Healing the Bayou (12 page)

My fear heightened when he did finally stop. I thought he was dead as his breathing grew shallower and almost ceased completely. Fingers tangled in my hair, and I shot a look up at him. He was smiling but somehow his face had morphed into someone else’s entirely. His hair and beard had changed from salt and pepper to pure white.

I tried to pull back to run, but he caught my forearms before I could escape. There was no pain. In fact, I couldn’t feel his grasp at all on my skin. It was as if the air held me captive. Terror washed over me and I opened my mouth to scream, but his voice was boisterous and he bellowed over my cries.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you, child.”

Looking down into his eyes, an immediate a sense of calmness took over. My breathing slowed and my heart rate returned to normal. He released me. I stayed on my knees while he climbed to a stand, resting his weight on the cane that had been provided to him. He opened the bag of herbs and inhaled the aroma, his face lighting up with pleasure.

“Yes, these will do nicely.” He resealed the bag and turned his attention back to me. “Here, let me help you.”

He extended his hand. I took it and came to stand next to him.

“Thank you,” I murmured. “But, who are you?”

“Well, my dear, you summoned me. And I don’t recognize you as a member, so I think you should tell me who you are.”

I didn’t know how to respond because truthfully, I didn’t know who I was. Not really, anyway. Searching for an appropriate answer, I stared blankly at him until the silence became deafening.

“I think I’m supposed to ask you for permission.” I imagined I must have looked like a mousey child, but I had to say something.

“Oh for the Spirit’s sake. Will someone joined in the circle come and assist this poor girl?”

I was grateful for the request, and even more so when Samuel’s face came into the light of the still growing fire. I passively calculated when the flames would reach their peak, but I was distracted by the sight of Samuel approaching us on his knees.

“Papa Legba,” he said submissively as he advanced. A drastic change from his typically domineering presence.

“Samuel!” The spirit shouted with familiarity. “Samuel, it has been too long since I have had the pleasure of your company, my boy. Stand up! I would like a better look at you. Where have you been?”

“Papa Legba, this is my healer, Eliza. I have been looking after her.”

“As well you should have been.” Legba patted Samuel’s shoulder before he turned to study me.

Squinting, he looked long and hard at my face. He lowered his glasses to his nose and brought his hand to his chin, rubbing it hard, deep in thought.

“Nicole Paris?”

“That’s what I’m told I was once called, yes.” I cleared my throat.

I jumped when he let out a loud hoot. Legba flailed his arms open wide and embraced me, lifting me off of the ground and shouting, “You’ve come back to us!”

I squealed with delight. “Are all the Spirits so friendly?” I asked Samuel. It was nice to feel so welcomed, I had to admit it.

“No.” Samuel was shaking his head in amusement. “No, Papa Legba is a favorite among us.”

“I can understand why. He’s absolutely charming.”

Once I was to my feet again I was surprised at the look of fatherly affection on Legba’s face. It was as if his lost child had finally returned home and he couldn’t believe his eyes. He took my face into his hands and kissed my cheek.

“They have been waiting a long time to speak with you, my dear,” he whispered to me. “I wish I could claim you for myself this evening, but I understand there are more pressing matters than an old man wanting to catch up with the lost priestess. She may pass!” His face hardened and his tone turned formal when he spoke to words to the stars.

“Thank you, Papa Legba.”

He only smiled before he fell back to the ground, and the fire simultaneously blew itself out. Washing over me was an unexplained sense of loss as the man at my feet turn back into the human host he had been only moments ago, but I was glad that he recovered quickly. Such a violent possession would have shaken me to my core, yet this man was completely unfazed and walked off as happy as could be.

Samuel and I left the center of the circle, too, and we climbed a tree to have a better view of the next ritual. Thankfully, I wouldn’t be required or even allowed to participate in this one since I wasn’t an initiate.

When the two children I had seen earlier were led to the center, my heart skipped.

“What is going to happen to them?” I pleaded with Samuel. “That man could have been killed during his possession. Children can’t be put through that! They would be traumatized for life!”

