The Ghosts Of New Orleans (A PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND CONTAINMENT DIVISION (PRCD) CASE FILE) (16 page)

“Eloise, darling,” he moaned,
slipping her negligee off her shoulder. “You are so beautiful.”

As his lips trailed over her
exposed shoulder and she was tempted to just lie back and enjoy the dream,
Eloise realized that she really needed to keep them alert to the potential
dangers of the night.

She put her hands on Paul’s
shoulder and gently pushed him away.  He looked up at her, confusion across his
face.

“I haven’t hurt you, have I?” his
face a mirror of his concern.

Eloise shook her head and ran her
hand along the side of his face.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that,
I’m a little nervous, Paul,” she said.

He smiled and pulled her into his
arms. “Don’t worry sweetheart,” he said, “I’ll make you forget your nerves.”

He kissed her with enough persuasiveness
that if she hadn’t been concerned about an imminent threat, she indeed would
have forgotten that she had any nerves at all.

“Paul,” she moaned.

Oh, this was so not fair, she
thought.

“Paul,” she whispered, hating
herself for the weakness in her voice.

“Yes, sweetheart,” he said,
exploring her earlobe with his tongue and teeth.

“Ohhhhh,” she sighed, then took a
deep breath, “Paul this is really important.”

“Um hmmm,” Paul responded, trailing
soft kisses down her neck. “So is this.”

She felt Paul’s hand gliding up the
negligee, skimming over her thigh, her abdomen and higher. She grabbed Paul’s
hand before it could reach its intended destination. He raised his head and
looked at her in surprise and confusion.

“Paul,” she whispered urgently,
“I’m seeing dead people.”

Paul jerked up and away from her
and perched on the edge of the bed.

Suddenly the balcony doors sprung
open and Delphine glided into the room. Her face was contorted in rage and her
eyes spewed madness.

“So, this is your Jean-Paul?” she
spat. “I destroyed him once, I will destroy him again.”

Eloise climbed across the bed
behind Paul and threw her arms around his neck and held tightly.

“You can’t hurt him,” she cried.
“This time I won’t leave him.”

Paul turned to Eloise. “I am
Jean-Paul?” he asked.

Eloise nodded.  “Yes, you are, were,
Jean-Paul,” she confessed.

“But you sent me away,” he
countered.

“Yes, she sent you away because she
thinks you are weak,” Delphine said. “She could not trust you to protect her.”

Paul pulled Eloise around to his
lap. “Tell me,” he insisted, looking deeply into her eyes.

“She said  she would have let you
live, but because you were connected to me, she killed you,” Eloise whispered,
pleading for him to understand.

“So, you sent me away, because…” he
said.

“Because I love you,” Eloise
replied simply.

Paul smiled. “That’s all I needed
to hear,” he said, lowering his lips to hers.

Eloise wrapped her arms tighter
around his neck and kissed him back.

“No! He is just using you,”
Delphine snarled. “How could you love such as you?”

“I have no idea,” Eloise murmured
absently, “but it’s amazing.”

She heard Delphine hiss in the
distance and then heard the sharp crash of the balcony doors being slammed. She
and Paul looked up for a moment. She chuckled and turned to enjoy more of
Paul’s attention...

Eloise found herself alone in her
own bed, just waking from the experience. 
Damn, just when it was getting
good.

The phone rang loudly, she jumped. 
She searched for it unsuccessfully for a few moments and then found the
receiver.  Eyes still closed, she brought it to her ear.

“Hello,” she mumbled sleepily.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Paul’s
voice greeted her.

Eloise sat straight up in bed, all
of the images of the night before rushing back.

“I’m sorry, who is this?” she feigned
recognition.

His chuckle on the other line
melted her heart.  “I had a great dream last night,” he continued, “It seemed
so real.”

Eloise heart beat faster. “Oh,
that’s nice,” she answered, “Did it help with the case you were on?”

“It was quite revealing,” he said.

“Crap,” she muttered.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“I said great, that’s just great,”
she lied.

