A Voodoo Shop, a Zombie, and a Party, page 14
Chapter Seventeen
A few days later, I was fine. The spider bite healed quickly. Tanya and Perry were both charged with enough crimes to put them away for a while. Greg and I worked up preliminary notes for the crazy idea to help people. Gunnar learned his way around the mansion, met the resident ghosts and picked out the company car he wanted.
Tanya, on the other hand, refused to give up. Her father had called me. Her lawyer had called me.
When my phone rang and it was Matt, I knew he was joining the club.
“Hi, Matt, what’s up?” I asked.
“This girl is a menace,” he said.
“I’m shocked. After all, she did just to try and get back at me... There is a special place in hell waiting for her.” I rolled my eyes. Part of me knew I should try and redeem her, but right now that girl wasn’t listening. There had to be an opening...a glimmer of wanting to change for someone to listen.
“Every cellmate she has is screaming all night. They can’t prove Tanya did anything, but the girls swear she’s giving them night terrors. She’s threatening everyone,” Matt said.
“Sounds like more charges to me,” I replied.
“Yeah, I know. She keeps on saying she wants to see you. That she’ll behave if she can only talk to you,” Matt said.
“You don’t actually believe that?” I asked.
“No, but we record all the visits. She might confess to something else if you get her worked up enough. I want everything I can get on this girl. She’s a danger,” Matt said.
“I don’t want to see her,” I said.
“I swear, you can use the phones and there will be bulletproof glass between you two,” he replied.
“Girls like her don’t need a gun. But no one else will set her off quite like I do. That’s not flattering. Fine. I’ll visit but just once. Don’t try this again later on,” I warned.
“Nope, now is when we need info. She’s going to try to plea deal out. Waive a jury trial and try to get sympathy with a judge. Her dad isn’t poor, so the lawyer is good,” he said.
“Okay, fine. When can I come down and get this over with?” I asked.
“Visiting hours start at two. Hit the road, and you’ll be here in time. I’ll put your name on the list,” Matt said.
“Okay, fine. See ya,” I said.
“You’re really going?” Greg commented, considering he’d listened in on the entire conversation.
I shrugged. “If it can possibly add to her charges, it’s worth it. I know the courts will go easy on her. Poor little rich girl. She doesn’t know better. Blah blah. Feel like driving, Gunnar?” I asked.
“I can take you,” Greg offered.
“No, I’m going stir crazy,” Gunnar insisted.
After a dull drive, I signed in to visit, was searched, and put in a room. I expected to be one of many visitors in a big room. Maybe juvie was different? Maybe Tanya was under special restrictions? It didn’t matter in the long run, but I felt oddly alone.
I sat and waited. The glass was there, but Tanya and I didn’t need contact to do damage. I wouldn’t hurt her; she needed to be punished by the state. I just didn’t like meeting with her. Giving in to her demands only encouraged her. Seeing her gave her a chance to try and get revenge.
The door opened, and she walked out wearing a hideous jumpsuit. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She glared at me.
Finally, she sat and picked up the phone handset.
I picked up mine.
“Well, I’m here,” I said.
I braced myself for Tanya’s sort of venom. Cursing and blame. Or maybe she’d try tears and think she could pretend to have learned her lesson well enough.
“You have to interview me. I want an insanity plea,” she said seriously.
I suppressed a laugh. Not much about this case was worth laughing over, but this girl really needed to grow up before she threw her powers around again. I wondered if she’d traded her soul for them. There were other ways, but she was way out of her league.
“I can’t diagnose you, Tanya. Whether I can prove it or not, you hired a man to help you put a curse on me. He set his zombie out to kill me. That stuff is hard to prosecute, but what you did to those girls isn’t. What the hell was Perry doing with them, really?” I asked.
“I don’t know. That was all him. It was just payment to get help from Lester. I was brainwashed by these black magic practitioners. You have to believe me, I’m a victim here. I should’ve listened to you and the Ghost Tamers. You guys were good,” she said and rolled her eyes.
