A Cemetery, a Cannibal, and the Day of the Dead

by CC Dragon

  I texted Matt and Gunnar as I hopped in the car. I couldn’t risk not getting some identification on them so we could catch them and put a stop to this craziness

  I parked about a block away from the cemetery and walked inside the entrance. Gunnar was stuck in traffic but there was no reply from Matt yet. I texted Hart and Carson to get a team to the cemetery now.

  Hart replied that they were on it. The dark night didn’t have much of a moon but that only added to the spooky feel. An owl hooted in the distance as I felt people gathering. The maze of mausoleums made it easy to get lost and frightened. Tall trees added to the haunted effect.

  I kept my cell phone out and turned on video just in case. My boots made no noise along the paved path. A few creepy statues freaked me out but I focused on the dangerous people. The group was larger than just three. But I got the sense some were serious and some were in it for the weird thrill.

  I’d memorized the map of the cemetery so I could get to the grave of the person honored in the tribute. My sixth sense was pulling me there anyway.

  I heard people whispering chants. I slowed my steps and tried to be careful but I knew I was exposed and this probably wasn’t the smartest move. I hoped the police would be here any minute when I spotted a group of people seated in a circle among the towering graves.

  They had a fire glowing that at first seemed serene and enchanting but the smell...

  I covered my mouth and nose as the odor of roasting flesh met my nostrils.

  Human flesh.

  The chanting continued and I recorded the scene on my phone. Then I heard a noise. I wanted to see Hart or Matt. The group was cloaked in black robes and their faces were painted like skeletons. They had pictures of their loved ones. I understood the meaning of something being opened. They were trying to open a portal between the living and the dead. Odds are they’d access hell and unleash demons or worse.

  Instead, when I turned I was grabbed and dragged toward the fire.

  I fought and struggled but this guy was strong and towered over me.

  “There is our little spy,” said another man in black.

  The masks were freaking me out. All of them wore some sort of Halloween mask. I looked over my shoulder. Clown masks luckily didn’t freak me out the way they did some others.

  “Let me go and I won’t press charges,” I said.

  “You look thirsty,” another man said.

  As the tall guy held me, the other man put a bottle of water to my mouth. It smelled like water but I pressed my lips shut to keep it out. I was being drugged.

  They grabbed my face and squeezed until my lips were open just enough and poured water into my mouth. I tried to spit it out but they held my head at an angle and held my nose closed so it was swallow or choke.

  It tasted funny but I knew help was on the way. I had to try to get loose.

  They relaxed when I swallowed so I kicked at the other guy.

  “Don’t worry, you won’t be invited to dine with us. You don’t deserve to share in the experience,” he said.

  They began to eat the flesh and I closed my eyes. That was just disgusting.

  I felt funny and tingly as the man holding me nudged me closer.

  I wasn’t tired but felt weird. In a daze, I saw police in uniforms hopping over the graves and surrounding the cannibals. But they were bouncing like Spiderman so I wasn’t sure if it was real or a drug-induced hallucination.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I was sweating and cold. I tried to sit up and found my arms tied down.

  “Deanna, open your eyes.” A hand touched my face and I flinched.

  I knew the voice but everything my body said to run.

  “De, wake up. You’re okay,” Ivy said from somewhere very far away.

  I opened my eyes and wasn’t in the cemetery anymore.

  “Look at those pupils. She’s tripping,” Ivy said.

  Paul nodded and flashed a light in my eyes.

  “Stop,” I said, batting it away.

  “Easy.” Paul put his hand on my leg and my body tingled to my toenails.

  “Did they get them? They were cooking people,” I said.

  “The police got the bad guys. Matt and the police are searching all the homes of the people they picked up, plus looking for any more accomplices. You were drugged,” Paul said.

  “They made me drink water. I didn’t eat anything.” My head pounded. I remember watching them cook and eat like some kind of revolting barbecue. “There was chanting and burning of notes and then it all sort of went black.”

