Rebelled, an Arelia LaRue Novel #7 Read online

  Chapter Three

  Somewhere on the other side, Present Day

  These are the Days of Jericho

  “Ignore Emilie! Come follow me!” A familiar voice hissed from beyond the grave. “She is a mere puppet, but you are so much more than that. These are the days of Jericho, not so silly Arelia. The walls are about to fall, and the enemy is at the gate. The enemy knows what time it is, but do you?”

  “Days of Jericho?” I asked mentally knowing that he could hear me. I wasn’t quite ready for more biblical sized revelations.

  “Yes,” Bade said. “We must tread down the walls of Jericho before it’s too late and the enemy conquers us. This is no time to think about yourself. The enemy is close, and so many innocent people are sleeping in a coma, so deep and dangerous that they don’t know what awaits them.”

  He was cryptic as usual. It pissed me off. Why the hell couldn’t he just speak in plain and simple language so that I could understand? I had never asked him before. I figured now was a good time. “Why do you have to speak in riddles? It can get frustrating sometimes.”

  He laughed again, deeply, so profoundly that the skies above shook and the wind howled and moaned with delight. “The deep mysteries of Bon Dieu cannot be revealed to those who are not willing to search, to struggle, to pull themselves out of the haze the rest of the world is under and go deeper into the unknown.”

  Despite myself, I snorted. “You make Bon Dieu sound like some petty kid sitting on His throne waiting for all sorts of attention.”

  “To those who are uninitiated, it must seem that way, but not so silly Arelia, to those who are wise, my riddle filled piece of advice is worth more than silver, gold, rubies or the largest pearl. Or in language that you can better understand the greasiest beignet in all of New Orleans.”

  More riddles, more mysteries and more dark paths that I was destined to walk. The madness had to stop. I couldn't continue down the rabbit hole any longer; I wanted to believe him, but I wouldn't let myself fall into another destructive trap.

  “I'm flattered by your fascination with me, and this whole savior complex that you all have going on, but this is all too much. I didn't invite any of this in. I can't… I can't afford to be hurt anymore than I already have been. Does that make sense? I believe it’s what grownups call self-preservation. I surrender. I don’t have the heart of a warrior and in no way am I ferocious like a lion. You guys elected a terrible queen. I should have been beheaded long ago.” I hated how whiny and pathetic my voice sounded, yet at the same time I didn’t give a damn. I longed for simpler days, days where I didn’t have to worry about anybody else but me and Grand-mere Bea, a time when the weight and worries of the world didn’t rest on my shoulders.

  “Not so silly, Arelia, you are starting to be silly again,” hissed Bade from somewhere beyond the grave.

  “I'm not silly. I have given up and am officially resigning from a position I never truly wanted in the first place. This miserable world is full of cruelty, and I'm not going to try to fix it anymore.” I thought of all the many horrors and injustices I had witnessed. “I don't see a solution except for utter destruction and all that gothic jazz.”

  “And the others?” he asked. “Have you forgotten about all of the others? Have you forgotten about me?” His tone was melancholy and completely unlike the fearless Bade I was accustomed to. I didn't blame him. If I was tired, I could only imagine how weary he must have felt after so many years of waiting and watching for someone capable of cleaning up this gigantic mess.

  I let out a heavy sigh, thick as fog. “No, of course, I haven't forgotten about you and the others. The whole reason I am resigning is because I am not good enough. You guys convinced me that I was and for a short and sweet while, I had myself fooled. Now, I see that the joke was on me. I can't save you. I can't even save myself.” How the mighty had fallen. I had been nothing but a fool running around in Charles Worth dresses, eating expensive chocolates and stuffing my face with rich gumbo. A fool who had thought the party would last forever when, in reality, I should have seen the house of cards crashing before my very eyes.

  “Yes!” he hissed forcing back the vulnerability he had momentarily shown me. “The joke is on you if you don't rebel against the very forces that are threatening to destroy you and the world you love so much. Don't you see how incredibly selfish and childish you are being? Can't you see that they are fighting for power, but they know not the hour?” The urgency in his voice grew with every syllable prompting the oaks to rustle and shake in fear. “You are falling into the snare they set for you. Publicly, they rejoice in your defeat while feasting and taking pleasure in the blood they shed. Privately, they shudder in fear of when you finally realize your true potential because their dreams and aspirations will crumble in front of their face along with their wicked intentions.”

  I let out a small sarcastic laugh. Black goo shot up my nose. “Bade, thanks for the very vivid description of their evil deeds, however, please try to understand that it’s because I love all of you too much, I am taking myself out of the equation. The world I desperately love deserves someone far better and vastly more capable than me. I tried, and I failed.”

  I felt no remorse as I said those words. I knew exactly where my soul was going, and I no longer cared. “Let Emilie and Him have their New World Order, for now. Eventually, some other queen will come along and save the day. Let my soul burn. I don't care if I'm selfish. I'm not worthy of any of you.” Lord, I was dramatic with a big ol helping of cornbread to mop up the gravy, but I didn't care. If I were bound to suffer for eternity, I would go out with a bang and not a measly whimper.

