Oppressed

by Kira Saito

  “Who sent you?” I asked. “What’s your name?” I tried to reason with her.

  She limped closer and closer to me and I tried to get up but with every move I was forced back down until I lay flat on my back.

  “Nobody cares what my name is! Can’t you see? Nobody cares at all so I’ve come. I’ve come to wreak havoc because that’s all I have left. Death and destruction are the only solutions. I loved him but he never loved me back! Why didn’t he love me? And why did they have to kill me?”

  “No,” I pleaded. “No they’re not. Please tell me your name.”

  “I am Sophie. Sophie I am.” She laughed wickedly before leaning down and parting my mouth with her mud-caked hands.

  I attempted to move but my body was frozen, limp and terribly useless. No words came out when I tried to speak, only an endless stream of yellow vomit. With a swift and unexpected move the apparition crawled into my throat and forced me to swallow her.

  I stood up and found myself thrusting from one end of the alcove to the other. My chest started to madly ache and a veil of lunacy descended upon me. Before my very eyes I saw my body transform into hers. All of her scars disappeared and her skin was soft and supple again. I touched my face, her face and found it to be incredibly smooth and polished.

  I heard the crack of a whip and my blood ran cold. I felt the pain of an agonizing lash on my back and bitter tears of agony poured out of my eyes. An oak branch extended itself from a nearby tree and wrapped its claws around my neck.

  “Sophie. I am Sophie!” I madly wailed, as the branch lifted me up off of the ground and dangled me in mid-air. A small flame ignited underneath my feet and the first heat of the fire started to crawl up my legs. I looked at the gray sky and let out a scream as I smelled my flesh start to burn and my body started to violently shake. “I am Sophie!”

  The flames rose higher and higher. I tried to think of a spirit that would help me but Sophie’s thoughts were overpowering mine. Although she had practiced Voodoo, her connection with the spirits wasn’t as strong as mine. I knew that she had been a worker on this plantation, not a slave but a free woman of color and this is what had happened to her. They had feared her and had murdered her.

  I looked up, closed my eyes. I could hear Papa Ghede’s voice beckoning me from the other side but Sophie didn’t want me to die. Whoever was controlling her was only beginning their game. They were only toying with me. The real game was just about to begin.

  Sophie recalled a name. “Louis!” I screamed. “Louis! I’m alive! Help me!”

  I heard a voice. “Jump! Jump! I’ll catch you!” hollered the voice. “Do it quick.”

  I opened my eyes and looked down. I saw a handsome young man standing below. His raggedy brown shirt was drenched and his filthy feet were bare.

  A powder was thrown into my eyes and the branch loosened its grip. I closed my eyes again and jumped down. He caught me but I was still Sophie.

  Chapter Thirty

  Lovesick Puppy

  Darkwood Plantation

  A few miles outside of New Orleans, 1853

  “Sophie?” he asked.

  I nodded. “I’m alive, Louis. I’m alive!”

  Louis’ deep eyes widened in shock and then without warning he pulled me close. Tears streamed down his face and I could feel his heart beat wildly. “Sophie. Sophie,” he muttered. “I love you. I love you. I thought you left me. I thought you didn’t love me. You’re my everything, Sophie,” he whispered.

  “No, Louis. I love you. Only you. I came back, didn’t I? I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

  I could feel that Sophie was lying. She didn’t love Louis. She thought he was a naïve, lovesick puppy and believed that she was too good for him. She had loved someone else but now she despised him. I wanted to overpower her and tell Louis the truth but whoever was controlling her had full power over me and I was nothing but a helpless avatar.

  I pulled Louis close and kissed him furiously and passionately. As his energy blended with mine I could feel his goodness and warmth. It was familiar. All so familiar. When I pulled back I saw that his eyes were glazed over as if he had been placed in hypnotic trance. He was under Sophie’s control now. Within me Cecile was fighting and struggling to drive out Sophie but the battle seemed hopeless.

  “Sophie, I’d do anything to make you happy. Anything,” Louis said, as he covered me in a storm of kisses.

  “We can be together forever, Louis. Forever and forever. Do you want to be together forever?”

