Punished (18 page)

 
I couldn’t put my finger on it, but his features had a peculiar sense of familiarity about them. His eyes had a shape that I had seen somewhere before, and his cheekbones were beautifully sculpted. His exquisite beauty was rare, but somehow I was accustomed to it.

“Where’d you get that fancy dress from? You didn’t steal it from the Mrs., did you?” he asked, as he eyed my dress. “You sure look pretty in it.”

I looked down at my body and immediately saw that I was still dressed in the green Elie Saab dress. I reached for my neck and felt the necklace Lucus had given me was there, and I wore my gris-gris charm around my right wrist. “Steal? No. This is my dress.”

I had no idea why I was explaining my outfit to Louis in my dream. If he was trying to tell me something, he should hurry up and do it already rather than wasting time discussing my outfit.

He let out a deep laugh. “There’s no way that dress can ever be yours, your clothes are over there.” He pointed to the corner of the cabin where a lopsided wooden table held a pile of scruffy clothes. They appeared to be made out of some kind of rough, ugly brown material.

“Wherever you got that dress from, you’d better get out of it unless you want a lashing or two.”

“A lashing or two? What the hell are you talking about?” A sound of a distant horn interrupted me.

“Only an hour till sunrise, no time for games Arelia. Go on and get dressed now. I’m going to go fill up the gourd with water,” he said, as he got up from the pile of rags.

He walked over to the wooden table and picked out a ratty shirt that had multiple holes in it. I winched at the sight of his muscular torso. His back was covered in scars; they were obviously from a whip. A giant rat scurried over my foot, and I let out a violent scream. I closed my eyes and tried desperately to wake up from whatever nightmare I was immersed in, but it was futile.

“Have you lost your mind?” asked Louis, as he watched me repeatedly open and close my eyes.

“I’m trying to wake up from this nightmare!” I hollered.

He gave me a wide smile. I knew that smile. I knew those lips. Louis came close to me and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek. I knew that smell. “Stubborn Arelia, our lives are one big nightmare. You should know that by now. The only chance we have of waking up is sweet death. Go on and get dressed now. The sun will be coming up soon, and we need to be in those fields before then.”

He left and I stood alone in the dark, rat infested cabin.

“Erzulie,” I called. “Please, I need you now more than ever.” I wrapped my sweaty hand around my gris-gris charm and secretly pleaded with Erzulie for guidance. I had done everything Aunt Mae had instructed me to do and yet I was still trapped in this nightmare.

Relief washed over me. She appeared before me in a pink satin gown that was totally out of place in the grimy cabin. Her neck was adorned with layers of silver chains and her hazel eyes had tears in them.

“Erzulie, is this a dream?” I asked.

“No,” she whispered. “Louis has a piece of your soul. He is making you live in the world in which he wants you to live.”

“How did he get a piece of my soul?” I asked even though I already kind of knew the answer. My hair. My fingernails. My blood. My spit. The list was endless. If he mixed it with the right ingredients, he could basically do whatever he wanted with me.

“You already know the answer to that,” said Erzulie.

“What the hell!” I exploded. There was no way I was going to live in this crappy cabin with Louis. “Where is Marie?” I asked. “If I’m living in Louis’ world, then that must mean Marie is here too.”

Erzulie shook her head. “She’s working up in the main house today, she won’t be around.”

“This is ridiculous!” I shrieked. “How can a ghost do all of this?”

“Keep calm my child.” Erzulie reached out and stroked my hair. “Louis is no ghost; he’s just as real as you. His soul is still roaming around, and he happens to be a powerful voodoo king, given who his mother was. He is bound in flesh and bone. The present day Louis is making you re-live his past for some reason or another. You live in his world for the day. When the night falls, you find the swamp and ask Gran-Ibo for help. Take some cornbread and blue-grey candles. When you see a yellow canary, you’ll know she’s near.”

Great, Louis wasn’t a ghost but some powerful voodoo king who passed his time messing with lowly queens. I had to go into the swamp and look for Gran-Ibo.
 
I was screwed.

“You run until you find her. You have to convince her to let this piece of your soul reconnect with the present. I can’t tell you anymore about Louis.
 
You need to figure all that out by yourself. Remember Gran-Ibo is the spirit of wisdom and patience, she is immensely powerful and knows all the magic of the swamp, but she will not tolerate any sort of lying. If she asks you a question, you need to answer it with all the honesty in your heart.”

I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Why is he doing this? What the hell did I do to him? This is bullshit! Why is he being such an ass? And why am I living with him?”

I knew that swearing in front of the voodoo spirit of love was a little tacky, but I couldn’t help myself. Being calm and sane weren’t really my greatest strengths.

Erzulie remained perfectly composed as she spoke. The tears evaporated, and her eyes narrowed as they rested on my face. “It’s not what you’ve done to him; it’s what you’re capable of doing. You’re living with him because that’s the only way you can get to know him and feel his pain. Louis wants you to feel his suffering. Now, I will not accept any more outbursts from you, my child. Do what I say and you can safely return back to where you belong. Go along with him; don’t let him know you know what he’s done. If you do, the present day Louis will catch on. Pretend you belong here. The curse he put you under was supposed to make you forget where you came from. If he finds out, you remember he’ll only make it stronger.”

