Author's Note: Well, here it is...my second fic. This isn't as angst filled as my last fic, but I'm sure I can get one or two moments in here! I really hope you enjoy this one and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: Nothing has changed, meaning I still own nothing.
Big thanks to Bayre, my awesome beta!
It was another balmy, sticky night in New Orleans, Louisiana. The crickets were serenading the night with the soft melodic sounds of their chirping. The bright lights were enveloping the mysterious city in its effervescent glow as the night welcomed the restless citizens and tourists with its promise of a good time in the form of bars, strip joints, night clubs, and casinos.
But the lights could do nothing to make the St. Louis Cemetery #1 seem more inviting. If anything, the bright lights made the historic cemetery even more chilling and macabre. Located at the corners of St. Louis and Basin Streets in the French Quarter, the two hundred year old cemetery housed roughly over 700 tombs. As of late, a security guard had been assigned to patrol the sprawling grounds because of a rash of vandalism and grave desecrations. The city aptly placed the blame on teens and college students looking for a cheap thrill, but the old citizens of New Orleans knew they weren't entirely to blame. There were mystical forces at work in this fair city and had been for over two hundred years.
The guard never noticed as the two young women snuck onto the sacred grounds, each carrying a flashlight and duffel bag. Carlie Smith was a twenty year old student from the University of Tulane and a tall, slender blonde with brown eyes. She was accompanied by her best friend and fellow student, Maggie Lewis, a striking brunette with long legs and deep green eyes. They were quickly making their way through the maze of tombs all the while keeping wary of the things that went bump in the night.
"Mags, are you sure about this?" Carlie asked for what she was sure was the tenth time that night.
"Carlie, nothing is going to happen," Maggie said. "I'm not even sure if this is going to work or not, so stop worrying."
"Then why are we even out here?"
"I told you I needed to do this. I never said you had to come along with me."
Carlie rolled her eyes even though she knew her friend couldn't see it. "Oh, yeah, like I was going to let you come out here by yourself. It's bad enough to come out here alone during the day, but at night? You might as well sign your death warrant now."
"It's not like I couldn't have done it by myself."
"Yeah, I know, Maggie, but I'm here, okay? Let's just get this over with."
Maggie smiled and continued to lead the way. Carlie couldn't help but wonder how she let her friend continuously talk her into things like this. Ever since they were kids, Maggie was always the risk-taker of the two getting them into more trouble than Carlie could even keep up with. But they were friends to the end, no matter what, and sometimes, that meant doing things Carlie didn't want to do because she knew Maggie would do the same for her. Carlie still didn't understand how Maggie thought this was going to help her get over Brad, but then again Carlie wasn't going to argue. It had been hell trying to get Maggie out of their apartment for the last week so the brunette was going to look at this as a step forward for her friend.
Carlie remembered when Maggie told her about her lame-brained idea a couple of days ago. She'd been a mess since Brad, her boyfriend of three years, abruptly decided to call it quits. Maggie called her crying that night and the next day, Carlie was helping her move her things into her little apartment. Night and day she watched as her friend cried, refusing to accept phone calls, go to work, or even leave her room. But all of a sudden there had been a change in Maggie, a change that sent a chill down Carlie's spine. She seemed almost too happy, telling Carlie she knew how she could get over Brad, and maybe even get a little revenge on him for breaking her heart.
Everyone knew the legend of Marie Laveau, the reputed Voodoo Queen of New Orleans of the nineteenth century. It was said if you went to her grave in the St. Louis Cemetery and left a gift offering, her spirit would grant you a wish. Many people held this legend to be true and that was why the cemetery was such a big tourist hotspot. People came in droves from all over the world in order to have the magical spirit help them with their problems. There had been many claims from people that Marie had granted their wishes. Carlie wasn't so sure what to make of this, but Maggie seemed to believe it.
So, here Carlie was, following Maggie on what she was sure to be a complete waste of time.
"How much further is it, Maggie?"
