The Soul Compact (Now Free on Amazon)

Chapter 11

When Dimitri woke up that morning, he was more worried than ever.  Peter’s condition had worsened and Peter had become so frail that he needed a cane to support himself when he walked.    Peter was dying right in front of his eyes and he was not even sure Peter would be able to make it to Haiti.  Peter, on the other hand, had been taking more vitamins and medications, hoping that this weird disease would go away.

On top of that, Dimitri hadn’t been able to reach the voodoo priestess.  He had been calling the last few days to set up a meeting with the spirit, but the phone rang at the voodoo priestess’ house and no one answered.

By the time Dimitri and Heather’s mother boarded the plane for their trip to Haiti, Peter’s slur had gotten so bad that no one could understand him.

     Dimitri was so worried that he didn’t even realize that the man known to him as Lionel was sitting in the seat in front of him in the first class section of the plane.  “Lionel, it’s good to see you,” he said, delighted at the turn of events.  “I looked for you after our trip from Immokalee and could not find you.”

Steven, who acted as if he was surprised and happy to see Dimitri, told Dimitri that he had been traveling and was on a trip to Haiti to supervise a business venture.

“Great, me and my son and my fiancée are staying at a hotel in Petionville,” Dimitri explained.  He then exchanged phone numbers with Lionel, who was staying at a nearby hotel.  Dimitri  knew that if he could not find the voodoo priestess, Lionel would be able to locate another voodoo priest for him.  He had lost all hope this morning when he had noticed that Peter’s condition had worsened.

Now that Lionel was going to be in Haiti, he was beginning to feel better.  Lionel was always there for him when he needed him.  To save his son, he was planning to seek his help one last time, as soon as the plane landed.

##

When Heather woke up in the morning, the thought of Peter being sick possibly due to voodoo was still in her mind.  Prior to going to the airport, she called Jackie and talked to Jackie for a few minutes. Jackie had returned from Leogane and was staying with Marc at their parents’ primary home in Petionville.

“Peter’s father will have to reach out to the spirit to save Peter,” Jackie was saying.  Ever since Jackie had learned who Peter was, Jackie had talked nonstop about seeking and talking to the spirit before it was too late.

“Even if Mr. Egorov wanted to go see a voodoo priest, I wouldn’t know who to tell him to go see.  Your parents have already left for Tennessee and you yourself told me you don’t know any other voodoo priests,” Heather said to Jackie, desperate for some good news.

Minutes later, when Heather left for the airport in her father’s motorcade, her worry for Peter has increased almost tenfold.  But Heather didn’t know how dire Peter’s health condition was until she reached the airport and saw Peter. She was shocked.   Peter’s handsome face had become bony, and he had lost a lot of weight.  He could barely talk, causing her father to suggest to Dimitri that Peter needed to go to the hospital.

“I was planning on visiting a clinic tomorrow,” Dimitri lied, as they were getting into the SUV on the tarmac.  When Heather’s mother had insisted that the proper place for Peter was in the hospital, he had also lied to her saying that he would take Peter to a clinic when they landed in Haiti.

As the group left the airport in Heather’s father’s SUV, they didn’t see the dark blue SUV picking up Steven.  For good reason. Ernst’s new posse wanted it that way. 

When Heather’s father dropped them off at the Petionville Hotel, the deterioration of Peter’s health was so overwhelming to Heather that she excused herself and went to a bathroom in the hotel’s lobby where she cried.  She finally realized for herself that Peter was dying.