  “Yes,” he nodded furiously. His eyes were growing foggier by the second and Sophie knew that it was the perfect time.

  I started to run away from the alcove of trees and towards the house. “Come with me, Louis! Come with me and we can be together forever.”

  Louis started to run after me and I giggled at his stupidity.

  “Louis, where are you going?” I heard his Maman’s voice call him. “They’ll kill you!”

  “Sophie, I can’t go to the main house. They’ll kill me,” he said, parroting his Maman.

  I stopped. When he caught up with me I kissed him savagely. “Louis do you love me?” My voice was threatening. Inside, Cecile wanted to scream.

  “Yes,” he said. All of his clarity had been sucked out and he was a weak child again. He was mine to manipulate and use. He was a hungry little puppy looking for affection and warmth. He was putty in my hands.

  I looked at his Maman and saw that she had fallen to the ground and was trying to crawl towards us. Whoever was controlling me had influence over her as well.

  “Then prove it. Be a man and forget your Maman for once.” I ran away from him and made a mad dash towards the side of the house. With cat-like reflexes I crawled up the side of the house and into the familiar window. Louis was right behind me.

  A row of black candles lit up the large room and a ghastly humming filled the air. It reeked of death, spider webs, licorice root, and chicory root. It was the smell of Confusion Oil.

  Lucus lay on the bed; sweat dripped from his forehead and black blood fell from his nose. Edmond sat on a plush satin chair in the corner of the room and slowly drank whiskey from a heavy crystal glass. His eyes gleamed and he smiled when he saw me and Louis climb through the window. Emilie stood over Lucus and watched him holler in agony. Her blue eyes filled with delight at his every scream.

  What was going on? I was a pitiful prisoner, unable to say the words I wanted to say. Scream the screams I wanted to scream. I wanted to ask Emilie why she was doing this.

  Emilie glanced at me. “I’ve been sitting down for far too long, sister; now it’s my turn to shine and you need to be punished for your crimes.” She glanced at Edmond. A wicked grin danced on her lips. “I told you I wouldn’t disappoint you. After this sacrifice Cecile’s all yours. To have, hold, and oppress for eternity.”

  “Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.” Edmond’s voice was low and approving just as it had been when he had first undressed me. Cecile wanted to vomit but as Sophie I was on a mission. He shot Emilie a look. “At least you savages are good for something.”

  “Sweet Cecile, are you in there?” he asked, as he looked at me. “I want to watch while you have my dear cousin murdered. Sacrifice him so we can be together forever. That is what you want, isn’t it?”

  Against my will I nodded.

  “Excellent. I want to watch as life is taken from him. I despise him with every ounce of my being. I don’t understand what you see in him.” He scoffed in disapproval.

  I glanced at Louis. His eyes were starting to clear and it seemed as if he was snapping out of his trance, but Emilie wasn’t going to let that happen. She passed Confusion Oil over his neck and his eyes glazed over again.

  I looked at Lucus and instead if feeling love I felt humiliation and anger. As Sophie, I recalled how much I had loved him. How much I had pursued him and how one day he had given in and kissed me while he had been drunk. And how the next day I had offered myself to him only to be
refused and told that he didn’t feel the same way about me. Sure I had fooled around with Louis because I found his child-like devotion endearing, but Lucus was the one I really wanted. Not some lowly slave. Lucus was the challenge. He was the one who could have pulled me out of my miserable position.

  Alas, it hadn’t worked out that way. Madame LaPlante had found out about my little obsession and had me whipped, which annoyed me to no end. I had called upon Sousson Pannan to help me defend myself, which had infuriated the drivers. In fear and anger they had killed me and at the age of seventeen my life had been cut short. Now, I wanted Lucus to suffer and die a slow and agonizing death. I bent over and kissed him, all the while staring at puppy dog Louis.

  “Sophie!” Louis screamed.

  I gave him a grin and kept on kissing Lucus.

  Soon enough, Louis climbed on top of Lucus and started to punch him in blind vengeance and mindless anger. Every punch gave me a strange sense of justice. “You have everything! Why can’t you leave her alone?” Louis shouted.