Maggie shined her flashlight on her small map she was holding and nodded her head. "It's right up here, Carlie. Just chill."
"Yeah, that's easy for you to say."
Maggie ignored her and finally came to a stop in front of a tall, white marble tomb surrounded by flowers and various offerings. Carlie shined her light around the tomb seeing the offerings consisted of alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, and other little trinkets.
"You've got to be kidding me," Carlie muttered under her breath.
"What?" Maggie set down her bag and turned to look at her friend.
"I can't believe people buy into this crap. It's stupid."
"It's not stupid, Carlie, it really works. Sara told me so."
"And what did Sara wish for?"
"To fall in love."
Carlie scoffed. "She does that every week, Mags. That's not proof this wishing crap really works."
"I don't need proof, Carlie. I just need to try it, okay? Anything is better than me staying in my room, crying myself to sleep every night."
Carlie reached out a hand and gave Maggie's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I know Brad hurt you, Maggie…"
Maggie shook her head. "He did more than that, he nearly killed me. I mean, I felt like I couldn't breathe…I wanted to die, Carlie."
"Maggie, I'm sorry…"
"I can't feel like that anymore, Carlie. So, please, just help me with this. Have enough faith this will work. I need it to work."
Carlie sighed. She knew Maggie was tired of hurting and she wanted so much to take away her friend's pain. She just didn't see where making a wish to a dead woman was going to help her. She knew from her psychology class, people dealt with grief in different ways, but this was a little ridiculous. Oh, well…suck it up and deal with it, Carlie.
Carlie put down her bag and glanced over at her friend. "Okay, so what do we do?"
Maggie was already digging in her bag and pulling out things. "We need to leave our offerings for her first."
Carlie knelt down on the ground and unzipped her bag. She had no idea what she would find in it since Maggie had packed it and already had it in her car when Carlie got home from work. She pulled out a couple of bouquets of flowers and a Ziploc bag filled with homemade chocolate chip cookies. Carlie eyed them dubiously, but propped them against the tomb anyway.
"So, why did you make her cookies?"
Maggie shrugged as she placed even more flowers around the tomb. "I don't know. I wasn't sure what to bring so I guessed."
Carlie chuckled. "Well, I'm sure the security guard and critters around here will appreciate it."
"Come on, Carlie, stop joking around."
"I can't help it, Maggie. This whole thing is crazy."
"Maybe it is, but like I said, you don't have to stay here. Just wait for me at the car and I'll meet you in a few minutes."
"Are you kidding? I'm not going back to the car by myself! You know the crazies that hide out around here."
"Then shut up and stand over there." She pointed to another grave about four yards away. "I don't need your bad mojo messing this up."
"Whatever." Carlie walked over to the grave and sat down, leaning her back against it. Okay, yes, she was being a total bitch about this, but it was stupid. There was a bunch of other ways Maggie could get over Brad. She had the looks and God knew guys were lining the block for a chance with her. Besides that, Carlie had been looking forward to going out to Renegade, the new nightclub that was having its grand opening tonight.
She watched as Maggie reached into her duffle and pulled out a piece of chalk.
"What are you doing with that?" Carlie asked.
"Why do you want to know? So you can make fun of me some more?"
"Come on, Mags…"
"All right, fine." She turned towards the tomb and began to draw three X's on the surface. "The legend says in order for Marie to grant your wish, you have to leave gifts and then draw three X's on her tomb. After that, you tap your foot on the ground three times and then knock three times."
"Someone likes the number three. But why do you knock? It's not like anyone is going to answer."
"Because supposedly when you knock, it wakes the dead."
"Oh, dear God…" We have now officially entered the Twilight Zone.
Maggie shot her a look and Carlie immediately looked away guiltily. She watched silently as Maggie completed the ritual, making her wish at the end. After a couple of minutes of nothing happening, Maggie's shoulders slumped and she shrugged, looking at Carlie. "I guess you were right, after all. It was a complete waste of time."
