by S. E. Akers
Totally unnecessary, I thought (though it did serve to reinforce his “torture rant”).
“That’s for the knee,” he smirked. Damiec tilted his head back and laughed. “You know, I’ve waited a very long time for this.” He knelt beside me and ran his hand down my cheek. “But I had no idea it would be so easy. I’m rather disappointed.” His grisly claw trailed down my neck and then to the center of my shirt. With one delicate scratch, he sliced open the fabric. “There. Now I have a clear shot to your heart,” he growled callously as he rose.
I watched Damiec strolling towards the wand casually, where it lay in the street — fully extended. Thoughts of Bea and Tanner warning me about this very scenario raced through my mind. I closed my eyes and banged my head against the building. I was totally screwed. Even though I was the only one who could turn it “on” or “off”, I sure couldn’t do it telepathically, or without the use of my hands, not to mention from way the heck over here!
Unexpectedly, my wrists started to feel warm and within an instant, they were scorching hot. The excruciating pain shot my eyes wide-open. The iron around them was on fire, exuding a white-hot, colorless flame. Miraculously, I was able to wiggle my wrist a little. The iron was melting. Damiec smelled the burning stench, but by the time he’d scooped up the wand and turned around my hands were free. He reared his arm back to hurl the wand at me. Just as he tried to release it, a long fiery strap came from out of nowhere and wrapped around his wrist. It yanked the wand right out of his hand. Another blazing strap appeared, but this one locked around his waist and jerked him back down the street. I didn’t know who or what had come to my rescue. This was one of those, “don’t know, don’t care” moments. I raced over to my wand. Quickly, I snatched it up and retracted the diamond the blade — for my own security.
Damiec was now fending off some fiery human-like figure at the other end of the street. Whoever it was seemed to be putting up a good fight, better than what I had. He was using parked cars to block the balls of fire being hurled at him. Something told me to leave, but I felt obligated to stay. Whoever this savior was, assuredly they were risking their life to save me.
All of a sudden, Damiec disappeared into thin air. I tried to get a closer look at the fiery figure as they searched for him, but they were still engulfed in flames. A rumble under my feet rocked the entire Quarter. A violent tremor erupted that sent the water from the pipe I’d burst shooting out of the hole. Like a speeding bullet, it charged towards the fiery figure. From out of nowhere, Damiec appeared behind the person and whirled the gushing stream of water straight into them. It extinguished the flames and the force of the watery blast sent them barreling down a side street. I figured that this Damiec was definitely a Talisman of some kind, most likely an earth stone, since he was able to handle the iron with such ease. But how could he control water like that? Like Tanner? Only a Talisman who was a true water element could.
Damiec turned and glared at me, looking a little worse for wear. He let out a loud roar as he slammed his fist down onto the ground. The blow shook the pavement hard enough to knock me off my feet. Soon a high-speed crack in the earth was racing towards me.
Gotta go, I urged to my legs, willing them to rise and make haste.
I hadn’t gotten very far when the freakish fracture in the earth caught up to me. Something had gotten a hold of my boot and tripped me. I couldn’t move. I looked down to find my right foot perfectly fine and free on a manhole cover, but my left one was lodged in the earth. I tried to pry it loose, but it had a fierce grip. Knowing I was trapped and sensed no other threats, Damiec walked towards me with a slow, calculated stride. I tried hurling a bolt of lightning at him, several of them in fact. But every single time, he would disappear and then rematerialize unscathed in a different part of the street, cackling the entire time.
Needing full use of both my hands, I shoved the hilt inside my purse. Dammit, I grunted as I struggled with my boot. I couldn’t get it to loosen up, no matter how hard I tried, and Damiec was inching closer by the second.
Unexpectedly, a whirling gust of hot air shot down Bourbon Street. It started spiraling around me and picked up pace. A tornado-like funnel churned violently around my leg that was trapped in the ankle-high mound of earth. The whirling funnel seeped into my boot and began to contort the bones in my foot. I screamed throughout the entire painful manipulation. My foot finally twisted loose, right out of my boot. The violent churning air hurled me backward several yards, just as Damiec lunged at me. I landed on my back, free from the earth’s grip and Damiec’s grasp, but strangely my body seemed to be moving down the street — all on its own! The whirling air was dragging me forcefully down the bumpy pavement through the French Quarter — under cars, barely missing frozen bystanders. I didn’t know how exactly. All that mattered was that it was carrying me away from Damiec. He chased after me, darting down every alley and cornering every hairpin turn like we were racing on a track instead of a crowded street. I started praying that it would go faster so he wouldn’t catch up. My head crashed into something, forcing me to look up, and then I heard a loud “slam”. I wasn’t outside anymore, because there were no more stars, only ceiling. With one swift jerk, the air flipped me around, lifted me up, and threw me into a chair. I rocked towards a table and gripped its edge. My supernatural spin-from-Hell was finally over. It took me a few seconds to catch my breath, but I came to my senses when someone lit a candle sitting on a table in front of me. I knew where I was immediately. The room was still so vividly etched in my memory, as was its distinctive smell.
