Mother of Darkwaters: Book one of the Vessel series

by Tony C. Skye

  * * *

  Ding.

  The electronic bell announces Martha and Julia’s arrival into the small store. The glass door reads:

  “Curious Gifts and Supplies

  Open 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. M-F

  9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Sat.

  Closed on Sundays.”

  “I'll be a chicken’s bones if it isn't da Mrs. Martha Dermott. Come in to say, 'hello to én old friend', have we?”, an older lady in her fifties proclaims. The dark skin woman has her black hair pulled back with a red and white bandanna. Gaudy jewelry hangs from her ears, wrists, and around her neck. Large rings decorate her fingers. The voodoo priestess holds both hands out to welcome her only guests for the day, “Come here én give an old lady a hug, Mrs. Martha.”

  Martha strolls over with a smile stretched nearly ear to ear. She embraces her life-long friend of over thirty years, “Lady Lanecia, it is so good to see you again.”

  The two friends unlock from one another. Lady Lanecia holds her friend at arms' length, “Let me see ya. My - my, Mrs. Martha. I see da years has been kind to ya.”

  “As they have been to you, Lady Lanecia. How long has it been?”

  “Oh my. Ya wouldn't be tryin' to make én old woman count now would ya?”

  Martha laughs, “It has been too long, dear friend.”

  “Dat it has, Mrs. Martha. Dat it has.”

  Both friends exchange kisses on each other’s cheeks, respectively. The five-foot eight-inch tall voodoo priestess looks over Martha's left shoulder, “Én who is this dat you have brought with ya?”

  Martha grins. The red-haired beauty steps to the side to give her friend a better view, “This is my granddaughter, Julianna.”

  The Lady Lanecia places both of her hands on her chest, “Oh my, how beautiful ya have become. If I didn't know betta, I'd say you'd be da incarnation of Lilith...”

  “Lady Lanecia,” Martha interrupts, “Julia hasn't been in my home since she was seven. Not since Theresa fell ill. We have just been recently reunited.”

  The Lady Lanecia gives Martha a strange glance before waving for Julia to step forward, “Come én let me see da spittin' image of da Misses Theresa.”

  Julianna looks at her grandmother. When Martha nods, her granddaughter walks up to the owner of the store. The voodoo priestess holds out her right hand to indicate her desire for the girl to do the same. Julia is unsure of what to make of this strange woman. She, reluctantly, holds out her left hand for the taking.

  With her right palm below, the woman places her left palm on top of Julia's hand to lock the teen's hand within her grip. The voodoo woman’s pressure takes the younger girl by surprise. She glances at her grandmother.

  “Look én my eyes, Misses Julianna. Let me see ya pretty eyes,” the woman softly speaks.

  The teen shifts her focus onto the strange woman before her. The woman's brown eyes seem to go on forever – like looking into some kind of eternal portal that has no end. Julia feels as if this woman's brown eyes are looking through her – deep down somewhere beyond the coloring of her green eyes.

  The voodoo priestess smiles, “Yes. Such da beautiful emeralds ya be havin', Misses Julianna. So vibrant. So full of da strength and life. Yet, I'd be seein’ much pain recently for ya.”

  Julia's head retreats as her eyes begin watering. She has no idea why. Yes, she is sad. But she doesn’t even know this woman. And for whatever reasons, the tears start falling. She looks down at the floor.

  The Lady Lanecia speaks motherly, “Do not be of da heavy heart now. Tis be not yur fault, Misses Julianna.”

  The saddened girl nods with understanding, but is somewhat angered that her grams would call this woman and tell her these things.

  The Lady Lanecia laughs, “No, Misses Julianna. Da Mrs. Martha Dermott did no such thing.”

  Julia jerks her hand away, “What the hell?” The girl's confusion is only rivaled by her fear. She cannot begin to grasp what just happened – what is happening.

  Martha quickly intervenes, “Julia, it is alright. There is nothing to fear here. You’re among family.”

