Authors: Terri Reid
Delphine stood up and came after
Eloise, grabbing hold of the attic eaves one by one as she moved. Her hair
whipped in the wind and her eyes glowed with anger. Rather than wait, Eloise
moved forward to meet her mid-attic. Delphine, surprised that she wasn’t
retreating, faltered at the next handhold.
Eloise moved quickly, taking advantage
of her loose hand. She grabbed hold of Delphine’s arm shifted her weight and
threw Delphine over her shoulder and onto the floor. Delphine reached around
for something to grasp, and could only find a knothole in the floor. She dug
her fingers in, screaming in frustration. The wind increased and her body was lifted
off the floor, only her slight handhold keeping her from the pull of the
vortex.
Eloise held on to the eaves,
fighting the force of the wind.
“Give it to her again,” Sally
cried.
“Yeah, give her one for me,”
another voice cried out.
“For me too,” said another.
Eloise looked up and to her
amazement saw that the roof and attic were filled with the spirits of the
people that had been murdered by Delphine.
“She can’t hurt you now,” Eloise called
to them, “And you can finally help right some of the wrongs she committed.”
They started to approach
cautiously. Delphine looked up at them and hissed.
“Get back,” she yelled. “Get back
or I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” Eloise asked. “Kill
them? Guess what, they’re already dead. You have no power over them.”
Delphine’s eyes widened in fear as
the large group of spirits surrounded her. Eloise could hear Delphine’s
muffled screams as her fingers were pulled away from the knothole and she and the
entire group of spirits were pulled into the air towards the vortex.
Eloise moved to the edge of the
attic and watched as the black cloud appeared just below the vortex. Black
arms extended and snaked around the sky. The spirits released Delphine and she
tried to struggle away. But the shadowy arms wound themselves around her and
pulled her back into the darkness. Her final screams of horror echo throughout
the house.
Eloise felt her world become hazy
and then blackness surrounded her. She woke up a moment later in Paul’s arms,
his lips on hers. A few minutes after that he loosened his grip and murmured,
“Maria said that I could bring you back. Sally seconded her.”
She looked around, “Sally?”
Paul smiled and turned her to see
Sally, now sitting on the table smiling.
“Hey, you really kicked ass! Thanks!”
Sally said, and then shuddered, “But I’m thinking that next time I’ll save the
whole out-of-body experience for you.”
Eloise laughed. “Glad to see you
were able to pull yourself together.”
Sally stuck out her tongue.
Maria came forward and took
Eloise’s face in her hands and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
“Thank you for what you have done
for me and for the people of my home,” she said. “I will not forget that Maria
Leveau owes you a favor.”
“Thank you for your help,” Eloise
said, “And for your advice about love. I think I owe you.”
Maria smiled and started to fade
away. “Oh, ma petit, the love journey for you has just begun.”
When she had disappeared, Eloise
could still hear her soft voice whisper, “And with a man like yours, the
journey should be magnificent.”
Eloise smiled and turned back to
Paul.
“I think you can let me go now” she
said.
“I don’t think so,” he said, lowering
his lips to hers.
Eloise and Paul slowly walked up
the hill, their hands clasped, and their hearts beating in anticipation. Paul
spread the blanket out under the tree and, taking Eloise in his arms, they sat
back to watch the sunset over Istanbul.
“This is so beautiful,” she said.
Paul kissed her neck, “You are so
beautiful.”
She sighed, “I don’t think I’ll
ever get tired of your kisses.”
Paul grinned, “Well, after only a
week of marriage I would certainly hope not.”
Eloise turned in his lap and linked
her arms around his neck. “Well, you know there have been a lot of kisses in
the past week.”
Paul smiled and pulled her closer,
gently kissing her lips.
“And other things,” he murmured,
trailing kisses across her shoulder blade.
Eloise shivered and smiled, “And
other things.”
Then she sat up and pulled away a
little.
“Eloise,” Paul groaned, “stop
thinking and just enjoy.”
“But Paul, I have been wondering
about something,” she said.
He sighed softly and straightened
up. “What?” he asked.
“Well, I’m wondering if we lost the
power that we had.”
Paul shook his head, “Why would you
think that?”
“Well, because when we…,” she
paused and bit her lower lip. “When we…”
Paul leaned forward and kissed her
cheek. “When we make love?” he whispered into her ear.
Eloise shivered and nodded her
head. “When we make love we don’t have…”
Paul grinned. “We don’t have dead
people showing up?”
Eloise nodded.
“Eloise, did you want to have dead
people show up when we make love?”
Eloise turned bright red. “No, no,
I just thought.”
Paul chuckled. “I don’t think I
ever mentioned the wedding gift we received from Maria Leveau did I? It was a
collection of amulets that you hang around your room to insure privacy, even
from dead people.”
“You’ve hung them...”
Paul nipped her earlobe, “All over
the place, darling, all over the place.”
Eloise laughed and cupped Paul’s
face in her hands. Then she brought her lips down on his. He pulled her closer
and they slowly drifted down to lay across the blanket. A few minutes later, a
rather flushed Eloise looked up over Paul’s shoulder.
“Darling,” she whispered, “The
Centurions are here.”
Paul reached his hand up and cupped
it around her head, pulling her back into his embrace. “Sweetheart, they waited
for two thousand years; they can wait a few more minutes.”
The End