by E. Van Lowe
The room started spinning. It was as if I were in the middle of a bad dream. I couldn’t believe there was yet another wrinkle to this stinking mess. I moved uneasily to a dinette chair and sat.
I took a big gulp of my ice tea and waited for the spinning to slow down.
“Is there any way I can tell if the soul sucker has consumed most of her soul before I call him out?” I asked without any of the agitation I was feeling.
“Not that I’m aware of,” replied Monsieur Perez. He was looking at me with cautious eyes, as if I were a bird who might take flight at any moment.
“If you don’t want to go through with this, deary, we totally understand,” said Aunt Jaz.
Monsieur Perez shot her a disapproving stare but said nothing. Aunt Jaz returned his gaze with hard eyes, and I got the feeling there was trouble in paradise.
“Finally, the voice of reason,” said Maudrina with a relieved sigh.
“I want to do it,” I replied. “Guess I should go change,” I said and got up.
“Oh. All right then,” said Aunt Jaz.
“You won’t regret this decision,” said Monsieur Perez.
I faced him, about to explode all over him when I thought of Erin. I needed to save this burst of emotion for her. Monsieur Perez wasn’t worth it. For the first time, I easily got my anger under control. “I know I won’t,” I said.
“Use my bedroom,” said Aunt Jaz. “It’s down the hall and on the left.”
With a rain cloud of hopelessness hovering over me, I went into Aunt Jaz’s bedroom to begin changing into my disguise. The room was neat and retro, with an old-fashioned vanity by the old-fashioned bed. The bedspread was light green chenille, and there were doilies decorating the vanity and dresser. A small smile found my lips when I saw the room. It was Aunt Jaz all the way.
As I sat down at the vanity and began applying my makeup, I thought about the road that lay ahead. I needed to call out the demon eating away at Erin’s soul. It would be nearly impossible to do it in private, so I had to do it in full view of Danny and other Satanists. If that weren’t risky enough, if the soul sucker had consumed more than half of Erin’s soul, she would die in the process.
I added rouge to my cheeks and bright red lipstick onto my lips. I couldn’t believe how different I looked, even to myself. I was pleased to see the transformation working, although it did nothing to fill the void in my soul.
A while ago, Suze had purchased a pair of tinted reading glasses to use at the beach. Since she never went to the beach, the glasses were practically brand new. They were actually lightly tinted sunglasses with a small bifocal lens for reading. Aside from the bifocal part, they were plain glass. I chose them to finish off my disguise because nothing can change a person’s appearance like sunglasses, and since they looked like real glasses, no one would question why I was wearing sunglasses indoors. I just had to remember not to look down through the bifocal part because when I did, everything became a blur.
“Hey. Can I come in?” Maudrina’s voice called softly from the other side of the door.
“Yeah. Sure.”
The door whooshed against the shag carpet as she pushed it open. “Wow. You look older,” she said as she entered.
“That’s the plan,” I responded. I pulled the wig out of its wrapping and displayed it for her.
“Cool,” she said. She sat on the edge of the bed, the old bed springs singing loudly. “He’s a jerk,” she whispered.
I turned to her with a raised eyebrow. “Who? Curtis?”
“Him, too. But I was talking about Monsieur Perez.” She added a snooty accent when she said his name.
“You won’t get any argument out of me,” I said and went back to getting ready.
“I can’t imagine what Aunt Jaz sees in him.”
“He treats her well.”
“Yeah. As long as she feeds him. It’s a hundred and ten outside, and he’s got her slaving over a hot stove.”
I didn’t respond. We both knew how much Aunt Jaz loved to cook. The hot weather was not going to keep Aunt Jaz from doing what she loved best.
“It’s as if he’s got her hypnotized or something. She did say one thing I agree with, though.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“You don’t have to do this.” I looked at her reflection in the mirror and could see the worry lines etched deep into her brow.
“I know. We’ve been through this, Maudrina.”
“We have, but I wanted you to know if you had a last minute change of heart we’d all understand.”
