Garden of Forbidden Secrets

by Eric Wilder

  “No setup,” Mama said. “You and Adela were lovers in a past life. Aisling was Adela’s daughter. They all lived in the Lalaurie Mansion. Madam Lalaurie and her husband were sadistic murderers. They had a killing room where they routinely tortured people to death.”

  “Adela’s not black,” Taj said.

  “Madam Lalaurie brought Adela and Aisling to New Orleans after Adela’s husband had died. Though Adela and Madam Lalaurie were related, Adela served as an indentured servant and was little more than a slave.”

  “This is crazy,” Taj said. “I’m not the least bit attracted to Adela. How could we have been lovers in a past life?”

  “Because she isn’t Adela,” I said.

  Taj was growing angry, his fists clenched. “Then who the hell is she?”

  “She’s Aisling,” I said. “That’s why Madeline’s raven recognized her.”

  “Bullshit!” Adela said. “I know who I am.”

  “Do you?” I said. “Your veve is identical to Taj’s. Your mother’s veve was a mirror image of his.”

  “How in hell would you even know that?” Adela asked.

  “We’ll tell you later how we know,” Mama said. “You’re here tonight because an old woman named Shasa sacrificed herself to give you a chance to save your mother from a horrible fate.”

  Adela grew silent. Taj was still raging. “I’m like Adela and calling bullshit on this whole affair. Where did you come up with Sam? Is he just some old wino you gave a bottle of Mad Dog to play a part?”

  Sam’s cigar had gone out. A flame shot from his finger to relight the stogie.

  “The first time we met you had a bloody voodoo doll with you,” Sam said. “Remember what the owner of the voodoo museum told you about the doll?”

  “He said it was my doll and somebody had put a hex on me,” Taj said.

  “You remember how you got the doll?”

  “I’m starting to believe this whole thing is a hoax,” Taj said.

  “You don’t believe your own eyes? You saw me materialize when Mama summoned me that night in the cemetery,” Sam said.

  “Maybe it was just illusion,” Taj said.

  Sam grabbed him by the neck, lifting him into the air.

  “Is this illusion?” he asked. Taj’s eyes had grown large when Sam lowered him to the floor. “Adela, here, knows magic. Make him levitate.”

  Adela shook her head. “I have no clue what you’re talking about,” she said.

  Taj began rising off the floor, not stopping until he bumped into the ceiling.

  “Is this an illusion?” Sam said.

  “Put me down,” Taj said.

  When Sam flicked his wrist, Taj dropped to the floor. “That’s the problem with you young people,” he said. “You don’t believe in nothing except the here and now. If it weren’t for Shasa, I’d wash my hands of you.”

  “Who paid to have me hexed?” Taj asked.

  “The incarnation of Dr. Leonard Louis Nicolas Lalaurie,” Mama said. “Another reason why we need Sam’s help.”

  “I just don’t know,” Taj said.

  “Then take Adela and go back to the hotel,” Mama said. “Wyatt and I will return your retainer tomorrow.”

  “Adela?” Taj said.

  “What happened to my mother?” Adela asked.

  “She was murdered by Dr. Lalaurie because her veve never had a chance to work,” Mama said.

  “You have your veves because Taj thought it would help you find each other in a future life,” I said. “Instead, you found Aisling. Adela, your lover, was murdered.”

  “How do you know she isn’t Adela?” Taj asked.

  “Like you said, you and Adela, here, don’t have even the slightest sexual attraction. Aisling’s veve, unlike her mother Adela’s, is a normal image. Aisling knew magic and could use it. Adela knew nothing about magic. You are Aisling and not Adela.”

  “She is Aisling. She’s known it all along,” I said. “Her mother, Adela was murdered trying to protect her.”

  “Okay,” Taj said. “Now that I know about the past lives Adela and I led, guess we can go about our business.”

  “Not that simple,” Mama said. “You need to unravel the curse.”

  “What I want to know is how this curse is going to affect me,” Taj said.

  “It already has,” Sam said. “You wouldn’t be in New Orleans if it wasn’t for the curse. Next time, the demon may kill you.”

