Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Warren
I awoke the next evening with a pounding in my head.
It was rare that I was awake while the sun was shining—late shifts at work combined with Nola heat was not something that encouraged early morning rises—so it brought a familiar comfort to see that the sky had dulled into the dusky shade of night.
After getting washed and dressed, shoving the remnants of the night prior into a wash basket, I grabbed my keys and made to leave. Slid underneath my door was a note from Levette.
Mon cher,
Before the night turned sour, I hope you know it gave me great happiness to see you taste freedom. Please, allow me to make up for how it ended?
I have business to attend to tonight, but I shall see you tomorrow.
Bien à vous,
Levette Fortier
I folded the paper and tucked it in my coat pocket.
Frustration scratched at my skin. Before the night turned sour.
As though what Josephine had said was a passing comment I could let go of.
The sadness in his eyes when he spoke of his friend’s death was honest, but Levette was hiding something, and I wanted to know what.
My bravery had its limits, and I would not give myself over to someone completely if they were hiding things from me. A foundation of lies was no way to start a relationship; it was no foundation at all.
The Louisiana air had cooled enough that, while I felt beads of sweat on my skin, I was comfortable enough to walk. I didn’t know my way to the bayou, but if I walked to the outskirts of the city, I would find someone willing to lead me the rest of the way.
By the time I got to the edge of the city, I had to remove my coat and take a seat on one of the rotting benches.
“Where ya heading?” a streetcar driver called out of his window.
I stood up, heading over to speak to him. “The bayou.”
The driver nodded his bald head, gesturing for me to get in. “Headed that way myself. Might as well take you with me.”
He was a chatty man, telling me all about the drama of his day and how some woman had accused him of being a charlatan for charging her the fare. I was exhausted just listening to him when he pulled to a halt. He waved away my offer of money and I felt instant regret for being so dismissive of him.
Driving away with a smile, I waved to the driver before cutting my way through the trees. Here in the bayou, the heat seemed to multiply and I groaned as it beat down on me.
Memories of the night before flashes in my mind while I made my way to the barn. Levette’s hands on me without judgement. The sweet taste of his lips on mine. Laughing loudly until my stomach hurt.
And then, demons. Claws. Being devoured.
Such a beautiful night had been derailed so quickly and now it would always be tainted.
I didn’t expect for the place to be packed and in full swing so early in the evening, but when I reached the clearing, it was just as busy as the previous night. I recognized some of the people, and received knowing smiles from them.
Just like last night, I was in awe as I entered, seeing the inclusivity of the place. Where love wasn’t shamed because it didn’t fit the expected standards.
I made my way over to the bar, waving the server over. “I’m looking for Josephine.”
The man looked me over, shaking his head. “You don’t look like Josie’s type. What you want with her?”
“She told me something last night. I wanted to ask her about it.”
“Ah,” he said, wiping a glass. “Be careful. Josie isn’t known for sugarcoating. You don’t look like the kind who can handle what she got to say.”
“You don’t know what kind I am,” I snapped impatiently. “Can you tell me where to find her or not?”
The server laughed, thumping the glass down. “Maybe you do got some feist in you. Fine, it’s your funeral. Make your way down the water’s edge. You’ll find a rickety bridge that crosses over the water. Josie’s family lives about five houses down to your right.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Josie gon’ ruin your life if you go looking for her.”
I followed the bartender’s instructions and made it down to the water and over the bridge. But the old wooden houses were randomly placed, and so it looked more like a maze instead of a straight right to Josie’s.
Stumbling over the uneven ground, I sauntered and tried to keep count of the houses. I lost track quickly, instead hoping that something would lead me directly to Josephine herself.
I must have been wandering for a good twenty minutes when I heard raised voices echoing around me.
The bayou was quiet, since everyone appeared to be partying—except for the sound of the water lapping and cicadas chirping—so the loudness caught my attention.
It wasn’t until I got closer that I realized I recognized both voices.
