I gasped at the sight before me. The three slender shadows stood inhumanly still-their faceless black husks dared Marshala's car to challenge them.
"Marshala...wha...what are those?" I asked; my voice quivering in fear.
"Shadow Walkers." She said; her eyes didn't move the scene before her.
"What do they want?"
"They sensed your power. They know you're not protected." She slowly turned to me. "They want you."
"Me?" I said, almost inaudibly.
Before I could fully grasp my next thought, the car lurched forward just as Marshala's lips moved quickly. I couldn't comprehend the language in which she spoke, but whatever it was, a brilliant white light exploded around the car. I shielded my eyes with my arms and just as quickly, the light vanished, leaving the road ahead cleared.
"What the hell just happened?" I scrambled in the car seat, turning to look out the rearview window.
"You've been tracked. We have to find sanctuary for you now." She spoke quickly, keeping her attention on the flitting streets around us. She drove so fast it we definitely should've been pulled over blocks ago. I didn't dare to look at her speedometer.
We were just about to cut a sharp left on the next street when Marshala screeched to a stop. There was a mass of people entertaining a parade happening and the next street had been blocked off.
"Shit!" Marshala swore under her breath. "We're going to have to continue on foot."
She quickly cut off the car in the alleyway and snatched her seatbelt off. I followed just as hurriedly; matching her sprint once we were out the car. We were met with a couple tourists stares and curious glances, but we ignored them.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I kept up at her flank.
"We're almost there." She panted.
We cut two left corners and beelined down a dimly lit alleyway. The next right turn we took was a dead end with a painted red door at the end of it. Two burly men dressed in all black stood at the door with their arms crossed.
"Mot de passe." One of the two men called to Marshala as we approached them.
"What did he say?" I asked her quietly.
"French for 'password'" she informed over her shoulder. When she turned her head back to the two men, she so elegantly spoke, "Matrem omnium."
The hulking man at the right of the door opened it and let the two of us pass.
"That wasn't French." I said to her once we entered.
"It wasn't. It was Latin. It means 'All mother'." She said quickly, grabbing my arm and dragging me down a narrow stairwell leading down.
The EDM music mixed with reggae was the first thing I heard. It made the walls of the narrow stairwell vibrate. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we were met by another set of red double doors, which Marshala pushed through to reveal a nightclub.
"Welcome to 'La Lune Noire'." Marshala looked over to me.
"Marshala you brought us to a nightclub? Were we not just chased by literal shadows five minutes ago?" I rose my brows at her.
"Amara, this is our sanctuary. If you ever feel danger, come here. It is our most absolute Law as a people." She called over the music.
"Law for who? Who are we?" I called back.
She smiled and took my hand; leading me through the mass of glistening gyrating bodies. Through the swaying hips and arms I made out the silhouettes of four bodies surrounding a massive oxblood, leather chair-no-a throne. An actual throne was placed atop of a platform of the club where I imagined VIP should've been. The closer we approached the throne, the more I could make out the goddess-like woman that was draped in the seat like an old Hollywood starlet. I couldn't make her out much in the club lights, but I could make out her deep red lips, the red leather pants she donned and the mystic-green glint in her eyes, which were all of a sudden fixed on me.
Marshala dropped my arm as she stood before the woman and her four bodyguards. The four men were just as hulking in form as the two that were guarding the entrance. These four men were dressed in black as well. The goddess-like woman's impeccably manicured hand flashed up and the music instantly cut off.
Whoa.
"High Priestess Anjelica," Marshala spoke, bowing her head a fraction.
"Marshala, what is it I can do for you, chère?" The woman spoke with a voice of honey and lemon, a soothing combination, but I could tell it held the power to intimidate if need be.
"I've come to bring news." Marshala said and then turned to me, gently pulling me to her side.
Before Marshala said another word, the High Priestess stood from her throne and the rest of her face came into view from the shadows. Her hip-length braids surprised me. She was an ageless beauty, her deep dark skin was smooth and flawless. Her dark eyes sat against her high cheekbones and the prominent fullness of her lips was familiar to me.
"Monique?" The High Priestess gasped.
"No, High Priestess, this is her daughter, Amara." Marshala explained, "Your granddaughter."
I could feel all the blood drain from my face in that moment. This regal black Queen was my grandmother?! There was absolutely no way that were possible. She didn't look anything like I thought she would. The only thing that told her age was the single silver braid that fell from the front of her face.
Anjelica descended down the three steps and stood before me, examining my face before she slowly smiled.
"I know that face." She grinned at me.
"I know yours too. I remember you, I think." I said.
"Welcome back home." She said and pulled me in to hug her. My arms squeezed her back and I felt my heart swell.
"High Priestess, I hate to cut the moment short, but we have a problem." Marshala cut into the moment and Anjelica and I slowly pulled away from each other.
"What is it?" Anjelica asked, expectantly.
"Shadow Walkers are onto her. She's not protected." Marshala informed grimly.
