Punished (5 page)

The spirit laughed a deep, throaty laugh. “He’s always so secretive, isn’t he? Always so guarded. You don’t need to be guarded Arelia. You’re powerful. Sprits love powerful queens.”

I shook my wrist free and refused to move. I was allowed to make my own choices. I wasn’t going to simply leave and blindly follow Lucus. “You can leave if you want. I need to try. This could be your chance; maybe he could at least tell me what I need to do. I want to help you.”

“I can tell you what you need to do, just ask me to show myself,” said the voice.

Excitement surged through me. “He says he can help!”

“Arelia.” Lucus’ voice was strong. “Please don’t, I beg of you.”

“What price do I have to pay?” I asked the voice, as I ignored Lucus.

“I like rum,” it answered.

“He only wants rum,” I advised.

“Arelia…”

“Fine, show yourself,” I instructed.

“No!” Lucus screamed. “Do not.”

“Excellent choice Arelia,” said the voice.

At that exact moment, I knew I had made a horrible mistake. The pit of my stomach sank, and goose bumps rippled through my body. Lucus grabbed me by the hand and tried to pull me away from the gate again, but my feet were glued to the muddy gravel below. What appeared before me was a sight so hideous and horrifying, I was sure I was going to vomit.

The spirit took shape and appeared before my eyes in the form of a dark old man dressed in nothing but ratty brown shorts. In his left hand, he carried a bottle of rum. His scrawny body was hunched and covered head to toe in sores. His yellow eyes bulged wildly from their sockets. A few wisps of hair rested on his otherwise bald head, and his mouth was twisted into a cruel snarl. It obviously wasn’t Papa Legba. Legba was supposed to be a cute old man dressed in a plaid shirt, cigar in mouth, dog by his side. I didn’t see a dog, and this guy definitely wasn’t cute.
 

“Arelia, what is it?” Lucus asked.

Lucky for him, he wasn’t able to see the revolting sight. I tried to move my mouth, but no words came out.

The obnoxious old man danced around madly as he took rapid gulps from his bottle of rum. “Free, free, it feels so delightful to be free on a night like this. I am immensely thirsty tonight,” he sang.

“You’re not Legba,” I said, as I addressed the spirit.

“I never said I was Papa Legba, I said I could be Papa Lebga. I hope I haven’t disappointed you.” His dreadful mouth twisted into a fake frown. As he came closer, I could smell the repulsive combination of rot and rum.

“You have really bad breath,” I said the first thing that popped into my head.

“Hahaha, you pathetic little girl,” he snarled, as he brought his claw like had to my face and stroked it softly. “I can smell your fear.”

“Gross!” I shrieked, as his pungent breath met my skin.

Sensing my utter discomfort, Lucus seized me by the waist in an attempt to pull me away from the gate. Sadly, he was tossed back like a rag doll by the spirit. He landed with a loud thump against a nearby oak tree.

“Don’t you dare hurt her!” Lucus shouted. He was like a blind man frantically searching for a vision that he would never be able to see. He tried to get up, but he couldn’t. The spirit was keeping him down by some sort of force.

“Let him go, what do you want, who are you?” I questioned. I tried to disguise the quiver in my voice, but he was one ugly-ass spirit. It was clear that I had messed up big-time. I was so stupid for thinking that I knew everything about the loa. Obviously, I was majorly wrong.
  

“It’s so sad that you don’t know my name,” said the spirit.

“If you tell me, I’ll be sure to remember.” I needed to make him happy.

“You promise, you’re so pretty Arelia, I bet you taste delightful as well.”

I swallowed hard. “Taste delightful? What’s your name?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard of me, I go by Sousson Pannan. Such a noble name, isn’t it?”

My blood ran cold. That name sounded familiar. I thought hard to where I had heard it before. No. It couldn’t be. Last year, there had been a brutal crime in our neighborhood. Lily Dubois’s husband had been found dead, completely drained of blood in their living room. His entire body had been covered with bite marks from an unidentifiable animal. Or at least the police told the neighborhood it had been an animal.

However, Grand-mere Bea heard from a friend of a friend that Lily had been the mastermind behind the death. Apparently, she got tired of her unfaithful, abusive, and constantly unemployed husband that she asked a local voodoo queen to call on Sousson Pannan. Sousson Pannan, who had an insatiable thirst for rum and blood, took a ghastly delight in being summoned for tasks that fed his appetite. He had sucked the poor guy dry.

I thought quickly. “I didn’t call upon you, I haven’t asked you to do anything.”

“You didn’t call me, but you invited me in. A gracious hostess always makes sure her guests are well-fed, doesn’t she?”

He tore a sleeve off my silk kimono and took in the scent of my flesh.

“Get away from her!” Lucus yelled, as he saw my sleeve fall to the ground.

 
Sousson Pannan let go of me. He set his eyes on Lucus. “Aged blood is quite delicious, but not as delicious as the blood of a powerful queen.”

“No!” I screamed. “I’ll get you all the rum you want, don’t take any blood. I know that you love rum; there are bottles and bottles of rum in the house. I can get you as many as you want.”

