Echoes in the Bayou (27 page)

Just as
Magnus was heading down the stairs, Sinta burst into the house. "What is
it?" He asked. "Has help arrived?"  Steve and Kelly emerged
from the kitchen, Kelly was holding a breakfast tray; she was on her way to see
Ava.

"No
Mister Magnus, not yet.
  I come back cuz
we's got to close dat spirit board. We's got to do it now Mister Magnus. Gots
to close it so no more bad spirits come out da portal.  You's leave it
open Miss Kelly didn’t you?"  Magnus and Steve looked at Kelly, she
shamefully nodded her head while looking down at the floor. "Yes, we did.
After what happened, I was so drained that Amelia… Ava suggested that we leave
it until after we've had our rest and well, I was so tired…" She began to
cry. "This is all my fault," she whimpered.

 
 Steve wrapped his arms around his wife.
"Kel, no one is saying that it's your fault. Look, should you and Ava have
been messing around with the thing? No, but was it intentional what happened?
No, of course it wasn’t so stop blaming yourself," he consoled his wife.

"He's
right," Magnus said. "Blaming yourself is not going to help Ava, so
let's help Sinta close this board an
d then we
can take the next step whatever that may be," he said with worry in his
voice. "Ava needs us all to be strong for her."

Ava
wasn’t ready to meet her maker, the sole reason she went to the plantation was
to start a new life and meeting and falling for Magnus had been an extra plus.
Is this how it all ends?
She asked herself. She was lying in bed alone, she could see the sky
outside and it was gray.
Looks like another storm is coming
,
she told herself
.
Wait, am I alright? Is it me? Has Amelia
left?
It all seemed surreal for a
moment until she attempted to move and speak. No solid words came out of her
mouth only garbled whispers, her arms and legs felt like stones and she was
unable to sit up. "You'll speak when I want you to speak," Amelia's
voice echoed.

Ava shut
her eyes tight
and let the tears escape her
closed eyelids.

 
"What's happening?" Amelia's voice shouted
and jarred her awake. "Who is doing this to me?" Amelia felt herself
go weak before passing out. But this time, she was too weak to take Ava with
her.  "Magnus?" Ava thought she'd imagined speaking his name,
until she felt the vibration of sound in her voice and when she said it again,
she heard it loud and clear. "Magnus," she shouted it this time and
within seconds he was by her side.

She threw
her arms around him and held him
tight, Magnus
returned her affection with an overabundance of kisses all over her face.
"You came back to me," he said and wiped a tear from his eye.

"Sinta
closing the board worked, she's going to be alright," he beamed to the
others who had rushed into the room
.

 
 Sinta frowned as she explained to him that
although they had managed to close the portal, it had only weakened Amelia for
a short while . She told him that Amelia would be returning and when she did,
she would take possession of Ava once again. "Mister Magnus, you get Miss
Ava feed and keep her strong, dat da only way she gon be able to survive dis,"

Sinta
told him
.

 
"Magnus I should have listened to you, I'm so
sorry," she said and wrapped her arms around him once more. She smiled at
Kelly and Steve and thanked them for sticking around. Kelly hugged and kissed
her. "Are you kidding? There was no way I was going to leave you my
friend, and after what we've experienced we're like soul mates," she
winked.

"Ava,
you've got to eat something, I feel as if I don’t know how much time I have
left wit
h you. Sinta says that Amelia's leave is
only temporary," he sighed. "I don’t know what to do Ava." 
She could see the corners of his eyes become wet with tears.

"There
is nothing we can do except let this whole thing play out. We opened the portal
and let her get inside me, but as long as I am strong enough I know that
I  can fight her Magnus, I know I can. Just promise me that you'll be here
when all is said and done."

"Of
course I'll be here, I 'm not going anywhere.
"

She
smiled at him and
took a bite of the sandwich
that Kelly had made for her. " Mmm, That's good," she said to her
friend. "Here Miss Ava, you drink dis." Sinta pulled out a small vial
full of liquid, Ava didn’t ask any questions as to what it was, she downed the
contents in one gulp.

After the
others had left the room, Ava needed Magnus to help her get into the shower.
She also wanted to tell him that even though it was an illusion, Amelia had
allowed John DuPonte to take advantage of her.

"Ava,
as horrible as i
t must have been it was just
trickery, she was playing with your mind. They are dead Ava, and nothing is
going to change that no matter how much they might want it to."

 
 While he waited for her to get out of the
shower, Magnus hoped that what Sinta had told him was a mistake. He hoped that
the spirit of Amelia was dead and gone but he knew that was not the case,
if only it were that easy
, he told himself as he went to check on Ava. Calling
her name he slowly opened the bathroom door and as it creaked open he saw Ava
being held up against the wall by an invisible force. Whatever was holding her
up was using brute force because her breathing was strained and her feet dangled
off the ground.

Magnus
rushed over to her only to be thrown back, his shouts at the invisible
assailant  brought Steve and Kelly bounding into the room. When Kelly saw
her friend, both of her hands went to her  mouth, she needed to stifle the
screams. Sinta appeared in the doorway chanting something that no one could
understand and while she chanted, Ava was dropped to the floor with a sickening
thud. Her eyes were in a daze and she was unable to speak, Amelia had returned
but since Sinta was able to close the spirit board, she was left too weak to
reenter Ava's body. So she did the next best thing, she put her under her
spell.

