POISON & WINE (Preview)

9; Filipendulous in Haiti

Haiti.

Mariam sheathed her small figure in a red long sheath dress, tied her moist hair in a high ponytail and wore simple flip flops. She is in a hurry at the moment so there is no use taking care of how she looks. If she doesn't see Silas any minute from now, she will cut off every single strand of hair from her head. And she adores her hair more than anything in her body.

Taking a few currencies with her, she tucked her phone inside the large pocket of the dress and made her way to the door only for her to break into series of curses. Only Madina knows the address because Mariam never bothered to know it by heart and Silas loves his privacy more than anything. She cannot just tell a taxi to take her to the exact place. He resides deep into the woods.

"Madina, you know you are the only one that knows the address and you still make me appear like a fool?" She gritted out, her tiny hands tightening in fists beside her.

Madina sucked her lower lip inside her mouth, her hands tucked behind her with a sheepish smile situated on her lips. "I was waiting for you to recall that."

She knew Mariam was mad and she should thread carefully beside the lady but she couldn't help this little play of hers. Mariam's life was to tacky, she needs a little sprinkle of Madina's playfulness to make it a little merrier. That's how Madina had always been, playing and toying around with people's lives around her. She hates when people are too serious when life is nothing but.

Mariam was not getting the joke and instead, is slowly raging up some more. "Is this a joke to you? Do you find this funny now?"

She sobered up. "No. Not at all. Which is why I brought this red silk along too."

She hastily changed into a red silky flowing gown and followed Mariam outside the hotel to hail a cab. Madina quickly gave the address to the man who gave a single drunken nod before he set off. She wanted to stop him and get another but Mariam is so edgy, anything will trigger her. But a drunken driver? What if they get themselves killed because she is so selfish at the moment? When had Mariam never been though?

They made it to the 5th street where they are going to start hiking down a mountain. Mariam didn't feel a thing, no leg pain nor cramp like she normally feels before they arrive at Silas cave. That case had always haunted Mariam for reasons unbeknownst to her but who wouldn't be shit frightened upon entering that place that has power from every inch of it.

From the bumpy stone walls with fingerlings of tree roots growing through, dirt and dead leaves tracked in by animals or blown in by the wind, twigs, animal scat, clumps of fur, chewed bones —freaking bones— tracks in the dirt, scary thick spiderwebs, bright sunlight at the cave's entrance that diminishes as one moves away from it to eerie darkness that'll make anyone pee in his pants and lesser person to faint.

It smells like wet stone, animal scat, musky fur, decaying animals, rotting vegetation, stale air, stagnant water, wood smoke, char from food cooking, sweat or body odor. He doesn't eat the food, his pets —if you can call huge bull dogs and a small hyena pets.

Mariam gulped thick air before murmuring his name at the pits of the cave, the usual way he instructed her to do whenever she comes. Her head started throbbing at the back of her occipital spine, she's dead tired but this needs to be taken out of the picture. That guy, is going to pay if he's done something to get her this restless. What she's done will be nothing compared to what is going to happen to him. He will regret ever knowing who she was.

"Silas." She called out again, her voice trembling at the gush of wind that roared from inside to their faces. Power. Sorcery. Strength.

A minute later, his rumbling voice came from within. "Mariam Abdou Baldé. Come in."