by Ju Ephraime
He believed the only reason the evil sorcerer had been able to get at his wife was because he was very powerful and cunning. But he had no doubt that Lange would outwit him. He was excited and nervous to see what Lange had planned for him tonight.
She had given him very specific instructions on his role. It was really not much. He wanted to have a go at this sorcerer, but Lange would have none of it. According to her, he would be powerless against the Black Magic Man because, when he entered the homes, he was not in human form. He always entered the homes in his sorcerer’s persona, out of his skin. So, no humans could see him, let alone touch him, except someone who dabbled in the Black Arts, and even then, preparations had to be in place to weaken and ultimately destroy him. Catching him required, essentially, setting a trap for him. And it had to be a good trap to catch and hold him; otherwise, he could escape. He could escape most traps. Only a few had proven to work unfailingly, and judging by the things Lange had in place, she was using not one but two of the most effective traps on this Black Magic Man.
At lunch time he called Lange as he’d said he would, but she was too busy to talk with him. She told him she wouldn’t be meeting him today, but everything was going as planned and she’d see him at home.
He ended the call, but he couldn’t concentrate on anything at work. He kept worrying about what was going on at his home, but he was told it was critical that he behaved in his normal manner so as not to tip the sorcerer off. When he’d first agreed to do this, he had no idea what was involved in this. Now it was too late to change his mind. Also, he had to admit that the bastard had to be stopped. The four hours between talking with his wife and leaving work for the day were the longest of his life and the most agonizing he’d lived through. He had to force himself to walk home sedately when all he wanted to do was hire a cab and get driven home.
But soon he was letting himself in through his front door. He was hit with a blast of scents, but the most dominant one was the hot pepper. Lange was alone; whoever had been helping her had long gone. The scent was so strong it was causing his eyes to water. He was able to enjoy his dinner on the porch, and they remained on the porch well into the night, drinking and enjoying the cool night. At exactly 11:30, he went into bed, and Lange made some last-minute preparations and joined him in their bed.
He was surprised to see Lange had dressed herself in a flowing white robe, her hair tied in the same white fabric, and around her neck was a necklace that extended down to her pubic area. He didn’t question her but opened his arms and welcomed her into the fold of his body. They couldn’t have sex because it was important that her body remained unsoiled by another man.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Jean Louis was preparing his body for the task he’d set himself. He began with a cold bath from the spring, and then, reciting his chant, he shed his skin and took himself off to Lange’s house. He was determined to enter the house tonight. He was going there to grab her and leave. He had a place all set to take her to, where no one would think to look for her.
He knew he had to go in and out quickly. He wished he could’ve have done this without shedding his skin, but in order to have the Black Magic powers, he had to shed his skin. That was the price of the power. But if he moved quickly enough, he could be in and out with her before too much damage was done to him by the hot pepper. It was a chance he had to take.
Upon arriving at her house, he had to take a deep, fortifying breath. He needed it to get his courage up. This was like walking into the fires of hell, but he walked in boldly, even though the pepper was stinging him something terrible. In no time, the pepper had begun attacking his body. He tried his best to remain strong, but soon his eyes had almost shut tight. He could no long see where he was going. He couldn’t keep his eyes open. They were now completely closed. He tried to rely on his senses because he was familiar with the layout of the house, but the pepper had gone through his nostrils and traveled down to his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. The burning in his lungs was more excruciating than the sting in his eyes. Under the waves of pain, he forced his eyes open. He could make out her form lying next to her husband in a white robe; using his last strength, he cast a spell over the husband, sending him into a deep sleep. He reached for her, but as his hand closed around her to lift her, he realized he didn’t have the strength.
Try as he might, he couldn’t lift her from the bed. When he saw it was not working, he went to release her, but he couldn’t release her either. Somehow, he was stuck. He couldn’t remove her from the house, and neither could he remove himself from her. He was well and truly stuck.
He remained there, struggling to get free. After several hours of this, he began to feel the change in his body that signaled the approaching dawn. He redoubled his efforts, pulling with all his might to get away from her, but the only thing he succeeded in doing was ripping pieces of his exposed flesh. He could taste the iron of his blood in his mouth. His eyes were now shut permanently because the flesh was falling from his face.
For the first time, he acknowledged he might meet his death in this house. He also had to accept that the woman was not meant for him. That he had let his cock rule him and blinded him to the fact that maybe he’d known her in another life, but in this life, she was not meant for him.
He was upset with himself. After so many years of having using his cock to dictate his actions, it was the same cock that will cause his demise. He knew he could have regenerated had he been able to escape from the house before his body had deteriorated so much. Now, it was beyond his powers. He had no other choice but to summon his Master. He knew the Master had told him he was on his own in this, but he didn’t think his master would let him die such a terrible death.
“Master, Master,” he yelled, trying, and failing, to recite the chant that would summon his master. He was taking his last breath when there was a shift in the air and the house shook as a dark shadow stood before him. Hatred seethed in the air like a living thing.
