by Dani Hoots
As promised, I never said anything to anyone about Nia being a soucouyant and she didn’t tell my parents that I had snuck out the night before. Although, if we were honest, no one would believe me anyway. They would just tell me to stop making up stories, or that I was reading too many books and acting un-lady-like. Apparently it wasn’t lady-like to create stories and write tales, even though I secretly had a journal I kept some stories in hidden away in my room.
I tried to act as normal as I could around Madame Nia, not to make her think I was suspicious of her actions. Even after everything that had occurred, I still did trust her deep down. She had been looking after me for quite some time and I couldn’t just throw all that away because I found out she was some weird creature that was actually trying to protect the island with her and her sister’s powers. But they both had said they offered up blood from others on the island, did that mean they killed those who they took the blood from? I hadn’t heard any news about the blacksmith’s death, so I doubted if that was the case.
Madame Nia had come to serve in my parents’ house just by random chance. My mother and father simply went into town, asking other French men and women who would be the best nanny for their young girl. Most of the people they referred them to were already hired, except for Madame Nia, who was ready to go the day they talked. She appeared to love teaching me, training me to become a lady, but when I started to grow up, she saw the independent girl who wanted an adventure. So she began teaching me other things that she herself was taught by her own family, things you would never learn in French society like magic and legends. But not once did she tell me about Bazil or the soucouyant. Did she not trust me? Or did she think I would hate her for it?
I had made my mind up about going and seeing the tree that night. It was something that had to be done. I wanted to understand with my own eyes just what was going on. I didn’t tell Nia that I would be following her, she would have forbid it. So I kept my mouth shut and followed all her lessons throughout the day, which honestly was probably more suspicious than asking questions outright, but she never said anything about my marked silence.
As I was getting ready for dance lessons, I saw my father open the door for a strange gentleman. He wore a long blue coat with gold strips, and had the typical English black hair with the weird curls. I swore, the English had no fashion sense, when compared to the French.
The man bowed down, and I realized that it was the man I had met the day before. He winked at me when he saw me up on the balcony, which was weird I thought, and then turned to my father. “Good day, my name is Admiral Sir John Flowers.”
My father nodded. “Yes, I heard of your arrival yesterday. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, I guess the rumors are true then. That there are pirates in the area.”
My eyes widened. Pirates? So he was telling the truth earlier about being on the lookout for them. It was strange for him to have told me, but I guess he knew young eyes are always looking out for the impossible.
Admiral Flowers nodded. “Yes, the rumors are true. I was hoping to give you the full details myself yesterday, but you were not home. I met your daughter. She is quite lovely, to say the least. She is going to grow up to be quite the woman.”
My father gave him a questionable look, or maybe it was I who gave him a questionable look. What did he mean by that? I shuddered at the thought.
“Yes, yes. She is going to be quite the lady indeed. We are going back to France so she can have a proper chance at getting a proposal.”
I rolled my eyes at my father’s response. Was it really up to him to talk about this to some complete stranger?
“You never know, there could be suitors here as well.” Sir Flowers cleared his throat. “Anyway, we should get onto more pressing matters and discuss the pirate threat.”
“Yes, yes.” I had never seen my father look as nervous as he was at that moment, fumbling to direct the Admiral inside the house. “Please follow me to the study.”
I stepped down the stairs from the balcony. “Père, do we have a guest?”
“Renee,” my father gasped. “What are you doing out here?”
“I was just on my way to dancing lessons then I heard someone at the door.” I bowed. “Sir Admiral Flowers.”
“M’lady,” he took my hand and kissed it. There wasn’t enough soap in the world…
I turned to my father. “What’s going on?”
He knelt down. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.” He kissed my forehead. “Now be a good dear and run along to Madame Nia.”
I nodded and did what he said, worried as to what their conversation would lead to. I wondered if I got the chance, if I could coax the information out of Admiral Flowers. Then again, I didn’t think I wanted to talk to him ever again.
My father never discussed what exactly the admiral had said. I knew that he told mother, but as for me, I was left completely in the dark. Both of my parents looked worried and I had no idea why they looked that way. Were we to leave this island and go back to France? If that was the case, I knew I had to go out to that tree before it was too late. I knew I had to find out the truth about the demon that resided there.
Once dinner was done, Nia took me up to my room and tucked me into bed as she always did. She didn’t say anything about not sneaking out again, or even mention anything about her strange powers. I wondered if she knew in advance that I would try and follow her, and wanted me to do it. Was all of this fated from the beginning?
Which sort of frightened me even more.