  Julianna shakes her head and runs her right hand through her black hair across the top of her scalp. Her mind refuses to give up an answer which makes any sense. She looks at her grams, over to the woman in front of her, and back again. Fear and confusion only increase their stature. Julia throws up both hands defensively, “I can't do this...whatever this is.”

  She lowers both hands and takes a step backwards, “Who are you people?”

  Martha looks at the Lady Lanecia apologetically before refocusing her gaze upon her granddaughter, “You need to calm down, Julia.”

  The girl takes another step back, “What are you?”

  The priestess scolds, “We do not speak to each other like én object, Misses Julianna.”

  The teen responds defiantly, “And who talks like that? I'm outta here.” She turns and heads for the entrance to the shop. Julia lashes out bitterly, “You two are freaks! You both can go to hell!” As she reaches the door, she hits a solid wall which cannot be seen with her eyes. Her heart races within her growing fear.

  “Enough, Misses Julianna,” the voodoo priestess chastises. The Lady Lanecia walks over to Julia and moves around within eye sight of the distressed girl. The woman holds up one index finger towards the ceiling moving it back and forth, “Yur disrespect of me, I can understand.” She points to herself with the same finger, “Ya do not know me or recognize me.”

  The dark woman then points to Martha, “But da Mrs. Martha here, ya do be knowin’. And ya will not disrespect her like this. She loves ya very much.”

  The terrified teen sobs, “P-please let me go. I - I just want to go.”

  The priestess notices Martha's eagerness to swoop in and save the day. She waives Martha off by shaking her head. She, then, turns her attention back to Julianna.

  “I'd be lettin' ya go, Misses Julianna. But ya will be listenin' to me first,” Lady Lanecia calmly states as matter of fact. The woman inches closer to Julia's tear-soaked face, “I excuse ya since ya be so young. This time, dat is. But ya must be knowin' something about yurself, Misses Julianna.”

  Lady Lanecia pauses until the girl makes eye contact, “You'd be special, Misses Julianna.”

  Martha notices curiosity momentarily flash within Julia's watery eyes. The Lady Lanecia points her long bony finger at her granddaughter, “It'd be yurself who has spoken to me inside of my own head.”

  Confusion swims in Julia's mind. She is not completely terrified anymore, but she is not exactly feeling confident about her surroundings. If anything, her fear has only been stifled by her growing confusion.

  The Lady Lanecia smiles comfortingly. Her right hand tenderly cups Julia's chin. “When you'd be ready, Misses Julianna, ya can come én here anytime that you'd be needin'. I'd be a friend to yur grandmother, da Mrs. Martha Dermott. And I'd be a friend to yur mother...”, the voodoo priestess locks eyes with Martha for a brief second before returning her stare upon Julia, “...Misses Theresa.”

  “I'd be a friend to yurself, Misses Julianna. But do not be mistakin' my friendship fur a ticket to talk da way you'd just be talkin'. Understand me?”, the woman commands more than asks.

  Julia wipes her tears and nods as the priestess releases her chin. The Lady Lanecia bids her guests farewell, “It'd be getting' close fur me to be shuttin' my store. I must be closin' early today. I'd be havin' things to do. It'd be good seein' ya, Misses Julianna.”

  The teen feels the unseen force release its hold on her. To her own surprise, she doesn't bolt for the door like she initially had desired. Julia nearly apologizes, but is still too confused to calculate the possible wrongness of her actions in comparison to the events which inspired them.

  Martha and the Lady Lanecia exchange hugs. They say a few a words to each other which Julianna is unable to make out. The priestess then gives Martha a bag and looks over at the girl. She says something else and Martha nods. Julia makes
out a 'thank you' and a 'good-bye' from her gram’s lips. And at long last, Julia is able to exit the only store she has ever believed should be burned to the ground.

  * * *

  The drive home is completely overshadowed by the day’s latest events. Julianna stares out of her window most of the time attempting to process the insanity which has befallen her. The first part of the day was great. It's the last part which carries the stench of an uncleansed slaughterhouse.