Ms. Lá Léo’s House of Voodoo.
The flickering light from the candle sparked a harsh flare that illuminated the shadowy storeowner in an eerie way.
“I be havin’ a change of heart,” the voodoo priestess announced with a slick smile.
“H—How did I get HERE?”
Ms. Lá Léo tilted her head towards the front door and with a set of doubtless wide-eyes, she threw me a frank glare.
“’Dat would be safely.”
Chapter 15 — Bound Hand and Foot
Regardless of where I was now, I was being hunted. I sprang from my seat and rushed to the front door. The scene hadn’t changed. Every last person standing outside still looked like motionless mannequins posing all along the street.
Before I could open the door, Ms. Lá Léo advised, “I wouldn’t be doin’ ‘dat if I were jou.” I paused, heedful of her words. “He’s still out ‘dere. Jou just can’t see.”
I peered out the window again, trying to find some trace of the supernatural being. I jumped back in a flinch when a misty cloud fogged up the glass on the other side, directly in front of my face.
“Told jou,” Ms. Lá Léo remarked, shaking her head. “He won’t be comin’ in,” the voodoo woman assured as she led me away from the front of the store.
“Who…or what was THAT?” I demanded.
“Jou should be knowin’ ‘dat, girl,” Ms. Lá Léo laughed.
“No! I don’t!” I insisted. “I’ve never seen him before tonight. All I know is that his name is Damiec.”
“Jou kiddin’ me? One of ‘de oldest of jou kind?”
“My kind? A Talisman, right?”
“Jes. Well, part of him be ‘dat, and part of him be somethin’ else. Somethin’ fierce.”
“If he’s a Talisman, then what’s his birth-stone?”
“One from ‘de earth. One ‘dat lets him absorb a person’s pain. Lets him consume ‘dere power…‘dere soul. ‘De same one ‘de monster inside him uses to satisfy what it be cravin’…‘De bloodstone.”
An ominous vibe shot down my spine. “What can he do?”
“Jou don’t know ‘dis?”
“NO,” I huffed angrily. “I haven’t been one for very long, and I don’t personally know many. Just a few…my mentors.”
“’De bloodstone can see everythin’ a person be hidin’ from ‘de blood ‘dat run through ‘dere veins. It helps purge a person. Get’s rid o
f ‘de evil through bloodlettin’. Well, ‘dat’s ‘de way it’s supposed to be.”
“He bit that woman…Lorelei,” I said angrily. “And then he—he drank her blood,” I added, practically gagging. The naïve, human part of me struggled to finish what was by any account, an utterly crazy thought. Considering my own supernatural status, I found myself in total disbelief over what I was about to pose. “Is he like a vamp—”
“Only part of him,” Ms. Lá Léo corrected, “but not how ‘de stories say ‘day be. But he be a dangerous creature ‘dat is consumed wit rage. ’De legend claim he not always be ‘dat way. His soul once be pure. But now he be a dark shadow of his former self…‘Dat is ONLY what he be,” she warned.
“But he could see me? I was supposed to be invisible,” I remarked as I held up my golden topaz.
“’Dat a mighty fine ‘ding jou have ‘dere, but jou not listenin’ to me. ‘Dat don’t work on him. He sees everythin’. Like whatcha call it…Like ‘de sonar. He be just like a bat. ‘De picture be fuzzy, but he know jou ‘dere. It be jour soul he see.”
“What about the woman in here earlier? Lorelei? What is she?”
“Jou don’t be knowin’ much at all, do jou, child?”
“I know she killed a friend of mine…another Talisman named Gallia.”
The voodoo woman smacked her hand on the side of a nearby bookcase. “’Dat’s how come she had it! So she now claims ‘de serpentine?” Ms. Lá Léo asked as she folded her arms.
