Voodoo Queens of New Orleans - Vol. I | ✓

Chapter 41: An Invitation Shrouded in Darkness

**

I had seen more blood that night than I had wished to.

It stained my dress, Ben's blood. And now my hands were stained by my own blood. It became almost a normality to have it so close, and this scared me. I stared down at my hands and watched the red liquid drip onto floor like a leaky faucet.

"Come on." Aza helped me to my feet. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"No." Mama's voice was dry and emotionless. "I'll clean her up. You go check on Ben."

Aza looked at Mama without moving from my side. I wanted to say no to her suggestion because I didn't trust her. Or rather, I didn't trust the spirit guide that accompanied mama; Mama was acting as if the words that came out of her mouth and towards Hezekiah didn't leave her lips. Technically they didn't; they weren't hers. But the detachedness was frightening.

I nodded to Aza, assuring her that I would be fine. Aza, with a worried look, slowly left my side, got up, and went upstairs. I stood on my own, still holding my hand to my nose. The pain had become throbbing then, but it wasn't as intense as it was right after Hezekiah hit me.

Mama grabbed my arm and guided me to the kitchen. I stared at her. I just stared and stared, waiting for her to address what happened. But she didn't. With heavy eyes, she grabbed an ice pack from the fridge. Her hand lightly touched her neck, which was sore and soon to be bruised from Hezekiah's influence. This upset her; her brows drew in, amplifying the little wrinkles on her face. But she didn't speak about it.

"Go on, baby." She nodded to the dining room table. "Sit."

My eyes lingered on hers before I slowly walked to the dining room table and sat down. This was reminiscent of when she patched up my arm after our encounter with Abraham at the safe house, only this time, Mama was much different. She was more bothered; angry.

The sink ran for a while before she came to my side with a wet rag and an ice pack. She sat down next to me and told me to tilt my head upwards. She cleaned off the blood; I winced, and she apologized dryly. This carried on in silence; I heard the faint sound of Aza speaking. Ben must have been up. That or Hezekiah came back. I hoped for both, but the latter made my heart sink deep in my chest the most. I wondered where he ran off too. I wonder how he felt. I wanted him to know that what he did to me was an accident - I was the victim of the "heat of the moment." As for what he did to Mama, I was unsure if I could forgive him for that. I kept thinking about his hands around her neck. The anger in them. How murderous they were. Then I thought about him seeing Marie II being chocked underneath his hands instead of Mama and wondered if this was merit enough to alleviate the disappointment I felt.

"I kept telling you that man was trouble," Mama said to me, finding it hard to speak from the pain in her throat. "He ain't even no man, he a monster. Period. Told you from the beginning and you never listened. Now, I hope you'll see just why he and Abraham are no bloodsuckers to be joking around about. And this tempus summatum nonsense. He conjured that up to try and trick you. I expected more from -"

I had to stop her. Dead in the middle of her rant. She shut up quickly, looking at me like I had lost all sense. The word "stop" held so much weight to her; she didn't like to be interrupted.

"Mama, you can't be serious right now." I pushed her hand away and stared into her eyes like I'd find clarity in them. But it wasn't there, no matter how hard I looked.

"What's the matter with you, Lisa?"

"Do you remember anything that just happened?" I asked, but she continued to look at me as if I was crazy.