One Hundred Saints (7 page)

“I can’t believe it!” she exclaimed, her face lit up like the Louisiana skyline we used to watch. “I’ve been looking for you for days! Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay!”

She reached up to hug me again, but I grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her down into the seat next to me. She didn’t seem to mind as she sat down and placed her hands between her legs.

“I’m trying not to cry right now,” she admitted, with a laugh.

“Why would you cry?” I asked curiously.

“Years of not knowing if my best friend was alive or dead, silly,” she replied, using the tips of her fingers to wipe under her eyes. She really
was
fighting tears and I felt the smile on my face widen slightly.

“You don’t look a thing like I remember,” she said shyly. “You’re all grown up now.”

“It tends to happen as the years pass. You still have the same girlish face you did when we were kids, though,” I remarked thoughtfully.

“So, how have you been?” she asked, putting a hand on my leg.

I looked down for a moment, then quickly pulled my leg up underneath myself, forcing her to move her hand. I hated being like this with Emily, but I didn’t want to feel anything I shouldn’t and because of that, I would do my best to keep myself untouched in any and every way.

“Good. How about you?” I asked, clasping my hands behind my head.

“I’ve been okay. I moved away before Katrina. I mean, you obviously knew that, but when Mama and Daddy came back, I kinda made a break for it. They would come and visit me and stuff, but I finally got to the point where I missed New Orleans so much, that I knew I had to come back. Besides, I would have these weird dreams where we’d be sitting over at Old Algiers and a tidal wave would come and take you away. It gave me a lot of sleepless nights, so I knew I had to look for you when I came back,” she said softly.

There was no way I would be able to martyr her. She was the perfect candidate for it; selfless, kind, and I couldn’t smell the stench of the men that had been inside of her, if any at all, but she cared too much about me still and it would haunt me even after everything was said and done.

“Where do you live these days? I’d love to see your place before I leave,” she said brightly.

It was an honest attempt to change the subject, because it made her sad, but that was the last thing I wanted to have happen. Emily in my home wouldn’t be a good idea because no matter how much I could fight it now, I wouldn’t be able to fight the call there. Not while I was so close to being done.

“Same place,” I replied quietly.

“Wait, I thought that the Lower Ninth Ward was abandoned,” she said in confusion.

“Not all of it. Next time you come to New Orleans, I promise to take you,” I said, thinking quickly. By that time, I would be done and she wouldn’t be in any danger. “But I think you should spend time with your family while you’re here.”

“Grimm Valot, you wait one minute,” she said evenly. “I’ve seen my parents, I’ve even seen the help, but this is the first time I’m seeing
you
in years, and you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

The smile left my face. I didn’t like being argued with and Emily was no exception to that rule, regardless of friendship or not.

“Listen, I have to do some stuff at home and I need to get out of here before Mardi Gras starts. Are you staying here long?” I asked.

“Few more days,” she replied unhappily.

“I’ll come back for you tomorrow,” I promised getting to my feet.

“Why can’t you just stay and go home tomorrow? I’ve got this big huge bed all to myself and we can watch the parade from my balcony,” she suggested, getting to her feet.

I sighed and ran a hand back through my hair. It almost pained me that she didn’t know what kind of person I had turned into. If she did, she wouldn’t have bothered to look for me and I wouldn’t be standing here trying not to hurt her feelings.

“Tomorrow, Emmie,” I replied shaking my head. “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “This better be the most important thing in the world you’re doing. And if you break your promise and don’t come back tomorrow, I’ll go to the Ward and find you.”

I chuckled. Emmie had always been a fierce little thing. The day her father chased me out of their house, I remember her trying to grab onto him and stop him, but she was just too small at the time.

I looked down into her eyes for a moment. I always liked her eyes because they were so warm and friendly. She really was the only person that ever cared about me, and I needed to find a way to get her to see what I had become without hurting her in the process.

“You have my word; I’ll come back for you tomorrow morning,” I replied softly.