“You’re an evil man!” Josephine yelled. There was a resounding thump that followed as though she’d thrown something.
“You have no idea who I am,” Levette replied, his voice colder than I had ever heard it.
I jogged closer, trying my best to stay quiet. Creeping forward, I peeked around the edge of the house. Josephine was standing on her porch, a log in her hand as she raised her arm, poised to throw it at Levette.
“My mama was right about you, wasn’t she? You look just the same as you did all them years ago. You made a deal and sold your soul.”
“Your mama was a bigoted fool,” Levette spat. “She hated the world and took it out on everyone around her.”
Josie took a step down, raising her arm higher. “Don’t you disrespect my family when you’re on my property. You killed my brother and the heartache killed my mama.”
Levette threw his hands up. “See! Such foolishness! I didn’t kill your brother. He was my best friend, Josie.”
Again, even through his anger, I could hear the honesty laced in his voice. Whatever happened to Josie’s brother, my heart told me that Levette wasn’t the one who did it.
“It was your fascinations that got him all confused. You killed him, Levette Fortier, and you’ll pay for it.
” Josephine stood resolute in her anger, but there was pain in her words.
She grieved for the brother she didn’t get to see grow old and that was devastating.
Levette could have given her pieces of her brother through stories of their youth, but he seemed unsympathetic to her pain.
It was so unlike the man who cared for me, quite literally nursing me back to health from the brink of death.
“If your mama didn’t make him feel like he was worthless, he wouldn’t have been so caught up in ‘fascinations’, would he?” Levette barked out a laugh, closing the distance between them. “What are you going to do? You think your little spells will stop me?”
Josephine began to chant words under her breath, an old language I didn’t recognize. Levette’s fury burst free and he grabbed the woman by the neck, shoving her back against the pillar of her house.
“You told him something about me, didn’t you? I saw it in his eyes. He looked scared of me.”
It took me a second to realize Levette was talking about me.
There was a sadness to his words, like the idea of me looking at him differently really did cause him pain.
And despite everything and the new, terrifying side I was seeing of the man who captured my every thought, it hurt me to know that I was causing him distress.
“I told him the truth,” Josie croaked, “that you a demon. You’ll ruin that boy, just like you ruined my brother.”
“I would never hurt Warren!” Levette bellowed, thudding Josie harder against the pillar. “Your family made me run, leave my home. Why can’t you just let me be happy?”
Josie spat in his face. “You don’t deserve no happiness, Levette Fortier. You belong in Hell, and I’m gonna make sure you find your way there. You won’t know peace while I’m around. I am gonna take everything from you, just like you took everything from Leroy.”
My hands shook as I leaned forward, seeing a hint of Levette’s face. He looked furious, untethered. I saw his hand tighten around Josie’s throat, making her eyes bug out.
“I won’t allow anyone to take Warren from me, witch.”
Fear flooded my veins at that, but a sick and twisted part of me also felt relieved at knowing he felt so deeply for me; that he would not let me feel the cold touch of loneliness again. It was demented, but Levette had created a craziness in me, it seemed.
Then, so quickly that I wanted to believe my eyes were deceiving me, Levette bit down on her neck.
Josie screamed, the sound horrifying, as Levette pulled back.
When he had bitten, a chunk of skin was missing and blood was pouring from her.
Levette turned his head and spat out the blood, giving me a full view of his face.
His eyes were dilated, the whites now black, and the normally violet irises were now dazzlingly bright.
Blood covered the lower half of his face and his teeth, dripping down onto his white shirt.
I covered my mouth, stifling my gasp. Levette kept his gaze locked on Josephine, practically snarling as he looked at where she lay.
What was he?
“Your witch blood is disgusting,” he commented to Josie’s dying body, wiping his hands on a handkerchief. “What a waste.”
He left her laying there, bleeding out from the neck. I could not look away from her body, the limpness to her limbs. Levette, the man I was so enamored with, had done that to her. He had become something else and brought death to Josephine’s door.
