Dark Love: Part Two

by JB Duvane

  “In the books some claim that she was capable of killing a man without touching him. That can’t be true, of course, but the history says that when Cora was forced into servitude along with the rest of the Beauchamp family, she planned a coup with several other members of her family. They broke into the master's room one night where Cora forced him into an agreement that still exists to this day.

  “She cursed the Valice family line, saying that any family that broke the contract would experience a slow and painful death. The Beauchamps had declared her some sort of mistress of the house—the hidden parts—and agreed that they would continue to serve the Valices and allow them to live so long as we agreed to their contract.

  “Over time, the power of the farce waned. The two families kept the contract throughout the 1800s and 1900s while the Beauchamps built up their line. But as far as I’m concerned the only reason this contract exists is to keep my family afraid of the servants. There have been plenty of deaths over the years to prove that there is no curse. It’s all just superstition that those uneducated fools believe as some sort of religion.

  “They’ve been threatening me lately. To the point where I don’t think they believe that crap anymore either. The Valices aren’t servants anymore. Nobody in my family has been accustomed to being treated like one for generations. But I believe that what the Beauchamps want now is a reversal to the contract. They want to take over the house.”

  “Well, it doesn’t sound like the Beauchamps were accustomed to being servants when their freedom was taken away either.”

  I looked at Charlotte for a moment, then back down at the floor. “That’s true. It’s not something I like to think about, but if that history is true, they have all been treated incredibly unfairly for a long time. But I had nothing to do with what happened generations ago. Yet I’m paying the price for it right now.”

  “That is quite a story. My head is spinning just thinking about it. So they just started acting like they wanted to take over recently?”

  “Yes. Bringing you to the house seemed to be the catalyst for their current upheaval. I don’t feel safe there at all. Not after what happened.”

  “Did something else happen after I left?”

  I looked at Charlotte briefly. I didn’t want her to see the truth in my eyes.

  “Don’t keep things from me, Raymond! I want to know! Are you heading back to a dangerous situation?”

  “One of the servants tried to kill me.”

  “Oh my God! What happened?”

  “Nothing happened. He attacked me and I killed him. End of story.”

  “You killed him?”

  “Charlotte, please. I know this is all very upsetting. I don’t want you involved any further. I want you to stay here until I can get things settled. Then I will come back and we can be together.”

  “Oh God, Raymond. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but okay. I’ll have to trust that you know what you’re doing. I’ll stay here and wait for you. I’ll just hope this all comes to a peaceful resolution. But, wait, none of what you said explains why this contract is so strictly adhered to. How can it possibly be enforced?”

  “Cora was part Valice and part Beauchamp. She made sure that she was specifically named in the Valice estate will. Or any children she had. And you can be certain that they made sure that she had children so that the contract stayed legal.”

  “Do you think there's something to their tainted blood idea?”

  “No, and I never have. Just think about it. Some behavior is inherited, but not to that degree. I don't know of any cases where identical twins were both serial killers and learned the behavior independently. That would be the easiest way to make the nature vs nurture case because their DNA would be exact. But parents and children don't even seem to share the behavior to that degree.

  “If anything it’s just madness that has been handed down generation after generation. And the inbreeding has made sure the lot of them stay as mad as hatters.”

  “So do you think the Beauchamps are killers? That they aren’t capable of being reasoned with?”

  “I don't know. They haven’t seemed very reasonable up until this point. Look what they did to you? Plus, I’ve sent guards to find the Beauchamps hiding places and they always come back one short.”

  “Raymond, you’re scaring me.”

  “I’m sorry, Charlotte. Really, you don’t have anything to worry about. Please, don’t worry,” I said as I tried to smooth out the worry lines in her forehead with my thumb.

  “I’ll try. Ao was it just self defense?”

  “I'm not entirely convinced of it. They know what I have, and they want it. They have every reason to kill me, and they have had no problem recently saying it, but they haven’t yet.”

  “But they tried.”

  “Yes, but not very hard, if you ask me. Besides, every time I say so much as word to them, they invoke that goddamned contract. And according to the contract they can’t kill me.”

  “Wow. So if you die they get everything. But at this point do you really care? Why don’t you just give them the house and be done with all this craziness?”

  “Because there are things in that house that I … I can’t let go of yet.”

  “What? Furniture? Jewelry?”

  “It’s not that simple. Those things can be replaced … or left behind. It’s more than that. But please, Charlotte. I can’t talk about it with you right now.

  “Don’t go back there, Raymond.” She took a step closer to me, her eyes pleading with me.

  “I have to.” I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. “I’m leaving in the morning.”

  12

  Charlotte

  The next day before he left, Raymond showed me around the rest of house. He made sure I knew how to work all of the appliances and could find all of the vital necessities. He showed me how to set the alarm for the house and where the closed circuit monitors were set up so I could see if anyone was on the property.

  There was an elevator that went down to a garage under the house and he told me that I could use any of the cars in there anytime I wanted. He told me to claim one as my own if I wanted, but that he would be buying me another when he returned.

  After that, he showed me the grounds. There was a beautiful terraced space that had been set up in an English garden style, with stepping stones and fountains and clusters of colorful flowers. The garden was even surrounded by a manicured row of hedges. Then we went back up toward the house and stopped at what looked like an office. A man in a guard uniform stepped out and was introduced as the head of surveillance.

  Raymond took me back into the house and showed me how to call the guards or housekeeper anytime I needed them, from a speaker on the wall or from my phone.

  “I’m really going to miss you, Raymond. What am I going to do with all my free time?”

  “I’m sure you’ll find something. If there’s anything you need to buy here on the island—or even order online—I’ve set up an account in your name. Food, art supplies, movies, anything you want. If you want it, buy it.”

  “Okay. Thank you.” I held Raymond’s hands tight without saying anything for a long time, then looked down. I didn’t want him to see me cry. Not when he had not choice but to leave. But he put his finger under my chin and lifted it up until he could see my eyes.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I love you, Raymond.”

  Raymond stood silently and stared at me for a moment. “Really?”

  “Yes. And I want you to come back to me. Please be careful and come back to me, Raymond.”

  “I will. You’re the love of my life and it will take a hell of a lot more than a family of servants to keep me away from you.”

  After Raymond kissed me goodbye and waved from his red Jaguar I found myself walking from room to room, looking for something to do or someone to take to.

  The house was magnificent. All four outside walls were made almost exclusively of glass. The
one wall that faced the jungle had a fabulous view of the gardens but the other three looked out on the beaches and the ocean.

  Everything was perfect. Everything except the fact that I was alone and Raymond was headed off to a place where people wanted to kill him.

  The longer I wandered aimlessly in the isolated beauty on this island the more I felt like I was being held captive again. It was as if he'd put me in another prison, only this time it was a place I loved and agreed to stay in. The thought hit me like a ton of bricks. Even if I wanted to leave I had no way to get off this island and nowhere to go.

  I went out onto a vast patio that spanned the entire length of the house and made myself a rum and coke, then sat down on a recliner and watched the sun move over the ocean until it started to set. The water, the sun, the booze, and sex had all exhausted me to the point where I felt like my legs were swimming, and my body was ready to collapse, but my mind wouldn’t stop.

  It felt like no matter what, no matter how far away from our old lives Raymond and I got, something was going to try to come between us. It was in that moment that I thought about my father. It was the first time since Raymond told me that he was dead that he had even entered my mind. My thought wasn’t about him as much as it was about being glad that he wasn’t there to keep me from living my life anymore. It made me sad to think thoughts like that about him, but it was true. Now that he was gone I felt a great weight lifted off of me.

  I wandered back into the house, trying to find something to occupy my mind. I didn’t want to think about the fact that I was starting to feel like a prisoner again. I made myself another drink and went into the bedroom. When I turned the light on in the bedroom I was met with a wall of mirror reflecting the room and myself back at me. I turned the light off so that I could see beyond the glass and there was the full moon, hanging over the ocean and reflecting itself in the ripples of the waves.

  I walked over to the closet and reached around the doorframe to see if I could locate the light switch. It flipped on and I was shocked to see all of my dresses, including my Laveau ensemble, hanging in between Raymond’s shirts and suits. He had to have had them brought over from the house yesterday while we were on the beach.

  I flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. I tried to finish my rum and coke—probably my third or fourth by now—but my eyes were dropping fast. I made an attempt to sit up but every muscle in my body felt weak. I opened my eyes one more time and through a haze saw the outline of a man standing in front of the light emitting from the closet.

  “Raymond?”

  There was no response.

  “Raymond what are you doing here?”

  The dark figure moved toward the bed and stood over me and even in the darkness I could see that the person in my bedroom wasn’t Raymond.

  13

  Raymond - Fifteen Years Ago

  “Wake up, Raymie.” Mama stood over my bed with a manic look on her face.

  I sat up and rubbed my eyes. There was no light shining in through the window so I knew it wasn’t morning yet, but for some reason my mother was trying to get me out of bed. “What time is it?”

  “Get dressed, Raymond. We have a big day ahead of us!” She stood there awkwardly for a second.

  “Okay.” I was practically a grown man now and I was getting tired of Mama’s games. I knew there was something wrong with her but I just didn’t know what to do about it. I loved her and I wanted to take care of her, but there were times when her behavior really scared me. This moment was proving to be one of those times.

  “You turn that frown upside down young man and I'll be back soon.” She left so I could get dressed. I sifted through my closet, trying to find something reasonable. Mama was still buying my clothes and she seemed to be laboring under the misapprehension that I had remained a small child.

  The clothes she bought fit me but weren’t anything a teenage boy would want to be caught dead in. I picked out a pair of blue jeans and threw everything out of my closet to find the one plain shirt that I owned.