“Thanks.”
What else could I say? What words of comfort could I offer? I didn’t want to attend the wedding as badly as she didn’t want me to. But I had to go. There was no choice. Erin thought she was marrying Danny, but instead the Satanists were planning on marrying her off to Satan. She needed to know the truth. If I didn’t at least try to warn her, I’d never be able to look myself in the mirror again. And okay, maybe I was taking the guilt trip too far, but what about my duty to my fellow man? Aunt Jaz had once said “no one should push their problems off on others.” Saving Erin was my problem. It was my actions that sent her off the deep end. I had to give saving her a try, whether I liked my odds or not.
My eyes slid from Maudrina’s pained reflection and onto my own as I went back to getting into my disguise.
Chapter Twenty-One
It was just after 7 p.m. The setting sun had melted into the mountains, their peaks appearing to have been dipped in molten lava. The heat coming off the range permeated the air with the thickness of a blanket.
Monsieur Perez pulled to a stop in front of the gates of Tavares Castle. Aunt Jaz had come along, but Maudrina opted to stay behind. I was glad she didn’t come. The last thing my jangled nerves needed was a teary goodbye.
Aunt Jaz leaned across the seat and pulled me into a gentle hug, at least gentle for her, and told me she was going to make my favorite bread pudding—although she called it puddin’—to celebrate my victory. Then I climbed from the car and into the sweltering night air.
As the ancient Maxima chugged away, I eyed Tavares Castle sitting on an upslope behind the gates. The locks and chains were gone and the gates had been left open. It wasn’t as inviting as it was meant to be. The castle was lit up with candle light flickering in all its many windows. It appeared to have been dressed for a spooky Halloween event instead of a wedding.
Saguaro cacti were scattered along the landscape, and the path leading up to the house was lined with sagebrush. This brought to mind an old western movie and not a Victorian castle.
As I walked through the old gates, two black sedans pulled up behind me, and guests spilled out of each. Perspiration rolled down my armpits inside the leather jacket as I made my way up the hill. It was too hot for leather, but I wasn’t going to remove the jacket.
Tavares Castle was a monstrous three-story stucco structure topped by a gleaming turret. It had been built in the early 1920s by an Italian immigrant who never lived there. Soon after the castle was completed, he fell on hard times and was forced to sell. It seemed everyone who’d owned the castle after him had some form of misery in their lives. It was the perfect place for a Satanic wedding.
My heartbeat quickened as I got closer. The castle’s ornate front door stood open, and classical music spilled into the heavy night air. I glanced back at the group walking behind me. They seemed… normal. They were all in a giddy mood as they swept up the path past me. Laughing, they mounted the flagstone steps and entered.
I stopped at the foot of the stairs and allowed my eyes to move down to the steps. My vision instantly blurred, and I began feeling seasick. I realized I’d been looking through the bifocal lenses. Eyes up. There, that’s better.
I lingered at the foot of the steps for a few moments, allowing the spinning to stop and gathering my thoughts. I sensed that once I mounted the stairs and entered the castle my life would be changed forever. Changed seemed a whole lot better than over.
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I thought of Guy, of how much I loved and missed him. I thought of Orthon and felt the sting of his betrayal along with that of his kiss. I thought of Maudrina, the best friend in the world, and how much she’d meant to me over the last few months. My final thoughts were of my mother, Suze Barnett. How many girls were lucky enough to count their mothers as one of their best friends? Not many, I was sure. I was one of the lucky ones.
I closed my eyes and promised myself that my best days were still ahead of me. After I freed Erin and got Satan out of my life once and for all, things would be good. On that empty promise, I opened my eyes, climbed the stone steps and entered Tavares Castle.
Once inside, I walked down three short marble steps that led into a wide foyer. I kept my eyes straight ahead as I descended, making sure I didn’t look down through the bifocals. The castle was sparkling. The cool air inside smelled fresh and clean. It was impossible to tell the place had been closed up tight for so many years.
