Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 02 - Dark Carnival (13 page)

I stepped out into the
chilly night and crept up to the greenhouse.  Once I arrived at the entrance, I
slowly opened the door and peeked in.  Warm air immediately rushed at my face,
and it felt good.  I didn’t see Ruby from where I was, so I cautiously entered,
careful to not let the door shut behind me.

In the center of the
building was an above-ground artificial pond that harbored lily pads and lotus
blossoms and other aquatic foliage.  It looked to be the size of a small
swimming pool made of stone.  On either side of the pond were five rows of
flora that went on for about ten yards in each row.  There were also plants
hanging from metal beams that latticed the glass ceiling.  This made it
difficult to see what was happening on the other side of the building, though I
did glimpse a blur of movement.

I crouched low to the
ground and made my way toward the back.  I was in between the third and fourth
rows on the right side of the artificial pond.  I could make out the top of
Ruby’s head—she was in between the first and second row on the other side of
the greenhouse.  I half stood to see a little better.  I watched as she quickly
gathered roots and picked different flowers.  She looked troubled.

Ruby continued further
down the row, out of my sight.  I crept around my row and was now at the very
back of the building.  I moved forward in her direction and stumbled over her
big blue bag that was left in the aisle.  I froze, afraid that she might have
heard me.

When I felt safe, I got
back into my crouch position and picked up her bag to put it aside.  When I
picked it up, I did so from the side of the bag, unaware that it was open.  The
contents came spilling out onto the cement floor—a small jar of black powder, a
vial of salt, a stick of charcoal, a gold compact, and something I had only
seen once when I was seven years old in the Oak tree in our front yard.  I had
screamed that day.  Daddy had come out and saw what was there.  He had laughed
and said, “Red and yellow kills a fellow.  Red and black is safe for Jack.”  Immediately,
I knew that the red-and-black King snake slithering out of Ruby’s bag was not
venomous, but it scared the hell out of me nonetheless.

I stumbled backward on my
butt and gave out a startled cry.  I turned around to get up and, as soon as I
did, I saw Ruby round the corner with some kind of weird, crooked stick in her
hand.  She came to a complete halt and, before I realized what was happening,
she lifted the hand holding the stick above her head.  With her free hand, she
pushed forward, palm open.  Without her even touching me, I was suddenly
knocked backward by some tremendous force.  I cried out as my body was thrown
down onto the floor.

“What are you doing
here?!” she hissed.

I couldn’t speak to
answer her; the wind was temporarily knocked out of me.  I heard the door open
in the front of the building.  It took only a moment for Noah to arrive at our
end of the greenhouse.

He looked down at me and
then at Ruby.  “What’s going on?”

“I was getting some
things I needed, and she was sneaking up on me,” said Ruby.

“I just …”  I had to stop
to get my breath.  “I just wanted to know what you were doing,” I managed.

“That’s
none
of
your business, you understand me?” she said.

“You didn’t have to hit
her that hard,” said Noah, reluctantly holding out his hand to help me up.  “Go
back in the house,” he told me.

“What are you two doing?”
I asked.

Ruby took a step forward
to get in my face.  “I
told you
—”

Noah put up his hand to
stop her from going further.  “I’ll meet you at my house, okay?” he told her.  She
didn’t want to budge, but he gave her a look to let her know that it was time
for her to go.

Ruby gathered her things
that I had spilled from her bag.  She reached down for the King snake that was
still slithering around us.  When she picked it up, she looked at it fondly and
then kissed it on the head.  Then she stuck it out in front of my face to scare
me.  I jumped back.

“Ruby, go,” said Noah, rubbing
his face with both hands and sounding very tired.

She left through the back
door, slamming it behind her.

Noah looked at me for
what seemed like a long time.  I noticed his eyes were red and a little more
moist than they should have been.   He looked angry, but too exhausted to say
or do anything.  I was afraid to speak, not because I thought he would harm me
like Ruby had.  I was afraid to hurt
him
anymore.  Clearly Nadia meant
the world to him, much deeper than I had ever felt with someone.

It was so quiet inside
the greenhouse that when he spoke, it jolted me a little.  “Ruby is performing
a Voodoo ritual to see that Nadia’s soul finds rest.  She needed some things in
here for the ritual.  That’s all you need to know.”  When he spoke, he didn’t
look at me, and it was barely more than a whisper.

