by Unknown
Rhys walked me out of my apartment and down to the street. He was holding my arm tightly like I was going to make a run for it or be ripped away from his grasp. His car was down the block some ways. I looked towards my little car longingly. I wanted the comfort of the familiar. Stopping on the passenger side of his car, he unlocked it and opened the door for me. Oh, how gentlemanly! His eyes never left our surroundings as he stepped around the car and slid in next to me. As we started off down the road, I peered back. The shadow was standing where our car had been just a moment before.
I touched Rhy’s arm. “The shadow,” I whispered. He glanced into the mirror and nodded, pressing down on the gas harder. Within ten minutes, we were on the highway heading south.
I was sure that Rhys didn’t actually know where we were going because we changed directions multiple times and I think we were much farther south and heading west, but I couldn’t be sure. I was so turned around. We were silent for some time then I finally got up the courage to attempt a conversation. I cleared my throat.
“So, um, who are we meeting?” I asked. It seemed like any sound I made was magnified within the small space of the car.
“Someone who can help,” he answered.
“You can’t give me any more information than that?” I questioned.
He took his eyes away from the road to give me a long hard stare. He was appraising me. Determining whether I was worth the knowledge that he was imparting with.
As he turned his head back towards the road, he started talking.
“Her name is Mama Yansa, but before I tell you more, I have some questions for you.” I nodded, accepting his terms. He took a deep breath and began, “What do you know about shadows? Or spirits rather?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Nothing. I don’t believe in such things. Or I didn’t until yesterday. Is that what you think that shadow thing was?” It occurred to me just then that I had never asked him the question that mattered the most, especially in that moment. Then I asked, “You saw it, didn’t you? You saw the shadow that was choking me.” He must’ve, because he’d saved me.
“Yes, I saw it. How can you question the existence of such things when you’ve seen them with your own eyes? You saw it, experienced it, felt it. What would you call it then if not a spirit?” Rhys asked.
I didn’t have a logical answer for the shadow creature. I knew whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Beyond that, I hadn’t had enough time to sit down and work through everything and examine what I thought the thing could be. Other sane, reasonable people had explained their interactions with ghosts, perhaps that was what it was. Maybe those people weren’t crazy. They just didn’t have the technology to back up their claims. I could wrap my mind around that. It happened all the time in research.
“I don’t really know. I guess you could call it a spirit,” I finally answered.
“Why do you have such a hard time believing that?” Rhys asked plainly, as if the answer were obvious.
“I’ve never believed in God or an afterlife, let alone the paranormal. All of that crap has a natural explanation. I just believe in what I can see in front of me. Always have, always will. I believe in science.”
Rhys snorted at that. “Don’t scientists have to have an open mind?” he challenged. And with that, the conversation ended. I didn’t know what more to say to him. He clearly thought that there was something otherworldly going on and I didn’t know how to respond to that kind of craziness. Actually, I was scared that I was starting to believe it. That kind of information would have me completely reforming everything I had ever thought about the world and how it worked.
The scenery changed slowly as we continued to drive. Gone were the frequent towns and idyllic suburbia. I hadn’t seen another car in the last twenty five minutes and the road got rougher, less maintained. We had gotten off of the highway and were taking back roads. Levees broke up the watery world not far off of the oak lined roads. Wherever we were going was far from the beaten path and a very long way from any kind of civilization that could help me if Rhys turned out to be as big of a nut as he was starting to sound like. The swamp land around us grew denser, darker, and much more mysterious. It held secrets within its depths. You could feel it. It hung in the air, wrapping around you in a gentle caress. The air had a life of its own out there and the humidity was overwhelming, but I liked it better than the stifling staleness within the car without the windows down.
I glanced over at Rhys. He seemed distracted and I wasn’t sure I could take much more of this awkward silence. I had been thrust into an unusual situation and I was resolved to make the best of it and this guy had something about him that nagged at the back of my mind, just out of reach. He was beautiful, of that I was sure and he had mystery. This man was a puzzle, one that I was beginning to feel like I needed to solve.
With that, I began my interrogation.
“Where are you from?” My voice sounded raspy.
He didn’t acknowledge my question immediately and I was beginning to think he hadn’t heard me. Just as I was about to repeat myself he answered.
“I don’t know. I don’t remember much of my life before I was nine. After that, nowhere really.” I quirked an eyebrow, confused. He took in my expression before adding, “I mean that the woman who took me in, raised me in the middle of nowhere, deep in the swampland. I don’t know anywhere else. The closest town was Amelia over by Bateman Island, however we didn’t live anywhere near the rest of civilization.”
I wanted to ask more about his formative years, though I could see that it was a subject that he’d much rather prefer to leave buried. That was something I could understand.
“Is Mama Yansa the one who raised you? Is that why you’re taking me there? You think she can help?”
Rhys took a deep breath and nodded. “Are you always so inquisitive?”
