by Dani Hoots
Her dark eyes pondered over me, curious as to what I could be asking her at a time like this. “What is it, sweet child?”
I sighed. “Do you think I will be able to find my calling in this world? Be able to live freely with it, to listen to what it has to offer?”
She laughed a deep laugh as she sat down on the bed next to me. “Oh, Renee, what brought this up?”
“I don’t know. It was just something in the wind. When I close my eyes and listen, I swear it is calling me, as if it wants me to sail out in the horizon, to travel throughout the world and learn everything it has to offer. As time goes by, I feel like the voices keep getting louder and louder. I don’t know what to do. Not only that, but my father said that we would be leaving to France in a month. I don’t know what to do.”
Madame Nia wrapped her strong, aging arms around me. “My dear child, don’t you fret. Your calling will come to you some day and you will be able to answer it. I can see promising things in your future, just wait. You will turn out to be a strong woman, I can see that now. You will be powerful and you will get the chance to never have to answer to another person again.”
Her words felt good to me, but I still found it hard to believe everything she said. I didn’t understand how someone could say that when they themselves were in a position that they couldn’t have picked out voluntarily. Why would she ever want to be hired as a servant to a French home to teach a child about customs that weren’t even her own? I didn’t understand, but did know that she was better off than a lot of other natives on this island. I just wished that I could believe her when she said that I would be able to do anything I wanted in the near future.
“Now.” She kissed my forehead. “Get to sleep. You need your rest. You never know, tomorrow could be a big day.”
I rolled my eyes. She said that every night. I didn’t really believe it at this point. Madame Nia blew out the light and left me in the darkness, the only light coming from the bright stars and nearly full moon in the night sky outside my window.
Sleep was not coming at all. I didn’t know why, I presumed it was because of the energy the full moon gave off. Full moons gave me a lot of energy, and I found myself staring at the window most of the night, in awe. From the window in my room, I could see most of the town along with the ocean. It was a sight to see, especially over the water, the reflection glistening in the waves. I wished I could go out and bathe in the essence it gave off, but I knew if I got caught by my parents, I would never be allowed to leave the house again. They didn’t understand nature, they only knew the laws of man. I pitied them for that.
As I stared out the window, I swore I saw a small fire in the middle of the town. I rubbed my eyes, thinking it had to be an illusion. It wasn’t coming from anywhere near the usual lamps in the town, it was just floating there all on its own, as if alive.
The fire orb moved, darting across the village as if it were some kind of rodent. It didn’t set anything on fire as it appeared to be some kind of being, not actually fire. I kept an eye on it, curious as to where it was going. It wasn’t like I could do anything from here, and I couldn’t wake up my parents or they would be upset with me for not being in bed. Besides, by the time I went and got them, the strange fire orb would be gone.
It kept moving around the city. No one seemed to notice it as they all had retired for the night. It was definitely late, as I must have been lying in my bed for quite some time, not being able to sleep. There were probably some guards out, but whatever this thing was, it must have been staying away from them. I sat there and watched dumbfounded, not sure as to what I should do. I wanted to go check it out, it would be an adventure for sure, but I would get in so much trouble if I were caught.
Well, I guess I just won’t get caught then. Might as well try, since who knew when this mysterious orb would come back again. Perhaps, this was meant to be.
I climbed out the window, something I learned how to do a long while ago, because let’s be honest, I needed to get away sometimes. I even figured out how to get back up the tree in a hurry if need be. Thank goodness Madame Nia actually thought wisely by teaching me some strength exercises. They proved to be beneficial. She said that maybe in France a woman didn’t need to learn how to defend herself, but she wasn’t going to stand by and let me be as frail as them. She said there were so many other creatures around us, ones we couldn’t see, and we had to defend ourselves against them.
I liked Madame Nia a lot.
And of course, my mother and father never knew about the extracurricular things she was teaching me. We called some of them dance lessons, Latin lessons, etc in an attempt to mislead my parents into thinking my education was always proper. Although I also did learn those things, I wasn’t studying them as much as I said I was.
I hurried towards the town, as my house was just up on the little hill looking down upon it, and tried my best not to be seen. It was pretty late now and everyone had retired for the night. I was glad it was almost a full moon, as I wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise. The light from the moon illuminated the path before me, and I was glad I grabbed some slippers before I jumped down as I would have otherwise sliced up my feet from all the twigs and tall grass that made up the path.
I headed towards where I had seen the strange fire orb floating around. If I was correct in my estimations, it was right over by where the blacksmith had his shop. I had ventured there with my father several times before and got to see all of the work that goes into making a sword. Father forbid me from ever learning how to fight with a sword, but I was hoping that one day I would be able to learn. I didn’t know how I would learn, but I knew that I would eventually. Maybe my governess would teach me, add to my strength exercises.
