Shadows: A Bayou Magic Novel

by Kristen Proby

  “I wouldn’t know what to do with it even if I did open it,” he says with a laugh.

  “I have to call Asher and get the teams out here again. Tonight.”

  I pull my phone out of my pocket to call, but it’s dead.

  “Son of a bitch.”

  “Why did our phones die?” Andy asks.

  “Well, some people say that ghosts can suck the battery life out of electronics,” I reply and shrug.

  “Are you saying this place is haunted?”

  I look at him like he’s crazy, and then glance around this room of horrors. “Look around you, brother. More people have died in this house than maybe in any other in the world, aside from perhaps a hospital. I’d be shocked if it’s not haunted.”

  “Yeah. You’re right. Let’s go up so you can plug it in and call. You’ll have a better signal anyway.”

  I nod, but as we move toward the ladder, the lights go out.

  The door slams shut.

  “What the fuck?”

  I try to turn on my phone, but it stays black.

  “Shit. My phone died, remember?”

  “Are you telling me we’re stuck down here in the dark with no cell?”

  “I don’t know that we’re stuck.”

  I fumble in the dark until I find the ladder, then climb it. I find the switch, and when I flip it up, the lights come back on.

  “Ghosts fucking with us.”

  “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “Get that out of my house,” Miss Sophia says, pointing at Andy. “That grimoire will not stay.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say immediately, and Andy takes the book back to his car. “We found it at the house and thought it might be something you could use.”

  “I know your intentions were good, but that thing is pure evil.”

  Andy returns and apologizes.

  “Come in, both of you,” Sophia says, calmer now. “It’s time you learn more about Horace.”

  We join the others, sitting at the table.

  “We’ve spent the past few hours reading and studying everything available to us,” Sophia begins. “And we know how to defeat him, but it won’t be easy.

  “Horace is the son of Babette Jarreau. The Jarreau family has been immersed in magic for hundreds of years, perhaps longer than your family, Lucien. All of our families were friends of theirs, and all was fine. Until Babette.”

  “I’ve heard stories,” Lucien agrees, standing. “Do you mind?”

  “By all means. I suspect you may know more about this.”

  Lucien nods. “My great-grandmother, Adelaide, was Babette’s grandmother’s sister,” he says. “It’s said that Babette was born with evil inside her. She gravitated to the black arts, insisted that they practice on the dark side, despite the teachings and beliefs of her family. She was banished from her coven and from her family, and she seemed to be fine with that.

  “I don’t know who fathered Horace. Babette was a mean, strict mother, who manipulated her son to do her bidding. She was also a jealous woman because Horace had more skill when it came to the craft. But all she gave him was black magic. Never the benevolent kind. That’s all I know, or at least what’s been told to me.”

  “As far as I can see, it’s the truth,” Sophia says with a nod. “And that book you found substantiates the tales. That book carries evil within it.”

  “Can’t say I love the idea of it being in my car,” Andy says, shaking his head.

  “We will cleanse you and the vehicle,” Sophia assures him. “But first, you have a phone call to make, yes?”

  “Yes. Our phones died. Brielle, can I please borrow yours?”

  “Of course.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Brielle

  “Was your phone low when you got there?” I ask him, trying to keep the urgency out of my voice. The answer to this question is vital.

  “No,” he says flatly. “We both had full charges. Both phones died within fifteen minutes of being there.”

  I glance at Millie, who slowly shakes her head back and forth.

  That means there’s a ghost, or ghosts, sucking the electrical charge out of any equipment on site.

  It means the place is haunted.

  I don’t know how many spirits we may be talking about.

  Cash speaks into the phone, and I notice the whole room goes quiet once again, everybody listening.

  “Dozens,” Cash says and finds my eyes with his bright green ones. “It’s a room under the torture room. There are freezers filled with bodies, cupboards filled with organs and blood. The team needs to be out there now, gathering everything. I don’t know. Yes, I can meet you there.”