I waited a while until I knew she had left for the night, along with a clear indication that my parents were fast asleep, and then I changed into some spare clothes I had found from when my father was a youth. I wanted to be able to mask myself, to look like a boy, so that I wouldn’t stand out. After slipping on some boots and hiding my long hair in a hat, I jumped out of the window and headed back to where Nia lived.
I decided the best plan of action was to wait at the house for Nia and her sister to come back, and then I would follow them towards the tree where they might give the blood up as a sacrifice. I wondered how they exactly gave the blood, as I didn’t see what they did with it the night before. Maybe they put it in pouches or in a pitcher. I really had no idea.
I figured it should have been happening tonight, especially with the full moon in the sky. Energies always felt the strongest during this time, so for some reason it made sense to me that they would be going to the demon tonight. If not, then I guessed I just would come out every night until they did.
Just as I planned, Nia and Thandi were just leaving with a large bowl they carried together. It had to be the blood that they were about to sacrifice. So that’s how they did it. As quietly as I could, I followed them towards the tree that they said the demon was trapped in.
It was well within the woods, which is what I figured would likely be where it was. There was no way I could have searched all this area by myself. We had to have traveled for at least a mile before we came upon the tree. I knew it was the demon tree by how magnificent it was. It wasn’t just that. It also gave off a horrendous aura that made me shiver with the sinister vibe coming from it.
Nia and Thandi stood in front of the tree, chanting a spell as they poured the blood on the massive roots that stuck out, as if begging for the blood and demanding that something be sacrificed to it or else. The branches that spread out radiated dark energy from it, I could almost see the dark shadows oozing from it. As the blood soaked more and more into the roots, the darkness seemed to thicken, as if the tree had been gaining even more power and it took every effort on my part not to run away from it.
As for everything around it, much of the plant life and trees that surrounded it appeared to be dying, as if they were not getting enough energy from the soil, which was likely if the demon really did reside in it. I doubted such a creature would let other living things take what it desired.
If I came during the day, I wondered if I would have been able to te
ll that it was evil, or if it just gave off such radiated energy at night. Many creatures resided in the night and seem perfectly normal during the day, at least that is what it seemed like in the stories.
After all of this was over, I wondered if anyone would believe whether or not anyone who read my story when it’s been written actually thought it was all plausible, or if they would just shrug it off as another fictitious story. I wanted people to believe, I wanted people to realize that there truly was something out there in the world that didn’t include mundane things just within their circle of knowledge.
And I was just starting to scrape the surface of knowing what was truly out there.
The chant was finished and Nia and Thandi bowed to the tree. The language seemed a bit familiar, as I heard other people in town speaking it, but I never learned any of it. I only knew English, French, Latin, and some German.
I watched as the wind rustled through the tree branches, as if it was awakening. The wind was not a normal wind, one full of life and meaning, but rather one full of evil doing and darkness. I looked up at the tree again to find it almost seeming to glow a deep red as it took in the power of the blood, shadows draining from it. The branches moved with the wind, creaking and cracking as if trying to speak. It was utterly creepy and if I had a sane mind, I would have left long ago. Unfortunately I don’t have a sane mind and I simply sat there, staring in bewilderment.
Nia and Thandi kept their heads down to the tree, as if waiting for something. I squinted as I swore I saw the mark of the tree trunk began to move. After blinking a few times, I realized it wasn’t my imagination. The bark was darkening and taking shape into some kind of man. I gasped in horror.
Bazil was real. And he was right in front of me.
“Yes, this is good. My power is growing. A few more moon cycles and I will be free of this wretched curse,” the being said.
My eyes widened. They lied to me. They said that they were using the blood to keep the demon in the tree, but this whole time they were actually trying to release it. It was probably because I was young, and they wanted to keep my mouth shut, that was why they lied to me. And because I was leaving soon and she would no longer have to worry about me.
“And when I’m free of this curse, you two will be at my side, as powerful as every other demon in this world.”
Before the demon could go on, the sound of canon fire echoed throughout the woods. Nia and Thandi jumped up and stared back towards the town.
“What was that?” Nia asked.
“It’s a ship. There is a battle going on at the port,” Bazil answered.
“Could it be pirates?” Thandi questioned.
My eyes widened. If that’s the case, then mother and father would be awake and they would probably be looking for me at this minute. They would know I had snuck out when they couldn’t find me tucked in my bed. Much as I wish not to confess it, they were probably worried sick since they couldn’t find me either. They had no idea where I was at this exact moment. Yet I was stuck here, or else, these three demons would see me, and who knows what they’d do to me.
“Go,” the demon said. “Gather more blood during the night of this full moon, bring me back to this world!”
They both bowed. “Yes, master.”
He disappeared back into the tree and Nia and Thandi headed back towards the house. I hurried after them, wondering what they were doing and what was happening to the town at this minute due to the new pirate threat.