It wasn’t possible for me to hold in the loud, belly laugh that left my mouth at his question. I had always been told I asked more questions than people had answers for and it had served me well throughout college. It would’ve been good in my career too, which I had undoubtedly screwed any chance of having.
I had called my boss, Paul, at the Audubon to inform him of my impending and indefinite leave of absence. To say that the conversation went smoothly was a bit of a distortion. He hadn’t been happy about it and expressed his great disappointment in the casual way with which I was treating my position, which he then added was quite coveted. I had explained that I had been attacked and left out the details regarding the supernatural and Angie. He didn’t need to know that Brad had any ties to me or that I knew he was a psychopathic murderer. Yeah, I was still a bit hung up on that. Regardless, compassion was apparently not one of Paul’s strong suits and I was basically guaranteed that I no longer had a job to return to when I got back.
Moonbeam stretched out lazily in the backseat and climbed forward, situating herself in my lap and purring contentedly. Good to see she was as at ease as I was anxious. Rhys broke me out of my concentration on Moonbeam by beginning his own line of questioning.
“Where are you from? You don’t seem like the type who’s lived in NOLA her whole life.” He was partially right. It was becoming noticeable that Rhys was a highly observant man who could read people with ease.
“Actually, I was born in New Orleans. We had to move up to Shreveport for my dad’s job when I was six. We moved back here right after I graduated from high school for college,” I said.
“Do your parents still live around the city?” he asked.
I winced. They were a sore spot that I didn’t like to talk about, though he didn’t know that.
“No, they don’t. They died about two years ago in a car accident.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Rhys said softly. He was quiet for a few moments then he spoke again.
“Look, I know you have a lot of questions and I have some answers, however I really think it’s best if you wait to get the answers you want from Mama
Yansa. Her knowledge on this subject by far exceeds mine and you need to know as much as possible.”
I nodded. This was getting old. He wasn’t giving me the answers I needed and he’d been pretty cryptic. I just wanted someone to be straight with me and tell me how we would get Angie back.
Pulling down a near unnoticeable one lane dirt path, because I couldn’t really call it a road, we slowed down to barely a crawl. We crept over a tiny wooden bridge and came to a stop in a bare spot off to the side of the pathway. The path came to an end at the edge of the swamp. There were no houses or trails within sight.
“This is the second leg of the journey,” Rhys said while unbuckling his seat belt and opening the door. I followed him out of the car with Moonbeam gathered snugly against my chest. Shuffling around, there was nothing other than water, trees, and underbrush. The Spanish moss hung from the trees making the entire scene seem creepier. I turned searching for Rhys. He was nowhere in sight.
“Rhys?” I called out. Nothing but the sounds of cicadas and birds answered my call.
I was starting to panic. He couldn’t have just left me, right? He wouldn’t. Or would he? I realized I didn’t really know him because I had grown to feel completely safe with him over the last twenty four hours. I was halfway around the car when a loud rustling stopped me in my tracks. There was something very large moving through the bushes not far from where I was standing. I was very aware that there were probably more alligators than people in that part of Louisiana. Suddenly, through the bushes out popped Rhys, pulling a small, shallow canoe-like contraption. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t jump almost clear out of my own skin when he came back into view.
“What is that? And why didn’t you answer me? I thought you’d left,” I demanded.
“Well, I didn’t leave and I heard you. Forgive me if I thought it was best not to answer and draw any more attention to ourselves than necessary,” he stated. He grabbed my bag from the backseat of the car and his small pack that carried his belongings. I hadn’t noticed his bag. He must’ve had it stashed away in the trunk. He placed them at the front of the water craft.
“What is that contraption?” I asked.
“This is a pirogue and it’s how we are getting to Mama’s house.”
“You have got to be kidding. That thing looks like it would sink with one person sitting in it and you expect the both of us, a cat, and our bags to get in and not sink into that muck?”
Walking past me, he patted me on the shoulder, mumbling something about, it being fine.
It would seem that Rhys was a man of few words and when he did go into a conversation, he was very direct and to the point. He wasn’t the type to talk just to hear himself. Even his most basic of conversations were carefully thought out, like he didn’t want to say the wrong thing or give too much away. He was an enigma. An enigma that made me sweat anytime he got too close. Damn his cocky grin! That thing should be classified as a lethal weapon because I was sure it would make my heart stop. Despite not having had the pleasure, I was pretty sure he could work miracles with those kissable lips, too. He was living, breathing sex on legs just oozing masculinity and promises of pleasure beyond imagination.
Rhys snapped me out of my daydreams about his lips by announcing that it was time to go.
“We’re leaving the car here?” I asked.
“Yep, can’t reach her place by land.”