Angelica's eyes flashed to me quickly before turning back to Marshala. She told us to follow her before she signaled the DJ to cut back on the music. Anjelica led us around a partition and up two flights of stair before we entered a posh office. Anjelica strode over to her desk and spun to face us; leaning against the desk and folding her arms in anticipation.
"What do you mean she's not protected, Marshala? She's of Leveau blood. Her powers-"
"Were bound by Monique. Monique is missing and Idros...he's passed. He acted as the anchor for the binding to hold in place." Marshala said.
"Wait, powers? What are you two talking about?" I frowned at the two of them.
Marshala and Anjelica shared a look and both of them turned their eyes back to me.
Anjelica sighed, "Amara, have you ever hand things happen to you that you couldn't explain? Things like getting visions or the slowing of time or..."
"Or going to sleep and waking up in a speakeasy and waking back up in your hotel room?" I rose a brow at them.
"What?" Marshala and Anjelica said in unison.
"You did that?" Anjelica asked, the astonishment was clear on her face.
"I think so. I went to sleep as soon as I arrived here this morning and when I fell asleep...it was like my mind slip itself into two." I informed.
"Amara, that's a very advanced form of cunning. Did you chant for this to happen?"
"Chant? Like a spell or something? No, I didn't even mean to do it. It just happened." I shrugged.
"Like a true Leveau voodoo priestess." Anjelica spoke quietly.
"So you're telling me that I'm a witch? And that's what our family is?" I blurted, completely thrown off.
Anjelica, Marshala and the four guards in the room all laughed. Hysterically laughed.
"That wasn't a joke." I frowned.
"Oh, chère, the witches wish they had power like we do." Marshala laughed.
"Where the witches of New Orleans have magic, we have voodoo-we call it 'the cunning'." Anjelica intercepted.
"But isn't Voodoo a religion? How does the cunning play a role in it? What makes it so different from magic?"
"Indeed, Haitian Vodou as well as West African Vodun are a religious practices we hold near. Slaves of the white devils that dared to call themselves our 'masters' had to abide by Christianity because that was what was forced on us, thus the was the origin of Voodoo. People often draw fear from us servants of the spirits. That tends to happen when they're ignorant." Anjelica briefed.
"As for the difference of the two; Magic is what you can see-it's on the surface. Voodoo run a little deeper." Marshala informed.
"Are we the ones controlling those shadows out there?" I asked, trying my best to wrap my head around all this newfound information that was being dumped on me.
"No. No, that would be the Shadow Walkers? Their origin comes from the Slave Masters who were witches and were butt hurt that slaves found a way to retaliate. Witches merged magic and voodoo in hopes of being more powerful than Cunning folks, but they created a rift in the balance of things. Magic can't exist without voodoo. And vice versa. But Shadow Walking is unnatural, very dark magic. We don't play with that shit." Marshala said grimly.
"Oh." Was all I could say.
"It's a lot, I know. But we'll teach you." Marshala squeezed my shoulder in reassurance.
"But right now we should get you to the estate until we know how best to keep those Shadow Walking devils away." Anjelica stood from her desk and rounded it to grab a black leather jacket.
"There were three of them chasing us here, Anjelica." Marshala said as Anjelica shrugged on her jacket. "How will we make it to the estate without risking them getting ahold of her?"
"They won't attempt an attack on the High Priestess if they know what's good for them." The tallest of the four men spoke behind us.
"That's right, Augustine. They're not no fools." Anjelica sneered, then shrugged on leather jacket. "Let's get to the estate. The rest we'll worry about later."
Ephraim and the other three bodyguards led Anjelica, Marshala and I out of the club and out the entrance we came. We were met by three black SUVs waiting for us. Ephraim ordered the men to each vehicle, signaling us three to get in the second car. No sooner than we strapped into our seats, the wheels screeched forward and we were off. I stared out the dark tinted windows at the flitting city around us and took in the nightlife that seemed to give the city a heartbeat of its own. Ten minutes into the car ride, the wheels of the SUV screeched to a halt. My eyes shot to the front of the car to witness the ribbons of black smoke crush the first SUV like a can of soda. The metal screeched deafeningly and the vehicle jolted to the side of the road as if it had gotten hit by an oncoming train.
"Raymond!" Ephraim shouted from the passenger's seat at the scene before us.
I couldn't believe my eyes as three figures the color of smoke floated towards us twenty paces ahead.
As quickly as we could, we all got out of the black SUV and braced ourselves at the front of it in the middle of the road. We were out of the city and surrounded by swampland now. The eerie looking willow trees and canopy of moss and leaves casted bits of light from the moon on the ground around us. I noticed when Anjelica, Marshala and Ephraim held out there hands, the light the moon casted on the ground bounced from their palms and shot out towards the walking shadows; bursting them into oblivion. The force from the impact rustled the trees and wind around us.
"What the hell was that?" I couldn't contain my shock. This was all so much.
"That, chère, was voodoo." Marshala said, still in a defensive stance as if expecting more shadow walkers to materialize.