by JB Duvane
I reached forward and grabbed her hand. For all of her faults she was always there for me. Every moment of every day, ready to do what it took to make sure I was okay. I couldn’t abandon her now. Not in this horrible place.
Suddenly the cavernous walls opened up to a larger tunnel. I watched as Mama made her way down the center, the candle throwing a faint light into rows of cells that lined the walls on both sides. “Are you coming? We don't have much time. He’s waiting for us.”
14
Charlotte
I woke up to someone yanking on my arm. My head was splitting and I didn’t want to move, but the yanking continued. I opened my eyes as my body was pulled from the backseat of a car. There was something covering my mouth and my arms were tied behind me but I could see and hear.
I felt warm, dry air hit my face as I was pulled to my feet. I was surrounded by trees, but I had no idea where I was. The last thing I remembered was the tropical island and this forest looked nothing like that.
When my eyes focussed I realized that I was standing in front of two men. One of them I had never seen before but the other looked very familiar. He was an older man with grey hair and olive colored skin and after a moment of staring into his half closed eyes he spoke.
“How are you feeling, princess?”
It was that butler, Renard. I tried to say something to him, to ask him what the hell he was doing, but all that came out was a faint mumble. A burning pain spread across my face as the tape over my mouth was ripped off. I stood there for a moment, staring at the forest floor and trying to get my bearings when I heard them talking.
“Did anyone see you?”
“No. I got onto Valice’s plane fine. I took the place of one of his flight attendants and no one knew the difference.”
“Good. And the house?”
“He didn’t engage the alarm when left. I just slipped in as soon as he was out of the house. Then I waited until our jet landed. They weren’t expecting any planes at the airport so there was no one in the tower. They might have seen the plane take off but there was no way of knowing where it was from or who was on it.”
“Perfect. Let’s get her down there. Coraline is waiting.”
Everything the two men said jumbled up in my head. But the more I thought about it the clearer it all became. The Beauchamps had kidnapped me off of Raymond’s island. The place he took me to so that I’d be safe from them.
The man who ran us off the road must have followed me. He had to have followed me the whole time after I left the wreck in order to know where we went. That means he just stood by and watch while I was almost raped by those cops.
“No!” I screamed as I wriggled my body, trying to get out of the grip the two men had on my arms. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“Come on, young lady. You don’t want to be out in these woods when the sun sets. There’s all kinds of creatures that would like to take a nice big bite out of you.”
Renard had that drunken look in his eyes but he wasn’t slurring his words like the last time I saw him, and he seemed to be able to get around fine.
“What do you want with me? Why did you kidnap me? I thought you didn’t want me here!”
“It isn’t me who requested your presence, girly. But you’ll never know the answer to your questions if you don’t come with us.”
I stood my ground and stared at him for a moment longer. “Come on. There's something I want to show you. In there,” he said as he pointed at a dark space in between some rocks.
It took a long time for my eyes to adjust to the complete darkness inside the cave and when they did I saw that it wasn’t just a cave. It was some sort of cavern that seemed to go on for a long ways underground. I could see faint lights off in the distance as I was pushed ahead of the two men.
Everything around me looked like it must have been more than a hundred years old. We walked for a long time down tunnels that were smooth, like naturally occurring underground caverns. But eventually the walls changed. They looked like they had been built out of ancient blocks of chiseled stone. There were metal arms bolted to the walls that held torches, but because they were set far apart there were long stretches of the tunnel that were very dark.
“Where are you taking me? Is this part of Raymond’s house?”
Renard scoffed. “This house does not belong to that bastard.”
After another fifteen minutes of walking, the cavern opened up to a large space. The walls and ceiling were made of the same stone blocks, but this part was shaped more like a room. There was a platform with a large rectangular box in the center of the room and I looked at Renard hoping he would tell me what it was.
“Go on, take a look. I think you’ll appreciate what we’re doing for you.”
I moved away from the men, my arms still tied behind me, and slowly approached the platform. As I got closer I saw that the rectangular box was open on the top. The closer I got the more I became aware of what was inside the box. It was a body, but not just any body.
“Raymond’s mother,” I whispered.
Her cheeks were round and sweet and a smile permanently formed on her face. Something had been done to her to preserve her like this. I instinctively reached out to touch her skin and it was hard to the touch, almost like a rigid sheet of plastic.
I pulled my hand back and turned around to find that Renard had a gun in his hand.
“What are you doing?” I asked, incredulously. “What is all this? Why did you bring me here!” I shouted at the old man.
“I’m doing you a favor. I’m showing you what your beloved Raymond does to the people he loves. He kills them. All of them.”
“That’s not true! You’re lying!” I screamed as the decrepit old man. He opened the cylinder and somehow managed to let all of the bullets drop on the ground. “Oopsie.” He bent over tried to pick them up but couldn’t get his hand all the way down to the ground.
“Give me that thing,” the other man said as he grabbed the gun out of Renard’s hand and proceeded to gather up the bullets.
“Just because you’re a good forty years younger than me doesn’t give you the right to be insolent and rude.”
“Whatevs pops. We need to get this taken care of. Coraline wants to see her now.”
“True. Well, what do you say, young lady? Have you seen enough of Raymond’s handiwork?”
“I don’t believe you! He wouldn’t do this,” be even as the words came out of my mouth I lost most of my conviction. If he hadn’t done this, then who had?
It couldn’t be true. What Renard was telling me was that Raymond killed his own mother and had her preserved in a cavern out here in the woods. Or under that big, dark house. I wasn’t exactly sure where we were at all.
I was stunned. That’s what he wouldn’t tell me. That’s what he had to come back for. He couldn't let his mother go, even after her death.
“Whatever you have planned it’s not going to work. He’s going to come and rescue me. Then he’ll kill you.”
“Not if he can't find us.”
“I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!” I kicked at Renard but the younger man came up behind me and held me still.
“Shut up.” He kicked me in the back of the knee and caused my leg to fall out from underneath me. I almost fell to the ground but he held me up by my arms. I screamed out in pain but scrambled to my feet as I felt him dragging me further down the cavern.
”What happened to her?”
“He killed her,” Renard said. He was limping up ahead of me while the younger man pushed me from behind. “That knight in shining armor of yours. He locked her down here in a cell. Back then certain parts of the caverns were rarely opened up and they filled with gas. She choked on the gas and died.”
“What kind of gas?”
He turned around and looked at me. “Who knows? Ammonia gas from the dead bodies? Carbon monoxide gas? It could have been anything.”
This was all so surreal. This dark mansion had s
uddenly turned into some kind of horror freak show and I was part of it.
“Please let me go, Renard. I left this place. You didn’t want me here and I left. I just want to go now. I won’t ever come back and I won’t see Raymond again.”
“You’re right about that last part.”
15
Raymond - Fifteen Years Ago
I stared down at the ground at a skull that was sitting at my feet. I walked closer to the cells that lines the wall and tried to see what was inside. It didn’t take too much effort to make out that there had been people behind the rusty bars. But they were long dead.
My head was swimming, and my legs were shaky. I was so overwhelmed I could barely tell what was going on around me. I thought I was going to die, but I had to get to her. This place was filled with malice. I could sense it everywhere around me.
“Come on, Raymond. Come to my voice.”
I was certain that if I didn’t find her that she would wind up trapped in a cell herself. I was terrified for my own safety but more terrified for hers.
I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, trying to stop the world around me from spinning. The air was thick and foul smelling and I coughed as I pulled myself along the bars of the cells. It wasn’t just the smell of the dead bodies anymore. There were other things in the air that made it almost impossible to breathe.
“Come on, Raymond.” She stuck her head around the corner of one of the cell doors.
“We need to get out of here. I can’t breathe.” My voice was barely above a whisper as I pressed forward to catch up with her. As I approached she touched the tip of her finger to my nose and disappeared back behind the bars.
I stood at the edge of the wall where the steel met the dirt and my entire body shook. I was starting to feel nauseous. I didn’t know why this was happening, and I didn't want to go any further. I stood upright and looked through the bars of the cell. My body started shaking as I stared at what was inside.
“Oh, come on. It's not that bad, silly.” She was standing next to man who was chained with his arms outstretched. His head fallen forward but I could see that he was still breathing. His whole body was covered in fresh cuts and bruises, some a little bit older than others, but they were all within a few days old.
“What have you done?” I asked.
“I don't know what you're talking about.” She turned around to face me. “I haven’t done a thing. Why aren’t you asking what he’s done?”
“W-what’s he done?”
“He’s one of them, Raymond. They can’t be trusted and they’re everywhere.” Her eyes were wild.
“But what have you done to him?”
“I’m taking care of my family. I’m doing what needs to be done! And,” she poked a sharp finger into my chest. “I don't like what you're insinuating.”
“But you’re killing someone. Why would you kill someone, Mama? Why?”
“I’m not killing him,” she said with a smile. “You're the one that's going to kill him.”
I felt like the ground had been swept out from under me and I was falling deeper and deeper into an endless pit. All my life I had trusted my mama. All my life she had been there for me and had taught me how to be a good person and to grow up to be a decent man. I looked into her crazed eyes and couldn’t see a single shred of the beautiful woman had raised me.
“Do it.” She held a knife out to me.
“No Mama! This isn’t right! You have to promise me that this will stop. You have no right to do this.”
“Oh, come on, Raymond. He's just like a little doll. Look,” she grabbed him by the hair and let his head fall.
“That is not a doll. How can you not see that? I’m not going to do anything to him. You need to let him go.”
“Raymond, I am your mother!” I saw beads of sweat drip off her red skin as she stood there holding the knife, waiting for me to take it from her. Waiting for me to kill someone for her. “Take this knife and kill him. That’s all you have to do. It’s hard the first time, but it gets easier, I pwomise.” She drew out the last word in a horrifyingly childlike way. Then she turned and looked at the man in chains. “It really does get so much easier.”