I examined the craft with concern. My stomach was in knots. There wasn’t much I could do so I walked around to the middle of the pirogue and stepped in. Within moments, he had us pushed off and into the swamp. I had lived in Louisiana my entire life and had never ventured into our notorious swamplands. There were dangers there to be sure, though my apparently latent sense of adventure was starting to kick in. Even though I was dealt a shit hand, I had choices. I could sit and stew and get depressed by feeling helpless or I could do something and get Angie back. I chose the latter and taking that chance was how it was going to happen. No risk, no reward.
The water was still and with no obvious current to take us, we had to row, well, okay, Rhys rowed and I kept my eyes peeled. Cypress trees lined the narrow waterways, blocking out most of the sunlight. The murky, muddy waters made watching for the dangers below near impossible, although it was the trees that you had to watch. Some people might not know this, but Louisiana’s swampland were home to over fifty different species of snakes. Seven of those species will kill you in no time flat. Problem was, in Louisiana, they prefer to hang out in the trees and they use all the Spanish moss hanging around as cover. They fall into boats all the time and they are mean as hell. Sometimes you don’t see them until it’s too late, so I decided it was in best interest to stay as vigil as possible. I wasn’t scared of them per se, I had a healthy respect for the fact that they could kill me and it would just be mutually beneficial to let each other be. Peering over my shoulder, Rhys appeared to be at home, well, I suppose he was. Mama Yansa had raised that man in the swamps. The tension that had been visibly building in his shoulders was gone. His eyes shifted over the waters around us, more than likely watching for gators. He was so handsome when he was relaxed like that. I wanted to stare at him for hours. But, alas, it was not meant to be. I saw the tell-tale bubbles at the last minute.
The pirogue jolted suddenly after being hit from below. I grabbed for the edges to steady myself and to keep from falling out.
“Don’t move. It’s okay,” Rhys said in a harsh whisper.
Instinctively, I knew exactly what we were tangling with because there was only one thing in those swamps big enough to do anything remotely close to what had just happened. There was an alligator under our tiny boat and from the feeling of the impact, it was a big one. We moved only slightly from our spot. The only thing I could hear was my own blood rushing in my ears. Another thud echoed from beneath with a tiny shift in our position. I squeaked at that. Rhys held a hand out like I was a spooked stallion about to bolt, hushing me the entire time. We moved a little further from our spot. I noticed that Rhys had taken the appropriate precautions and had withdrawn a pistol from the holster hidden at his side. We had moved about ten feet when we heard the near silent sound of something large surfacing much too close for comfort. There he was. A monstrous gator not even fifteen feet away. He watched us with his green reptilian eyes and we leered right back. Rhys and the alligator were regarding each other like only two top predators could. Rhys was a powerful man. Still, I didn’t think he could take on a monster of that size. The monster inched towards us as we continued our slow journey away from the spot of our collision. I couldn’t take my eyes away from him. Fierce yet beautiful, powerful and graceful. The animal was a walking contradiction. He deemed us unworthy of the chase and disappeared back under the calm surface.
With his departure, Rhys picked up our pace. “It’ll be dark real soon and we can’t be out here after dark,” he said.
“Is it much further?” I asked.
“A couple miles maybe, but it’s rough going. There’s lot of tree stumps and narrow channels that can slow us down. Can you grab that other paddle next to you and start rowing? We need to move,” he said.
I took it up and started rowing for all I was worth. I could tell it was going to cut our trip time by a lot and I wondered why he hadn’t asked sooner or why I hadn’t volunteered. He probably thought I was a snob for not offering to help or that I was incapable of that kind of physical work. The thought of Rhys thinking of me in an unattractive light like that made my chest ache. God! What the hell was wrong with me? I knew I liked him. He was gorgeous! Who wouldn’t like him? And he was a thoughtful guy which made him even more endearing. Still, I could not understand why I cared about what he thought of me. It wasn’t like I had any sort of claim on him and he certainly didn’t have one on me. So what was going on with me? I prayed that Angie wasn’t right and I didn’t need someone to, knock the cobwebs off of my pipes, because deep down, I hoped I wasn’t that desperate.
After abo
ut a mile and a half of intense rowing, I was completely drenched in sweat. Even as darkness was fast approaching, it stayed ultra humid and hot.
“I have to stop for a minute,” I told Rhys.
Nodding, he stopped briefly, too. He pulled out a bottle of water from his bag and handed it over to me. I’m not proud to admit that I attacked that bottle like a woman who hadn’t seen water in days. Despite not being cold, it was the sweetest, most refreshing drink I’d ever had. What can I say? The swamp’s heat and humidity could do that to a person and add in a bit of work… oh yeah, that was some high quality H2O. The brief reprieve from rowing was enough of a refreshment, so I picked the oar back up.
“We’re getting real close,” Rhys said.
Nodding, back at him, I started again. My arms and abs burned with the strain of pulling us through the water. I couldn’t help marveling at the ease with which Rhys and I fell into sync when working together. He turned us as I kept pulling.