Echoes in the Bayou

by Dukes, Ursula

  "You know what?" She said, "I bet it was Will watching us sleep. No harm came to us at least none that we know of and that's fine with me. Besides, we've got other things to take care of today and finding that cemetery is one of those things," she said with confidence.

  After a quick shower and bite to eat Ava, Magnus, and Sinta set out in the direction of the Montieu family graveyard. Gavin and Melanie were still asleep and Ava thought it best not to wake them. "Let them sleep," she told him. "They're going to need their rest, they've got a long drive ahead of them," she said with a childlike grin.

  The grounds of the plantation were still muddy but the sun shone brightly hiding any evidence of the past storm. After several twists and turns and couple of backtracks, they found the old cemetery. It was overgrown with weeds and it was obvious that it had not been tended to in years. "I would have never found this," Magnus said.

  "I agree, thank god Will showed me in the dream last night," Ava told him. "You know the more I think about it, the more I believe that it was Will in our room last night, I bet he was just looking out for us after all, it was his bedroom centuries ago."

  "She right Mister Magnus cuz if it was Miss Amelia or Mister John, neitha one of you's would

  a gots any sleep."

  The warm, humid breeze kicked up the left over rain from the weeds and Sinta searched through them until she came upon Will Jr.'s headstone. It was aged so badly that most of the words had disintegrated. All that was left was a partial name and date of birth and date of death.

  Ava gently touched it. "I can't believe we found it. Now that I'm seeing it right here in front of me, it all seems too real. It's all so very, very sad," she said and leaned against Magnus.

  "You feel anything Miss Ava?" Sinta asked. She was hoping that seeing the cemetery where Will was buried would bring Celeste closer to the surface of her.

  "I'm not sure what I feel," she said and touched the headstone again, this time she pulled some dead weeds from around it.

  When she touched the ground, a burst of energy soared through her body and she closed her eyes and caught a glimpse of his funeral. His parents were there along with the entire house staff and several other mourners. Amelia stood inconsolable and William Sr. was stoic as he held onto his wife. The day was hot and sunny but there was a warm steady breeze . Off in the distance, Ava could see a black woman leaning against a tree and standing next to her was a young woman. She recognized her immediately, it was Celeste. But her body wasn’t solid like the older woman she stood next to, it was transparent.

  As she walked towards them, she turned and glanced back at the funeral, Amelia had collapsed and several people had gone over to her to help. The breeze had grown warmer now as she approached the two women and she felt out of place. The closer she got the more she began to see that the older woman was Sinta. She was stunning and carried the same characteristics in youth that she did now. Her eyes told Ava that even then she was full of knowledge and it was quite evident that Sinta had lived many, many lives.

  Ava wanted to call out to them because she couldn’t reach them, her legs were moving but the closer she got, the farther they seemed to be. A voice called out from behind the two but neither turned towards it. "Go back and tell Will that I love him." The voice echoed in her mind.

  "Ava!" Magnus had been shouting her name.

  "You's sees her didn’t you Miss Ava?" Sinta stood next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

  Tears ran down her face as she told them about her déjà vu and what Celeste had asked her to do. "She really is a part of me," she said and cried into Magnus's arms.

  "Now all we have to do is figure out a way to get the two of them together," said Magnus.

  "It's like they are in different time zones, we need to break this awful curse, once we do that we can reconnect them. Breaking the curse is the key," she said to Magnus and Sinta.

  "We have got to get rid of Amelia and John. Then we can summon Will and bring him to where Celeste is buried. That should do it right?" She turned and looked at Sinta.

  "Yes Miss Ava that should free 'da spirits of Miss Celeste and Mister Will. Celeste just have to see 'dat 'da man she love has come for her and she will rise up and be free."

  "We've come a long way but there's still a lot of work to be done," Magnus said.

  "You let that stupid bitch paw all over you last night didn’t you?" Melanie and Gavin were going at it again only this time, Gavin was defending Ava.