  Martha pulls into the long quarter-mile driveway leading up to her Louisiana home. The house, originally, had been a plantation home. But since it was built, it has been added to and added to until it is now a monstrosity of a mansion.

  The white European pillars really enhance the front-side dimensions of the original part of the house. The house, itself, sits a comfortable distance from a mid-evil water fountain. This fountain showcases a female angel with crystal clear water spewing from her mouth.

  Frank sits on an oak-wood finished rocking chair placed cater-corner on the open porch’s right side. The tall man gets up to meet the ladies as they approach. Martha parks the silver Mercedes Benz in front of the house on the circle drive. It is the part of the drive that wraps around the backside of the statuesque water fountain.

  The two ladies both get out of the car and head towards the stairs leading to the porch. Martha kisses Frank on the left cheek and hands him the car keys. The older gentleman returns the kiss with one of his own. Frank, however, aims for Martha's full luscious lips. He keeps it simple and omits the tongue for the sake of his granddaughter.

  The man gets into the car so he can park it into the three-car garage adjoined to the right side of the house. As he pulls off, Martha turns her focus onto her granddaughter,

  “Come with me. I have something to show you.”

  Julianna follows her grandmother through the entry hall and into the room where everyone had come to support her yesterday. The entry's ceiling is high, but it cannot hold a candle against the sixteen-foot ceiling covering the room in which she now stands.

  The teen glances over at the chair where she first began not feeling like herself. By her count, this strange happening has occurred a minimum of four times.

  After the chair incident, Julia had felt weird while looking at herself in the mirror before her shower. Then, when she awoke this morning, her grams was the one who pulled her out of this weirdness by knocking on her bedroom door. And again, she felt odd, when the Lady Lanecia first looked into her eyes.

  “Julia, this way,” Martha directs. The girl looks over to see her grams opening a door which opposes the kitchen entry area. She follows Martha through the opening. In front of her, a long hall is adorned with electric candles aligning each wall down their length. Spaced about eight feet apart, each candle holder’s design mimics an old English candelabra set into niches within each wall, respectively.

  The teen follows Martha down to the end of the hall. Her grams stops in front of two very large redwood doors. Julia notices strange carvings within their wood. She doesn't recognize any of the symbols, but secretly admires the intricate beauty. It seems a lot of care and effort went into their artistic design.

  Martha reaches into her blouse and pulls out a silver key strung onto a necklace. The woman removes the large key and slips it into a lock that covers the open seam of the two doors. A key box opens up to reveal a series of symbols within a single row. Martha expertly pushes the correct sequence. Both doors open inwardly. Julia hears a click as the two doors seat themselves into their awaiting clasps.

  Martha notices Julianna's intrigued facial expression. She smiles, “Come on. I think you're going to like this place.”

  The teenager follows her grams across the threshold of the doorway. A massive room appears when Martha illuminates it with the flick of a switch.

  “Whoa,” Julia utters in awe. The speechless girl tries to find her words, “I - it is so beautiful.” She attempts to take in everything, but there is too much to behold within such a short time span.

  “What is this place, grams?”

  “I thought you might like it,” Martha confirms more to herself than to Julianna, “This library has been in our family for many generations.”

  The older woman takes a few steps forward, “Some of these books are thousands of years old. Over the years our family has been tasked with making copies in order to preserve the originals. The older texts, we keep inside of airtight glass. But there are copies within the main part of this library.”

  Julia joins her grandmother as she continues walking. Directly in front of her is a staircase which leads downward. To her front-side right and left, are rows of bookshelves in an open horseshoe-style design. It appears there is a sliding ladder for each u-shaped row, respectively. She sees a wooden balcony higher up. The dark polished wood is a direct reflection of the wood used for the bookshelves underneath. A solid black door with more strange symbols sits into the wall at Julia's immediate left. To her right, stands a room divided off by an open entryway and glass to each side. From this distance, however, Julia is unable to make out its contents. She turns her attention back in front of her.

