Possessed (25 page)

The sun shone brightly above me while
the birds hummed and snakes hissed. Of course Ivan and Lucus were
brothers; that’s why Louis had looked so familiar when I saw him in
his real body. He had subconsciously reminded me of Lucus. Of
course Marie had been the love of Jacque’s life and not actually
the Mad Marie of legends, and of course she had nothing to do with
the curse. Of course Lucus’ mom was crazy. Was she the one
responsible for the whole thing? Why did I have to be the world’s
worst detective?

“
Sabrina.” I shook her limp
body and wiped away the hair that clung to her forehead. I wasn’t
sure whether or not Marie was still in there. “Sabrina,” I said
again as I pulled her towards a nearby rock. “Wake up, please. Are
you in there? We have to get out of here.”

Her eyes snapped open. “I’m not going
anywhere until you tell my baby what you saw. I’m not going
anywhere. You’re not going to hand my baby’s soul over to Mait
Carrefour. You’re not going to hand Lucus over to him either. I
won’t have it. You’re going to convince my baby that he has a
chance to be happy and that he should never give up. He’s given up
on living. He’s an animated corpse and we all know what happens to
animated corpses.”

Crap. Marie was still in there. “No.
No. I’m not going to do that. I promise. I’ll take you back to your
baby. He’s in the house. I’ll help you find out who murdered you.
I’ll help you with it all as long as you get out of my friend’s
body now, please. I’m sorry for the horrible life you had, Marie.
I’m so sorry. I know sorry is such a lame thing to say but I swear
things are different now. The world is different. Please leave
Sabrina’s body and I’ll help your son. Please.”

Her eyes bulged and she started bobbing
her head again. “No. Your friend’s body doesn’t have much energy
left in it. I hear Papa Ghede beckoning me back to the cemetery.
You go and explain it to my baby and you need to go now. I don’t
care how I died. Give me peace by helping my baby.”

“
But I can’t leave you here
in the swamp. It’s not safe. You know it’s not safe for my friend’s
body.” The thought of an alligator eating Sabrina was horrifying.
“Explaining all of this to your baby is going to take
time.”

“
No it won’t and can’t take
time. You don’t have much time, Arelia. You have to hold my baby,
make him see what you saw, make him remove the trick he placed on
you and unite him with his brother. That’s the only way I can be
sure that he’ll eventually let go of all the anger he’s been
carrying around. My baby needs to let go of the anger and work with
his brother. You need to give my baby the chance he never
had.”

“
Marie, I’ve been trying and
trying…” But your baby can be such an ass. He’s done some pretty
horrible things to me.

“
You haven’t tried hard
enough,” she hissed. Yes. She actually hissed like a snake which
made the whole head bobbing thing even more terrifying. “Everyone
claims they try but they really don’t. They don’t try at
all.”

“
Who did this to Lucus and
Louis? And why? Do you know?”

“
The only thing I know is I
didn’t do it and I don’t want my baby angry at his brother and
daddy for eternity. I love his daddy and I always will. I want
peace so I can meet Jacques on the other side. I know he’s waiting
for me on the other side. I’ve waited so long to be with him but I
can’t until I know our baby is safe. Give me peace; help unite my
baby with his brother. They can only be free if they work together,
not separately. Go now. Go before it’s too late for your friend. I
can hear Papa Ghede calling her name.”

“
Okay, I’ll go. I’m going
right now, but you’ve got to promise me that you stay right there
on that rock. Please promise me that you won’t let anything happen
to my friend’s body.” I was going to threaten her with an or else
but threatening the dead was a pretty hard thing to do.

“
Go now. Go right this
instant and do as I say and I’ll let your friend go. Her body
doesn’t have much energy left. Run. Run now.”

“
I’m going. I’m
going.”