It was more crowded than it seemed from the outside. Some people were elegantly dressed. I observed my cowboy outfit in a mirror, and it occurred to me I was attending a Satanist wedding and not a cowboy-biker wedding. I may have been a bit underdressed, but I was also unrecognizable. That seemed a fair tradeoff.
I proceeded into a large room like a ballroom. A tiny man, a little person actually, dressed in tails, stood stiffly by the entrance to the room, as if he were a permanent fixture.
“Robes are in the anteroom to the chapel, or you can find one in the room under the stairs,” he said in an officious munchkin-like voice.
“Umm, thank you.”
Robes?
Candelabras were abundant throughout the large room, casting golden light on the high ceiling and walls, while creating pools of dark shadows all around. The Satanists moved between the shadows, as drips of white wax, like blood from wounds, slid down the slender candles.
Excited chatter nearly drowned out the classical music being played by a string quartet off to the far right. I immediately started looking for Erin. I scanned the crowd, hoping to find her milling about before the ceremony. I spotted a dark-haired girl in an elegant gown across the room, and my heart leapt. I weaved through the crowd in her direction.
As I got nearer, my heart began doing flip-flops as I wondered what she’d do when she recognized me. She turned. Erin? It wasn’t her. As soon as I realized it, I again began searching, not allowing myself to feel the pinch of despair. As I continued looking, I heard a familiar voice.
“Thank ya. This has been an honor for me.” Danny Tambor.
The sound of his voice sent a wave of fear rippling through me, like a row of dominoes spilling over. As each domino fell, my fear increased. As my fear mounted, I started to tremble, and could feel my ability fleeing like wildlife from a forest fire. In moments, I had been reduced to an empty vessel. Without my abilities, I was powerless. If I was powerless, I was normal—less than normal. I was a frightened sixteen-year-old girl. Happy birthday to me.
An elegantly dressed man of about forty, with an old-fashioned handlebar mustache, was patting Danny on the back. Danny was wearing the same ratty sport coat he’d worn to the expulsion hearing. “It’s a great thing you’re doing, young man. A great thing,” said the mustached man.
That doesn’t sound like someone congratulating a man on his wedding day, I thought. This is something else all-together.
“Thank ya,” Danny said again. “I better go find the little lady,” he said with a chuckle.
“Yes, yes, of course.” The man swatted him on the back again. He was obviously a man of taste. I could tell his suit was expensive, and yet he was attending Danny’s wedding. Go figure.
Danny started across the room, and despite the fear coming off me in waves, I became a follower as well. I followed him.
As Danny weaved his way through a crowd of well-wishers, I considered what I needed to do. The wedding was to take place in the chapel; to enter the chapel one needed to wear a robe. I needed to get to Erin before they entered the chapel and she was the focus of attention. Perhaps I could catch her on a trip to the ladies room. I may not have had access to my abilities, but at least I could warn her of what was about to happen, while calling the soul-sucking demon out of her.
It was then I noticed the tall thin lady moving through the crowd in my direction. She was wearing a gorgeous form-fitting leather dress with padded shoulders, and an afro wig straight out of the 70s. She caught my eye because I could tell she was staring at me through her dark sunglasses.
Alarm bells started going off in my mind. I didn’t recognize her, but I’d been spotted. This heightened my fear. With no abilities to defend myself, I was a sitting duck. I needed to lose her in the crowd.
I spun around and began weaving back through the crowd. As I moved, I started looking for a place to hide. I glanced back over my shoulder. The woman was picking her way through the crowd, gaining on me.
Spotting a small alcove to my left, I quickly headed there. I ducked into a foyer and opened the first door I saw. It happened to be the closet under the stairs. Dozens of monk-like robes of varying sizes were hanging from the bar. I pulled the door shut, bathing the closet in darkness, and listened at the door.
Someone entered the foyer right behind me and stopped. I knew it was her. I held my breath, not daring to let it out for fear she would hear me. There was another door across the alcove. I hoped she’d try that one first. If she did, I might have time to duck out.
