11. Zane
ZANE
A few days prior…
The stench of death seemed to surround me and permeate the air as if it were trying to suffocate me. A little bit of bile hit the back of my throat, but I forced it down as a raven gave a haunted caw nearby that seemed to echo through the swamp.
A shiver raked its way down my spine as I spoke. “We find that preacher’s kid and kill anyone who gets in our way.”
All the men who’d come with me nodded.
“Just waiting for Bo to send the signal,” Butch nodded as we continued to crouch down low.
Bo was at the top of the road, and he was keeping a lookout for any of the people Britney Lee was sending to leave from the property. From where we were hiding, we hadn’t seen her leave the house but had a strong feeling she was inside on the premises. He’d be down to join us as soon as he could.
“I got a bad feeling about this,” Titan whispered.
“Yeah?” I snapped looking back at him and saw him nodding. “Well keep that shit to yourself.”
Pulling the binoculars out, I watched as Britney Lee’s men started to come out of the house and get into two separate cars.
“That looks like six men leaving,” Butch whispered as he peered through his own set of binoculars.
Rattler pulled out an inhaler to the right of me.
“Really?” I felt myself frowning.
“Asthma,” he offered before taking a puff.
If I fucking die trying to get this kid back, I’m haunting the fuck out of the Sinners, I thought.
Time passed slowly as the cars pulled out of the yard and disappeared up the dirt road. We’d made sure to hide our bikes in brush along the route because we were going to need to make a clean getaway.
The dust from the departing cars began to settle and we waited patiently for Bo’s signal to come through. Mentally, I tried to prepare my mind, but it kept drifting back and forth from Emerald to Britney Lee.
That one night that she’d spent with me had me wondering about what I was doing with my life. I knew I needed to become someone better; someone that was deserving of her.
I wanted to be around her.
Inside of her, the thought dripped smoothly into my brain making my mouth water.
Shaking my head, I tried to clear my thoughts and focus on the task at hand. Running over the plan in my head, I thought about the layout of the house. It was a standard run of the mill type house that had two floors. There was no basement because houses in Louisiana didn’t have basements.
Bo’s signal finally came through on Butch’s phone and it was time to spring into action.
Rattler was going to cause a distraction in the front of the house, trying to lure a few guards out by pretending to be lost and broken down, while Titan and I rushed the back of the house.
Bo and Butch would take the front and clear the sides.
Darkness was starting to descend, and we wanted to end this quick, fast, and in a hurry.
Anticipation rippled over my skin and it seemed as if the swamp was void of life but I knew that was false. As I crept towards the back of the house, the sounds of a timber rattlesnake shook its tail in warning.
“Hate fucking snakes,” Titan hissed low and dark.
“Stay close,” I whispered back, but I could barely hear myself because my heart was beating a mile a minute.
The second we reached the back door, I peered through a nearby window. You could see clean thru to the front of the house.
“Shotgun house,” I whispered to Titan just as gunshots started to ring out.
Rattler had definitely started shooting.
Titan and I readied ourselves, and I prayed quickly before I slammed my booted foot into the back door.
It flew off the fucking hinges. Wood splintered into jaggedly sharp points.
No sooner than I’d done that, we found ourselves face to face with a guard. Surprise played on his face, and he raised his gun trying to fire but it was too late for him.
Titan had let off three bullets before I ever fired and dropped the motherfucker then and there.
“Fuck!” I said as my adrenaline began to take off.
The house was large and guards started coming in left and right.
Before I knew it, I was on the other side of the kitchen island as bullets rained down on us.
Taking a deep breath, I eased up and began letting off shots myself. The air seemed to be suffocating me because of how thick the tension was.
I felt myself oddly coming to peace with things quickly.
Maybe I was preparing to die?
Fuck that, I snapped out of it and looked to find Titan kissing the silver medallion around his neck with a saint on it.
We locked eyes and took a deep breath before we finally crouched into position.
“On three,” I whispered.
Counting down until we hit three, I stood and started firing. Mentally, I began to count down how many rounds I had left in the extendo clip but I must have miscounted because my gun ran out in a matter of moments.
Thirty-four rounds were gone just like that. Titan remained firing until three bodies lay in a slump. I was slow to load another clip into the Glock.
“Nice work, brother,” I nodded to him and we approached the heap.
One guard was heaving for air, trying to breath but very obviously dying.
Blood was pooling out of his mouth.
Easing down, I asked, “Where’s your boss?”
He stared at me, bubbles of blood forming as he tried to speak.
Whimpering.
He’s scared, I thought.
“Where is Britney Lee?” I asked again.
He shook his head and that made something inside of my head. Slowly, I pinched his nose and covered his mouth. He wouldn’t get anymore of God’s air on my time.
“Piece of shit,” Titan kicked at the man’s body.
The second he went limp; I knew he was gone. Standing, I saw Butch and Bo coming through the front door.
“We got a problem," the twin said in unison.
Immediately I was alert again. “What?”
“Rattler,” Bo shook his head.
“He’s hurt pretty bad, we need to get him out of here. His knee cap is blown to hell…” Butch had a wild look in his eye.
The two of them were out of breath. “Has the top of the house been searched?”
I was already coming out of the kitchen heading for the stairs.
“No,” Butch called out.
“We clear it first, we need to find this kid,” I was opening doors left and right. “Bo, you look after Rattler! Butch with me!”
