The Unrequited Ch. 08

Driving through the quiet streets of New Orleans, Jasmine still was shaking. Not a superstitious person by nature she did have sense enough not to fuck with things beyond this world and what she knew was going to go down she wanted no part of. This repulsion instinct was quite powerful so once it was obvious that some sort of crazy voodoo ceremony was going to commence, she knew she had to leave. It was not just that though. She had already decided to go home before Marie mentioned the spirits because she was utterly exhausted. Having had quite a few margaritas all night and having been up since early morning all she wanted to do was take a nice long shower and fall into her big soft bed. It was rare to see the quarter quiet, but as she looked down at her car clock she saw it was just after three am.

Entering her tiny apartment, she quickly stripped off her clothes. Holding her blouse up to her face she grimaced as she noticed it along with the rest of her clothes all reeked of weed.

"Damn you Bongzilla!" she laughed as she tossed her skirt and blouse in the hamper. "Off to the cleaners for you."

Walking into her bathroom she dropped her bra on the floor as she kicked off her panties. Turning on the water she pulled back the curtain and set foot into her tub. Sighing deeply, she smiled as the warm water hit her face and she began to soap up her legs.

Turning back towards the water to begin and soap up her front her eyes popped open as she felt something brush against her back. Whipping her head back to see what touched her she saw nothing but noticed the steam grew thicker as the temperature in the bathroom got much colder. Thinking her mind was just playing tricks on her, brought on no doubt by an evening of drinking and then ending with all of the conversation about ghosts she resumed sudsing up.

Hearing the click click click of the shower curtain sliding down the rod made her freeze. Total and unrelenting terror now surged through her body as she sensed something was now in the shower with her and she was paralyzed in fear. Her breathing growing rapid and shallow she wanted to turn and see what was behind her but was too terrified to move. Unable to resist she finally whipped her head around and stared at the back wall of the shower. It was empty. Seeing this her body relaxed as the hot water beat on her back.

"I must be losing it!" she laughed. Appearing to still be alone with her left hand she reached out and touched the back wall. Turning now to resume her bath she screamed as she was shocked to feel two invisible hands grip her shoulders and throw her down hard into the bottom of the tub. "What the fuck! WHAT THE FUCK!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!!" she yelled as she slipped and fell, her rational mind not able to comprehend what was happening. Still seeing nothing in the shower she definitely felt the distinct grip of icy hands on her shoulder. Laying in the bottom of the tub she began to truly panic when she tried to get up and felt her body being held down by the unseen force.

Desperately struggling to pull herself up the entity kept pushing her back down as soon as she started to sit up. Her eyes now completely wide with terror her screams got even louder as she watched in horror as the hot water faucet slowly began turning to the right. Now with the water growing hotter and hotter and rapidly beginning to scald her naked body she began shrieking and crying uncontrollably. "Dear God no, NO! PLEASE HELP ME, SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!"

Back at Gus's house the few remaining guests had gathered into the front parlor where Marie now sat cross legged inside a circle of salt on the bare wooden floor. All of the lights in the house were off and the pitch black room was only illuminated by the four candles that were placed around her on the floor. Outside the circle sat Gus, Snook, Skeeter, Doug and Captain Tony; the rest of the guests having gone home hours earlier with Zeke leaving right after Jasmine had. Hearing the large grandfather clock in the foyer strike the half hour Marie announced it was time to begin. In a hushed and reverential tone, she began to speak.

"Now, once I go into my trance I will no longer be on this plane of existence so no one is either to enter the circle nor am I to be allowed to leave the circle until I emerge. I may be in that state for just a few minutes or maybe even up to an hour but under no circumstances is anyone to touch me while I am under the spirit."

Captain Tony spoke next. "This is real important guys. You can ask her any question you want while she is in her trance but DO NOT TOUCH HER."

