Echoes in the Bayou (24 page)

 
She carefully sat them on the bed and watched as Kelly
sat astounded. "Can I see?" She was almost beside herself with
excitement. She cursed when she realized that she had to go get her reading
glasses.

M
agnus leaned against the doorway and shook his head.
"Ava, you know that Sinta told you to stop reading those, especially
Amelia's," he cautioned her. "She told us the more she reads that
thing, the stronger Amelia becomes," he was now looking at Kelly. She
shrugged her shoulders before saying, "I'll be right back, gotta get my
glasses."

"I'm
sure it will be alright honey, she rushed up and kissed him on the lips. 
"Besides, she said not to read them when I was alone and once again, I'm
not alone."  Ava pointed at Kelly who'd come back from retrieving her
glasses.

Magnus
returned her kiss, he was happy that she'd made a new friend and the two seemed
to get along quite well, it was as if they'd known each other a lot longer than
a few days.

"W
ell you two be careful," he said and returned
downstairs.

"Looks
like it's just me and you," Magnus grinned at his friend who had already
gotten out a bottle
of A.H. Hirsch Reserve
Whiskey.

"No
time like the present," Steve said and poured them each a gla
ss.

Two p.m.
the next day, Magnus rolled over in bed and found himself alone. He tried to
shake the hangover out of his head as he looked around and realized that not
only was he in bed alone, but it wasn’t the bed that he and Ava were sharing
for the weekend. In fact, it wasn’t even the same room. "What the
hell?" He mumbled and staggered out of bed. Out in the hallway he could
hear them talking. It was then that he remembered although it was all a bit
blurry, that last night he had gone upstairs to bed but Ava and Kelly had
dominated the king sized bed with snacks and were reading the pages of the
diaries.

He'd only
said goodnight before finding his way into the first floor guest room, or
maybe Steve showed me where to go
, he thought to himself. Either way he woke up alone
and still a bit hung over.  As he stepped out into the hallway, Ava
stepped out of the kitchen to greet him. "Well good afternoon, I was
wondering when you'd decide to join us," she said. "Did you have a
good night's sleep? Sorry about last night, Kelly and I kind of took over the
bed reading the diaries," she apologized.

"I
did, but I missed you," he yawned and pulled her into his arms.
"Where is everybody?"

"Just
getting changed, they'll be b
ack in a minute.
We're going to have a late lunch, go get washed up and meet us in the dining
room."

The rest
of the afternoon sped by and before they know it, it was time to go.

"Thank
you so much for inviting us, I had a wonderful time," Ava kissed and
hugged her new friend's goodbye. Magnus shook hands
with Steve before giving Kelly a kiss on the cheek.

 
"You guys are welcome anytime, but you already
know that don’t you buddy?" Steve patted his friend on the back.

"You
guys
should come out to the plantation and spend
a few days, or a week," she laughed. "I could use the company,"
Ava winked at her. "I need to give Magnus a chance to get his writing
done."

Magnus
gathered her in his arms. "I told you already," he said. "If it wasn’t
for you,
I would have never come up with the
idea for my novel."

"That
may be, but the fact remains that you've hardly gotten any writing done,"
she frowned
.

"Hey,
if it will get him closer towards his deadline, I'd be more than happy to send
Kelly
out there for a few days, sound like a
plan? Oh and that reminds me, Magnus I should be getting that paperwork back
from the publisher on Wednesday so how about I bring Kelly with me when I drop
it off to you and then you and I can head on back here for the meeting with
your editor on Thursday," he suggested.  "Then we can return
here, say Thursday night?"  He knew that his wife would keep Ava busy
and Magnus would be able to concentrate on his meeting, choosing a release
date, book signings, and the rest. He had no doubt that this new novel was
going to hit the best seller list in no time and that was always a good thing.
He was already in talks with a major television network about making
"Secrets in the Bayou," into a made for television movie. But that was
a long ways away, in the meantime he would continue with the tour. He hadn’t
mentioned the possible movie deal to Magnus yet, and there were two reasons why
he. The first one being, the book wasn’t finished yet and the second one was
because Magnus had made it clear to him that he did not want to become too
commercial, he wanted his writing to be appreciated and not made into some kind
of crazy franchise.

