Invisible Death

Drums in the Night

Friday early evening, close to 6 P.M. As ordered, Adam was in the glass house's master bedroom suite he was occupying. He was in the bathroom, under the shower, rinsing his hair, when he heard someone knocking on the door.

"Blair?"

"Yes," answered a voice from outside. "I'm coming in."

Blair Sandburgh, in full shaman regalia, constituted of white pants and loose shirt, a multicolored sash around his waist, beaded strings around his neck, entered carrying a pitcher, a change of clothes and a wide cloth. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Stepping into the shower, the shaman ordered Adam to turn around, and began pouring the leaf concoction from the pitcher down his back, from his shoulders down, all the time mumbling ancient chants and prayers. After all the infusion was poured, he stepped out, handed Adam the pristine white cloth made of pure cotton, never before used, and told him to step out, too. "Dry up, and then give me the cloth," he said. "Put on the clothes I brought you. They're made of white cotton, no buttons, nothing metal, and never used before. I'll gather the fallen leaves in the drying cloth after you're done."

In the walk-in closet, Adam looked at himself. He couldn't repress a chuckle. After so many years known as the "Man in Black", he was now dressed all in white: loose pants gathered at the waist with a hemp cord, loose shirt with short sleeves he'd pulled over his head. No buttons allowed; no metal clasps of any kind. His hair was damp and he was barefoot.

Back in the bedroom, Babah and one of her novices were getting Donna ready for the ritual they'd perform later. She had been bathed, her short hair, now snow white, thoroughly washed. And she had also been bathed in the same cleansing herbal infusion. She had been dressed in a loose white robe made of the same pure cotton as his clothes. A white cloth like the one he had used to dry himself was spread at the foot of the bed, the infusion leaves gathered at the center.

Blair came out of the bathroom carrying the cloth with the leaves from Adam's bath. Babah folded the sides of Donna's white cloth over the leaves of her bath and handed both parcels to her novice.

"You know what to do," she said. The girl bowed ceremoniously to both high priests and left.

Babah turned to Adam. "She will dispose of the leaves in the stream running from a waterfall nearby. Then, the cloths will be brought back here," she explained. "As soon as the sky fills up with stars, we shall begin."

&&&

It was time. Brennan, Shalimar, Jesse and Emma, the four friends and fellow fighters, gathered at the glass house's main entrance. They were similarly dressed in white, no buttons, no metal; the men in loose shirts and pants; the women in loose full-sleeved robes. They joined hands, and hugged each other. And each one headed to his or hers appointed location.

The ritual was about to begin.

&&&

The master bedroom was now bare, all furniture had been removed. The white cloths were spread side by side on the floor. Babah was instructing her acolytes, two female "yaos", two older men, their skins dark as night. Each one would stand in a corner of the room, ready to aid the high priests during ritual.

Donna was already lying flat on her back on one of the cloths. Adam looked at her, so thin, so frail; her twisted legs were tucked under the white robe. Instinctively, Adam sat cross-legged on the other cloth and pulled her to his lap. He was holding her when Blair entered the room from the veranda overlooking the bay.