Possessed (4 page)

“
Beauty and love can be
found in even the ugliest circumstances,” he hissed. “Don’t forget
that.”

I nodded solemnly as I watched the
lily. Love can be found in even the ugliest circumstances, what did
that mean?

“
Thank you, Bade,” I
whispered. “I promise I’ll always protect her. But right now, I
have to go and find Sabrina.”

Beauty and love can be found in even
the ugliest circumstances. What was I supposed to make out of
that?

Chapter 5

Three’s a Crowd

As I turned around to leave, I smacked
into Lucus’ very yummy chest. Had I really described his chest as
yummy? Yummy? God. Maybe I did need to get out of this
place.

I closed my eyes and prayed that he
wouldn’t be covered in blood. How was I going to explain what had
happened when nothing I wanted to say was coming out of my mouth?
Lucus probably thought I was crazy. Or maybe I was flattering
myself and he didn’t really care. I mean we only kissed, it’s not
like… I couldn’t think about any of that right now. I needed to get
to Sabrina. I couldn’t help feel responsible for whatever she had
gotten herself into.

Lucus deserves to rot in rooms full of
blood.

No he doesn’t. I tried to block out
Ivan’s irritating voice.

Boxes. Different boxes. Rooms full of
blood. He deserves to suffer. Leave, queen; get the hell out of
here. This is what my mother wants. Don’t be a silly little girl
with a big mouth.

I stood there in true psychopathic
style, eyes closed while muttering incomprehensible
phrases.

An unexpected sweetness filled my mouth
and I tasted a flavorful burst of cocoa and cream cheese. I kept my
eyes closed and kept on chewing. No questions asked. I knew if I
stopped to question what the hell was going on, Ivan’s voice would
return. The faint but distinct smell of jasmine infused with the
lilies replaced the scent of cigarettes and Louis.

Finally, I got the courage to open my
eyes and was rewarded with the sight of a very amused Lucus.
Thankfully, he wasn’t covered in blood. In fact, I had to
momentarily appreciate his silky dark hair and the outline of his
broad shoulders in a black evening jacket. There was just something
about the way the pale light bounced off his high cheekbones and
caressed his full lips that made him look slightly otherworldly,
seductive and strangely heartbreaking. I felt so shallow standing
there and shamelessly drooling over him. What was I turning into? I
hated being that girl. The girl who thought about how hot a guy was
at the oddest times and under the strangest
circumstances.

In his hand, he held a china plate with
a piece of red velvet cake on it.

“
You brought me cake?” I
asked, as I held my hands, not knowing how to react.

He shrugged. “It was the last
piece.”

He brought me cake after witnessing me
tragically dance with Ivan. Who does that?

He deserves to rot. Delicious cake made
from my blood. Prince Charming lives off the blood of others. I
need to make sure my mother’s curse is never removed.

Shut up, Ivan.

A warm breeze filled the air and the
lily pond started to madly swirl again. Delicate purple lilies
surrounded us. For a minute I forgot the insanity and confusion
that engulfed me and enjoyed feeling like a Disney Princess, even
though I couldn’t sing or dance like one. Being a Disney Princess
was a secret dream of mine that was so dark I had never had the
guts to share it with anyone; but when I was around Lucus, that was
exactly how I felt. The air was fresher, the birds hummed brighter
and the flowers smelled sweeter. Basically, the trees were made out
of cotton candy and the world was a better, more hopeful place. How
corny.

I closed my eyes again and stood on my
toes. I took a massive gamble and prayed that every cliché that
proclaimed actions spoke louder than words was true. I pulled Lucus
close to me and locked my body and lips against his. I could feel
his heartbeat and pulse pick up pace as I parted his lips. Our kiss
consisted of a passionate, bitter-sweet nothingness that somehow
managed to block out the demented whisperings in my head. At that
second, I realized that maybe Lucus was becoming my silly little
addiction. “Thank you for the cake.”

“
Arelia, you need to get to
the cemetery,” hissed Bade.

