Chapter 8

Louella slipped her cell phone back into her handbag and scowled.  She’d contacted that mealy Dr. Covington and asked to get her sister moved to another room.  She’d hoped that the journal would surface during the shift; especially if she had a small crew packing her sister up who was on the lookout for it.  The doctor had adamantly refused to cooperate.  Not only that, but he’d chastised her for trashing Davina’s room while lecturing her that her money for Davina’s stay didn’t give her carte blanche with the institute.  

Since she could think of no other way to root out the journal, she was determined to get her sister moved.  Without Dr. Covington’s cooperation, she had no choice than to call in the aid of her lawyers.

She’d hoped to pay a visit to Derek’s office to discuss it, but when his secretary put her call through to him, she discovered that he was just leaving a client luncheon at a restaurant not far from her home.  He insisted on meeting her there.  She shuddered at the thought of having to be alone with him so soon after his last visit.  They were usually spread far enough apart to allow her time to recover from her disgust.  She was grateful that his partners weren’t as virile as he was and only wanted to visit her a few times a year. Unfortunately, Derek stayed consistent with a visit at least once a month.  More if he could manage to pin her down. She was sure he was hard as a rock with anticipation and pleasure at being able to have her so soon again.  She sometimes questioned the wisdom in having sex be part of her payment plan to them.  She’d grown so used to using it to get what she wanted, she didn’t consider the fact that it would be an ongoing obligation and not simply a one-time thing.  She could have managed it if she’d only had to do it once.  She wasn’t sure how she’d survive a future of his constant visits.

She felt as if her world was falling apart as she pulled into her drive at the same time as Derek.  His double chin was even more pronounced than usual from the broad grin he gave her.  He looked like a kid who’d just entered an amusement park with an unlimited pass in his possession. Doing her best to hide her revulsion, she allowed him to kiss her and lead her into the house.

“I want to have you on the kitchen counter today,” he said in a voice husky with passion.

“I want to talk business first.”

“Nope.  I know that trick. You’ll talk business, get the advice you need, and then feign a headache or some other sickness.  Pay up first. Then, we’ll talk.”  He went to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of whipped cream and a container of stewed strawberries. A devious chuckle came from deep in his throat as he said, “I left lunch without dessert.”

Louella weighed the situation against how badly she needed his help.  That journal was like a ticking bomb.  Anyone reading it would discover the truth and her plans would be ruined.  She couldn’t go around killing everyone who read it; even if she was able to discover who it was.  She had to get her hands on it and destroy it.  She needed Derek’s help.  Therefore, she needed to endure what was to come.  Once again, she cursed her stupidity in hiding the journal instead of destroying it.

She involuntarily backed away as his thick hands reached out for her. He chuckled and made a comment about it being too late for her to act coy before he pulled her close and ravaged her mouth with kisses that she couldn’t bring herself to return.  She could feel the bile rising in her esophagus.  If she couldn’t get it under control, she just might not have to fake sickness after all.  Realizing that this might anger him and prevent her from getting the help she needed, she forced it back down into her stomach and emptied her mind as best she could to get her through what was to come.

Her body shuddered with revulsion that he misinterpreted as anticipation as he stripped her naked.  She noticed that he hadn’t removed his own clothes and was grateful for it.  It was bad enough to have his hands and lips all over her without having to look at his disgusting fat and boil ridden body as well.  

He’d slathered the strawberries and whipped cream onto her body’s private parts and took his time eating it off.  If that wasn’t repulsive enough an ordeal to endure, she soon learned that she’d suffered through his use of her body only to discover that he was non-committal about helping her get Divina under tighter control.  It was time to make some changes.  If he was going to use her and then not help her to her satisfaction, it was time to rid herself of him and his partners.

She knew of a magic woman who she was sure would help for the right amount of money.  Fortunately, she had a good deal of that to work with. 

After unceremoniously pushing him out of her home, she raced to shower off the remnants of strawberries, whipped cream and Derek before heading out to get the help that she needed to be rid of him for good.