As we got over the hill, that was when I saw it. The pirate ship that was setting off cannons towards the town. I gasped, not believing what I was seeing. The town was under attack, that’s what the Admiral had discussed with my father just earlier today.
Nia and Thandi turned into their fire orbs and flew off towards the city. I didn’t know what they were doing, whether or not they were going to attack the town’s people, or if they were going to attack the pirates.
I ran after the fire orbs, yelling. “Wait up! What’s going on! Nia!”
They didn’t hear me, but unfortunately, someone else did.
I felt something wrap its arm around me and hold me back. I tried to scream, but the other hand went over my mouth. It was rough and course, as if it had seen many hard years.
“Well hello, lass, what’s a kid like you doing following demons like those?” the man’s voice was deep and coarse, and had a bit of an English accent. He stood in front of me, as one of his colleagues had been the one who grabbed me. He wore a long coat, tainted with blood and god knows what else. A sword and gun hung off his belt. These were definitely the pirates that Sir Admiral Flowers was after.
He was a tall man, with red hair and a mustache. His coat was old, as if he had been wearing it through the years without ever changing it. He smelled as if he hadn’t taken a bath in months. In some ways, he smelled like death. With him were two other men, both pirates, both looking as if they would kill me if they didn’t get what they wanted right away.
I shook my head, trying to kick and punch, but it was no use. This man was a lot stronger than I. I should have focused more on self-defense lessons like Nia had said.
He looked over at Nia and Thandi as they flew towards the town. “By the sight of those fire orbs, I take it they are soucouyant, which means there is a mortar with their skin on it. Where is it?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t answer that, not to these men. They were pirates and I had no idea what they were going to do to Nia and her sister once they found them.
He pulled out his sword and placed it under my throat. “I don’t want to kill a young lass such as yourself, but if I have to I will.”
I felt as if I was going to cry. What were these pirates doing here? What were they after?
Before I could answer, I heard another voice behind me. “Unhand her, Thomas Anstis!”
The pirate turned me around and there I found Sir Admiral Flowers. He had his pistol out, pointed at the captain.
Captain Thomas let out a bellied laugh. “Admiral Flowers. We meet again. You just won’t die, will you?”
“I was about to say the same to you.”
“I bet you were,” Captain Thomas grabbed me and put a knife under my throat. “Step one more step closer and she is dead.”
Admiral Flowers stared at me, as if not sure what to do. He knew he couldn’t let harm come to an aristocrat’s daughter.
He lowered his weapon. “Fine. Just let her go.”
“And let my only means of escape go? I don’t think so,” Captain Thomas pulled out his pistol and shot Admiral Flowers. I screamed. I couldn’t believe I had just seen him kill a man, a man who I just met, one who never did anything bad, but was just trying to obey the law.
Captain Thomas turned me around to face him. “Now, show me where the soucouyant came from.
My body was shaking, quivering in fear. I tried to move, tried to raise my arm in the direction of the house but I couldn’t.
One of the pirates that were with him held out their hand. “Captain Thomas, you are scaring the poor kid.”
Captain Thomas ignored him. “Answer me, now!”
I nodded and pointed up towards the hill. “Th—that way.”
He looked me over once more then nodded. “Good, good, lead the way.” He pulled out a gun. “And if you try anything, I will shoot you from behind.”
My eyes widened and I started running towards where Nia’s house was. I felt as if I was betraying her, as if I would be the reason for her demise. But she had lied to me, she said she was helping this island, when really she was helping the demon escape so that she could become more powerful than she was, both her and her sister.
We reached the house and Captain Thomas pushed me out of the way and barged straight into the house. I watched as he grabbed a sack from his pocket and sprinkled the contents inside both mortars.
“Well, there. They will never be able to become human again.” He turned to me and stared. “As for you. Now you are going to tell me wher
e the tree is. The tree that can give me powers to become immortal.”
I stared at him incredulously. How could he have known so much of what was going on? How did he know how to defeat the soucouyant and how there was a demon inside of a tree? Was that why he was on the island?
“I don’t know what you mean,” I lied.
He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. “Tell me now! I know you are lying! You were following them!”
As he shook me, my hat fell off and my hair dangled down. Captain Thomas’ mouth turned into a smile.
“Oh, what do we have here? You are no normal lass are you? What is a high-class girl like you doing out on a night like this?” He laced his hands through my hair.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Don’t touch me!”
He laughed. “Such demand in your voice. From that, and how soft your hair is, I want to say that you are an aristocrat’s daughter, and a French one at that. I saw a French couple in the streets of Scarborough, calling for their daughter.”
