Possessed (15 page)

“
Oh silly, Arelia, we can’t
tell you everything. Give her peace! Give her peace! Give her
peace!” They chanted.

That ominous advice didn’t really help
me much. What did give her peace mean? What kind of peace did I
have to give Sabrina?

“
Can you tell me more,
please?”

The twins stopped their chanting and
stared at me for a couple of seconds. They shook their little heads
and yawned. “Why do you want to grow up so fast,
Arelia?”

“
I don’t.”

“
Yes you do. You want
answers and more answers before you’ve even understood the
question. Understand the question. Give her peace! Give her peace!
Give her peace!”

“
Okay, I’ll try to
understand the question and give her peace. Ouch!” I wanted to ask
more questions but I was about to pass out from the pain the sixth
lash brought with it. “Thank you Marrassa.”

Lash number six. Stubborn and stupid.
Where are you, queen?

“
Please help me get back to
where I belong. Please.”

“
Sing some more, Arelia. If
you sing some more you’ll forget all about this and you can go
home. We love you, Arelia. You’re so fun! Sing some more for us and
you can go home.”

I howled like a wild animal as the
seventh lash hit me.

Lucky number seven.

I closed my eyes and with my last ounce
of strength started to sing.

“
Twinkle, twinkle, little
star,

How I wonder what you
are.

Up above the world so
high,

Like a diamond in the
sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little
star.”

Chapter 20

Possession

When my eyes opened I found myself
sitting in the spiritual bath in the exact same position I had been
in when Ivan kissed me. The rain raged wildly against the window
pane and the candles still burned brightly, meaning that I hadn’t
been gone for very long at all. It had only felt like forever.
However, in my short absence, thankfully, the electricity had come
back on and Ivan was nowhere in sight. Where had he
gone?

Nice escape, queen. Are you going to
pack your bags or what?

I jumped out of the bathtub and ran to
the mirror. There were no whip marks on my back and I wasn’t in any
pain. My large brown eyes were wild with fear and my lips couldn’t
stop quivering. Is this what post-traumatic stress syndrome was
like?

It had all felt so real. If I hadn’t
fought my way out of Ivan’s world I probably would have ended up
being auctioned off like a piece of cheap jewelry. The thought of
the whole thing was so disgusting that I promptly had to go to the
ceramic toilet and vomit.

I wanted to cry but inside I was numb,
empty and torn. The situation horrified me. The image of all those
poor people smiling, standing on stage, hopeless and so fragile was
absolutely ghastly. I wondered what Marie had felt like standing
there. Had she held her hands and stared at her toes while waiting
for someone to come along and buy her? How had Lucus’ dad bought
her? Where had he bought her? How much had he paid for
her?

I could understand why Ivan was so
angry, but what he had done was uncalled for and crossed a line
that shouldn’t have been crossed. Maybe there really wasn’t any
goodness left in him and I was the one holding onto a ghost. The
ghost of Louis.

I felt so violated and repulsed that at
that moment the one thing I wanted more than anything else was
revenge. Ivan had done a wonderful job of robbing the compassion I
had for him and replacing it with a sheer hatred that I felt so
guilty for feeling. But when I thought back to his expression as he
eyed the slaves on the stage and how he visited the hotel in hopes
of buying his own mother, my hatred was replaced by pity and
sadness. How was it possible that I wanted to kill him and hug him
at the same time?

I sat on the ground and slumped against
the toilet seat and for no reason at all was frustrated at Erzulie.
If spirits were all powerful and stuff why did they let bad things
happen? Why did people have to suffer for no reason? If I ran away
and left Darkwood, what would that say about me? Would it mean that
I wasn’t brave enough to face the truth?

“
Erzulie, how could you let
this happen? I trusted you! I don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere.
I’m trying to understand Louis and the curse, but I feel like I’m
stuck. Everything is wrong. If you’re so powerful and see
everything and hear everything then why can’t you help him? Why
does he have to be so angry and bitter?”

After a few seconds, she gracefully
appeared before me in a stunning purple gown embroidered with glass
and pearls. Her hazel eyes were full of pity as they rested on me.
She kneeled before me and her expression grew increasingly stern
and determined. “You need to learn. You need to experience, grow
and understand. You’re not stuck. Look how far you’ve come; can’t
you see the progress you’ve made?”

“
No,” I replied somewhat
bitterly.

“
You’ve come a long way, my
dear, but you still have a long way to go. In order to be a great
Voodoo Queen, you need to examine situations from all perspectives
and understand how the human heart and soul works.”

“
I have no idea what that
means. Why can’t you at least point me in the right direction? Why
are you letting Ivan mess with me?”

“
You failed to bind Louis’
powers and now you have to face the consequences,” she replied
simply. “You will come out of this stronger and it will lead you to
where you need to be.”

I was tempted to roll my eyes, bang my
head against the toilet seat and say I’m out of here, but instead
nodded. “Okay.”

She smiled sweetly and her soft face
lit up. “Have faith. Understanding is power. Louis and Lucus need
you. You need them.”

I nodded numbly and watched her as she
slowly disappeared.

I wrapped a towel around myself and
brushed my teeth as fast as I could. All I wanted to do was run to
my bedroom before Ivan had the chance to get anywhere near me. I
gathered my clothes while firmly clutching the lock of hair I had
stolen from Ivan.

A depressing silence greeted me when I
stepped foot into the hallway. At least that meant Sabrina had
stopped crying. When I got to my bedroom, the door was slightly
ajar and even before I had the chance to step inside the scent of
cinnamon, rue and cayenne pepper filled my nostrils. Inside, I was
greeted by the sight of Sabrina peacefully snoring away in
Grand-mere’s arms while Aunt Mae was busy passing Fiery Wall of
Protection Oil in the corners of the room.