Remembering Sabrina and feeling beyond
guilty, I pulled back and took a deep breath. Considering Bade’s
words and my pledge not to be an ego-maniac, I decided to let Lucus
in. “I’m a mess. Nothing makes sense. Words aren’t coming out
right. There are things I want to say but I can’t…I need you to
help me find Sabrina, she ran off to the old slave cemetery and
she’s in trouble. And I need you to promise that this lily pond
will always be taken care of. I know I’m asking a lot,
but…”

Ivan is Louis Beau. I need to tell you.
You aren’t responsible for any of this. You don’t deserve to be a
prisoner. The world needs more people like you. Thoughtful people.
Kind people. I wish I was more like you. But I’m not. I’m pretty
messed up. I hope you’re still not in love with that girl. I think
I love you. I hate sounding corny. Corny scares me. I’ll never be
able to call you things like sugar and profess my undying love like
Nicholas Sparks’ characters do. I’m sorry. Maybe you deserve
someone like that. Someone semi-normal…

Lucus examined me carefully for a few
seconds. Even though he didn’t say anything, I felt like he knew
exactly what I was thinking. He turned his attention to the lily
pond and placed one hand over his heart. “I promise this lily pond
will always be taken care of, and I vow to be kind even if you’re a
mess and nothing makes sense,” he said solemnly while trying to
hide a small smile.

I let out a huge sigh of relief and
flashed him a bright grin. “I know you’re making fun of me but I’ll
take it.”

“
I’m not mocking you. Now,
let’s go find Sabrina,” he said, as he placed the cake down on a
nearby table.

He deserves pain. You know that. You
don’t want to admit it yet. Queen, you and I don’t have anything in
common with him.

Shut up, Ivan.

He took my hand into his and an
overwhelming sense of safety washed over me. As we approached the
oak-lined path, I remembered that going to a cemetery empty-handed
was a tragically senseless idea because it was Papa Ghede’s
territory.

I knew that Papa Ghede was a loa that
loved to party, drink lots of rum and eat tons of hot food. His
favorite offering was pepper-infused rum. Being Father Death didn’t
deter him from having a good time, because supposedly when you’re
dead, there isn’t anything that you can’t laugh at. Despite his
supremely important position as keeper of the cemetery and friendly
connection with the dead, he was basically a big clown who loved to
put people in awkward positions.

In spite of his carefree nature, he was
also supposed to be a great counselor if you were desperate for
guidance. He was really wise because he had access to all of the
knowledge of the dead combined. So that basically meant that he
knew everything. I couldn’t help but wonder what was waiting for us
in the cemetery, or if Papa Ghede would bother showing at all. I
mean, there were a thousand other cemeteries in New Orleans- I
doubt he was hanging around Darkwood.

“
We need to grab rum,
cigarettes and peppers. Lots of peppers. We can’t enter the
cemetery without offering something to Papa Ghede,” I said, as I
looked up at Lucus.

He nodded. “I’ll go get the offerings
from the kitchen. You need to let Mae and Henri know what’s going
on.”

Of course, Mr. Practicality would never
run off to a cemetery in the middle of the night without letting
anyone know. That was my job. “Okay.”

Before he left, Lucus pulled me close
to him. He gave me a long, deep kiss. The delicious smell of him
sent chills through my body and filled me with a rare calmness that
I wasn’t used to but somehow craved. “In my eyes you’ll never be a
mess,” he whispered with alarming sincerity and
conviction.

Blood-filled kisses. Do you like
blood-filled kisses, Arelia? Doesn’t my blood taste good? If you
like blood-filled kisses I can give you a few. Come on over
here.

“
Shut up!” I
screamed.

Lucus raised an eyebrow.

“
Never mind.” I shook my
head. “Please go get the offerings. We need to find
Sabrina.”

Lucus gave me a skeptical look and
grinned as he headed towards the house. Argh. My other vow, not to
be a psychopath, wasn’t working out so well.

As I approached the rose garden, the
party was still in full swing. I spotted Grand-mere dancing with
Ben while Aunt Mae and Henri held each other and swayed to the
music. The soft, twinkling garden lights made their faces appear
almost ghostly and fragile, but thankfully they weren’t covered in
blood.

