Possessed (14 page)

“
Where are you?” I
whispered. “Please show me where you are.”

“
Under the table, Arelia.
We’re under the table,” replied a child’s voice.

“
Under the table?” I glanced
around the massive kitchen. There were dozens of wooden tables.
“Which one?”

“
The one in the
middle.”

I hurried over to a long wooden table
that sat in the middle of the room, got down on my hands and knees
and crawled under it. “I’m here but I can’t see you,” I
said.

“
Arelia, don’t be silly. You
know we need an offering.”

Here was the fun part. Of course they
needed an offering. “What do you want?” I asked cautiously while
begging that they would say anything but blood. Please don’t be
blood. Please.

“
Soda water,” said the
voice.

“
Soda water?” I asked.
“Really?”

“
Yes.”

I’m coming, queen.

“
Okay. I can do that. I can
get you soda water.” I quickly got up from under the table and
grabbed a glass bottle that rested on a nearby shelf. “Here,” I
said, as I slid back under the table.

“
There’s only one bottle.
It’s my bottle,” said one of the twins.

“
No it’s my bottle,” said
the other.

“
Why do you always get
everything? I should get this one.”

“
No. You get everything.
This one is mine.”

“
Wait. Please don’t argue.
I’ll get another soda.” Wow. Who knew spirit twins were just as
competitive as human twins?

I grabbed another bottle and slid under
the table again. “Look, another bottle. Now with all due respect,
can you please show yourselves and help me get out of here? I
honestly don’t want to be bought for the low low price of six
hundred and fifty dollars. Please.”

“
Fine, Arelia. You don’t
have to beg us. We want to help if you agree to play with
us.”

“
Yes. I’ll play with
you.”

The lights flickered for a moment and
the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. When the spirits
finally manifested, I was taken aback by the fact that they were
actually children no older than six or seven. What an exquisite and
heartbreaking sight they were with their innocent wide brown eyes,
silky smooth caramel skin and bud like mouths. The boy wore a
miniature black waistcoat and top hat while the girl was dressed in
a tiny black ball gown embroidered with pearls. They looked like
perfect little dolls with tangles of shiny chocolate brown curls
that hung well past their shoulders.

“
What are your names?” I
asked.

“
Our name is Marrassa,” said
the girl in a matter-of-fact tone.

“
Marrassa? You’re Marrassa?”
My eyes widened with surprise.

“
Why do you sound so
astonished?” asked the boy.

“
I’m not,” I lied. I was
stunned. The two children I saw sitting in front of me, arguing
over soda water, were the personification of divine knowledge and
elemental forces. Basically, they were super powerful and possessed
solutions to your deepest and most troublesome problems. On top of
that, they were also two of the oldest loas around. How
ironic.

“
We’re hungry,” said the
girl. “Did you bring us something to eat?”

“
No. But I can,” I said, as
I saw her disapproving and vastly annoyed expression.

“
We want something sweet,”
said the boy.

I nodded and got up from under the
table. Something sweet. Something sweet. I was in an extravagant
kitchen- surely there must be something sweet lying around the
place. A mountain of pralines caught my attention and I immediately
grabbed a few until I realized that any old pralines wouldn’t do.
They needed to be the exact same shape and size otherwise the
divine twins would throw a fit. I searched for what felt like
forever when I found four that were nearly identical and grabbed
them despite the evil glance the one of the waiter’s gave
me.

Queen, where are you?

“
Here, I got you guys
something sweet. Two pralines for each of you. They’re the exact
shape and size,” I added hoping they would approve and help me
already.

The twins nodded their little heads and
took the pralines from my hand. For a moment or two there was a
silence as Marrassa sipped on their soda and ate their pralines. I
was tempted to tell them to hurry up, but that probably wasn’t
going to get me anywhere. Who was I to rush infinitely powerful
twin spirits while they were in the middle of their sugar
fix?

“
Did you bring us any toys?”
asked one of the twins.

“
Toys? No. Sorry. I didn’t
exactly have time to stop by the toy store before Ivan put stones
in my pass way or whatever.”

“
You didn’t bring us any
toys? We can’t help you without any toys. What are we supposed play
with?”

Good question.

Queen, come out, come out wherever you
are.

“
Ouch!” I let out a violent
cry, as I felt a forceful whip against my skin and the back of my
dress ripped open. “What the hell!”

That’s only one lash, queen. Come out.
Come out where ever you are.

“
Where are our toys, Arelia?
Where are our toys?” The twins demanded, completely oblivious to
the fact I was in agony.

I got up from under the table and
grabbed a couple of spoons and two crystal glasses.

“
Here, look, toys” I said,
as I banged the spoons against the glasses.

The twins shook their little heads and
crossed their arms. “Arelia, these aren’t toys. You’re simply
banging spoons against glasses.” They let out little yawns. “We
thought you would be fun to play with. I guess we were wrong. We
can’t help you. You’re boring! Why is everyone so boring! We
expected more from a supposedly powerful Voodoo Queen. Why does
everyone always disappoint us? Why do we even bother helping humans
if all of you are so boring! Boring! Boring! Boring! Sheep! Think
outside the box, Arelia. Amuse us! Show us why you’re worthy of our
help. Don’t be boring!”

Stay calm, Arelia. They’re only kids,
really annoying kids, but still kids, I reminded myself as I tried
to think of something that would capture their attention. Something
shiny, new and wonderfully magical. “No, please. I’m not boring, I
swear. I have toys. I have toys that you’ve never seen before,” I
lied, as I tried to think of something that would appease the
divine twins.

