by G A Chase
Kendell almost wished the cane had been locked up somewhere. “He just left it on his desk? That’s kind of insulting.”
“Right? Even if he did want us to find the cane, the least he could have done was let us ransack his office. Think there’s anything else in here worth stealing? I’m not in the mood to just pick this up and head back down those stairs. Though maybe that’s his way of torturing us.”
The office had only the most basic furnishings, but from the rumpled look of the sofa cushions, Kendell guessed this was where Colin spent the bulk of his time. She opened a small cabinet. “Look at this. He’s been a busy inmate. These pages look like a rundown of his hell. Maybe he’s done the work for us.”
“Or he’s figured out another way to trick us.”
Kendell divided the pile in half. “We’ll go through what he knows then verify it when we’re back out on the street.”
“Why not just take the pages and run? He’s going to know we were here when he doesn’t see the cane on his desk.”
Kendell looked out the window toward the Quarter. “True. And time is against us. But if we don’t steal them, he won’t know what we know. He would expect we were here just for the cane.”
“Okay, but let’s take turns watching for his return. I don’t want to get trapped in here.”
Kendell scanned the pile on her lap. If they didn’t have much time, she didn’t want to miss anything important. “This first section looks to be his attempts at interpreting Marie’s journals. Most of this stuff I already know, or he got wrong.” Being careful to remember the order of the pages, she turned the first batch over and started again. “Observations of his surroundings. He could have at least titled what he was writing. Stream-of-consciousness ramblings aren’t helpful to anyone.”
Sanguine handed over the pages she’d been looking at. “Maybe you’ll find this more interesting.”
Kendell started making notes like mad. Colin hadn’t so much figured out how his world worked scientifically as built a religion based on his findings. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t had Delphine as a teacher to explain the inner workings of voodoo.
“Time to go. I see him coming down the street.”
“One last thing to do.” Kendell pulled out the golden pick from Papa Ghede and put it in her palm.
“What are you doing? We need to get out of here.”
The triangle turned in her hand. “Baron Samedi said the cane would have its own energy, different from anything else here. I’m betting there’s another object that might have that same signature. If I’m right, this little goodie from Guinee might point the way.”
She felt the pick struggle toward a spot in the middle of the floor. But as she leaned down and touched the floor, all she felt was the solid marble tile. “Nothing.”
“Too bad. Let’s go. He’s nearly at the front door.”
“It’s here, I just can’t touch it. I think it fell through the floor.”
Sanguine started moving toward the stairs. “Kendell, we don’t have time for this. Remember what I said about my grandmother giving me a heads-up if there’s danger? Based on my adrenaline level, I think she’s shouting in my ear.”
The golden pick grew heavier in Kendell’s hand. “You want to go down there?”
“Yes, I’d like to get the fuck out of here.”
She looked up at Sanguine. “Not you, the pick.” She dropped it on the floor. Like a magnet, it slid to the halfway point of the white tile with gray streaks. She had trouble working her fingernails under the edges. “I think it’s got a hold of something. Give me a hand.”
“If it gets you out of here any faster, I’ll give you Marie Laveau’s hand.”
Kendell squeezed the fingernails of both hands under the pick like a human steam shovel. “Pull on my arms. Help me lift this thing.”
With Sanguine’s help, Kendell got the pick off the floor. The wooden head that followed it out of the tile made Sanguine scream and nearly let go of her arms. “What the hell is that thing?”
“It’s the voodoo totem that Delphine used to capture Baron Malveaux once he was exorcised from Myles.”
“I don’t remember Colin writing anything about a creepy wooden head being hidden in his floor.”
Kendell kept hold of the pick and turned the sculpture toward her. “I’m betting he didn’t know about it. See here? This is where the glass spirit jar is supposed to be. I’ll bet he smashed it once he swallowed the baron Malveaux’s energy.”
“What the hell do you want it for?”
“It’s not something that belongs in this world,” Kendell said. “I’m betting it will work like a wooden barrel some fool would use to go over Niagara Falls. Only this one would take a soul from this realm back to Guinee.”
“We’ll have to fix it first. Know of any voodoo totem repairmen? Because I’m guessing they’re pretty scarce even among the living.”
“You always need to know the answers. Sometimes you’ve gotta take what weapons you can find and figure out how to use them later.” The bell from the elevator made Kendell jump to her feet. “Now it’s time to go. We’ll need to be as quiet as possible going down the stairs.”
With the pick firmly implanted between the wooden head’s square nailheads, Kendell was able to handle the relic while Sanguine held the cane via Maria Laveau’s bones as they descended.
Out on the street, Kendell breathed a little easier. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”
“Now that we have your voodoo tchotchkes, which way do we go?”
Kendell nodded toward the tall Romanesque building in the Quarter. “First I’m going to drop these off with Baron Samedi, then I need to free the band. You’re the most in tune with this realm, so you should probably work with Samedi to figure out what we can do with these voodoo items in this Wiccan reality.”
“What about Myles?”
“The band first. We’re going to need them,” Kendell said, though she hated leaving her boyfriend in any more distress than absolutely necessary.
