by Ocean
“We did it,” she whispered.
“No.” Devin held onto Rosie’s shoulders and pressed their foreheads together. “You did it.” She wiped a tear from the corner of one of Rosie’s eyes.
Ria and Naomi stood holding hands, silently watching Devin and Rosie’s joyful reunion.
“Ahem,” Naomi said. “Are you forgetting something?”
Devin kept an arm wrapped around Rosie’s shoulders and pulled her closer as she turned toward the two nuns.
Her voice had a childish, sing-songy rhythm to it when she waved and said, “See ya. Wouldn’t want to be ya.”
53
Now it’s your turn
Naomi dropped Ria’s hand. Her own squeezed into tight little fists.
“Devin. You promised.”
“Yeah, well promises were made to be broken.” She looked at Rosie. “That doesn’t apply to you. Only to evil dolls that lied to us.”
Ria took a step forward.
“But we’re not evil, truly.”
Rosie looked at Devin.
“Devin, we can’t leave them like that,” she said.
“I know. I was only kidding.” She turned her attention back to the nuns. “Can’t you take a joke?”
“That wasn’t funny,” Naomi said.
“Naomi. Look!” Ria pointed toward the horizon. Instead of it being dark black like the rest of the sky, it had lightened.
“The sun,” she pointed.
“Rosie, hurry,” Naomi said. “Please. Say the spell to change us with them.” She pointed toward the two bodies that lay in the graves.
Rosie flipped through the pages of the book.
“Hurry!” Ria encouraged.
“Devin! I can’t find it!” Rosie said. Her breathing was fast and heavy, her heartrate elevated. “It was here before, but now it’s gone.” She scoured page after page.
“You’ll find it.” Devin’s voice was calm, slow. She squeezed the back of Rosie’s neck.
Then Rosie saw what she’d been looking for and read, tracing the words with her finger.
“To transfer the soul of a living being into an inanimate object, repeat the words, ‘Arunda zinca bahaba mozzubee. Witchabak nosquito. Witchabak morang wabee wonnata.’ The living being must be breathing. Press the inanimate object to the mouth of the living being for at least six seconds. The soul will be sent from the living to the non-living. The body of what was living can now be destroyed as the soul will be trapped inside what had previously been non-living.” She looked up from the book.
“Quick, each of you get down into the grave of the body you want to transfer to, and I’ll say the curse. Let’s see if we can get you two into some new bodies.”
Devin jumped down into the first grave and stood beside the feminine, petite body. Ria ran to her. As if lifting a child, Devin picked Ria up and placed her on the chest of the deceased woman.
“We really have to kiss a dead person?” Ria scrunched her nose upward.
“If you want to be human again, you do,” Devin said as she leapt up from the grave Ria was in, then jumped down into the other. Naomi hurried to the edge of the pit, and Devin placed her on the chest of the second woman.
Naomi pointed a finger up toward Devin.
“We’re trusting you.”
She then turned to Rosie.
“All set,” she said.
Rosie glanced toward the horizon. The first ray of the sun shimmered over the dark horizon.
“Naomi,” Ria said, “I’m starting to freeze. I hope this works. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Naomi said back.
Naomi and Ria both lay on their respective bodies, their lips pressed tightly against the lips of the woman that lay beneath them, then they both grew quiet.
“I hope this works,” Rosie said to Devin.
“It will,” Devin said.
Rosie couldn’t close her eyes and repeat the words because she hadn’t memorized them in this order, but she concentrated as hard as she could, hoping that wanting it bad enough would make it happen.
“Arunda zinca bahaba mozzubee. Witchabak nosquito. Witchabak morang wabee wonnata!”
When the last word had been spoken, she closed the book and looked down into the graves.
Nothing happened. She glanced at Devin. The feelings of disappointment that Rosie felt was etched on Devin’s face.
“Are you sure you said them right?” Devin asked.