I smirked. “Your lawyer has you well-rehearsed. Did you and Perry give statements on Lester?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I can’t really prove anything. Perry is a student of his and spent more real time with him. He was the go-between. I never met the master in person. I paid in teenage youth that Perry sucked from me. I’m glad the girls are okay. They said they wouldn’t really be harmed.”
“Not harmed? They were drugged for days. Not fed, just given liquor. The first three are still in the hospital. You tried to kill me. So, you did intend harm,” I said.
“I knew I wouldn’t and couldn’t kill you. You’re too powerful. But you wouldn’t teach me how to get powers.” She glared at me.
“You can’t get my powers by dark magic or manipulation. You were feeding off of demonic powers at your dad’s bar and playing with pretty evil ghosts. That’s dangerous. Didn’t your dad ever take you to church?” I asked.
She laughed. “My dad loves money and liquor. That’s why he runs a bar. He acts like he cares about me when people bring it up, but I do what I want. He looks the other way. But he wouldn’t give me enough money to buy the services. But lending them some girls for a bit didn’t seem like a big deal.”
“And your dad believes you’re a victim of Lester.” I couldn’t totally blame the kid when the father was so uninvolved.
“He won’t blame me. That’d mean he has to spend time on me and try to fix me. He’d rather I stay in here to be corrected or a mental health facility. Better a place with crazies than criminals,” Tanya said.
“You’ll mess with those girls more. You’re going to hurt people. The more freedom you get, the worse it’ll be.” I wasn’t going to let her off the hook.
“I don’t hurt people who don’t hurt me, usually,” she whined. “You took away my fun at the bar. You took away the teachers I’d attracted on my own.”
“Teachers? A demon and his captive ghosts are not teachers. You need to learn right from wrong. Giving in to evil means you work for them. They’re your masters, not your teachers. Tanya, you are lucky we got you away from Perry and Lester. There are good mentors out there, but you won’t get results fast enough to keep you happy. You’d have to work, not just buy things.”
“That’s how my dad always gets everything. Buys off people or blackmail.” She shrugged.
For a moment, I was reminded she was a young teen. Her experience and view of the world was narrow, even with the Internet and social media—she still only had what her limited life lessons had taught her.
“Help me. I’m not violent. I’m not tough. Those girls will beat me up and stuff. They fight. Some of them killed their boyfriends. I want to be safe,” she pleaded.
“A mental health ward won’t be much better. It’s the facility’s job to keep you safe. You tell them you’re in for messing with Hoodoo and getting girls kidnapped, you’ll scare off the bad girls,” I said.
“No, I’ve met a bunch of them in juvie here. Plenty of these girls do Voodoo and curses. They have family training. And their family could do a lot worse to me. One girl wanted me to be her girlfriend for protection. I need out,” she said.
“I don’t have the ability to do that, even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. You need to be punished. You need to learn other people’s safety and lives matter. We’re not your entertainment. We’re not your playthings.”
“I do know that. Now. I hate what I did. Maybe I just resent not having a mom around,” she said.
“Oh, wow. You’re going to throw every Hail Mary pass in the world at the judge?” I asked.
“I don’t know what that means, but I’ll try anything to get out or get a better deal. Can you at least be a character witness?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” I said.
“Really?” She smiled.
“Against you, yes. The judge needs to know why you need to be locked up.”
“No!” she screamed.
“Don’t worry, you’ll find plenty of demons and ghosts in jail,” I said. Unfortunately, I was afraid that was true, and she’d only grow in her evil powers. “But you’ll also find people with more powers than you. Be careful what enemies and friends you make.”
“No, please! I’ll try to be good. Help me,” she shrieked.
I hung up the phone. She wasn’t ready for real change. She needed to let go of the desire for power before she understood the meaning behind true power and control.
