Echoes in the Bayou (18 page)

"Look
Gavin, I know what you and Melanie did to Ava and I'd appreciate it if you
would treat her with respect while you're in my house."

"What
are you talking about Magnus?
"

"Gavin
that innocent act might work on Melanie but it doesn’t work on me, so let's
stop with the bullshit. I am quite fond of Ava and I intend on having her in my
life for a very long time. Now, you and she are over,
you got what you wanted and that's good for you. But do not come into
my house and think that you can disrespect her any more than you already have.

I know
everything Gavin and if I were you, I'd apologize to her for the way that this
whole break up thing went down. Even though she's over you, she's not over what
you and Melanie did to her so man up and apologize to her tonight, preferably
before the séance," he said while looking him square in the eye.

"We
wouldn’t want any bad feelings being stirred up at the séance table now would
we?" He turned and put his hand on the door handle. "Oh and you might
want to relay my message to your girlfriend as well," he said turning
around to look at him once more. Gavin had his head raised and was staring up
at the graying clouds.

"Nod
so that I know you understand me.
"

Gavin
nodded and lowered his head in embarrassment
.

As he
made his way back to the kitchen, Magnus smiled at Ava. "Everything
alright?" She turned to him while drying her hands on the dish towel.

"Yes
it is," he said and kissed her on the lips. It was the first time they'd
ever kissed in front of people. Si
nta smiled
broadly while Melanie, who had been filing her nails at the kitchen table
mumbled something that no one heard or cared to comprehend.

"If
it wasn’t for this séance I'd take you upstairs right now," he whispered
in her ear
.

"Sorry
to interrupt you two," Gavin had come back inside. He thought about what
he was going to say to Ava after Magnus left him alone and he was now ready to
say it.

"Ava
can I talk to you outside for a moment," he nodded his head towards Magnus.

Ava
stared at h
im somberly. "What is it
Gavin?" she asked annoyed that he would want to speak to her at all, let
alone one on one.

"Ava
it's alright, go and talk with him," Magnus insisted and walked the two of
them outside.

"I'll
be in the sitting room
helping Sinta set up, you
two take your time but Gavin," he said as he pulled him off to the side.
"If she comes back in here upset, you and I are going to take a walk
around the bayou and I guarantee that only one of us will return, and it won't
be you."

 
Outside on the front porch, Ava stood in a defensive
stance with her arms and legs crossed, she wanted to block him from trying to
enter her world; he was no longer allowed in it.

"Ava
I brought you out here because I wanted to apologize to yo
u. I know that what me and Melanie did hurt you and I
want you to know that I am very sorry."

"Gavin,
Magnus put you up to this didn’t he?" she asked warily
.

"Look
Ava, what I… What we did to you was wrong, I mean I shouldn’t have ended things
the way I di
d."

"Oh
  I'm confused Gavin, do you mean you shouldn’t
have been fucking your girlfriends best friend while at work or… that you
should have ended things with me before the affair started? Which is it?"
She said, her eyes ablaze with anger.

Gavin
tried putting his arms around her.

"Don’t
touch me Gavin," she said and moved further away
.

Gavin
threw up his hands in surrender. "Ava I'm sorry, and I just wanted to tell
you that. I'm sorry that I hurt you.
"

"Gavin,
I want to know what I did that drove you into
the arms of my best friend." Her eyes had begun to tear up and all Gavin
could think about was what Magnus had threatened to do to him if he upset her.

"Ava
you did nothing wrong, deep down you have got to know that," he said
pleadingly. "It was all me, I was the one who got bored, not being with
you but with being in a relationship. I thought that there was something more
that I wanted and then Melanie started flirting with me and well you know the rest.
Ava I can't change what's happened but I can apologize for it and I'm not
asking you to forgive me. I just want you to know that I am sorry that I hurt
you and I hope that you find true happiness because you deserve it and I'm
sorry about insulting you at dinner, I'm an idiot and it won't happen
again."

Did she
hear true remorse in his words? Or was it simply because Magnus had obviously
intimidated him into apologizing. If it was the latter, she wondered what he
could have possibly said to get Gavin to make his apology appear so genuinely
repentant.

"Gavin,
I have something to say but I
need to say it to
both you and Melanie so if you wouldn’t mind asking her to come out here,"
she spoke to him calmly.

 "In
case you haven’t noticed Ava, there's a storm raging out here," Melanie
said as she put on her jacket and held onto Gavin's arm, it looked as if she
thought Ava was going to steal him away. Ava snickered out loud at the
thought.  Although Gavin was quite attractive, his arrogant attitude now
left a lot to be desired.
She can have him
, Ava thought to herself.

"Ava,
what is it that you have to say?" Melanie said. She was peeved now because
she wasn’t able to flirt with Magnus, Gavin had called her out onto the porch
.

"I
called you out here Melanie because I wanted to let the both of you know that
the moment you leave this house, I will forget about the two of you and never
think about you again. But you two will think about what you did to me each and
every moment the entire time that you are together and I'm sure for a long time
after that. Especially you Melanie, you were supposed to be my best friend,
you've betrayed me beyond words. But I still hope that you will never have to
go through what I went through when I saw you underneath him," she said
and looked at Gavin with disgust. 

