by Jasper Bark
She hadn't entered this astral plane voluntarily and she wasn't prepared for the shock of being here. That was what a ritual was for, to prepare the initiate to experience this kind of heightened reality. Without that vital preparation she was reeling from the shock of finding herself in a space that wasn't anything like the reality she was used to.
She knew who'd brought her here. She'd been so careful to fly under his radar, to remain undetected inside Miriam's body. Nevertheless it was inevitable that he would discover who she really was. She'd hoped he wouldn't realise until she'd gotten all the islanders to the crossroads and returned their souls. But, as her grandmother used to say, "the Loa teach us more through the hopes they deny than the desires they grant."
As soon as she thought of Doc Papa he appeared. Thought had greater properties on this plane. He came in the body of a serpent with a human head, wearing a top hat that had the eight of spades tucked into the brim. She felt his coils wrap themselves around her before she saw him. He slithered round her and thrust his face into hers.
Remembering how to alter her form in this space, she transformed herself into the golden apple of Erzulie. This had repelled Ogou Fer when he took the serpent form in Eden, which was why he had Eve pick it for him. As soon as she shifted into this shape Doc Papa was himself repelled and shot away.
He reverted into the human shape of his Ti Bon Ange and so did Brigitte. Strangely, though she knew his physical body, had explored every inch of it with her own, she had never seen the astral body of his Ti Bon Ange.
Even under the circumstances, she still felt a huge desire for him. She could tell that he felt it too. It crackled though his astral body like a flame and it sang in the resonant vibrations it was giving off.
"I'm impressed," he said. "You threw me off quicker than I anticipated. I should know not to underestimate you."
"Something you do at your peril."
"Yes, as I learned when I unearthed your grave. But you were tricked so easily when I put you there, I was quite surprised. I became complacent. I didn't think you'd escape."
"Seems I'm not the only one who's easily tricked. But it wasn't your complacency that undid you, it was your arrogance. You didn't think anyone could circumvent your magic."
"For old times sake, as one magician to another, tell me how you managed to escape? I'm guessing you possessed one of the Zombies and dug yourself up. But how did your soul get past all the spells I set to keep it trapped with your corporeal form?"
"As I said, it was your arrogance that undid you. You forgot that magic, especially in Voodoo, is all about the letter of the law. You have to specify the outcome you want and allow for all possible interpretations. This means, unless you allow for everything that could happen, one spell can always get around another. You set the traps to catch my dead soul, not my living one. So as long as I was still alive in the coffin the traps wouldn't catch my soul."
Doc Papa tilted his top hat to her. "Exceptional. I am ashamed to say I hadn't thought of that. You won't escape so easily this time however. You know what I want. The location of the Gateway of the Souls."
"As I told you two years ago, it's safe. That's all you need to know."
"I'm afraid that's nowhere near what I need to know. I am only giving you the opportunity to tell me out of sentimentality. I'm quite prepared to take it from you."
"I assume that's what this is all about."
"Of course."
"It still doesn't have to be this way you know?"
"Oh really? Are you still suggesting we can love it all better? That a two hundred year old blood curse can be brushed aside by simply holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes? I've come too far to throw it all away now. I stand on the verge of dominating the entire planet. Do you think I'm just going to throw my hands in the air and say: 'You know what, you're right. Let's have a big hug and kiss it all better'?"
"I've seen things just as miraculous."
"Not with me you haven't."
"You've been lusting after the Gateway of the Souls since I first mentioned it," said Brigitte. "Why are you so fascinated with such a dangerous artefact?"
"Because of the power it will bring."
"It's a portal for drawing souls from one place into another, often against their will. How is that going to bring you power?"
"You expect me to reveal my whole plan to you, like some bad movie villain in the last reel?"
"Humour me. What can I do about it? I'm not going anywhere, you've seen to that."
"I have on St Ignatius the most precious possessions of the most rich and powerful people in the world."
"You're talking about their souls."
"I am. Having them in my possession gives me a great deal of leverage with these people, but not as much as I want. If I take the Gateway of the Souls inside me, as your ancestor did, and then open it, I will have complete and utter dominion over them. I will be the receptacle for their souls. I will own their single most valuable commodities. They will be a part of me. If anything happens to me, their eternal futures will be void. They'll have no choice but to put my wellbeing and survival above their own. I will be like a god to them and they will have to do everything I tell them. They control nine tenths of the world's resources and I will control them."
Brigitte was aghast. "You know there's no way I can tell you where the Gateway to the Souls is now you've told me that."
"There's no way you can avoid telling me," Doc Papa said. He shifted shape again.
The second astral plane of the Loa's was where everything that had been born on the first plane found its shape, prior to being given form on the third plane. Shape was everything here. To think something was to become it. The shapes that held the most power were those that mirrored the divine mysteries of the Loa.
Doc Papa became a serpent once more but a different Loa, Dambala Wédo, whose serpentine form represents the path of descent taken by the gift of life and secrets of the Holy Spirit as they come from God down to man. Because of his great age, Dambala never speaks and so is the great confessor to whom all secrets are confided.