I walked away as security came in and took her out. She struggled and fought them. I felt sorry for the staff there, but they had restraints and solitary lockdown.
Chapter Eighteen
The Ghost Tamers were royally pissed about the development with their former case because I hadn’t informed them. Steve breaking up with me didn’t help, but they were all about the show. They’d gone back to the bar with Greg and cleared it out, just in case Tanya had brought back any bad things to fester. Luckily, I’d managed to dodge any direct involvement with them. I had tried working with a TV show and a different team, but it didn’t work. I wasn’t one for broadcasting my cases.
“The Ghost Tamers hate me?” I asked.
Greg smiled. “Steve is still bitter, but he wasn’t strong enough for you. That group is good at what they do, but the show comes first. Chet didn’t want to talk to them. You won’t do another interview. Chet let them film us checking out the bar to make sure it was safe and demon-free, but he wasn’t thrilled about bringing you back.”
“He doesn’t know I’m here?” I asked.
“He’s off tonight, and the assistant manager wanted to know the place was clear. You’re the strongest demon and ghost detector we have. We’re fine,” he said.
“Steve was weird. I thought he was laid back enough to deal with my weird life, but he needed to be invited in and didn’t really fit. I think he was jealous of you and then Gunnar.” I sipped my coffee.
Greg laughed. “Jealous of me? Hardly. Gunnar? That first night in the ER, he did have on a lot of body glitter.”
“Bachelorette party traditions are important. I wonder how that girl is doing?” I mulled.
“Better than you with a second spider bite,” he replied.
I waved it off. “This one was nothing. The first one? I don’t know if it was the curse or if I’m really allergic to that spider so it was worse. Better than being bitten by a poisonous snake from around here.”
“Very true. Gunnar thought you might have healed yourself a bit. Did it work?” Greg asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. He suggested I try. It’s still got a bit of a scab.” I pulled up my sleeve and showed him.
“No rush to push for new powers. I can see you getting more intense,” he said.
“The battle is getting worse. Demons. Teenage girls trying to kill and curse me. Lester. I don’t even know what Lester is,” I said.
“I need to have a sit down with this guy,” Greg said.
“He has a power trip. He manipulates people. I don’t know what he was sucking all this energy for. I mean, my curse was in place. What did he need those teens’ energy for?” I asked.
“Payment, it sounds like.” He shrugged.
“Collecting energy. How do you store that? Why would he need it?” I wanted to pretend that Lester didn’t exist, but he did. He was out there, and he knew me.
“It seemed like he was afraid of you,” Greg said.
“No, not afraid. He respected my power. It’s more like don’t step on his toes or turf and he won’t come after me. How can I not go after him?” I asked.
“You can’t prove anything now. Unless you can put him behind bars, you’re only antagonizing him. Matt is going to keep an eye on the guy. His record is clean. Don’t get into a supernatural battle, because that won’t end,” Greg said.
“Did Gran ever face this sort of thing?” I asked.
“Demons and bad people, sure. Her powers didn’t go past visions and psychic-type work. You can move things with your mind. That power will grow and who knows, you might develop some healing. The more you’re pushed, the stronger you’ll get.” Greg nodded.
“I’m not sure that’s what I want. I don’t want you, Ivy, or Gunnar in danger,” I said.
“Gunnar is a good choice. He can handle himself. He needs to start carrying a gun—you do, too. Lester is a human. If he threatens you or attacks you, you can defend yourself. Don’t forget he’s as mortal as you are,” Greg said.
“I just don’t know how extreme his powers are,” I admitted.
“You will. Just don’t obsess about him. He’s not worth it, and he’s not the only dangerous force in New Orleans,” Greg said.
“So, should we walk this place? I don’t think anything is hiding here. It feels like you cleared out the place again,” I said.
“Can’t hurt to check the back and the top floors,” Greg said.
I nodded and headed for the familiar staircase. Before, there had been ghosts trapped and a demon playing with humans. It felt much lighter, but we needed to look in every nook and cranny, just in case.
