At first Odara couldn’t understand what he was saying. If anything, she’d thought she would go back to where she had lived or choose her own suitor, not be sold off. After twelve years she had earned that. He had no right to do this. Henry didn’t own her but who would come to her aid? This development was not what she had expected at all.
Once his words had finally sunk in, she leapt off the bed onto the floor, grabbing hold of his feet and begging him not to give her to another man. “Please no, Henry, no, can’t you just send me home to my family?” she cried, hoping he would for once have pity on her.
“I thought about it but then thought better of it.” Picking her up he placed her back on the bed like a mother would do for a child when it fell and hurt itself.
He caressed her face, nuzzling her nose with his. “You’re good at pleasing me even when you don’t try. Actually, being barren worked in your favor. You’re not all stretched out like a lot of women are after bearing a child, and he offered a lot of money so I simply couldn’t resist. He has always wanted you. Besides, your parents are dead and your brother lives at the manor with his family. They don’t want you there. Honestly, Odara, be reasonable.”
Sitting next to her on the bed, he dropped his blouse, expecting her to put it away. She watched the blouse fall onto the bed, their bed, unable to breathe as she watched him remove his leather boots.
He had lied to her and their unborn children. Anger stirred in her. Something she hadn’t felt in a while. Actually she hadn’t felt anything at all for him for some time.
As he continued to undress she couldn’t help but think of the many times he had hurt her for no reason, but this was unacceptable. She rubbed her belly as the pit of her stomach churned and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She knew it was going to be one of those nights.
“Henry, you promised me a life of my own to live after you,” she said, finally coming back to present time. “You promised me,” she said, throwing his shirt on the floor.
He slapped her across the face, grabbed her by both shoulders, lifted her off the bed and shook her. “Your father promised me children. I thought I got a whole woman but I didn’t. Your womanly ways fooled me all these years,” he said, tossing her to the other side of the room. He was not a huge man but her smaller frame made it possible for him to throw her around easily.
After bouncing off the wall and hitting the floor she lay still for a minute, gathering herself.
“Get up. I don’t have time for your sheer nonsense.” He was no longer undressing as he waited for her to move. Growing tired of her rebelliousness he came towards her with his hand raised to snatch her up. “I said . . .”
She found the strength to stand up and, for the first time in a long time, faced him. She made eye contact with him before he went to strike her, something she hadn’t done before during his tirades. “I gave you all I had and in return you sell me off. You will pay, Henry,” she said with venom in her heart, angered by his dismissive attitude towards her. Never, not once, did he give her reprieve from his never-ending abuse.
He lowered his hand and suddenly his scowl turned into the charming smile that had won her over so many years ago. “It’s your fault I have to do this. When you first came to live here you did whatever you could to please me, but now you never smile. You never seem happy to see me anymore. I work hard to please you but you’re never satisfied. All you ever do is complain about my temperament.”
He was right about one thing. After their first night together she had done whatever possible to please him, hoping that would be enough to make him stop hurting her. Over the years she had learned that nothing she did could stop him. It was in his nature. If she was happy he would torment her over and over again to get aroused, then the next day complain because she didn’t seem happy about him being there.
So tonight something in her fought back and she fought back hard. She scratched him across the face when he came near her. Startled and confused he stepped back, rubbing his face and checking for blood. He went back and forth checking his hand then checking her, wondering what she was thinking striking him. In a way he was amused.
As he reached for her she struck him again and continued to strike him, catching him in the eyes, mouth, groin—just hitting him as hard as she could. As he tried to stop her he became more aroused than he had ever been. Even more than that first night he had brought her home, before she’d been aware of his temper.
He finally got hold of her and pinned her against the wall. “You think you can hurt me. I will turn you over to Norwich black and blue. I already sold you.” He jammed her against the wall trying to kiss her, but she kneed him in the groin so hard he bent over.
She tried to run but he caught her by her feet, tripping her. He climbed on top of her and had his way with her several times that night, and each and every time she fought back.
After he was done with her, and before going to sleep, he told her, “If I knew you still had this much fight in you I wouldn’t have sold you. At least tonight I finally got my money’s worth. Plan on me visiting you when Norwich is away and, since I’m his boss, I can send him away at any time.”
“I curse the day you were born, Henry. Mark my words you will pay for all that you’ve done to me,” Odara said to him as he laughed then rolled over. That was when Odara knew who would be the sacrifice for the following night’s sacrament: his new placee.
During the night Odara snuck down to tell Jina, now one of her followers, to gather whomever she could, as tomorrow night they would perform the ritual.
Chapter 6
1890
Tears filled Lilly’s eyes as she remembered all that Henry had put her through. She told herself she was helping this silly girl, Dalila the new placee, but truthfully she didn’t care how the girl felt. She was going to make her strong, so strong that no man would ever take from her what she didn’t give freely.
So she chanted her magic spell, making her sacrifices, offering food to call forth the spirits from the other side—but only the dark spirits, the spirits with no mind to control their wicked ways. She wanted two sprits that could bring on the destruction of mankind, not caring what hell came with them. The rage inside her took hold as it completely enthralled her sensibility.