"Ava…"
Gavin reached out to her.

Ava
turned her back on the both of them. "That's all I have to say, you can go
back inside now and Melanie?
Magnus isn’t
interested," She said and watched as they headed back inside.

The rain
had slowed to a drizzle and made the softest sound as she sat in one of the
oversized rocking chairs that lined the enormous porch. A violent wind blew
through the porch causing her to shiver
.

 
"Are you alright?" Magnus walked over to her
and draped one of sweatshirts around her.

"I'm
fine," she responded with a smile. "I'm perfectly fine, now let's get
this séance started," she said and wrapped her arms around him
.

"Just
think," he said as he
kissed her.
"This could all be over tonight and we can have a chance to get on with
our lives, together." His eyes observed her with hope.

"Together,"
she repeated the word and gently traced her fingers along his face
.

Chapter
Fourteen

Sinta and
Magnus had rearranged the sitting room, making it look like that of an intimate
parlor.   A round table was brought in and candlelight illuminated
the room, the fire had been lit and the flames flickered and crackled calmly as
everyone took their seats.  Melanie sat quietly in a corner turning the
pages of a book. Ava saw that her eyes averted quite frequently from the pages
of the book towards the small group.

After
Sinta said a short prayer, she instructed them to hold hands and under no
circumstances should they break the circle.

"You's
has to wait for me to thank 'da spirit
s fo visitin',
then we's can close the circle and welcome in 'da light, everybody clear?"

Whe
n they all nodded their heads in agreement, Melanie
snickered and looked away as Ava was forced to hold hands with Gavin.

Almost
immediately after Sinta asked if anyone was there, the candles that had been
placed in the middle of the table began flickering. A cold wind whipped through
the room, it scrapped at her skin in such a way that it made the hairs on the
back of her neck stand up. Magnus gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and she
reluctantly lifted one eyelid. She could see Sinta's head rolled back and she
was murmuring something, it sounded like chanting.

Both
Magnus and Gavin had their eyes closed and soon Ava followed suit. Sinta's
chanting began to grow louder and was soon echoing throughout the room, until
she stopped and a voice that was not her own came through.

"Celeste?"
The male voice questioned.  Now they all kept their hands interlocked but
their eyes were open as they sat staring at Sinta, mesmerized by what was
happening.

All eyes
were soon on Ava, including Sinta's who looked at her as if she'd never seen
the young woman before.

Melanie,
who had remained silent during the ordeal felt a strange presence nearby, and
was about to speak when Gavin turned to her and whispered,
"Mel, shut up." He could sense it to, but
this presence was a malevolent one.

The
séance that was going on at the table meant nothing
to Melanie as she sat in a trance listening to a female voice whispering in her
ear. The voice was saying unspeakable things about Ava. It was telling her that
Ava was plotting to take Gavin away from her and that she needed to be stopped.
"Go on, I'm listening," Melanie murmured as she stared blankly ahead.

"Celeste
I have been looking for you," the voice of Will said. He was coming
through Sinta and he was coming through strong. Ava couldn’t take her eyes off
of Sinta and thought about what to say. It was obvious to both she and Magnus
that Celeste had not come through her but it didn’t matter to Will because he
was there and in his mind, so was Celeste.

"Tell
him how much you love him," Magnus whispered
.

"I
love you Will. I've never stopped loving you," she said with sincerity
.

"Then
why did you leave me Celeste? Why did you go?
"

The scent
of G
ardenias filled the room and even Gavin took
notice of the strong scent.

"I
was forced to go Will, something bad happened to me and I need your help. I
need your help in getting rid of the horrible man that hurt me."

"Celeste,
come away with
me now, we can run away and head
north to Canada. You can be free Celeste, now that I've found you I won't let
you go."

Ava sat
quietly for a moment before speaking. "I was murdered Will and until my
death is avenged, I cannot leave."

The exp
ression on Sinta's face had turned very grave.

"Celeste,
who has done you such harm, I demand that you tell me," Will's voice
commanded
.

"Will,
it was…
"

With the
lightning came the wind, and it took all the light from the room leaving
everything pitch black. Even the fire that was flickering brightly only moments
before had been completely extinguished. Ava wanted to scream out but she held
onto Magnus for support.

"No
one break da circle," Sinta was back and she was speaking in her own voice
.

"We
must thank Will for comin', then afta 'dat we can break the circle.
"

She was
all seriousness now and no one sitting at the table doubted her words.
 

After
thanking the spirit for making an appearance, Sinta said a short cleansing
prayer before releasing her hold on Magnus and Gavin's hands. Gavin reluctantly
unclenched his hand from Ava's.  The room was still cloaked in darkness
and it was eerily silent.

"Mel,
you okay?" Gavin spoke out to her. He was comforted by the sound of his
own
voice, at that moment, they all were.
"Mel?" He spoke out again. When he didn’t hear a reply he began
feeling his way towards the other side of the room.