Brigitte could not afford to confess the secret of the Gateway's location to Doc Papa. As he prepared to strike she became the rainbow of Ayida Wédo. The heavenly form through which the gifts that Dambala brings are dispersed and distributed to the world.
Doc Papa's energies were dispersed and disempowered as he struck, like the rays of the sun refracted by the rain. He slid harmlessly down her rainbow but found no pot of gold at the end.
"Well played," Doc Papa said. "But you realise you are simply delaying the inevitable. The best you can hope for is a quick demise."
"That remains to be seen. I have much of your work to undo and I can't afford a quick demise."
"Then you'll have to settle for a painful one." Doc Papa took the shape of Baron Zaraguin, Scorpion Loa whose insect body is impermeable metal and expands across unimaginable dimensions. He arched his tail ready to sting and reached for her with his unbreakable claws. Brigitte became Sim'bi d'l'eau, countering his unyielding and relentless form with the fluid permeability of water. She trickled through his claws and ran down his spine, rusting them as she went, which brought him to a halt.
In a move Brigitte would never have anticipated Doc Papa became simply a Govi. A clay pot used for holding otherworldly spirits. As Sim'bi d'l'eau she spilled into the container and he brought a stopper down on the top. She was trapped.
"This is your last chance to die with a little dignity," Doc Papa said.
He began to alter the shape of the Govi. As Brigitte was trapped inside his shape she couldn't do anything to stop him. The earthenware Govi became a clear glass container in the shape of a heart. Doc Papa manifested a giant dagger above her. He was becoming the sacred attribute of Erzulie Zandor - a bloodied heart pierced with the dagger of the Ogou.
As Brigitte was inside him she was at his heart, so the dagger would pierce her Ti Bon Ange and slowly kill her. From out of nowhere
she heard a voice say: "Stop, if your pierce me you harm the Gateway." It sounded exactly like her voice but she hadn't said those words or even thought them. They came from somewhere else, but where?
Doc Papa chuckled. "Of course," he said. "Toussaint would have hidden it in the one place I wouldn't think to look. Inside his own ancestor. You have been carrying it inside you all this time. He passed it on to you. He knew that if I thought you dead I would never suspect that the Gateway lay inside you."
"You'll have to cut it out of me to get it," said the voice that sounded like hers.
How had he coaxed her to say that? How could she have given away the location of the Gateway? How was she able to speak without even realising it?
Shh, little sister it wasn't you it was me.
Toussaint? How was her ancestor able to speak to her here?
It's Erzulie Zandor's doing. As soon as Doc Papa took her shape he gave her the power to place me inside here. It's time for me to take back what I gave you for safe keeping.
"Cut it out of you," said Doc Papa. "What an excellent idea."
Brigitte felt Toussaint reach into her and take the burden from her core. He was reclaiming the Gateway of the Souls. He was taking it to safety before she died.
No little sister, you will not die. I am taking your place and I am sending you back to help our people.
But that meant Doc Papa would kill Toussaint.
Just as he is supposed to. I am taking your place just as I took your great, great grandmother's.
Doc Papa would take the Gateway of the Souls if Toussaint did that.
Exactly as I plan him to, this is my curse coming to fruition.
But how would Brigitte help her people without the Gateway? How would she draw them back from the crossroads as Toussaint had done if she couldn't open it. She felt her astral form begin to flow out of the great glass heart as Toussaint's spirit poured in to take its place.
Hush little sister, you already have the solution. You just applied it to the wrong problem.
What did that mean? There wasn't time for Toussaint to answer as the last of Brigitte left the heart and the dagger descended. She heard Toussaint scream as he died a second time at the hands of a Papamal. Even in death beyond death, Toussaint disguised his voice to sound like hers. That's what I would sound like if I were murdered, she thought.
Brigitte felt herself pulled back to her body along a path Doc Papa couldn't see. She could still see him though.
She watched as he sliced the Gateway of the Souls out of Toussaint, without ever realising who he had truly killed. He held up the Gateway and let out a bitter laugh of victory. The Gateway was almost too bright to look at. It had an immense gravity that bent everything around it and seemed to refract both time and space.
Doc Papa took the Gateway of Souls and disappeared back to his body.
He had won, completely and irrevocably.
Chapter Forty-Three
They were lost, completely and irrevocably. Tatyana couldn't get her breathing and heart beat under control and the Zombies had noticed. They were shambling towards her. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark and she could see a little. She wished she couldn't.
"Benjamin," she called out. She needed him close to her. She didn't want to die alone.
He was struggling with Brigitte's body. "Here, give me a hand." He propped the body up on its feet and huddled behind it, pulling Tatyana to him.
The Zombies stopped advancing. Some vestigial memory inside them still responded to the sight of Brigitte.
"We're going to drag her to the tunnel behind us," Benjamin said pulling Brigitte towards the tunnel that led to the surface.
Further down the tunnel Tatyana could hear the guards approaching. "We're going to die aren't we?" she said. "It's all over."
"Do you hear the fat lady singing?"
"No," Tatyana had no idea what he was talking about.