  As I stepped out of my room I saw Mama standing just around the corner of the door jamb. She had been quietly waiting there for me. It was always unnerving to find her waiting silently around a corner like that. As if she were listening to everything I did. I rarely felt like I had any privacy.

  “Are you ready?” she asked, her voice suddenly monotone.

  “Sure,” I said with as much excitement as I could muster. I didn't want Mama to go to the dark place.

  “Great, let's go.” The smile returned to her mouth, but not her eyes. She stared at me for an uncomfortably long time before turning around and heading into the foyer where she turned around and stopped me in my tracks.

  “Put this on.” She handed me a small piece of cloth and I couldn’t imagine where I was supposed to wear it.

  “What’s this for?”

  “I don’t want you to see where I’m taking you, Raymond. It’s a surprise,” she said in her child-like, sing-song voice. It used to comfort me. Now it just made me cringe.

  “Is this really necessary? I don’t—

  “Raymond.” Her voice was grave. “It’s for your own protection.”

  “Protection from what?”

  “There are things that have gone on in this house for a very long time, Raymond. Things I haven’t wanted you to be involved in. But now is the time. I need your help and I need you to do exactly as I say. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Mama.” I put the blindfold on and felt my mother grab my hand. She pulled me along the corridors of the house and for a while I knew where we were without looking. Even when we went down some stairs I had an idea of our location, but the further we walked the less sure I was.

  We went down multiple flights of stairs and the further we walked the more the air smelled of earth and decay. I heard a heavy metal lock turn and the creak of old metal hinges and the smell was suddenly overpowering.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, gripping Mama’s hand hard. It was unnerving being led through the darkness when everything suddenly felt so wrong. “Can I please take this thing off?”

  “Go ahead, Raymond. And be careful. It’s very dark down here.”

  I pulled my blindfold off and looked around. We were in some sort of underground cavern. There was no light coming from anywhere but a candle my mother held in her hand. She moved ahead a bit and lit a torch that was attached to the wall of the cavern. “Where are we?”

  “We’re in the cellar.”

  “This is part of the house?” I asked, dumbfounded by the fact that I still knew so little about the house that I had grown up in.

  “Yes. It’s a secret part of the house. It’s where the servants live.”

  “They live down here? Why?”

  “Because they choose to.” She turned and looked me in the eyes, the dim light from the candle throwing a dark shadow and turning her face into a hideous mask. “Don’t think for a moment that your mama has anything to do with the way those heathens live. This is not my doing.”

  “What isn’t your doing?”

  She held my perplexed stare for a while longer, then turned away. “Well, come on.”

  She walked further into the dark black tunnel, stopping every thirty feet or so to light one of the torches on the wall of the cavern.

  I followed her through the dank underground hallway, past trickles of water that came through the rock walls and countless skittering black bugs. The air was stale and was beginning to fill with the smell of something rotten.

  “What’s that smell?” I asked, pulling my shirt up to my face and covering my nose.

  “It’s the smell of people who have gone bad. You can smell it on them, the evil ones. That’s how you know who to kill.”

  “What?!”

  “Shhh.” She held her hand back to stop me as if I would slam right into her.

  “Mama, I don’t like it down here. It’s not safe. We need to go back.” I was starting to feel anxious an
d short of breath. No matter how deep of a breath I took of this rancid air it wasn’t enough. I felt like I was breathing through a blanket.

  She continued on, weaving her way through the stone caverns that seemed to twist together in and endless labyrinth. After it felt like I had followed her for over an hour I stopped. “Where are we going, Mama?” I took a step over to the cavern wall to lean against it and catch my breath when my feet hit something hard, yet pliable. “Wait a second, please. I can’t see a thing.”

  “Hurry up, Raymond. We’re almost there.”

  I didn't know what to say to her. I was completely paralyzed. My fight or flight instinct had kicked in long ago and I was beyond ready to run, but when my eyes adjusted to what I had kicked, my legs just wouldn't respond.

  “We need to leave now.”

  “Don't you want to help your mama?” She switched to that sickeningly sweet, sing-song voice.

  “I want to leave!”

  She started walking further into the tunnel again. “Leave if you want.” Her voice was coming from further away in the darkness now. “But remember that if you do, you may never find your way out of this maze.”

  I could see the tunnel ahead light up with each step she took and with every second that passed I became more and more horrified. Lining the sides of the tunnels were piles of cloth and bones. Dead bodies like the one I had just kicked with my foot. I wanted to get the hell out of there, but I couldn’t leave Mama behind. My mind raced. I thought maybe she couldn’t see the bodies, that’s why she kept walking. There was no way she would continue on if she was could see them.

  I picked up my pace so that I was right behind her. “Mama, we need to get out of here,” I said, gasping for breath. The stench was overpowering now.

  “Just breathe, Raymond.” Her words seemed to echo in my head. “It's okay. It gets easier. Just breathe. Your body is telling you to stop, but you can't. You have to keep going forward. We’re almost there.”