Regina’s concentration faltered. Panicked, she followed her first instinct to use the raven wings to fly. She catapulted toward the window, abandoning her circle of protection.
Ogue la Flambou laughed as Regina fell through the window, rolled down the slate covered rooftop and landed on the broken sign of Raven Moon on the banquette.
Lucky, standing guard outside the doors of the shop, leaned over Regina’s body and lifted the ancient crystal from her neck. Claude headed for the telephone to call an ambulance.
Lilly, scrying the scene in the cauldron at the Peristyle, cried for the young woman she had believed was her friend. Kumira, smiling broadly, lifted her head and exclaimed triumphantly, “OOOOEEEEAAHHH!”
Chapter 43
The Divine Horseman Wields a Rusty Scimitar
The still figures of James and Roland stirred within the Vodou circle at the Peristyle. Shemo and Alustra approached them, ready to assist as the two Druids oriented back into their bodies.
James sat up slowly, but Roland jumped to his feet. A wild grin distorted his handsome face. Dancing through the Veve, he grabbed a woman from the Vodou choir and rubbed himself on her in a blatantly sexual fashion. She screamed and was thrown to the floor. Roland bellowed a sound close to a roar, as he looked around the room. In a split second, he ran out the door. For a moment everyone stood motionless, a frozen tableau. Shouts, car doors slamming, the smell of fire and the screams of the innocent shook the magical group into action.
Shemo, followed by James, ran into the street spotting a car in flames and people huddled on the sidewalk. They watched the form of Roland, possessed by Ogou La Flambo, running towards the French Quarter at an inhuman pace.
Shemo ran for the parking lot on the opposite side of the building and started his van. Barreling down the street, he stopped only long enough for James to jump in. “Where did he go?” James yelled as he hung out of the window.
Shemo shook his head, “He is on the loose. I don’t know how we gonna find him.” They continued through the Bywater area looking up and down every cross street. Suddenly, Shemo slammed on the breaks as they neared the railroad tracks past Piety Street. The bodies of half a dozen men lay scattered across the tracks.
James jumped out of the van to investigate. “They are not dead, thankfully. They look like they took a beating, though.”
Shemo shook his head in disbelief, “All six of ‘em?”
“Yea, unless there was a group brawl going on, this may be Ogou’s work.”
“I gotta tell ya’ this has never happened before,” Shemo explained sadly. “He must be taking his reward for agreeing to help on the astral. Oguo La Flambo loves to ride a body and have some fun. His fun usually includes creating chaos.”
James looked worried, “I’m concerned about Roland. This spirit could run him to death, get him in bad trouble, get him arrested.”
The men lying on the tracks, stirred, some sat up. One man stood and walked around checking on
his friends. “Let’s keep going,” Shemo said, climbing into the van.
After a couple of hours of searching the streets of the Bywater and the Marigny, they parked the van and walked into the French Quarter.
“You want to split up?” James asked.
Shemo shook his head, “No, cause when we find him we gonna’ need to restrain him. It will take both of us.”
James scowled, “What do mean restrain him?”
“The Loa don’t like to be confined. If the horseman is restrained the Loa will depart.”
“So, you are saying Roland is being ridden, he is a vehicle and once the vehicle can no longer act out the will of Ogou La Flambo, he will be released?”
“Tha’s right. At least, tha’s what I’m hopin is right.”
James heard the tinge of fear in Shemo’s voice which worried him more than he wanted to admit.
Walking slowly through the main aisle of the huge open market on the edge of the French Quarter, James and Shemo scanned the crowd.
“This is going to take forever, there are hundreds of booths and look at the number of people,” James said, discouraged.
Shemo rubbed his chin and frowned, “We’re lookin for a disturbance in the pattern. We can’t possibly examine every face. Look for an area hyper energized or disturbed.”
James’s face lit up, “Ah, yes, that makes sense and makes it easier.”
The two men turned the corner and entered the aisle on the far left of the market. “There!” James exclaimed, pointing to one of the stalls. The display table was pushed out into the aisle and there was a police officer talking to the agitated vender.
