Circus of the Dead: Book 4

by Kimberly Loth

  He bounces up and down. “Okay. I can do that. But if it doesn’t work tonight, I’m taking off.” His nervous energy spikes my own anxiety. Why does the magic here have him so scared?

  He follows me back to Amy’s boat. I try to make small talk, but he doesn’t respond to most of my questions. Finally, after a while, we fall into silence, him pacing and jerking his head around. I have the spell to get my body back memorized, but we’ll need the birds to gather a few things for us. Hopefully, they can do it in this weather.

  Just before the sun sets, I give James a look. “Don’t go anywhere.” Not that I think he will, but I don’t want to take any chances.

  He nods, and I hope he listens to me. I pay a quick visit to Reken to make sure that I have everything I need.

  As soon as the sun drops below the tree line, I appear in front of Benny. At first, he doesn’t respond, then shock crosses his face before he grins. But before he says anything, Amy screams and clutches the baby to her chest.

  “How are you here?” Benny asks.

  I grab his hand. “I worked it out with the island. I only have until the sun rises again, and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

  Amy looks at me skeptically, but I don’t bother to wait for her to be okay with it. I explain to both of them my plan to get the bodies back and destroy the island. I can’t do it all tonight, but I’ll start with myself.

  “Before I do anything with the island, we have to get you all off. I don’t know what will happen once I do. But by then we should have Juliette and Tyson back.”

  “I’m staying with you,” Benny says.

  “Of course.” If the tables were turned, I would say the same thing. Though, when it comes down to it, I don’t know if I’ll let him.

  Benny puts his arm around me. “What do you need?”

  I rattle off the list of ingredients for the spell. It is a long list. He steps outside, and rain blows inside. He’s out there for what seems like forever and comes back in completely soaked.

  He shakes the rain out of his hair. “I don’t know if the birds will be able to get everything, but several of them flew off in different directions.”

  “Now, we wait,” I say.

  Everyone is quiet tonight, even the kids. There is a finality to what’s happening, and the possibility of failure is too great.

  Something hits the door, and Benny jumps up. He flings open the door, and a half-dozen birds fly inside, all carrying one thing I need for the spell—absinthe, alligator teeth, two croaking toads, several candles, sage, and a few more things. Benny gives the birds treats while I get to work creating voodoo dolls. One for me and one for James.

  I tie my hair onto the doll and put a few drops of blood on the face. Now comes the part I know I have to do but I’m dreading. There is only one way for me to get James’s blood and hair.

  “Amy, can you take your family into a bedroom and close the door? You won’t want to see the next part.”

  “What are you going to do? Kill the toads?”

  “Ha. No. They are for after that, and I don’t have to kill them. I have to summon the zombie version of James.”

  “And he’ll be here in my living room?” Amy puts a hand to her neck and frowns.

  “Unfortunately, yes, but not for very long. I thought you wouldn’t want to see that.”

  Ruth follows them into a bedroom with George and Missy, but Franny, Frank, and Elias stay. Well, can’t say I didn’t warn them.

  I cast the spell to summon a zombie, and a few moments later, there is a thumping at the door. Benny opens it, and Zombie James comes in, getting water everywhere. Franny gasps, but I don’t hear anything from Frank or Elias.

  I take my scissors and cut a few grimy strands of hair from him and then hesitate. Will he attack me when I try to draw his blood? I take a scalpel and look at his creepy face with sewed-together eyes and mouth.

  “I’m going to cut your finger. Don’t hurt me.”

  He doesn’t respond. I slice open his finger, and black blood oozes out. It smells like oil and exhaust.

  “Benny, can you hand me his doll?”

  I press Zombie James’s finger onto the face of the doll and drop his hand. He lets it fall to his thigh, leaving a bloody fingerprint on his pants.

  “That’s all. You can go now.”

  He shuffles around slowly, and Benny opens the door, letting him out.

  “Well, that was something I’ve never seen before,” Frank says.

  Franny cackles. “What do you mean? You look just like him.”

  I ignore them and sit down. I soak James’s doll in the absinthe and light the sandalwood. I hold my doll in the smoke for a few moments.

  Then, I set both dolls on the floor. This is the moment of truth. My hands tremble a bit. If I get this wrong, I’m basically screwed.

  “Benny, I need you to stand back.”

  He does without question. I drop the burning sandalwood into the bowl of absinthe, and a large flame erupts. I throw both dolls into the flame and wait. James’s burns more quickly, but soon they are both ash. When my doll disappears, the energy in the room changes.

  James flickers in front of me.

  “James, do you willingly give your life to me?”

  “I do.”

  The flame changes to a dark purple then goes out.

  James disappears.

  “Did it work?” Benny asks.

  “I don’t know. We’ll find out when the sun rises.” My whole body feels tired. Emotionally, I’m wiped.

  And so we wait. It is not a fun few hours. They drag by. I should be thinking about the other spell, but I need to know if this worked. If it didn’t, I won’t be able to hunt down the graves. Jeffrey insists on playing go fish with me, which is good because it helps take my mind off of what might happen.

  Just before the sun rises, I turn to Benny. “If this doesn’t work, I need you to gather a few things for me before the new moon.”

