Predestined (15 page)

She was right of course. Wyatt
loved teasing her. He’d teased her even back when we were kids. I’d
always been the one tagging along doing the dangerous fun things
and Miranda had looked like a little doll all dressed in pink
watching us disapprovingly. He’d been enamored with her back then.
She was something he didn’t understand but even as a kid he wanted
to touch her. He treated her like a fairy princess. Something
breakable and precious. I’d always rolled my eyes in disgust but
remembering them that way made me smile.

“I’ll be okay, Pagan. You’ve spent
every day with me since, since,” she broke off and touched the
picture that sat to the right of her bed. It was Wyatt in his
basketball uniform smiling brightly with his MVP trophy from last
year’s State championship game. “Go with Dank. Have fun. For
me.”

I
couldn’t have fun with Dank knowing my best friend was curled up on
her bed with notes from her dead boyfriend surrounding her while
she mourned all alone. I needed to get her out of this room. “I
have a better idea. Dank is busy tonight. I’ve released him from
our plans and he decided he’d catch the Atlanta concert Cold Soul
is having tonight. Originally he’d told them he couldn’t make it
but now he’s already headed that way.” Okay so I was lying but
she’d never know that. “So you and I are going to go bake chocolate
chip cookies and then watch the entire first season of
The Vampire
Diaries
.” I wasn’t a
Vampire Diaries
fan but Miranda was addicted to the show. She
had every season on DVD and iTunes. She could watch it whereever
she was. Like I said she was addicted.

Miranda rested her chin on the
bear’s head and peered over at me through her long lashes that
curled up perfectly without any help at all. “Okay. I can do that,”
she replied.

“Of course you can. Now get up and
let’s go raid your momma’s pantry for chocolate chips. Maybe she
has some of those peanut butter chips again. We could make peanut
butter chip cookies too.”

Miranda sat the bear down and laid
the necklace lovingly on the table beside Wyatt’s picture. Then she
carefully gathered up each note scattered around her bed counting
them so she didn’t miss one and then laid then beside the necklace.
Once she was finished she turned to me, “Let’s go make some
cookies. I haven’t eaten in days.”

Dank

The smell of mold and earth and
evil met my nose as I stepped into the old wooden shack. The rotten
exterior of the house made it hard for me to believe it hadn’t
caved in from something as simple as a rain storm. The walls inside
weren’t much better from what I could see. Shelves filled with jars
of items meant for spells and ridiculous concoctions meant to heal
bodies, inflict sickness, remove memories and countless other
purposes covered most of the walls. The people brave enough to
venture out into this part of the swamp and walk through this door
were the ones most desperate for an answer. Most people who knew of
the true power of voodoo stayed away. It wasn’t an evil humans
needed to dabble in. It could possess you, steal your soul if you
allowed it.

The old woman I’d come to see was
sitting by the small coal fire and covered in a crocheted blanket.
The rickety old rocking chair stopped moving the moment I’d entered
the room. She’d felt me. Even one who’d lived a life controlled by
the unholy union of voodoo knew when Death was near. She expected
me soon but it wasn’t her time just yet. I’d be back for her
eventually and her soul was bound for eternal Hell. That I was sure
of. A voodoo doctor never got another lifetime. Once they sold
their souls that was it. No going back. The tin cup in her hands
was set down beside her on a small handmade table. I could see the
trembling of her arms as she carefully placed her cup
down.

“May, de goose pimples say dat you
here. Ahm ret to face de cos’ for my choices,” the old lady’s voice
shook as she addressed me. I appeared in front of her leaning
against the warm black coal furnace.

“Ah not hyah for you soul jest
yet,” I drawled in the dialect I knew the old woman would
understand easily.

Frowning she stared up at me, the
whites of her eyes standing out against the darkness of her skin.
“Whut you tink ah’m crazy?”