  “No,” I say immediately and reach for his hand. “I don’t want you to go back.”

  “I’ll see you soon,” he says into the phone and then hangs up and passes it back to me.

  “It’s not safe there.”

  “Brielle, I’m part of the investigation, and trust me when I tell you, what we found needs to be catalogued and taken tonight.”

  “I’m not disagreeing. Wait…dozens?”

  “More than that,” Andy confirms, his face grim. “He’s been hunting for a long time, Brielle.”

  “I assumed he was just throwing all of the bodies into the swamp,” Cash adds. “That would make sense. But he wasn’t. He stored many of them right there in the house.”

  I cover my mouth with my hands, staring at Cash in horror. “Oh, my goddess.”

  “We’re going to put a stop to all of this,” Sophia assures us all. “But we have to work together. He’s too strong for the three sisters to do it alone, and the six aren’t ready.”

  “What six?” Cash asks.

  “Not ready,” Sophia repeats, putting an end to the discussion.

  “We have to burn it all,” I say to Cash. “The house, the body, that book. Everything. Under the full moon.”

  “And when is the full moon?” Cash asks.

  “Tomorrow night.”

  “Handy,” Andy says with a grin. “We can just get it all done and over with.”

  “Even more reason for me to get over there and meet Asher so those bodies can be taken out and given proper burials.”

  “He’s right,” Sophia says. “He’s safe from the evil there. We’ve made it so. And we have plenty of work to do to get ready for tomorrow night.”

  I nod, take Cash’s hand in mine, and lead him out the door and to his car.

  “I need you to wear this.” I take off my necklace and loop it over his head. “Don’t take it off. It’ll protect you.”

  “You need it,” he says.

  “Not here, I don’t. I’m safer here than anywhere else in the world. You take it. Promise me you won’t take it off.”

  “I promise.” He leans in and presses his lips gently to mine. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

  “No. I’m scared, and I’m worried. As long as you stay safe, I’ll be okay.”

  “That’s my line,” he says against my lips. “Just keep thinking about that day in bed. I’m going to cash in on that very soon.”

  “See that you do.”

  I love you.

  I want to tell him now more than ever. So, I lean close and press my lips to his ear.

  “I love you more than anything, Cassien Winslow. Please stay safe tonight.”

  I could feel he was about to pull away, but instead, he tugs me hard against him, crushing me in a hug. “You can’t get rid of me so easily. Love like this doesn’t come along very often.”

  He kisses my forehead, and then he and Andy are gone, headed back to the house that chills me to the bone.

  “Come on, child,” Sophia says from behind me. She doesn’t startle me; I felt her approach. “Let’s get to work.”

  “He didn’t exactly say it back to me,” I remark as we climb the stairs.

  “If you can’t see the love in his eyes when he looks at you, you’re as blind as Stevie Wonder, my sweet girl.”

>   “It’s time.”

  I turn to see my sisters waiting for me on the threshold of the guest room at Miss Sophia’s house. We all worked well into the night. All of the others went home to rest, leaving just the three of us with Miss Sophia.

  She wanted to keep us here last night, to protect and watch over us.

  I nod and swallow hard. I’m not nearly as nervous as I was last night. Somewhere around three in the morning, a calm washed over me, leaving me feeling confident and secure in the knowledge that although tonight will be a fight, we will win.

  Everything will be okay.

  I have to believe that.

  “Have you heard from Cash?” Daphne asks as we walk into the kitchen and drink the potions Miss Sophia set out for us.

  “Yes, he’s meeting us over there. They got that basement room cleared out early this morning, and we’ve been given full ownership as of about an hour ago.”

  “And the body?”

  “It’ll be there,” I confirm.

  Miss Sophia left before us, so the three of us drive to Horace’s house together. I don’t even glance down the road to Mama’s. I’ve barely spared her a thought since all of this began.

  We pull in behind another car and get out. The building is already surrounded by all of the witches that were at Miss Sophia’s house throughout the night, along with others I don’t know.