"Neither do I. And that means it's far from over."
"What are we going to do?"
"We're going to take the fight to the guards."
"But they've got guns and rockets and God knows what."
"Yeah, and we've got an army of Zombies. I know who I'd put my money on."
"An army of Zombies that's about to eat us."
"No it's not," said Benjamin. She'd never seen him like this before. So focused and determined. "Look Tatyana, I know it's all over between us but I still love you, I always will and I'm not going to let you die like this, down here in this tunnel on some foreign island. We can do this. It's time to stop hiding behind Brigitte. Okay, so she stopped them from attacking us once before. But we rounded them up for her. We've spent longer in the company of blood-thirsty, flesh eating Zombies than probably any human who's ever lived and we're still alive. That's not just Brigitte. It's also us. We're good at this.
"What's gotten into you?" said Tatyana. "I've never seen you like this before."
"Maybe I've been backed into too many corners not to come out fighting."
Tatyana put her arms round him and pulled him close. She couldn't keep the tears out of her eyes, however soppy that made her feel. Was he right about it being over between them? She hadn't thought about it till now. He was being so brave and mature about it and she wasn't sure if she wanted to let him go yet. Even if he was right.
Benjamin took hold of her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. God he had beautiful eyes. Even in the pitch dark they sparkled.
"Listen to me," he said. "We're going to use ourselves as bait and lure the Zombies back down the tunnel on the right. It leads down to another crossroads at the start of the ossuary I'm sure of it."
"What good will that do?"
"They're expecting to take the Zombies from the rear. They won't anticipate the Zombies coming up behind them. They'll be caught in a... what do you call it? A pincer movement. They'll be trapped in the tunnel and they'll have to fight on both sides. They won't have a chance."
"But what if they outnumber the Zombies?"
"I've been listening to the footsteps of the guards chasing us. I was at the back of the Zombies for quite a while don't forget. I'm sure there's only about seven or eight of them on our tail. That means the Zombies outnumber them by more than twenty to one."
"What about Brigitte?"
"We can't carry her, she's too heavy. She'll be safe if we leave her here. No-one's going to look for her in this tunnel. We can come back for her later." Benjamin took Tatyana's hand and squeezed it. "Look. You're one of the coolest and most together people I know. I can't do this without you. Are you with me?"
"Of course." She wiped the tears from her eyes and brought his hand up to her lips. His beautiful fingers were interlaced with hers. She kissed each one. "Just say the word."
Benjamin sat Brigitte up against the wall of the tunnel, tucked behind a convenient outcrop.
"The word," he said and ran back out to the crossroads. "Hey over here," Benjamin called out to the Zombies. "Look it's a moving buffet." He motioned to Tatyana to follow him. "All you can eat so long as you catch me."
Tatyana ran out and stood behind him. The rotund male Zombie and the female Zombie who'd tasted his sweat were lumbering after him, followed by another female Zombie dressed in a maid's outfit. They were gnashing their decayed teeth and grabbing for him with their rotten fingers.
More Zombies began to follow as Benjamin led them down the tunnel which, just as he guessed, began to curve round so it ran parallel to the tunnel they'd left. Tatyana stayed behind Benjamin as he taunted the Zombies. He'd put himself almost within their reach and then jump back as they lunged for him.
If Benjamin put one foot wrong he'd be dead. They'd both seen what the Zombies could do to a person. Hell, they'd even tried to copy it. It took a lot of guts to do what he was doing.
She'd been about to go to pieces back there at the crossroads. Hunger, lack of sleep and too much stress had gotten the better of her. Benjamin had really stepped up to the mark just wh
en she needed him. He was probably right about them being over, but right now she wanted to think of him as her man. Her big, brave man who was looking out for her.
As they walked backwards down the tunnel Tatyana could hear the guards more clearly.
"Listen," Benjamin said. "I want you to start your Zombie breathing now, get your heartbeat down too. As soon as we get to the crossroads we've got to drop back into Zombie mode and hang back. Can you do that?"
"I think so."
"Brilliant."
They hit the crossroads and did just that. Tatyana ducked around a corner to get out of the way and compose herself. Benjamin backed right into the guard on point. The guard swung round but Benjamin took the initiative. He pushed the guard right into the hands of the Zombies chasing them.
Tatyana saw at least six pairs of undead hands and teeth latch onto the guard before he had time to react. His screams brought two more guards running down to the crossroads. They were met with a mass of starving Zombies lurching round the corner of the tunnel. The guards tried to run back up the tunnel. One of them made it, the other was too slow. He went down under the tide of ravenous undead.
The guards were now trapped between two flanks of Zombies. There were several burst of gunfire. Two bullets struck the wall inches from Tatyana's head, showering her with shards of bone and rock. She flinched and fought to keep her heart rate under control.
"Don't shoot you fucking idiots!" shouted one of the guards. "You'll just damage the merchandise. Besides it doesn't stop them, use the fucking flamethrower!"
"The piece of shit flamethrower's not working."
"Where's my talisman thing? Oh shit, I've dropped it. Can I get a light over here?"
"There's too many of them, we can't pull out."
