Dank’s hold on me had turned into a vice-like grip. “What did you remember in your dreams?”
“It was so real, Dank. I could even smell the moldy scent of the old shack.”
“Tell me,” he encouraged, as his fingers ran through my tangled hair gently working out the knots as he went.
“An old lady was there. Her accent was thick. It was hard to understand everything she said. I’m not even sure what kind of accent it was. But she was doing a... spell, I think. Mom had taken me to her. She was begging her to save me. Then the boy, the one from the other dreams, he was there. He began chanting something and then... I woke up to the words ‘it’s time’ being repeated in my ear.”
Dank sighed and rested his forehead on mine. That wasn’t reassuring.
“Do you understand this? Do you know what’s happening to me? Is this because Leif has a claim on my soul?”
He didn’t respond right away. Instead he cupped the back of my head with one hand and ducked his head into the curve of my neck. Although I enjoyed being all cuddled up to him on my bed his hesitancy to answer me was taking away from the warm cozies I normally felt in this position.
“Dank,” I repeated.
“It was a Voodoo doctor that you visited that day Pagan. Your mother allowed evil magic to save your body.”
What! I swallowed the bile in my throat. What was he talking about? Voodoo wasn’t real but the fear overtaking my body told me it believed in Voodoo. It knew something I didn’t.
“I don’t understand,” I managed to choke out over the gripping terror clogging my airways.
“I’m going to find a way to fix this. Evil has a claim on your soul. Deities don’t associate with voodoo spirits. They aren’t all powerful but they can use their power over humans to cause pain. A restitution must be made in order to send them away from you. I can protect you but the spirit after you is the most powerful voodoo spirit out there. It won’t go away without a fight.”
“Leif is a... a voodoo spirit?” That couldn’t be right. Leif wasn’t evil.
“Pagan, those who don’t have souls can only belong to one place. The Creator does not create soulless creatures. He has no use for them. A soul can only be created by the Creator. Therefore, all that doesn’t contain a soul is evil. Leif is the product of one of the strongest evil spirits there is. The Voodoo lord of the dead, Ghede, is powerful because of the chants and prayers he receives from humans. Leif is his creation. His child. Leif is the prince of the dead within the Voodoo religion. Your connection to him is the reason you see souls. Before you were sick, before your mother took you to the voodoo doctor, had you ever seen a soul?”
I couldn’t remember. This was too much. Voodoo? My mother saved me with Voodoo? Oh God.
“How... how can you fix this?” I asked, needing someone to reassure me it was going to be okay. Maybe this was just another dream. Maybe I would wake up and I would be normal again.
Dank dropped his arms from around me and stood up. I didn’t like the distance. I wanted him close.
“When I’m not taking souls I will be finding a way to end this,” he paused then looked away from me, “Gee is going to come stay with you until I’ve handled this.”
What? No!
“You mean you’re leaving?” I fought the tears stinging my eyes and threatening to spill. I couldn’t do this without him here. I wanted to be strong and fearless but right now I just needed him near me.
Dank let out a sigh and closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face. I knew I was making this hard on him but I didn’t want him to go away. Even if I loved Gee, I wanted Dank.
“There is no other answer to this Pagan. I can’t exactly forego my job. I still have to take souls. All my free time will to be focused on keeping you safe.”
“But--”
“PAGAN! BREAKFAST!” my mother’s voice rang up the stairs interrupting my attempt at begging.
“Go get ready Pagan. Go to school. I won’t stay gone completely. Every chance I get I’ll be right here.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
“Alright Peggy Ann, where we headed first?”
I turned to look at Gee who had fallen in step beside me, I realized she didn’t look like an ethereal “transporter” but instead the Gee I’d met in the mental hospital. Her blond hair was spiky and bleached white. Her eyebrow was again pierced and it looked like she’d added another small bar beside it. The diamond in her nose was no doubt very real and, of course, she had to be wearing black lipstick. She made the wanna be goths look pathetic in their attempts to pull off the style.
“Whatcha staring at Peggy Ann? You miss me that much?”