“Yes. Well, no. Of course not. I mean, I read them right. I think. But I’m not sure. I mean, I’m not a Shaman. How am I supposed to know? I’m sorry, Devin. If I–”
Devin grabbed her arm with one hand and pointed toward the graves with the other.
“Look!”
54
One slight complication
It was slow at first, the movement, but there was movement. First a finger, then a twitch of an eye. The feet of the bodies that moments ago had been corpses, although still wrapped in the blanket, shuddered. One eye of the body that Naomi laid on popped open. One of the hands of the body that Ria lay on, lifted.
“Devin!” Rosie shouted. “It’s working. Oh, my goodness. It worked! I can’t believe it!”
They embraced and swung each other around, then stood on the side of the graves, jumping up and down and cheering, encouraging Ria and Naomi’s every movement.
Both of Naomi’s eyes were open now. Slowly, her irises moved left to right, as if searching for something, until finally drifting in their direction. When her eyes stopped and fixated on them, a smile crept across her face. She didn’t move her arms or legs, but her lips mouthed the words, ‘Thank you.’ A tear trickled from the outside corner of her eye and slid down the side of her temple.
From the other grave, Ria moved her lips.
“Naomi?” The word was slurred, yet distinct.
“Ria,” came a response from the adjoining pit.
After several minutes, the women were able to sit up and talk. They laughed as they communicated in side-by-side graves.
“Good Lord, we have bodies,” Naomi said.
“Our very own bodies,” Ria said. “Mine feels great. How does your feel?”
“Fantastic! I can’t wait to see yours.”
“Here. Let me help you up and out of there.” Devin jumped down into one grave at a time and helped each woman back up to the surface.
The moment that Ria and Naomi laid eyes on each other, they each released a long scream. It was as if centuries of pain had been released. They walked stiffly toward one another and fell into a vice-grip embrace. Tears flowed from each of their eyes, including Devin’s and Rosie’s.
“This is a great body!” Ria repeatedly rubbed her arms, stomach, neck and face.
“I agree. It is!” Naomi said as she surveyed Ria from head to toe. “So is mine!”
“You two are like kids at Christmas that just got new toys,” Rosie said.
“This gift is much better than a new toy,” Naomi said. “We waited almost three hundred years for this.”
“And guess what else?” Ria wrapped her arms tightly around Naomi’s waist.
“What?” Naomi squeezed her closer.
Ria pointed toward the bright orange sun that peeked over the horizon.
“How great is it to be able to watch a sunrise with you? It’s been so long since we’ve been able to do that.”
They hugged and kissed again.
“I can’t wait to get home,” Rosie said.
“And I can’t wait to find a home,” Ria said.
Devin grabbed the shovels and handed one to Naomi. “I guess we better fill in these in before someone discovers us.”
The four of them stood and peered down into the grave.
Two nun dolls stared up at them. They’d been discarded and now lay immobile, lifeless, and abandoned in the dirt.
“It’ll be a joy to never see those again,” Naomi said as she thrust the shovel into a pile of dirt. Just as she was about to toss the gravel into the grave,
a flash of lightening bolted across the sky.
The women all glanced up and froze.
“Where’d that come from?” Rosie said. “Lightning on a sunny morning? Doesn’t make sense. Do they have odd thunderstorms here?”
As if watching a movie on fast speed, dark clouds rolled in. Thunder boomed, first at a distance but within seconds, it was near enough that the ground shook.
“Holy crap. Do storms roll in this quickly and severely here?” Devin asked.
Ria and Naomi shook their heads fiercely, lowered their shoulders as if trying to make themselves smaller, and glanced fearfully toward the sky.
“Petro zemi.” They each said the same words.
“What’s a petro zemi?” Devin asked.
“Magical thunderstorms,” Ria answered.
“Brought on by something evil.” Naomi’s eyes scoured the sky. “We should go. Now.”
