My Life Would Suck Without You

by Krystal George

When I see his car turn down her street, hope begins to fill me. He parks in the front and I run to greet him, forgetting I am completely impalpable. She meets him at the door.

  “Avery if this is a cross then we need to figure it out quick. The longer she stays in this state the harder it will be ta’ find her and bring her back.” Mama Ophie says with worry dragging on her words. She knows. Thank god she knows. If anyone can help me it would be her, and if anyone loved me enough to make me visible again it would be Avery.

  “Ophie this sounds crazy to me. Voodoo isn’t real. I’m sure she just felt like she wanted to get away. Let’s give her a couple more days ma’am. She will call. I know she will.” Avery says with uncertainty shaking his voice. I can tell he’s trying to be strong but something in him knows this isn’t just a getaway.

  “Child I have been alive long enough ta’ see it happen many times ta’ good people. All it takes is one wicked soul ta’ conjure up somethin’ evil. Simple ‘nuff…Some animal bones, couple drops ‘a blood, a photo…simple things can make up even the most potent ‘a curses.

  “A picture? Ophie! My favorite picture of Alyssa was stolen from my locker. I thought maybe some weird customer took it.” He says. I can see how he’s recalling that day. I watch it play over in his mind. I can see a smile start to come to the surface until he remembers I am gone. Determination settles in with confidence and his face lights up with hope. “Where do we start?” He asks. A ping of nerves wakes me and I feel faith start to overcome my body. The way a warm bath heats you up; slowly but entirely. I follow them into the house, watching my step as I walk over the small salt line. They sit down at the kitchen table while Mama puts a pot of water on to boil. She has to have her evening tea, no matter what.

  “Firs’, we need ta’ find an old friend ‘a mine. Her name is Clementine. I called her already so she know’s I’m gonna come for her. She used to work at Celestine’s too so she already knows who Tess is. She owns a shop now downtown and she’s mighty fine at bindin’ spells. I reckon first we need ta’ bind Tess, ta’ stop her from hurtin’ Alyssa any further.” She says with a concerned look on her face. They sit there for a second, letting it all sink in. The realization is obvious on Avery’s face. Voodoo is real, and not only is it real, but it has consumed his first true love. Mama pours her water in a cup and lets the tea leaves soak as she stirs the hot liquid. A funnel forms as her spoon stirs. She wonders where the only “child” she has ever known has gone to, and the look on her face exposes her fear. She’s terrified. She knows I’m going to be nearly impossible to find. She knows just like I do that if Voodoo runs in Tess’s blood, then her power is stronger. Who knows how long she’s been practicing. Who knows how much of her soul she’s given up to become what she is today.

  “Is she at the shop now? Let’s go find her Ophelia!” Avery says with desperation in his voice.

  “Go get in the car child, I have some things I have ta’ grab before we go.”

  She watches Avery as he runs to the car and gets it started. I look at her, the deep wrinkles that time has cursed onto her face. She looks tired and worried and I can’t help but feel guilty for putting her through this.

  “Alyssa baby if you can hear me, I’m getting’ help. This Miss Clementine can do jus’ bout’ anything. Everything’s gonna be alright child.” She reassurs me. Even in a state like this she could make things feel so much less tragic.

  I can do nothing but sit here and wait. The world around me is dark, filled with horrible sounds and sinister movements. I can hear other people, probably trapped just like me. They are screaming for help. I can hear the soreness in their voices, the rawness that is produced by this affliction. Would I be forced to “live” in this world right next to his, in a hellish nightmare full of screams and darkness? Will I have to endure seeing him marry and have children? Will I watch as he grows old and eventually crosses over? The anxiety is overwhelming and there’s nothing else I can do. I watch them drive off into the dark night, with nothing but dread in my heart.

  Finally after an hour I hear the car pull up. Mama, Avery and Clementine get out with bags of items from the store. They head to the basement and I follow, hopeful that my remedy awaits.

  “Now listen here boy, this ain’t ta’ be told ta’ nobody ya hear?” Clementine says sternly. She’s a big lady. Not just overweight but tall, so her presence is powerful. Her voice is deep and steady. She is not someone you would want to mess with.

  “Yes ma’am I understand that. You have my word.” Avery says as his voice shakes under the stress.

  “Aight now. Fore’ we get started, let’s get one thing straight. Tess got somethin’ evil in her. She ain’t just some girl on tha’ streets doin’ voodoo with her mama’s dolls. She’s serious and we need ta’ take it that way. There’s only one real way ta’ stop her and I need ta’ see if yall are gonna be okay with it before we do it. Back out if ya need ta’.” Clementine urgeds as she stands up straight and clears her throat.

  “I’ll do anythin’ to get my baby back ya hear? I don’t care what it is we got ta’ do. I reckon she don’t know the power of love and what it can do.” Mama Ophie assures, gesturing with a nod that she is ready to do whatever it taks to get me back.

  “I want her back. And I want Tess to pay. I don’t want her to do this to anyone else either.” Avery says with conviction.

  “Well if what we do works, she won’t.” Clementine says confidently, scanning his face for any signs of uncertainty.

  By the looks on their faces they are all in. I’ve never felt so loved in my life.

