by Sam Stone
‘Yes. I could have. Orlando didn’t try to drown Amelia. It was Maggie. I saw it, but I didn’t want to blame her, and I hated my son. I resented that he was whole while I was not. I didn’t know though, that after the ritual was performed I would feel such remorse that I could barely look him in the eyes anymore.’
‘Maggie tried to kill Amelia?’ I said, realising despite the newly acquired knowledge of Maggie’s state, that this had never occurred to me at all.
Big Daddy nodded.
‘And you didn’t try to drown your own sister?’ Pepper asked.
‘No. I loved her. Why would I ever do that?’
‘This is worse than I thought,’ I said. ‘A terrible travesty has been done to both of you. And I would have been just as guilty of committing it as anyone would have been. I’ve always believed that nephilims were evil.’
‘Nephilim?’ Big Daddy said.
‘Yes. That’s what you are … were. The child of demon and human parents.’
‘It stands to reason,’ said Pepper, ‘that the human part of a soul has as much chance of being the dominant party as the demon one does. It seems so obvious now that it is put before us this way.’
‘What appears to be a monster, doesn’t have to be one. It has freedom of choice, just like anyone does,’ Martin concluded.
Big Daddy’s eyes lowered again. He was sad enough already and we just had to keep breaking his heart even more. He began to talk then, and the tale he told brought everything together in a neat little bow that went a long way to breaking more hearts, but would help, in the long run, to heal them too.
‘My daddy killed Matthias, Isaac’s father.
‘It was a few nights after the ritual had been done. I was here, in my room, when Matthias came in. He told me something bad had been done to me. Something he’d been party to with the best of intentions. “Masser Pollitt done us both wrong,” he said. “And now the magic has to be appeased.”
‘Matthias told me he was going to reverse the spell. That I’d be “whole” again and the choices I made in life would be down to my soul, complete as it would be. I didn’t really understand it all. All I knew was that I’d been punished for something I hadn’t done. I knew it all along, but no one would listen to me.
‘As Matthias began his sing-song chanting, my daddy came into the room with six of the overseers. They caught hold of the servant and they began to beat him. One of them, a man called Edward Brewster, tried to stop another from smashing the butt of the rifle into Matthias’s face. He was a kindly man I remember, and often intervened when the other white employees were too tough on the blacks. But Brewster was pulled aside by two others and the overseer finished what he started. I saw Matthias’s jaw crumple, blood burst from his nose, and he spat out several teeth, but still he tried to say those strange words, to complete what he had started.
‘For trying to stop the brutality Brewster was shot in the back of the head by my daddy. His body fell at the foot of my bed, even as his blood and skull splattered over the bedspread.
‘I cowered in my bed, but I felt Matthias’s magic beginning to work and that demon coming back to where it belonged in the centre of my body, right by my heart.
‘With Brewster dead, the men beat on Matthias some more. One of them kicked him between the legs, that stopped him talking right enough, and he was heaving and sick all over the rug with the pain it caused. The man’s eyes were so swelled up by then they were almost closed shut. I heard limbs breaking as those men continued to hit him, and I pulled the covers up over my head so that I couldn’t hear and see any more of it.
‘After a while they dragged him from the room, along with Brewster, who didn’t deserve anything like that to happen to him either.
‘I climbed out of my bed and went over to the window and saw them starting a fire, right where the lawn is now. Matthias’s body was thrown on it like a broken effigy. He laid there in the flames for a while and the smell of burnt flesh wafted up towards me. Matthias, despite his broken body, tried to pull himself from those flames though. That man had a will to live, and he wanted to put this all right again. I knew he did.
‘As he fell from that bonfire, the men doused him with pails of water, then they dragged his body off somewhere else.
‘After a while my daddy came back and he took me out of this room and put me over in the wing on the other side of the house. Right next door to him and my momma. I never saw this room again, or any of the things I had in it. But the next day, I found a team of men over in the right wing, and they were decorating the landing so that it covered over the door. My room vanished overnight. Inside and outside, like it never existed.
‘The house slaves were changed a few days later. My father separated them all from the others at first, and then fearing that somehow they’d pass on the news of what they saw, he sent each and every one of them away. He didn’t want the other slaves to learn about the death of Matthias. He knew that they followed him, and his voodoo religion. I heard it said that they were all sold off at the next auctions.
‘After that we got a whole group of new ones that didn’t know there had ever been that extra room because they had never been allowed inside the house before.
‘Also, rumours were put about that Matthias had run away and that he’d killed one of the overseers in the process. All the slaves were made to attend Brewster’s funeral. And they did so gladly as he was the only one of the white overseers that had ever been kind to them.
‘But it didn’t end there. I was given to nightmares after that. I saw Matthias, charred blacker than his skin could ever be walking the land like a lost soul. Sometimes when I was playing outside, I even saw him on the balcony, right outside where my window and door had once been. But he couldn’t come inside the house and as I grew up, I saw him less and less until I completely forgot that he had ever existed.’
