by Koboah, A D
My vision told me there was a white man standing at the chapel door. But my sixth sense, which was sending a million pinpricks of fear along my skin, told me that the figure standing at the chapel door was something that merely wore the guise of a man. It wore nothing but a pair of black trousers and an old blue gentleman’s coat over its bare chest. It was also barefoot. Its skin was a pale, almost translucent white, and gleamed softly in the light of the setting sun. From this distance, I could see it had long, tangled brown hair almost to its waist, and that it was tall with broad shoulders, a muscular well-formed chest, a narrow waist, and long powerful legs.
I opened my mouth to speak but all that came out at first was a choking sound, so I drew air forcefully into my chest and tried again.
“What...what you want?” I asked as confidently as I could manage whilst my gaze searched the ground around me for something I could use as a weapon.
When I glanced back up at the chapel door, the thing was gone and I jumped back, a scream lodged in my chest, when I saw it was now standing a few feet away from me.
With my heart pounding horribly in my chest, I found myself staring in awe at the being standing before me in the guise of a man. And what a guise it was. Its face was perfect in every way. It had large, blue eyes, an aquiline nose, a strong jaw, and lips shaped like a woman’s. Noticing traces of what looked like fresh earth on its clothes and hair, I took an involuntary step forward and I was so taken in by its beauty that I almost reached out and brushed some of that dirt away from its jaw.
Although my rational mind was urging me to run, I couldn’t move. If anything there seemed to be some force between us that was tugging at my spirit, making me want to move closer to this being, and it took a great deal of will power to stop myself from taking another step forward.
It stood completely still with its head cocked to one side, its lips slightly parted as it regarded me in amazement, eyes like blue fire burning into me. Then it brought its hand up slowly toward my face.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to run, but fear kept me where I stood. Its fingertips, pale with torn ragged fingernails that had earth beneath them, were just inches from my face when it froze. Its eyes darted to a point behind me, into the trees as if it had heard something, and I used that opportunity to take a step back. That small movement brought its gaze back to me and in another of those quicksilver moves, it had closed the space between us again.
But it only gazed at me, looking slightly confused, and made no move to stop me as I took another step back. It was hard to resist the pull this being exerted over me but I forced myself to keep moving backward and away from the chapel, as I knew now that there was something else here in the clearing with us, something that swathed the hulking, decrepit chapel in evil. My senses were saturated by the being standing before me so it was hard to focus on the other entity. All I knew was that it had been here for a very long time and hate burned at its heart like a smouldering volcano.
There was something forlorn and incredibly vulnerable about the creature as it watched me move away from it. It made no farther move forward but merely gazed at me in bewilderment, its stance one of dejection. The acute yearning in its eyes was as ancient as it was terrible. Unable to look into those eyes for even one second longer, I ran into the trees.
Chapter Five
I ran blindly, seeing nothing but its burning blue eyes, ragged clothes and torn fingernails just inches away from my face. I ran but I could still feel that mesmeric force, that heartbreaking lullaby, reaching out to envelop me, and I knew I would never be able to escape it.
My thoughts were wild and thin as I fled, the woodland I ran through eerie and surreal, every shadow or strange shape in the gloom sinister. It was no longer the woods I had grown up in or even the place I saw in my nightmares whenever I relived that day with Master Henry. It was now some otherworldly dimension where evil spirits and hellish incarnations resided alongside everything else I had long thought of as fancy but which were now as real as the thing I had left behind me in the clearing.
With my muscles burning and sweat pouring down my back, I raced through the trees until a dark shape came rushing out of the murky shadows and I collided with a hard, muscular chest.
Letting out a piercing wail, I squeezed my eyes shut as strong hands clamped down on my upper arms. I thrashed around wildly, not wanting to look into that hauntingly beautiful face and those wild, desperate eyes for even one second. But the thing held me tight and I screamed even louder, my chest on fire and dizziness beginning to sap the little bit of strength I had.