“Oh,” I said, feeling
foolish for following Ruby in  there in the first place.  “Noah, I’m sorry
about Nadia—”  Before I could finish, he was out the door in a flash.

Full of guilt and
self-loathing, I went back to my bedroom.  Before I went to sleep for the
night, I once again went to close the curtains.  I could see a small bonfire in
Noah’s back yard.  I shut the curtains and went to bed, sleeping until Miles
woke me up the next morning to start training again.

Miles no longer had me looking for the mask.  It
was a solid two weeks of training, grueling hours at the convent, healing
everyone who came in.  I pushed myself to get better so that what happened with
Nadia would never happen again.  I grew stronger and faster with my healing.  Cee
Cee was gone most of the time, saying she had her client to deal with.  Soon,
Mardi Gras was two weeks away, and the mask was still not found.

One night, after all the
healing had been done at the convent, Miles got a phone call from Noah, saying
that he had potential new information about the Grigori ball.  He said he would
meet up with a contact in about an hour and then report back to him.  Miles
told him that he wanted me to go with him to meet his contact.  I was caught
off guard and it seemed Noah was, too, as there was silence for a moment.  Then
I heard a muffled, resounding “No!” on the other end of the line.

“This is not open for
debate.  I will drop Leigh off somewhere to meet up with you, and the two of
you go together.”

“Miles, I’m not—” I heard
him yell on the other end of the phone.

“Where should I drop her
off?” asked Miles, cutting him off, nary a stir of emotion in his voice.  Again,
there was silence.  Then I heard a murmur that I could not make out.  “Okay
then.  I’ll take her there.  Make sure she’s in your sight at all times,” said
Miles and then hung up.

“Are you sure you want me
to do this with him?” I asked him.

“Quite sure,” he said,
gathering his bag and heading out the door of the chapel.

I followed him out to his
car and got in.  He drove me to an unfamiliar area somewhere in mid city.  “Can
I ask why you want me doing this tonight?” I said, once he stopped the car in
front of a small restaurant in a busy area.

He put the car in park,
but kept the ignition on.  “There has been considerable distance between our
group since Nadia passed.  I know it wasn’t your fault, and so do Noah and
Ruby, but it takes a long time for anger and hurt to subside, especially with
Ruby.  Noah has always been quick to anger, but he is also fair and reasoning.  I
want the two of you to be on good terms first.  That will turn Ruby around
eventually.  I need to have a tight group at this point.  Too many lives depend
on it, not just ours.”

I hesitantly agreed, and
Miles let me out the car and told me to wait at the restaurant for Noah.  I
crossed the street and went inside as Miles drove off.  I ordered a beer while
I waited for Noah to arrive.  Thirty minutes had passed when my phone buzzed
with an incoming text.  It was from Noah, instructing me to meet him at a bar a
few blocks away.  He gave me directions from the restaurant.  I downed the rest
of my beer and reluctantly took off in the direction of my new destination.

Walking through the
streets of New Orleans was different now from when I used to come here.  I
was born and raised in Louisiana, but I can’t deny that I was a tourist like
everyone else who came to the Crescent City.  I had always stuck to the popular
spots, like the Quarter, and Carrie and I spent more than our fair share of
wild nights on Bourbon Street.  Now, as I glided through the shadows of the
alleyways and stalked the back streets, searching for the place where Noah told
me to meet him, I saw the city as a mysterious entity.  It was more alive at
night, its shadows like whispers, coaxing me into its arms.

I noticed countless pairs
of eyes following me.  The eyes belonged to shop keeps closing up for the
night, the homeless watching me from their makeshift beds, call girls pretending
to wait for their next tricks on the corners, but all the while, wary of my
every move.  I didn’t belong here and they knew it.  I could feel Les Foncés
all around me, too, watching me from behind the tombs of the cemeteries,
waiting for me around the corners of St. Louis Church.  With each breeze that
floated off the Mississippi, I could feel their breath on my neck.

I felt my phone go off.  I
pulled it out of my jeans and saw that Lucas was calling me.  I decided to call
him when I got back to Cee Cee’s.  I put the phone back in my pocket.  In less
than a minute, it went off again with an incoming text.  I pulled it out and
read Lucas’ message:
Noah Dallion was in prison for murder.  Killed a guy in
Metairie.  Dangerous!  Stay away!