That same thick tension began to permeate the air once again. Thick and suffocating. There had to be ten rooms and with each door I kicked in, I found that the light outside was fading.
I knew she was here.
I knew that she was waiting.
I could feel it in my bones.
Death was in the room with me, and it was as if once again everything had gone quiet.
When I reached the last door, I could see the glow of candlelight all over the place. Looking back, I saw my men were ready.
Finally, I reached out and turned the brass door knob. The site before me told me that I’d been correct as hell about Britney Lee’s origins.
Something sinister ran down my spine as we stared at her. She was dressed like a voodoo shadow woman. Her entire face had been painted white and her chest had white markings all over it, and she was in a flowy black dress. Bones and skulls decorated a belt around her waist. The room screamed ritual sacrifice. Dead chickens were hanging upside down and the walls were painted red with the same symbols matching her chest.
I was about to step into the room but paused because Avery Stone was nowhere in sight.
“Where is the boy?” I asked.
She grinned, her lips painted red. “You’re scared of death. I can smell it on you.”
Taking a breath, I drew my gun on her. “You’re gonna do too much talking for me. Where the fuck is that boy. His family wants him back.”
Britney Lee was a fast bitch. She raised her hand so quickly and blew a dust that spread all through the room. It hit every last single fucking mark.
I became frozen in place as did all the Sinners who had followed me up to this fucking room.
Trap, my mind tried to scream.
When she was satisfied, we were stuck and not moving, she came in closer.
“Born and bred here,” she whispered to me. “My mother’s mother goes all the way back to the Voodoo queen, Maria Laveau or at least that’s what they tell me. That powder I just blew on you, that’s old magic. You're just paralyzed.”
She smacked at my face and it stung like shards of glass going through me.
Wiggle your toes, I thought to myself.
She chuckled as I squeezed my eyes shut. “All this for a dumb boy who owes a gambling debt.”
The four of us remained frozen and she went on talking like I knew she would. Slowly, I could feel my fingers regaining sensation.
“I’m going to slice you from head to toe,” Britney smirked, sliding her hand down my face. “You know I killed my ex-boyfriend about a year ago. Caught him in bed with a bitch…”
“You talk too much,” I mumbled and pulled the gun up straight to her forehead.
“How!” She whispered full of shock.
The bitch was quick, and I was still a little weak from the powder she’d hit me with, unable to pull the trigger just yet.
The candles in the room seemed to be going crazy and I shook my head trying to clear my senses. It seemed like shadows had appeared on the wall.
“No, not yet!” I heard Britney Lee scream as whispers began to haunt the atmosphere.
Aiming the gun, I found my hand wavering, unable to steady itself. The paralysis had nearly worn all the way off and the whispers were getting louder and louder.
“No, not yet!”
The woman was down on her knees now inside of a circle, chanting for her life. The second the candles extinguished themselves on their own, the voices started up again.
I could just make out the faint outline of Britney Lee and when the candles re-lit themselves I found her standing, her eyes completely white and a gun aimed.
This time I was ready for her and fired.
The bitch never had a chance and she stumbled forward and out of the magic circle drawn on the scarred wooden floor, dropping at my feet. A single bullet had pierced her between her eyes. A river of red began to flow from her mouth.
Panting heavily, I finally turned to see the rest of my brothers regaining movement.
“What happened?” Butch asked, rubbing at his neck.
A chuckle rose deep inside of me until I was full on belly laughing. “This bitch almost killed us all with magic dust.”
Titan began to look around the room but didn’t dare go inside. “No sir, I don’t mess with these types.”
“No sign of Avery either,” I shook my head. “I was sure she’d keep him close.”
“She was in the middle of a ritual,” Butch stated entering the room. “I assume she meant to sacrifice him to whatever Loa she serves.”
A look passed between me and Titan who remained outside of the room. An exchange that was silent passed between the two of us. Sweat had broken out on his brow and he wiped it away with a trembling hand. We had both grown uneasy, and it just sort of hung there. There was no way I could explain what had just happened.
Carefully Butch entered the room and stepped over Britney’s cold lifeless body.
“Loa?” I finally asked as Butch inspected the room.
“Yeah, the spirit she might serve,” he murmured looking around. “My old lady, she practices.”
Watching him, he moved some of the tapestries hanging on the wall and pulled one back to reveal a door.
“Well, what do you know,” Butch looked back and grinned.
Butch sharply twisted the small doorknob that had been locked from the outside. The second he stepped inside; Avery Stone came into view. His mouth was gagged and his hand, now missing three fingers, was bound. Filth covered his body. Holding my nose, I noted he also smelled worse than a pig farm in the middle of summer.
His eyes were full of desperation, and he looked like hell.
“Let’s get you home, kid,” I nodded to him.
By the time we got outside, Bo had Rattler up against a tree treating his leg wound.
“Let’s go home,” I told them.
Relief didn’t come until I was finally laying in my bed that night. I could still hear the whispers of whatever had been in that room.
Just as I was about to close my eyes, a text from Loki came through.
We just cleaned up the house.
In my mind, that just meant the gators were eating good on Britney Lee and her men.
Good to hear, I shot back.
Thank you for helping get Avery back home to his folks, Loki replied. See you soon.
Just wish we’d done it faster. Night Prez.
I lay there in the dark for hours, waiting for sleep to fall over me. Every time I closed my eyes, I could still see Britney Lee’s face and hear the whisper of the spirits…