  “She called in reinforcements,” I mutter.

  “There can be no mistakes on this one,” Miss Sophia says as she joins us. “I need a word with just the three of you before we begin.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  She looks worried. “I shouldn’t tell you this. Giving you information about what’s to come isn’t safe and isn’t what I normally do. But I also don’t want to give you false hope. What we do here today is important and will extinguish this evil one’s light for a while.”

  We glance at each other.

  “For a while?” I ask.

  “Yes. His spirit is stronger than any other I’ve seen. His will is unmatched. So, yes, we will break him here today, but in order for it to be permanent, there will be steps that can’t be taken at this time. That’s all I can tell you.”

  “The six,” I murmur. “Are not ready.”

  Her eyes hold mine. “That’s right.”

  A truck pulls in right behind us, interrupting us, and Cash hops out of the passenger seat. He rushes to me and holds me close, and I immediately feel more at ease.

  “How are you, babe?”

  I smile against his chest. “I’m much better now. Did you get any rest?”

  “I’ll rest tomorrow.” He kisses my cheek, then motions to Andy. “The boys are going to set the body in the house. Is there anywhere specific you want him?”

  “I’m in charge of that,” Daphne says. “The answer is yes, and I will be able to feel where is best.”

  Daphne joins Andy and the others, and just as I turn to the house, the front door opens, and we all pause.

  “Git outta here!”

  “Mama?” I frown, not believing my eyes. “Mama, what are you doing here?”

  “Y’all needta git!” She hoists a broom with one hand, and in the other, she holds…a hand.

  A shadow’s hand.

  “Everyone stop,” I order, raising my arm. Miss Sophia joins me.

  “He has her, child,” she says softly.

  “I see him.” Before my eyes, he changes from a shadow to an apparition. He holds Mama’s hand and smiles in that evil, sick way of his. “Does he think he can hold her hostage?”

  “Ask him,” Millie suggests.

  “Horace, I don’t know what you’re doing with my mother, but it won’t work.”

  He doesn’t reply. He simply moves behind her and wraps his arms around her chest. Suddenly, hundreds of shadows pour out of the house, flanking him, joining him as they wrap my mother in evil. She cries out as if she’s in pain.

  “That’s enough,” I yell. “You’re acting like a child who didn’t get his way!”

  “Circle the house,” Miss Sophia instructs everyone. “Get in your places! The moon is rising. It’s time.”

  I turn to Andy. “Put him on the porch. Uncover him.”

  Andy nods. He can’t see Horace and the shadows, he can only see Mama, shrieking in pain. Andy sets Horace’s body on the porch, uncovers it, and hurries back down the steps.

  Shadows try to follow him, but Sophia circled the house with salt before we arrived, and it serves as a barrier, holding the evil inside.

  The chanting begins from the side of the house and then spreads around the structure counterclockwise. The witches behind the house sit and stand in boats, linking themselves together by holding hands.

  The shadows cover the house now, a spectral pile of death.

  The chanting grows louder.

  The wind picks up, swirling through our hair, tugging at our clothes. The chanting is loud so it can be heard over the wind, fueled by magic and might.

  Lightning strikes the house, setting it ablaze. I watch as Horace’s face distorts into rage and fear, and my eyes hold his.

  “You’re going to hell, you son of a bitch.”

  The fire engulfs the house, and the shadows shriek, retreating as quickly as they appeared.

  “Don’t break the circle!” Sophia yells to me, but I shake my head.

  “I can’t let her burn to death!”

  I run over the salt, and immediately feel the heat of the fire. The shrieking gets louder.

  Suddenly, I’m pulled inside, held by meaty arms with the face of the devil snarling at me.

  “I’ve got you, you little bitch. I may not get your sisters, but you’re mine. You think you can hurt me?”

  He slaps me, sending me to the floor.

  It’s so hot.

  I’m going to burn in here.