She dropped the shovel but before it hit the ground, a whirlwind circled in front of them. Dirt and branches got caught up in it and revolved madly around the spinning vortex. The sound of rushing wind grew louder. Rosie had never been in a tornado but thought this must be what it’s like.
“What the heck’s going on?” Devin yelled.
The twister picked up speed. It circled until forming the shape of a large, dark, beastly man or a manly beast.
“Uh oh,” Rosie said.
“Shit,” Naomi said.
Devin wrapped her arms around Rosie. The word that came out of her mouth sent shivers down Rosie’s spine.
“Satan.”
55
Just when you thought…
“He’s come for you.” Devin’s words were directed toward Ria and Naomi.
“Damn it,” Naomi slapped the side of her thigh. “We just got our new bodies.”
Ria’s new face twisted into a pained expression. “But we haven’t done anything wrong!”
“Apparently, he thinks you have,” Devin said.
As the whirlwind slowed, the shape became denser and more distinguishable. The small group cowered closer together.
In front of them, larger than life, and as living and breathing as they were, stood Satan. His skin shimmered a reddish black. Rows of white spiked teeth glinted in the moonlight. As his burgundy, blood colored eyes with their fiery pupils surveyed them, his reptilian tongue flickered into the night air. His pointy tail swished from side-to-side, creating a burnt trail along the ground wherever it landed. His hooved feet and lizard scaled hands were massive, as were the two rhinoceros sized, curved horns protruding from his head. He towered over them by a good two feet or more. The smell of rancid, burnt meat combined with intense heat emanated from him. Instinctively, they all stepped back.
He stared at them in a curious sort of way and smiled. It was the kind of smile a parent might give a child that’s done something interesting. Or, if a lion could smile, the kind of grin it might give a rabbit before devouring it.
Naomi pushed Ria back and stepped in front of the group.
Her voice cracked, but she still spoke with distinct authority.
“What do you want? Why are you here? We’ve done nothing wrong. I can explain. If you think you’re here for our souls today, you can go to hell. You have made–”
Devin leaned closer to Rosie and whispered, “She just told the Devil to go to hell. That’s kind of funny. If she–”
A lightning bolt flashed through the air, landing on and splitting a nearby tree with a piercing crack. Immediately, it burst into flames. Naomi and Devin stopped talking. All four women jumped. Naomi leapt back toward the safety of the group.
Satan tilted his head back and released a laugh that filled the air with an electricity that created an audible crackle.
His tail flickered like that of a happy cat and every time the pointy tip hit the ground, it scorched another triangular burnt mark into the earth.
He spoke and when the words slid from his mouth, the ground shook, as if an earthquake rumbled beneath their feet. Devin gripped and leaned on the shovel for support, and Rosie clutched and held on to Devin. Each word was spoken slow, clear and precise, articulated in a deep and powerful voice.
“I have not come for you.”
Rosie looked first at Devin, then to Ria, then Naomi. She guessed her face held the same look of concerned confusion that covered each of theirs.
“I have come…”
He lifted a long, charred red finger.
“For you.”
The tip of the bony appendage pointed toward Devin.
56
When the Devil calls
Devin’s fingertips pressed against her own chest. Her eyes flashed wide with plenty of white showing.
“Me?”
It was the first time that Rosie had heard Devin’s voice sound so fragile.
An audible sigh of relief rose from Ria and Naomi.
“Me?” Devin repeated. “Why me?”
“Devin?” Rosie grabbed Devin’s arm. A wave of emotions, a combination of fear and panic, flooded through Rosie’s nervous system. “What have you done?”
Devin swung toward Rosie. Her palms were outstretched.
“Rosie. I haven’t done anything, I promise. I swear. I have no idea.”
“Come.”
As Satan spoke the solitary word, he turned his palm skyward and curled an extended finger.
“It is time.”
“Time for what?”
Devin’s voice had a twinge of panic to it.
“If you think I’m coming with you without a fight, you’re crazy. I haven’t done anything wrong. If it’s about my brother, I can explain.”