“So, I was wondering when Jean-Paul
was going to show up,” he asked nonchalantly. “So I can plan the assignments of
my troops.”

So, he remembered that part of the
dream too. Eloise paused for a moment. The danger was still there – after
failing this attempt, there was no way Delphine was going to leave him alone if
he was in Louisiana. She bit down on her lower lip and then lied to him again.

“Actually, Sally and I were going
to go into Baton Rouge to pick him up this afternoon,” she said, “Do you want
me to call you when we get back?”

There was dead silence on the phone
for a few moments.  Eloise could picture the hurt and frustration in his face.

“No, that won’t be necessary,” he
replied, his voice sounding cool and controlled, “Just have Turner call me.”

“Okay. I’ll do that,” Eloise said,
tears sliding down her face, “Take care of yourself.”

She heard him exhale slowly.

“Yeah, you take care of yourself
too,” he said softly, and then he hung up the phone.

Eloise sat hugging the phone for
several minutes before finally hanging it up and getting out of bed.

“So are you going to tell me what
happened last night?”  Sally asked, sipping on her green shake. She was dressed
in a black tee-shirt with a Mickey Mouse logo and black jeans.  Eloise stood on
the other side of the counter, dressed in her uniform.

“Nothing happened last night,”
Eloise muttered, chugging her protein shake, “Nothing at all.”

“Whew, by the tension I’m feeling,
I would have guessed that you and Paul ...”

Eloise glared at Sally.

“Okay, I’m dropping it,” Sally
said, “And let me be the first to say that I’m really looking forward to being
stuck in a car with you for five long hours.”

Eloise couldn’t stop the chuckle.
“You are so obnoxious,” she said, trying to hold back a smile.

“Okay, so what gives?” Sally said,
“Really, if it has anything to do with this project, you should share it.”

Eloise took a deep breath. “Paul
and I spent the night together last night,” she explained.

Sally shook her head, “Okay, you’re
going to have to explain this one.”

“Maria snatched me last night and
took me to Washington.”

“Cool, out-of-body girls night
out,” Sally said. “Why?”

“Delphine was gunning for Paul and
this time I had to be there to protect him.”

“Have you ever noticed that when
you and Paul are together you’re pretty much indestructible?” Sally asked
innocently.

“Well, it worked. I was able to
protect him.”

“But how, you were a spirit?”

She attacked him in his dream, so I
was there in his dream.”

Sally chuckled. “You were in Paul’s
dream.  So how did he have you dressed?  French maid?  Were you even dressed?”

“Sally!”  Eloise cried, “Of course
I was dressed. I was actually dressed fairly conservatively considering it was
our wedding night.”

“Oh, how sweet,” Sally said, and
then exclaimed. “He was dreaming of your wedding night?”

Sally paused. “And then Delphine
interrupted, bummer!”

Eloise shook her head. “The main
point is that I was able to protect him and now he’s safe.”

Sally disagreed. “The main point is
that you love him, miss him and still feel this need to lie to him in order to
protect him.”

Eloise sighed. “Yeah, that pretty
much is the main point.”

“So, do you think he remembered the
dream?”

Eloise nodded. “He called first
thing this morning, he was so happy.”

“And you pretty much ripped the
happy rug right out from under his feet, right?”

 “Yep, I sure did.”

Sally walked over to Eloise, gave
her a quick hug and said, “Don’t worry about it.  If I know anything about
tall, dark and military he won’t be down for too long.”

Eloise thought immediately of the
pushy blonde, Marilyn. “Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”

She stood up, grabbed her hat and
gear and walked to the door. “Let’s go get some black magic.”

Sally smiled. “Now that’s my kind
of shopping trip.”

They walked out of the motor home
and were greeted by the flash of a camera in their face.

“Hey,” Eloise cried, shielding her
eyes. “What’s this all about?”

Sergeant Turner lowered the digital
camera and shrugged. “Sorry, ma’am, I was just photographing the perimeter.
Procedure.”

Eloise nodded. “Oh, sorry,
Sergeant, you just caught me off guard. Please carry on.”

