Voodoo Queens of New Orleans - Vol. II | In Progress

Chapter Five: The Intruders

I carry her on my shoulder back to the house. Jeanie and Tekoah are behind me with the three of her comrades on their backs, knocked out or dead. The leeches scout the area for any more of them, but part of me feel like there ain't no more of them—these four came here to send a message, not to start a battle. And they did send a message. Loud and clear:

Alisande sends her regards.

The more I think of those words, the angrier I become. The more confused I become. I see red around me; I feel the monster stir inside me, but I'm well fed; it shouldn't be stirring like this. I push the thoughts deep down in my gut and keep walking.

Abraham isn't in the meeting room. He's in the foyer with Tanya, John and Mr. Boone. He could sense something was wrong even from a mile away. He waits for us to come into the house, and watches as we set down the offerings—four of the Council's henchmen. He don't say nothing as the bodies hit the ground and lay there. Two of them are dead; deep claw marks in the neck by Jeanie. The two that Tekoah and me brought back are just out cold.

Abraham just stares at them. He stares and stares; his face says nothing, and neither does he.

"Where'd you find them?" Mr. Boone asks.

"About a mile west of the house," I tell him. "Fuckers put up a good fight."

"They were hanging out just yards away from the house before we chased them down," Jeanie says. "Teasing us, it seemed."

"And y'all think they really from the Council?" Tanya asks.

"I know their clothes," John says to us. "We all know their clothes. If it ain't the Council, then it's some other clan the Council employed to do their dirty work."

Abraham still hasn't said anything.

"Where there's four, there's got to be more," Mr. Boone says. "You find a few roaches, they be hundreds more behind the walls."

"The Council not that dumb," I tell him. "They real strategic, sneaky fuckers. Make no sense for them to make a play like this."

"So, are you suggesting that it isn't the Council?" Tekoah asks.

"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that they wouldn't be this predictable unless they got some different kind of motive."

Alisande sends her regards.

Tekoah notices me get tense and quiet. He stares at me as Mr. Boone and Jeanie start going back and forth. All I can think about is just snapping this pale woman's skinny little neck and ending her fucking life. But she's valuable to us alive. After we get what we want out of her, I'll be the one to send her to the void.

Abraham suddenly takes a step forward. We all get real quiet. He steps over to the woman I knocked out. He kneels down and tears open her vest; John makes a sour face. With her chest exposed, we see him grab what looks to be a necklace. He yanks it off of her body and holds it up with that same stone-cold expression he had when we first set the bodies down in front of him. It's a small pouch with white stitching on the edges and a small white shell in the middle.

"Gris-gris," Tanya says, her eyes squinting. "Looks like an old one."

"A powerful one," John adds. Mr. Boone frowns, waddling his fat body closer to take a look.

"What the hell is a gris-gris?" he asks. Abraham finally speaks up:

"A protection charm. By the voodoo witches."

Part of me don't want it to be true. I put the pieces together—Alisande sends her regards. The Coterie getting back at us for what we did at the Council's party? For almost making Aza one of us? Aza wouldn't. Neither would Lisa; they knew I had no choice. Then again, they ain't got no reason to trust me after I pledged all of my loyalty to Abraham. It makes more sense than I want it to. Still, I keep my mouth shut tight; I don't want none of them to see right through me. Don't want none of them to know how I feel.