Evil Unearthed: Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Kathleen could not believe her eyes when Stephen emerged from his room. All of a sudden, he seemed not like her friend and companion of so many days, but like a real priest. She felt an instinctive awe as she regarded the crucifix he wore and the priestly-looking book in his hand.

"Well, Father," said Vangie solemnly, "we are all at your disposal. Show us what is to be done."

"The ritual itself is fairly repetitive," said Stephen, "so just follow my lead. I think all of you have had some exposure to our services before now?"

They all nodded.

"Good, then let's get started."

Stephen handed a candle to each of them and lit the charcoal in the small hand-censor he carried. Then, taking a pinch of incense, he put it on and wafted it around until the scent was all-pervading.

"We'll start with the rooms here," he said. "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean."

"Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow," the others responded, and Stephen asperged and censed Vangie's room first, then Barrett's, and finally his own, all the while repeating the psalm verses.

They then moved through other parts of the house, and Kathleen watched in that same awe as he blessed even the great hall. This time, the portrait seemed to be silenced, though as they passed it, Kathleen noticed a strained expression on Vangie's face. When she asked if everything was alright, Vangie only nodded silently and kept walking, repeating the responses indicated by Stephen's prayers in a strong, clear voice.

The last room to be blessed was Kathleen's own, and when they came near it, Kathleen was surprised that Vangie suddenly took her hand. She was, however, grateful for this, because as they drew near, she felt something cold and clammy trying to suffuse her mind and the words of the customary responses faltered on her lips.

"Purge me with hyssop," said Stephen, entering the room, in a strong and steady voice, "and I shall be clean."

"Wash me," they all responded, "and I shall be whiter than snow."

"O Lord, Hear my prayer," said Stephen.

"And let my cry come unto thee," they responded, and Kathleen thought to herself that never had those words been more appropriate than right now, for despite feeling Vangie's strong hand in hers, she felt utterly alone in this strange house.

"Courage, Kat," Vangie whispered now. "This room will be safe for you and for all of us soon," and at those words, Kathleen did feel the chill ebbing somewhat, and when Stephen had finished his prayers, she found that she was able to think clearly again.

"Well done, Father Dawson," said Vangie, snuffing out the candles at Stephen's request.

"I wish all my services could go that well," he said. "I felt like you all were supporting me. Usually, I feel as though I am alone with the sacraments and that no one in the congregation really cares about or trusts in what I'm trying to accomplish."

"There is an understanding in my faith," said Vangie, "that everyone must be completely present in the ritual for it to be effective, but even that understanding is waning somewhat in these changing days. Ah well, I suppose that is how life goes. Now, I suppose we should talk before we adjourn for the evening."

"Yes," said Kathleen, "and I want to know how we're going to help Julia."

"First," said Vangie, "I think it necessary to tell you some things which I have learned over the past forty years about the origin of this evil."

"Yes," said Barrett. "I thought you mentioned something about that earlier, when that--that thing spoke."

"Well," Vangie began, looking slowly around at each of them in turn, "this is what I know. First, Jacques Eloi Des Mondes was already an evil man when he came to this island."

"Well," said Barrett, "he was a pirate to be sure, but really evil?"

"Yes," said Vangie. "It was in France when he first became involved with the black arts. His was not a faith such as mine. His was a set of practices, a whole collection of spells intended to help an ambitious man to gain whatever he wanted in life, and thus it was that he found his way to the devil."

"How did he learn of these practices?" Kathleen was intrigued.

"There were books and manuscripts floating around in those days," said Vangie, "and he did have help. His housekeeper, Madame Lanoire, showed him some of her own practices, but soon he was the leader in their partnership. He managed to get her to have his innocent brother Philippe condemned to the stake on charges of witchcraft in his place, and soon afterwards, the two of them escaped from France altogether and made their way here."

"Madame Lanoire came here? I've never heard of her."

"Have you not indeed?"

"Before he died, my father told me of her true nature. Till then, I knew her as one of us. I knew her, Kat, as Raxl."

"Raxl? So she was not one of your people?"

"She was, and yet she wasn't," said Vangie. "She came to us at Jacques' request, thinking that she would find allies for him, but my father, realizing what she was, bound her to us by blood and by heart, so she no longer remembered her old life with Jacques. He even took from her her former name and gave her one of ours. She was, for all intents and purposes, a true daughter of the priestesses of the serpent. My father and the last of those priestesses made sure that this is how she would think of herself."