“Photographing the perimeter?”
Sally whispered to Eloise as they walked to the SUV, “Doesn’t that seem a
little odd?”

Eloise shrugged. “What doesn’t seem
odd in our lives?”

Sally nodded. “Good point.”

They chose to drive down the River
Road, a collection of minor highways that ran parallel to the Mississippi.  

“Did you know that at one time there
were 350 different plantations on this road?” Sally asked as they drove down
the asphalt highway, “They were on either side of the river between New Orleans
and Baton Rouge.

“I can just imagine them, like Tara
from
Gone with the Wind
,” Sally continued, “Each one more luxurious than
the next.”

Eloise looked around, noting the
forty foot levee that now hid the view of the Mississippi and the petrochemical
plants with their cranes, coal piles and smokestacks that stood in place of the
mansions. 

“Doesn’t quite give you those same
feelings now, does it?” Eloise asked.

Sally looked out the window and
sadly shook her head.

“It’s sad when things have to
change so much.” Sally said, sighing, “There was such beauty here before.”

“Yeah, but the beauty was only skin
deep,” Eloise said, “When you think about the atrocities committed against the
slaves, these dark and dirty machines might be more representative of what it
was really like.”

Sally nodded.  “That’s true,” she
agreed, “It’s too bad that we can’t have both – beauty inside and beauty
outside.”

Eloise smiled. “Hey, that’s what
we’re working on.”

Sally returned her smile.  Then she
looked down at her lap for a moment, gathering her thoughts.

“So, El, can we talk about Cindy?”

Eloise paused for a moment and then
took a deep breath. “Sure, what do you want to know?”

Sally shrugged. “Will she be…is
she… happy?”

Eloise nodded.  “She came to visit
me, after it happened. I was in my bathroom, bawling my eyes out and she
appeared and called me a cry-baby.”

Sally chuckled. “Yep, that sounds
like Cindy.”

Eloise laughed. “She said that she
was good, that she was having the time of her life and that there was a big
party going on welcoming her.”

“That’s great, that’s really great,”
Sally said, looking out her side window.

“So, Sal, what’s really wrong?”
Eloise asked.

“I guess these last couple of days
has made me change my perspective a little,” Sally shrugged, “I suppose I’m not
feeling as immortal as I used to feel.”

Eloise sighed. “You know death is a
funny thing. We all know it’s out there, but no one wants to talk about it – it
makes us feel too vulnerable. But I’ve got to tell you Sally, the more and more
time I spend around people who get to move on – the joy I see in their eyes is
remarkable.  It’s like death is this great prize that we win when we complete
our job here on earth.”

“So, you’re not afraid to die,”
Sally asked.

“Afraid?  Terrified,” Eloise
laughed and admitted, “But not because of what’s on the other side – but
because of what I still want to do here on earth.”

Sally nodded. “Okay, so let’s make
a deal.”

“Sure,” said Eloise.

“Let’s not die until we’re real
old.”

Eloise laughed, “Deal!”

            As
they drove closer to Baton Rouge, they could see glimpses of how New Orleans used to look.  Large green trees lined roads and Spanish moss hung like tinsel
from them. Clusters of small shops were at scattered intervals, offering
everything from Civil War antiques to homegrown sorghum molasses.

“Oh, wow,” Sally said, gazing at the
beautiful tree-lined avenues, “This place is just gorgeous. Look at those great
trees. They’ve got to be over a hundred years old.

“Wait until you see the Cyprus
trees, they are incredible,” said Eloise, “Like something out of mythology.”

“So when do we get to see them?”
asked Sally.

“Well, they’re usually found around
swamps and Baton Rouge actually has some swamps within the city limits,” she
said, “You can take an alligator tour in a bayou within the city limits.”

“That is so cool,” Sally said,
looking like a kid in a candy shop. “Do you think...”

Eloise smiled. “You never know what
might happen.”

“You can say that again.” Sally
agreed.

They hopped onto Highway 10 and drove
toward the old downtown parishes. Eloise pulled off on Florida Boulevard and
followed it to their first stop.