  “Tox screen.” Brimlow waved as he walked up. “LSD and a little Molly. Odd combo.”

  “She’ll be okay?” Ivy asked.

  “Sure. We’ll keep her here for a few hours to make sure it’s not a bad trip and she comes down. As long as it’s not bad acid, it shouldn’t have any real effects. Unless she did this a lot in the past,” Brimlow teased.

  “They probably wanted to mess you up so you couldn’t testify against them. There was another witness who happened to run into them while he was walking past the entrance of the cemetery. We found him tied up and drugged, and he freaked out and fell when we tried to help him. He’s getting a head CT right now. Knocked himself out on a headstone,” Paul explained. He held up a glass of water.

  I shook my head.

  “You need to hydrate. Clean water in. Drink,” he said.

  I pulled on the restraints.

  “Unstrap her please, she’s not a danger,” Ivy said.

  “She could be hallucinating pretty bad,” Brimlow warned.

  “It’s a hospital. I’m fine. I have a headache. My stomach is not good. If I drink, I might puke.” I didn’t want to take anything in.

  “We’ll get you something for the nausea. Drink. Puke. It’s fine—you need to flush these toxins out through some method.” Paul released the Velcro straps and handed me a bottle of water. “The bad guys did drop you when the police showed up so you’ll have bruising on your left side. Luckily, you were alert enough to brace your head with your arms.”

  I looked down at my arms. They were scratched up and red but it could be worse.

  “Did Gunnar turn up?” I asked Ivy.

  “Yeah. He’s fine. Some bad accident out by his aunt’s house. He goes and checks on her every so often and the accident just made it hard to get back to the city. You shouldn’t have gone alone,” Ivy chastised.

  “I know. I had to. They changed the timeline. I couldn’t let them get away. I called the police before I left,” I explained.

  “That saved your life,” Brimlow said. “I’ll call Hart and let him know she’s back with us again.”

  “Did I say anything dumb while I was altered?” I whispered to Ivy while Brimlow was distracted with his phone.

  “A lot of gibberish. I’m going to go call Greg and Mary Lou. They’re worried but I made them stay at home,” Ivy said.

  “Thanks.” I felt my energy levels rise. I wiggled my feet.

  “It’s normal. That drug will make you hallucinate anything and everything. Don’t worry.” Paul patted my hand.

  “I want to get up,” I said.

  “No, just sit. I know it can make you antsy and anxious. It can also push your BP and heart rate up, so no running laps,” Paul said.

  I noticed his hand was still on mine. I had flipped my wrist so that my hand was clutching his. I knew it was a bad idea but I no longer cared.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  I nodded. “I don’t...don’t go. Until Ivy comes back, please don’t leave me. I don’t like this feeling.” If this was drugs, I didn’t like it. I felt twitchy and needy.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Brimlow called me in. You weren’t cooperating.” He smiled.

  “Sorry. I don’t remember,” I admitted.

  “Ivy helped. I don’t know how much they diluted it in the water but it hit you hard. Your levels are off. It’ll be okay in a few hours. Drink the water.” He nodded. />
  I took a sip and instead of it making things worse, I felt a little better.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “You are definitely the wildest woman I’ve never actually dated,” he said.

  I frowned. “Is that what we’re doing?”

  “Not this second or I couldn’t be your doctor. But I was hoping for another date.”

  I took another sip to avoid talking. Anything I might say, I’d probably regret.

  “Is that a no?” he asked.

  “I’m not that wild. Weird crap happens to me. We stopped evil people from doing something repugnant.” I hated that I didn’t know what they were really up to. “It gets a little old after a while.”

  “I don’t believe that.” He felt my neck and behind my ears. “I think you’re coming down. Anything feel swollen?”

  I shook my head.

  “When you came in, you said your tongue was too swollen to talk. But you were able to verbalize it. I just wanted to be sure there was no allergic reaction. No hives, no problems swallowing.” He removed his hands.

  “No,” I said.

  “Shhh.” He pulled out a stethoscope.

  I stayed quiet while he listened to my heart and breathing.

  “Better,” he said.

  “I feel tingly,” I said.

  “That’s the Molly. They must’ve diluted some of the crystals of a capsule into the water. It acts faster than LSD and makes you happier, less combative. You’re lucky they didn’t overdo that or you could be in trouble.” Paul felt my pulse again.

  “My own private doctor.” I smiled.

  “Want something to eat?” he offered.

  I shook my head and crooked a finger for him to come closer.

  He sat next to me and leaned in. “What?”

  I kissed him. Impulsively and slowly. I felt it down to the tips of my nails before I pulled back.

  “Okay. Enough of that.” Paul broke away and stood up.

  “Doctor?” Hart asked as he entered the room.

  “She’s not having a bad trip. A little too good of one but she’s clear enough to talk to,” Paul said.

  “Maybe we should wait a bit.” Hart pulled up a chair.

  “Is Matt okay?” I tried to get up.

  Hart put a hand on my shoulder. “He’s fine. Apparently, the group was going to perform a certain ritual at each grave. They were eating cooked human flesh and chanting. The goal was to cross the veil and see dead loved ones. There were four people desperate to see people they had lost suddenly. There were some people there we think run this sort of operation professionally—getting paid to procure the flesh and then helping people contact their loved ones. They didn’t actually eat the flesh. One of them is apparently big into the drugs and he’s the one who posed the body in the morgue and did the biting. He also cut off the penis of the body in the funeral home. He got high before getting flesh.”

  “That’s crazy,” I said. But the drugs did make those weird instances make a lot more sense when it was mostly people who wanted to see dead loved ones.

  “Yes, but they were also drinking LSD-laced water and had dropped a lot more Molly. They bumped so they were happy no matter what happened. But it made them hard to catch,” Hart replied.

  “That’s so sad. But to eat people to see your dead loved ones? It’s gross and insane,” I said.

  “We found a copy of the ritual the guy had bought from someone online. We’ll report the site. Luckily, they didn’t kill anyone but they’re all going for a psych hold. They’re all in worse shape than you right now.” Hart checked his notes. “We have ten in custody.”

  I nodded. “Ten sounds about right. They need to apologize publicly.”

  “Unfortunately, they’re in no condition for that now either. Just rest. Everyone is fine.” Hart smiled.

  “Where’s my phone?” I asked.

  “We took it away. You were trying to call your Gran. Then the angels.” Paul handed me my cell phone.

  “This won’t help with that. Gran!” I called out.

  She appeared in the hospital room.

  “You’re all right. You did the right thing. Just let this out of your system,” she said.

  But her voice seemed piercing compared to the other times I was around her. “Too loud,” I groaned.

  “I’ll go. Sleep, dear,” Gran said.

  I squinted. Amy was there now. My guardian angel stood at the end of the bed.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Who’s there?” Paul asked.

  “Don’t ask,” I told him.

  The angel touched my leg and the jitters and pain were gone. I felt the fog lift.

  “Thanks.” I drank the entire bottle of water and felt nearly normal.

  “You’re...welcome?” Paul sounded unsure.

  “Not you. Sorry about the kiss. I’m feeling better. I should go check on those people,” I said.

  “No. You rest. No contact with suspects. You need to testify against them,” Hart said.

  “But I can help. I can put them in touch with their dead loved ones and then they can apologize,” I said.

  Paul didn’t stop me when I tried to get out of bed.

  I stood up just fine.

  “That’s a fast recovery,” Paul said.

  “I had help.” I could’ve passed a police sobriety check after Amy purged the drugs from system with one touch.

  Paul gently held my arm. “Those others took a lot more than you did and ate human flesh. They will be messed up for a lot longer and we’re running a lot of tests on them. You can’t see them.”

  “I’ll let the PD know about your offer. It’s nice that you want to help them but it’s not your responsibility. These people are sick,” Hart said.

  “Sick and sad. Desperate. Someone tricked them and not a harmless Halloween prank sort of a trick,” I said.

  “Playing on people’s misery is as old as snake oil salesmen. Caveat emptor,” Paul said.

  “Hunh?” Hart asked.

  “Buyer beware,” I explained. “I know. I just know how hard it was to lose my brother. They went about it all wrong.”

  Ivy walked in. “You look better. Your pupils aren’t so freaky.”

  Paul nodded. “You seem better. But you’re staying another hour.”

  I groaned.

  “Matt and Mary Lou are making comfort food. Nothing red,” Ivy said.

  “Where’s Gunnar?” I asked. “Still stuck in traffic?”

  “No. He went to check on Matt.” Ivy rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah, I found out about that. Did you know about it?” I asked Ivy.

  She eyed Hart. “We’re good here. Right? She doesn’t need a police escort home. I picked up her car.”

  Hart nodded. “We’ll need your statement but we don’t want you under the effects of any drugs when you give it. Tomorrow is good. Be safe.”

  He left and Ivy watched him go. “I don’t want to out Matt to the police station when he’s barely out in our house.”

  “My house,” I said.

  “Right. Yeah, I had a feeling. Plus, he came to the club a few times.” Ivy sat down next to me and crossed her legs, placing her purse that matched her heels on her lap.

  Paul and I exchanged a look.

  “Matt always comes by the club to see us. He’s not homophobic,” I said.

  “No, dear. He came in drag so no one would know him. He couldn’t fool me.” Ivy winked.

  “Damn, I don’t think I want that picture in my head,” I said.

  Ivy nodded. “He’s not a pretty woman but I think it was more just to get in without anyone knowing it was him. He doesn’t have the flair.”

  “Anything I can get you?” Paul asked, obviously uncomfortable with the current line of our conversation.

  “More water and no, that’s weird.” I shuddered.

  “Don’t say a rare steak,” Ivy said.

  “No, I want a milkshake. Like a strawberry one. No, banana. I don’t know. It’s weird. M
y taste buds are freaking out a little,” I said.

  Paul smiled. “You’re definitely coming down. I’ll get you a milkshake. Strawberry is about what we can manage in the cafeteria. You’re okay to wait with her?” he asked Ivy.

  “We’re good, Doc,” she nodded.

  He left and I gestured for Ivy to come closer.

  “Relax. Matt’s gay. It’s not like you dated him.” Ivy waved it off.

  “No, it’s Paul. I kissed him.” I ran my fingers through my hair and it still tingled a bit.

  “So? He’s hot. You should kiss him more,” Ivy teased.

  “When I was high, or coming down... I don’t know. I just felt weird. Now I don’t know what to do,” I groaned.

  “Slow down. Relax. We’ll worry about all of that tomorrow or the next day. You caught the cannibals. Enjoy your shake and don’t second guess yourself. You might need a little Molly now and then,” Ivy said.

  “No, and neither do you,” I said.

  “I don’t. I’m free and fabulous enough as it is. But people in the club do club things. Helps them relax a bit. You could stand to unwind a bit,” Ivy said.

  “Right now, I want a lot of ice cream.” I sat back.

  “Thank God we know you’re not pregnant.” Ivy stared at me expectantly.

  “No, not possible,” I affirmed for her.

  “Good. That’d be way too much to handle in that house,” Ivy teased.

  I rolled my eyes and check the time on my phone. I wanted to be out of this hospital and back in my own bed. I wanted a gallon of Neapolitan ice cream, my bed, and my cat...who could have the vanilla.

  Another part of me wanted to make out with Paul but I was blaming the lingering drugs for that. At least for right now. I kept my mouth shut until I got my beverages.

  Epilogue

  I missed the official Halloween party at the club but Ivy never missed a chance to throw another party. The day after Halloween party was a big hit!

  The Day of the Dead party, however, was epic. The face painting. The sugar skulls and the turnout were even better. There had been no further attacks in New Orleans and the truth coming out soothed worries of hate crimes.

  “How’s tricks?” Brody asked as I sat at the bar.