by S. E. Akers
“That depends on what we run into, Miss. Just sit back and enjoy the ride,” the cab driver remarked with a light-hearted laugh.
I still had fifty minutes, so I wasn’t outright worried. Though after reading their strict regulations on punctuality in the cab, I found myself somewhat anxious. I still had to pass through security after I arrived (and probably another metal detector) and then up thirteen floors. I just left my Talisman jewelry in my purse (no sense wasting time taking all that stuff off again), as well as my hilt. However Katie, I was sure, needed some “fresh air”.
“That took F-O-R-E-V-E-R!” Katie groaned no sooner than I’d fastened the clasp. “Where are we?”
I glanced at the cabbie in the rearview mirror. “On our way to the passport office,” I answered telepathically.
“Cool!” my bosom friend exclaimed. “So what’s after that?”
“Rendezvous with the group at the hotel and off to the Aquarium of the Americas. I think we’re scheduled to go to the Botanical Gardens after that and then meet with some people from the New Orleans Geological Society for a lecture about the oil industry down here.”
“Boring,” Katie sang.
I had to agree, but this was a “study” trip.
“Ms. Fitz said something about squeezing in a few more sights before dinner, if we have time.”
“It would be a shame if your appointment ran late,” Katie hinted in an oh-so familiar tone. “You’d miss all that fun.”
“Katie…”
“Then we would have to find something else to do…on our own,” she cooed.
“Like what?” I posed.
“Oh, I don’t know…Possibly…Bourbon Street?”
I grinned. “And then what would I like to do?”
“Listen to some jazz?” Katie suggested. “Maybe go shopping? Or to a few museums? They’re supposed to have a nice art museum downtown.”
“How do you know all this?” I inquired with a skeptical laugh.
“New Orleans is number eight in my book, remember?” Katie replied solemnly.
I’d almost forgotten about her scrapbook. She’d been working on that thing since she was nine, compiling pictures and pasting them onto its pages. It contained every place she wanted to visit one day and everything she wanted to see. A pang of guilt wrenched my stomach. I suppose this is the “next best thing”.
I let out a compliant sigh. “Well…I guess I can’t say no, since it’s in your top-ten,” I whispered mentally. I could feel my bosom friend exploding with joy. You’d think she was actually about to “see” the sights too.
“You have to describe everything to me,” my sidekick ordered, “and take plenty of pictures!”
“Yes, Sergeant,” I replied. After some not-so-patient waiting, I checked the time on my phone again. Ten after ten. With my paranoia in full swing, I searched the phone’s browser for the passport office’s exact location. The street address popped up immediately, along with a picture of the building.
Before I could map it out with the GPS App, the cab came to a slow stop. I quickly turned towards the window to grab the door handle, but I froze. There were no skyscrapers, no busy streets, no people walking around, nothing that even remotely resembled the hustle and bustle of a big-city downtown street or the building’s picture I’d just seen on the screen. I was sitting on a weathered road flanked by patches of grass, shady trees, and rows of ornate marble structures erected on each of its sides.
Tombs, I processed, confused. I tapped on the plexiglass partition. The driver slid open the window. “This isn’t the passport agency,” I asserted.
“No,” the cab driver replied as he slid his shades down to the tip of his nose. “But it is your last stop.” His sharp, beady eyes were as black as night.
NOT AGAIN!
Before I could react, he sprayed something at my face and sprang out of the cab. My eyes began to scratch and burn like they were full of blazing hot sand.
“UGHHH! Son-of-a-Bitch!” I screamed and clenched them shut.
“What?!?” Katie yelled.
“The cab driver maced me with something!” I forced my eyes open. Hell-fire, that stings! Everything I tried to focus on looked wavy and distorted. The harsh light from the sun was only making it worse. I clutched my purse and crawled out of the cab.
“Like pepper spray?” Katie asked.
“I don’t think so,” I bellowed. “Everything’s blurry…and I’m starting to feel a little weak.” My senses picked up on tiny traces of iron in the mystery spray.