“Did you ever think it was strange
that you like hanging out at cemeteries?” Sally asked, as they walked through
the entrance of the Magnolia Cemetery.

Eloise shrugged. “Well, my
informants are a lot easier to deal with than the ones the police have to use.”

Sally sat on a stone bench in the
shade of a particularly large Magnolia Tree and watched Eloise slowly walk
along the graves in the cemetery.  Several times, Eloise stopped and looked
like she was having a conversation with someone.  Finally, she turned and
walked back to Sally.

“I’ve got directions to the perfect
place,” she said.

“Great, let’s go,” Sally said.

They drove back onto Highway 10 and
exited on Plank Road, heading north.  As they continued north, the shine of
redevelopment they saw in the downtown was left behind and block after block of
older homes that looked like they had seen much better days greeted them.

“Why is it that Hoodoo shops are
never found in the classy, upscale parts of town?” Sally asked, peering out the
window at the boarded up buildings covered with graffiti.

“Actually, the fake, touristy ones
are found there,” Eloise said. “But I need one with a proprietress that
actually knows what she’s talking about.”

Eloise slowed the SUV and rolled
the window down.  She closely inspected the corner stores they were passing. 
Finally, she stopped in front of a used clothing store.

Sally turned to her. “Why are we
stopping?”

“Because this is where we can get
our information,” Eloise explained. “Hoodoo shops generally don’t hang a sign
out in front.  They like to keep their work secret.”

Eloise and Sally climbed out the SUV
and walked toward the store.  A group of six young black men stood in front of
the store.  They stared at the two women and moved to block their way.

“Either you lost or you the man –
you ain’t welcome here.”

Sally shook her head. “We are not
men,” she said.

“I think he means that we must be
the police or law enforcement officers,” she explained to Sally, she turned back
to the man who spoke. “We are not lost. We come seeking information and we are
friends.”

She moved her hand up to the amulet
that she wore.  The man’s eyes followed her hand’s movement and when he saw the
amulet, his eyes widened in fear.

“Where did you get that?” he asked.

“In New Orleans,” Eloise replied,
“Maria gave it to me for protection.”

The men stepped back and nodded. “You
take your time in there; we’ll make sure nothing happens to your wheels.”

Eloise smiled at them. “Thank you
very much.”

 The inside of the store was
crammed with racks of clothing of every description.  They were divided into a
men’s section, a woman’s section and a children’s section. 

They walked past the clothing racks
to a door that stood slightly ajar.  On the floor, just before the door, was a
red line of some kind of dust.

“Brick dust,” Sally said, “Keeps
out your enemies.”

“Does it work on spirits?” Eloise
asked.

“I don’t think so,” Sally
responded, ‘Just living people.”

They stepped over the line and
entered a large room filled with rows of shelves.  The shelves were filled with
all kinds of hoodoo paraphernalia; there were bottles of preserved animals –
like rattlesnakes and toads, as well as herbs in every form – from powdered
herbs to whole roots. There were feathers and candles, mixing bowls and
pestles, and books that held incantations.

On the other side of the room was a
long counter. Behind the counter sat a large black woman with a brightly
colored turban around her head.  She was dressed in a caftan that matched her
turban and around her neck she wore a dozen or so necklaces, all with charms
and amulets hanging from them.

Eloise and Sally approached the
counter.

“I have been told of you,” the
woman said, in a strong French accent, “I am Isabel DuPointte.”

“I understand that you can guide
us, teach us what we need to know,” Eloise said, “There are many souls who need
your help.”

“Tell me,” she said.

“There is a spirit – Lalaurie,”
Eloise began.

Isabel inhaled sharply. “I know of
this name, it is evil.”

Sally and Eloise both nodded in
agreement.

“Yes, she is,” Eloise said.

“We have seen some of her work,”
Sally added, “She does not have a soul.”

Isabel shook her head. “No, she
sold her soul to the devil and now she serves him.”

“She is now trying to trap the
souls of many who died during the hurricane,” Eloise explained, “She doesn’t
want them to move on to the other side.”