A satisfied smile spread across her pretty face, as she reached up yet again to hug me, this time kissing me on the cheek. I closed my eyes for a moment before I opened them again and smiled back at her.

Then I walked out of La Rue Chateau to find what I knew I needed. Three more saints would be made tonight, because I wouldn’t have the time to do it tomorrow.

After all, I had given Emmie my word that I would be back for her. I just didn’t know in what sense I meant it, and I would have to get to work tonight to keep her safe tomorrow.

I
left the French Quarter and went over to Old Algiers. I wanted to sit on the grass and think for a while about what I was going to do. I knew I would have to go back when the celebrations were in full swing and I’d take whoever I could find. With as much as I didn’t want to be reckless about my choices, whoever was unaware of the danger in coming close to me, would be the one I would take. I needed to take at least three and I wondered how the hell I was going to manage that.

The closer I get to being done, the safer she’ll be from me,
I thought as I looked out over the Mississippi River.

A part of me wanted to desperately save her from what I knew should happen to her. Marie’s shop wasn’t far from where Emmie was staying and I would have to find a way to keep a watch on her from my home, but I had no idea how to do it.

The other part of me knew that Emmie’s life source, her blood and bones, would make me so much money that I would probably never have to steal the innocent and sell their pieces and fluids for a generous sum.

Does Emmie have to die? How do I save her from Marie when I don’t know if I can really save her from myself?

I sighed and leaned back onto the palms of my hands. The breeze that went by made me smile slightly as I watched the water ripple lazily. I couldn’t think about Emmie’s salvation when all I had on my mind was destruction. The world didn’t work that way because if it did, there would be no one left to wage wars or try to make peace.

Who do I take?
I wondered tiredly, placing my face in my hands. I was so close to being done but I was also tired too. The remorse after ninety six saints still hadn’t set in so I knew that four more would affect me even less.

Was I a monster for what I believed in or was I just a man who knew that everyone has to die at some point and sending them off on a greater purpose was the best thing for them?

In their last few breaths, they had all seen me as the devil in disguise; I was waiting for the one that would see me as a savior and understand that I had done something great for them, as well as myself.

Behind me in the distance somewhere, I could hear the sounds of children laughing, and I knew I would have to get to work. First, I wanted to go to the market and see if it was open. The purpose was to shake the hand of the man whose son had become my most recent saint and give him the money that Marie had paid me for his bones and blood. I wouldn’t tell him who I was or why I was giving him the money, but it was my custom to pay the families, if I could find them, for the use of their loved ones.

Would it ever be enough to halt their mourning? No, but that wasn’t the point of it. It was to give them some kind of comfort for their sacrifice.

I got to my feet and slung my back over my shoulder. When I turned around, I almost slammed into Emmie who I didn’t even know had been standing behind me.

“Brings back memories, doesn’t it?” she asked softly.

“I told you to stay put,” I replied harsher than I meant to. My tone didn’t seem to bother her, instead she just walked past me and leaned against one of the trees and looked at the river.

“I know,” she said with a loud sigh. Emmie turned and leaned against the tree, her arms across her chance, giving me a sidelong glance. “I just don’t believe you when you say you’ll come back for me tomorrow.”

“Emmie, go back to the hotel. I told you I would come for you tomorrow and I will.”

She held my gaze to see if I would break it first or look away because that would mean I was lying. What she didn’t understand was that the life I started to live after she left, enabled me to put on such a spectacular façade, that no one would ever know when I was telling the truth unless I showed them.

“Eight sharp, Grimm. Otherwise I’m coming to find you,” she finally said, holding up a warning finger.

“Eight sharp,” I confirmed. “Come on; let me walk you back to the hotel.”

She glanced out at the Mississippi River one more time, before she nodded and fell into step beside me. From the direction we were coming in, we would have to pass Marie’s shop and I knew she would see us if she wasn’t busy doing a reading. I could only hope she did; I would give her a nod as a false confirmation of her request, but also let her see me with Emily. It would be a sure way to keep her and her dogs at bay and give me a chance to either get her out of this damn place or keep her inside of me forever.