  “Adela is also a victim of the curse,” I said. “The same madman who cursed you also cursed her. If he hadn’t, she wouldn’t be here now.”

  “I can handle my own problems,” Adela said.

  “Can you save Darius and your mama from horrible deaths?”

  “Who is Darius?” Taj asked.

  “Someone who had a strong emotional connection with Aisling. A boy who Dr. Lalaurie had caged in anticipation of torturing and killing.”

  “All those things happened almost two centuries ago,” Taj said. “What good does it do to worry about it now? Isn’t that how you feel, Adela?”

  Sam answered for Adela. “Aisling is a special being. She’s an Irish witch and knows lots more than you think she does. Her magic is powerful, though not powerful enough to travel back in time.”

  Adela’s eyes began turning red. “If there were a way to change time and save my mother and Darius from horrible deaths, I would do it.”

  “There is a way,” Sam said.

  “You can help me travel back in time?” Adela asked.

  “Wyatt can. He’s a Traveler,” Sam said. “I’ll accompany Wyatt to the portal. The rest is up to him.”

  Adela grabbed my arm. “You must take me with you.”

  Chapter 35

  The rainstorm ended the moment we stepped out of Sam’s shack. The eyes of the cabbie named Wink grew larger when Sam climbed into the front seat. Unlike the persona he had exhibited in the shack, he’d donned an old tuxedo jacket and a top hat and looked just like the voodoo Loa Baron Samedi. It took Wink only a moment to notice.

  “Hey, this ain’t Halloween, and it’s too early for Mardi Gras,” he said.

  “What’s your name, boy?” Sam asked.

  Something in Sam’s voice alerted Wink to the possibility his costume might be something more than an act.

  “Don’t mind me,” he said. “I always talk too much. Where to?”

  “Charity Hospital Cemetery,” Sam said.

  “You mean the Katrina Memorial?”

  “Same location, different cemeteries,” Sam said. “I told you where we want to go.”

  “Except for an empty patch of dirt and a single headstone, there ain’t a damn thing to see at Charity Hospital Cemetery,” Wink said.

  “You got a mouth on you,” Sam said. “Why don’t you shut the hell up?”

  “Yes sir,” Wink said.

  The entrance to the cemetery, near the intersection of Canal and City Park Avenue, wasn’t far from where we’d come. Still, it was starkly different from St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.

  “Where are all the crypts?” Taj asked.

  “This was New Orleans’ original Potter’s Field. If you were a derelict and no one claimed your body, you were buried here. If you died of cholera, influenza, or yellow fever, you were likely buried here,” Mama said.

  “After Charity Hospital bought the property,” I said, “they began interring their medical cadavers in this cemetery. Before Katrina, there was a simple iron cross and a single stone monument for the bodies donated to science. Now, there’s a Katrina Memorial, some walkways and two large crypts.”

  “Not very big,” Taj said. “How many bodies are buried here?”

  “More than you might imagine,” Mama said. “Maybe as many as one-hundred-fifty thousand bodies are interred beneath that little patch of land.”

  “You gotta be kidding,” Taj said.

  Sam glanced into the back seat at Adela. “It’s where your mama is buried,” he said.

  “That’s so sad,” Adela said. �
�There’s no dignity in a mass grave.”

  “You’re wrong about that,” Sam said. “This piece of ground is hallowed. There’s no less disrespect than if they’d been buried in the most regal crypt in New Orleans.”

  “How do you know?” Adela said.

  “Because I know where every body in New Orleans is buried. Your mama’s remains are the portal that’ll launch you back in time.”

  We left Taj and Mama in the cab with Wink and stood outside the massive iron gate that said Charity Hospital Cemetery. As we stood in the darkness, the gate creaked open. We followed Sam inside.

  As we plodded across the damp earth, the clouds parted, revealing a full moon sitting low in the starless sky. It was a blood moon, its creepy color illuminating many piles of dirt, each one marked by a flag, where someone had recently dug.

  “Do they still bury people here?” Adela asked.

  “Haven’t for years,” Sam said. “Archeologists dig and use ground-penetrating instruments to study the bodies.” He chuckled. “They should have just asked me.”

