by G A Chase
Everyone cleared off the stage so Polly could draw the veve. Sanguine showed up with her hand on Sere’s shoulder. “Did I get my timing right?”
Kendell stood as close to the stage as she could. She desperately wished she could hold them both in her arms. “Were you intentionally avoiding us?”
Sanguine caressed the girl’s short strawberry-blond hair. “I knew what was about to happen. Seemed like a good time for the two of us to take a little flying road trip.”
Lynn knelt down on the floor to put herself at Sere’s level. “Did you have a good time?”
“I’ve never met so much wildlife. Sangy introduced me to turtles and pelicans and snakes, but the alligators were my favorite. She says we’re going to spend years just getting to know every wild animal we can find.”
“Sounds magical,” Lynn said.
Sanguine leaned over and kissed Sere on the head. “Why don’t you stay here and tell the band all about our adventure. Kendell, Myles, and I are going to go out back for an adult conversation.”
“Okay, Sangy.” The girl’s trusting smile made Kendell’s heart ache.
Myles rushed out back to set up the speakeasy but not before Kendell caught the glint of tears in his eyes. You’re going to make a great father, whether you know it or not. She waited until Sanguine had left before finally turning away from Sere and her animated telling of her swamp experience.
Once the three of them were out in the courtyard, Kendell thought Sanguine looked more relaxed than she ever remembered. “Mind telling me what that absence was all about? And don’t give me that I was protecting Sere bullshit.”
Sanguine flapped her wings then rubbed them together as if they’d had an intense workout. “I never could hide much from you. I took a little trip into the future to figure out what to do about Sere. The challenge with those voyages is that if I want them to come true, I have to be very precise in my actions. One little misstep, unintended encouragement, or outburst, and my hoped-for result will go off the rails. Sending Colin into the deep waters required a very well-defined chain of actions. I saw that you and Myles had everything under control, but if I let on about anything I’d seen, I might distract you from Colin’s fate.”
Kendell thought the explanation sounded a little too rehearsed. “And what do you see now?”
Sanguine looked toward the club and the sound of Sere’s lively recounting of their adventure. “I’m staying to raise Sere, but you already knew that. I won’t be doing it alone, however. These gates will take on a whole new purpose. I’m going to need all of you to help raise that child, and my first request might be a little unexpected. I’d like to start Sere on a physical exercise program. Do you think you could convince Joe Cazenave to stop by the speakeasy? This courtyard would make a wonderful workout arena. Our schedule is open, so whenever is convenient for him will work for us.”
Kendell could hear Sere getting even more amped up in the next room. “I guess she does have a lot of child-driven energy. Do we need to talk to Professor Yates about an interdimensional sedative?”
Sanguine didn’t laugh at what Kendell had meant as a joke. “No, Sere is exactly how she needs to be, but that energy does require focus. Joe has the perfect set of skills, but he doesn’t come across as a kid person. Approach him gently, but let him know it’s important to me.”
Myles sat in a metal chair with his feet up on the table while enjoying a beer. “And what can we offer?”
Sanguine’s smile had a maturity that Kendell didn’t remember being there before her voyage of future discovery. “You each have your skills, so I want Sere to have time with all of you, but the most important part of her education is just being around other people. This dimension will forever be populated by doppelgängers. My fear is that she’ll grow up to see people as nothing more than dolls without souls. I can’t let that happen, and as I’m no longer entirely human, Sere is going to need some better role models.”
Myles took his feet off the table. “You flew into the future, so you must know the answer to my next question. Are you two ever leaving hell?”
“I’ve learned my lesson about predicting too much. I only went far enough to discover what best to do about Sere when it came to her father.”
Kendell knew her friend was lying, but Sanguine never hid anything important without good reason. “So we’ll treat Sere as if one day she will leave the make-believe realm and join the living. Between the lot of us, I’m sure we can provide an adequate homeschooling. The band and I will start doing some research on curriculums. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to help.” Kendell stared Sanguine straight in the eye. “And what about you? Surely, you’ll need more adult interactions than we can provide.”
Sanguine flapped her wings like a bird airing out her feathers. “I gave romance a try. I’m not sure I won’t miss it, but looking after Sere feels like enough meaning for this lifetime. If I get too horny, I can always get my needs met the way Colin did, though I’ll probably avoid the back alleys.”
Kendell hated the idea of her friend being destined to such a lonely life. “But if we assume Sere will one day cross over, why can’t we do the same for you? I realize interdimensional dating would take online relationships to a whole new level, but we can introduce you to people.”