  I thought of Lucus and felt nothing. Well, I forced myself to feel nothing. Did you know that it was possible to force yourself to feel nothing? It was a trick I had picked up from Louis. Suddenly, the memory of Lucus and our future was nothing more than a childish fairytale. He deserved better than me. He would eventually learn to love again and be set free by his true love. As for me, I couldn't afford to be hurt continually. I had met my quota of pain for eternity, and now it was time to shut off my emotions for the sake of self-preservation.

  “Snap out of it, silly Arelia! Damned is the one who abandons their self! Cursed is the one who gives up! Can’t you see how powerful you are? Why can’t you believe that they want to destroy you because you’re the only one who can expose their plans and stop the impending destruction?”

  Despite my vow of self-preservation, he got my attention. “Surely, you must be flattering me by suggesting that I am truly the only one who can defeat Him. I know that is complete bullshit. This whole chosen one is crap. Utter crap with a generous helping of pecan pie. Erzulie could have chosen any other queen. If my family was so powerful, then they could have stopped this curse centuries ago.” Slowly but surely life surged through my veins. I couldn’t explain it. There were no words on this side or the other to explain what had happened.

  “You don’t understand the full picture because it has not yet been revealed to you.”

  “Then show me!” I demanded. “Show me, so I can follow whatever formula I need to put an end to the madness.”

  “You know better than that, once again silly Arelia. It doesn’t work like that. All I can say is that they have wicked intentions to destroy… wicked intentions to destroy the…” His cryptic words pulled me further out of my manic-depressive state. I had heard those words before, but I had never reflected on the full extent of their meaning.

  “To destroy what?” Suddenly, I needed to know the details with Excel graphs and case reports included.

  “To destroy…” he whispered not giving me what I needed to hear. “They want to make all things new again.”

  “Stop it!” I screamed. “For heaven’s sake, stop with the damn riddles and speak in simple words that I can understand, or I won’t help any of you!”

  The water around me grew thick, black as tar and cold as ice. He laughed deeply and ignored my rant. “You never earne
d this position. You were chosen, remember? Many are called but oh so very few are chosen. When you are chosen by the Boss, He gets to decide when you retire, once again silly Arelia. You can’t quit unless you are dismissed and believe me, the Boss has no intention of letting you go, not now, and maybe not ever.”

  Fury gushed through my veins. “I’m sorry but this invisible Boss, this sleeping Bon Dieu who is supposedly perfect has done a crappy job at giving me and almost everyone else a break. It seems that you have to be rotten to the core to get ahead.”

  I was beginning to sound like Louis. Suddenly, he seemed like the wisest person to have ever walked the earth even wiser than Solomon. Sympathy for the Devil randomly started playing in my head along with an image of devilishly handsome Lestat seducing me to join the dark side.

  “The reason you haven't gotten this so-called break is because you have depended on yourself only, once again silly Arelia.”

  “Wasn’t that the whole point? Learning how to trust myself? Having faith that somehow things will work out in the end?”

  “No!” he hissed with such anger that it prompted every single one of the hairs on my body to rise. “Having faith, true faith, means trusting in someone completely other than yourself. You have to learn how to respect The Shepherd. In your silly human culture of selfies, self-help, self-preservation, self-esteem issues, self-identity issues, have you humans ever considered that you’re nothing but selfish?”

  “No! You can’t do that. You can’t claim that I’m selfish. In fact, I’ve been anything but selfish, and that is what has gotten me into this whole mess. I can’t do it anymore. I simply can't. The burden is too heavy. Take this cup of grief away from me.”

  “No!” he hissed. “I won’t give up on you. We won’t give up on you. Emilie thinks your heart is your greatest flaw, but it is your greatest asset, once again silly Arelia.” His harsh tone dissipated and was replaced with the vulnerable Bade I’d gotten a glimpse of.

  Despite my silly vows of self-preservation, drama, and lapse back into teenage angst, my heart melted into a big gooey puddle of Creole bread pudding. I decided then and there that maybe, just maybe I would give it another go no matter what the cost and impact it would have on my sanity. The full and raw truth was I had learned how to love, and I wasn't thinking only about what I felt for Lucus. I had learned to love others despite the many differences that existed between us. I had learned to love their suffering, scars, flaws, their good sides, tricky sides and twisted sides. If they wouldn’t give up on me, then I couldn't give up on them. I had to push on through and carry out my mission.

  “So?” Bade’s voice had an impatient ring to it. “Once again silly Arelia, are you going to stop being silly again."

  “Yes, please help me. Bade, I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want to finish what I’m meant to do before I officially cross the Jordan. I need help please.” My voice was faint, parched but firm. I was determined to fight for my survival, and then I would find a way to free the captives. Hell, at this point I had nothing to lose.

  “It’s much too late for that sweet one,” whispered a new voice from the other side. “Bade, you know the rules. She is in my kingdom now. You have surpassed the statute of limitations on your side.”

  “No!” screamed Bade. I had never heard him so angry before.

  “You have to play by the rules, Bade,” said the voice ever so gently. As the voice continued to speak, I continued to drift away from life and into death.

