Echoes in the Bayou (7 page)

"Uh-huh,"
Ava grinned. "What else?"

"
Hey how about I show you the rest of the house?"
He quickly changed the subject.

"
I’d love that, but it’s late and I'm a little tired,
could we start the tour tomorrow?" She asked.

"
Of course Ava, of course, I’ll walk you to your room."

O
nce she was safely inside her room, Magnus walked two
doors down and settled into his. He prayed that he wouldn’t have a sleep
walking episode in the middle of the night. But his prayers wouldn’t be
answered, as the clock struck three a.m., he arose quietly from his bed and
made his way to the kitchen.

"Damn,
I knew I should have brought a bottled water up from the kitchen," Ava
swore as she climbed out of bed. She was thirsty, and as she cupped her hands
under the bathroom faucet prepared to take a drink, nothing came out. After
trying both knobs, she decided to make her way down to the kitchen. Although
the long hallway was carpeted with a thick oriental runner, the floor still
creaked against her bare feet. She hoped that she wouldn’t disturb Magnus as
she slowly crept by his room. She noticed a small hint of light coming from
beneath his bedroom door.
He must be writing
,
she told herself as she made her way down the long, elaborate
staircase.

The moon
light coming in through the windows illuminated her way and as she walked into
the kitchen, she saw Magnus standing in front of the pantry. His stance gave
her a start and as she opened her mouth to speak to him he suddenly turned and
looked at her.

His eyes
seemed to glow with warmth and he looked at her as if he was seeing her for the
very first time. A loving smile came across his face and he reached out to her.
"Magnus, are you alright?" She asked. He
was shirtless and his body glistened from the moonlight coming though the
kitchen window. The scent of gardenias filled the air and it was intoxicating.
She felt a sudden need to take his hand, and she allowed him to pull her into
his embrace.

"I’ve
been waiting for you for so long," he said in a dream like voice.

"
And
I'm here now," she replied just as dreamily.

H
e
took her face in his hands and gently lifted her chin; it was then that he
kissed her. Slowly and softly he ran his lips against hers before taking her
into his warm embrace. He whispered in her ear as he ran his fingers along her
back. "You’re my love, and my love for you will cease to exist, when those
beautiful gardenias start blooming in the harshest of winter."

W
hen she heard those words, her heart fluttered

 
Then, something she could not see ripped her from his
arms and began pounding on her. She felt the tight grip of hands on her and
could see her tank top being pulled away from her as she tried to get
away. Screams for Magnus to help escaped her mouth as she fought hard
against her invisible attacker. And then as suddenly as it started, everything
seemed to stop. Sweat was pouring down her face and she knew then that she'd
been beaten by an unseen force.

Magnus
looked as if he'd been holding his breath; he let out a deep gasp. His eyes had
returned to normal and his chest was heaving. He took a frightened Ava into his
arms and quieted her sobs, neither of them understood what had just occurred
but whatever it was, it was at that moment that they realized they would have
to figure it out together.

 
Over cups of steaming hot tea, the two went over what
had just happened. It was four thirty in the morning and they both knew that
sleep would not come calling for them this night.

Once
Magnus adm
itted that he had been doing his
supernatural routine almost nightly, and filled her in on the little bit of
history that he was aware of, things began to get a bit more clearer for her.
She understood now that although Gavin sending her there had been a coincidence
on his part, it certainly wasn’t one on hers.  "It was all meant to
be," she anxiously said to Magnus and continued to tell him the story of
how she wound up accepting the job. She did not however let him in on the fact
that she had caught her boss/boyfriend having sex with her best friend on his
desk in the office.

At the
end of her story, Magnus ran his hand through his hair. "My god Ava, do
you think that we were put together so that we can figure out the history of
this place? To find out why the son killed himself? Do you think he was that in
love with a young slave girl? I mean so in love that it left some kind of
imprint?" Magnus was growing more and more inquisitive by the minute. He
was going into writer mode and the questions began to soar throughout his head.

Ava
wrapped her arms around herself; she was getti
ng
goose bumps. Just thinking about the history of the place and what she’d seen when
she first arrived was enough to make a person wonder in fear. But she knew that
fear was simply caused by ignorance and she was not about to let an old legend
or hocus pocus change her mind. She was determined to find out the history of
the place and set free if she could, the two lovers that were obviously trapped
here.

"
Yes, that’s exactly what I think and it’s going to be
up to us to find out what really happened Magnus," she said looking into
his eyes.

 
She couldn’t help but wonder if he remembered kissing
her, she’d never felt such warmth before and wondered if he thought he was
kissing someone else
. Or maybe I was the
one kissing someone other than Magnus.

"
Magnus, do you remember… I mean, I felt such a
connection, those words. Did you…maybe we imagined it," her voice trailed
off.

"I
felt the connection too Ava and yes I remember what I said and that I kissed
you. There’s no way that either of us imagined it, what transpired here tonight
really happened, there’s no doubt in my mind," he assured her.

"
Well if it did, someone or something wants to hurt
me," she told him and reached for his hand.

As she
made her way through the bayou, the
old woman
looked down upon the snakes. The water moccasin population had grown quite
rampant around the swampland surrounding Montieu Plantation, more than they’d
ever been. She smiled when she saw the insects buzzing around; off in the
distance a wild boar ran through the thickened oak forest and an alligator
silently made its way from water to land. All around her the bayou was coming
alive and the old woman knew why, the dead were soon to be resurrected.  