  I looked at Emilie and Edmond. Their cold faces were smug with approval as they looked upon the scene in pleasure.

  I could feel Cecile trying to push me aside but I wasn’t going to let her win either. I wanted her to watch him die. I wanted her to watch as the blood oozed from his nose and mouth and flooded the crisp white sheets. Why did he love her anyways? What was so special about her?

  Lucus struggled against Louis but I could see that he was losing the battle and would be gone soon.

  “I want Cecile to watch. I watch to watch Cecile’s expression as he dies,” ordered Edmond.

  Emilie nodded.

  I coughed and watched as my body transformed into my own again. Sophie’s black spirit slowly exited my mouth and entered into the glass jar which was held by Emilie.

  “Lucus, no!” I rushed to his side but it was too late. He was already dead. My snobs were loud and violent but Emilie and Edmond only laughed at my despair so I abruptly stopped unwilling to give them anymore satisfaction.

  Louis stumbled off of Lucus and walked around the room in what appeared to be a drunken stupor. My heart ached for him, as he had been used as an unwilling puppet to carry out this unnecessary massacre. His mouth was starting to foam and I could tell that he was about to die as well. After all, the weapon needed to be destroyed.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Another Sacrifice

  Darkwood Plantation

  A few miles outside of New Orleans, 1853

  I felt Edmond’s arms around me. “Let me take you home. They’ll kill you if you stay here, won’t they? Only I can keep you safe now.”

  I shuddered, recoiled at his very touch and freed myself from his arms.

  I mentally begged for Erzulie’s guidance as I grabbed a heavy brandy decanter from off a nearby table and smacked him over the head with it. The strength of the blow knocked him unconscious.

  Emilie smirked. Under the candlelight she suddenly appeared cruel and evil. There was an unsettling hunger in her eyes and I saw her for who she really was; a clever and vicious power hungry Queen.

  “It’s been you all along, hasn’t it?” I asked furiously. “You’ve only been pretending that you didn’t know Voodoo/Hoodoo. You’ve only been pretending this whole time and you’ve been helping him. You’ve been behind the attacks. You’re the one who burnt the house down. But why?”

  She laughed. “I think you already know the answer to that. I hate you and I will always hate you, dear sister. I no longer want to live under your sick shadow. I’ve taken your abuse for years, so don’t preach to me about morality. Yes, I’m a powerful Queen, and I’ve been so merciful with you and your Maman over the years. I could have killed you at any time, but that would have been too easy, so I waited for the perfect time. The perfect situation to show you exactly how degrading you’ve made my existence. Now, you’ll finally know the meaning of real oppression. This little ceremony has tied you to sweet Edmond for eternity, and you’ll never ever be free.”

  “No,” I mumbled. “No.” Grief, confusion and pity temporarily paralyzed me but I managed to compose myself and focused on the bigger picture. I kissed Lucus good-bye. I kissed his bloody mouth, forehead and the tips of his fingers while I fought back tears. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I love you. I will always love you, my Dinclusin.” As I said those words I couldn’t help but believe that I was in fact a ruined, evil, heathen savage. Death and destruction had a strange habit of stalking me. I couldn’t and wouldn’t allow Louis to die.

  I didn’t want to leave Lucus’ side but Louis needed me and we needed to escape before Edmond woke up.

  The door opened, and Emilie hid herself behind the cherry wood armoire. Madame LaPlante stood on the other side with two guards behind her. She rushed over to Lucus’ side and started to wail when she fully absorbed his gruesome state.

  “I knew it! I knew you were evil!” She hollered. “Show her no mercy,” she ordered.

  The beefy guards came closer and I could sense they took pleasure in my horrified expression. I quickly grabbed Louis’ hand and tried to ignore the fact that his tongue was hanging out of his mouth and his head was bobbing up and down. I pulled him towards the window and he blindly followed me as I climbed down the ivy-covered railing.

  I held his hand and in a nightmarish haze I pulled him towards the thick forest. The rain was terrifyingly cold as it stabbed me and the thin braches of the oaks were painful as they dug into my skin. The guards were getting closer, and with each passing minute I could feel Louis’ life slipping away. He stopped and rested against a tree.