Levette started to walk towards me. I could see his face even more clearly, and the large fangs in his mouth. I couldn’t hold back my scream as I saw him like that. Josephine’s words came hurtling back to me, filling my brain until it was all I could see.
I jumped to my feet as Levette’s eyes locked onto me. He looked like a monster. Beautiful and terrifying and like death.
“A demon,” I whispered.
Levette’s brows furrowed, and his face changed back into my Levette, though blood was still smeared across his skin. He dropped to his knees before me, shaking his head.
“Non, non, mon amour! You weren’t supposed to be here! Why are you here?” Disbelief and shame could be heard in his words, in the way he looked at me so sadly.
“I-I-Josephine. I came to speak to her.” My voice was unsteady and low, fearful. “I saw you…”
Levette reached for my hand, but I pulled away. “Don’t touch me!”
“Mon cher, please. Let me explain.”
I laughed bitterly, feeling my lip pull up in disgust. “I just watched you murder someone! How do you explain that away, Levy?” My laughter turned into sobs and soon, I fell to my knees with him, my body shaking.
“My mother was right: I must be destined for Hell because I let a demon into my heart, and ruination calls me home.”
Levette ran his fingers through his wild hair, shaking his head. “I am not a demon, but I did tell you that I don’t know salvation. I am made of darkness, Warren. I warned you of that.”
I looked him in the eyes, laughing again and seeing him wince at the sound.
It was almost a welcome sight, seeing him feel some sort of pain after witnessing what he had done.
“I don’t know what I thought when you told me that, maybe that your darkness was like mine.
Pain and guilt twisted up in one. But I never thought you were this! ”
Levette reached for me again and I didn’t stop him this time. He held my hands tight, his eyes pleading. “Whatever you think of me, know that you are not damned or ruined or any of the things your brain is telling you. Your soul is yours and it is, and always will be, a beautiful thing.”
My body lurched as I sobbed. I fell into his chest, letting my forehead rest against his shoulder.
His hand splayed across the bottom of my back, ribbing gently circles.
“Then why did you taint me so? You made me fall for you, but all you can bring me is damnation. Whatever you are, it’s wrong, isn’t it? God will never forgive me.”
Cupping my face, Levette forced me to look at him. “My sins are not yours, darling. I am not good, non, but I try to be for you. I can keep trying.”
He meant it, I knew, but he was wrong. Somewhere deep inside told me that this was the true Levette, and no matter how hard he tried, it would always be him. If I chose to ignore that, then I would be the fool I had been accused of being.
I shook my head, pulling from his grip. “I can’t do this. Me. You. Whatever you are. Whatever you’ve done. I can’t do it! I have enough to beg forgiveness for. I cannot willingly give myself over to evil just because he has a pretty face and makes me feel alive.”
“Please…” Levette begged, his voice breaking. His eyes got glassy, but where a human would cry translucent tears, Levy’s were black. I gasped, taking more steps away from him. “I will change for you. Please, mon amour, I beg you!”
My heart broke as I looked at him. So handsome and broken, a soul tarnished. My Levette, but also not. My temptation, my doom.
“You cannot change what you are, and so this cannot be.”
Levette got to his feet and I closed the distance between us, clutching him tightly. I pressed my lips to his in the gentlest of kisses, tearing away when his hands reached for me. He had closed his eyes, more of those tainted tears running down his cheeks.
“You told me you would have me as I am,” I heard him whisper as I turned to walk away.
I looked at him over my shoulder, feeling my own tears fall. “That was before I saw your truths. You only gave me part of you, Levy, but you expected all of me. If I let you, you’d devour me whole and I would never have a chance of redemption. What good is salvation if I allow myself to be damned?”
“Warren, I lo—”
“No.” I held up my hand to stop him from saying more, my voice breaking just as my heart was. “Please do not say that. If you feel for me, you’ll let me go. Do not send me to the furnace with you. Let me find my light.”