Chapter 40

Sweeten Him Up

I made a mad dash out of the muddy
water and into the forest. Drenched in slime and mud I was a
demented swap creature on a seemingly impossible mission. Honestly,
I had no clue what I was going to do or how I was going to convince
Ivan to reverse the trick he had placed on me and embrace Lucus as
his brother. Oh God. How was I going to explain to Lucus that the
perfect illusion he had of his parents was all actually a lie? How?
I couldn’t do that to him. I wouldn’t. He would have to figure that
out on his own. As for Ivan, I was numb just thinking about what
had happened to his mom.

Around me the oaks seemed to mock and
reach out for me as I ran through their twisted maze, and for a
second I had to stop and catch my breath. A strange and unwelcome
faintness came over me and the gigantic oaks started to move as if
they were dancing around me and beckoning me to join
them.

The wind howled and moaned a ghastly
lament as it whipped through the trees and clawed through my
hair.

Where are you, queen? I’ve missed you.
I haven’t been able to feel you in a while. What’s up?

No. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. I
reminded myself.

Of course it’s real.

I attempted to run but the trees
started to close in around me and against my will the air started
to escape from my lungs and my mouth filled with the unwelcome
taste of blood. I gasped for breath but it was hopeless. The harder
I tried the more agitated and desperate my body became. The oaks
started to press up against me and started to squeeze me so
forcefully that I could feel my life slipping away. I fell to my
knees and placed my hands on my throat and gasped.

Amidst the darkness I heard a familiar
voice.

“
Arelia LaRue. Why you
standing in the middle of a forest gasping for air? There’s plenty
of fresh air here.”

I looked up and saw it was great grey
owl. I mouthed the word, Brise.

I shook my head as if trying to tell
him no that there wasn’t any fresh air.

“
Get up, Arelia. Get up. You
have to go find Louis and you have to find him now. Close your eyes
and simply breathe.”

I nodded and attempted to get up but
was mortified to see that fresh blood was pouring out of my mouth
in a seemingly never-ending stream, and the leaves below me were a
rich shade of red.

“
Get up, Arelia,” said
Brise. “Run and go sweeten Louis up. You’ve been fighting him but
try sweetening him up. Sometimes all a sad soul needs is a little
honey. A little honey goes a long way. Erzulie gave me some honey
and I feel so much better now. Don’t I look handsome today?
”

I nodded, indicating that I was
thrilled that Brise was getting over his self-esteem issues. I felt
like laughing at his advice though. The last thing I wanted to do
was sweeten Ivan up. I wanted to murder him and throw his body into
the swamp and watch while snakes and alligators feasted on
it.

Gathering what strength I had left, I
slowly stood up and attempted to breathe.

“
That’s right, Arelia. Keep
breathing,” encouraged Brise. “Sometimes the only thing you can do
is continue to breathe.”

I did as he instructed and tried to
breathe. Just breathe. Eventually the trees started to distance
themselves from me and the blood that had flowed so freely from my
mouth stopped.

“
Brise,” I said when I
finally managed to speak. “Thank you.”

“
Go sweeten him up and he’ll
bend your way. Go now.”

I nodded and started to run again. How
was I supposed to sweeten up Ivan? I was a sweaty, muddy mess when
I reached the main house and my legs wobbled beneath me. An unusual
silence greeted me, and the red lawn that had been filled with
hungry guests was now empty.

“
Hello?” I cried out, as I
reached the marble porch.

There was only silence. I ran inside
and smacked right into Henri. His bright smile and happy tangerine
shirt were a welcome relief and I couldn’t help but give him a big
hug. He smelled like plums and fresh coffee. “Henri. Thank God.
Where is everyone?”

“
Arelia, what’s going on?”
Henri took in the tragic state I was in and worry eroded his
smile.

“
Where is Aunt Mae, I need
to speak with her.”

“
She’s in the city with your
grand-mere. They’re picking up supplies for the guests.”

“
Why is it so quiet here?
Where are the guests?” I was tempted to ask what year it was but
that would have been a little too much.