  Chapter Four

  Somewhere on the other side, Present Day

  La Sirene

  The voice was so intoxicating and utterly hypnotizing that it caused every cell in my body to dance in delight. In a flash, my hair grew thicker, longer and darker while my skin healed itself of the various traumas it had recently faced. I glanced at my nails, and they were carefully manicured and painted a dazzling shade of gold. My blood-stained clothes had been replaced with an elegant, airy sea-green silk gown embroidered with gold, opal, and tiny delicate sea shells. My skin felt as if I had spent hours basking in some Parisian spa. I reminded myself of a second-rate Wild Rose.

  “Stop putting yourself down, Arelia. You’re much more beautiful than you give yourself credit for. Come back to me. Come back to us.” Rosaline’s voice was beckoning me from the other side, urging me to keep up the fight.

  Tragically, it was no use. As the voice continued to sing it caused me to abandon all reason, worry, and every care that I had, ever had, or would think of having. The annoying Let it Go song from Frozen randomly popped into my head, and a dark power surged through me as I let the voice spirit me away into a new world.

  Come, little children

  I’ll take thee away

  Into a land of enchantment

  Come, little children

  The time’s come to play

  Here in my garden of shadows

  * * *

  Follow, sweet children

  I’ll show thee the way

  Through all the pain and the sorrows

  Weep not poor children

  For life is this way

  Murdering beauty and passions

  * * *

  High, elegant, bright, clear and strangely trumpet like at the same time. It was the sweetest sound I had ever heard on this side or any other. It was sweeter than deep fried Oreos with extra whipped cream and far richer than Creole cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries and chocolate sauce. It was almost sweeter than kissing Lucus under the shade of a massive oak. It pretty much rivaled the sensation I got when stealing Louis’ bottle of booze when he wasn’t looking.

  My pain completely stopped and all the rage, contradictions and angst that had crippled me evaporated in the blink of an eye. I felt like a carefree child, baking pecan pies with grand-mere and playing seemingly innocent games of hide and go-seek with my best friend. I caught a glimpse of four-year-old Sabrina in her parent’s massive garden with its overgrown magnolia vines, Japanese orchids and finely crafted porcelain statues imported from Milan. Sunlight bathed her blond hair making it appear as if she had a halo lingering over her head. Her fluffy pink dress fluttered lazily in the summer breeze, and her chuckle was filled with a joyful abandon only the young seemed to have. “Catch me if you can, Arelia! If you don’t catch me now, you’ll never find me!”

  “Yes, I will!” I shouted back, as I ran barefoot through the maze of vines, heat, and challenge.

  The seductive voice interrupted my unexpected nostalgia. My stupid heart longed for all of those who I had lost even those who had caused me so much damage. I was a sucker even in death.

  The voice laughed a high, chime-like laugh as if reading my mind. “That’s right little one, let the weight of the world off of your shoulders and let me take care of you. Why did you have to grow up so fast?” she asked, as the sweet scent of melon liqueur, white cakes, whipped cream, and molasses filled the water. “You’ve been running around taking care of everyone under the sun but who has been taking care of you?”

  Her question prompted an unexpected tear to slip down my cheek. I had never really thought of it that way before, and suddenly I missed Lucus. He had taken care of me. He had stood up for me and fought for me even against his family. And then there was Grand-mere Bea, Louis, Aunt Mae and all those other kind spirits and souls who had lifted me up even when I was a major ass. There was no way in hell I was going to abandon them. I needed to return to the surface. I needed to fight for them, but my body was a prisoner to this mysterious loa. The harder I fought the sweeter and more seductive her voice became.

  “No, I can’t,” I pleaded. “I have a job to do.”

  “Hush,” she said soothingly. “It’s all right. Let it all go. There is no going back now. It’s too late. Let the living live their lives and join me in my palace under the waters. I promise no one is ever going to hurt you again. I’m going to take such good care of you.” She started to sing again, and I was like a teenage girl crushing on the mysterious new g
uy at school. I was like a cheater throwing away a twenty-year marriage for some booze-filled one-night stand. I was better than this but at the same time, I wasn't.

  * * *

  Come, little children

  I’ll take thee away

  Into a land of enchantment

  Come, little children

  The time’s come to play

  Here in my garden of shadows

  * * *

  The voice was pulling me deeper into the depths of the now deliciously warm river, and I knew I was about to enter a foreign territory. The spirits of the water were unique because according to ancient Kongo beliefs, heaven was the place of the gods while the earth was the domain of mortals. Between these two very different worlds were the vast ocean and waters where the oldest loa lived. These loa, unlike the ones on earth, were able to navigate their way between heaven and hell. They were also the source of special blessings but were known to be very unpredictable.

  “Great,” I muttered. “That’s just what I need, more unpredictability.”

  Bade’s voice with its pointed hisses and raw accusations was slowly becoming a distant memory as I floated into the pits of the water which was now a bright and glorious sea-green. Instinctively knowing that it was in some danger, my spirit tried to swim its way back to the surface to tell Bade that I willing to do anything to stop this war, but my body had betrayed me again as the sweet lull of this voice seduced me beyond all reason. I knew exactly who I was dealing with but what she wanted was a whole other story. What team was she playing for? Was she on His side or was she on my side?