Chuckling, I shook my head no. “You
might as well git it in dat haid, ah’m not hyah for you jest yet.
Ahm not gon leaf befo I get wat I came for.”

“Wat dat be? Sho don want de gris
gris. Dis me know.”

I nodded, “No gris gris, dat ain’t
why ah’m hyah.”

She shifted in her chair and tried
without success to sit up straighter. Her back humped forward so
badly that it made her attempt impossible.

“Den tell me whut you wan an be don
wit it. Me non lak you een hyah.”

No, I’m sure she didn’t like me in
her home. I was the ending to her life. The only life she’d get.
But I wasn’t here to appease an old woman’s fear. I was here to
find out what exactly she did to Pagan.

“Tell me bout de gris gris dat
saved de life of dat pischouette,”

The old woman began shaking her
head with a look of horror in her eyes. “No, cain do dat. De spirit
dat save dat gurl, he’s mean lak a warse.”

“Me know Ghede saved her. Ah’m not
askin you dat. Whut needs to be don to end de gris gris curse on
her soul?”

Her gnarled hands wrestled
nervously with the afghan in her lap. Ghede was the voodoo spirt
lord of the dead, Leif’s father. In her religion he was the
end-all. Even though I stood before her she wouldn’t face me for
all eternity. I’d simply remove her soul. Ghede would lord over her
while she faced her eternity.

“Arryting Ghede do cos. Dat momma
knew whut she’s doin when she axe me to save dat beb.”

“Den tell me whut dar can be don to
change it,” I demanded, growing tired of her dodging my
question.

With a deep sigh, the woman lifted
her glassy eyes to meet mine, “a soul for a soul is whut it cos.
Nothin less wilt do. Maybe cos more. Ghede want dat
gurl.”

Stepping back out of the crumbling house I took in a deep
breath of air. Although it wasn’t exactly fresh it was better than
the...
dank
smell inside the voodoo doctor’s
home. With a smirk at the irony, I glanced back over my shoulder
one more time before leaving to go convince Pagan that she needed
to confront the one person I knew needed to understand the
consequences of her choices. Before Ghede decided to start
demanding attention.

Chapter Fourteen

Pagan

Miranda had fallen
asleep after episode four. I couldn’t say I wasn’t relieved. If I
had to sit through one more Stephan and Elena scene I was going to
scream. The angst was just a little too much for me at the moment.
I turned off the television and pulled out a blanket from the ones
Miranda’s mother kept rolled up under the entertainment center and
spread it out over Miranda’s sleeping form. We’d left a mess in the
kitchen and although I was sure her mother would just be thrilled
Miranda had made cookies and actually eaten a few I didn’t want to
leave the mess for her to clean up.

Picking up the large plate with the
remaining cookies and our two remaining glasses of milk I made my
way to the kitchen. Once I stepped inside the doorway I saw Leif
sitting at the table with his elbows resting on the tabletop and
his gaze fixed on me, I almost screamed and dropped everything in
my hands. I managed to swallow the startled scream in my throat and
keep from making an even bigger mess in the kitchen.

“What are you doing here?” I asked,
trying to remain calm as I walked over to the sink and put the
glasses in the soapy water then placed the plate of cookies on the
bar.

“Waiting until she fell asleep so I
could see you. It is Valentine’s Day, you know. I’ve been waiting
years to spend it with you and have you actually remember. This was
supposed to be my year. You’d have been with me eternally by now if
Death hadn’t lost his head once he got a look at you.”

I rested a hand on my hip and
glared at him. I wasn’t in the mood for this. Not now. Not this
week especially. “Listen Leif, you know what I’ve been through this
week. Can’t you respect that and just back off?” I
snapped.

A look of tenderness flashed in his
eyes and he lowered his gaze to his hands still resting on the
table in front of him. “I’m sorry for your loss, Pagan. But if
Dankmar hadn’t screwed with fate you’d have never experienced the
pain of losing Wyatt. The two of you were to have been the
tragedies that hit our small town this school year.”