“How did you know that thing was in his office, anyway?”
“It was something you said about your grandmother—that she would warn you if you were in danger. We’ve been acting like this is a level playing field. It isn’t. We have the advantage. It’s time we started using it. He might have a better understanding of how things work here, but for each attempt he makes at magic, it will ultimately obey us.”
9
With Colin gone, his demon horde once again dove at Myles’s soul. Like a demented version of catch and release, they ripped out mouthfuls of his essence then spit them back into place. He felt like a shattered window that didn’t have the good sense to explode.
In self-defense, he retreated toward the deep waters, but instead of finding the peace of all of humanity, he hit hell’s brick wall. His senses were reduced to transmitted messages without the expectation of a response. The room smelled of sulfur and scalded soul. The sounds of the wraiths reminded him of greatly amplified fingernails on a chalkboard. Ash and charcoal coated his mouth like a sticky paste he couldn’t spit out. Every nerve ending fired off its electrical shocks of pain. But when he saw the black creature standing in the doorway, he knew he was in real trouble.
The wraiths were nothing more than disembodied spirits. They could set off his senses and tear at his soul, but they were tormentors only, not a true physical threat. But apparently, they weren’t the only demonic creatures in Colin’s hell. The animal that crept slowly into the room glared at him with glowing red eyes. Saliva dripped from its open mouth. Teeth that resembled sharpened ivory daggers interlocked then separated to reveal the creature’s black tongue and cavernous mouth.
The hell apparition lunged at Myles with the speed of a giant cat and the ferocity of a grizzly bear. But instead of ripping off one of Myles’s appendages, it circled around him, snarling at every wraith. A line of fur extended up from between the creature’s eyes, running along the top of its head and down its back and en
ding at the tip of its tail.
The band of demons backed away from Myles and the circling creature. He began to catch his breath from the torture. The creature stood at attention at his side until the flaming specters settled down from bright yellow to dull red.
The animal turned its attention to Myles and let out three blood-curdling barks.
Myles stared intently at the dark red eyes. “Doughnut Hole?”
The animal gave him a big, terror-inducing smile.
One of the wraiths misinterpreted the show of recognition for weakness. It dove at Myles. The puppy-turned-hellhound sprung to his feet and intercepted the creature of fire in midflight. Instead of passing through the incorporeal demon, Doughnut Hole ripped a huge section from the wraith’s head.
The being’s screeches of pain and surprise sent the other spirits into a panic. Like a sheepdog of the damned, Doughnut Hole cut a wraith from the horde and sent it screeching back behind the voodoo totem it had come from. Any that had the audacity not to obey the hound found themselves losing a body part. The orange-and-blue liquid fire that gushed from the injured wraiths pooled on the floor.
Without the spirits circling him, Myles no longer found himself metaphorically tied to the stake. His muscles ached, but they worked. But with Doughnut Hole continuing his mission, Myles thought it best to remain where he stood.
Finally, every one of Colin’s little pets cowered behind its voodoo doll cage. Doughnut Hole circled the room one more time, growling at every sculpture to drive his point home to the wraith hiding behind it.
He returned to Myles and sat at attention in front of him. Though the creature’s appearance would cause the worst demon to run in fear, Myles could make out a smile of satisfaction.
“You are such a good boy. Let’s go find the others.”
Doughnut Hole gave him a playful yap, danced around in a circle the way his mother often did when happy, and led the way out the door.
Myles wondered what he must have looked like chasing after a hellhound down the darkened streets of the French Quarter. If there were any other demons, they kept their distance.
The cacophony from the Scratchy Dog filled Frenchmen Street from Royal to Decatur. Myles did his best to keep up with Doughnut Hole, but at the sound of his sisters snarling and yipping, the dog broke into a full run, and Myles fell behind.
* * *
Kendell’s heart leapt in her chest at seeing Myles standing out front of the Scratchy Dog. Her joy turned to terror when she noticed the rabid animal that clearly had him cornered against the wall of the club. She picked up a brick and got ready to throw it. “Get away from him!”
Myles turned toward her and waved his hands downward. “Hush. Put that thing down. You don’t want to spook them.”
She lowered her hand, confused. “What the hell’s going on?”
He smiled mischievously. “I didn’t recognize him at first either. This is Doughnut Hole. His sisters are guarding the band. But two little puppies are no match for a room full of demons. My boy was able to get me out because it was just me. Apparently, the more people they have to feed on, the more powerful the wraiths become. Where’s Sanguine?”
“She’s with Baron Samedi, trying to figure out how to get Marie’s hand off the cane.” Even with his assurance, she chose to stand on his side, opposite the hellhound, and kept the brick in her hand. Inside the club, two similar creatures, but with the colored markings she remembered from the pups, circled the women in a clockwise direction while the flame demons circled counter-clockwise. Neither the dogs nor the wraiths were backing down. “What are we going to do? And if these are her pups, where’s Cheesecake?”
“Even though we can hear the dogs, the women can’t hear us, but I’ve been able to signal the band to keep calm. The wraiths get spun up when they sense fear. Colin said his traps were based on a slight variation to this dimension. We need a way to bridge this reality with the one the band’s occupying.”