“Why did he—”
“Take a wild, black-eyed guess!” I huffed.
“Shit…Where are you?”
I forced my wildly squinting eyes to remain open. “In a cemetery.”
“You’d better get out of there!” Katie urged.
I staggered to my feet. Keeping my balance was hard enough. I didn’t even want to think about having to fight someone off. I may have been standing still, but everything else around me kept moving.
“Where’s the cabbie?” Katie asked.
I scanned all around. “I don’t see him…anywhere,” I replied.
“Okay, just track your location on your phone and then run like Hell there,” Katie suggested.
Still unable to focus, I kept hitting the wrong keys. I propped myself against a marble tomb and set the phone on top of it. As my vision slowly began to sharpen, the letters engraved on its top became as clear as a bell. I let out a shrill gasp. The name etched on the tomb stirred every cell in my body.
Katherine Julia Stowell
“What is it?” Katie demanded.
“The name on the tomb,” I mumbled as I traced the letters with the tips of my fingers. “It’s yours.” Katie didn’t say a word. I shoved the phone back in my purse. Instinctively, I tried to lift the heavy slab off the tomb. The traces of iron floating inside me made it impossible to budge. “Ughhhh!” I grunted as I attempted to slide it off, only to fall to the ground.
“What are you DOING?!?” Katie screamed.
“I’m trying to open it!”
Frustrated, I leaned back to catch a second-wind. Strangely, I noticed several crypts across the road. One had bold letters that spelled out, “STOWELL”, the one beside it bore the initials “KJS”, and the one to the right read, “Katie-Kate”. I glanced around at all the markers, mystified.
“They all have your name on them,” I groaned.
“Listen to me, Shi! That stuff is messing with your head!” Katie pleaded.
“It can’t,” I argued.
“Well then its screwing with your eyes!” she charged. “And they’re overriding that lump, THREE-FEET ABOVE YOUR ASS!”
I didn’t want to listen to her. I knew I should, but I couldn’t. I wobbled to my feet in a dazed frenzy, my heart urging my mind to bust them all open. Confused, I scanned every which way. I didn’t know where to start or how I was even going to do it?
A warm breeze hurtled past me, rustling the leaves on all the trees. My eyes followed its chilling course. From out of nowhere, a female figure in a billowy white gown appeared. I stood there quietly as she walked down the road. Everything about her goaded my teetering gait to follow — her familiar long white gown, her brunette hair that donned a circle of flowers with cascading ribbons, even the lingering scent of vanilla trailing behind her. She turned back and looked at me before she rounded the corner.
Katie, I affirmed as I mentally examined every curve of my bosom friend’s face. A soft voice shot through the corridor of crypts.
“Help me,” the figure cried out in an aching whisper. Her words pricked my ears, painfully.
“I’m coming,” I replied, struggling to catch up to her.
“Where are you going?” Katie asked.
“To get you,” I replied in a daze. “Just slow down.”
“WHAT?” Katie shrieked.
“Your body…It won’t let me catch up!”
“Shiloh Wallace! I don’t know what you’re seeing, bu
t stop it! THAT’S NOT ME!”
I wouldn’t listen to her. I could only entertain one thought right now, no matter how insane the odds. As I staggered through the endless maze of sacred stone structures and marble statuary, I caught a glimpse of a large winged sculpture from out of the corner of my eye. A chilling sensation halted my frame and slowly turned my gaze. The angel’s face was haunting. It was Katie’s. I zeroed in on the domed building behind it. It looked like a miniature church with its finial-topped, steep stone peaks and ornate marble columns that framed chunky layers of gothic arches. I trudged towards the mausoleum with a heedless, steadfast gait. My retinas burned as I stared at the letters inscribed on the marker. It simply read:
Here lies
KATIE
The massive metal doors were wide open, calling to me…calling me inside.
“This is the one,” I announced.
“Like HELL it is! No, Shi…Please don’t!” Katie begged.
“I have to see!” I yelled. “Tonight’s a full moon.”