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t think she would do anything to harm me, but the look in her eyes was terrifying. I decided it would be best if I took the knife from her, but I wasn’t sure what she was going to do if I didn’t use it on the man. I held out my hand and she handed me the knife. Then she reached into her house coat pocket and took out a ring of keys. I kept my eyes on her hands to see what she was going to do next, but she was doing the exact same thing to me. When I looked up into her eyes they were watching me intently.
“I’m waiting, Raymond.” Her voice was flat and menacing. “You’re a man now. It’s time for you to take over.”
I could barely think. The air was still so thick and suffocating and all I wanted was to get out of there. I dropped the knife and ran through the cell door. I slammed the door shut behind me and ran back in the direction we had come. I knew that I was going in the right direction because the torches were still lit, but I didn’t know how much longer I’d be able to keep going. My vision was going black and my body was covered in sweat. Just as I felt my legs give out underneath me I felt two strong arms around my shoulders.
“Come this way,” a voice said. I felt myself being pulled down another section of the cavern and then out into the blinding morning sunlight.
16
Manbo Coraline
I was conceived in the darkness under the shade of a dark moon. The darkness, they told me, flowed free and was absorbed by the woman. The man, they said, was the spoon in a cauldron. He stirred that darkness. The energy flowed and was changed by the fire of his passion. If done at the right time, under the proper moon, the ritual was said to be capable of placing the spirit of the Blood Mother into the child.
It is said that they tried and tried but never succeeded, not until my grandmother was born. When they found out that Angeline—the high priestess—was pregnant, they took her from her shrine and rubbed sacred oils over her body, singing the ancient songs. She was risen to the level of blood mother, the highest honor a natural born woman can be given.
The procession started early on, when Cora was till inside her mother. My own mother would tell me while we walked through the forest how everyone from the entire colony went to the cave to pay their offerings.
Cora—my grandmother—was cradled in a blanket of the finest silk, given only the best items to eat. My entire childhood, I poured over my grandmother’s journals and my mother’s journals, but especially those of my great-grandmother, Angeline Beauchamp, trying to find the secret mysteries behind the art of remembrance.
In visions I saw the tears falling down my great-grandmother's face when they tied her only daughter to the stake, and the laughter of the Valice family as they stood around and prepared to watch my Angeline Beauchamp burn. I could even smell the smoke as the fires licked at her legs while she screamed horrific cries that still haunt my dreams.
That morning, after the girl had been returned to the house, I called a servant to my underground shrine. He crept inside on his hands and knees with his head lowered, keeping to the dark corners until he had reached the respectful distance. “Yes, Manbo.”
“Have the old man come to me, and make sure he does it before the night is over.”
“Yes, Manbo.” He slid back across the ground until he was no longer visible to me. Then I heard him run off barefoot along the dirt cavern floors.
Renard wasn't the kind of person that I'd normally interact with. He had a way with the women, and more than once I'd been asked to have him killed by the scorned lovers he'd left behind. Just the sight of him and his cocky attitude was enough to warrant the final punishment, but he was still considered to be the face of the Beauchamp family. He was the same age as me and although he did not hold the powers of my great-grandmother, as I did, it was beyond my rights to put him
to death.
He came with a wave of moonshine on his breath and a scathing disrespectful air. He walked in like my shrine was his home. “You 'ol bitch. What'd you wake me up for?” He had a smile on his face but I had no time for his games.
“Don’t disrespect me, old man. Do you think it's beyond my power to have you put away?”
“Right now, I don't particularly give damn. I’m old and I wouldn’t mind the rest. Now what am I doing here?”
“What happened with the girl and why haven't you come to speak with me?”
“She’s on her way.”
“I was under the impression that she was already here. Don’t lie to me, fool.”
“I’m not lying. One of the young ones went and got her. They’re still en route, as it were.”
“Tell me what happened.”
The old bastard heaved a heavy sigh.
“Tell me!”
“There’s not much to tell. The car she was in was run off the road but she survived. She was picked up by some cops but then Valice found her and swept her away to one of his far off palaces.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “But she’s been located and captured and now she’s on her way back here. Anything else? I’m very tired.”
“You’re not tired, your drunk. Sober up before she gets here. I want her in front of me tonight.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The insolent old man had the nerve to roll his eyes in my presence.
“I threw the bones last night. I believe that the girl can work with us. But we need to move quickly. I don’t want to loose any of the ground we’ve worked so hard for.”
“If you have any power at all then you already know that that girl is very dangerous. She’s in love with Valice and she’s not afraid of us. She would have no problem burning this entire house to the ground, and we can't take that kind of risk. They don’t want to live in the caves. They’re getting tired of all of this. You’re out of touch with your own people with all of this crap.” Renard lazily waved his hand around to emphasized his point.