 
"Of course not buddy," Steve promised him.
But if Magnus was offered a movie deal he was going to try his hardest to
convince his client that it would be in his best interest to accept the deal.
Steve knew that a wealthy client made a wealthy agent and wealth was something
that he wanted more than anything.

Chapter
Seventee
n

As much
as Ava hated to leave her friend, she was anxious to get back to the
plantation. They still had to undercover what exactly happened the night of
Celeste's murder and besides having to reunite the two, they had to figure out
a way to get rid of the evil spirits of Amelia and John. "Magnus I want to
finish this whole curse business," she told him. They were nearing home
when an ominous feeling suddenly came over her.

"I
know you do and so do I."

"Kelly
and I were talking, what if
we had another séance
with she and Steve this time? I know the last one was a bit over the top but I
was thinking that if…"

Magnus had
reached the end of his rope. "No!" He
shouted at Ava.  "Now I know that we have to put this whole curse
business to rest in order to live peacefully but you are taking this séance
stuff way too far Ava. Might I remind you of what occurred the last time we all
had a séance?" He was fuming now, he wasn’t sure if she understood the
severity of the situation. "Ava, Sinta herself has told you to stop
reading the diaries so much and on your own none the less and now you want
another séance? Haven't you noticed that ever since the last one, we haven’t
been visited by anyone or anything malevolent? Why in god's name would you want
to stir up more trouble? No, I forbid it Ava, you and Kelly can come up with
some other more sensible way to move things along but neither I nor Steve will
participate in another séance you got that?"

She had
never seen him so angry before, but that wasn’t what pissed her off, what
pissed her off was that he said he forbid it. What the hell was she? A child?

She
turned to look him, her eyes ablaze with anger, she wasn’t going to let him
talk to her that way, and the ominous feeling inside of h
er was beginning to boil over. There was something
going on with her but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

"Okay,
first of all I'd appreciate it if you didn’t speak to me like I'm a child and
second of all, don’t tell me that you forbid something t
hat I want to do, you're not my parent," she reproached him.
"I'm a grown woman Magnus and if I want to do something then I'll goddamn
do it and if you don’t like it, just say the word and I'll leave. I don’t
fucking need you."

Ava was
startled at her own words. Had she not felt the heated emotion rising inside of
her when she said them she would have thought them the words of a complete
stranger, something was happening to her. She wanted to take the words back and
apologize but something inside of her told her not to, told her that it wasn’t
important. Magnus too couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was glad that
they had finally made it home; he could stop the car and give her his full
attention.

"Ava,
I'm sorry that it came out like that, I didn’t mean it like that. All I meant was
that I don’t want to see you get hurt. Look, having another séance is not a
good idea right now, how about we talk to Sinta and see what else we can
do?" He was looking at her and the expression on her face was one that he
had never seen before, it was as if she had completely blocked him out.

"Ava,
are you even listening to me?" He asked and gently squeezed her arms.

When
Ava looked up, she realized Magnus was looking at her and his hands we
re rubbing her arms. "I'm sorry, did you say
something?" He could hear the mockery in her voice and thought it more
than a little odd, this wasn’t like her; it wasn’t like her at all.

"Ava
I was talking to you and you completely ignored me," he had concern in his
eyes as he stared at her.

He
watched as she awkwardly moved her head from side to side, it looked as if she
was stretching her neck muscles. But the expression on her face was still one
that he hadn’t recognized.

"I'm
listening, I'm listening," she said and got out of the car.
  There was an annoyance in her tone and he
wondered what was going on in her head.
Magnus watched Ava as she walked
up the stairs and to the front door. She stopped when she reached the porch and
looked around as if she was looking at it for the very first time. She leaned
her head back and gazed up at the upstairs balcony and shielded her eyes from
the harsh sun. "I see you haven’t been keeping up with the house,"
she mumbled and gave him one last glance before disappearing inside.

He found her lying on the sofa in the sitting room,
her arm covering her eyes.

"Ava,
are we going to talk about this?"