“Sister Luna! Sister Luna!”
It must have been the tone of his voice rather than the words itself which reached through the frenzy to quiet my screams.
“Sister Luna!”
I opened my eyes and was overwhelmed with pure joy when Jupiter’s face filled my vision. He was looking at me as if his worst nightmare was being replayed right before his eyes.
“Jupiter?” I sagged against him.
For a few seconds I felt the same security I had on the day he’d run through the woods with me in his arms. It was the only part of that dark, traumatic day I could bear to remember.
The force I had felt in the clearing, and which had seemed to follow me through the trees, had dimmed and was now as faint as the background noise of the woodland around us, but I knew I wasn’t safe.
“Sister Luna. What happened?”
“I...I saw something.” I was crying now. “It ain’t safe. We gots to go.” I broke away, trying to pull him along with me even though I was disoriented and didn’t know which direction would lead us out of the sinister company of the trees.
“No, Sister Luna.” He had me by the arms again. “Tell me what frightened you.”
Calmer now, I noticed that Jupiter wasn’t alone. He was with his Master, Father Geoffrey, a short, portly white man with a cherubic face and small, twinkling brown eyes.
When he saw me gazing at him he came to stand beside Jupiter. “It’s all right, dear. Why don’t you tell us what you were running from?”
“I saw something,” was all I could say at first, for dread as real as a hand clasped around my neck had quickly overwhelmed me again. Even though I couldn’t see their faces clearly in the gloom, I could tell they were looking at me with the patient kind of wariness reserved for those whose firmness of mind was in question. But I could still feel the creature’s presence and I had to tell them.
“What, dear?” Father Geoffrey said, laying his hand on my shoulder. When I flinched at his touch he quickly removed it. “Tell us what you saw.”
“It...it was a demon. I saw a demon. It be standing by that old chapel looking at me and I’s thinking it gonna kill me but then it lets me go and...and...”
I saw a faint smile touch Father Geoffrey’s lips as he glanced at Jupiter. Jupiter was still gazing at me but he had relaxed visibly, my words having no doubt sounded like nonsense to both of them.
“No!” I broke away from Jupiter’s grip. “It’s true. I ain’t crazy. I saw it. It looked like a man but it a demon. I swear it be a demon! She told me, Mama Akosua told me not to go to the chapel but I didn’t listen and now it’s seen me. Please! You gots to believe me. It’s still here. I can feel it. It’s everywhere! Can’t you feels it?”
“Luna, is it?” Father Geoffrey said, not bothering to hold back a small chuckle. “Listen to me, child. There—”
“I do feel something,” Jupiter said softly.
He was tense again now and brought his hand up to his chin as he searched the trees around us, a frown creasing his brow.
“I have felt something strange since we got here. Don’t you feel it, Father?”
“Oh, Jupiter! Not you too,” Father Geoffrey said, clearly amused.
“You are a holy man, Father. You should be able to sense it if you try. Use your sleeping mind and you will feel it.”
He gave Jupiter the sort of indulgent smile a grown-up reserves for children who still believe in fai
ry tales although they are old enough to know better. But he closed his eyes theatrically as if he were playing a role for our benefit.
“Well, if it will stop you two and all this nonsensical talk about...”
He stopped talking and the smile left his lips as his eyes flew open.
“You feel it now, Father?” Jupiter said.
Father Geoffrey looked troubled now. He too peered nervously into the intimidating shadows closing in on us.
“Father?” Jupiter asked.
“I...I don’t know,” he said slowly when his gaze met Jupiter’s. “But I think we have lingered here long enough.”
He took me by the arm, too busy looking around to notice me flinch. “Tell us everything that happened,” he said and we began to walk as fast as we could while I told them everything that had taken place at the chapel.
Once we were out of the trees and under the sulky indigo sky, I walked on ahead, Jupiter and Father Geoffrey trailing behind and whispering earnestly.