As I got around the last building, that’s when I saw it, the fire orb. It hung there, suspended in the middle of the open air near the blacksmith’s shop, as if deciding what to do. I stayed back, not sure as to what exactly it was, and since it looked like fire, I didn’t particularly want to get that close in case it had murderous intent. I watched as the flames twisted and turned as it appeared to be looking in at the entrance of the shop. The flame seemed to have a mind of its own, or was being controlled by someone else.
In a moment, it made up its mind and it entered the shop. When I say entered, I mean more like slipped through the keyhole. I just watched, astonish, as it went inside, hardly believing for a second that it could do such a thing. I hurried to the door, peering inside through the crack of the door.
There, on the inside, slept the blacksmith. I wondered if he always slept in his shop or if he had just a long work day, and felt like retiring right there in his shop. But as I watched more closely, the fire orb crept closer, almost as if it were stalking the blacksmith. It got closer and closer when finally it was upon him.
It didn’t burn him, at least not from what I could tell. It was as if it was some creature that simply looked like fire, but didn’t behave at all like it. Nothing around was burnt, it didn’t seem to have any source. It was just there.
I shook the locked door. “Wake up, wake up! Watch out!”
The blacksmith didn’t hear me and the fire orb didn’t do anything to slow itself down. It descended upon him at his arms and I watched as what looked like blood appeared to be dripping from the man’s arms, and the fire was consuming it. It didn’t take anything but the blood, and I couldn’t tell if it was burning the blood or if it simply resided in the middle of the orb.
“Wake up! Wake up!” I shouted, knocking the door once again.
This time, the fire orb appeared to have heard me. It jerked back and flew towards the door where I was at. I fell back, out of the way, as it came screaming out of the key hole and into the dark of the night.
I don’t know what possessed me, but I knew I had to follow it. I hurried after it, running as fast as I could in pursuit of it, climbing up the hill on the opposite side of the town from where my house was. I was probably going to be in a lot of trouble
when my parents found out I was out this late, but I didn’t care. I had to know what this strange thing was.
I finally got to the top of the hill, out of breath, learning that the slippers I had been using were not suited for hiking up hills. I should have put on better boots, but I didn’t have time for that now. If I took the time to lace them up, I would have missed the fire orb going into the blacksmith shop. So I was stuck with what I had.
The fire orb was gone. I didn’t see it anywhere, the only thing that was on the hill was a small little home. I had never ventured towards this direction and never knew that there was anything out here other than just the edges of a forest. The sight of this house was a surprise to me and I wondered how long it had been here. Figuring that was the only place that the fire orb could be, I decided to check inside.
The orb was in the house, and that wasn’t all. There was a large room with different masks and symbols hanging from the wall, and in the middle of the room, there stood two large mortars.
And the orb of fire was next to the mortar.
There was something in the mortars as well, some strange cloth. Could it have been an animal’s fur? No, it looked a little more different than that. I watched as the fire orb started to move it.
And what I saw next was impossible, more impossible than the fire orb running around town, or even entering through the keyhole of the blacksmith’s door. The orb put on the strange thing that was in the mortar. And I finally figured out what it was.
Skin. Human skin.
And not only that, but as the fire orb took shape. It slowly grew arms and legs and the figure began to seem recognizable. Slowly it turned into Madame Nia.
“No, that’s impossible,” I whispered as I put my hands over my mouth.
How could that be her, I wondered, how could she have been this strange thing and take blood from the blacksmith like she did? It wasn’t like her, she was so nice to me. How could she be this thing? This demon?
I stepped back, wanting to run straight back to my room and wake up from this nightmare. Madame Nia was my closest friend I had ever had, and for her to appear as this creature, it was impossible. We had so much fun together, talked about so many things, I couldn’t believe after everything that she had kept this secret from me. As I started to turn around, I saw another fire orb appear outside the door to the houseThere were two of them.
I tried to get past the shock of all of this, but my mind wouldn’t let me. I wanted to cry, not wanting to face whatever this strange thing cavorting with Madame Nia was.
The door to the house opened and Madame Nia stepped out. I didn’t want to face her, but I was frozen with fear and surprise. She saw me standing there, eyes wide.
“Oh, dear child! What are you doing all the way out here in the dead of night?” she gasped.
I couldn’t answer, I felt as if I was frozen in place. I didn’t know what to do, I just wanted to go home, but here I found myself with two demon-like creatures, one of which was someone whom I thought was my friend.
“Come in child, please don’t look at me like that. I will explain everything.” She turned to the fire orb. “Thandi, please don’t scare her. She is my boss’ daughter. The one I told you about.”