  The balcony's stairs lie to each side of the u-style bookshelves. They curve inward to give the illusion that their purpose is to lovingly protect the horseshoe-style bookcases. The left side divides the shelves from the black door and the right serves to separate the glass room.

  Julia stops walking as her grams pauses near the stairs that lead downward. She can see what appears to be a star inside of a circle directly underneath her feet. It has been embroidered into the plush velvet carpeting of the library’s floor. A ribbon design runs across the top side of the circle with writing within. The teenager is unable to make anything of the weird words' meanings. She mentally attempts them anyway. The words, 'Gariatu Estidium Merné', sound within her mind.

  “Your mother spent a lot of time in here as a girl. Let me show you something,” Julia's grandmother says while heading down the staircase in front of them.

  The teen follows in silence. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Julia is surprised to see a desk, bed, refrigerator, and a built-in wardrobe. There are two open doorways to the left and one to the right.

  Martha points to the furthest open doorway on the left, “That takes you to a very nice washroom. There's even a spa set up in there. Very relaxing when the muscles are tense.”

  Pointing to the other hallway on the left, Martha continues, “Back there is the kitchen. You can find all kinds of food if you feel like using the stove. There's, also, a microwave.” Martha waves her hand towards the refrigerator in the back center of the room, “Of course, there is a fridge right here stocked with ready to eat foods and drinks.”

  Martha walks towards the right entryway, “But this is where we are going right now.”

  Julianna follows her grams down a hallway which ends at a T-intersection. In each direction – left and right – the girl notices there are many other doors. They are each painted a different color that portrays a cheerful array in contrasts to the white eggshell painted walls. The tiled floors are beautiful with their marble look, but are not near as comfortable as the carpet upstairs.

  Martha turns left and stops at the first door to the left. It is whiter than the walls, but does not give any color to the hallway like the rest of the doors do. The woman turns the doorknob and pushes open the wooden door. She looks over at Julianna while reaching into the dark room, “All of the light switches down here are located on the right side as you walk in.”

  click.

  Light fills the darkness. Martha extends her right arm towards the open room, “After you.”

  The teen looks at her grams before stepping into the solid white room. The floor looks like concrete. But it, too, is painted white. A small bookshelf is attached to the wall which houses the light switch. Below the bookshelf sits a desk – just like the one in the central room with the refrigerator.

  Martha reaches into her
blouse and pulls the necklace out with the large key on it – the same one she used to open the strange lock on the double-doors leading into the library. She pulls it over her head and unfastens the clasp. The woman slides off a smaller key in which Julia had not noticed before. Walking over to the desk, Martha slips the key into a lock. A drawer releases above where the chair is placed. The older woman pulls out a small leather bound book, a small box, and a small envelope.

  Pointing to the chair, Martha directs her granddaughter to take a seat. The girl pulls out the white-painted wooden chair. She faces her grams while easing herself into it.

  Opening the small white envelope, Julia's grandmother dumps an even smaller key into her hand, “This is the key which opens this,” the woman hands Julia the small book with a lock on it. Martha then opens the small box. Julia is amused by how awkward it would be if her grams dropped to one knee and tried to propose. Luckily, however, Martha pulls out a beautiful silvery necklace instead.

  The woman unfastens the chain. After sliding both of the book and desk keys on it, she refastens the pure silver necklace into place. Martha points to the book sitting in Julia's lap, “That was your mother's diary. No one has ever read it except your mother. Our family has a strict tradition which we hold very sacred. Only daughters can read their mother's diary. And it can only be one daughter if there is more than one. The daughter must be chosen by her mother. But if the mother dies, then no daughter can read her diary unless that daughter is an only child.”

  “Therefore, Julianna, it is your birth rite to read her diary. But if you choose to do so, you can never utter a single word of it to another living soul. This rule applies to me as well. I have never seen a single word of it. This is not a game, dear child. It is a serious vow you must make.” Martha evaluates Julia's contemplation. The woman raises her right brow in waiting of her granddaughter's response.