“Even I know this is a trap!”
“This is what you want,” I insisted as I crept up the steps.
“NOT LIKE THIS!” Katie cried out.
“But you’re in there,” I pleaded. “I can feel it.”
“Please! Don’t go inside!” Katie begged fearfully.
“You don’t have a say this time,” I assured her as I crossed through the archway and edged inside the mausoleum. A coffin was sitting on a slab in the center of the room, with Katie’s name etched in bold letters on its surface. I fell against it as I lifted up the lid. My heart sank immediately. I felt a tear taking form as I stared inside the coffin. It was completely empty.
“So?” Katie asked. “You didn’t find anything, did you?”
“No,” I mumbled regretfully as I closed the lid. The letters I’d seen just seconds ago had vanished. “Your name is gone, too.”
“I TOLD YOU SO! It was just an illusion.”
As soon as she said it, I realized she was right. Onyx powder, I thought as I rubbed my eyes and lowered my fingers to the tip of my nose. The smell was even similar to the moldy sweet scent I remembered from Bea’s little bathroom science experiment.
“Now get your phone, find out where you are, and let’s get out of here!” Katie shouted.
Her words hit me like a slap in the face. No sooner than I’d pulled out my phone and started to swipe my finger across its screen, I got conked upside my head. The cell went airborne as my weakened body swooned to the ground. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed in my ears, followed by a jarring slam of the mausoleum doors. I was trapped, now locked inside a pitch-black tomb. Katie’s voice shrieking was the last thing I heard before my eyes fluttered to a close.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A harsh ray of light blinded me as I came to. I rubbed my eyes. They weren’t burning or the slightest bit blurry anymore. I staggered to my feet, groggy but not as weak. The onyx powder was starting to wear off.
“Katie?” I called out.
“Shi!” Katie squealed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I answered as I reached into my purse and pulled out my moonstone ring. A little healing boost was just what my ravaged muscles needed. Dumbfounded, I stared at the entrance. The door was wide open. I peeked outside to survey the scene.
Not a soul in sight, I noted as my eyes swept the deserted cemetery. Flames were dwindling on a scorched patch of earth and debris, just in front of the tomb. I didn’t have the slightest clue how it had ignited, but my gut cried out that the possessed cab driver sure did. I shuddered when I caught a whiff of burnt flesh.
“What happened?” Katie asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “Did you hear anything?”
“A loud bang, then a lot of screaming…and then another loud bang. That’s all. Is he gone?”
My nostrils flared. “Sure smells that way.” I spotted the iPhone lying beside the door, smashed and ruined. Fantastic!
Suddenly a wave of panic steered my hand into my purse. I fumbled through it until my fingers located the thing that might have prevented this mess in the first place. I stared at the face of my angelite watch and cringed.
I slammed my foot on the ground. “It’s 10:20!” I shouted. “I’ve got TEN MINUTES!” I hurried out of the mausoleum and down the steps. I paused for a second to get my bearings. My gut steered me to the right. Everything looked the same in this puzzling marble maze. I hoped I was headed back the way I had come.
“That sucks,” Katie announced. “Wait. Just check the directions and run there.”
“The phone is broken,” I revealed as I winded around a crypt I thought I’d recognized. “I know what the building looks like, but I didn’t get a chance to map it out. I’m not up to running there anyway. The moonstone is just starting to work.”
“I take it back… That sucks,” Katie declared.
“Tell me about it,” I agreed as I made a hard left.
“Just flag another taxi,” Katie asserted.
I had to laugh. “I’m in a cemetery. Where am I going to hail a ride in here?” I posed as I made another sharp left around a cluster of old oak trees. Suddenly, a divine sight up ahead stopped me dead in my tracks. I swiftly clasped my hands together and tilted my head to the cosmos. “Thank you,” I said aloud.
“What’s going on?” Katie asked.
“I’m getting a ride,” I affirmed with a smile as I stroked the mane of the beautiful brown and white-haired Clydesdale. The majestic animal let out a long, spirited “naaay” as I placed my hand on its temple.