That night, I felt like I was being watched. I looked at the sleeping cat sprawled on her back. Occasionally, her paw stretched up but she wasn’t stalking me.
I turned and saw my angel, Gran, and three others.
“Hi. So nice of you to knock.” I cleared my throat and sat up.
“We’ve been expecting you to come for a visit. Since meeting Lester,” Gran said.
I rubbed my eyes then grabbed the bottle of water on my nightstand. The cat woke up and stared at my guests. She hissed.
“No, they’re okay.” I stroked Tish.
She bounded down to the floor and sniffed them. She pawed at my angel and then darted from the room.
Gran shrugged.
“Missy and Noah don’t bother her,” I said. “Why would I visit because of Lester?”
“He’s worrying you,” Gran said.
“I’d be a fool if he didn’t worry me. He’s strong and not in a good way. Who are they?” I asked
The other entities sort of looked like angels but bigger. Scarier looking.
“Warriors,” my angel said. “You’ve been assigned additional protection.”
“Because of Lester?” I asked.
“And Tanya. That girl is bad and power hungry,” Gran said.
“Gran, if you pulled strings for this, I’m fine. Really,” I said.
“No one can pull strings for this. You’re taking on new levels of fighting evil. You will have more protection and more powers. Be grateful,” my angel said.
“I am. So, did I heal my spider bite or not?” I asked.
“Mostly. You neutralized the venom, which is what you asked for. The bite heals on its own. But that’s smart,” she said.
“I’m smart? I just want to make sure I heard that right.” I teased my angel.
“You are smart in that you don’t ask for the world. You don’t expect magical fixes. Which is why you are being trusted with bigger problems and more help. Don’t abuse it,” she said.
I looked at Gran. “How bad is this?”
“I’m very proud of you,” she said.
“Oh, hell.” I sat back on the pillows. “Is Eddie doing better?”
“She has no interest,” said one of the warrior angels.
“I don’t need you now. I’m fine. What are your names?” I asked.
They stood silent.
“Names don’t matter,” Gran said.
“To humans, they do. How can I call for their help if they won’t tell me their names?” I asked.
“They will always be with you until they are reassigned. But your work will not be over quickly. Get used to them,” my angel said.
“Okay. Moe, Larry, and Curly. When I call for The Three Stooges, that’s you. Unless there is evil or something bad in my bedroom, you stay out. I like my privacy. You can find an empty room and make it your space.” I nodded.
“You don’t order them, De,” Gran said.
“Why not? They look male; I don’t want strange men lurking around my bedroom. She’s enough. If she calls for their help, fine. They can pick rooms or just roam the halls, guarding my house. I don’t care. As long as I know how to call for them when I need them,” I said.
“They will just know,” my angel said.
“Okay. So, what about Lester?” I asked.
“He’s dangerous,” Gran said.
“I realize that. I don’t have anything to put him in jail.” I shrugged.
“He’s too smart for that. You must keep the peace, for now,” the angel said.
“The peace?” I asked.
“His evil is leveled by your good. He didn’t try to intimidate you or frighten you because he felt your power matched his. A fight would lead to you both being exhausted and no one winning. You have more friends. He has minions, but he can’t trust they won’t turn on him. So, he’s waiting for you to make a move. To indicate if you’ll fight him or let the peace stand,” Amy said.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “This is like Game of Thrones crap. Do we negotiate or fight?”
“Neither. You stalemate, for now. Grow your numbers. Grow your powers. Hide your angels. Show no fear, but you must show him you don’t fear him and you will let the peace remain as long as he does not harm innocents,” Gran said.
“What about Greg’s crazy idea for helping everyone? It might drain some resources,” I said.
Amy and Gran shared a look.
“What? It’s not my money. I don’t mind living off it for what I need, but I’m not digging into the principal and spending millions without your okay. This would cost that at least. It’s a huge undertaking,” I said.