Sanguine spread out her wings. “And you just expect me to sit here flirting with someone over this communication link while keeping these things tucked behind me? I’m afraid I’ll never find a way of keeping them from betraying every one of my emotions. I appreciate the offer. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to discuss my love life. For now, though, I’m happy to focus my energy on Sere.”
“I’ll talk to Professor Yates about how to make Sere self-sufficient,” Myles said. “That would have to be the first step in allowing her to cross over. These things have to be planned. We’ll find a way of rescuing you both.”
Sanguine smiled and shook her head. “You’re not getting it. I’m happy to be Sere’s surrogate mother. Even if you did manage to let her into life, she’d never be fully human, just as I’m not. You can’t lay that kind of a trip on a young girl. Maybe when she’s an adult, we can discuss her leaving this realm, but for now, the best thing you can do is help me raise her.”
* * *
Sanguine took Sere by the hand and left the club. Though there wasn’t much in the alternate world to fear, Kendell was right. Sere needed to be raised with an eye toward crossing over to the world filled with people. But for the moment, they could enjoy a walk through the busy music-club district in the middle of the night without a concern in the world.
“I guess we should find a place to stay. I can’t keep flying you in from the swamp every time we need to talk to real people.”
“I like the swamp. Why can’t we just use your gate when you need your adult talks?”
If it were up to Sanguine, isolation wouldn’t be an issue. But Sere deserved better. “The gates aren’t just for my use. There are people on the other side who want to be a part of your life too. You and I will have our special time in the swamp, but you need more than I can give you. A person’s growth is in part the result of those around them. I also want you to have some independence. Maybe not just yet, but eventually, you’re going to want to do things on your own. The swamp is a long way from New Orleans.” She nodded at all the people dancing in the clubs, flirting on the street, and enjoying life to the fullest. “I know you don’t feel like you fit in. Some of us never do, even when we are in the realm of the living. Getting to know these doppelgängers will be good practice for when we do cross out of hell.” I have to keep that goal in mind.
“I like it when you fly me. If we stay here, will you still give me lifts?”
Sanguine resisted the urge to swoop Sere up in her arms and go for a flight over the river in the light of the full moon. “Of course I will. We’ll go flying all the time. Just like on our little camping trip. And we’ll sleep outside under the stars and talk to animals, and I’
ll teach you all about how life works. But while we’re in town, we need a place to stay. That’s what people do.”
Sere pointed to a group of homeless teenagers who were singing for tips. “They get to stay outside.”
Sanguine could see this wasn’t going to be an argument she could win. Hypocrisy had a way of biting her in the ass. “The truth is, I spent most of my childhood sleeping outside in a hammock on my grandmother’s porch. But wouldn’t you want a place to keep your stuff? What about when it rains?”
“I don’t like stuff. It’s hard to hold onto when you’re flying me around. And I’m sure Auntie Kendell would let us sleep in the club when it rains.”
Sanguine spread her wings protectively over Sere. “I’m sure there will be times when we’ll hang out in the club talking to Kendell, Myles, and the band all night, but tonight, I have to find a place for you to rest your head. It’s very late, and you need some sleep.”
“Why don’t we just sleep there?” Sere pointed to a house with a For Sale sign tacked to the fence.
It had been a long day, and though Sanguine wasn’t a fan of breaking and entering, it wasn’t as if the place was actually inhabited in their realm. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt for the night, so long as we don’t get into the habit of just taking what we want. That would be wrong.”
“Why?”
Raising you to understand people while living in a world without consequences is going to be a lot harder than I thought.
***
Would you like to know what happens next in the life of Serephine Malveaux? Pick up the first book in the new series, The Devil’s Daughter, here:
Hell in a Head Gasket (book 1 of The Devil’s Daughter)
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Book List
Technopia Series:
(writing as Greg Chase)
Creation
Evolution
Damnation
Salvation
The Malveaux Curse Mysteries :
(writing as G.A. Chase)
Dog Days of Voodoo
You, Me, and the Voodoo Queen
Oops! I Voodooed Again
Voodoo You Love
Voodoo You Think You Are
Look What You Made Me Voodoo
Love Me Like Voodoo
The Devil’s Daughter:
(writing as G.A. Chase)
Hell in a Head Gasket
Hell Bent for Demons
Hell’s Highway
Other Stories
Through the Lens
About the Author
G.A. Chase is the pen name for Greg Chase. He is a science fiction and paranormal author living in New Orleans with his wife, fellow author Deanna Chase, and their two shih tzu dogs. On any given day you can find him behind his computer, people watching in the Quarter, or out in his studio creating stories in glass. His glass work can be found at www.chase-designs.com.
www.gregchaseauthor.com