"When you say you are not going to be on this plane of existence, what exactly does that mean?" Gus asked with his eyebrow crooked up. He was curious about this ceremony but a big part of him wasn't buying any of it. It all seemed like such complete bullshit but part of him was intrigued and wanted to see things play out. The wall of rosaries and the bottle tree out back, along with the odd behavior of both the Laveau family but also of Maxine's maid did plant a small seed of doubt in his brain so he was curious about the house. Priding himself on being open minded Gus joined the rest of his guests all seated on the floor around Marie.

With no fanfare Captain Tony took off his hat and shook his thick long dreadlocks free as he prepared to assist. Holding his palms up to the ceiling he spoke: "Oh Great Goddess Ezilie, beautiful deity of love and night. Protect your servant Marie as she begins her journey to the other side." Pounding the floor in a steady hypnotic beat, Angeline now awakened from her snack induced coma. Silently looking at the crowd on the floor she quietly whined, knowing something was different. Her fur standing up straight, she knew something big was happening but was surprisingly quiet, sensing that she too needed to pay attention to Marie just like the others.

Snook, Skeeter and Doug all were not only baked but enraptured by the scene but Gus still was quite skeptical. His skepticism evaporated however when Marie suddenly yelled out in a thick Spanish accent.

"I will have that darky beaten to death I will. As Mary, Joseph and Jesus as my witnesses I will have my servants scourge her black body to a pulp!!!"

Seeing Marie yell like this was unnerving as this was irrefutable evidence that she was either the next Meryl Streep or truly was under the influence of another personality. Although outwardly she looked pretty much the same as did before; her hair still done up in the long beautiful dreadlocks she wore, her skin just as cocoa colored and smooth as it was when she walked into the house earlier, her whole demeanor and most definitely her voice had completely changed. Gone was her signature thick Jamaican accent replaced by an equally thick and slightly archaic Spanish one. Her physical appearance was slightly different too. Marie was a beautiful woman but definitely very casual in the way she held herself. Normally her posture was slumped and her whole body was normally quite relaxed and loose. She often had the appearance of someone who had just emerged from a sauna or a hot tub; her carriage screaming her inner state of being relaxed, casual and free.

Now however she looked quite different. Her whole body seemed tense as if every muscle was held together by a tight wire. Sitting up on her knees, she demurely placed her hands on her lap and held her neck and chin up in the air in a definite haughty and condescending way. She was definitely a different person with a radically different personality.

The other guys were spellbound by the performance and all looked freaked out by the display so they said nothing. Captain Tony however continued to pound out his beat on the floor as he spoke. "Who are you?" he bellowed to his girlfriend.

"Me Señor? I am Señorita Martina del Rosa, I mean, oh..." Giggling she blushed and then continued. "I mean I am Señora Martina Laveau! It shall take me a while to get used to my new married name."

"OH? Was today your wedding day?"

"It was kind of you to ask señor, yes it was. Did you come to the reception? I apologize for not recognizing you but we had many many guests today."

Wanting to know what she had originally yelled out, Gus spoke up. "Who do you want beaten dear Lady? What have they done to provoke such harsh punishment?"

Looking over at Gus, Captain Tony smiled as it was obvious to him that Gus understood how this game works and was getting right into the paranormal groove.

Marie's face darkened as her eyes squinted into Gus's direction. "Justine!!!! That is who! Not only did she have relations with my husband as his whore but she used deviltry to curse this holy day! She won't enjoy it though." She smirked. "When I am finished with her she will wish that she had finished the job she started on her hand."

Opening his mouth to ask another question Gus paused as Marie turned towards the door. Obviously she saw something as her face lightened. "Husband, my dear dear husband!" Rising from the floor she stood rigid and straight in the circle. With her eyes now completely white as they rolled back in her head she started to shake.

"What is happening to her?" Snook asked, his eyes a large as saucers at Marie's actions.

"Oh my girl is into it now! She is almost totally retro-posessed, I can always tell." Pointing at his girlfriend he continued "Once her eyes start to do that, she is close." Captain Tony smiled and took pride in watching his girlfriend begin to foam at the mouth and shudder as she went deeper into her trance.