Magnus
scrambled over to her, he was bleeding from his head but took no notice of it
as he lifted her and carried her over to the bed.

"That
wasn't Amelia," Magnus said between hefty breaths
.

"It
John DuPonte Mister Magnus, he tried to get to Miss Ava again, try to hold her
for Miss Amelia. There ain't much time Mister Magnus.
"

He began
to panic. "What does that mean Sinta? Where is this help you supposedly
summoned?" He was angry now, and wa
s tired
of trying to hide it.

"Mister
Magnus help is comin, but in da meantime we gots to keep a close eye on Miss
Ava, she
controlled by Miss Amelia now and she
gon' need us to look out for her."

Kelly had
returned from the bathroom and began cleaning up his wound, Steve stood in the
doorway shaking his head; he too was frustrated. His friends were going through
something that he couldn’t really grasp hold of or understand. "Magnus what
can we do?" He asked pointing to himself and Kelly.

He shook
his head. "Steve just being here is enough, I wish there was more that we
could all do but I'm afraid that Si
nta is right,
until help arrives we'll have to keep a close eye on her."

 
Ava was fighting with all her might to speak but she
couldn’t and the only voice that she was able to hear was that of Amelia. The
harder she tried to ignore it, the stronger and more unrelenting the voice
became, it kept telling her that when the time was right, she was to take a
walk, a walk out to the bayou. She soon mumbled the words "I will,"
before falling asleep.

"I
will what?" Magnus tried to get her to talk but it was useless, she had
fallen asleep and he knew that for now, that was the best thing for her
.

Chapter
Nineteen

As
nighttime approached, so did the rain. The forecast had called for
thunderstorms during most of the night and after checking once more on Ava,
Magnus went in search of more candles. "Just in case we lose
electricity," he told his friends. "We'll help you look Magnus."
Kelly smiled warmly at him, she could see that he was stressed and she was sure
that his head was throbbing in pain. But he would accept any more help; he
wanted to concentrate on keeping Ava safe.

"It's
time for you to take your walk Ava," the voice of Amelia commanded. Ava
did as she was told and sat upright in the bed. She was wearing a pair of
cotton pajamas and her hair was still damp from the shower. "Get up, go
downstairs and walk out the front door."

She
padded barefoot across the floor and opened the bedroom door. She walked with
no hesitation out into the hallway, down the stairs and out the front door,
closing it quietly behind her
.

There was
no noise, not even the sound of the rain could penetrate the trance that she
was in. Memories of her time with Magnus was running through her head, and she
walked barefoot towards the bayou. The rain fell down heavy now with each step
and she stopped for a moment before the voice told her to continue on.
"Don’t stop until you reach the big oak tree near the bayou," the
voice told her.

"I
think we've got enough candles and who knew that all of them were right here in
the kitchen?" Magnus said to them. "I'm going to go check on Ava, you
guys light the candles and put some in the sitting room just in case."

As Sinta,
Kelly and Steve went around the main level lighting candles, Magnus headed up
the stairs. "I don’t remember leaving the bedroom door open," he
spoke out loud and walked in. Alarm took over as he stood staring at the empty
bed and after checking t
he bathroom he realized
that Ava was gone.

 
Sweat had begun to pour down his face as he raced down
the stairs shouting out her name. His shouts for her caused them all to gather
in the middle of the foyer.

"Magnus
what is it?" Steve and Kelly
asked.

"It's
Ava, she's gone!" He barked
.

"What
do you mean she's gone?
"

He
reached for his boots. "What the hell do you think I mean Steve? Well are
you just going to stand there or are you going to help me find her?" He
screamed at them
.

Sinta had
alrea
dy made her way out into the storm and was
heading towards the bayou.

As they
made their way out the door, no one heard the footsteps above them
.

"That's
it, just a little bit more and you'll be at the big oak," Amelia's voice
cooed. She had to speak calmly now; she needed Ava to follow her directions,
directions that were leading her to death. The wind had picked up and the
thunder produced intermittent stabs of light against the pitch black sky making
it look like giant flash bulbs had gone off. Her pajamas clung to her body and
her feet were cut and bleeding but she was oblivious to it all and when she
reached the giant oak she stopped short, Amelia's voice told her to. "This
is where you are going to die," the voice said.

Magnus
had told Steve and Kelly to check the grounds closest to the house, he didn’t
want them running off into the night and risk them getting lost too. He was
headed towards the bayou, something told him that was were Ava would have gone
either with or without coaxing from Amelia. "I hope that your help comes
soon Sinta," he said out loud. Although he knew no one could hear him
against the driving wind and rain.

Will had
stood in the doorway of his bedroom and watched Ava as she made her way down
the stairs. She had gotten through to him at the séance but he was unable to
comprehend the fact that his mother had been involved in the murder of his
beloved Celeste. Now he sat at the kitchen table waiting. "Everything is
going to be alright now," he was looking at the pantry wall. "I know
who hurt you Celeste and I'm going to confront them tonight. Soon we'll be
together, just a little while longer my love, it'll all be over soon."

The once
hard ground that surrounded the giant oak had turned into a swampy bog and that’s
just what Amelia had planned for, she wanted the ground to be the exact same
way that it was the night that Celeste had been thrown into it.

"Now
I
want you to take a step closer," she
coaxed Ava.