Down On The Bayou Detective Agency - Case Files
Chapter 7
Case #16 - "Un vampir de energie" Part 6
Summary:
Disclaimer:
Definitions:
Author's Note: I will be referencing the first story where Edward Cullen, FBI Special Agent & Psychic along with his Hoodoo practitioner BFF, Sam Uley, came to life for me as I wrote about them. I will also be referencing the sequel to that story.
~o0o~
Previously:
When Riley left to drive back to Baton Rouge, he still wasn't too sure how they were going to be able to do it, but he had faith that Edward would do everything within his power to stop any more killings from taking place.
"Do you think he believes us, Edward?" Bella asked.
"As much as he's able to, Bella. We all operate according to our own Lights."
~o0o~
That night, Sam set about trying to determine which part of the country would next be visited by the Un vampir de energie. He employed a technique he'd used in Los Angeles when he was called in to help locate the rogue Hoodoo man who'd turned people's insides to liquid, which was the first case he'd worked with Bella when she was a Homicide Detective with the LAPD.
Tonight he was casting a much wider net than he had in L.A. He had the water boiling in his cast iron divining pot while he took a map of the United States and cut each individual state out. This action required precision. The scissors he used were very sharp because they had been dedicated just for this type of work.
Sam had a chest made from a Cypress tree taken from the swamp waters of the Atchafalaya Basin. The chest looked like a foot locker, but more finely made with love and intention. Sam had gone by himself out into the deep swamp and cut the tree himself then floated the tree home behind his small motor boat. He'd cut the planks that he then smoothed until they felt like glass when he'd rubbed his hands over them. The entire time it was being constructed, from the cutting of the wood, to the finished chest, no one but Sam touched the wood. When the chest was completed Sam then set to work to make compartments that he would eventually store his tools. No one but Sam ever opened or touched his chest. Angela understood and never even dusted it. Truth be told, Angela never even went into Sam's study in which the chest lived. All of the bottles of oil, sand, brick dust - everything he used - all lived in the same room on shelves. Each bottle was labeled with its contents - all grouped for their uses. There were even small clay pots on shelves sealed with bee's wax and labeled with what-or who-was kept inside of them.
Every tool that Sam used was either handmade or purchased with a specific intention as to what its use would be. Intention, as Sam had been taught, was 75% of how an operation would work out. Hoodoo seemed to anyone who observed its practice to be a crap shoot. The Root Workers or Hoodoo Practitioners would have many objects on their work table that would be used in the process of the conjure.
Tonight was no different. The cast iron pot containing pure fresh water, water that had never been run through piping of any kind. Sam had gone to a special pond not far from where the houseboat was tied up. The water in this pond was 100% pure spring water. At one time this pond had been fouled and the Elemental forms, Dryads, who lived around it had come to Sam and company to stop its pollution. That had been around the same time that Emmett had joined the company and the Fairy Queen had had some fun tormenting him.
The questing tonight was where the killer would strike next. Putting himself into a light trance, Sam dropped the map pieces into the boiling water. Soon, only one piece was still floating on the surface-Mississippi.
Sam poured all of the water containing the map pieces into a receptacle dedicated for the purpose of removing all magical vibes from the water and objects within the water. When the receptacle was about three-quarters full, Sam took it deep into the swamp and poured the used magical waters into the swamp, allowing the nature of water to do the rest of the work eliminating the magic.
Next, he filled a smaller, cast iron pot with the spring water and added his ingredients to it. He'd cut up a larger map of Mississippi into the separate counties. That was 82 pieces for the entire state. When the water was bubbling properly Sam in his light trance dropped all the map pieces into the water and waited. Eventually, one specific county remained on top of the churning water. Sam used a set of blessed tweezers to lift the map piece from the hot water-Washington County.
He was almost finished. Just one, maybe two, more actions to go before the search could begin in earnest. He had a book of maps for each county in Mississippi. From it, he cut out Washington County, cut the four separate congressional districts apart, and floated them in a different pot of boiling water. The one that stayed on the surface was District Two.
Sam left his work sitting on the workbench and went to find his wife, Angela. She was an expert with the crystal pendulum for location and could better pinpoint the spot for the concentrated search. They had to move quickly as the killer seemed to be able to jump from state to state overnight.
"Cher." He found her sitting at the kitchen table with her Tarot cards out. "I need you to please get your crystal pendulum out with the intention of finding the killer. I have it narrowed down to one specific county. I need you to confirm my finding as well see if you can determine the exact city or town he is currently in or will be in."
"Sure, no problem, Sam. Just give me few moments to clear my head and get the proper tools," Angela replied.
While Sam was waiting, he located the rest of the family. "Hey, Y'all. I think we're honing in on the killer's location. I just need Angela to confirm and to see if you can come up with the exact town." He knew Angela never worried about someone watching her work. It wasn't that her work was any less taxing as Sam's, it was just different in its nature.
By the time everyone got settled into the war room, Angela was back with her doeskin pouch which contained her divining crystal pendulum. Sam had a table top totally cleared of everything, waiting for her to come. As she walked up to the table, Sam laid out a map of the United States. Quickly, Angela's pendulum centered on Mississippi. Sam then put a map of just that state on the table before Angela. She set to work, and soon it was determined Sam had been correct.
The killer was in Washington County-Greenville to be exact.
The next part was to determine just where in Greenville the killer was most likely to be. Sam found a map of the city and spread it out for Angela to work over. She eventually felt a pull to one part of the city. Finally, she found she needed to go into a trance to be able to discover a specific place or location.
George's Dine, Wine and Dance Club was where the killer would be next.
Lauren took over then and divined just when the killer would be there-tomorrow night.
The DOTBDA members would be there too.
~o0o~