My mind instantly went to Miranda.
She’d have lost us both. Ohgod, that would have completely
devastated her. She’d have crumbled. But Dank had stopped that. He
may not have been able to stop Wyatt’s fate but he did change mine.
I’d be here to help Miranda heal and she’d be okay. She’d make
it.

“Well then, it’s a good thing Dank
decided I was worth saving. Miranda could have never handled losing
both of us only months apart.”

Leif sighed and leaned back in the
chair letting his hands fall to his lap. “Do you always think about
others first, Pagan?”

His question surprised me. Of
course not. Only a selfless person thought of others first and I
wasn’t selfless. When I wanted something I went after it and screw
whoever stood in my way. “I only put those I love first but so do
most people.”

Leif shook his head, “No, they
don’t. Most humans put themselves before even those they love the
most. It’s their nature.”

This conversation was getting off
track. I wanted Leif gone so I could clean this kitchen and go to
bed. “Just say what you came to say and leave, please. I don’t want
to chat with you.”

“I told you I wanted to spend
Valentine’s Day with you this year. I even brought gifts,” he
flashed his crooked smile and from thin air pulled a dozen black
and red roses along with an actual voodoo doll with a silver
necklace around its small neck. The pendant hanging from it was a
ruby cut into the shape of a moon.

I
lifted my eyes to stare at him unsure what to think of this
gift. “
You got me a voodoo doll and black roses?” I asked
incredulously.

Leif chuckled and leaned back in
his chair. “I thought it would make you laugh. The necklace is your
actual gift. And the roses as well. I happen to like black roses.
They remind me of home.”

Backing up some until the entire
bar was between me and those very odd scary gifts I watched him
closely. I didn’t want him coming anywhere near me with that
necklace. I knew that voodoo was big into talismans and if that was
a talisman I didn’t want it anywhere near me. No spirit was going
to possess me.

Leif’s amused grin fell into a
frown. “You don’t think it’s funny, do you?” The voodoo doll and
black roses were instantly gone and only a dozen red and pink roses
remained along with the necklace that terrified me.

“Um, no, it’s the necklace I want
you to get away from me,” I explained not taking my eyes off it as
it lay harmlessly in his hand.

“Necklace? You’re scared of the
necklace? Why?”

“Because I don’t want to be
possessed by an evil spirit,” I spat, backing up some more. I
wondered if I screamed for Gee if she’d hear me. But then I’d risk
waking up Miranda and this was not something she needed to
witness.

Understanding dawned on him and
Leif once again laughed. This was not funny. Why did he have to
seem so amused all the time?

“You think this necklace is a
talisman?”

“Yep, I’m not stupid Leif. I hang
with Death, ya know.”

Leif sighed and placed the necklace
on the table. “I would never hurt you. I’ve told you that but you
refuse to believe me,”

I didn’t take my eyes off him as he
stood there spreading the necklace out like it was a precious piece
which only convinced me more it was full of all kinds of evil. Once
he had it displayed on the table to his liking he lifted his eyes
to mine.

“You know Pagan, fear can turn to
love.”

I stared at the necklace lying on
the table unsure what to do with it. Heck, I was even afraid to
touch the roses he’d left behind. Would picking them up and
throwing them outside be dangerous? Maybe I should leave them there
and go find Gee, or better yet, Dank.

Walking over to the doorway I peered into the living room
to see Miranda still sound asleep. Good. I had time to do something
about these
gifts
that really didn’t need to be in her
house
before she woke
up.

Dank

Her voice stirred me
the moment she called out my name. I was standing outside her house
preparing myself for the confrontation I was about to have with her
mother when her voice reached me.

She was standing outside Miranda’s
house on the back porch when I reached her. A surprised gasp
escaped her and then she smiled letting out a breath she must have
been holding. “Oh, that was fast. Thank God,” she said in a rush
and ran over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck.