Grim Tidings

by Theophilus Monroe

  Nico’s hand squeezed around my neck. “I want to do this. I can feel the hunger building…”

  “Nico,” Mercy said, “stop… she isn’t lying. No tricks.”

  Nico tickled my neck with his tongue before loosening his grip and releasing me. “Then let’s have it, Annabelle. I’m done waiting.”

  “The Baron gave it to me as a wraith, you dumb fuck. So I need to summon it. That requires magic.” I kneed Nico in the balls as he got off of me.

  He didn’t flinch.

  “I knew you didn’t have balls,” I said.

  “Vampires don’t feel pain,” Nico said. “I’ll let that one pass.”

  “Nico!” a voice shouted from behind me.

  I turned, and Sauron came running to him and leapt into his arms. “I thought you were dead!”

  “I wish I was,” Nico said. “I’ve been like this for too long. This is worse than death.”

  “It will be over soon,” I said as Isabelle’s magic illuminated my fingertips and the Baron’s cigarette appeared. “The Baron said that this contains your soul, and his essence. It will complete your bargain.”

  Nico looked at Sauron. “Don’t be afraid for me, my old friend. This is what I desire. This is my choice.”

  I placed the cigarette in Nico’s hand. “You know, they say these things will kill you.”

  I think I almost saw a grin form at the corners of Nico’s mouth as he took the cigarette and placed it to his lips.

  “Nico, please…” Sauron was begging him at this point. As far as I knew they’d never slept together—but it was also no secret that she was in love with him. Unrequited love… it’s a bitch. Especially when a vampire is involved.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Nico said. “I’ve seen the other side. I know what’s going to happen.”

  Nico extended a finger, and flame burst from its tip. “One of my many abilities. Came in after about two hundred years. Never thought I’d be using it like this…”

  As he lit the cigarette he inhaled a deep draw, the cherry at the tip illuminating a bright red. The same bright red that filled his eyes, and then softened. His eyes returned to their normal brown, his skin suddenly flush with color again.

  “I can feel my heartbeat… it’s amazing!” Nico exclaimed.

  “Did the Baron say how long it would take until his essence took over?” Nico asked, looking at me with probably the friendliest expression he’d ever directed my way.

  I shook my head. “I don’t think you have long. Enjoy the feeling while it lasts.”

  Then his expression turned blank, his eyes wide. Nico screamed as Mercy wrenched back his neck and sank her fangs into his flesh.

  “Mercy, no!” I shouted. I quickly extended my hand and shouted, “Beli!”

  My soul-bound dragon formed in my hand like a stake. I charged after Mercy, who cast Nico’s body aside.

  But she moved quickly… too quickly for me to catch.

  A force struck me in the ribs, knocking me to the ground. Ramon tried to hold me down, but I drew as much of Isabelle’s power as I could access and cast it into his chest, throwing him backward.

  I leapt to my feet and tried to go after Mercy a second time, but she dodged my charge.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mikah tackle Ramon—gotta love that boy’s earth strength. Overpowering a vampire is impressive.

  “Mercy, how did you move like that?”

  “I always envied that ability… now it’s mine. All his abilities are mine!”

  “But Baron Samedi… his essence… he will overtake you.”

  “I’ve already commanded him to remain dormant. Even the Loa have to obey me!”

  “This is all about power for you?”

  Mercy shrugged. “What else is there? Nico didn’t deserve this power. He was weak. Could think of nothing but his own death. And it doesn’t appear he’ll be coming back from this bite… not this time. So I guess the worm got what he wanted all along.”

  I gripped my stake tightly as fury raged in my eyes.

  “Stand still, Annabelle. And do not give control to your better half.”

  I froze in place.

  “I have to admit, I hadn’t anticipated that I couldn’t control her. Thank you for giving me the chance to test that one out.”

  “Going to the land of the dead… all of that was just another test?”

  “All of this was my work,” Mercy said. “When Nico returned from the land of the dead, he came back weaker than before. He came back soft.”

  “I didn’t like him much, don’t get me wrong. And he liked me even less. But he was becoming human again. He was feeling human emotions—his hatred for me, his anger, his rage. That’s as natural and human as love…”

  “And he couldn’t control his emotions,” Mercy said. “None of you can. I don’t even need my powers to manipulate you. Humans are weak. Why would Nico ever want to be one of you again?”

  “Because being human means you can love,” I said, glancing back at Ashley and Ellie, who I knew would agree with me for once.

  “And love does foolish things,” Mercy said.

  Annabelle… wait… he’s coming. Don’t let him… it will change…

  Before I could respond to Isabelle’s warning, a flash of rainbow color appeared directly behind Mercy in less than a second.

  Pauli bit Mercy’s neck, her black vampire blood spraying from her wound and showering Pauli’s enraged face.

  “Pauli!” I shouted. “Don’t…”

  But I knew I was too late. Pauli’s whole body began to swell. His eyes darkened and were replaced with nothing but black holes.

  It wasn’t Pauli anymore…

  It was Kalfu. And now he held Nico’s and Mercy’s abilities—and the Baron, the one Loa who could bind him again, the one hope we’d had to defeat Kalfu was now under his control.

  I quickly willed my stake to turn into a crossbow and shot a bolt at his chest.

  He swiped it away with his hand before it struck him.

  “I can get used to these new powers,” Kalfu said as he shot flames from the tips of his fingers, striking me in the chest.

  Isabelle quickly healed the burn, but I was pretty sure it had tapped out my magic.

  I tried to give her control, tried to release the reins. But all I could think about was Pauli… he loved me. That was what Isabelle thought. Was that why he attacked Mercy? Was that why he so foolishly gave in to his urges… to protect me?

  I was too overcome with emotion to give Isabelle control…

  Two strong arms picked me up from the ground.

  I looked up, and Mikah had me held firmly in his arms.

  “Let’s get out of here. We don’t stand a chance…”

  Kalfu laughed maniacally as we fled back through the Academy. Oggie, Sogbo, and Erzulie pressed past us.

  “No, stop!” I shouted at them. “He can control you… enthrall you…”

  Oggie stopped in his tracks. Erzulie and Sogbo continued to run headlong toward Kalfu.

  “Wait!” Oggie insisted. “For once listen to what my initiate has to say.”

  They reluctantly paused and stared at me as if to say, “Spit it out, can’t you see we’re busy, here?”

  “What are you saying?” Oggie asked as Mikah set me back on the ground.

  “He took Nico’s and Mercy’s abilities. And Mercy could compel… make commands that even a Loa has to obey.”

  “How is that possible?” Erzulie asked.

  Sogbo placed his hand on the headmistress’s shoulder—it was the first time I’d seen the Loa of storms up close and personal. His hair was golden-colored, his skin dark as the night. Darker than even Mikah’s. He was a thing of beauty—but dangerous.

  “I’ve seen this before,” Sogbo said. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but now I know. That vampire has been manipulating us all this time.”

  “But Mercy is gone now,” I said. “Pauli bit her, right after she killed Nico. I don’t know if she�
��s alive or dead, but her boyfriend carried her body out of here. Now Kalfu has Aida-Wedo’s aspect, all the abilities of both vampires, and he possesses Baron Samedi, too.”

  “He what?” Maman Brigitte said as she approached from behind.

  “He was coming back to you. Nico was offering himself as a host,” I said. “But now Kalfu has him.”

  Death itself seemed to flood over Brigitte’s face in a way it hadn’t before—which was something, considering she was a Loa of death…

  Erzulie approached and put her hand on Brigitte’s shoulder. “Love will prevail.”

  I almost rolled my eyes—real evil shit was afoot and she was still talking about love. But I restrained my cynicism.

  Erzulie looked at me directly. “I’m not sure if I should blame you for this or thank you. If you had not stopped us, we’d all have succumbed to Kalfu’s commands. He’d have ruled all of us.”

  Erzulie looked at Ashley. “There’s a reason I recruited you, Shaman. For situations like this. Can you ward us? Protect the Academy from Kalfu?”

  “I can try,” Ashley said.

  “I don’t need you to try,” Erzulie said. “Let your love for your sister, for the man you left behind, empower you.”

  Ashley nodded, retrieved something from the satchel—the bag formerly known as a “fanny pack”—that she’d worn ever since she went to the reservation. Whatever she retrieved she lit on fire and spoke some kind of chant in Choctaw over it.

  When she finished, she looked at all of us. “There is only one ward that would work. Only one that can protect us. Kalfu possesses too many aspects to ward against any one of them without also excluding some of you. What I created is the ward that a family’s love naturally creates. It’s what protects a home from vampires or evil spirits. It’s why most of you cannot enter a human home. But it is a ward formed out of love above all else. You all are included. But if you do not trust each other, if you turn against each other, this ward will fail. We won’t be able to stop him.”

  Erzulie nodded. “So the fates have seen to it that the Loa of love preside over our Academy—a responsibility I’ve accepted with humility. But now we see the wisdom of Bondye at work. We will prevail over this foe. But let our love for those whom we’ve already lost today be what motivates us—not our quest for revenge. It is a new day for our Academy. There will be changes. But we will face this together.”

  Oggie nodded. “I will do what I can to slow down whatever havoc intends to wreak on the world above.” Oggie took my hand and looked in my eyes.

  “You will join me in time. But for now you are needed here. Listen to the headmistress.”

  I nodded as Mikah’s fingers intertwined with mine—I wanted to pull away, this was a gesture meant for Isabelle, not me. But I didn’t.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What do you think happened to Mom and Dad?” Ashley asked as we sat facing each other on my bed—a posture we’d often assumed through the years.

  “I wish I knew… They were there with Nico. I think they went with Ramon. He took off after Mercy was bitten.”

  “Can he control them, like Nico did?”

  “I hope not,” I said. “But let’s face it. He’s running for his life alongside Mom and Dad even while we’re hiding down here.”

  “Erzulie wants me to meet with Marie Laveau,” Ashley said.

  “She what?”

  Ashley chuckled. “Yeah… she wants me to try and protect the whole city. See if we can prevent Kalfu from getting back into Vilokan.”

  “Everyone in the Voodoo underworld… guarded by a love ward? That totally sounds like something Erzulie would plan.”

  Ashley nodded. “I know it sounds shallow and trite. But trust me, Annabelle. It’s the only way.”

  “Isabelle thinks Pauli was in love with me. That’s why he let go, why he let Kalfu take down Mercy. Love is senseless. It’s reckless. Are you sure this is the way?”

  Ashley shook her head. “Who can be sure of anything right now? I mean, while we’re talking about love and using it to protect our own asses, what about humanity? If Kalfu has free rein on earth…”

  “That’s my point. Love isn’t about saving your own ass. It’s about sacrifice for others. I don’t know if Erzulie’s approach…”

  “We can’t afford to question her right now,” Ashley insisted. “We need to be unified. If not, all will be lost.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” I admitted. “But this still seems more cowardly than loving to me.”

  “Rushing headlong into a battle you’re destined to lose, even for the sake of love for humanity, isn’t wise or loving. It’s just bad strategy. As a part of College Ogoun, maybe that’s something you can hold on to if all this love talk…”

  “Makes me want to puke?” I asked, smiling widely.

  “Exactly,” Ashley said. “There will be a time when fighting is what’s called for. Be ready when that moment comes.”

  I reached under my bed and retrieved my Bible—I knew exactly where I planned to turn. I read it aloud. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die… A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”

  Ashley cocked her head sideways. “Turning to the Bible now for consolation? After all that Catholic schooling… you never looked there before.”

  “Baron Samedi, of all sources, turned me on to that verse. I think I need to embrace it for all it’s worth. There is a time for everything. For now, it’s a time to mourn. It’s a time to weep. For Pauli. For Mom and Dad. But there is a time to kill, too. And when that time comes… I’ll be there.”

  “Love and war… they have to go together,” Ashley said.

  I nodded. “That old lady, the ghost or whatever she was at the manor…”

  “I think she had a point,” Ashley said. “From now on, we tackle this stuff together.”

  “I agree. No more solo missions. No more secrets. I’m sorry I wasn’t open with you, but Mercy threatened if I told you…”

  “A threat like that is something we tackle together, like we always have. But I also tried to handle this without you.”

  “By following Ellie’s advice?” I asked. “She isn’t altogether bad, or wrong. But going to Casa do Diabo without me—”

  “Was royally dumb!” Ashley said, chuckling through her words as she shook her head in disbelief at her own actions.

  “Love can be dumb sometimes,” I said. “Doesn’t mean we don’t need it. I can’t slash and burn my way through my problems either. I need you. You keep me balanced.”

  “Then it’s agreed,” Ashley said, extending her hand and curling her index finger. I hooked mine with hers—the bond of sisters, it was bigger than the divide between our colleges, between the forces of love and war.

  And if we were going to tackle this threat, if we were going to defeat Kalfu, we were going to have to rely on each other.

  * * * * *

  Isabelle laced our fingers with Mikah’s as the two relaxed on our couch in front of our newly acquired sixty-four-inch television. It wasn’t the biggest one we could purchase, but it was the largest one our recently remodeled “cuddle room” could accommodate. I know, it wasn’t on every HGTV show that a couple was looking for a cuddle room. But it was a little place in our home where Ashley and Roger, or Isabelle and Mikah, could spend some alone time without distractions. Not to mention, sometimes we just had to get away from the Academy. That communal dorm room wasn’t much for intimacy.

  The Star Wars theme song along with the “opening crawl” of text rolled up the screen.

  It is a period of civil war.

  That was how Episode IV began—which was, of course, the first Star Wars film ever made. In my mind, if you’re going to watch Star Wars, you watch them in the order they were made. Otherwise, you might not ever get past Jar Jar Binks and all that non
sense before the original story begins.

  They’d retitled the first film as A New Hope. We needed something like that. Especially when considering the civil war of sorts that was threatening to erupt in the world of Voodoo. With Kalfu in human flesh, with all the powers he’d accumulated, it was only a matter of time before he emboldened the Bokors. We were going to be outnumbered and overpowered. We were the good guys, the rebel force who was going to have to stand up against the Galactic Empire of a bastardized “force,” a use of Voodoo bent toward the dark side of our often conflicted nature.

  I hadn’t thought about all this when I’d insisted that Isabelle and Mikah watch it—I was simply trying to expose the boy to one of the linchpins of American culture. Isabelle wasn’t paying attention—she’d been forced to watch the film several times before. Instead, her focus was on Mikah.

  No make-outs! I insisted. The boy needs to see this movie!

  Isabelle shook her head… my head, rather. I never knew what preferred pronouns to employ when talking about Isabelle being in control. It was a strange feeling—I felt what she felt, and not just her senses like touch or smell. Her nervous energy, her passion for Mikah, was reflected in an accelerated pulse and a quivering lip.

  Abstinence had heretofore been the name of the game. Due to my Catholic upbringing, birth control had always been out of the question. So, intimacy came with risks that would only complicate things more. Not to mention, unless we both had feelings for a boy, it was hard to embrace anything more than a casual kiss so long as one of us couldn’t give consent. But what would happen if we both liked a boy? Would we get jealous of each other? Relationships with boys were complicated for us—but preventing Isabelle from having a relationship with Mikah wasn’t fair, either.

  Thankfully, Mikah seemed to get it. He was respectful—and refused to make any moves at all unless he knew both of us consented. He was a gentleman which, if I’m honest, wasn’t what I was used to. I tended to be attracted to the bad boys. But I never let things go beyond a kiss or two, either, which meant that even my dates with those who were more my type didn’t typically go beyond dinner and a movie. They’d lose interest rather quickly. But there was something sweet about Mikah—how he respected Isabelle, how he respected me. He knew about my unique soul-fused situation and saw it as more than a strange way to fulfill a two-girls-at-once kind of fantasy. He understood that it was complicated, that there was a nuance to being involved with one of us.