I felt a little bit calmer now that we were out of the woods and nearing the lights and familiar smells of the slave quarters as the slaves prepared their evening meals. It felt like a semblance of normality was once more returning to my world. The terror I had felt at the chapel relaxed its hold somewhat, but I was sure it would be a long time before it ever really left me.
Mama Akosua had told me that the women in our family possessed the gift of second sight and I was starting to believe that the demon had somehow awoken it when it released its hold on my mind at the chapel. But without my fear focusing that second sight, I couldn’t really sense the creature as strongly as I had before. I knew it was still near but its presence was faint, almost like looking at a figure in the distance and having to squint in order to bring it into focus.
“Sister Luna.” Jupiter hurried to my side with Father Geoffrey at his heels as we neared the slave quarters. “We think we know what to do about this devil you saw.”
“We?” Father Geoffrey interjected with a wry smile before he turned his gaze to me. “He wants me to go and consult with your mother about this thing you think you saw and which we think we felt.” He looked at Jupiter. “How much of a congregation do you think I’ll have if I start consorting with someone who is well known for dabbling in the dark arts?”
He spoke lightly but it was obvious the apprehension he had displayed in the woods hadn’t left him.
“Father, please. She will know what—”
“Yes, yes,” he said dismissing Jupiter’s renewed arguments with a wave of his hand. “So you’ve said. Hopefully I’ll have enough of a congregation left in order for us to eat this Sunday.”
He was smiling again and it was obvious that there wasn’t very much he could refuse Jupiter. I wouldn’t exactly call what Father Geoffrey clearly felt toward his slave respect as you couldn’t respect someone you didn’t view as your equal. But there was definitely affection there and I was glad that what I’d heard about Father Geoffrey being a kind Master appeared to be true.
“So what we’ll do before we go to her is warn everyone to stay inside and especially out of the woods,” Father Geoffrey said. “You should be safe in your cabin tonight. We’ll decide what to do tomorrow when we know more, so don’t worry, dear. You’re safe now.”
He smiled kindly at me but I didn’t feel as if I would be safe by any means tonight and it seemed as if Jupiter shared that feeling because he abruptly grasped my arm.
When I looked up at him his face was set in stone and he was glaring past me at something in the distance. I nervously followed his gaze, fearing he had seen the demon. But all I saw was a light burning in the window of my cabin.
I stiffened, feeling myself go cold despite the stifling heat.
No. It wasn’t a threat from the demon that had turned his features to stone, but a human one.
Master John was waiting for me.
At that moment Father Geoffrey placed a restraining hand on Jupiter’s, pulling it off my arm. It wasn’t done unkindly as he was looking at Jupiter with a degree of pity, something I thought I would never see in the eyes of a white man. But it was there and I saw some of that pity extended to me when his gaze met mine.
“We’ll be back tomorrow when we know more,” he said patting Jupiter twice on the shoulder as he spoke.
“Thank you, sir.” I turned to Jupiter and was dismayed to see that he wouldn’t look at me. “Thank you, Jupiter.”
He nodded and there was nothing left for me to do but walk to my cabin where Master John was waiting.
It had been a long day, one in which events had transpired to make Jupiter look at me again, instead of away as he had done ever since he found me lying in the dirt in my own blood. It was only now that I realised how much I had missed the feel of his gaze on me.
It was hard to walk up to my cabin door knowing what awaited me and also knowing that Father Geoffrey and Jupiter were still watching. But I steeled myself and didn’t hesitate when I reached the door and opened it.
***
That night was filled with terror, but not the kind I’d been expecting. When I opened the door I stared at the ground, wanting to delay the moment when I would have to look up into Master John’s smiling face, for he was always smiling. So the first thing I saw was Master John’s riding whip on the floor. It had been broken in two.
In the time it took to look up, I felt the presence of the thing in the woods close around me and was tugged forward by an unseen hand at the same time that the door was slammed shut. When my gaze fell on Master John in the glow of the candlelight, he wasn’t smiling and he wasn’t alone.