I froze where I was and
stared at the message.  I tried to rationalize how he could murder someone.  Noah
seemed troubled and angry, but I didn’t think he was the type to flat out
murder someone.  And I don’t think Nadia would have been friends with him, and
Miles wouldn’t have sent me out with him.  But I knew Lucas better than I did
these people.  I put the phone back in my pocket and kept walking, vowing to
keep up my guard.

I arrived at the bar, a
small hole-in-the-wall that looked like it kept bad company.  I cautiously
entered and found more eyes on me.  I was right about the company in here, and
it appeared that company was guarded against anyone not a regular.  They were
mostly men in their thirties and forties, looking like working-class depressed.
 The hard lives they lived that led them to seek out this dissolute
establishment showed in their eyes.  I only saw two women and they looked no
more decent than the hookers outside.  A jukebox was playing some hard rock by
a band I didn’t know.  Why Noah would want me to meet him here, I had no idea.  Maybe
he got a kick out of seeing me out of my element.  Perhaps this was just one
more punishment from him.

I scanned the bar,
ignoring the stares, but didn’t see Noah.  I noticed another room partitioned
by a dark blue curtain at the end of the bar.  I squeezed through the narrow
walkway in between the bar stools and the three booths against the wall.  I
noticed two men at the bar turn around to watch me as I went into the next
room.

It was very dark.  There
were a couple of pool tables with fluorescent lights overhead that looked like
they burned out long ago.  There was a broken jukebox in the far left corner,
its glass cracked as well as a few 45’s in the display.  The room was empty.  I
turned to go back through the curtain and was startled to see two men right in
front of me, blocking my exit.  I caught my breath and tried to play it cool,
but my heart was threatening to beat out of my chest.  Every instinct in me
told me this was not good.

“Oh!  You startled me.”  I
gave a friendly smile, hoping they wouldn’t read through it.

The taller one, who
looked like he was in his late thirties, with a two-day beard said, “Can we
help you find something?”

“I was just looking for
my friend.”

The shorter one, who had
tattered sneakers, smirked and said, “We could be your friends.”

The taller one snorted.  I
smiled again, “Thanks, but he’ll be here soon and I can’t keep him waiting.”

They grinned, and I
started to move forward.  This should have been a non-verbal cue to step aside,
but as I predicted, they didn’t.  I halted.  “Excuse me,” I said politely, and
moved forward again.  They stayed put.

“You from around here?”
said the taller one.

“Lafayette.  Been coming
here since I was little.  Excuse me, but I have to go.”  This time, I tried to
push through them, but it was like trying to shoulder through a brick wall.

“Maybe your friend isn’t
coming,” said the shorter one, smiling devilishly.

“Oh, he’ll be here.  And
he’ll be here soon,” I said, dropping the friendly demeanor.  “Now excuse me.”

As I went to push
forward, the taller one grabbed me by the shoulders.  That was it. I brought up
my right knee as hard as I could and made contact with his groin.  He let me go
and gave out one yelp as he cupped both hands in between his legs.  The shorter
one laughed, spun me around, and pushed me farther back into the room.  My gut
collided with the edge of one of the pool tables, knocking the air from my
lungs.  I whipped around as fast as I could.  They were both coming toward me;
the shorter one was a little faster.  The taller one was still holding his
groin and looked extremely angry.

I pushed my weight back
against the pool table and kicked the short one with both my feet.  He flew
back into the tall one, knocking them both to the floor.  I made a sprint for
the curtain partition that led to the bar area.  As soon as I crossed by them,
the tall one grabbed my ankle and yanked me down to the floor.

“Get her up!” he said to
the short one.

The short guy pulled me
up by the hair.  I screamed as he dragged me to the pool table.  He let me go
long enough to push me onto my back.  I popped up and punched him in the face.  He
punched me back and I instantly felt the blood in my mouth.  I went to kick him
in the groin, but he anticipated my move and held my legs down while the tall
guy, now on the side of the pool table, pulled my hands behind my back.  I spit
in the short one’s face and he hit me again and pinned my legs with his.

“Put her arms up,” he
said to the tall one.

The tall guy yanked my
wrists up high while the short guy pulled my shirt up over my head.

“Put her down,” he said.  The
tall one shoved my head back hard onto the green felt and I was dizzy from the
blow.  I tried to struggle, but the tall one had my arms pinned over my head.  The
shorter one spread my legs with his.  I felt him unbuttoning my jeans.  I heard
the zipper.