Kendell surveyed the stage, where her bandmates were huddled. “Good. They’ve already got their equipment.” She turned to the VW, which, as the only car in hell, occupied the prime front-of-club parking space. Her acoustic guitar was still propped against the back seat. She stayed low to avoid distracting the pups and rushed for the open sliding door. Her white instrument looked like a beacon of hope in the darkness.
She slung Cecile into place like a gunslinger at high noon and faced her band. Each woman gave a nod of understanding. Though they moved slowly so as not to break the demon puppies’ circle of protection, each woman managed to retrieve an instrument. With Polly standing in the center like the leader that she was, the other three musicians huddled as close as their equipment would allow.
Kendell stared into Polly’s eyes, willing her to know which song she would play. The lead singer watched Kendell’s fingers as she strummed out the opening chords to Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.”
It never took Polly long to pick up the beat. She nodded at Kendell and yelled something to the other band members before grabbing the microphone. But throughout the song, all Kendell could get from her girls was their shared energy and looks of concern.
“It didn’t work. I thought for sure the music would bust down the invisible wall.”
Doughnut Hole barked at his sisters, but they only gave him a passing glance as they maintained their vigil.
Myles put his hand on Kendell’s back. “Try again. Even if it takes an entire set, you can break through.”
When she looked back at her band, she saw Lynn trying to get her attention. With exaggerated movements, Lynn hammered out “Break on Through,” by the Doors. By the end of the song, Kendell could feel cracks forming in the demons’ resistance.
Doughnut Hole danced like a dog who’d seen the stick thrown but had been told to hold his stance.
Scraper pushed Polly aside and began slapping her bass to “Personal Jesus.”
Knowing her shaved-head bandmate was more into original music than remakes, even if the remake was by Johnny Cash, Kendell went into the Depeche Mode version of the song.
As the number faded out, Kendell picked up on what the band had already figured out: each needed to establish her own way home. She turned to Minerva to see which song the drummer would pick.
Instead of busting into a song, though, Minerva turned to her fellow member of the percussion section. Scraper nodded and turned to Kendell and pulled on her earlobe to expose the golden earring.
Kendell nodded and laid down the opening riff to “Radar Love.” As Polly sang about a love coming in from above, a hole in the ghostly apparitions appeared along the floor. Doughnut Hole dove into the opening as if it were a doggy door into hell.
Kendell kept playing, but watching the demon dog team up with his sisters made her worry once again for everyone in the club. Doughnut Hole wasn’t simply going to protect the women from the demons. His snarl and lunging made it clear he intended to do battle.
She spoke to Myles without yelling over the song. “He’s going to get himself hurt.”
“He’s his mama’s son. Don’t worry. That little guy has hell smarts.”
Sure enough, the wraiths lost their cohesive show of strength. The two girl hellhounds deferred to their brother. The first flame spirit they encountered rose up like an inferno, but Doughnut Hole wasn’t allowing the show of bluster. Kendell watched in horror as he launched off his haunches straight into the middle of the beast. Flames erupted around the room like a firework that had gone off without getting airborne.
Kendell couldn’t take it any longer. She pulled off her guitar and started for the door. Before she could get there, the two female hellhounds nearly knocked her over. They were quickly followed by the four band members. Once the women were safely outside, Kendell held them all close. But Doughnut Hole hadn’t made his escape.
She turned back to the inferno that filled the room, fearful she’d see the puppy engaged in a battle for his sweet young life.
Myles
put his arm around her waist. “Watch this. That little guy has got mad skills when it comes to wrangling demons.”
One by one, Doughnut Hole corralled the wraiths back to their voodoo totems. Each one lost so much energy that it was little more than a lit candle compared to the raging bonfire it had been while attacking the band members.
“We’re going to need to find a supply of hellhound-puppy treats. Some spirit bottles to contain the demons Colin freed would be useful too.”
Myles didn’t let her go. “I don’t want to worry you, but Cheesecake is still missing.”
She hadn’t forgotten about the most important member of the pack. “If she was in trouble, her puppies would be racing after her. And I’d know.”
* * *
Colin had expected some move by Kendell, but as he stared at his desk where the bony arm and incorporeal cane were supposed to be, he realized he’d misjudged her. “That must have been quite the climb, little witch. Even if I didn’t have the only set of keys to the elevator, the energy in this building…”
Something had changed. He grabbed his notes out of the alcohol cupboard. “This is my domain. The energy the old swamp witch used to create it was based on my life.”
He knew it wasn’t that simple. Being made up of two spirits meant the witch had her pick of souls to use for different areas of his prison, but his office had always been as comfortable as old shoes. Now it felt like stiff leather that chafed his feet.
“What did you do?” As far as he could tell, nothing other than the missing witch bones and cane had been removed.
Every part of his being screamed that he was no longer completely in charge. He needed answers. Confronting Kendell again didn’t seem the best way to get them, even if he did have her band and boyfriend imprisoned. “That little girl is really getting on my nerves.”