  "Melanie, I don’t know what the hell you're talking about. I was in bed lying next to you, don’t you remember?" He asked.

  Ava and Magnus exchanged looks as they walked into the house. Sinta had told them she'd be by later, she had some important things to do she told them.

  "Roads all clear, so you guys can head on out anytime," Ava shouted out. She couldn’t wait to get rid of them.

  "I'll leave when I'm good and ready," Melanie shouted back.

  "And you're ready now!" Gavin barked at her.

  He gave them an apologetic look, "I don’t know what's gotten into her. Ever since last night she's been… well she's been a bitch. I think that Amelia woman has gotten into her head and decided to move in because I have never seen Mel act this way."

  "Or maybe it's just the real Mel," Ava sneered.

  "Listen Ava, before we go can I please talk to you? It'll only take a minute I promise."

  It was strange, but she knew what he wanted to talk to her about and she wasn’t about to go down that road again. There was no way she'd leave Magnus.

  "Gavin, I know what you're going to say and let me just put a stop to this right now. You cheated on me with my best friend and then kicked me out of your home, a home that you so readily invited me to live in with you. I am not going to forgive either of you for doing that, but I am going to forget it and I suggest you do the same. Gavin you wanted Melanie and you got her, so be happy and please get out of this house. I can no longer stand the sight of either one of you," she said it as politely as she could. "Oh and by the way, I don’t know what in god's name made you think that I would even think of hurting Magnus the way that you hurt me. No one deserves that not even you, goodbye Gavin."

  "You keep your hands off my man." Melanie had returned from putting her suitcase in the car.

  "I don’t want your man Melanie, I've already had him remember? Now get the hell out."

  Magnus couldn’t help but smile, he was proud of her for standing up to them, even though he'd hoped that Gavin would give him a reason to want to take him on that walk down to the bayou.

  The smugness had returned in full force as Gavin replied, "Your loss sweetheart." And led Melanie towards the car. "Oh and by the way, you're fired," he grinned haughtily and slammed the car door. "I've always wanted to say that to someone," he said to Melanie. Who would go back to feeling like her old self the second they drove down the long driveway and hit the open road.

  Chapter Fifteen

  "Thank god that's over," she said. "Now we can concentrate on getting rid of Amelia and John."

  "I'm sorry Ava."

  "Sorry for what?"

  "You just got fired."

  "Oh that not to worry, I'm sure I can find something else," she said with a grin.

  "You know you don’t need that job anyway right?" Magnus looked at her. "You can still have free reign over the house; you can redecorate the whole place at your leisure. And what would you say if I told you that I was having second thoughts about selling this place?" He asked waiting for her reaction.

  "What would I say? Well I'd say that keeping this place sounds like a grand idea, that's what I'd say." She kissed him on the lips.

  Magnus needed to get some writing done, he had been lagging ever since he got back from New Orleans and Steve his agent had called to remind him that he had a dead line. "I know I do, It's just some things had come up that I had to take care of," he told him.

  Once he was off the phone, Ava told him that she wouldn’t disturb him
as she had some reading of her own to do. She wanted to finish reading both diaries if she could and she figured while Magnus was busy writing, she could be busy reading.

  "Ava, you remember what Sinta told you about reading the diaries," he cautioned her.

  "Yes I remember but Sinta's not here right now and we need to figure out how all this works. I mean how else are we going to reunite Will and Celeste if we don’t know everything about them?" Magnus knew that there would be no changing her mind, he hoped that what Sinta had told her wasn’t one hundred percent accurate.

  "I need you to do me one teensy weensy favor," she stood in front of him. He was sitting at his desk and looked incredibly sexy in a studious sort of way. He was wearing his glasses, and his hair fell lazily around them. What I wouldn’t give to run my fingers through his hair, she thought to herself.

  "And just what might that favor be?" He grinned at her.