  “Sure. Anything.”

  I list off the things I need to find the bodies buried on the island. I hope against hope there aren’t too many of them. Because if I failed in my spell, then I will have to wait until the new moon.

  A strange silence settles over the boat.

  “The storm. It stopped,” Ruth says.

  We step outside cautiously. The rain is gone, and the alligators by the barrier have disappeared.

  “Why do you think it stopped?” Amy asks.

  “I don’t know. But I think we’ve messed with the equilibrium of the island. Maybe it ruined Lorena’s spells.”

  The sky begins to lighten, and the sun peeks over the trees. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and hope that the spell works.

  “Am I still here?” I ask Benny.

  He grins and pulls me into a massive hug. “It’s about time something started going right around here.”

  The end of the island has begun.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Benny and I go back to our boat. We don’t know how long the peace will last, but everyone needs sleep, including me. Benny holds me tight, but sleep isn’t coming easily.

  “I can’t believe we finally get to be together,” he mutters against my hair.

  I rest my hand on his chest. “I know. It felt like we were doomed to only seeing each other twice a month, forever.”

  Benny chuckles. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

  “Ditto.” Which is why I’ll let him stay when I destroy the island. Whatever we do from here on out is together. I don’t know how long of a future we’ll have, and I don’t want to miss a second of it.

  He strokes my hair. I should feel all kinds of anxieties about what’s going to happen, but I don’t. I feel perfectly content lying in his arms. “What do you think will happen now?” he asks.

  “I don’t know. If everything goes smoothly, on the new moon, we’ll get all the ghosts sorted out, including Juliette and her dad. Then we’ll get everyone off the island but you and me. After
that, we’ll hunt down every dead body and destroy it, because we want to be certain we get her first victim if for some reason it wasn’t Sileas.”

  “And then?”

  “I have no idea. Hopefully, we survive.”

  Benny kisses my temple. “I’ll tell you what happens. We get a little house in New Orleans and live happily ever after.”

  I grin. “That sounds so boring.”

  “We can go to California if you want.”

  “I’m Obeah now. I’d be all out of place on the waves again. I want to see Maddie though. New Orleans is definitely better. Boring isn’t a bad thing.”

  The next day, I get to work on a revealing spell. I try the first one with Lorena’s husband’s name, Sileas, but it reveals nothing.

  “I figured that was a long shot. Either she had a different first victim, or she lied about his name.”

  “My money is on his name. I don’t know how she would’ve had a different first victim.”

  I try the other revealing spell. It has eight locations, which appear as glowing green dots on a map of the island.

  “Eight is too many. We have to perform the spell in the darkness of the new moon. We won’t have time to do eight of them after I free the ghosts.” I sink onto the floor of my boat. “This is impossible.”

  Benny sits down next to me and gathers me in his arms. “No, it’s not. You’ve done the impossible already. This is easy. We’ll figure it out. First, we can scout out the spots and see if we can figure out which one might be the right one. As long as it’s one of the first three, we’ll have plenty of time.”

  I lean my head on his chest. He seems so sure. I wish I had his confidence.

  The eight graves are spread out across the island, but since the land is swampy, they won’t be buried very deep. Amy and her kids help us find the spots, but we only manage to rule out one that is all water. If there was a body there at one time, it’s long gone now.

  The real work is in getting ready for the ghosts to move on. We have to create 114 voodoo dolls, and Lizette and Collette do most of that work.

  The day of the new moon, I set out several sticks of sandalwood and bowls with just enough absinthe for the dolls to be submerged. It will be hard work, but we should be able to get it all done in a couple of hours once the ghosts arrive. I’ll take care of the ghosts first, and then we’ll take out the graves to destroy the island. Strange to think that by the end of the night, everything will be different.

  That night, we all gather outside of the big top. Amy gives me a hug.

  “Thank you for all you have done for us. I’m thrilled to reunite my family today.”

  “Me too.”

  Elias is the only one missing from our little group. He took the boat to the docks to let people know the circus is not performing tonight and to prevent them from coming on their own.

  The ghosts pop up and go about their business as if nothing has changed. That’s odd. Surely, a few of them know the plan and have been watching us or paying attention to what is going on.

  I grab one of the ghosts by his arm, but he shakes it off. He doesn’t even look at me.

  Amy grips my hand. “What are they doing?”

  “I have no idea, but I’d bet money Lorena is behind it.”

  Amy lets out a breath. “I wish that bitch would leave us alone.”

  “I know.”

  The ghosts skitter around us but don’t say anything. I see Juliette across the way, but she’s all decked out in her clown gear. I haven’t seen her in that since she died.

  She rushes toward us.

  “Oh look, peoples,” she snarls.

  “Jules, what’s going on?”

  Her face doesn’t change at all. She doesn’t recognize me. She doesn’t even acknowledge me.

  She cackles. “You’ve all come to die.”

  She waves her fingers at us all creepy like. The rest of the ghosts descend. They are all dressed up and look more menacing than they ever have before.

  “Come see my vampire show.”

  “The snakes will delight and terrify you.”

  “Watch a man burn from the inside out.”