When his tale ended I felt sad for the boy that Big Daddy had once been. He had grown up in a house that had a curse on it. Although we now knew that Matthias had somehow become Callon, a demon that haunted Pollitt land, and how he had died, we still did not know how this voodoo priest had turned into the vengeful demon. The reason why he sought revenge was blatantly obvious though.
‘So you don’t know where they hid Matthias’ body?’ I said.
Big Daddy shook his head.
‘You see if we find the remains, we may be able to put this man finally to rest,’ Martin explained.
It was interesting that although Isaac had been unable to recognise his father behind the veneer of Callon, Big Daddy had, on some level, known that the demon was Matthias. Even so, he didn’t know that Matthias was able to take on human form in order to gain entry to the house, and to exact his revenge on the family by creating another nephilim child that he would use to punish the family.
Big Daddy, though he was clearly consumed with guilt, had nothing to blame himself for however. He had been a child at the time, and had also treated the slaves well once he inherited the Plantation.
‘I could never stomach beatings or mistreatment after seeing what had happened to Matthias,’ Big Daddy said. ‘No man deserved that. And when the time came, and Isaac wanted freedom for all, I was willing to pay the price, even though I was unhappy about putting Orlando through that same torment I’d experienced as a child and never forgotten. That’s why it took me so long to commit to it. Not because I didn’t want to free the slaves, that to me wasn’t the sacrifice at all. Hurting my son was.’
We left Big Daddy alone in the room and went back to Henry’s room to see how Maggie was doing. By now I was feeling totally exhausted, and could think of nothing more than crawling into my own bed and sleeping until noon, but the night wasn’t done and we had to come up with something that would help us end this torment once and for all.
‘My daddy deserved revenge,’ Isaac said when we explained what had happened to him.
I was concerned that he’d become angry with Big Daddy, even though I saw him as
much a victim in this as Matthias was.
‘But it ain’t Big Daddy’s fault,’ Isaac said. ‘And his spirit has wronged this family for the sins of another man. I ain’t of the belief that the sins of a father should be visited on his children. That ain’t justice. And I don’t think my daddy, if’n he were living would see it this way either. Somehow he got caught up on his death with the magic that should have been reversed. It’s been trying to undo the damage ever since.’
I had to agree that the situation was a bad one for all concerned. I asked Isaac if he could return the other half of Big Daddy’s soul to him, and indeed Orlando’s. I was surprised at myself for even suggesting it. It meant the return of possible evil to both men, and could have a devastating effect on their lives. They may not be the good people they were now. They might, instead, become something that I would feel obliged to kill and I didn’t relish being in that position but it seemed like the right thing to do.
Of course this wouldn’t solve the immediate problem we had with Maggie.
‘It might though, Miss Kat,’ Isaac said. ‘If we return Big Daddy’s soul, the magic will be happy. The forfeit will be no longer needed. It may just free my daddy to move onto the next world. And then he might let go of Miss Maggie.’
‘Can you do the ritual tonight?’ I asked.
‘Yessum. I will just have to go and get some things. We will need Big Daddy to be willing, and it will have to be done in that room.
Pepper went with Isaac to fetch what was needed, and Martin and I went back to the room to pose the suggestion to Big Daddy. Much to our surprise Big Daddy agreed immediately.
As I waited in the room for the others to make their preparations and join me, I shivered. Demon hunting might be what I did now, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.
22
For his comfort, I took the throw from my room and I placed it over the dusty, blood stained covers before Big Daddy lay down on the bed while Isaac set up the tools for his ritual.
‘It’s a little different to what you seen before,’ Isaac explained. ‘Because we are reversing what was done. There shouldn’t be any pain this time, but I can’ promise nothin’.’
Big Daddy nodded. ‘I’m sorry about your daddy,’ he said with tears in his eyes.
‘It ain’t your fault,’ Isaac reassured him. ‘I only hope I can undo what damage done and you can all move on with your lives. Vengeance she be the worst evil. It eats at men’s souls and feeds the Darkness. My daddy knew that, but … that old evil got him anyway.’
‘Whatever happens I promise we’ll try and find his remains,’ Big Daddy said.
Isaac said nothing, but he daubed some strong smelling oil on Big Daddy’s forehead, then across his now bared chest, and finally on the souls of his feet and the palms of his hands. Then he asked Big Daddy to stretch out his arms and legs into the shape of a star.
After that he poured salt in a large circle around the bed, and we placed lit candles wherever Isaac directed. I had never taken part in any form of magic ceremony and I felt a little uncomfortable with the whole proceedings but I was determined to see this through, and then, if need be, help with the reversal on Orlando too. Part of me was interested in what kind of man that would make him once he was given a choice to be good or bad. Would I, for example, be able to sense the demon in him?
When the formalities were addressed, Isaac asked us all to stay out of the salt circle. He said it was important that none of us crossed inside during the rite until he told us it was safe. He also remained outside.
‘We’re going to be bringing demon energy into the circle, to re-bond with Big Daddy. We really don’ wan’ that to go into the wrong person,’ Isaac explained.
The three of us promised to stay back, no matter what we saw, and we took up positions around the bed, but well back from the circle’s edge. I was placed with my back to the corridor, while Pepper was beside Isaac at the other side of the bed and Martin was at the foot.