I tried to jump from the branch where we were perched, but Samuel grabbed a hold of my arm and kept me dangling. I could hardly make out his urges for me to be silent through my cries of protest.

“Eliza! They aren’t going to be hurt,” he insisted, dragging me back up next to him. “Legba is the only spirit that manifests so violently.”

His promise at least stifled my frenzy and I allowed myself to watch the routine being played out in the near distance. Taking their place, the twins sat with crossed legs near the fire pit facing one another. Marcus came into the light and laid the large banana leaf he and Samuel had argued about earlier in front of them, and retreated only to be replaced by Camille. She placed some cookies on the banana leaf and sank to her knees beside the children, lifting her hands to pray.

“Marassa, we are in the dark. Marassa from Guinea, we are in the dark in front of God. Dossou Marassa, bring the lamp to shine upon us.”

All in attendance chanted the prayer with her repeatedly. Searching for a sign that their invocation had been successful a second time, I fixed my eyes on the fire pit. I parted my lips wide in astonishment as the embers reignited and turned a bright, neon green. A billow of blood-red smoke wrapped itself around the small circle of practitioners.

The chanting had stopped, and the air was deadly silent. The others did not seem to be afraid, but I could not believe the magic happening before my eyes. Returning my attention to the children, I held my breath, praying to myself, to my God, for their safety. My heart sank with relief when they stood unharmed and seemingly unpossessed.

“Marassa will not be making an appearance today,” Samuel said somberly.

“What do you mean?” I asked, thoroughly confused. “What about the smoke? And the fire—it’s green, Samuel!”

“That’s Marassa’s way of acknowledging our prayers to them.”

“Them?”

“Yes, them. Marassa are represented as twin children. Which is why we needed those two. Twice the power, twice the energy.”

“So Marassa won’t be using the children?”

“No.” Disappointment danced across his face, but I didn’t understand it. “The spirit only uses its provided host if the situation is appropriate, or if there is knowledge he or she wants to pass on.”

I was glad for that. Dealing with everything else going on tonight was proving difficult enough. I wasn’t sure if I could handle the kids being used as tools for this necromancy. It could have been enough to tip my sanity and even if I wasn’t familiar with them, I thanked the Marassa twins for recognizing it.

“So now what?” I asked, my voice dripping with fear.

“Now it’s Camille’s turn. She will summon Filomèz, and you will speak with the spirit through Camille.”

“Will the possession hurt Camille?”

“Filomèz rarely takes occupancy in her host. I’ve never actually seen it. Camille has been used only a few times, but she has never complained of any discomfort.”

He motioned for me to climb down, and I awkwardly complied. I hated climbing trees, even as a child. Why had I even climbed it to begin with?

Because he asked me to. Annoyed at myself for being such a girl, I rolled my eyes. I didn’t miss the smug grin on Samuel’s face when he reached the ground. He enjoyed the power he had over me just as much as I hated it.

After putting on a pair of white gloves, we joined hands with the others in the circle. Camille took her place in the center where the children had been. She set a broomstick down to her right, the bouquet I had made was placed to her left, and she again bent to her knees.

“I ask who this is, Loa. They told me it’s Mambo Filomèz. Filomèz, beautiful woman, where are you going? Filomèz, beautiful woman, where are you going? I’m going to the waterfall to sign my name.”

The prayer-song was being recited from all directions, even from my own mouth. I wasn’t sure how, but I knew the words and they rolled off of my tongue without any effort at all. I was unexplainably anticipating the light now shining from the top of Camille’s head.

She opened her eyes and beams of light shot from them, illuminating the darkness with a blinding brightness. She blinked, and the glow faded back to blue until it was gone again, but the halo above her still remained.

Without moving her gaze from me, she reached for the broom and swept a path between the two of us, seeming to glide on her knees without taking a single step. When her face was only inches from my own, she stopped. She floated backward, but her smile instantly set my heart into a peaceful trance.