“
They went swimming. Lucus
took them to the river. Arelia.” He placed his hands on my
shoulders and looked into my eyes. “Calm down, Arelia. Tell me what
happened. How can I help?”

I didn’t want to waste time explaining
the whole Marie mess. “I’m okay. I’ll live but I need to know how
you sweeten a soul? A very bitter and angry soul?”

“
With honey. Come with
me.”

“
Honey?” So Brise was being
literal.

He nodded. “Do you have a strand of
this particular person’s hair?”

“
I do. I’ll be right
back.”

“
I’ll be in Mae’s
office.”

“
I’ll be right there,” I
said, as I ran up the staircase. When I got to my room I dug up
Ivan’s carefully guarded strand of hair. I chuckled as I clutched
it tightly. Then, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and
got freaked out. I was literally a mud -covered maniac laughing
over the fact that I had somehow managed to steal a piece of
someone’s soul. What was I turning into? A short while ago I would
have found this whole thing creepy, but now it was normal and I
really liked it which worried me a little.

I shuddered as I headed back downstairs
and into Aunt Mae’s office. The scent of honey and licorice met me
and momentarily replaced the scent of rusty blood that dripped from
the walls.

“
I got it,” I said, as I
showed Henri the piece of hair.

“
Ivan?”

“
How can you
tell?”

“
You two have been going at
it like cats and dogs since you got here. The scene at Mr. Dumpty’s
birthday party was pretty intense. I’ve been meaning to say
something, but I figured I’d let you fight your own battles. That’s
the only way you’re going to grow and learn, isn’t it?”

“
That’s what the spirits
keep saying and I’ve been trying but I need some help and
fast.”

“
I’m always here, Arelia.
All you need to do is ask.”

I smiled shyly. “Thank you.”

“
Anyways, this here is plain
old jar of honey,” he said, as he pointed to a jar that rested on
the desk. “You need to write his name on a piece of paper three
times,” he said, as he handed me a piece of paper and a
pen.

I took the pen from him and wrote down
Ivan three times. I glanced up at him for further
direction.

“
Take his hair and wrap it
up in that paper.”

“
Done.”

“
This is called Bend-Over
Oil,” he said, as he held pungent smelling oil up to my nose. “It’s
made up of calamus root, good old licorice root and some bergamot
oil. You need to anoint this blue candle with the oil and
concentrate on sweetening Ivan.”

“
Why blue?”

“
Blue is the color of peace
and serenity. I assume you want more peace between you and
Ivan?”

“
You can say that
again.”

I did as he said and while doing so I
thought about Marie and the love she had for Louis. I thought about
the love Jacques and Marie had for one another and how much better
Louis’ life could have turned out if circumstances and conditions
had been different. I also thought about how hopeful and sweet
Louis had once been. What Bade had said to me at the lily pond
suddenly made sense. Beauty and love can be found in the ugliest
circumstances. Ivan was wrong, he wasn’t an ugly consequence. He
was a beautiful consequence that had found himself in ugly
circumstances. “Done.”

Henri smiled, opened the jar of honey
and handed me a spoon.

I wasn’t sure what to make of the
spoon. “Am I supposed to eat the jar of honey?”

Henri laughed and his large eyes
twinkled. “Not the whole jar, only three tablespoons. While you’re
eating it, think of sweeting up your target.”

Given the fact I was pretty hungry, I
had no problem eating spoonfuls of pure honey straight from the
jar. I enjoyed the sweet gooey feel of it as it slid down my throat
and hit my belly in a satisfying punch.

Afterwards, Henri made me place the
paper that held Ivan’s soul into the jar of honey and close the
lid. I lit the blue candle and prayed that Erzulie would help me
out on this one. I needed to get back to Sabrina, and
fast.

“
Thank you, Uncle Henri.
Thank you for your help.”

Henri smiled and despite the fact that
I was covered in swamp slime gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You just
have ask.”