“What happened here?” James asked the guy selling tie dye shirts in the next stall.
“Craziness, man. This dude came up to Omar’s display and picked up this old scimitar he has had for sale for years. This long haired guy looked mellow until he waved the big, old, curved knife over his head. “Oh, man, the look on the dude’s face was scary. Omar yelled at him, but the guy was, like, deaf. Finally, Omar tried to grab him but the dude swung the scimitar at him. He was going to take Omar’s head off with it. Omar went running back behind the display table. He told the guy he could have the scimitar. He wanted him to get outta’ here, man.”
James nodded, “How long did it take the police to get here?”
The tie dye salesman glanced at his watch, “About half an hour.”
Shemo cursed under his breath, “Did you see where he headed?”
“He cut across the area with the displays on the ground and disappeared around the corner.”
James and Shemo exchanged glances as they set off at a run. Ogou La Flambo running through the French Quarter brandishing a scimitar was not good.
‘Where would he go?’ The two priests thought simultaneously.
Shemo stood still, closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration, ‘Anywhere he wants to go.’ They searched for another fruitless hour and decided to return to the Peristyle.
The magical group was performing a ritual scrying for Roland. They looked up as James and Shemo entered. The two men could tell, from their distraught expressions, they had been equally unsuccessful in their search.
The sun was making its slow descent into the river, when Jolene announced she was ready to close the circle at the Peristyle and return to Panthea’s. “We’re exhausted. We’ve been scrying for hours with no results. Let’s have something to eat, get some rest and resume our search.”
After a light dinner, the group gathered again. James had slept for a bit, but still looked exhausted. They divided the areas of the French Quarter, Rampart Street and the Desire Housing Project between them. James nodded to each member as he explained, “‘We’ll search these areas and regroup here by 10PM. If anyone finds him, restrain him quickly.
Sabine handed keys to the team, “Try to return here immediately. This is the key to the gate. Get Roland back into the courtyard. If he is calm, get him into the meditation temple. If not, tie him to one of the gallery poles. I will be placing rope on the iron bench closest to the fountain.”
“This can’t be happening,” Lilly cried.
Alustra and Shemo spoke up simultaneously, “It won’t be necessary to restrain him for more than a few minutes, Lilly. Once the vehicle is stopped, Ogou La Flambeau’s fun will be over. He will exit Roland’s body quickly.”
Lilly nodded numbly, as Jolene put her arms around her and held her for a moment. She turned Lilly towards her and moved her hands up to Lilly’s shoulders, “You have got to be strong. Roland is going to need you. We will find him. All will be well.”
Lilly nodded as the group spoke as one voice, “So mote it be.”
Lucky and Claude headed towards Rampart Street. Shemo and Alustra decided to drive the van into the housing project adjacent to the French Quarter. Jolene, James and Lilly headed for Bourbon Street. The search was underway and everyone squared their shoulders and put on a determined f
ace. Each member secretly nursed a heavy heart and the fear Roland would not survive his possession by an unrestrained Loa.
It was a moonless night with dark clouds scuttling across the sky. A cold drizzle began which made sure they were all miserable. Alustra and Shemo parked their van and went door to door through the housing project asking about a wild white man, wielding a curved knife. Some of the tenants laughed, some looked terrified, some simply slammed the door in their faces.
Lilly had a photo of she and Roland taken on Mardi Gras day. She was going to show it around to people but the Roland in the picture with his Van Dyke beard, smooth cheeks, lacy collar and plumed hat looked nothing like the possessed man running through the area with a rusty scimitar.
After walking up a few blocks on Bourbon Street, James led Jolene and Lilly towards a side street. “I’m feeling we need to head over this way and get off of Bourbon Street.” Picking their way gingerly over the bricks of the banquette, slick with spilled beer, they cut over to the seedier end of Chartres Street.