  Spirits of the dead were rising up through the damp earth, surrounding us as we trodded to a far corner of the cemetery. Each one of them seemed to want to touch Baron Samedi. The Baron stopped when he reached a spot near the fence surrounding the little patch of ground.

  “Your mama is buried about ten feet from here. Wyatt is an old hand at time travel. Since you’ve never done it before, there are things you need to know.”

  “Like what?” Adela said.

  “The flesh can travel through time, though not your clothes. When you enter the portal, you’ll be transported to the last place you were before your mama died. You’ll reach the past naked, the way you came into this world, and you won’t be the same person you are now.”

  “Who will I be?” Adela asked.

  “The person you were then. You gonna be all right?”

  “You’re not talking me out of this if that’s what you mean,” Adela said.

  “That’s not all,” Sam said. “Once you get there, and finish what you’re going there to do, you’ll have to return to the exact spot where you entered. There’s one last little detail.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “You need to return to that spot before dawn. If you don’t, you’ll be trapped in the past for eternity. Are you ready?”

  “I’m ready,” Adela said.

  “Then take Wyatt’s hand and start walking toward the fence. When you reach your mama’s grave, you’ll be transported to another time and another place.”

  Foggy spirits caressed us as Adela clutched my hand and pulled me toward the fence. Before we’d gone ten steps, my senses went totally dark, almost as if I’d died. When my eyes cleared and I could see again, I was in a tiny bedroom with two beds separated by a sliding sheet. I was quite naked, and so was the person holding my hand.

  Aisling screamed when she opened her eyes and saw me. Grabbing the sheet from one of the beds, she quickly covered herself. I yanked a sheet from the other bed. When she spoke, Aisling’s voice was probably an octave higher than normal.

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Wyatt.”

  “What are you doing in my room?” she asked.

  “I’m here to help you.”

  “Then why were we naked?” she said.

  “We were just transported through time from the future. We lost our clothes in the process.”

  “You are crazy,” she said, backing away from me until she touched the wall.

  “We don’t have much time, and you have to trust me on this. Your mother is in grave danger; you, Taj, Shasa, and everyone in this house are in danger. We have to act quickly. Can you find me something to wear?”

  Aisling must have heard something in my voice because she disappeared for a moment behind a screen. She was dressed when she stepped out again and began rummaging through a wicker chest. I changed behind the screen into a shirt and pants that were woefully large. Neither of us had time to worry about it.

  “Is my mama okay?” Aisling asked.

  “I hope so,” I said. “Right now, we have things to do here. Point me toward the kitchen, and you go find Taj.”

  Aisling showed me the way to the kitchen and then ran in the other direction. I burst through the kitchen door in time to see Shasa, in tears and chained by the ankle. She was sitting on the floor, pouring coal oil over her body. I called out to her.

  “Shasa, no!”

  My warning wasn’t in time as she’d already lit the oil. Coal oil apparently has a high flash point because it didn’t immediately burst into flames. Still, it would only be a moment before her dress caught fire and she would die a painful death. I grabbed the chain and pulled.

  Smoke billowed up from the fire as I pulled on the chain, trying to yank it loose from the wall. Just as I thought it was too late, Aisling and Taj came rushing through the door.

  “Taj, I need something to cut the chain.”

  Taj had already thought about it and was carrying an ax. He smashed through the chain as Aisling and I tried to put out the fire. Taj knew what to do. Finding a bucket of sand, he began pouring it on the flames. Once the fire was out, the four of us stood in the smoky kitchen, Aisling, Taj, and Shasa embracing.

  “No time,” I said. “Before Lalaurie kills Adela, I have to go to the Hotel Montalba.”

  “I’m going with you,” Taj said.

  “Me too,” Aisling said.

  “First, we have to rescue Darius from the cage in the garden, along with everyone else. Though I can’t explain how I know, this house will be burned to the ground before morning comes.”

  “I got the keys,” Taj said.

  The house was huge, the wood floors echoing, as we raced downstairs and out into the courtyard. The light of the full moon was shining down on the tiny cage. Darius was holding his head when Taj inserted the key and rattled open the door.