“Then how do I remember? How do I know I don’t belong here?”

“Your weapon is your strength. The protective gris-gris you wear.
 
The seven day candle you lit. They all helped you retain your grasp in reality. Present day Louis underestimated how strong you really are. He made the curse too weak. Every part of your soul recognizes that you don’t belong in this time and place. Don’t draw attention to yourself and you’ll be safe. The past Louis is a kind soul. He’s harmless, and you don’t have to worry about him being cruel to you.”

“But where is my body? If I’m here because present day Louis managed to put a spell on a piece of my soul, what happened to my body?”

“Your body is in a coma my child. It will remain like that until you reconnect this piece of your soul with the rest.”

“A coma?”

Erzulie remained stoic, as she spoke. “Yes, when someone places a curse on you, they can choose to attack your body, soul or mind. In this case, Louis chose to attack your soul, which means, your body will remain intact and unharmed.”

That was a little reassuring I guess.
 
“But what happens if I don’t ever reconnect my soul?” Even though, I already knew the answer to that question, I needed to be sure my suspicion was right.
 
“If I don’t get back?”

“Your body will remain in a coma until you naturally pass.”

She had to be kidding, right? I wondered how many coma patients were actually under voodoo curses. I shuddered at the thought of my body lying in some hospital room for the next sixty years or so.

“Be strong my child and survive the day.”

“Okay fine,” I said, as I realized that Erzulie had disappeared, and I was alone in the cabin.

I looked down at the necklace Lucus gave to me and reminded myself that whatever happened I was strong enough to take it on.

“I’m strong enough. I’m strong enough,” I muttered, as I tore off the gorgeous green dress and slipped in the hideous brown potato sack. Yes, the dress actually resembled a big old potato sack which was way too long. The material was itchy as hell as it clawed against my skin.

Just as, I finished dressing, rays of light seeped through the cracks that separated the logs and another horn bellowed in the distance.

Louis rushed back into the cabin. “Let’s go Arelia. We can’t risk being late.”

Chapter 20

Out in the Cotton Fields

Outside the early morning greeted me with a brutal slap of harsh light. Slaves marched out of their cabins and grimly headed to the fields that stood in the distance. They all wore the same hideous clothes as I did.

There must of have hundreds of them. They varied greatly in age and height, but all of their faces told the same sordid tale of utter misery. Some of them were barefoot while others wore tattered old shoes that appeared to be extremely ill-fitting.

The scene that played out in front of me was nothing like present day Darkwood. The smell of gloom hung thick in the air as I followed Louis to the field. In the distance, I saw long rows of puffy white cotton. It did an ethereal dance as sunlight bounced off of it. Its fresh snow-like beauty was undeniably pure and seemed so out of place considering the wretched circumstances that surrounded it.

I saw that most of the cotton stalks were taller than I was. They towered over me and intimidated me with their giant structure. The slaves around me scurried to strap on large sacks over their necks and grabbed large oak baskets that were laid out on the ground. I had no idea what was going on, so I stood there idly watching.

“Arelia, don’t stand there strap on a sack and grab a basket before they see you,” Louis warned.

“What… Why?” I stupidly asked.

“What’s wrong with you today? It’s August, time to pick the cotton off the stalks.” Louis’ eyes were filled with fear, as he grabbed a sack and placed it around my neck and thrust a basket in my hand.

I took the heavy basket from him. I glared at him and thought,
you stupid ass you’re the one who brought me here what the hell do you want?
I remembered Erzulie’s advice and knew that in order to get out this mess alive, I needed to survive the day and make a run for it at night. However, I had serious doubts that I would be competent at picking mass quantities of cotton.

“Move,” he pushed me into the cotton field. “The driver doesn’t look like he’s in a good mood today.”

In the distance, I saw a burly red-headed man with a cruel scowl on his face and a whip in his right hand. This had to be some sick joke. There was no way this was actually happening to me.

Louis held my cheeks and turned my head abruptly. “You know you’re not supposed to make eye contact with him, ever.” Beads of sweat dripped off his forehead, and his silky skin gleamed under the already unbearable morning sun. I couldn’t help but get lost in his eyes. Where did I see those eyes before?

He grabbed my clammy hand and placed it on a stalk of cotton. “Go on now, pull.”

I frantically eyed my surroundings and realized that all the slaves were madly picking cotton off the long stalks and thrusting them into the bags that hung around their necks. They moved with an effortless grace and ease that was beautifully coordinated. It was obvious that they were accustomed to the task at hand. Considering I was a horrid dancer, a terrible singer and pretty much useless at anything else that involved hand eye coordination, there was no way I would be able to replicate their elegance.

Not one of them spoke or lifted their heads. The fear hung thick in the spectacularly humid air. I gave myself a hard slap across my face in a pathetic attempt to wake up.

“Have you lost your mind?” Louis hissed, as he glared at me. “Don’t draw attention to yourself. They aren’t going to accept any less than two hundred pounds. Quit playing games and start picking.”

Did he seriously say two hundred pounds? How was I going to pick two hundred pounds of cotton? I barely weighed a hundred pounds. Clearly, I had no choice but to start picking, so I did. Like a clumsy idiot, I roughly clutched a cotton stalk. To my horror, the stalk snapped in two with a deafening crack.