Prologue
"I really thought it was over, baby.
But uh, I guess not."
- Musiq Soulchild
Jazmine Dubois was buried underneath her mountain of purple sheets. She tossed and turned from one side of her bed to the next, until she finally curled into a ball.
"Jazmine."
A whispering voice alerted her to someone's presence in the room.
She tore off her blanket and glared at the large MacBook on her desk. It was playing a loud, bright video of her and her best friend ,Cindy, in the blonde's new Jeep Wrangler earlier that day. Her best friend was shrieking her name excitedly as their hair flapped in the wind. There was just one problem.
That didn't sound like Cindy. As a matter of fact, it sounded nothing like her.
"What the hell?" She closed out of the photo app and pushed the screen down. Then she hopped back into bed and closed her eyes, only to be irritated when the same bright glare woke her up again.
"Jazmine!"
The wind began to pick up; she could see the branches gently tapping against her window. She threw the covers off and yawned as she walked back over to her desk, pushing the slight edge of anxiety down.
"Must've forgot to close it." She mumbled. "I'm way too young to be snapping like this. I gotta stop spending every night out with Cindy and get some sleep."
She crawled back into bed; only this time, she eased her head back until it was facing the desk. A bolt of lightning seemed to send the house shaking, and she jumped. Her eyes still facing forward, not bothering to let them dart around the room.
The laptop still didn't move.
"Go to sleep." Jazmine muttered to herself. "It's just a thunderstorm."
Just as her eyes fluttered shut, the laptop flung itself open, and that wasn't all….
It was typing. By itself.
Her first thought was 'What an odd dream'. Her second thought was 'Oh hell no! I don't do ghosts!' Her third thought was 'Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed by thy name…'
Like that Baptist preacher at her granddaddy's church said….
Resist the devil, and he will flee.
"JAZMINE!"
The typing on the laptop grew furious as Jazmine buried herself deeper and deeper underneath the covers. Even when silence overtook the room, she stayed still until the door creaked open.
Her parents were out on vacation, and she'd never make it to her neighbors if there was someone inside the house. She wasn't sure what to do. She had two choices: stay or make a run for it.
"JAZMINE MARIE DUBOIS!"
The sound of an invisible something calling her full, government name was enough to help her decide. The lightning flashed, the wind crashed against her window, and the rainfall flew down in a torrential stream.
She sped downstairs as fast as her legs would carry her and pulled on the door. She didn't dare turn around, even as she heard the loud, heavy footsteps behind her.
This was it. This was how she died. She couldn't believe she was gonna get killed by something she couldn't even see.
"Don't be afraid. We're here to help."
She saw three golden orbs, hovering right in front of her, just as she'd fallen to the ground. She slowly stood to her feet and stared, watching as they floated down the hallway.
Breaking all the rules outlined in horror movie culture, she followed them until she'd made her way up the stairs and into the attic.
It didn't take long for her to spot an illuminated cardboard box with a bunch of her old baby stuff. She reached inside and pulled out a manilla folder, full of documents. There were a few articles, a court case, and a birth certificate. A birth certificate dated sixteen years back.
Her eyes widened as she examined them.
"I'm adopted?!" She shrieked, thumbing through the pages. "I guess Cindy and Riley weren't teasing as much as they thought. I'm really not their kid."
She tried to ignore the pang building in her chest and dug through the rest of the box. There was a small green onesie, a white rattle in the shape of a rabbit, and a tiny hardback leather pamphlet with a microscopic inscription, tucked away in the lefthand corner of the box.
"What's this?" She picked it up to examine its blank, dusty pages. She wrinkled her nose at the small booklet and placed it in the center of her palm. "Why is this old, beat-up thing in here? It's just some tiny-"
All the doors in her house began to open and slam shut, again and again, as the footsteps downstairs started up again. She felt something prickle across her hands, then across her entire body, as a blast of green light filled the room.
"Whoa! Okay, stop!" Jazmine tried to breathe. "That's scary!"
At her command, everything went quiet. The tiny booklet grew in her hands until it was a large, heavy grimoire that required her to use both her hands and her wrists just to hold it.
"Nope." Jazmine dropped the book. "I'm gonna go to church on Sunday and repent. I always knew there was something off about this house."
"Please, just trust us. You need our help."
She sighed and turned her attention back to the book on the ground. She crouched down to lift it and ran her fingers across the cover, reading the inscription aloud.
"To Jazmine Marie Dubois: The Golden One." She flipped it open to examine its pages. "Weird. It's empty."
She hopped back when the book slammed shut and the three orbs appeared again, quickly whirling around her.
"Okay, seriously!" She put her hands over her face. "Whatever you…things are doing, cut it out!"
But they didn't stop. They whirled faster and faster, until Jazmine swore she could see the outlines of three translucent women.
"Welcome back."
The book snapped shut, and the orbs continued their dance. Jazmine's world became a mixture of shadow and light until darkness took her, and she collapsed onto the floor.
And at that moment, the real story began.
Author's Note:
Yes, I'm posting again.
Yes, I brought this back. I did promise you all I would.
Yes, it's an entirely new concept with callbacks to the OG.
Yes, Huey and nem' are in it.
Yes, I'm actually going on hiatus.
Yes, I appreciate you for reading.