out. “I don’t need to tell any of you the Voodoo community is weakened, but nowhere is it diluted so greatly than in this little pocket of the swamp. We require a great leader to lift you up from your knees, and as wonderful as your new Queen is, she’s not the one to do it.”

Chatter spread throughout the crowd. They all looked at me with daggers, as though I had betrayed them by not being who they wanted me to be.

“She is, however,” he commanded their attention to return, “the one with the key. She will be the one that will allow grandness back into your lives.”

“She is but a child,” Aunt Vivian pointed out.

“I didn’t give you permission to speak,” he warned. “Your mortal niece may try, but she can’t protect you from me.”

“Yes, sir,” she said through her teeth, poorly disguising her contempt.

“The Great One is not yet born, and it will require some adjustments in tradition for her to become more than just wishful thinking,” Damballah said. “In the past there have been strict rules about who a healer could mate with. The healer’s offspring could only receive gift from one half of her parent. But we need a fullblood.”

My eyes caught Samuel’s and wouldn’t let go. This was it. From now on we could be together and nobody, not even Aunt Vivian, would dare try to stop us.

Cheers of approval spread throughout his audience, but they were not allowed much time to celebrate before catastrophe struck.

The ground shook hard and lightning lit up the sky. What had just been a modest fire meant only to give light behind the altar abruptly exploded, sending flaming projectiles into the air.

Lowering ourselves to the floor, we each covered ourselves as best as we could with our own arms. Samuel’s weight landed on top of my back as he threw himself over me to keep me safe. Ash suffocated my lungs, and a wall of smoke blinded my vision.