The proceedings began and Isaac started to talk once more in his high, then low pitched tongue. I glanced at Pepper and Martin in turn to see what they made of it all but both men were keeping their expressions deliberately blank.
Almost immediately a whoosh of energy rippled through the atmosphere, and the circle around Big Daddy seemed to undulate like the air coming from a hot furnace. I felt heat on my face and I glanced over at Isaac to see it this was what was supposed to happen.
All I could see were the whites of his eyes, the dark brown irises had completely disappeared, as though his eyes had rolled backwards into his head. His face was blank and his skin looked waxy as sweat burst out over his features. He continued to chant and his hand raised up his bone shard-covered staff, shaking it towards the figure on the bed.
I looked back at Big Daddy. He was lying still but his eyes were wide open and he seemed afraid.
‘The portal is open,’ Isaac said in English just as I saw a shift in the atmosphere inside the circle.
I saw once more the little boy that had been Big Daddy. He turned his head and looked at me, startled, and I realised that he could see us. He seemed afraid as the two realities began to overlap like multiple reflections in a pool of water. The same, but different.
‘It’s all right!’ I called to him taking a step closer.
‘Kat!’ called Martin, and I halted, realising what I had almost done.
I stepped back again. The boy had heard me though and he lay down on his bed, his small figure glowing and overlapping with the body of Big Daddy.
Isaac’s chanting became more insistent and I saw the two worlds merging for a moment.
Then there was an almighty scream from the doorway.
I turned to see Maggie running forward towards the bed, and I fell in her path. We grappled, but she had the strength of several insane men. I was tossed aside, but I caught her foot, tumbling her down.
I fell over her, trying to hold her, even as Pepper and Martin hurried around the circle to help me restrain her.
I felt the touch of Callon’s cord between us. The shadow loomed by the doorway, but didn’t seem to be able or willing to enter the room.
‘We’re trying to help you!’ I said. ‘Can’t you see that?’
Maggie wriggled beneath me, and started to crawl towards the circle. I joined both of my hands together to make a club, and hit her hard on the back of the neck. She collapsed forward, her body crumpling briefly. Then as I released my hold on her she suddenly revived and tried to crawl forward once more. By this time Pepper and Martin had reached us. The two men pulled her up, but she struggled and almost got free of them. I knew they wouldn’t be able to hold onto her, but didn’t know what to do. I only hoped that the ceremony would end soon.
During this time Isaac continued to chant, and fortunately was not distracted from the rite at all by the battle that was happening in the room.
Maggie pulled one arm free from Pepper’s grasp, she was as slippery as an eel, but Pepper caught hold of her again.
‘Your knife, Kat,’ he said, desperately trying to hold on.
‘I can’t kill her!’
‘No. It’s silver. Cut. The. Cord,’ Martin said though he could barely talk with the exertion.
I pulled my knife from my boot, and prayed that this would work to at least temporarily disconnect Callon with Maggie.
From the doorway Callon growled like a wolf about to pounce. I didn’t look at him though, because I felt certain that without Maggie he was defenceless. I blinked and looked down at Maggie’s stomach. I could see the faint curl of the ectoplasmic line. I swung the knife and much to my surprise, I felt it bite, as though the cord were more corporeal than ethereal after all.
Maggie screamed as though she were in tremendous pain and slumped in the arms of my colleagues. I looked over my shoulder and saw Callon’s shadow shrinking backwards. I hurried to the door. The shadow fell from one side of the landing to the other, like a staggering man who had indulged in too much wine. Then
it disappeared around the corner.
I turned back to survey the room. Martin and Pepper had laid the prone figure of Maggie down on the floor as far away from the salt circle as possible.
A few moments later the vibrating, hot air inside the circle glowed brightly and Big Daddy grunted, took in a breath and then gave a deep sigh. The circle of heat fell. The chant stopped. Isaac had finished.
I found I was leaning against the splintered opening, my breath ragged from the effort of the tussle I’d had with Maggie. The brightness from the circle had extinguished, plummeting the room back to the candlelit gloom it had been earlier. Isaac remained where he was for a moment, though his illegible mantra had ceased. He closed his white eyes, and a moment later, when he opened them, they were normal again. Then he stepped across the salt line and helped Big Daddy to sit up.
Big Daddy opened his own eyes. They were now glowing a bright yellow instead of blue.
‘It worked,’ I said.
‘How do you feel?’ asked Pepper kindly.
‘Whole. I can feel … something dark … inside me, but … I am too long in the tooth and too set in my ways to let this thing change me for the worst. Strangely I feel … more love and compassion than I did before. I have … an understanding of the good things I’ve done, that weren’t so much choices, as defaults. I’m glad I did them and feel I still would choose to take those paths. But until now, something inside me has always been … cold.’
I listened, hoping that what he was saying was genuine, but part of me remained wary. It was in my nature to be cautious of anything with demon blood. The reach of the Darkness was everywhere. I only hoped that Big Daddy was right about his self control. After all he still had his human side, and didn’t all of us have to make choices about taking right and wrong paths in life? Why should he be any different?