  He couldn’t help but laugh at her request. She'd asked him if he wouldn’t mind sharing his writing room with her as she was too afraid to take the diaries into another part of the large house. "I don’t want to be alone," she frowned shyly.

  "Is that all?" He asked with a grin.

  When she walked into the room carrying the diaries and wearing what she was wearing, Magnus knew that it was going to be very difficult to get any work done. But still, he more than welcomed the distraction. The cut off short shorts that she was wearing was driving him crazy and the frilly tank top she'd changed into looked incredibly sexy on her, the straps fell languidly off her shoulders, and he was made well aware of the fact that she was not wearing a bra.

  "Shit," he muttered as he tried to concentrate. Ava stifled back a giggle as she continued carefully turning the pages of the diary. She hadn’t read a word, how could she when Magnus was so close by. She lied when she told him that she was too frightened to read alone in the other room, she'd simply wanted to be near him and watch him work. But for some reason he was struggling and she knew why, he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.

  "Time for a break," she said and placed the diaries on the table. She walked over to him and boldly got on her hands and knees. Magnus wanted to stop her, wanted to take control but he couldn’t, she was making him feel too good.

  "It's time for you to watch me," she said and seductively unbuttoned his cargo shorts and using her teeth tugged them until they fell down around his ankles. She pushed back against him and let the wheels of the chair roll back allowing him room to spread his masculine legs.

  "What have we here?" She asked playfully as she ran her tongue along his shaft. "Do you like what you see?"

  "I like what I see and taste," she said and hungrily took him into her mouth.

  "Ava," he said in a strained moan. "I really need you out of these clothes."

  "Whatever your heart desires," she let out a soft moan and let him pull down her shorts and toss them over to the other side of the room. The sight of her lying naked on top of the oriental rug made his breath quicken.

  "God you are stunning," he said. His hands covering her body with soft caresses, one of his fingers had found its way into the soft, wet folds. A soft moan escaped her lips.

  She reached for him but his fingers massaging her almost caused her to lose her mind and she lay back down, arching up to him and anxiously awaiting more. He covered her with his body and kissed her passionately. He then licked a path down her body, taking his time at her breasts. She let out a long sigh and raked her hands through his hair. He continued with his kisses all the way down her belly, spreading her legs and diving in between them with his tongue.

  She lifted her hips to his face while moaning with pleasure. "You taste exquisite Ava, I could get drunk off of you."

  "And I you," she said weakly.

  Then she felt him, ready to enter her, gently probing. He covered her mouth with his once again as he entered her with a long, and steady movement. It didn’t take long for him to give into the desire to bury himself in her and his slow and steady movements soon turned faster, and deeper. She threw her head back and raked her nails along his back and held onto him, then they both cried out and felt their entire bodies tighten then shudder.

  Feeling her hot liquid caused him to let himself go and the intense pleasure from it all practically blew his mind. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was and how he was falling in love with her. But he was breathless and could only manage to say the words, "You are amazing."

  She went completely flaccid in his arms, her head rested against his chest, her eyes were closed and she wore the faintest smile on her lips. "Are you completely out of it?" he teased.

  "I might be," she said.

  "Don’t worry, I promise to pleasure you a lot more but later," he said. "I'm taking you out to dinner tonight."

  "Sounds perfect," she said struggling to sit up.

  "All of a sudden I'm famished."

  "So am I," he said and helped her recover the clothes that were strewn about the room.

  Magnus stood showered and dressed at the bottom of the stairs. While he was waiting for Ava, he thought about how amazing their love making had been and how much he couldn’t wait to ravish her body again and again, starting tonight. He hoped that there would no interruptions of the supernatural kind as he wanted to be the one to take control. He liked the fact that she had taken matters into her own hands so to speak and had initiated their first actual encounter. When it was all over, he so very badly wanted to tell her that he was falling in love with her but thought it not the best time. Maybe after dinner, he thought to himself and smiled when he saw her walking down the stairs. The floral print spaghetti strapped dress she had on fit her figure perfectly and he couldn’t help but notice how the smocked top accentuated her already gorgeous breasts.

