CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Wait. The house that Harmon was living in was once the house of the witch that cursed Hezekiah?” asked Cam.
“One and the same,” said Chief staring at the room of people. “He said it was larger but definitely the same cabin. I don’t know why he didn’t get sick before from the smell. It was pretty disgusting.”
“He was probably so used to it he never noticed,” said Luke.
“I don’t know. I’ve worked in the oil fields for our own company over the years and smelled some powerful smells.
We’ve all been exposed to hazardous chemicals, dead bodies, and just all-around putrid odors but we always knew what it was.
This is something we’ve never seen before. ”
“Luke, you called for us,” said Matthew walking in with Irene.
“We did, Grandpa. Thank you for coming. Our man that we believe was the first with this virus lives in an old cabin out in the bayou. The same cabin as the witch who cursed Hezekiah.”
“You don’t say,” said Irene calmly.
“Grandma? What do you know about this?” he asked.
“Now, why do you always assume I know somethin’. All I knew was that he lived out in the bayou and possibly might have been livin’ in the place that Beryl lived.”
“Beryl? You know the name of the witch, Irene. This doesn’t look good for you,” smirked Cam.
“Sugar,” she said biting her lip. “I’m gettin’ slow in my old age. Beryl was said to be a powerful witch that could manipulate nature, weather, that sorta thing. How she got Hezekiah into that mirror I’ll never know. It musta been somethin’ new she was trying.”
“Well, she was very good at it,” said Hezekiah.
“Irene, do you know anything about the red algae that came ashore during that storm?” asked Kennedy.
“Whatever it is, was, it mixed with the tar and caused some sort of mutation or chemical reaction. It’s what has made others sick and until we find a way to neutralize it, we have to keep everyone away from the area. ”
“Kennedy, honey, that’s gonna be hard,” said Hex. “Lots of folks live out there in those remote cabins. We can’t just tell them we suspect something will make them sick.”
“Why not? If we know it makes people sick, we put out the notification and let them make their own decisions. That’s all we can do.”
“I’m afraid it’s not that easy,” said Luke.
“I don’t accept that,” said Kennedy. “I think we can truly force people to stay away from the area if we use the right tactics.”
“Like what? Fear? Force?” said Luke. “We can’t, Kennedy. We have to let them make their own choices.”
“Maybe not,” said Gaspar walking toward them.
“Dad, what do you mean?” asked Luke.
“I mean we have to make some drastic decisions. Animals are dying.”
“What?” came the collective cry.
“None of ours but it doesn’t matter. The wildlife in the area is dying. I think whatever was brought ashore is slowly killing the land around that cabin. We need to get folks away from there, block the entire area, and get this under control.”
“This? We don’t even know what ‘this’ is,” said Kennedy. “If animals are dying, humans will be right behind them. We might have temporarily helped people but if I can’t figure out the problem, if Rachel can’t identify what’s in that soil, we’ll never be able to solve this issue.”
“I have an idea,” said Hezekiah. They all turned to look at him as he paced the floor, rubbing his perfectly formed chin.
“I’m listening,” said Luke.
“Irene? Matthew? Can you call forth Beryl?”