He stood facing me with his arms hanging limply by his sides. His head had been tilted to the right, leaving one side of his neck exposed. His eyes, which were frozen in terror, were locked on mine and a thin trail of tears ran down his face. His mouth hung open and I thought he was dead until I saw his lip quiver and he mouthed the words “help me.”
The demon was standing behind Master John with one arm around his chest holding him up. Its eyes were closed and the bottom half of its face was buried in Master John’s neck, an expression of pure bliss marking its features. It wasn’t until I saw a trickle of blood run from the spot where the creature’s mouth joined Master John’s neck that I realised what it was doing.
It was drinking Master John’s blood.
Drinking his blood and killing him in the process.
The comforting noises outside my cabin seemed to dissolve and I was back in that terrifying world I thought I had left behind in the woods. I couldn’t move or speak and my mind seemed to have become completely locked in the terror of what I was witnessing in the furtive half-light of my candlelit cabin. I didn’t think about trying to scream or run. I didn’t try to think of a way to help Master John. I couldn’t do anything but stand and stare at the atrocity that was taking place before my eyes.
I had seen all manner of cruelty and degradation on this Earth. I had been a victim of rape, witnessed murder, and had even seen men treat their own children like cattle. I also believed in Heaven and hell, so I believed in the existence of demons. But what I saw before me now was beyond anything I could ever have imagined capable of the fallen.
What manner of creature on this Earth or in hell could drink the blood of a man while he was still conscious and aware of what was being done to him? What manner of being could commit such an atrocity and appear to enjoy it?
At that moment the demon’s eyes snapped open. It regarded me for a moment and then, with an expression bordering on physical pain, it drew its lips away from Master John’s neck, allowing me to see that its incisors were like those of a tiger.
It watched me for a few moments whilst the scarlet stain on Master John’s shirt grew larger, then it moved its arm away from its victim’s chest and I saw Master John’s eyes roll back before he fell to the floor in a dead heap.
Now the thing stood watching me, its blue eyes assailing me with that same wild hunger and yearnin
g I had seen before. That’s when I found the strength to scream.
Everything that had happened over the last two nights seemed to overheat my brain and it began to withdraw, seeking refuge in darkness.
I had to get away. But I could already feel my legs giving way and darkness moving swiftly in on me.
The creature moved with that lightning-fast speed and was at my side to catch me before I hit the ground.
I knew I would surely die now.
The last thing I saw before I fell into darkness was its face hovering over mine with Master John’s blood still on its lips, that bottomless blue gaze scorching my mind.
And then it was all gone.
Chapter Six
It seemed as though an eternity passed before the sound of raised voices began to penetrate the cool darkness. Those voices sent a white flare of anxiety into the dark and the more I tried to withdraw, the louder the voices became until I began to hear individual words.
“She dared to try and kill a white...”
“Her mama’s a witch and she...”
“She’s evil. We all know she done killed her own...”
What was this? Hell?
Then I was awake and looking up at the full moon gleaming like a pearl in the sooty night sky.
I felt something draw close around me and realised that I was lying on the ground outside my quarters, being propped up in someone’s arms.
“Where—?” I whispered.
“Sister Luna. You are awake.”
I grasped his hand, so relieved to hear the sound of his voice. It seemed that Jupiter was always there whenever I needed him most.
“What happened? Massa John?”
“He lives, Sister Luna,” he spat. “We heard you scream and when we ran to your cabin we...we saw it. We saw the demon but it turned into air and was gone before we could even speak. I fear that if we had not been close by, you would be dead.”
“Help me up,” I said but his hold on me tightened.
“No. I do not want them to see you are awake. You’re still in danger, Sister Luna. Not everyone believes that it was a demon that nearly killed Master John. They think it was you. And the ones who do believe what we say about the demon think you’re the one who drew it here. And they don’t believe any of us will be safe if you live.”