“There is an old apothecary shop on one of these blocks. The owner deals in herbs, St. John’s root and magical supplies. He conducts rituals of some sort in the back of the apothecary. Let’s go take a look.”
Lilly gave a quizzical look at James, “Later,” he whispered. Although it began to rain, Jolene had brought along a couple of umbrellas and they pressed close together, avoiding puddles and derelicts huddling in doorways.
They stopped in front of a dimly lit shop. Apothecary of the Magical Light was lettered in gold across a large plate glass window. Lilly put her hand on the window and peered in. Two huge Doberman pincers jumped in front of her face, barking madly, slobbering and wild eyed on the other side of the glass. Lilly jumped back, startled by the ferocity of the animals.
James made for the front door. “Wait,” Lilly yelled, “The dogs.”
The dogs turned to give chase as James strode into the store. The Druid stopped, extended one hand out, palm up and made a small gesture towards the two canines. The dogs stood, whimpering, bound to the wooden floor. Jolene and Lilly gingerly entered, continuing to stand close to the door.
“Is anyone here?” James called out.
A hand pulled aside a curtain covering a doorway in the back of the shop. A thin, bearded man responded rudely, “I’m here, what do you want?”
“We are looking for a white man with dark hair and beard. He may be carrying a large curved knife. Have you seen anyone fitting this description?”
“Yea, the crazy bastard was in here. He came in and went right for the herbs,” he said as he pointed to hundreds of glass jars on shelves behind a long counter.
“I couldn’t tell what he was looking for. He seemed to have a lot to say, but I couldn’t understand him. He wasn’t speaking English. For a minute, I looked into his eyes and, I swear, he had a haunted look. It was like he was begging for help; I couldn’t understand. I’ve got a magic circle set up in the back room, I thought I could do a banishment and whatever had gotten into this fellow might exit. I signaled for him to follow me into the back. We got back there and everything was cool. I lit some storax and signaled for him to step into the circle.
“He wouldn’t move. I made a mistake when I grabbed him by the arm and tried to lead him into the circle. He pulled the knife from his belt, waved it in front of my face, ran to my altar and grabbed the chunk of John the Conqueror root. He ran back into the store and the dogs attacked him. I was afraid they would kill him or he would injure on of them with the blade. The dogs let him go at my command; the guy was wild eyed. I opened that door,” he said pointing at a metal side door. “He ran into the alley.”
“Did you call the police?”
“No, no I didn’t. No need to get the cops over here; the guy was gone.”
“Thank you,” James said as he released the spell binding the dogs to the floor and lead Lilly and Jolene out the front door.
Jolene took a long look at James, put her arm through his and walked toward Rue Saint Anne and the comfort of Panthea’s. “James, you are exhausted. We can’t do more. You need to be home resting.”
“But!” James said, trying to challenge her decision.
Lilly had noticed James’s stooped shoulders and haggard face as he learned of Roland’s visit to the store. “I agree,” she said.
James grabbed Lilly’s arm, “What about the crystal? Have you felt anything from the crystal yet?”
Lilly shook her head and let out a heavy sigh, “I have it on, James. It feels cold. Before it was always warm and, sort of, thrumming. Since Regina had it, the violet light is gone, there is no warmth.”
She looked inquiringly at Jolene and noticed the puzzled look in her teacher’s eyes. Lilly’s shoulders sagged and she ground her teeth in frustration.
“Possibly a ritual cleansing at your altar will wake it. Continue wearing it. It may realign with your energy,” Jolene suggested wearily.
Lilly squared her shoulders, “I’m ready to try anything. Gently taking James’ other arm in her hand she spoke to him in a firm voice, I agree with Jolene. We have done all we can. Walking aimlessly around in the rain is not going to produce any results.”
James shook his head, ready to disagree, but Jolene gave an insistent tug on his arm and he knew it was futile to argue. The trio made their way back to the warmth of the kitchen and steaming cups of restorative tea.
The day weighed heavily on Lilly and her two mentors as they sipped their tea in silence. Regardless of their fatigue she decided to speak up, “I thought I had been introduced to all of the magical practitioners in the Quarter. I was surprised you never mentioned the guy at the Apothecary.”