  “I can’t believe you’re such an ungrateful little bitch.” He kicks me, making me cough in pain. “I’m going to kill you. I’m not going to make it beautiful like I planned before.”

  He fists my hair and lifts me high off the floor. It feels like my skin is melting off my body, the air is so hot.

  “Brielle!”

  Cash!

  “You ruined everything,” Horace says and slams me to the floor again. It’s hard to breathe. I can’t see. But I can hear Cash calling my name.

  “You’re not going to kill me.” My voice is a croak. Suddenly, Cash is standing next to me, his hand around mine. “We’re going to destroy you!”

  I begin my own chant. I can hear the others, their voices rising up around us, and as the words leave my mouth, Cash carries me out of the house. He grabs Mama’s hand as we pass her and drags her with us.

  Once we’re on the other side of the salt barrier, the flames turn red, then blue, and rise up to the night sky, almost blinding us with their light. The explosion is fierce and bright, and then, as quickly as it started, the wind is gone, and the shadows shriek one last time before evaporating into the air. The black particles float up into the sky and disappear.

  “She’s burned,” someone says, and I glance around, wondering who they’re talking about.

  “Brielle.” I turn to look at Cash. “Honey, you’re burned. We need to get you to the hospital.”

  “What about you?”

  He shakes his head. “I ran in and out.”

  “It felt like you were in there forever.” I swallow and turn to find my mother sitting not far away, looking around as if she’s just woken from a dream.

  “Brielle?” she asks. “Where are we?”

  I look at Cash and frown.

  “We’re at Horace’s house. Or what’s left of it.”

  “Horace?” She frowns, and then her eyes fill with fear. “He’s a bad man. A bad, bad man.”

  “He’s not here.”

  Millie and Daphne join us. Miss Sophia, Lena, and Mal are close by. The others are still chanting, casting spells and cleaning up.

  “Don’t know how I go
t here,” Mama says. “The voices stopped talking.”

  “The voices?” Daphne asks.

  Mama nods, and then her eyes fill with tears. “You’re all grown up. When did you grow up?”

  “We grew up a long time ago,” Millie reminds her.

  “She’s confused,” I say as Miss Sophia joins us, but she shakes her head.

  “I don’t think so. Not in the way you mean. Ruth, what’s the last thing you remember?”

  “Well, I don’t know. I remember their daddy hitting me. Harder than the times before.”

  I feel my eyes go wide.

  “And then he was gone. Everyone was gone. And I was left in the house. Every time I tried to leave, I went away again.”

  “Oh my gods.” I stand and reach for her. “They kept you there.”

  “Who?” she asks, then frames my face with her frail hands. “Oh, you are a beauty, aren’t you?”

  “I wish I’d known,” Miss Sophia says. “Ruth, I’m so very sorry. I had no idea that you were a prisoner in your own house.”

  “There was a woman, in the rocking chair.” Mama’s eyes are blue and clear as day as she smiles. “She kept me company.”

  The rocking chair.

  Could it be that the one spirit that wasn’t evil was the one in that chair?

  Was she protecting her?

  “Let’s go, ladies,” Cash says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “We need to get these burns checked out.”

  I nod but keep my mother in sight all the way to the hospital.

  “So, let me get this straight,” Millie says in the morning, sitting next to my bed at the hospital. “Our mother isn’t an evil human being, but it was the evil spirits in the house that made her that way? And kept her there? And, Horace, along with his terrible mother, were behind it all?”

  “Well, we can’t prove that they were behind it,” Millie says. “But I know because I dropped my shields long enough to look. Horace helped. He kept the bad spirits there, to keep an eye on us. He had a thing for Mama, and she did play with him a lot, so she’s not completely innocent.”

  “Well that’s…disturbing,” I whisper. My throat hurts from the heat and smoke I inhaled in the house. “What happens to her now?”

  “She’ll be in the mental hospital for quite some time,” Cash says as he walks into the room. “I just spoke with her doctor. He’ll be in soon to talk to all of you.”