"So," said Stephen, "when you were with her here, you knew all this about her?"

"I did," said Vangie, "but I did not dare tell her. I was frightened, however, that the longer she was exposed to Jacques' influence, the spell that our people had put upon her might be broken."

"What would have happened then?" Kathleen was becoming involved in the story in spite of herself.

"Raxl, as we will now call her, was the bearer of a strange and terrible curse. To go into detail about it would take too long, but suffice it to say that one of the reasons she became involved with Jacques in the first place was to pass this curse onto someone else so she might be free of it. It has been called the mark of death. It forces the one who bears its sign to kill against their will. It was the price that Raxl paid to have immortality."

"So she didn't go through that ceremony that you went through?"

"Actually," said Vangie, "she did. However, our magic was not enough to combat the older pact she had made, and so, whenever she left Maljardin to serve a Desmond not on this island, she fell prey to it again."

"You mean she killed?"

"I do not know the details, Kat," said Vangie, "but I believe that something like that happened."

"What about Quito?"

"Who on earth is Quito? It's a fantastically evocative name," said Barrett.

"He was Jean Paul Desmond's man-servant," said Kathleen. "He never spoke."

"He once did speak," said Vangie. "He was going to be the next Conjure Man after my father, but he fell under Jacques' spell and assisted him to kill his wife, and later, her younger sister. My father made him what you might call a zombie. He would have shared Jacques' own fate, except that he repented."

"Why did he have to be punished at all?" Stephen asked.

"It was our way," was all Vangie's explanation. "I don't think I would have treated him so, but I was not Conjure Woman then. It was because Quito could no longer follow him that my father decided to perform the ritual that would help him and a few others gain longer life in order to be sure that Jacques and the powers that he served would not waken again."

"So," said Barrett slowly, "what you're saying is that we are dealing with an actual devil?"

"No," said Vangie, "I am saying that we are dealing with the actual devil. Jacques and the spirit of Erica Desmond are planning something. Of that I am certain. They have had free reign here for forty years, though till now, they've had no human agents through whom to bring their plans to fruition."

"So," said Kathleen, "how do we find out their plans?"

"We observe," said Barrett.

"Yes," said Vangie, "but there are other things we can try," and with that, she drew out the Tarot cards and laid them out on Kathleen's desk.

"I must confess that I've never been one for these things," said Barrett, "but you do have a gift with them, Evangeline."

"Let us hope so," said Vangie. "Kat, I'll need you to help me to read."

"Like in the cabin?"

"Just like that. Lay your hands over mine on the pack and think about Julia. Gentlemen, be silent please."

Kathleen laid her hands on Vangie's hands, and there was an electric tingling which ran through her fingers and up her arms. She knew from this that Vangie was bringing all her powers to bear on this reading, and she resolved to help her as much as she could. She thought of Julia and brought her image fully before her mind's eye, but try as she might, she could not see her as she used to be. She could only see her dressed in the ballroom finery of Erica Desmond. Still, Vangie seemed to approve of her efforts, so she kept them up.

"Now," Vangie whispered, "let go," and Kathleen did so, and watched in awe as the Conjure Woman shuffled the cards. They danced and moved in the light of the desk-lamp and when they were still, a group of them lay face-up on the blotter on which her laptop usually rested.

"Now, Kat," said Vangie, "what do you see?"

In a flash, it was as though they were again in the cabin, and for a moment, even the presences of Stephen and Professor Barrett seemed not to be there. Now, there was only herself, the Conjure Woman and the cards. Ever since that night in the cabin, Kathleen had felt her connection and kinship with Vangie growing and deepening, and after today's brief joining of minds while Vangie drove the boat across the channel, that feeling was even stronger.

"It's clearer this time," she said. "I seem to see them differently than I did back in the cabin."

"I wondered if that would be so," said Vangie. "Now, don't be frightened. Say what comes to you."

"Is that how you do it?"

"It is indeed," said Vangie, "but I do remember what it was like the first time I began to see behind the images. I was frightened of getting something wrong."

"Well," said Kathleen, "we of course have the King of Wands reversed, and the Nine of Swords. The Queen of Wands is here too, but now she is reversed as well."

"Erica," said Vangie.

"That's what I thought too," said Kathleen. "She and the King look rather chummy, but above them and connected to them is a card I had forgotten about. The Empress!" Kathleen pointed to the image of a regal-looking woman seated on a throne amid a splendour of fruits and flowers.