Camille’s corpse set down the broom and picked up the flowers, plucking the petals by the handful and throwing them in my direction. They floated down around me only to swirl back up again in a tornado that enveloped my body in a sea of color. I closed my eyes and breathed in the lovely smell of summer, opening them again when cool hands landed on my face.

Chapter Eleven

She gently caressed my face with her knuckles as I studied her features. Her face hadn’t changed much, and her hair was still long and the color of organic golden honey. I understood now why Camille was the host of choice for Filomèz’s manifestation, and the familiarity in their similarities offered me some comfort. Her eyes were kind and gentle, and a friendly smile never once hinted at giving way to anything less welcoming.

The salty smell of the ocean left her skin and saturated the air. It reminded me of home. Filomèz never came off her knees, and I was reminded by the odor she was of the sea and couldn’t walk. As short as I was I didn’t really have to look down much to examine her, but it suddenly occurred to me it would be considered rude to stand while she knelt in front of me. The last thing I wanted anyone to think was that I was arrogant, so I quickly dropped down to show my respect.

“Mambo Filomèz…” I started to apologize for the flagrant oversight. “Forgive me. Your presence was expected but I was not prepared.”

“A minor misstep. It is not significant.” Her voice was slightly deeper than Camille’s, and even the simplest of words gave evidence to the wisdom she held. She spoke with a confidence that could only be earned through experience and without demanding it, she commanded respect.

“Thank you for understanding.” I lowered my head in submission.

“Come, we have much to talk about.” Still floating, Filomèz draped her arm over my shoulder and directed me toward the forest. “Samuel, join us,” she added over her shoulder.

“Yes, of course, Mambo.” He bowed his head.

Once we were out of view from the others, we sat in our own exclusive circle and joined hands. When our flesh married, both of their thoughts joined my own, and from that point on telepathic communication was the only way we spoke to each other.

“I’m glad you have come,” Filomèz began. “I have been trying to reach you for some time. You’re as stubborn as your mother.”

I blushed at the prod, though I wasn’t sure which mother she was referring to. My adoptive mother was the most headstrong woman I had ever met, but I had been told the same of Marie as well.

“I’m sorry that I kept you waiting, but I honestly didn’t even begin to put the pieces together until—”

“Until I sent you the dream. And until you found out you were misplaced.”

“Well, yes.” I winced at the term misplaced. It was exactly how I had felt my entire life, and it was a painful way to live.

“I sent you many others. But you were not nearly as receptive to them as you were this one. I assumed after the passing of your parents that your emotional state would be inviting.” She looked to Samuel. “I also thought he might get your attention.”

My cheeks flushed instantly. Her method had worked. I could recall some pretty strange dreams when I was a child, ones that would cause me to wake up screaming. My parents called them night terrors, but deep down I always knew they were something more. This dream, the one with Samuel, I found myself
wanting
to have when I went to bed at night. Needing to see his face so badly, I was going to sleep early just to feel his presence.

He squeezed my hand, and it snapped me back to the moment we were in.

“Why did you need me to come back?”

Her brow creased, and her lips fell into a frown, the first sign of anything less than the bliss I had witnessed from her.

“Eliza, there is much about your family that haunts the bayou. Some of your relatives have a dark essence, and it has poisoned the people of our community. Their greed and hunger for power has caused hardship for our kind and played an important part in the collapse of Voodoo in this region.”

I swallowed hard. I didn’t know what to expect from her, but it was certainly not this. For a brief moment, I let guilt enter my heart, as if my ancestors’ trespasses were my own. I only let the thought settle before a new worry filled my mind. Was she referring to the fact that I was the product of a keeper and healer breeding? Was I going to be punished for what they had done? For what I was?

“You have nothing to be afraid of,” she assured me when she read my fear. “The Spirits have no doubt of your goodness. You will not be held accountable for the actions of others.”

“Then what is it you need from me?” I believed her, and my body relaxed.

“We need your light, Eliza. Our culture is dying. The true spirit of Voodoo is being replaced by parlor tricks and false prophets. You’re the most powerful healer in existence. Only you can begin to restore us to the glory that we once held.”