“You arrogant fool, black magic is not a toy. It is dangerous to you and to those about you. You endangered us all with your stupidity and risked exposing us.”
“Yes, Master.”
“I warned you about pursuing this woman. What made you think you could come into this woman’s home and carry her away from her mate?”
“Master, I’m sorry, Master.”
“Don’t apologize to me. Had you not been so infatuated you would have seen the signs, but you were so full of yourself you never saw what was staring you in the face.”
“I saw nothing, Master. Please help me, and I’ll spend the rest of my miserable life making it up to you.”
“There’s nothing to make up, slave. You were finished the moment you glanced that woman’s way.”
“I don’t understand, Master.”
“You’ll understand soon enough when you feel the lick of the flames.”
“Master, please tell me where I went wrong.”
“This woman came into this world feet first. Her birth was marked by all the spirits in this sphere, good and evil. She had chosen the protection of good over evil, and when you targeted her, all the forces of good combined against you. Fool!”
And he was gone, just as suddenly as he’d appeared, leaving the Black Magic Man to suffer his fate.
****
The first rays of dawn were spreading across the sky when Lange shifted from her self-imposed paralysis. The sachet the obeah woman had given her worked like a charm. The sorcerer was standing in a stooped position, his shriveled flesh hanging from his frame. The minute the pepper touched his exposed flesh, his ability to render himself invisible was gone. Salt had the same effect. The salt had to be rubbed into his skin, but the minute he stepped back into it, his ability to be invisible was gone also, and either one could kill him.
She was pleased he was still conscious. Getting out of bed, she woke Rupert. “It is time, darling,” she told him.
Together they went into the kitchen and each carrie
d a huge pot filled with the peppered brew that had taken all day simmering on the stove. They set it down close to the front door, and they returned to the bedroom, where the shriveled frame was still in the same spot they’d left it.
Rupert could not touch him because the sorcerer could try taking sustenance from him, but he couldn’t do a thing to Lange. She unlocked the front door, and, opening it wide, she pushed the almost corpse through the door with a broom that had been soaking all day in the pepper. He was not even able to stop himself from falling onto the front lawn, and before he could recover, she took the pot of peppered brew from Rupert and poured it over him. The Black Magic Man let out a scream that woke the roosters in the neighborhood. They began to crow, making such a ruckus that the second scream, as he met his maker with the second pot, was drowned out by the sound of the roosters and the dogs barking.
Rupert was ready with a bottle of kerosene, which he used to douse the bits and pieces that remained of Jean Louis. Walking up closer to it, so as not to set his entire front lawn on fire, he struck a match and threw it on the largest pile. Standing back, he watched as the flames devoured every bit, as if it was alive, creeping onto every morsel until there was nothing left of the Black Magic Man. He was surprised. Not even the ashes remained when the flames finally died. His front lawn was as it was before, with nothing left to remind them of what had been. Turning, he walked back to his wife just as she turned to him. They reached each other together, and only then did Lange allow her emotions to take over. The fear that had held her in its grasp finally released her, and she began to cry violently, gasping out words in an incoherent torrent.
“I thought we wouldn’t be able to do it. It was the most difficult thing I ever had to do.”
“You did it. Now stop crying—you’ll only make yourself sick.”
“I c-can’t,” she sobbed against his neck.
“Stop it,” Rupert said, driven to desperation. He couldn’t watch her cry. Removing the white scarf covering her head, he found her wet cheek with his lips. The taste of her tears pulled upon his heartstrings. He moved to the corner of her mouth and kissed her gently, several soft, brief kisses, increasing the pressure of his lips gradually until she opened up to him. He dove past the edge of her teeth and took full possession of her mouth. Her crying ceased magically, and she pressed her body to his. She was naked under the flowing gown, and he couldn’t stop himself from responding to her.
“Darling, let’s air out the house and get rid of the stench of pepper that permeates the whole house.”
“Yes, let’s do it.”
“How are you feeling? Are you up to it?”
“I sure am.”
“Good. That’s my girl.”
They opened all the windows and doors, and after they’d placed scented candles all over the house, the strong smell of pepper was soon out of the house. Even the house seemed to welcome the change. There was a peaceful atmosphere about it, like it had been when they’d first bought it.
They spent the day in bed making up for lost time. They both thought they deserved some time off… some time to relax.
They were lying wrapped in each other’s arms, savoring the moment, when Rupert reached for her, and burying his face in her hair, he whispered, “Are you up to telling me what happened the night the Black Magic Man visited you and left all those scratches all over your body? If you’re not up to talking about it, I understand.”
“No, I’ll tell you. I do owe you an explanation. I’m not sure how much I can tell you because the entire thing is fuzzy.”
“A bit fuzzy?”