  “You’re free, boy. Now, we need your help.” Taj tossed him the hefty keychain. “Open all the doors and help get the people out of the Dark Room.”

  Taj rousted the shay driver from the stable and helped him rig the wagon.

  “Take us down Royal to Hotel Montalba,” Taj said.

  There was no traffic on the street as our driver trotted the horse down Rue Royal. The night clerk was asleep behind the counter as we hurried up the stairs to the thirteenth floor where Taj kicked open the door to Room 1313.

  The next thing I knew, Aisling, Taj, and I were standing on the black and white tile floor of the bathroom. Adela was in the steaming tub, her long red hair damp. Dr. Leonard Louis Nicolas Lalaurie was standing behind her with a surgical scalpel in his hand. When Taj made a move toward Lalaurie, the mad little doctor put the scalpel to Adela’s neck.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Lalaurie said.

  “Leave her alone,” Taj said. “If you want to kill somebody, then kill me instead.”

  “Come here, and I’ll do just that,” Lalaurie said.

  “Taj, no!” Aisling said.

  Grabbing Aisling’s shoulders, I shook her. “Stop him, Aisling,” I said. “Use your magic.”

  Aisling glanced first at me and then at her mother. Raising her arms, she pointed her fingers at Lalaurie, bowed her head and closed her eyes. Lalaurie glanced up as if he’d just seen a ghost and released his grip on Adela. Taj was already there. Water drenched the tile floor as he grabbed Adela’s wrists and yanked her out of the tub.

  Lalaurie could do nothing about it. His right arm had stiffened, his eyes growing ever larger as he struggled to keep the scalpel away from his neck. He was screaming bloody murder as he decapitated himself with his own scalpel.

  Lalaurie’s body tumbled into the tub, the steaming water turning red. Adela, Taj, and Aisling were in an embrace as Lalaurie’s head rolled across the tile, coming to a halt at our feet. Aisling kicked it across the floor.

  “What do we do with his head?” Aisling asked.

  “Throw it out the fucking w
indow,” I said.

  Grasping the hair of the disembodied head, Aisling hurried into the next room, raised a window and threw it out.

  “Baby,” Adela said. “Who is this man?”

  “No time to explain,” Aisling said.

  Aisling found Adela’s long red dress and helped her pull it over her wet hair. The night clerk awoke long enough to see us rushing out of the front door. Our shay was waiting on the street in front of the hotel. Up Royal Street, we could see flames licking the horizon. Taj took control of the reins and had the horse in a fast trot. Flames were pouring out of the roof of the Lalaurie Mansion as Taj reined the horse to a stop.

  A group of neighbors and all of the household slaves stood on the sidewalk watching. I found Shasa and pulled her aside.

  “How did the house catch fire?” I asked.

  “I went back to the kitchen to get something. Madam Lalaurie was there. She’d missed her boat and had returned home. When she realized what was happening, she attacked me with her whip. Her dress burst into flames. She was screaming at me when she fell over the banister.”

  “Baron Samedi answered your prayer,” I said. “Does anybody know Madam Lalaurie was in the house?” I asked. When she shook her head, Shasa’s gray hair flickered in the light of the fire. “Then don’t ever tell anyone. Not even Taj or Adela.”

  Shasa gave me a knowing nod as Aisling, Taj, and Adela reached us. The mansion was in flames, the sun beginning to dawn, as I stepped toward the burning house.

  “I have to go now,” I said.

  Adela and Aisling clutched my hands. “You can’t go in there. You’ll be burned to death,” Adela said.

  “No choice,” I said. “I’m glad you’re all safe. It’s now or never for me. Aisling, are you coming with me?”

  “I don’t know who I was in another life. I know who I am here. This is where I’ll stay.”

  I kissed Aisling’s forehead, pulled loose from her grasp and sprinted toward the house. Before I had entered the burning building, she called to me.

  “Go with God,” she said.

  Flames licked the walls, smoke filling the house, as I ripped off the shirt and held it over my mouth and nose. As I hurried up the stairs, I knew God was my only hope. I could see the door to Aisling’s room at the end of a long and fiery hallway. The last thing I remembered was pulling open the door and diving inside.