She called, she danced, she cried for them to come forth into the two bodies lying before her, their eyes pleading with her to stop, pleading to let them go, pleading to be freed.
Her body danced to the beat of the drums, the heat prompted beads of sweat to trickle down her back, causing her white dress to contour to her body. She did not care that she was not properly dressed as her bare feet kicked up the dirt beneath her.
The music played, louder now, as she called them from the place between the spirit and the physical world. “Come forth!” she shouted, holding up the bowl of blood. She felt them before she saw them which caused her heart to race. She drank of the blood and danced until she saw the spirits coming in a slow march.
The warm wind stirred, causing the earth to swirl around all of them within the circle. They were the dead walking, the ones who had lingered too long on the other side, now mere fragments of the selves they had been when were still alive. They walked slowly but she knew they were hungry for the bodies, the fresh meat unable to get free.
Dalila screamed and fought harder, revealing to Lilly that she too had the sight, the sight to see the dead. It thrilled Lilly that Dalila could see the spirits, that she was scared. She removed the gag from her mouth. “Please . . . don’t. Why . . . us?” Dalila said, choking on her tears.
Lilly reached out to Dalila to wipe her face but as she touched her, Lilly instantly knew the essence of her. She was able to see into Dalila’s mind and to know her thoughts.
***
Dalila
Bron, her true love, lay next to her, tied by willow tree vines secured by stakes as he kicked and screamed to be freed. Bron had come to rescue her from this place. They had planned on running away toge
ther but instead he was about to die because of her. Her screams were begging, asking why this was happening to her, crying that she hadn’t done anything wrong and had been forced to come against her will.
A woman whom she had never seen before was standing over them, chanting words she’d never heard in real life but only in stories. Supposedly there was a voodoo priestess, a Mambo witch, who practiced in a bad way. She had been warned never to set foot in these parts but today she’d had no choice as she’d been brought by Mr. Nicolas to live here.
Dalila already hated Mr. Nicolas for two reasons: not only for taking her away from her old life without her consent, but also for the danger she had sensed a very long time ago.
***
Lilly
Lilly jumped back, wondering how she could see into that girl’s mind.
“Please . . . let us go, please,” Dalila begged, fighting the vines as she watched the spirits draw near.
Swallowing hard, Lilly said, “I’m saving you girl, hush, you don’t know what goes on in that house but don’t worry, you won’t be afraid for too much longer. Soon you won’t fear a thing and after a while you may learn to enjoy the power I give to you. Besides, you didn’t want to come to live here anyway.” Lilly planted a bloody kiss on the girl’s mouth.
Standing up, Lilly’s body stiffened uncontrollably. There was something wrong. A force was pulling her in. That wasn’t supposed to happen . . . she was supposed to feel in control at all times but she was losing it.
There was something else here, something she hadn’t invited. Despite the humid night air her body turned cold, rigidly cold, making her teeth chatter. Her followers saw the change when she stood up so suddenly. They stopped beating the drums since they could tell something was wrong by the way she held herself so tightly.
A force had a hold on her. Lilly could feel it in her bones. She desperately wanted to close her eyes but something within her wouldn’t allow it.
The wind howled and the dirt flew around them, making it almost impossible to see. Something fierce was coming for her. The other spirits knew it because they stopped walking but instead hid in the shadows of the trees, finally showing themselves as they moved swiftly past the other spirits that were coming right at her. There were two of them, no longer holding human forms, but white shadows of their former selves.
Lilly held her arms rigid as the forces rapidly circled her body, spinning her round to see her. Stopping close to her face, they intertwined with each other as if to figure out what she was. They appeared identical with hollow pits for eyes and mouths but she could sense they were not truly the same. They hovered in front of her for only a moment before they shot through her body, taking a part of her with them and knocking her to the ground from the blinding pain.
Unable to stand, Lilly could only watch as the forces jumped into her followers’ bodies. They squirmed, screaming in agony from anguish Lilly could only imagine. The forces had only passed through her briefly and the pain had been so unbearable she couldn’t imagine enduring it for a second longer. There was nothing she could do to stop them. They were too strong for her—she had caught a glimpse of how powerful they were when they had cut through her like a steel knife.
Lilly tried to call on the other spirits hovering in the shadows but they seemed afraid. They wouldn’t come forth to take over the bodies while the forces tortured her followers, leaving them only when they no longer held life, turning into old, withered bones that appeared to have been dead a long time. Too consumed with the dead bodies in front of her, Lilly didn’t notice when the forces took hold of Dalila and Bron until she heard noises behind her.
They sucked in the evil, their chests rising as they gasped for air. Their bodies made the noise of a terrible death, their violent thrusts breaking the vines that had held them so securely not so long ago, until all was quiet again. The wind stopped, the other spirits fled in fear and the bodies no longer moved.
***
Lilly slowly stood up after finally judging there had been a long enough interval with nothing happening. The spirits had left to go back from where they came. All she could think about was the enormity of what she had done.