“Yes, it felt like a dream. A dream I couldn’t wake up from. I tried, but it was as if I was being held down by invisible bands. The way it happened I was not certain if he was there or projecting those thoughts through to scare me. When I woke the morning after, I knew I’d been visited by a Black Magic Man, and a very powerful one at that.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, usually they leave their mark, but it’s usually a superficial scratch or a bruise, nothing like the marks that were all over my body. It made me realize this sorcerer meant business. So I had to deal with him quickly because sometimes repeated exposure to them can drive their victim insane. I had no intention of allowing that to happen. I loved you too much, and I intend to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.”
Lange was not about to give him a blow-by-blow about what the sorcerer had done to her. It was painful for her just thinking about it. No, what Rupert didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“You don’t need to prove anything to me, sweetheart. You are the very air I breathe. When you hurt, I hurt. You’re my heart. No matter what trials and tribulations come our way, just know I will always be there. I’ll never stop loving you, no matter how many years go by,” he told her, his eyes dark and hungry.
She knew the truth of his feelings for her, which was reflected in his eyes as he looked into hers. She wanted to give him everything he’d given her, multiplied ten thousand times.
“I give you my trust, my heart, and my love, darling,” she told him.
“I know you’ll be there for me. As a little girl, I used to believe in love at first sight.” She pressed a kiss over his heart. “I believe it even more so now that I found you.”
He gave her a deep, passionate kiss that had them both breathing hard as he set to work on driving away all the bad memories.
And later that night in bed, he reaffirmed that belief. She had a release so strong she came apart in his arms, and he followed less than a heartbeat after.
EPILOGUE
In the months following the incident with the Black Magic Man, Lange and Rupert put all their efforts into getting their life back on the right footing and getting that baby that they both now wanted. She put just as much effort into getting pregnant as her husband did, and between the two of them, there was time for little else.
However, in her private moments, Lange would catch herself thinking about the Black Magic Man and how close she’d come to losing her husband, possibly even her life. Thank God she had been born a breech baby, which gave her a certain amount of power. She shuddered every time she thought about how different this could have gone. It could have so easily gone the other way and taken her away from her beloved husband.
She was about to get off the bed to get ready for work when she found herself rushing to the bathroom. This was second time in just as many days she had emptied the contents of her stomach in the bathroom. When it first happened, she’d thought it was the coffee. She drank two cups, even though she had not really wanted it. It was as if she couldn’t keep it down, but she drank it anyway. She’d always started her day with a cup or two of coffee. How could her body reject it now, unless…
She was just thinking about the little things she’d failed to notice when she was hit with another wave of nausea. This time she was barely able to make it to the toilet bowl in time.
A visit to her doctor later that morning confirmed her suspicion. She and her husband were going to be parents. She knew Rupert would be ecstatic. He’d wanted a baby within a couple of months of being married. She didn’t think it was right at the time, but now she was ready.
She decided to work from home that day, not wanting to have to rush to the bathroom and give away her secret. She wanted Rupert to be the first to know. Unfortunately, she had a difficult time preparing the meal. Various smells would trigger her sickness, and she couldn’t eat any of the meal she’d prepared. She was not even able to taste it to check for salt. As soon as the thought came to her, her stomach would begin to roll. So, for once, she had no idea how the food tasted.
That night after dinner, she was lounging on the porch, enjoying the last couple hours of daylight, when Rupert walked out and took the chair next to her.
“This was a wonderful dinner, darling, but is there any particular reason why it had no salt? Are we going on a special diet?”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sor
ry. I’m not good with the salt these days. I thought I’d put some in there, but I must have not put enough. I’ll make it up to you.”
“Come here. You can make it up to me now,” he said suggestively, reclining fully on the chair.
“Soon,” Lange replied, pretending to be engrossed in the book she was reading.
“What are you reading that’s more interesting than making it up to your husband for giving him tasteless food?”
“Ah, you poor baby. Lange served you tasteless food?”
“Oh, you want to play mommy? Come here. I have a baba for you.”
“When I’m done.”
“Come here now—I have a present for you.”
“Is that a new pickup line?”
“Come here. Let me acquaint you with my new PICK-UP LINE.”
“That PICK-UP LINE will just have to wait,” she replied, laughing hilariously. “Anyway, I have a gift for you too,” she replied.
“Well, do you want my present first?” he asked.
“Yes, you go first.”
Obligingly, Rupert slid a wrapped package from his pocket and handed it to her. Lange reached for the small box with childlike delight. “Oh good, I like the small gifts the best.” She tore the paper and opened the velvet-lined box, and her jaw dropped. Carefully she lifted the object out of the box, and it glittered richly in the last rays of the afternoon sun. Rupert had a beautiful necklace in hammered gold rings with a huge pendant in the shape of a cheetah. The pendant was made from black onyx and yellow diamonds. The designer had reversed the colors of the big cat, replacing the tan color of the body with the black onyx and the black spots that covered the body were the yellow diamonds. The distinguishing feature of the cat, the tear stripes that stretched from the corner of the cat’s eye to the side of its nose were depicted with white diamonds.