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

Chapter Eight: Family

MISS AZA

I played with Hezekiah's locket in my hand. Over and over, I twisted that small little raggedy piece of copper in my hand until I was sure that I had rubbed the finish off of it.

I did it while everyone in Mambo Nene's house yelled over each other in panic. This is how the last few days have gone—everyone yelling over each other in panic about what to do about Abraham. Lisa was gone. Under their suspicion, she was kidnapped by Hezekiah. My heart couldn't believe he would do something like this. Yet again, he almost turned me into a vampire for Abraham. What else would he be willing to do for his master without question?

After days of phone calls and house visits, we finally managed to get as many priests and priestesses as we could in mambo's house; we barely had enough room for everyone. They all brought their novitiates; if they all brought every member of their own house, we wouldn't have room for anyone anywhere in this small old house.

Sajida was standing against the wall, watching all of the chaos. She was real quiet. She hadn't said a word. I stared at her for a real long time, watching her stare at everyone with these eyes that were hard to read. She knew I was looking at her, but didn't even bring her eyes my way.

"We sure that they was the ones who took Lisa?" Cyrus asked the Coterie.

"We found Hezekiah's locket at the scene," Ava Claudette said. "Covered in Lisa's blood."

Alize closed her eyes real tight when she heard those words. Hepzibah rubbed her back reassuringly; the room went quiet.

"Abraham told us he be going rogue," Mambo Nene said. "We shouldn't be surprised that it finally happened."

"It just don't seem like something Abraham would do," I blurted out. Now everyone done started staring at me like I was speaking the devil's word. After days had gone by with me not peeping a word about the situation, now I was speaking nonsense. The girls and Mikael stared at me with these big eyes, waiting for me to say more. They were the only ones who believed me. They wanted me to talk some sense into the crowd, but how could I do that when I didn't even fully believe in myself yet?

"What you mean?" Ki-Ki spoke up. Ki-Ki, one of the priestesses, and me used to be real close when we was younger. Until I started hanging around the likes of the Coterie; I lost a lot of people when I got tangled up with them.

"I just mean...Abraham ain't stupid. He wouldn't go out and cause a commotion like this when he know that many people want his head on a spike."

"Then how do you explain what happened at the Council's party?" Ava Claudette say to me. "When Hezekiah tried to turn you into a bloodsucker? You think he wouldn't go and cause a commotion after everything he did that night?"

"There's more to the story than we know!"

Everyone started moaning and groaning at me. I felt defenseless. Like in a minute or so, they would all start attacking me or throw me out of the house. I started to get nervous, wishing I never said nothing. But in my heart, I knew that the words had to be said. The circumstances, though, made it hard for these words to make sense. With Alize lost in herself, her reaction made everyone see the situation from her eyes.

And from Sajida's.

I couldn't help but look at Sajida, lounging about in the corner while everyone panicked. I didn't know why, but I waited for her to say something to defend me. To say anything, really. But nothing came out of her mouth. She just watched. Kept watching and watching, with those bright eyes that made me think of that bayou she called home, now. I remembered a time where Sajida would have defended me to the death; I saw this spark in her at the Council's party, when Hezekiah almost made me into them. Where was that spark, now? What I got to do to bring it back?