"Retro-possess? What does that mean?" Gus whispered loudly.

"When she goes through this process she possesses the ghost instead of the other way around. Marie is actually going back to the moment in time when the spirit she is in contact lived. Momentarily she is able to rip though the thin veil of this world that separates it from the next. When that happens she temporarily becomes the person she is channeling. She sees what they see, hears what they hear, experiencing the actions of their own time. It's amazing man, amazing, but very dangerous. Again though, I must stress, do not touch her no matter what."

Marie stopped interacting with the Captain Tony and the others as she felt herself slipping away deeper into her trance. With an internal wind blowing over her face she grabbed her stomach as it churned. Channeling always was difficult and affected her stomach first as the sensation of transitioning was similar to the feeling one gets riding a roller coaster. Slipping through the veil, her pupils fluttered wildly under her eyelids as the present melted away and she was transported into the past.

Opening her eyes she squinted as the room she saw was dazzling with the hundreds of candles flickering from the crystal chandelier. In her mind's eye it was no longer 2014 but the early nineteenth century and although the room was the same the furnishings were completely different and ornate. Looking around she caught her reflection in a mirror and was slightly taken aback. Gone were the long dreadlocks on her head replaced by silky straight dark hair hanging loose around her shoulders. Instead of her form hugging yellow dress she was wearing a painfully ornate, and quite uncomfortable silk white wedding gown adorning her much shorter body. Marie's eyes suddenly lit up when she saw the huge pearl necklace hanging around her neck. Now absorbing Martina's personality into her psyche her pulse rose as the image of the Justine's disembodied black hand burned into her mind as she absorbed her memories.

The house was empty and hearing footsteps she turned towards the open door leading into the hall. There standing in the doorway was the vision of her new husband Antoine. Dashing and handsome, his tailored and matching white silk suit made quite an impression. Seeing the look of obvious lust in his eyes as he entered the room she felt her panties grow moist, his raw sexual energy throbbing in the semi-dark room like a beacon.

"So dear wife!" he smirked as he cupped her waist. "Tonight is our finally our rendezvous with cupid's grove at last."

Marie was now completely in her trance, the retro-posession complete. Her mouth opening, the words she spoke came from her body but were not her own. "Yes my darling but..., but Justine. How can you be so calm! That whore ruined our glorious wedding reception and shamed us before the whole parish with her deviltry."

Lifting her chin up to meet his he kissed her forehead. "Nonsense my dear, nonsense. I am sure our guests all understand since they all have slaves just like we do and they certainly know what that means. These darkys, they... they are little better than beasts! Who can know why they do what they do, but be aware, Justine's day of reckoning will come soon." Running his hand over his new wife's ass through her thick silk dress he whispered into her ear. "Now, do you really want to spend our wedding night discussing some silly slave girl or would you rather we run through cupid's grove together in marital bliss?"

Her face blushing, she felt her nipples grow hard under his touch. Despite being a black woman seeing this through a white woman's eyes, his insane racist sentiment had no impact on her arousal. She WAS Martina now and this was her husband. At that moment she wanted nothing more than for him to ravage her body all night.

"Yes my dear, of course." She giggled as she stroked his chest through his coat. "No silly darky is going to ruin my night of passion with you. No, she will get hers! I want you to skin her alive and then sell her downriver. No fast death for her NO. I want her to work to death on one of our sugar cane plantations, but only after a proper and through scourging by our overseer."

Laughing Antonine stroked her cheek. "My, my, my! You are far more cold blooded than your warm Spanish eyes would indicate." Leaning over her ear he whispered what he was going to do to her once they got up to their new room.

Martina did not know how to react as she was unknown by man but her body ached for him, nature knowing her needs more than she did. Back in the present, Marie began to spit and sputter as her deepest level of her trance began to weaken. It was incredibly difficult to maintain a full immersion for more than just a few minutes and the physical strain caused her body to begin to give out. Seeing the change in her motions Captain Tony spoke.