  "You look good enough to eat," he said with a grin. "Again."

  "Thank you, so do you," she said. He was wearing soft khaki pants and a white linen shirt. His shirt was loose and she couldn’t help but notice his chest hairs peeking through. She wanted to feel them brush softly against her breasts again.

  "Let's go before I change my mind," she grinned.

  That night after dinner, Magnus had kept his promise, Ava had never before experienced this kind of lovemaking. It was as if Magnus knew her body and her needs for a lifetime. He'd driven her wild with his lovemaking, making her climax more than she'd even thought possible. After she'd collapsed in his arms again, he grinned triumphantly. Exhausted, they fell asleep. She loved feeling the warmth of his body next to hers and in the middle of the night she was awoken by the sensation of his hands gently massaging her breasts.

  She turned over then and opened herself up to him, he had a way of making her body shake to its core and she loved feeling every tremor. And she could tell by the way he shuddered and moaned with pleasure that she had the same effect on him.

  While watching him sleep, Ava thought about how profound the difference was being with Magnus. She normally would feel quite vulnerable and unsure about being so intimate with a man, she'd been that way with Gavin. But things were different with Magnus, she'd hardly known him at all yet she felt completely safe and protected. After she and Gavin started their relationship, it had taken her weeks to let go of her inhibitions, but she wanted to hold nothing back from Magnus. She was surprised at the way she took control earlier in the day and had taken him into her mouth. She remembered the sound of his voice encouraging her to let go, and how she'd listened and let go of it all with abandon.

  During the next few days, Sinta stayed away. She knew that the two lovers were busy discovering one another and she wanted to give them time to do just that. Besides, she had work to do now that they had found the family cemetery. Every night she would gather the necessary items and hold rituals at the grave sight of Will and his mother Amelia. She needed to do all she could to protect Ava and Magnus, they were coming up to the battle of their lives and she needed to work all her magic to make sure that the two survived
<
br />   Magnus worked on his novel and Ava worked on reading the diaries, she had managed to come up with a bit of a time line and shared it with Sinta and Magnus one evening. She told them that she had found out what happened the night that Celeste was murdered and how Amelia played a bigger part than they originally thought.

  She sat the two at the kitchen table and after pouring them all glasses of freshly made lemonade she began telling them the story.

  "Okay, so this is from Amelia's diary," she said and carefully opened it to the page.

  "What I's tell you about reading Miss Amelia's diary alone Miss Ava?" She frowned. "You's givin' her power and you don’t even know it. You too close to it Miss Ava, you got to let someone not so close read it, like me or Mister Magnus," the old woman proclaimed.

  A strange feeling came over her just then and it made her defensive. "Sinta, I know that you mean well , but I think I can handle reading a diary and if I can't I'll let you both know. And just so you know, I wasn’t alone, Magnus was nearby and just wait until you hear what I have to say then you'll be glad that I read it," she said excited to share with them what she'd found out.

  "Are you guys listening? Okay, here goes."

  "I've got it all planned out. Tonight after dinner I'm going to seduce John with plenty of Brandy. Once I do that he'll be drunker than drunk and like a bee to honey, he'll go after that nigga whore Celeste. And if I know John like I think I know John, he won't take no, and once he's had his full of that nigga she won't be fit to work in this house no more. I'll have her sent out to the fields where she'll be treated like the rest of them filthy nigga's out there and my boy will be safe from her and her nigga charms. I just have to make sure he's good and tired and won't wake up and try to do something stupid. Not much worry there because he's been out in the field all day so he should be plenty tired. None the less it wouldn’t hurt if I slipped some of my herbal syrup into his drink during dinner; poor boy won't know what hit him. One day I'm sure he'll thank his momma for looking out for him."