“
Where are they? Are you
going to bang spoons against your head? We’ve seen that
before.”

“
No.” The truth was I had
thought about banging spoons against my forehead or a large pot.
What kind of toy could possibly please these very demanding twins?
I thought fast and decided to take a risk. “Here, take these.
They’re shiny stars that fell from the night sky,” I said, as I
took out the diamond earrings from my ears and handed one each to
the twins. “I was walking through the swamp one night and there
they were. When they fell from the sky, they begged me to find them
a good home. I’ve been trying to find a place where they belong but
nothing seems right. Aren’t they beautiful? Do you guys think that
you can give them a good home? There’s one for each of you. They’re
exactly the same size, shape and color so you don’t have to fight
over them.”

The twins’ faces lit up as they took
the earrings from my hand and held them up to the light. “Pretty.
They’re so pretty. We’ve never played with stars before. We’ve
played with planets, but never stars. They fell from the sky and
landed in a swamp? We’ve never had swamp stars before! Thank you,
Arelia.” Thankfully the twins approved of their toys.

“
Ouch!” I felt another lash
against my skin. The pain was so incredibly blinding that it
prompted me to curl up in the fetal position on the
floor.

That’s two. Come out. Come out wherever
you are.

“
Please help me,” I
whispered. “Please. How is he doing this? How is he able to whip me
without even being near me?”

I clenched my teeth and held myself as
I felt a third lash against my back.

That’s three. This can go on forever,
queen.

“
Poor Arelia.” The twins
gathered around me and softly stroked my forehead. “Louis put
stones in your passway. It’s so easy to put stones in people’s
passways. Do you know why, Arelia? Do you know why it’s so easy to
possess someone?”

“
No.” My voice was barely
audible.

“
It’s so easy because most
people never pay attention. They aren’t aware of what they eat,
what they drink, how they sleep, where they walk. Most people are
zombies that repeat the same actions day in and day out without
ever really understanding what they’re doing or why they’re doing
it. People never seem to see a deeper meaning behind things and
never look beyond the surface. It makes everything so much easier.
It makes possession so easy. It makes control so easy. Control is
power, Arelia. Control is power.”

“
What does that mean?” I
wanted to understand. I really did, but at that second it seemed
nearly impossible. “Did Ivan put stones in Sabrina’s passway too?
Is he going to harm her?”

“
We’ll tell you if you sing
us a song. You said you would play with us, remember? Well, we want
to hear a song. We want to hear a song about the stars. If you sing
we’ll tell you more about Louis.”

“
Ouch!” As the fourth lash
met my back a flood of salty tears rushed down my face. Through my
tears, I started to tragically sing the only star song I
knew:

“
Twinkle, twinkle, little
star,

How I wonder what you
are.

Up above the world so
high,

Like a diamond in the
sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little
star,

How I wonder what you
are!”

“
Arghhhhhh,” I screamed, as
Ivan dished out lash number five.

“
Don’t stop singing Arelia.
We want to hear more.”

“
Please, I can’t. I can’t
take the pain.”

“
We want to hear
more!”

Through bitter tears and unbearable
pain, I continued to sing for the twins.

“
When the blazing sun is
gone,

When there's nothing he
shines upon,

Then you show your little
light,

Twinkle, twinkle, through
the night.

Twinkle, twinkle, little
star,

How I wonder what you
are!

In the dark blue sky so
deep

Through my curtains often
peep

For you never close your
eyes

Till the morning sun does
rise

Twinkle, twinkle, little
star

How I wonder what you
are”

The twins clapped their hands and
squealed in childish delight as their innocent eyes shone. “You’re
a great singer, Arelia. We love your singing!”

Clearly, they were crazy and delusional
if they thought I was a great singer.

“
Help me, please,” I
moaned.

“
Louis laid down a trick to
control and possess you. He knows your habits better than you do.
You need to find where he’s laid the trick and destroy it. Once you
do, you’ll be free.”

Great. A trick. But where? In
Voodoo/Hoodoo laying down a trick meant using herbs, roots,
powders, and personal effects such as hair, nails, blood or
clothing to mess with someone’s mind, body and soul so profoundly
that it often drove victims insane to the point they were either
institutionalized, committed suicide or were a helpless slave to
the person who laid the trick.

The problem with tricks was that they
could be placed virtually anywhere the intended victim had regular
contact. I mean anywhere. Ivan worked in the kitchen. Was he
putting the ingredients in the food I specifically ate? When he was
in our bedroom, had he placed them under my pillow? Somewhere in
the bathroom? The door handles I touched on a regular basis? Had he
called upon a spirit and hid them in the graveyard? Was he sneaking
them into my bloodstream every time he gave me a kiss? Why did
Voodoo/Hoodoo have to be so creative? Why couldn’t be as simple as
holding hands and chanting a few spells? Just when I was starting
to get a little less paranoid, this had to happen.

“
Is there another way? Is
there another way the trick can be destroyed?” I asked.

The twins nodded. “Yes, but the only
other person who can destroy the trick is Louis.”

“
Tell me where. I seriously
doubt that he’s going to let me go anytime soon.”

“
We can’t do that. You need
to find out for yourself. You can’t tell anyone that he’s placed a
trick on you.”

“
Why not?”

“
These words are for your
ears only.”

“
And Sabrina?”

“
Only you can give her
peace,” replied the twins.

“
That’s what Papa Ghede
said. He said I had to give her peace. That’s the only reason he
let Sabrina live. Did Louis lure her to the cemetery? What are his
plans for her? Did he place stones in her passway too?”