After several moments, the footsteps began moving away and then stopped. I heard the door across the way open and then close. I continued holding my breath for several seconds, waiting to hear if the footsteps would now move toward me. When they didn’t, I flung open the closet door, stepped out, and barreled into the girl in the leather dress.
“Oops, sorry,” I said in a bad Spanish accent. “I thought that was the ladies room.” Quickly I started away, and an arm hooked into mine.
“Wait, Megan. It’s me.”
I know that voice. I spun around and looked into the girl’s smiling face. She lifted her shades and winked at me.
“Maudrina?”
“Surprise.”
“Some surprise,” I said as the tension spilled out of me like water through a busted vein. “I nearly died of a heart attack. What are you doing here?”
“Megan, we’re best friends, and best friends are always there for one another, even when the other best friend is too dumb to realize that two heads are always better than one.” She was still smiling as she lowered her shades.
“I’ll chastise you later. Right now, we need to find Erin.”
Together we moved back out into the large room. I scanned the crowd in search of Danny.
“Don’t you just love my disguise?”
“Not now, Maudrina.” I headed off in the direction I’d last seen him and pulled her along.
“I’ve been dying to tell you about it all week. But I knew if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
As I pulled her along, I could feel my fear beginning to subside. I’d thought having Maudrina along would make me feel more responsible, like a mother hen with too many chicks to watch over. Instead, I felt more powerful. I still wasn’t happy she’d come along, and yet… I was.
“Maudrina, aren’t you the least bit frightened?” I asked as we weaved through the crowd.
“I’m scared to death. But not as scared as I’d be if I wasn’t here with you.”
That actually made sense.
“Look,” I said, pointing with my nose.
Erin was moving in our direction, sandwiched between Danny and Millie, her maid of honor. They seemed to be dragging her along. While Erin had on the cutest mint green tunic dress, Millie was wearing a hideous lavender bridesmaid gown—a relic from some earlier wedding disaster.
“She looks drunk,” Maudrina whispered.
“Drugged,” I whispered back. Erin’s eyes were rivers of red with dark circles beneath them. I
wondered if we were too late.
“Millie’s gonna help you into your robe, all right, darlin’?” Danny unhooked her from his arm as they arrived at the foot of a sweeping staircase.
“I’m not wearin’ this?” Erin asked. Her voice seemed weak, but she wasn’t slurring. I wondered if her drugged appearance was the result of the demon chomping away at her soul.
“Nah. We got somethin’ real pretty picked out for you.”
“I can’t wait until the wedding night,” Erin said with a suggestive giggle. “You’re going to love what I picked out for yoooou.” She tried to kiss him on the lips.
“I bet I will,” said Danny, brushing her affections aside. He turned to Millie. “You got twenty minutes.” He disappeared into the crowd of guests.
“What am I wearing?” Erin asked, leaning against Mille.
“You’ll see,” Millie replied, all business as she ushered Erin up the stairs.
“We’ve got twenty minutes,” said Maudrina, cautious eyes following the girls.
I nodded. We glanced from side to side, making sure no one was watching then, like secret agents, we eased up the stairs behind them. A few steps up, I looked down at the steps. My vision blurred through the bifocal lenses, and the next thing I know, I missed a step and went tumbling back down the stairs.
Maudrina raced down after me. “Are you okay?” Panic was all over her face. The eyes of everyone in the area were on us. So much for not being observed.
“I’m fine,” I said scrambling to my feet. When I stood, a jolt of searing pain shot through my right ankle. I’d twisted it.
“What happened?”
“These stupid disguise glasses have bifocal lenses. Let’s go,” I said, not letting on that I’d been injured. We needed to get the eyes of the guests off of us as soon as possible.
As we again started up the stairs, a hand grasped me on the elbow. “Well, hello.”
I whirled. A tall, scruffy-looking man was smiling at me from the step below. It was Mert, the flirtatious roughneck from the Rattlesnake Lounge.
“I know you,” he said, as he dug his fingers into my arm.