A
faint gasp escaped the old woman’s mouth when she
came upon the big house. The House had undergone an almost immediate change
within the last few hours. She remembered how it looked only hours before when
she’d come and snatched up the bloody tissue that the girl dropped. Now the
place seemed to be living, and breathing. Seeing the almost instantaneous
transformation of the house and the way the bayou began flourishing, the old
woman no longer needed an affirmation as to whether or not the young woman was
Celeste. The sun was rising and as she shielded her eyes from it, she looked up
at the bedroom window of the young woman, and thanked the spirits for finally sending
Celeste Montgomery back to her home.

Chapter
Six

It was well after daybreak when Ava and Magnus
decided to try and get some sleep; they knew that without at least a couple
hours of rest, neither of them would be able to start digging into the background
of the house. Even though the plantation had seen its share of owners
throughout the years, most never stayed very long and the ones that did never
thought or cared about the history of the place. Magnus managed to dig out a
few documents from the library located near the back of the old mansion. He was
sure there was more documentation and now that he had an extra hand from Ava,
was positive that they’d find a lot more.

"Between the library, attic, and the town
hall, we should be able to uncover a lot of information," he told Ava
before they both retired for a few hours’ sleep. She was glad that the sun was
shining brightly, it was peeking through the drawn curtains in long sunlit
streaks and she welcomed the sight. Had it still been dark she would have found
herself begging Magnus to let her sleep in his room. Normally she was quite
skeptical when it came to anything paranormal, but after what happened to them
in the kitchen just a few hours earlier she quickly became a firm believer.
"I just hope that I can help them all, whoever they are," she
muttered before she fell into a hard sleep.

Before he
fell asleep, Magnus thought about everything that had just occurred. Not only
had Ava witnessed his nightly kitchen ritual but she hadn’t run away screaming,
she had experienced something too. But unfortunately for her, the experience
was bittersweet. Something had tugged on her while he stood there,
lethargic.  He wondered what the hell could be after her and why just her?
Why hadn’t whatever it was gone after him as well? Sleep was weighing against
his eyelids and before he gave in, he quietly made a promise; he wouldn’t let
anyone or anything take Ava away from him.

Located
deep in the heart of the bayou was a broken down old shanty, it had stood there
for centuries. Even after the worse of hurricanes and tropical storms the old
shack never faltered. Inside however was a different story, the floorboards had
been tore up and even now as the bayou began to buzz with life, something
underneath the shanty was stirring. This is where Sinta liked to practice her
Voodoo.

Despite
the fact that she knew that Celeste had been reincarnated into that of a modern
young woman, there was still work that needed to be done. Sinta had to ask the
spirits to help her gain access inside the big house. They had already granted
her own resurrection and she knew that time was running out. She would have
until summers end to convince the young woman that she indeed was the
reincarnation of Celeste and that the man who now owned Montieu plantation was
a direct descendant of the man who had raped and murdered her.

Sinta
needed to provide protection for Celeste and the young woman who was staying in
the house. The malevolent spirit of John DuPonte was strong and she needed to
ask the spirit of Aizan for help to guard against him. Aizan was a strong
spirit that offered protection against anyone or anything harmful; she was also
very knowledgeable of the complexities of the spirit world.  And Sinta
knew that being mounted by the spirit Aizan meant that she would be able to
protect Celeste and anyone else around her. Once the offerings were made to
Aizan and the mounds of earth were sprinkled with oil and palm leaves, Sinta
began to invoke the spirit. The ground underneath the shanty trembled fiercely
and as the spirit answered her request, both Ava and Magnus awoke with a start.
The sky grew dark and storm clouds rolled in along with the sound of rumbling
thunder.

Magnus
jumped out of bed and swung open his bedroom door. He didn’t bother knocking
and rushed in to check on Ava. "Are you alright?" He asked. She was
already sitting up in her bed, and the look on her face was one of peace.

"
Yes," she said. "I'm alright, but you don’t
look so good," she said as she got up and went to him. He was burning up
with fever and all the color seemed to have drained from his face. "What
the hell is happening to me Ava?" He asked. He had felt fine before he
fell asleep and now he felt sick to his stomach.

"
Come here and lie down." Ava led him over to her
bed and gently coaxed him to get in.

"
I think I’ve got some aspirin in my bag," she
said and reached inside. When she couldn’t find any, she went into the bathroom
and placed a washcloth under cold water from the sink. She needed to bring his
fever down and something told her that this was the way to do it. Magnus closed
his eyes as he let her caress his skin with the cool towel. His skin felt like
it was on fire but the moment she laid her hands upon his face he began to feel
the fire dissipate.

The storm
clouds lifted and the sun shone brighter than ever into the room. It was then
that the room began to take on a life of its own. The painted walls had turned
to papered ones as the once feminine looking room turned into something more
masculine. Ava and Magnus sat in awe, neither were afraid at seeing this
transformation, it was as if the room was going back in time and it was taking
them with it. From out in the hall footsteps could be heard. As the sound drew
nearer, Ava sat closer to Magnus. Whoever and whatever was coming, was coming
into her room. They quickly exchanged looks as the two of them sat frozen and
watched the antique doorknob being turned.

"
I’ll be back
down in a minute mother!" The young man shouted before closing his door.
Ava grabbed hold of Magnus’s hand and squeezed tight, she didn’t know whether
to scream, say hello or just sit there, she decided to just sit there and
observe all she could. This was happening for a reason. But she was incredibly
grateful that Magnus was by her side.