“Yes, and she’s wearing Gallia’s bracelet on her wrist like a damn trophy,” I ranted. “Did you know Gallia?”
“I met her once when I be a child,” Ms. Lá Léo revealed. “But I didn’t know who she really be at ‘de time. She came to do business wit my mother. I thought she be a real little girl,” she added with a light-hearted laugh. “She was very kind. She even stayed and played dolls wit me.”
“I have to get that bracelet back, or I’m afraid I’m going to be out two friends,” I grumbled.
“Why?” Ms. Lá Léo inquired.
“There’s a stone on it I need,” I sighed.
Ms. Lá Léo took my hand and led me back to the rear counter of her store. Realizing my wobbly gait had passed my threshold of “annoying”, I yanked off my one lonely boot and set it on the floor beside the counter, dismally. Brand new pair too, I griped silently.
“What kind jou be lookin’ for? Maybe I have what jou need?”
I hesitated. “An opal,” I stated with a cautious air, trying to feel out her intentions.
“Oh, I have several of ‘dose. White ones…Blue ones…Black ones,” Ms. Lá Léo remarked with a careless wave of her hand. She strolled around to the other side of the counter and pulled open a drawer.
“A fire opal,” I corrected cynically.
Ms. Lá Léo slammed the drawer shut and let out a sharp grunt. “Jou mean ‘dat schemin’ bitch had a fire opal ‘dat she be holdin’ back from me?”
I nodded.
“UGHHH!” Ms. Lá Léo growled and slammed her fists down on the counter. “I knew I shouldda held out for more!” The desperate look on my face served to calm the cheated shopkeeper. “’Dat be a serious problem jou have. I take it jou know how rare ‘dey are.”
“I do.”
“Good luck wit ‘dat.”
“Can you tell me why Lorelei needed the onyx powder?”
“Jou know anythin’ about ‘de Onyx?”
“More than you could ever know,” I stated with a deliberate glare.
“An onyx plays tricks on jou senses. It make jou own heart deceive jou mind. It be ‘de only thing ‘dat can. Any mind. Even a supernatural’s. It make you see ‘dings ‘dat aren’t ‘dere… Feel ‘dings jou would never want to feel… It even be whisperin’ lies to jou ears. Makes jou ‘dink ‘dat ‘dey tellin’ jou ‘de truth.”
“But she drank it?” I posed.
“Was ‘dat before Damiec drank her blood?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“’Den he drank it, too,” she affirmed with a nod. “Lorelei and Damiec have a history. But ‘day don’t trust each other. Not no more. She musta be havin’ somethin’ grave to hide. Somethin’ she couldn’t risk him seeing if he delved too deep into her mind.” After a moment of thought, her eyes lit up.
“What do you think it is?” I questioned.
“Why jou askin’ me?” she averted poorly, pretending to dust off her counter. “I don’t be knowin’ anythin’!” Ms. Lá Léo scowled. “Listen to me, girl! It be a wise ‘ding to stay away from ‘dat one. Go look for a fire opal elsewhere. Jou have better luck shakin’ one outta a tree.”
“Lorelei is a Talisman, too…Isn’t she?”
“Jes, but more like Damiec. She be havin’ a black side, too. More ‘dan even him. Damiec’s soul be cursed, but ‘dat one…she be born ‘dat way.”
“I have to get that stone back.”
“Do ‘dis have somethin’ to do with ‘de voice in ‘de necklace?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “Do you know where I can find her?”
“Lorelei lives nowhere and everywhere,” she revealed mysteriously. “But she won’t be around until ‘de next full moon.”
“Well, where can I find her in the mean—”
Ms. Lá Léo cut me off with a couple of harsh swings of her finger. “NO! Jou need to listen to me, girl! Find another stone! Don’t be stupid! She be part Talisman, but she be part somethin’ else. Somethin’ unearthly and wicked. Jou don’t know how evil she can be!”
“Why am I here, anyway?” I snapped, still confused and now agitated by her sudden lack of help.
“Seein’ how much jou don’t be knowin’ ’bout jou own kind, I be askin’ maself ‘de same thing,” Ms. Lá Léo huffed. The voodoo woman shook her head and took a deep breath. “Jou are here because of ma grand-mama. She thinks jou somethin’ special. Someone who can help her.”