Her mind raced with the possibility of being free from her toxic relationship with her lawyers as she drove to a section of town that reeked of ill repute.  It seemed to her that the magical shops she’d patronized over the years were always located in a dangerous section of town.  It never dawned on her as to why until then.  She was a murderer and a thief intent on soliciting the aid of magic. Doing so out in the open was something she wouldn’t want to do.  Neither would others.  It made the locations that were almost impossible to find make sense.

Smoke and incense assaulted her as she slid through the doorway and into the dimly lit room.  She stood for a minute to allow her eyes to acclimate to the change in lighting.  They watered from the heavy air to the point she had to rummage through her handbag for a tissue to wipe them dry.

“Can I help you?” came a rich, female voice from an undetermined location.

“I’m looking for Sybil.”

“We have a front door,” the voice said dryly.

“I parked out back. This door was easier.”

“It was also more discreet, Louella Mitchell.”

Her eyes grew wide with apprehension. “How do you know me?”

A sound that was a blend of a cackle and a laugh echoed off the painted cinderblock walls.  “Why did you come to me if you don’t believe in me?”

“I believe in you for some things,” Louella said as she did her best to maintain a confident demeaner.

A tall, heavy set woman in a colorful caftan weaved her way through a beaded door curtain.  She stood only yards away from Louella, yet she could feel the woman’s power. She’d never felt such energy from a human; especially one so far away.  This raised the question… Was Sybil human?

The witch slowly circled her while looking her up and down as if she was on display for sale at an auction.  “Your aura is dull.  Your body is worn out.  You had sex with a demon.  Hmm, several demons.  I cannot help you.”

Louella gasped with panic as she watched the witch turn and go back through the beaded curtain. She had to help her.  She just had to. “Wait! Please, you have to help me.” Tears spilled freely.  “You have to. Please, come back.”

When silence greeted her, she took a deep breath and bounded through the beads.  It was as if she’d walked through a portal to a different dimension in a different world. Perhaps she had. 

She was no longer in a brick building.  She was in a darkened cave.  A few scones with candles illuminated colorful pictorials painted by expert artists on the walls.  The colors were bright and happy, but the stories they told were dark and eerie; almost frightening. She stopped to take them in before calling out for the witch and demanding she reply.

Once again that cackling laugh echoed off the walls. Louella did her best to trace its origin, but couldn’t. “Show yourself. Please.  I need you to help me.”

The woman stood up from a chair she’d been sitting in deep in the shadows of the cave.  “I don’t mess with demons.”

“I’m not a demon,” Louella insisted.

“You spread your legs for some,” the witch said accusingly.

“If I did, I wasn’t aware that they were demons.  I… I’ve had to sleep with a few men lately.  That’s why I need your help.  I want to be free of them.”

“Free of men?”

“Those men.”

“They aren’t men,” the witch insisted.

Louella took a deep breath to still her over excited heart.  “Whatever they are, I need to be free of them.”

“No demons.  I don’t mess with demons like that.”

“Not the demons, my lawyers. They’re wicked and as crooked as the day is long, but they aren’t demons.  They make me pay for their services with sex and money.  I want to be free of them.”

“That’s not all you want.”

Once again, she was taken by surprise to the point she gasped. “My sister has a journal that I need.”

“The one you killed your aunt for?” the witch asked with disdain. 

“How did you….”

“Why should I work with such a spoiled child who would kill their own flesh and blood over a journal her sibling scribbled in?”

“She was going to ruin everything,” Louella said, defensively.

“She still could,” the witch said as she walked up to Louella and took her chin in her hand. “Did you know that your sister can speak to ghosts?”  When Louella shook her head, she added, “Soon, your aunt’s ghost will find her way to your sister.  By then, your aunt will have remembered all and your sister will be told.”

“My sister is in an asylum for the insane.  No one will believe her,” Louella said with confidence.  “Now, will you please help me?  I can pay. Anything you ask. It’s yours.”

The witch’s eyes glowed an orange red as she turned Louella’s face to the left and then to the right.  “Anything, you say?”

Louella’s swallowed hard while she prayed that the witch wasn’t going to do something freaky like ask her for sex.  Anything, but that.  She spoke in a meek voice, “Anything, but sex.”

Sybil’s head fell back as she let out a full bellied laugh. “You have no worries there, my little girl.”