  “Alright now Ophelia, get them candles, lead chains, swamp mud, black cloth, the mirrors and crossin’ oil. Avery, you got that hair clip a’ hers from her locker now don’t ya’? Be a dear for me and douse that hair clip with crossin’ oil. Then wrap it up in the black cloth and wrap the chain around the bundle. Ophelia, you put the mud in a basin and light them candles. Then either of ya’ can push that wrapped hair clip into the mud. Then we can get started.”

  With the mirrors placed around the table, the candles lit, the incense burning, Clementine begins her ritual.

  “Now y’all need ta’ visualize Tess in these mirrors. But it’s important, it must be Tess. If ya’ see anyone else this could go all kinds a’ wrong. Let that hatred fill ya’ up. Let it burn inside your memory until the anger releases inta’ rage. Then smash them mirrors and dump the bits into the mud with the hair clip.”

  They all close their eyes. There’s complete silence in the room except for the sound of the wind howling outside. Their breath becomes uneven as their anger grows. Avery is the first to smash his mirror, followed closely by Mama and Clementine. They all dump the little shattered bits into the mud and are ready for the next part of finding me and binding Tess. Clementine then raises her hands up high, closes her eyes and throws back her head. In a deep loud voice she begins to say, almost rhythmically:

  “Oh Ancient Ones, we call upon ya’ today ta’ do justice. Bear witness as I bind and confound Tess Brule.

  Our fury calls us ta’ seek revenge.

  Take these pieces a’ her, take the enemy!

  I see her before me ancient ones, bind her!

  I conjure you to do my bidding through these flames!

  Swallow her whole mother earth! Let her taste the mud of the swamp and breathe the filthy water as if it were her air!

  Let it fill her lungs!

  I cast the darkness to keep her alive but chained forever ta’ the bottom.

  Let her plunge into the void just as she has done to our dear friend and loved one, never ta’ rise again. May she stay unda’ the warm dark water for eternity, never ta’ suffer anyone again.

  We ask that you release Alyssa from this cross. Release this innocent child and we will be foreva’ in your debt.

  Oh Ancient Ones hear us now!”

  Her voice starts to echo, like the walls of the house were becoming a vast open space for her voice to reach across. It becomes dark
and smoky, but they all stay quiet. The chains in the mud started to rattle, as if they are trying to reject the spell they used to bind her. Soon the table shakes and the flames blow out.

  “Clementine what’s goin’ on?” Mama Ophie cries out.

  “She’s tryin’ ta’ break free. She’s fightin’ it with all her might.” Clementine cries nervously.

  I move to the table across from Avery so I can see his face. He’s scared, but he still has determination strewn across his face. Then something starts to happen with the candle’s smoke. It begins to take shape, it manipulates itself into the face of Tess. It is long and distorted, her features are changing. Her mouth is twisted open in horror like she’s screaming and her eyes are wide open and black as the cloth we bound her in. Her hands, made of dark gray and white smoke reach out to grab Clementine and she yells “Be gone Tess ya’ devil! May you be bound to the bottom of the swamp for an eternity! Do no harm! Be gone! Be gone! Be GONE!” All the mirrors in the basement simultaneously shatter. With one last scream the smoke subsides. As I stood across from Avery I see his face start to soften. Then he slowly looks across the table in my direction. His eyes light up with happiness as he cries “Oh my god Alyssa, you’re here!” He throws the table out of the way and scoops me up off the floor into a tight hug. He smells so good. I don’t want him to let me go.

  “Welcome back child.” Clementine says serenely as she kisses me on the forehead.

  “Baby it’s really you ain’t it?” Ophie says with tears in her eyes.

  “Mama!” I cry as I run into her loving arms. “I knew you would find me .I just knew.” She grabbs my face with her warm hands just to look at me and makes sure I am really there, and that this isn’t all just a dream.

  “Baby I woulda’ looked for ya’ ta’ tha’ ends of this world and tha’ next!” She says as she wipes away her tears of joy.

  “What happened to Tess?” I ask.

  “Tess is in a place where she can’t hurt nobody anymore child. Don’t you worry ‘bout her. We got ya’ back and that’s all that matters.” Clementine says sternly. I dared not argue with her.

  We put the stone basin, mud and all the binding elements in an old iron box. To make extra sure that she was bound forever, we wrap it in chains and lock it with a padlock and bury it deep in Mama’s back yard. It is over, and I am back. I know now that my life is fragile and precious and that it can be taken away with someone’s evil whim. I also know that good magic exists, and that as long as love is alive there is always a way out of even the darkest of days.

  She opened her eyes only to see murky green water. She tried to scream but nothing came out. She struggled to move but her body was bound by heavy iron chains. She was alive, in some form of the word. She looked up to see the water above her, but she was unable to break the surface. Below her was the bottom-cloudy water teemed with mysterious creatures that combed the sludge for life to consume. All that lay before her was dark mud and twisted roots of old bald cypress trees. Her dark hair floated softly in the current of the water. Her struggle to break free went unnoticed in the world around her. Her skin began to rot and peel off, becoming part of the food the fish started to crave. She was destined to live an eternity in a place where she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. She was trapped just like the way she cursed Alyssa to be. Her magic was not as strong as those who knew and felt true love. Her conviction in her ability turned out to be her greatest downfall. Never under estimate the power of true love. It will devour malice and drown ill will, always.

  The Wallflower Blooms

  By Elizabeth Lorraine

  Text copyright © 2014 by Elizabeth Loraine. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recorded, photocopied or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious and are a product of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.