“Why does she need my help?” I asked without even a shred of a clue. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Grand-mama used to be ‘de most powerful voodoo queen in ‘de world. ‘Dat be until she be stripped of her mind and her powers,” she revealed. “Her sanity.”
I stood silently and eyed Ms. Lá Léo, desperately searching for a reason as to why she thought I could do anything. “But… How can I—”
“Shhh,” Ms. Lá Léo whispered. “Grand-mama, jou come now,” she called out. “Did jou hear me, Grand-mama?” She stomped her foot on the floor a couple of times. “Grand-mama Padimae?”
Padimae. I remembered why the name sounded familiar. The vision I had months ago… There was a woman with her name in the dream. The tired-looking, grisly woman pushed her way through the beads and entered the room. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw me, and with a steady pace, she shuffled across the floor.
“She ‘dink jou can heal her. For some reason, she ‘dink ‘dat jou — Ha! Jou, of all people, be ‘de Diamond Talisman,” Ms. Lá Léo chucked as she held my hand up to look at my class ring. “But ‘dis, even I cannot believe. ‘Dis I have to see.”
The elderly woman ignored her granddaughter’s jeers as she reached for my hand. “I know you,” I announced. “I know you from a dream.” Padimae may not have been able to speak, but I could tell by the way her hands began to quiver that she seemed nervous, yet gratefully relieved.
“But I still don’t know how I can help her?” I questioned Ms. Lá Léo.
“She can’t speak, but everyone of ma ancestors know ‘de story. My mother be tellin’ it to me, and her mother be tellin’ it to her, all throughout our family history. Many, many generations. A long time she suffer with ‘dis curse…No mind and no powers for eternity.”
“But how can I—”
“If jou ‘de Diamond Talisman, ‘den ‘dis jou can undo. ‘De diamond cursed her, and only ‘de diamond can take it away!”
“I saw Adamas warn her. I’m sure wouldn’t have cursed her if she hadn’t have double-crossed him,” I reasoned combatively. The lights from th
e overhead hurricane lanterns dimmed and a darkness shadowed the room.
“Ma Grand-mama wouldn’t do ‘dat to NOBODY!” Ms. Lá Léo shouted.
“She was supposed to take a stone somewhere, and I’m pretty sure she gave it to the Onyx,” I rebutted, standing my ground in spite of pissing her off.
Ms. Lá Léo let out a shrill gasp. “She would NEVER! She hate ‘de Onyx!”
“You have an onyx! How did you come into possession of it? A gift that was handed down maybe?” I contended. “Payment for services rendered?”
Ms. Lá Léo narrowed her eyes and flashed a stern scowl. “Jou will do this because jou owe me!”
“What do I owe you?”
“JOUR LIFE!” Ms. Lá Léo raged. She pushed me towards the front of the store and pointed out the door. “He still out ‘dere jou know. Jou won’t be safe till ‘de morning.” The irate granddaughter folded her arms and started to pace. “Maybe I ‘drow jou outside like ‘de trash? Let him pick at jou like a rat!”
I certainly didn’t want that. “I don’t know if I can…or if I should,” I said as I turned back to gaze at Padimae, studying her stance.
“Don’t be a ‘dinkin’ about using any of jour powers. ‘Dey won’t work in here.”
Automatically, I reached into my purse and wrapped my hand around my hilt. No matter how hard I tried, the diamond simply wouldn’t come out. The voodoo woman was right. I couldn’t even feel my powers anymore, not when I really started concentrating on them — not my supernatural strength, and as I tried to read Ms. Lá Léo’s mind, not even my telepathy. The only thing I sensed was some eerie magical force blocking them. I shrank back, just like a cornered mouse cowering to a hungry cat. Thinking that having my powers back and dealing with a revenge-bent, bloodthirsty Damiec was the more appealing route, I leaped towards the doors and grabbed hold of the handles. I shook them violently, but they wouldn’t open. I was trapped in here with a crazy voodoo witch and there was no way for me to get out.
Ms. Lá Léo cackled. “Looks like jou don’t be havin’ a choice.”
Seeming displeased by her granddaughter’s taunts, Padimae waved her hand at Ms. Lá Léo as she made her way over to me. Though she didn’t smile per se, her eyes softened. That put me slightly at ease. The powerless voodoo queen reached into my purse before I could stop her and cautiously slipped out my hilt. She ran her fingers along its edges respectfully and then handed my temporarily useless weapon back to me.