The fire orb sat there for a moment, as if pondering what Madame Nia said, and then flew into the house. It too slipped on the skin that was in the other mortar and turned into a tall, dark woman whose face was similar to Nia’s. I wondered if it was her sister or something.
“Now.” Madame Nia held out her hand. “Please come inside so I can explain.”
I didn’t know what to do. If I had any courage, I would run straight back to my house and never speak of this again. Maybe, I should put it all down to a nightmare. But apparently, even though I always thought I was brave, I couldn’t get myself to do that. I followed Nia back into her house, knowing that it could mean certain death.
I sat down in the chair that Nia provided for me, fidgeting with the sleeve of my coat, not sure as to what I should do about all of this. The other woman, Thandi, now appeared as a human, and glared at me with suspicion as Madame Nia sat the two of us down.
“I know you must be wondering what is going on, Renee, and I want to tell you not to fret, that you are in no danger. I would never let any harm come to you, you know that, right?”
I nodded my head slowly, knowing she wouldn’t harm me, but the thought of the creature she truly was terrified me. How did I know she wasn’t lying to me? How did I know that she wouldn’t try and hurt me?
“So let me explain. Me and my sister here come from a long line of soucouyant, creatures of the night, that can turn into fire orbs just as you saw. Our mother and grandmother, when we were at the right age, passed on the fight to us so that we might preserve the power of this island. We have to do what we do to keep this island safe.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. What do you mean safe?”
She glanced over to Thandi, who just rolled her eyes. “There is a demon on this island, he goes by the name of Bazil. What we do is collect blood for him so that he doesn’t destroy the island.”
“A demon? That’s impossible, how can there be a demon on this island?” I asked.
“He is trapped within the silk cotton tree, and cannot be freed. But that doesn’t mean he still can’t cause damage to the island. If we don’t sacrifice blood to him, he will create winds that will bring water throughout this island and destroy it by flooding the region, just as he feels he has been destroyed by being trapped in the tree for so many years,” Nia explained.
“But why you?” I asked.
Nia sighed. “Unfortunate happenstance, really. When our great-grandmother was young, she met Bazil and he asked her to bring him blood but she refused. He begged her day after day, and finally he offered her so much power that she gave in. Now all of her offsprings are cursed with becoming a soucouyant to keep the island safe. In return we get power but… sometimes it’s not enough.”
“So instead of being afraid of us, you should thank us for keeping you safe,” Thandi added.
I didn’t know what to say. All of this was new to me. I didn’t believe they were lying, but I also wasn’t sure what was going on exactly. Could such things even exist? Could demons exist in this world and how could creatures such as Nia and Thandi help maintain peace on the island without anyone else noticing? My head was starting to spin with all of this new information.
“Now.” Nia stood up. “We should get you back to the house before your parents wake up. You don’t want to get in trouble, now do you?”
I shook my head.
“That’s a good girl, and you promise not to speak a word of this, correct?”
I nodded.
She held out her hand. “Come on, child, let’s get you back home.”
Nia took me back to the house and I climbed up to my window and snuck back into my bed after changing. I had to be extra quiet, lest I disturb my parent’s sleep. My nightgown had gotten pretty dirty and if they saw it, I would be found out instantly.
I couldn’t sleep, not after everything that happened. What was I going to do? How could I go on with knowing such information about Madame Nia? I had to see the tree for myself, I had to understand just what it was capable of, that much I knew.
But where was the tree? I had no idea, honestly. I didn’t even know what a silk cotton tree even looked like. If Madame Nia mentioned one, she made sure to avoid breaching the topic of what it looked like. I wondered if they went to the tree every night, or if it was just a once a week thing. I had to find out.
Especially before we went back home to France.
I had almost completely forgotten that my father had decided that he wanted to go back to France. I didn’t want to go, not after what I had learned just now, and how much I still didn’t know and needed to find out. My parents never realized how much stress they were leaving on me, forcing me to live a life that I didn’t want to. At least here I could get away with learn
ing things I wanted to from Madame Nia. But once I was in France, I would only be able to learn things that were French customs, aristocrat customs, never things I truly wanted to learn. I would no longer be free to learn what I want.
And what was worse was that father hinted at finding me a man for me to marry.
I couldn’t marry someone, I had no interest in being tied down like some women are when they are married. I never wanted to marry, I never wanted to be that woman whose sole purpose was to bear children. However, I was the only child my parents had. I was the only one they could make connections in society with. I had no choice even if I wanted to try and talk my father out of it. I would have to live in the society that I hated if just for them, I realized. I would never be free like the wind begged me to be.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have some fun before I left.
So I made a promise to myself that I would follow Madame Nia and Thandi tomorrow night. I would see what this tree called Bazil really was.