“But, I’m thirsty now, my bottle is empty. Do you have any rum with you here Arelia?”

“No, but I can get some.” I tried to bargain with him.

“Thirsty!” he screamed, as he came closer and ripped the other sleeve off of my kimono.

I held by breath, as he brought his foul mouth to my wrist and prepared to take a bite. “Please don’t,” I begged.

He tossed back his head and let out a spine-chillingly wicked laugh. “You’re not so rude now, are you?”

“What does he want?” asked Lucus. He was still slumped against the oak tree, unable to move.

“Blood.” My voice was faint.

“Take mine, you can have all the blood you want,” offered Lucus.

“How noble, always such the gentleman.” The spirit let go of me and stumbled over to Lucus.

“No!” I screamed. “We’ll get you rum, lots of rum.”

Sousson Pannan glanced over at me. “Until I get my rum, I’ll need to satisfy my thirst. You out of all people should know that Arelia, you know how the spirits must be appeased. We aren’t your puppets.”

“What is he saying?” demanded Lucus.

“Lucus, he’s coming towards you, he wants your blood until I can get him some rum.”

“Arelia go, run, don’t speak to him. I’ll be fine.”

“But…”

“Please, go now!” ordered Lucus.

Sousson Pannan limped over to Lucus and dragged him away from the oak tree and onto a patch of grass. He kneeled on the ground and examined him for a second, inhaling the smell of his flesh. He sat on his stomach and ripped off Lucus’ shirt with his long fingernails. After a diabolical laugh, he sank his jagged teeth into Lucus’ neck and started his morbid feast. Blood dripped down the sides of his mouth as he paused and gave me a wicked smile.

“Run Arelia!” Lucus’ voice was faint but determined.

“Please give me the strength to move.” I pleaded that Erzulie would hear. “Please help me stop him.”

“Come on Erzulie, help me, and please guide me.” I knew that, despite her delicate appearance, Erzulie fiercely protected her devotees. I concentrated on a chant that I knew could be used to gather courage and strength from her.

Seven stabs of the knife, seven stabs of the dagger,

Lend me the basin so I can vomit my blood,

Seven stabs of the knife, seven stabs of the dagger,

Lend me the basin so I can vomit my blood,

My blood is pouring down.

There was no response, why wasn’t she responding when I needed her? I tried again.

Seven stabs of the knife, seven stabs of the dagger,

Lend me the basin so I can vomit my blood,

Seven stabs of the knife, seven stabs of the dagger,

Lend me the basin so I can vomit my blood,

My blood is pouring down.

Thankfully, she heard me and finally chose to respond.

“What do you have to offer my dear?”

I thought quickly. “Erzulie, I only have my own blood to offer. Please help me, please help Lucus.”

Erzulie laughed gently. “I don’t want your blood. You don’t have enough blood in your body to exchange. His thirst is insatiable. Run my child,” Erzulie whispered. “Find seven bottles of rum, and a black candle. Bring them back here, and I will help you.”

“Thank you. Thank you!” I raced back to the house looking back only once to see Sousson Pannan taking another greedy bite, this time from Lucus’ chest. I had to find rum and lots of it.

Chapter 5

Ivan, I promise I will try to understand

When I finally reached the main house, I was out of breath and sweaty. My hair was a tangled mess and my feet were covered in mud. Eerie piano music greeted me, as I ran through the front door and into the main hallway. I stopped in front of Ms. Mae’s office and turned the ancient doorknob. Lucky for me, the door was unlocked. Black candles, black candles, but where did she keep them?

The music coming from the ballroom increased at a rapid pace distracting me slightly from the task at hand. It was so wretched and haunting that I couldn’t help but get lost in it.

Snapping out of it, I scoured the shelves for candles. Thankfully, I found a shelf stocked full of them varying in size and color. I grabbed a black one and shoved it in my left pocket.

Where did they keep all the rum in this place? I knew that Lucus had cognac and other random booze upstairs, but I hadn’t seen any rum. I dashed into the kitchen and frantically started opening all the cabinets. Unfortunately, the kitchen was enormous. There must have been a million places where liquor could have been stored.

Frustrated, I went into the back pantry and scanned the shelves for rum. There was no sign of it anywhere. I found bottles of vodka, whiskey and tequila, but not what I was looking for. My cheeks were getting flushed when I heard the piano music stop. I could sense someone come into the kitchen, and relief washed over me. Maybe, they could help.

“Queen, what a lovely surprise,” said Ivan, as he leaned against the pantry door. Was he seriously dressed in nothing but black boxer briefs? His grey eyes took in the sight of my ripped kimono, and an amused smirk crossed his face. “You look stunning,” he said sarcastically.

I wanted to bite my tongue, but I couldn’t resist. “Look who’s talking. What if a guest sees you like that?”

“Trust me; if Mrs. Dumpty wanders downstairs she’ll thank me for the peepshow. I doubt that piggy Dumpty does much for her.”

I let out a sigh. I had no time for arguments and games. I took my chances and asked him for help. “Ivan, where do you guys keep all the rum?”