“
Arelia, what took you so
long?” asked Aunt Mae, as she focused her green eyes on me. Dressed
in blush pink nightgown, clearly, she was ready to go to
bed.

“
I…”

Don’t say a word.

“
The bath was really
relaxing.” The words involuntarily slipped out.

“
Is Sabrina okay? Did she
take a bath?” I asked, as I leaned over her and Grand-mere to take
a closer look. She seemed normal. Her blond hair had been brushed
to death, I could smell the rich acidic scent of her favorite
nighttime moisturizer and her thin lips were coated with a baby
pink overnight plumper.

I glanced around the room and tried to
think of all the possible places where Ivan could have laid a
trick.

You’ll never know.

“
She’s fine for now. Lucus
was able to get her to stop crying and I convinced her to take a
bath. Child, are you alright?” asked Aunt Mae, as she turned her
attention away from the oil and onto me.

I nodded wearily, as I opened my
suitcase and carefully tucked Ivan’s hair into a pocket. I pulled
out my favorite Oscar the Grouch t-shirt with exactly one arm-pit
hole under the left sleeve. Oscar had always been my favorite
Muppet because, to me, he was the most relatable and realistic
character out of them all. For some reason, after everything that
had happened tonight, I wanted comfort and Oscar gave me that. He
reminded me of a simpler time when the only thing I had to worry
about was school, work and money. Considering what I had seen
tonight, I now realized that my life had always been pretty
wonderful, I just never realized it.

“
Come here, my child,” said
Aunt Mae, as she opened her arms wide. She knew something was up
even though I hadn’t said anything.

I sank into her arms and let out a huge
sigh. I was too tired and confused to cry so the only thing I could
do was keep letting out big dramatic sighs. When I finally stopped
sighing, I spoke. “What lured Sabrina to the graveyard, and why did
she go there? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Aunt Mae took a reflective pause before
she spoke. Even though her skin was impossibly smooth, tonight she
looked old and weary. “Sabrina was terribly upset. I take it you
girls had a disagreement?”

“
She saw me kiss Lucus. The
fact that she walked in on us was horrible and totally
uncomfortable because she’s been drooling over him since the first
time she laid eyes on him. She made it very clear that he was off
limits but I was weak and stupid… I didn’t stay away. I didn’t tell
her what was going on between us because I didn’t understand it
myself. Now, everything feels broken beyond repair. If anything
happens to her it’s my fault. Papa Ghede said I had to give her
peace, and the only reason Sabrina is alive is because I agreed to
give her peace. Whatever that means.”

Plus I’ve got stones in my passway and
a very, very psycho and angry Ivan is determined to drive me
insane.

“
Oh child, you can’t blame
yourself for having feelings for Lucus. Sometimes it’s hard to
understand exactly how you feel and why you feel that way. That’s
what makes us human. Sabrina has every right to be upset, because I
believe she genuinely loves Lucus, but she’ll come around
eventually. You two have been friends for this long because you
need one another. Sure, your relationship may be dysfunctional at
times, but show me one that’s perfect.”

“
I guess.” I could only hope
that she was right. “But why would she run off to the
cemetery?”

“
When a person is truly
upset or angry their body makes an excellent gateway into which
demons, ghosts and evil spirits can enter and manipulate. The act
of possession becomes much easier because the soul is vulnerable,
fragile and unaware of the amount of negative energy it’s giving
off. Essentially, the body becomes a vessel that can be manipulated
and dominated to do the bidding of the spirit that enters it. Other
times a powerful Voodoo King or Queen can will a spirit to enter a
human body; that way the human can be controlled to carry out the
will of the king or queen.”

My blood froze. Ivan, that stupid
bastard! He was the one who lured Sabrina to the
cemetery.

You’ll never know, queen. If you leave
now you won’t have to stick around and see…

“
Do you think Louis is
behind this? Do you think he’s trying to possess Sabrina and use
her?”

Aunt Mae sighed heavily. “I don’t think
it’s Louis considering he didn’t show up tonight.”

No. I didn’t, did I?

“
Sometimes it’s simply a
ghost that has unfinished business and is determined to reveal
something important to a loved one or settle a score. But more
often unruly spirits love to enter human bodies and cause chaos
because it gives them a sense of power and control that they don’t
have on the other side. However, if a King or Queen is responsible
for allowing a spirit to enter a body, getting rid of the spirit
can be quite tricky.”

“
How do we know Sabrina is
okay? How do we know that she’s safe? What did Papa Ghede mean? How
do we know it’s not Louis?” I pulled away from her and ran over to
the bed again.

“
Arelia, please calm down.
She’s taken a spiritual bath and I placed Fiery Wall of Protection
Oil all around the room and anointed three white candles to reverse
any negativity that may have attached itself to her. ”

Calm down? Was she really asking me to
calm down at a time like this? If only she knew what I knew. Ivan
could mess with me all he wanted but there was no way in hell he
would be able to mess with Sabrina.

“
How do you know that’s
enough?” I demanded. “What if it’s not enough? Gris-gris. I can
make a gris-gris charm for her. It can’t do any harm to load up on
protection, right? I could make her a charm like mine.” I looked at
my wrist and realized that my own gris-gris wasn’t there. Of
course, it wasn’t.

Missing something, queen?

I ignored Ivan’s voice and plucked out
a string of Sabrina’s hair. “I’m going to go downstairs and make
gris-gris for her. Please go to bed, Aunt Mae. You’ve helped enough
already.”

She nodded. “Nothing I say will make
you relax, will it?”

I shook my head. “No it
won’t.”

She let out a low chuckle. “Very well
then. Go ahead but you need to get some rest. You’ve had a long
day.”