“Get off me!” I yelled.

I heard them laughing.  Then
I heard a loud thud, and my legs were suddenly free.  Then my arms were free,
and I heard a loud smacking sound and, in the corner of my eye, saw the taller
one fall back to the floor.  I picked my head up to see Noah with a baseball
bat in his hands.  He brought it high over his head and went to bring it down
on the tall one.  I saw the short one coming for Noah, so I sat up and tripped
him with my leg.  He fell as Noah brought the bat down on the tall one.  I
heard a dull cracking sound.  And then I heard it again.  And again.  The short
one got up, and I jumped down from the table and punched him in the face again.
 It stopped him momentarily, but he ignored me, intent on getting Noah.  Noah
whirled around and smacked Shorty in the face with bat.  He crashed to the
floor, and Noah kicked him in the gut.  He rolled over in agony.  I kicked him,
too, for good measure.  He groaned again and passed out.  Noah dropped the bat
at his side.  I looked over at the tall one.  Blood was pooling around him, but
he looked like he was still alive.

“Come on,” said Noah,
handing me my shirt.  I hurried to put it on and zipped and buttoned up my
jeans.  He grabbed my hand and led me out of the bar as fast as he could, the
bar patrons staring at us.

“Hey!  Where’s my bat?”
shouted the bar tender as we exited.

We stepped out into the
cool night.  I sucked in the air and felt a sting in my mouth.  I spit blood
out onto the uneven street as Noah grabbed my hand and led me around the corner
and one street over.  I yanked my hand out of his, and he stopped in his
tracks.  He turned to me, waiting for me to speak.

“Where were you?” I
demanded.  “You asked me to meet you in that horrible place and you weren’t
even there!”

“I got held up,” he said,
not an ounce of regret in his voice.   “C’mon.  We’re late.”  He started
to walk ahead, but I stayed put.  He got a few yards up the street before he
turned back to glare at me for not following him.  He stopped, and I just
stared at him, trying to hold in my fury.

“I know about the trouble
you got into a few years ago in Metairie.  About the prison time.  I know—”  Before
I could finish, he ran toward me and was in my face in less than a second.

“You don’t know
half
as
much as you think you do!” he growled.  It scared me, but I held my ground.

“Why did you kill that
man?”

He was so angry he was
shaking, and I could tell it took every ounce of restraint he had not to attack
me, but I didn’t back down.  “That’s … none of your business.”  He took a step
back and a deep breath.  “We have to meet our contact before he leaves.”  He
started walking again.  As soon as his back was turned, I let out a shaky
breath and followed him, always keeping about three paces behind, which was as
much room as I needed to get away from that force field of tension he projected.

Noah led us back down a
couple more alleys and side streets that I didn’t recognize.  The Mardi Gras
decorations were next to nil here.  What few there were had seen better
days—tattered banners, broken beads hanging sadly from rusted balconies, as
though they knew the forty days of Lent could never atone what they witnessed
here.  I was completely lost and, even though I hated being alone with him, I
eventually gravitated closer to Noah, not wanting to find myself completely on
my own in this sinister labyrinth.  From what I could figure, we were near a
park, and thinking of that brought back the memory of what happened to Nadia.  The
guilt came flooding back, drowning my fear and anger.  I glanced at Noah and
found myself trying to understand how he felt.  Cee Cee told me it wasn’t my
fault and so did Miles, but I felt like it was all the same, and maybe I did
deserve to be punished.

We came to another pub,
this one closed and shuttered long ago.  Noah went around to the back via the
alley.  I saw his car parked here and wondered why we walked all this way when
he could have just picked me up and driven here.  He stopped, cocked his head to
the door, listening for a second, and then turned the knob.

As soon as we entered the
place, I could feel my skin crawl.  
Seedy
was too nice a word for it.  I
didn’t think it was possible to find any worse company than what was kept by
the last bar, but I was mistaken.  It was not a bar anymore; it was now a
derelict vessel for the hidden roaches of society.  The room was very dark, but
what little light there was illuminated hunched-over men meticulously combing
through rows and rows of pornography—DVDs and magazines alike.  I got the
feeling most of it was illegal.  When we entered, a couple of men looked in our
direction, seeing mostly me.  They studied me suspiciously for a moment and
then went back to their activities.  I heard light music and laughter from
upstairs.