James wiped his mouth with a napkin and sat back in his chair, “He is a practitioner, but has no real power. His magic exists on only one dimension, this one.”
Lilly frowned slightly, “What dimension does your magick exist on?”
“I work with energies in multiple dimensions. Those who are playing at magick have no idea how to access multiple dimensions and parallel worlds. The guy at Magical Light is a dabbler. He is merely a dream twister.”
Lilly’s mouth hung open until James smiled wearily and said, “I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed by this information. You will develop your talents over the years. I have had a long life to study and practice multi-dimensional magic.”
~
On Rampart Street, Lucky pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up and Claude pulled his hat over his ears as the rain fell harder. They crossed Esplanade in silence, their eyes peering into the darkness.
Alustra and Shemo pulled to the curb as Lucky and Claude were crossing Elysian Fields Avenue. “Get in,” Alustra ordered, “we are feeling some disturbance a few blocks down the street.”
They sped through the next few blocks until they heard music. Shemo made a loud grunting noise as the sound of people yelling and crying came through the Motown beat.
Within minutes they drove up in front of a squat looking yellow brick building with big black letters across the entrance, CLUB GEMINI. People were pouring out onto the sidewalk. Many of them held bloody handkerchiefs up to their faces. Scantily clad women were hollering and weeping.
“This must be the place,” Lucky said with some relief. Claude pointed to the alley and they went around to the back of the club and entered through the service door. In the smoky gloom of the club, they saw Roland’s back as he stood on the bar, a bottle of rum in his left hand and scimitar in his right hand. He was fending off the bar owner with the rusty old knife.
Shemo, Lucky and Claude moved quietly forward and grabbed Roland by the legs. He toppled over backwards. As they caught him and dragged him to the floor, Lucky held Roland still while Shemo pried his fingers from the hilt of the knife and tied his hands with an old bandana he had in his pocket. As Shemo predicted, Roland’s body went limp when he was restrained. Alustra grabbed the bottle of rum, poured some into her hand and slapp
ed Roland on the back of the neck signaling Ogou La Flambo his time was up. When the Loa released his hold on him, Roland collapsed into unconsciousness.
The bar owner was picking up the phone to call the police when Shemo intercepted him. “Let’s have a talk, okay? My name’s Shemo I’m the Mambo Alustra’s husband. You see the Mambo over there?”
The owner nodded slowly. “This here is a bit of work gone bad, if you know what I mean. Alustra is gonna’ be happy we found this young man here in your establishment. She will be in the mood to do some favors for Club Gemini over the next few months.”
The owner nodded his head and put the phone back on the receiver. “Glad to be of help,” he said cordially as he picked up beer bottles and overturned chairs.
Claude and Lucky dragged Roland out of the club and laid him in the back of the van giving apologetic looks to the irate clubbers standing with bleeding faces in the rain.
~
Roland slowly lifted one eyelid. Lilly sitting beside the bed moved forward slightly and he opened both eyes. Squinting in pain, he put his hand on his forehead. His voice was hoarse as he croaked, “What happened? Was I in an accident, or am I horribly hung over?” His blurred vision cleared slightly and he could see Lilly smiling.
Lifting his head, she put a glass of water to his lips. Placing a cold damp cloth over his eyes, she made shushing noises and encouraged him to rest. “Time enough for explanations later. You need to rest and get your strength back.” Nodding, Roland drifted back to sleep.
Chapter 44
Normal Life?
A week had passed since the ritual at the Peristyle. Claude’s visits to Hotel Dieu, the hospital where Regina was taken, yielded no information until her parents arrived. They were happy to share details of her condition with her business partner. Regina had a concussion, two broken ankles, a shattered right wrist, and a deep cut along one side of her face. She was scraped and bruised but the doctors expected a complete recovery.
Jewel of Inanna (Perils of a Pagan Priestess Book 1) Page 26