"It looks like she is coming out of it now. Man, this was a deep one. My girl got Mamba roots in her blood going back generations so this comes natural to her. I have seen her work many times but I aint never seen her go this deep before." Gus, Skeeter, Snook and Doug said nothing as Captain Tony spoke but sat stonily silent and open mouthed as they watched. The whole ceremony had been very strange and none of them had ever seen a Voodoo ceremony before. Although Gus was not a believer, he had to admit that something sure seemed to be going on in his house as he intensely watched his guest. Marie's eyes were still completely white, her pupils rolled far back in her head as her demeanor was definitely different than it had been earlier. Seeing her eyes close and start to flutter, he watched her stand and look towards the empty dark hall.

All eyes now turned to look at the darkened hallway. Continuing to speak in her Spanish accent she smiled and put her face down, a girlish giggle erupting from her mouth. "Oh Antoine!" Waving an invisible fan with one hand she lifted her head and closed her eyes as it looked as though she was listening to someone whispering into her ear.

"What is it Martina? What do you see?" Captain Tony called out as he continued to beat out his relentless rhythm on the floor.

Her eyes now opened and turned down as she shyly replied. "I see the most handsome man on earth right here in front of me. As The Lord as my witness I do." Turning towards the open doorway she continued "And he is obviously anxious to begin our honeymoon. Now, if I may ask your indulgence, but my husband and I desire to retire for the evening."

Watching closely, he gasped as he saw her start to step out of the circle towards the door to the hallway. His normal calm voice now dripping in panic Captain Tony yelled. "Marie, MARIE!!! The circle!!!!"

Snook reflexively reached out to grab her as she started to exit before Captain Tony snapped. "Don't touch her!!!" Helplessly they all watched as she strolled out into the hall and began to climb the steps, her giggles and whispers indicating her continuing conversation with an unseen entity. Following closely behind her, all grabbed a candle and walked upstairs behind her. All that is but Angeline who now hid underneath the couch and whined. When the group reached the top step and she turned to stare at the wall of rosaries Gus felt his blood run cold.

Marie was still under her trance but it was weakening. Beside her was Antoine whose face beamed as they stood before a large mahogany door. "Here we go love" he spoke softly as he stepped forward and placed his hand on the large brass doorknob. "Let us go inside now so we can properly consummate our love." Turning the knob, he pushed open the door and they both stared inside.

Marie's eyes now opened very wide, her pupils opening up in abject horror as her face froze at some indescribable terrible sight. Crossing herself repeatedly she shrieked "Oh sweet Jesus NO! Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us sinners! NO! NO!! It cannot be!!!!" Screaming an unearthly howl from the pit of her stomach she gripped her chest and began to pant, her heart racing so fast felt as though it would explode out of her body.

Watching helplessly in horror Captain Tony and the others watched in horror as his girlfriend dropped to the floor and began weeping uncontrollably, her hand clutching her chest wildly as she continued to scream. "NO, DEAR SAINTS IN HEAVEN PROTECT US! NO!!!!" Seeing her eyes again roll back up in her head her mouth began to foam as her body went limp. Rushing forward he scooped her up into his arms and his own voice began to quiver as he moaned. Her body was ice cold and felt lifeless.

Screaming at the top of his lungs he yelled out "FOR FUCK'S SAKE SOMEONE CALL 911!!!"

Back in Jasmine's apartment the water suddenly shut off and the force holding her down instantly dissipated. Leaping out of the tub as the icy grip released she curled up on the cold tile floor and cried, her thoughts jumbled as she tried to come to grips with what had just happened. Her whole bathroom was filled with thick steam from the hot water and her poor exposed naked body radiated in pain from the effects of being pelted with the scalding water. Looking frantically around the room for any sign of her invisible attacker her eyes settled on her mirror and she gasped. There in the condensation were clearly written the words "He's MINE!"