Carlie was about to respond when a sudden cool gust of wind ripped through the night air. Her eyes widened when she saw an ethereal form appear behind Maggie—it was a woman in a long, black dress with black flowing hair. Even from where she was standing, Carlie couldn't help the chill going down her spine when she saw how closely Maggie and the woman resembled each other.
"Mags…" Carlie's voice shook with fear.
"What is it?" Carlie didn't answer. "Carlie?"
Carlie pointed and Maggie turned around slowly. "It worked," she said breathlessly.
The woman smiled. "I believe you summoned me, my child."
"Are you—"
"Marie Laveau?" The woman nodded. "That I am." She looked past Maggie to focus her attention on Carlie, who was just finding her way off the ground.
"No frickin' way…"
Marie cocked her head to the side. "You're not a believer, child." It wasn't a question.
Carlie slowly shook her head.
"Maybe you'll believe now."
Carlie watched in fear as Marie walked towards her friend and into her body. "Maggie!"
Maggie started to go into convulsions as the spirit became one with her. Then she straightened up and looked at Carlie with a chilling smile on her face. "Do you believe now?"
"What did you do to her?" Carlie started to back away.
"I'm only helping her with her wish, my child." Maggie took a step towards her. "We can't have anyone getting in our way, especially non-believers. If anything, I despise your kind the most."
"Oh, God." Carlie immediately knew what Maggie was implying. No way was she about to stick around and let this woman kill her. She turned and started to run.
"I'm afraid he's not going to be much help to you." She waved her hand and Carlie fell to the ground, hard. Maggie slowly walked towards her as Carlie started to crawl away. She barely got two feet away when she fell once again, so she turned on her back to see if she could convince her friend not to do this.
"Please, Maggie…you don't have to do this." Hot tears were streaming down her face.
"Maggie doesn't have any say in this one." Maggie knelt down next to Carlie and placed her hand on her chest. "Don't worry, child. I'll make it quick for you."
She closed her eyes and all of a sudden Carlie felt as if someone grabbed her heart and was squeezing it for all it was worth. She tried to get away from the voodoo queen, but there was no fighting it. The pain got more intense and then she felt nothing.
Maggie smiled in wicked delight as blood dripped from the young woman's mouth and her vacant eyes stared up at the starry sky. She stood up slowly and breathed in the warm air that was now tinged with the coppery scent of blood.
"That's better." She nodded. "Now, let's go take care of that boy of yours."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Brad Pershing sighed as he walked in his spacious apartment. He lived in a high rise complex right outside of the French Quarter, a graduation gift from his parents after he'd been accepted to medical school. Glancing at the wall clock in the living room, he saw it was just after midnight. The long nights at Tulane Medical Center where he'd begun his internship a couple months ago, were starting to wear thin, but in the long haul he knew it would be worth it. It had been his dream for as long as he could remember to be a pediatric surgeon and he was getting on his way. He still had a few years to go before he could become a full-fledged doctor, so in the meantime, he was stuck being everyone's peon and working ridiculous hours.
Dropping his keys onto the bar, Brad walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. He popped the top and took a generous swig, allowing the cool, amber liquid to quench his thirst. He walked over to the answering machine, the tiny red light was blinking; he had messages. Hitting PLAY, he listened to them as he nursed his beer: the first two were from overzealous telemarketers, trying to sell him the latest in real estate—he aptly deleted those; the third one was from his mom, telling him they were having a family get-together this weekend and they would love it if he could come; the last was from Mitch, his best friend since grade school. Even though it was late, Brad picked up the phone and dialed Mitch's number, knowing his friend would pick up.
Mitch didn't disappoint as he answered on the second ring. "Yo, Brad! You coming out or what?"
Brad sank down onto his oversized sofa and took another swig of his beer. "Dude, I just got away from the hospital and I'm wiped out."
"You say that every time I call you."
"Yeah, that's because it's the truth."
"Don't act like I don't know why you're working these late hours—it's because of Maggie."