"And she is reversed," said Vangie.

"Yes," said Kathleen. "Strange. It makes me think about Matthew Dawson's journal, and about how there are beautiful-looking plants all over this island which are nonetheless deadly."

"Lush fertility that is dangerous," said Vangie. "Yes. I get the same sense."

"That sounds like Cancer," said Kathleen quickly, "when you put it like that."

"Yes," said Vangie, "but I don't think that is all we're seeing here. They're looking for a way to beat off death. That much seems evident."

"Would they know anything of that ceremony for granting long life that you went through?"

"No," said Vangie. "That knowledge died with my father and with the last of the ancient priestesses of the serpent."

"But might they think that you had the knowledge?"

"They might, but they know that I would rather die than help them. At least, they should know it. If I had died when everyone thought I had, Holly Marshall would have been as Julia is now. The release of my spirit would have given Erica enough power to possess her. While I made some mistakes, I'm at least grateful that Holly was not made Erica's tool."

"But she still wanted her," said Stephen, breaking in. "She still needed her youth."

"She needed from her what she would have gotten from me," said Vangie. "At least Jean Paul realized what Erica was in time and helped Holly to escape."

"Yes," said Barrett sardonically, "by almost burning her up in a fire. Now what are these cards saying exactly?"

"Their truth is veiled somewhat," said Vangie, "but it is there. There's only one way to gain clarity, but it involves a journey, and tonight is not a night for journeying. I think it's time we got some sleep."

Both the men seemed grateful for the suggestion, and it only took them a moment to say their farewells and head for their rooms. Vangie lingered a while, putting the cards away and gazing out of the high window at the cliffs below. The moon was out tonight, Kathleen noticed, but it was thin and sickly-looking.

"This night is not over yet," said Vangie.

"What do you mean? You just said that we all needed sleep."

"And so we do," said Vangie, moving away from the window and seating herself on Kathleen's bed, "but I feel very strongly that something is going to happen tonight."

"Is there anything we can do to stop it?"

"No," said Vangie with a deep sigh. "The wheels have already been set in motion. The one who is vulnerable will be even more vulnerable tonight, and I think, somehow, that what is coming tonight is ordained."

"Vangie," said Kathleen, "should you be alone when you're--when you're in one of these moods?"

"It's kind of you to be concerned, Kat," said the Conjure Woman, "but I'll do well enough."

"But you look so tired! Why don't you just sleep here? I could stay with you. I couldn't sleep if I wanted to anyway."

"I think you'll sleep," said Vangie, "and I have enough strength to get myself to my room before I too collapse gratefully under the covers. However, I'll stay with you till you sleep if you like."

Kathleen was grateful for this, and in tacit acknowledgement of the fact, began to undress and get ready for bed.

Vangie moved the desk-chair beside the bed, and when Kathleen had lain down, she sat there and again took Kathleen's hand in hers.

"Tonight will be a very active one," she said softly, "on a psychic level, I mean. I want you out of it as much as possible. So, I am hoping that you will sleep well and have pleasant dreams."

"Well," said Kathleen, "anything you can do to help would be appreciated."

"I can't control your dreams," said Vangie, "or more precisely, I would never try, but I will give you what is mine to give," and again Kathleen felt that tingling sensation move through her fingers and up into her arm, and soon, she felt her breathing slow and her pulse take on a deeper rhythm.

"Goodnight, Kat O'Dell," said Vangie, and Kathleen looked into her eyes and saw the light of love burning there, and she knew that whatever was going to happen tonight, Vangie was protecting her from it at great cost to herself.

"You're very special, Vangie Abbott," she said sleepily.

"Be well until morning," Said Vangie, letting go of her hand and quietly leaving the room.

Long after she had gone, Kathleen felt Vangie's presence strongly in the room, and this lent a peaceful air to her surroundings. She was able to sleep very soon, and the last thing she thought about as she was sliding away into dreams was Vangie's assurance that love would win the day, that if the four of them could but stick together, they would overcome the evil now in control of Julia. She could believe that after the house-blessing, for in that moment she had known that all their minds had been concentrated on supporting Stephen in his task. Still, Vangie had said that someone was vulnerable to the evil influences in this house tonight. She hoped desperately that it was not the Conjure Woman herself, but even as she found urgency and fear creeping into her mind, that woman's calming influence seemed to drive it away, and before long, she was in the arms of a truly blessed and deep sleep.