  Amy stares at Tyson, but he shows no recognition whatsoever. “What’s happening?” Amy asks.

  “I don’t know.” My brain races through possibilities, but nothing comes to me. I have no idea what’s going on.

  “You all need to stop right now and go into the big top,” I command. I’m in charge of these ghosts, and they will listen to me. Except they don’t. It’s like they can’t even hear me.

  We retreat, but the ghosts chase us, all shouting to go see their shows.

  “To the docks,” I say. I have to get the people out of here, or one of them could die if the ghosts are no longer under my control.

  We run, but the ghosts follow. The scorpion man is right behind me, and suddenly his stinger comes down in front of my face. I scream and hit his creepy insect body. Benny tugs me away from him.

  Juliette grabs my arm and growls in my face. “Come see the clowns. We promise to kill you slowly.”

  I jerk out of her arm. “What the hell, Juliette? What happened to you?”

  She cocks her head. “Who’s Juliette?”

  “You.”

  She laughs. “I’ve never heard that name before.”

  I cower away from her, completely flummoxed and now a little scared. We gather on the docks, but the ghosts stay onshore. Some glare at us and gnash their teeth, and others growl and wave their hands.

  “There’s something wrong with them,” Amy says.

  “I know.” This is so far beyond me that I suddenly feel silly for thinking I could take Lorena on. Sure, I could let a fireball off that would incinerate them all, but I don’t want to do that. I want them to come back to us all in one piece. At least a few of them anyway. I can’t risk using my magic on them until I know what’s really going on.

  “They don’t even know us,” she says and grips my hand.

  Benny moves around me and places his hand on my back. “They don’t even know themselves.”

  “Should we try the spell to get them to move on or stay here?” I ask. I don’t even know if it would work. They have to at least acknowledge themselves and take part, and I would never be able to do it without their consent. Nor would I want to make that decision for them.

  Panic blooms on Amy’s face. “What if they are resurrected in their current state? They’ll be evil murderers and not have a clue who any of us are.”

  “Benny, I don’t know what to do.” After everything we’ve been through, now this. I just want something to go right for a change.

  “Let’s wait for Elias and then get all the islanders on that boat. You and I will stay here and see if we can destroy the island. We might not be able to save the ghosts, but we’ll do what we can.”

  Collette picks up a crying Jeffery. There may have to be sacrifices at this point. I don’t like it, but I recognize it.

  We move to the back of the dock, as far away from the ghosts as we can. They hover on the edge of the island, snarling and beckoning to us. I wonder what would happen if we went with them.

  At least I don’t think they can hurt us. But I don’t know anything anymore. Everything is different. Just when I think I have things under control, I don’t have control at all.

  I catch sight of Luke. He meets my eyes, but there is no recognition there. My own father doesn’t even see me.

  “The boat’s coming back!” Ruth yells.

  We all turn and watch the dark shape fly through the water.

  I sink against Benny’s chest, relieved. I’ll be able to save a few of my friends anyway. No matter what else happens tonight. The islanders will be safe.

  We all take a few steps back as the boat knocks against the dock. I move forward to greet Elias and explain what happened. But Elias doesn’t step out of the captain’s quarters.

  Giselle does.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Giselle meets
my eyes and cackles. She’s wearing that wretched red lipstick and still hasn’t figured out how to put it on properly. Oh, I should’ve killed that girl when I had the chance.

  She saunters toward us, swaying as she walks. “Ha. Ha. I’m a rougarou, and you will be too.”

  We all take several steps back.

  “Where is my little friend? I’ve got lots to teach him.”

  Amy shoves Jeffrey behind her. “Do something,” she hisses to me. I wave my hand, but Giselle puts her hand up and blocks the spell.

  “Your tricks don’t work so well now, do they? Lorena’s been teaching me. She says I’ve got talent. Maybe even more than you. Now, you’ve been a bad, bad girl.”

  I turn to the rest of the islanders. “Take your chances with the ghosts. Get to Ruth’s tent and barricade yourself in there. It should still have the protections from the spirits on it. I’ll take care of Giselle.”

  They run. I watch them go, but Giselle seems to only have eyes for me, which is good. As long as she’s fighting me, I don’t have to worry about everyone else.

  Benny grips my hand. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “I wish you would.” But I know better. I feel a little guilty for appreciating the comfort.

  Benny whistles, and all of his birds flock to him. “Protect them,” he orders, pointing at the islanders.

  The ghosts descend on the islanders, but the small band manages to get through the crowd with the help of the birds. I hope they make it to Ruth’s tent okay. The spell on it will still protect them when the sun rises. Though I hope to be done with Giselle long before then.

  I drop my voice. “How do you kill a rougarou?”

  Benny whispers into my ear. “You stab them in the heart with a stake made from cypress wood.”

  I swallow. “Okay. Can you go get that? I’ll do my best to hold her off here.”

  The rays from the setting sun have gone, and thick darkness falls. There are few lights from the circus that make their way over here, and there is a light at the end of the dock, but with the moonless sky, it’s hard to see anything.

  Benny squeezes my hand. “I’m not comfortable leaving you alone with her.”