“Tell me that’s not what I think it is,” my BFF moaned.
I shushed my sidekick and then began to conjure up a picture of the building in my head. Surely this horse had hauled its coffin-carting wagon around more than a few of these streets in its lifetime. Hopefully, I prayed as I hopped up into the buggy and grabbed the reins.
I couldn’t resist. “Giddy up,” I shouted, mostly to tease my bosom friend. The horse let out another whinny and took off galloping down the road.
“You’ve got to be freakin’ kidding me,” Katie mumbled.
My hunch paid off. The horse knew exactly where the building was located. The sleek, 32-floor skyscraper matched the picture I’d seen and looked even more impressive in-person. Thankfully it wasn’t far at all, but that didn’t help the fact that I was late — fifteen minutes late, to be exact.
I shot my noble steed a warm smile and patted his side to thank him, wishing I had a golden feed-sack full of oats.
As I rushed up the steps, I instructed, “Katie, you have to—”
“I know. Not a peep.”
“I don’t think they give passports out to crazy people they catch talking to themselves,” I stressed.
“Don’t be so sure. That’s the first person I’d let out of the country!”
I should have known by the way my morning was going that I would get held up at security. It wasn’t the metal detector this time. No, no. I’d passed through it with flying colors. It was the daggone booth they were putting random people in to check for explosives. I’d just finished sliding on my rings and locking Katie back around my neck when an officer grabbed my arm and asked me to “follow him”. The next thing I knew, I was standing in a cylindrical glass chamber and being blasted with an unexpected, hard shot of air. I flinched as soon as I heard the loud siren. I didn’t know which was worse? Hearing Katie’s giggles in-between her “I-told-you-sos” about sneaking in invisibly and ditching security altogether or feeling like America’s Most Wanted when they tackled me stepping out of the booth. Everyone stopped to watch the show. Straightaway, I was jerked to my feet and ushered into a backroom by five well-armed officers.
One of the female officers snatched my purse out of my hands and demanded I strip down. All of my reservations about compelling someone for my own benefit went right out the window with that one. I didn’t know if five minds could be manipulated at the same time, but in thi
s pinch, I found out it most certainly could be done. Quite easily, in fact. The phrase, “Body cavity search”, ranks PRETTY HIGH on my list of “motivating factors”.
I strolled out the door proudly and then rushed to the elevator. Of course there wasn’t a single one of them there and a ton of people were waiting to board. It was on par with every other crazy, crappy thing. Without a second to lose, I summoned a little assistance from my golden topaz as I raced for the stairs. Thirteen flights later, I finally arrived at my finish line.
“I’m Shiloh Wallace. I have an appointment at 10:30,” I belted out as I charged through the door. A lanky man with wavy, jet-black hair and a van-dyke crawling around his pouty mouth was standing at the information desk. He kept his brown eyes locked on me as he pointed to the clock on the wall.
“You did. It’s 10:50,” the man scowled.
“But I’m here now,” I insisted.
“So are about thirty-five other people who managed to get here on time,” the man griped.
“I’m sorry. My cab… It ran into some trouble,” I explained.
“Not my problem,” he scoffed and turned to go about his business.
“But you don’t understand,” I pleaded. “I have to—”
“Make another appointment?” the man curtly interjected.
Okay… You asked for it.
Just as I started to whip up a quick attitude-adjustment, a stern middle-aged woman carrying a clipboard in the bend of her arm marched into the room.
“Shiloh Wallace?” she called out in a commanding tone. I almost expected her to crack a whip on the counter.
“Right here,” I announced and threw the man a curt smirk as I hurried past him. The woman led me over to a cubicle and directed me to take a seat.
I’d barely gotten my stack of papers out of my purse when the woman snatched them out of my hands. She separated what she needed from the pile and flung what she didn’t back to me. Nervously, I watched her thumb through the remaining pages. The guy at the desk may have avoided my compulsion, but without a birth certificate, someone’s brain was about to get zapped.