Unfortunately, before I could actually
step foot into the garden, I was blocked by Ivan. A cigarette
dangled from the corner of his mouth and he had loosened his tie
again. Putting my frustration aside, I tried to think back to the
Louis I had known, not this vengeful monster. “Let’s take a walk,
queen,” he said casually.

“
No. I don’t want to take a
walk with you.” But of course I was powerless, and followed him
towards the main path.

I looked up at the canopy of stars and
took a deep breath. Even though I tried to compose myself, I still
felt an inexplicable fury wash over me. “Ivan, like I said, no
matter what you do, I’m not leaving. I’m not going anywhere. I want
to help you and as much as you’re fighting me, I’m going to keep on
trying until you realize that too. I’m the friendly intervention
that you’ve secretly been hoping for. Now, get out of my way, I
have to go talk to my aunt.”

“
No you don’t,” he smirked.
“Why didn’t you invite me to the cemetery?”

Too embarrassed because my body is
rotting there? I haven’t actually visited my own grave yet.
Pathetic, isn’t it? Maybe it’s time I finally do. See how the poor
old corpse is doing. Should we bring it some flowers from the
extravagant rose garden or how about some lilies? I know- how about
some chrysanthemums, your favorites?

My body froze as his thoughts entered
my conscious. I felt a wave of pity and misery wash over me. I’d
forgotten that Ivan’s real body was buried on this
property.

“
I’m sorry,” I muttered, as
I dug my toe into the damp earth, unable to meet his
eyes.

“
Why the hell are you always
looking at your toes?” he asked, as he roughly jerked my head up.
The fire in his eyes was unnerving.

I bit my tongue, clenched my fists and
turned my head away.

Erzulie, why are you doing this to me?
I literally felt like screaming, “Why me!!” and breaking out in a
wild, uncontrollable wails like some rented funeral mourner. Having
multiple voices in my head was making me even crazier than I
already was. Why did she have to bless a lunatic? Screw being all
noble and composed. Poise was way overrated anyways. I always
suspected that people who were always composed were either on heavy
meds or living in sweet denial. Hmm, but how would that explain
Lucus? Calm down, Arelia. Calm down. Don’t give him an ounce of
satisfaction.

“
You know it has to be
done,” Erzulie whispered, as she appeared before me in an
extravagant pink satin gown and mounds of gold jewelry. She
casually stroked a large snake that lazily hung around her delicate
neck. “Understanding requires sacrifices. Power requires
sacrifices; you know that, my dear. I’m not claiming that any of
this is going to be easy for you or for those you love, but it has
to be done.”

“
I know. You keep telling me
that and I’m trying to be strong, but when will it
stop?”

She leaned forward and caressed my
cheek with the back of her hand. “Soon,” she whispered before she
disappeared.

“
I have to go find my aunt,
Ivan,” I attempted to move, but once again my body failed
me.

He put his arms around my shoulders and
sniffed my hair. “No you don’t. Look, Ken is back and we have to go
get Barbie.”

Lucus approached us. In his arms he
carried three bottles of rum, a pack of cigars, and a large jar of
cayenne peppers. “Ready?” he asked, as his eyes rested on Ivan’s
arm.

“
Yes we are,” said Ivan, as
he grabbed a bottle of rum from Lucus.

“
Are you coming with us,
Ivan?” asked Lucus.

Ivan smirked as he opened the rum
bottle. “I’m surprised that you know my name.” His voice was cold,
detached and ruthless.

“
Why wouldn’t I? You work
here,” said Lucus, as he gave Ivan a confused glance.

Ivan took a long swig from the rum
bottle. “Just wondering.”

“
That isn’t for you!” I
attempted to grab the bottle out of his hand while trying to shake
myself free from his arms.

Ivan took another swig from the bottle
while his eyes remained fixed on Lucus. He gave Lucus a wide,
satisfied grin. “She’s so dramatic, isn’t she?”