I let her chatter away the entire way back to La Rue Chateau. I responded every now and then with an agreement or surprise of some sort to let her know that I was interested in what she was saying. When the moment came to walk past Marie’s Cove of Voodoo, I made sure to keep Emily on the side furthest away from the door; especially when I saw that Marie was standing outside talking to a would be patron.

“Ah, there he is now!” she exclaimed loudly.

Emily started to slow her pace so we could stop and talk to Marie, but I put a hand on her elbow, shot the voodoo priestess a dirty look, and crossed the street with her immediately. A few cars honked angrily at us, but I didn’t care. If Marie was pointing me out to someone it was for spiritual purposes and that was a part of me that Emily wouldn’t have to see or know about just yet.

“You know that crazy old lady?” Emmie asked me curiously as we weaved past a couple of parked cars and onto the sidewalk.

“Sort of,” I replied through grit teeth as I let go of her elbow. “Just keep walking, we’re almost there.”

“Ugh. She’s crazy with a capital C,” Emmie said, shaking her head. “Don’t think I’m weird for this, but I went to her and had her do a reading for me and she told me the most bizarre stuff that had nothing to do with what I asked.”

“Like what?” I asked, glancing down at her.

“She just went on and on about saints and blood and bones, and how I was so much prettier on the inside than I was on the outside. It’s like I paid her all that money for absolutely nothing,” she said, throwing her hands in the air.

I swallowed hard. I felt like my throat was swelling up, which meant that I would most likely work against my own will. Marie’s readings were never wrong and I knew I wouldn’t have a choice now. When we reached the doors to La Rue Chateau, I looked down at Emily Thibideaux with sadness tearing my heart into pieces.

“I love you, Emmie,” I said softly.

“I love you too, Grimm,” she replied with a big smile. “It’s good to know that we’re still friends like this, you know.”

“Get out of New Orleans tonight and don’t come back,” I commanded, gently giving her a push toward the doors, before I turned around and tore down the street.

I refused to make her a martyr.

I refused to make her a saint.

After tonight, after the next three, I would find someone else who was just as appealing to Marie as Emmie was and then it would all be over.

But I refused to take her life, no matter what the cost would be.

I
had fought the demons for longer than I could remember. I can’t exactly say I was chosen, but I can’t say that I would have declined if I had been. I always wanted to see what humans were really made of, ever since we had lost so many when the rains came, but what I wanted most of all was knowing that nothing would ever be able to hurt me again.

The day I decided to embrace the demons was the day I became what I am. I chose to start selling the bones and blood shortly after I met Marie. She told me she could see what I did when she closed her eyes at night and she told me that if I kept her well stocked, she would keep my discretions in the dark, as well as compensate for what I could bring to her.

But as I made my way back toward Bourbon Street, I found myself feeling the demons swell from within. Not the mythological demons of old, but my own personal demons that clawed at my soul that led me down this path of darkness and destruction.

I need to finish this. I need this to be over so I can live whatever life is in store for me afterwards.

As I wandered down the crowds that were already starting to gather, I found myself looking for Emmie. I needed her to stay out of sight, especially now that the crowds were gathering. If she came out into the streets, Marie would be able to have her taken without anyone knowing.

Focus. You’re here for saints, not Emily Thibideaux.

The bustling, the excitement around me, it was causing me to sweat. I had a problem being around crowds, because I was best known for being more of a myth. Not many people knew who I was by looking at me and I wanted to keep it that way.

I grunted as a group of young men who were already drunk pushed past me on their way to their next bar. If I had my machete on me, I would have probably flown into a frenzy and gutted them for touching me.

Times like this was when I had to remind myself that I wasn’t a murderer. I was a man of sacrificial purposes; murderers were evil people who killed for the thrill of it.