  “I hate him,” he moaned. “I hate him.”

  “Shh.” I tried to hush him. “No, you don’t hate him. This isn’t you. You’ve been used and manipulated. You’re good and kind. I can feel it. You’re not really capable of hate.” I thought of how I could help him. How I could help him escape this terrible existence.

  “The pain is too much!” he screamed wretchedly. “I HATE HIM!”

  His belly started to bloat, swell and rip open. A vile green fungus type liquid started to drip from his forehead and I knew that his body was dying. The light behind his eyes was fading fast. “What have I done to deserve this?” he moaned.

  “Nothing. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “Why do you care about me?” he moaned. “Aside from you, only two people have ever looked me in the eye.”

  “Someone has to care, right?” I said, as I held him and racked my brain for a quick solution to this mess.

  The crack of a whip interrupted us and against a nearby oak leaned the dangerously handsome Mait Carrefour. His smiled arrogantly, exhaled a puff of smoke from his pipe and flexed his large chest muscles. His dark skin was shiny and smooth as raindrops bathed him. “I can help,” he offered rather seductively. His deep voice shook the trees and caused owls to madly hoot.

  “This way!” The guards were getting closer.

  I turned to him. “You can?”

  “What do you want in return?” I knew that he was a very tricky spirit. He wasn’t necessarily evil. He was just attracted to the darker things in life.

  He nodded. “I can help him be free if you give me his brother’s soul.”

  I looked at Louis. “Louis, do you have a brother?” I lightly shook him and tried to ignore his spine-chilling screams.

  “NO!” he wailed.

  “He doesn’t have a brother.”

  Mait Carrefour shrugged. “Then you shouldn’t have a problem saying yes.”

  The wind tugged on my hair and I could feel Bade attempting to speak with me.

  Louis continued to howl like a wounded banshee and I knew I had to do something right away. Even if Louis had a brother somewhere, I didn’t know him, so it didn’t really matter if I sacrificed him, did it? “Yes. Yes,” said quickly.

  “NO!” hissed Bade.

  “Excellent.” Mait Carrefour extended his whip and entwined Louis in it.

  Arms wrapped a
round me and the stench of stale tobacco shot up my nose. Filthy hands tugged at my hair and I knew the end was near.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  On Dying…

  Darkwood Plantation

  A few miles outside of New Orleans, 1853

  The faces that surrounded me were dressed in uniforms of brutality, fear, and hatred. My face was shoved in a pile of wet mud and I felt a hard boot against my ribs. I suppose I did the typical things one does when they’re on the verge of death. I pleaded, tried to reason, and screamed. Some spirits whispered plans of vengeance and destruction in my ear while others warned me not to give up.

  I was frustrated, exhausted, and confused and saw no point in going on with life. I closed my eyes and thought of how blessed I had been to have fallen in love. I refused to die with hatred in my heart because if my short life had taught me anything it was that hatred and fear were the greatest oppressors. My life had been one of constant divisions, where ‘divide and conquer’ was the motto. It had been a rule that had turned sisters against sisters, Mamans against daughters and sons. The list went on and on. Lucus and I had challenged that ugly rule. And for a brief period it had been absolutely blissful.

  I wanted to see Lucus on the other side and I didn’t care how I got there. I didn’t want to live in this world and be Edmond’s slave.

  Madame LaPlante grabbed fist full of my hair and jerked my head back. Her eyes were full of tears and her lips quivered uncontrollably. “Your evil killed him! Your evil killed my only child!”

  I simply smiled at her. I smiled as the first lash tore open my skin. I began to laugh deliriously as the lashes continued and I was blinded with a pain so sweet and merciful that it allowed me to pass out.

  My body was dumped and buried in an unmarked grave and when my spirit rose the handsome Ghede Nibo welcomed me to the other side.

  “Welcome! Welcome! One who has died young and unexpectedly! Let me help you find your way!” He gave me a dazzling smile and batted his lush lashes. He clapped his hands and I found myself dressed in a purple and black silk gown. My long hair rippled in the warm night air and the delicious smell of lilies swirled around me. All of my pain was gone and I was anxious to see Lucus.