“No need to explain. I know all I need to know. Come.”
The Devil then turned and walked toward the woods.
His gait was clunky, each step of his large, hooved feet, was slow and deliberate. He walked like someone who wore heavy, oversized, weighted boots.
Rosie gripped Devin’s arm and pulled her in close.
“Don’t go,” she pleaded.
“I have to Rosie. I don’t think you can say ‘no’ to the Devil, can you?”
Her eyes begged for advice.
“Devin, I don’t know.”
Rosie’s brain ached. She searched for an answer but could find none.
What do you do when Satan tells you to follow him?
“COME.”
The word wasn’t spoken yet it permeated the air. Rosie trembled and glanced toward the sky.
If thunder could talk, she thought, it just spoke to us.
Devin shot a nervous glance in Satan’s direction. Then she gazed into Rosie’s eyes. Her face softened. It was as if the fear had suddenly dropped away. Rosie stared into the pair of beautiful eyes that she’d grown to love. Her hand shot up and gently touched the side of Devin’s face.
Devin’s hands cradled Rosie’s chin. She looked deeply into one of Rosie’s eyes, then the other.
“Rosie. If I don–” She stumbled on the word and had to start again. “If I don’t come back, I want you to know something.” With the tips of two fingers, she tenderly traced Rosie’s lips. “Know that I love you. I have since the moment I laid eyes on you. I love you with my soul in a way I’ve never loved before. And also, please know.” Devin’s eyes filled with moisture. She ran a finger beneath her nose. “Please know, I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through. So very, very sorry.”
“Devin.” Rosie grabbed the back of Devin’s head, leaned forward, and pressed her cheek against Devin’s. “This can’t be the end. After all we’ve been through. It can’t end like this. I won’t let it.”
“COME!”
The command came louder this time, and the ground shook more violently. The four women had trouble staying upright.
“I have to go,” Devin said. “If it’s my time, so be it.”
With the gentlest of touches, she pulled Rosie’s face toward her own. Their lips met, seeming to melt together. Rosie smelled her, tasted her, pulled Devin clo
ser, not wanting the kiss to end, not wanting to let her go. It was Devin who pulled away. She kissed the tips of her own fingers and placed them on Rosie’s heart.
“Goodbye,” she said.
It was through blurry eyes that Rosie watched the shape of the woman she’d fallen in love with walk away from her and disappear into the woods.
57
Nothing to do but…
When Devin had disappeared, Rosie crumpled into a heap. Her hands covered her face, and she wept, crying with an intensity she’d never experienced before. The uncontrollable sobs that took over her lungs made breathing nearly impossible. The sensation of pressure on her chest was unbearable, as if invisible hands tried to squeeze the life out of her. She gasped for air.
Ria and Naomi squatted beside her. She felt the tender touch of their hands on her back. She heard the gentle tone of their voice but couldn’t decipher the words. It was as if everything in the world had disappeared. There was nothing left. Nothing but pain. And the pain was all consuming.
How could this have happened?
After all they went through, to have it end like this?
“Rosie?” It was Ria. “We’re so sorry. We didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Rosie looked up. Her eyes were swollen, and she only had one contact in. Everything was blurry. She still hadn’t caught her breath, yet the words leapt out.
“Sorry? You’re sorry? You didn’t mean for this to happen?” she shouted. It was her voice, that she knew, but it sounded completely foreign. And as she screamed, the pressure in her chest and neck was so great, she felt something would burst, yet she didn’t care.
“You stole our bodies, left us to spend eternity in those stupid nun dolls, and now you say you’re sorry?”
The fury that raged through her was a completely unfamiliar sensation. Anger vibrated every cell of her body. She wanted to hurt someone. She wanted someone else to feel the pain that flooded her. She bolted up and threw herself at Ria, but Naomi got to her first, grabbed her wrists and held tight. Naomi was much larger and stronger. Rosie tried to fight, but her strength quickly faded, and she went limp.