Brad sighed. "It has nothing to do with her." He knew he was lying as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
"Don't give me that shit, man. You never were any good at lying. And remember, you're the one that broke it off with her."
"You don't have to remind me of that, Mitch."
Mitch scoffed. "Come on, Brad, it's been a week. You've grieved for her long enough. It's time for you to get back out on the market."
"I don't think so." Brad took another sip of the beer and closed his eyes. He couldn't go out as his friend was suggesting, it was just too soon. While he'd been the one to break it off with Maggie, he really wasn't ready to get back to dating again, he felt as if he owed that to her. After all, you didn't dedicate three years of your life to someone just to turn around and get into bed with the first girl you met in the club. It had been hard for him to call it quits with her, but he felt as if they were going down two completely different paths: he wanted to focus on his studies and career while she was still unsure of what she wanted to do with her life, instead focusing on partying every night.
"I'm just asking for one night, bro," Mitch was saying. "Take your mind off of everything. You at least owe that to yourself."
Brad sighed—Mitch just wasn't going to let up until he finally consented. "I have a couple of days off next week, so we'll go out then, okay?"
"Whatever, man," Mitch grumbled.
Great, I've managed to piss off someone else. Going two for two there, Pershing. Brad was about to say something else to his friend when a knock sounded at the door. "What the hell?"
"What is it?"
"Someone's knocking on the door." Brad got up from the sofa and walked to the door.
Mitch laughed. "So, that's why you didn't want to come out tonight. Look, dude, if you were going to get some ass, all you had to do was say something."
"Shut up." Brad opened the door and nearly dropped the phone. He scrambled to maintain his grip before it hit the ground.
"Dude, what the hell? What's going on?"
"Mitch, I'm gonna have to call you back."
"What's going—"
Brad hung up before Mitch could finish.
"So…are you going to invite me in or what?"
Brad quickly stepped back and allowed Maggie to come in. "What are you doing here? I figured I would be the last person you would want to see."
Maggie turned around and smiled. "Maybe I was tired of sitting around pitying myself. Maybe I thought I could get you to change your mind about us."
Brad shook his head. "I don't know, Mags…"
"Come on, Brad," she purred, putting her hands on his chest. "You have to admit what we had was special."
Brad swallowed hard. "It was."
"Then why don't we give it another chance? You know how much I love you, Brad."
"I love you, too, Maggie. I always will."
Maggie gently cupped his face in her hands. "Come on, let's give it another chance." She kissed him softly. "What do you say?"
Brad felt himself giving in to her temptation as he returned the kiss, deeper and more passionate. Finally, he tore himself away before he got in too deep. He couldn't go there again, he just couldn't. "Maggie, I can't."
Maggie sighed and stepped back, her head lowered. When she looked back up at him, her green eyes seemed to take on a whitish tint. "I was giving you a chance, Brad."
Brad backed away from her. "Maggie, what's wrong with you?"
Maggie smiled, but there was no pleasantness to it. "There's nothing wrong with me, Brad. In fact, I've never been better." She grabbed his face once again, but harder this time and whispered into his ear. "You really should have taken my offer."
Brad felt a chill go down his spine and she brought her hands up and lightly covered his eyes. He stepped back from her quickly, but found that he could no longer see. "What the hell did you do to me?"
"You took away my heart, Brad. It's only fair I take away something from you."
Brad continued backing away, stumbling against the furniture as he tried to maintain his balance. He knew his eyes were open because he could feel himself blinking; it was as if someone had poured black ink into his open eyes. No matter how much he rubbed at them, his vision wouldn't return. I'm going to die, there's no other way around it. Maggie's going to kill me.
"You're never going to hurt another girl again, Brad."
All of a sudden he felt a strong gust of wind behind him as the large picture window burst open. He felt a moment of sheer panic seize him as he was propelled backwards, out the window, falling fifteen stories towards the ground.
It was only then he felt nothing more.