"Talk
about what Magnus? There's nothing to talk about, you forbad
e me from having another séance and I said I'll do
what I want, end of discussion."

"Please
Ava, I just want you to be alright, we've been through enough already and I
don’t want some stupid séance to come between us.
"

"We
Magnus? We? I didn’t see you gett
ing accosted by
evil spirits, and I didn’t see anyone become momentarily possessed and try to
knock your lights out either so forgive me if I am unable to sympathize with
what you've been through because I just don’t see it!"

After
several minutes of trying to think of what to say, Magnus decided that the best
thing for him to do was to leave her alone. It was more than obvious that there
was something going on but she wasn’t in the mood to tell him what that
something was.

"I'm
going to leav
e you here to rest for a
while," he said sympathetically. "We'll talk about this later."
Ava only managed a slight nod and continued covering her eyes as he walked out
the door.

 
When he was out of sight, he let out a long sigh, Ava
was the first woman whom he told he loved and they'd just had their first
fight. Thinking back on it, he wished he'd rephrased his words.
Forbid? How could I have been so damn stupid?"
He questioned himself. He thought it best to let her
cool down, and then maybe try to talk to her. In the meantime he figured he'd
try and get some writing done, he didn’t want to waste the quiet time.

"You go ahead and have that séance,"
a voice
whispered to her. Ava sat up and looked around the now dark room.
I must have fallen asleep
, she told herself. She reached over and turned on a
lamp that sat on the table next to her. She ran her fingers over the carved
wooden table that the lamp stood on. She didn’t recognize the lamp or the
table. It took only a minute for her to understand that she had been thrust
back in time and although it was the same sitting room, the décor was that of
the Montieu Plantation. The sound of a loon bird brought her out of the sitting
room and led her into the kitchen. The floors were covered with oriental rugs
and the decorations matched the time period. She half expected to hear Amelia
come bounding down the stairs at any minute, but something told her that this
wasn’t to be a nightmare; it was a dream, Celeste's dream.

 
As she made her way into the kitchen the smell of
gardenias was strong in the air and she leaned against the doorway and watched
in silence as Will stood staring out the kitchen window. A soft creaking made
him turn his head towards the pantry. Celeste opened the door just enough for
her to fit her slim body through and the second she was clear of it Will went
to her and gathered her in his arms. Neither of them spoke a word; they held one
another in a warm embrace before Will gently tilted her head back and leaned in
for a kiss.

Ava took
a step back, she felt as if she were intruding on this intimate moment. Her
foot hit the edge of the doorway making it creak. Will and Celeste turned around
then and stared at her.
Can they see me?
She wondered.

"Yes
we can see you," Will
answered her.

"Sorry,"
was all that Ava could manage. She was in shock that the two were able to
communicate with her. "I must be in the deepest sleep that I've ever had,"
she told the two. "I have so many questions, but I don’t
know where to begin," she let out a sigh.

"Hows
'bout yous start
wit
tellin Will you know who killed me." If she didn’t know any better, Ava
would have thought that she was looking at a reflection in a mirror.  She
lowered her head in shame of the intrusion.

 
"How did you know that I know about that?"
Ava said.

"Oh
we's way past knowing Miss Ava, now is not da time to
ask dem kind of questions, we's got to tell Will what happened to me so him and
I can moves on." Celeste stared at her as if she was an enigma.

Will
broke through their gaze.  "Celeste, please
tell me what happened? I can't help you unless you tell me who hurt you."
His voice was strong and clear but it was fading away. Ava could see that his
body too, had begun to fade away.

 
"He's coming Miss Ava, run!" Before Ava had
a chance to react, Will instantaneously faded away and as she made her way back
towards the pantry, so did Celeste. The two of them had faded into nothing.

"That
you my brown
sugar?" John DuPonte burst
through the kitchen door and walked right through Ava. She trembled when saw
that he was making his way to the pantry door and then he too disappeared.

