The Soul Compact (Now Free on Amazon)

Chapter 10

The next few days were very enjoyable for Heather.  Heather and Jackie spent them swimming, hiking, and reading the latest vampire romance novels.  Her father had returned to Port-au-Prince for work, and Heather stayed behind with Linda.  Heather only returned to Port-au-Prince once during that time to buy some more clothes with Jackie. When they returned to Linda’s house the same evening, Heather and Jackie learned from Marc that there would be a voodoo ceremony that night at Jackie’s parents’ house.

Marc explained that the unexpected ceremony was due to the death of another voodoo priest, and that they had to have a ceremony to release the dead voodoo priest’s soul. Although Heather wanted to go to watch and understand what they were doing, Heather respected her mother’s wishes and stayed home instead.  Jackie, who wasn’t interested in watching another voodoo ceremony that evening, stayed with Heather and they watched an old French movie about a princess named Sissi.

Both Linda and Ronald then left with Marc to watch the ceremony.  When they returned a couple of hours later, they joined Heather and Jackie who were seating on the back porch looking at the ocean.

Marc told Heather and Jackie that the ceremony was successful.   He explained how the dead man’s body was lying on a mat inside the temple and jerked during the ceremony, and how the dead man sat up and opened his eyes temporarily before falling back down on the mat.

Heather, who had had enough of these wild stories, asked Marc, “Why do you have to make this stuff up?”

Mark, who was temporarily taken aback by Heather’s accusations, replied, “I’m not making this up.  Ask Jackie! she’s seen this before.” Then pointing to Linda, who was also sitting nearby in a rocking chair, Marc said, “Ask Ms. Linda.  She was there too and saw what happened.”

Linda, who was watching the scene, said diplomatically, “Heather is not questioning what we have seen.  It’s true, I saw it.  She is just saying there might be another explanation for the dead body to move like it did.”

“So, what is it then?” Marc asked Heather, his arms crossed in front of him, daring her to find another explanation for it.

“I don’t know. It could be the dead body settling down.” She was not sure if that explanation would satisfy Marc.  “Besides, you don’t believe in this stuff anyway.  You’re just doing it for the money.”

Heather’s accusation made Marc furious. “Don’t tell me what I believe in.  I’m not like my sister, who goes around cleaning the peristyle and serving drinks to the spirits for a few bucks.”

As Jackie was going to respond, Linda decided to put an end to Marc and Heather’s squabble, “Let’s stop this. It’s obvious that Heather doesn’t believe voodoo is real, and it’s also obvious that you disagree.  So arguing will get you nowhere.”

However, as his anger was abating, Marc, who couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take one last shot at Heather, said, “I guess you’re right Ms. Linda, my mom always said that people who form opinions on a subject without knowledge of it are not contributing to the discussion, and it’s better to leave them to their prejudices.”

“I’m not prejudiced,” Heather growled, her face now red in anger.

“Stop it, right now,” Linda said, raising her voice loudly. I want both of you to apologize to each other.

“Apologize to Marc?” Heather said, incredulously. “He’s the one who called me prejudiced.”  

“Both of you are at fault,” Linda said. “You implied that Marc had no convictions and was practicing voodoo for money, while Marc accused you of being ignorant.”