My Soul to Reap (Archived)

Louisiana Voodoo

I was too scared to ask where we were going. Rina's arm was hovering just around my waist, guiding me without actually touching me. In the last few hours I'd gotten attached to her, only realizing now that it was because of her kindness. Ahead of us was Brie, still swinging the golden weapon. There was no blood, there never seemed to be with her. I could see the aggressiveness even now, in the way she leaned slightly forwards and the tight grip on the handle. It had taken something drastic for me to notice it, but it was there. This was not Brie.

Still farther ahead was our guide, Kayin. If he could even be called that. There was something about what he'd done to the witch that scared me, not to mention the fact that he was leading us farther down the road and away from civilization. Slowly but surely the fields around us grew barren, and the landscape was broken by a single building. As we got closer I could see more of it, and it wasn't hard to figure out whose it was. It was a big enough house, made from dark-panelled wood. There was a garden in the front yard, but all the plants looked strangely dark and exotic. Vines had begun creeping up the walls, even though there was no apparent place for them to have come from. It was just a single, dark structure in a patch of flat land. My first instinct was to slow down, cross the road and get away, but that wasn't about to happen. I followed Brie and Kayin up to the house, wincing a little as Kayin's boots thudded heavily against the steps. Up close the house looked almost close to falling down, but he didn't seem too worried about breaking anything. Even so, I followed a little more carefully.

"Reaper's trap?" He asked, cutting right to the point.

"No, I'm just a raging psychopath all the time," Brie retorted, and my stomach seized. She was insulting someone who had just killed a girl while in his own house. Increased impulsiveness indeed. Rina elbowed her, but strangely neither of them seemed as concerned as I was.

"You are, which is why I asked," he sighed, largely to my surprise. The interior of the house was cluttered, and that was putting it nicely. There were carpets strewn over the floorboards, and every available space was covered in tables and shelves. There were bottles filled with god knew what, small bones and feathers scattered over the shelves. Dried herbs dominated most of the cabinets, as well as objects and tools I didn't recognize. I felt myself pulling inwards, trying not to get near any of the grinning animal skulls place uncomfortably close to eye-level. There was a song still playing in the background, and obviously he hadn't hesitated in coming to get us. As we moved through the first room into a second, the clutter eased up a little and the music got just a little louder. It almost looked like a kitchen, with a wooden table dominating the room as well as cupboards and a wood stove. But the ingredients laid out carefully on the table were not meant for dinner, I could tell that much. My uneasiness only grew with the same feeling of sheer wrongness from the green mist. The song echoed around the bones and feathers, and I could feel myself start to zone out.

There is a house in New Orleans, they call the Rising Sun

I walked towards the table, running my hand over the polished wood absently. Something on the stove steamed gently, and I breathed in, eyes closing.

And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy, and God I know I'm one

There was a sweet scent in the air, something comforting and warm. I walked around the table, running my hands over the herbs and bones. I started moving a few of them, playing with the dry and brittle leaves experimentally. Everything seemed slow and distorted, like everything not in my immediate focus was blurry.

The song cut off abruptly and someone snapped their fingers. I jumped, the world jarring back into focus as I clumsily went backwards. I dropped the leaves hurriedly, about to stumble out an apology. Kayin was standing close, eyes searching my face. I swallowed hard, certain this would be the end for the second time in the past few minutes. And then he patted my shoulder and moved gently past me, gathering up the things on the table. I stood completely still, stunned.