 
She was standing in the dark kitchen by herself. The
smell of gardenias had disappeared when Will and Celeste did. It was then that
she felt it, without needing to turn around, she felt it. Amelia Montieu was
standing behind her and instantly cold, ungodly cold hands wrapped around her
neck and began to squeeze the life out of her. She reached up and took hold of
the icy cold hands and managed to get a grip on some of the fingers. She was
able to loosen the grip long enough to scream for help. "Will!" She
howled loudly over and over again. "Will, help me please!" She choked
out the words.

 
"Ava! Ava!" Magnus was shaking her awake.
Sweat was pouring down her face and her hands were pulling at her neck. It took
her a minute to remember where she was and when she did, she wrapped her arms
around him so tight that he thought she'd never let go. Tears streamed
down her face and she felt like she was going to faint.

"It
was just a bad dream Ava, a very bad
dream," he held her in his arms and tried to comfort her.

 
"Let's get you upstairs," he whispered to
her. She was shaking so badly that he had to carry her up the stairs and the
sobbing had returned with a vengeance. She was still unable to speak, it wasn’t
until he had turned on the hot water to the tub and began undressing her that
she spoke.

"It
was horrible," was all she said as he placed her into the tub. Seeing that
she was still terrified, he
took off his clothes
and got in with her.

He
settled her in between his legs and let the hot water run until it reached the
rim.

"
You're safe now," he tried soothing her.
"I'm here Ava, and nothing's going to hurt you I promise." Her sobs
had turned to quiet sniffles now and she was able to talk. She confided in
Magnus the entire dream and when she was through he held her tight.

"Av
a, please promise me that you won't read that diary
anymore," he begged.

"I
promise," she said and
settled into his
arms.

"You
know I can always reschedule, it's just to go over a few things with my
editor." Magnus was
hesitant about leaving
Ava and Kelly alone in the house.

"You'll
do no such thing, I've kept you from your work long enough and besides, I'm
feeling good and once Kelly arrives I'll feel even better so go and take care
of business, we'll be fine," she said and kissed him. Magn
us looked at her in disbelief; he knew that she
was being untruthful. She wasn’t feeling good at all, ever since she had
that nightmare she'd been up most nights lying awake in bed and when she was
finally able to fall asleep, the sun was up and a new day had emerged.

"Magnus
I'll be fine really, I think I hear Steve so go and enjoy yourself but hurry
back," she said before giving him a long passionate kiss.

"I
love you, he said
.

"I
love you too, you know that right?" She asked. She let her h
ands trace along his face in such a way that it felt
as if it was the last time she'd ever see him. And she wanted to remember each
and every line.

"Ava,"
he looked at her with love in his eyes. "You know Steve maybe I shouldn’t
go, you can handle things can't you?" He was seriously reconsidering.

"
No, I can't handle things Magnus come on," Steve
pleaded. "Just one meeting and we'll be back here in no time, Kelly is
here and I promise you, she will watch over Ava like no other now can we go
please?"

Magnus
stood one foot in the car and one on the ground, he wanted to stay with Ava, he
wanted to protect her.

"Magnu
s come on now go, we'll be fine I promise." She
kissed him again while gently coaxing him into the car.

"What
was all
that about?" Kelly asked as she and
Ava stood waving.

"I'll
tell you all about it over a cup of tea come on inside," she said to her
friend
.

"Buddy,
I've never known you to be so clingy, what's the deal man?" Steve was
concerned about his friend; he was beginning to behave like a love sick
teenager.

Magnus
was deep in thought, he was worried about Ava.

"What
was that?
"

"I
said what's with you being so clingy? She's not going anywhere buddy, she loves
you.
"

"I
know she does, but this whole s
ituation is
taking its toll on her. She hasn’t been sleeping, she has horrible nightmares,
she thinks that I don’t know that but I do. Steve, my girl hasn’t had a decent
night's sleep in days, but me on the other hand, I've been sleeping like a
baby, I feel guilty."

"I
had no idea that all this was happening to you and Ava Magnus, now I am the one
who feels guilty. I wish yo
u would have told
me," he faked his sympathy. Steve wanted nothing more than to get back to
New Orleans and get things underway. The sooner that Magnus would be able to
get this meeting over with, the sooner he could get back to finishing his novel
and that meant the sooner Steve would be on his way to becoming a highly sought
after agent.