“Be warned, Lilly, what you released is unknown to this side. It wasn’t supposed to be here but somehow got through.” Jina appeared to her.
Lilly was surprised to see her but happy she was alright even though she was no longer alive. “I’m sorry, Jina. What happened to you . . . it wasn’t meant to be.” Lilly lowered her head in shame that Jina, her only friend, was dead.
“I knew what could happen. Don’t blame yourself. I’ve seen what that Mr. Nicolas has done to you so many times . . . we all have, but do be careful,” Jina said, still sounding angry at him. Jina had come to her about six months ago when she had found out what Lilly was planning. She had been determined to help Lilly no matter what the cost.
“Wait, how can you talk to me? No other spirit has,” asked Lilly, shocked that somehow Jina could communicate with her.
“Not all spirits are able to talk to the living but some do if the living person is open to it. It’s forbidden for the spirits to interfere but there are those that do it anyway,” Jina explained.
“How do you know all of this when you’ve only been dead a short while?” Lilly asked.
“One of the spirits that came forth earlier is still here with me but doesn’t want to make himself seen to the forces you called. He wants to warn you to kill the bodies before they rise. Chop off their heads before you can no longer control them.”
“Kill them? I can’t . . . not yet. I need them first, then I’ll send them back. I have come too far, Jina,” said Lilly.
“Lilly, you don’t understand . . .” Jina suddenly stopped talking. Her face turned ashen at what she saw behind Lilly, then she faded before she was able to finish what she needed to say.
“Madam Lilly.” A male voice she had never heard before called her from behind.
Lilly faced the voice she didn’t recognize. It was none other than the boy she had tied and gagged earlier. Even though it was the same person, somehow he had now come to stand in front of her sounding like a man; no longer tripping over his words, but suddenly more masculine. He appeared taller, his shoulders were broader and he walked with confidence. He was no longer a boy.
He got down on both knees to kiss her hands, not in a begging way but more in a seductive pose. “I’m Theolus and that is Hearon.” He pointed to the woman off to the side who had once been Dalila.
Dalila too seemed more than what she’d been before. She appeared taller and even though her features had not changed, she was scary. Lilly couldn’t put her finger on it but Hearon gave off such a strong energy it was entrancing.
Lilly and Hearon only stared at each other, not uttering a word, but she felt a tie between them. Lilly wasn’t sure if it was the spell, their bond from when she had touched her earlier or the fact that she too could see what others could not.
“What are you?” Lilly asked, almost afraid to know the truth.
“Whatever you want us to be,” Theolus said, still on his knee and staring up at her like she was a goddess, his voice deep and sultry. No man had ever bowed to her before, submitting all power.
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why are the spirits afraid of you?” Lilly asked, feeling uncomfortable with his forward ways. Ways she had never seen or heard of from any man.
“Because we are older and stronger than they are. Most are afraid of the unknown but we are here at your request. Whatever you desire we will fulfill,” Theolus said.
“Maybe acts of violence such as killing my followers played a part?” Lilly asked.
“Sorry, Madame Lilly, but we needed strength in order to complete the spell you summoned,” said Theolus with a sly smile, knowing he had every right to challenge her.
She pushed the man away, not pleased with his answer that sent a chill up her spine. He was being quite shameless in his manner, in a way she would not h
ave tolerated from any other man. For some reason unknown to her, she accepted it from him. Deep down that bothered her—to allow any man’s affections, it bothered her plenty. She told herself she only needed them for this one night then she would be done with the both of them.
“We have work to do,” Lilly said. He nodded, stood up, and both Theolus and Hearon followed Lilly toward the house in silence.
Chapter 7
On their way to her house Lilly no longer questioned her actions tonight but only worried that her new companions wouldn’t be able to avenge her by wreaking the havoc she so desired. By the time they came to stand behind the house she was already disappointed as they seemed too relaxed for her liking. They appeared harmless now, not monstrous at all, but it was too late to turn back. The night was drawing to a close and the party was sure to end soon. It was now or never.
Peering into the back of the house Lilly could see the party was dying down but still going strong. She sighed with relief as that meant the occupants would be too drunk to put up much of a fight.
Lilly faced the others, who were watching and waiting from a distance still with complacency in their stance as if they had not a care in the world, though she acknowledged to herself that this world was not really theirs to care about. She wasn’t really sure how tonight would end but she needed them to know they must not kill Henry. He was hers and hers only.
Walking over to them she explained, “I need you two . . .” Theolus put a finger up to her lips to shush her. “We already know what to do, Madame.” Then a smile crept across his face as he walked backwards towards the house, observing her the whole way. Hearon, already ahead of them, slowly ascended the back stairs of the house still not speaking. She only nodded to Lilly in recognition that she knew what to do.
Lilly watched in anticipation as they crept inside, hoping not to be let down by them. But she never once stopped to question how they knew exactly what to do. Lilly’s heart was too consumed with rage; she wanted revenge so badly on those who had wronged her, she never thought to ask.
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