The Unrequited

Captain Tony was wishing he had not just had the car washed as the backroads to Marie's mother's house grew worse and worse. The red clay of the unpaved road through the swampland was very wet from the rains overnight and splattering mud all over everything as he drove. No matter how hard he tried it to avoid it, it seemed he hit every muddy pothole in Louisiana on the trip through the backwoods. All were totally ruining the detailing job he had just had given the car a few days earlier and he got progressively pissed with every splat of mud on his whitewalls. This stretch of road was definitely the worst part of the trip and although he had taken her up to see her mom many times he never liked the drive. She and Marie's grandmother lived way the fuck out, truly in the middle of nowhere. Although her home was less than one hundred miles from the center of the city, because fifty of those miles were unpaved dirt trails or muddy causeways through marshy swamps, a normal two-hour trip would sometimes take all day.

The weather was at least nice enough for the drive he thought and despite it being oppressively hot, Tony had the top down and the A/C blasting. Occasionally reaching over and stroking Marie's leg, he tried his best to comfort her as it had been a long night. Being locked up in the psych ward is definitely no picnic but he was proud that she was so moved by her experience as to want to help his friend Gus.

Having to drive under thirty-five miles per hour as the roads got worse and worse going so slow was taxing Tony's patience as he normally had a lead foot. Growing increasingly irritated like a dog chained to a short tether, he was tense and the car was silent. Suddenly the relative tranquility of the ride was shattered when without warning Marie started shrieking at the top of her lungs.

"Ayiii!!! The Pain Mamma THE PAIN!!! SACRE MERDE THE PAIN!!!" Her face now was violently twisted into a knot and her eyes were shut tight as Marie began writhing on the seat grabbing her stomach and panting wildly.

"JESUS! Marie! What is it! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG!!!" Tony screamed as he tried to look for a place to pull over. This leg of the trip was exceptionally desolate and on either side of the car for miles in all directions nothing could be seen but endless bayou and Spanish Moss draped cypress trees. Because the road was on a causeway he could not pull over and he desperately looked ahead for a place to stop. Seeing a break in the swamp coming up he floored the car. Driving off of the causeway onto the small island, he saw an old abandoned gas station and feed store. Although he knew there were no people there to help, he at least could pull over. Jerking to a full halt onto the gravel of parking lot of the long abandoned store, he grabbed Marie and pulled her up out of the floor of his car. Looking into her eyes he felt his stomach drop.

Only the whites could be seen as her pupils had rolled all the way back into her head again. Her skin was hot to the touch, almost like fire, and her expression chilled him to the bone. Although outwardly she still looked like Marie, it was obvious that she was channeling now, her whole facial structure and body morphing into other shapes. Looking down at her trim stomach he screamed as he saw it begin to bulge and pulse, growing as she screamed in agony and gripped his forearm in a death grip.

"My baby, my baby, don't make me give you my baby!!! The price is too high, it is TOO HIGH!!!"

Shaking in fear, Captain Tony did not know what to do. Looking down at his cellphone he saw that no signal was detected as he was miles from the nearest tower. Shaking his girlfriend wildly he felt her incredibly tense body collapse in his grip.

Back in the French Quarter the ringing of the bell when the door opened, caused everyone to turn towards the door. Walking inside the empty bar were Ed and Lorraine, and seeing Doug sitting at a table showing pictures on his phone to Jasmine they smiled.

"Mr. Schone, I presume?"

"Yes, and you two must be Ed and Lorraine Clearwater. I recognize you from TV!"

Zeke, although a skeptic about everything they represented, was genuinely star struck and already calculating the potential PR benefit of having two celebrities, albeit low rent ones, photographed in his bar. Rushing over he asked them what they wanted to drink.

"Well my good man" Ed smiled as he looked Zeke's amazing tattoos over. "How about a bourbon. My wife here likes Brandy Alexanders. Do you think you can make one of those?"

"Absolutely Mr. Clearwater. Absolutely! For your Bourbon, would you like a mixer or chaser of some kind?"

Winking, Ed said "How about just more bourbon!"

"A man after my own heart!" Laughing and instantly at ease, Zeke went back to fetch the drinks, first stopping at his office to pick up his bartender's guide to look up how to make a Brandy Alexander. Zeke's was many things, but a Brandy Alexander type of place it was not.

"And who might you be young lady?" Lorraine asked as she extended out her hand. Jasmine smiled as Lorraine's warm grandmotherly demeanor, coupled with her painfully out of date clothes and fifties style beehive hair style gave her both a kindly look but also an oddly authoritative one. She definitely looked like a paranormal investigator although an old school one. Taking her hand, she shook it but then stood up, her Zeke's T-Shirt now revealed.

"Oh, I am nobody really. Just the waitress. I should go get you your menu..."

"Now is that anyway to talk? I was a waitress myself for years, probably way before you were even born my dear. You should never say you are "just a waitress". It is a very noble profession and I loved it." Closing her eyes as she continued to hold her hand Lorraine smirked. "As I suspected!" Popping her eyes open she smiled and looked at Jasmine.

"I think you are far more involved in this situation than even Doug here is, so please stay and talk to us."

"Oh, really, I can't, I have to..."

Pulling her hand a little harder, Jasmine was forced to sit back down as Lorraine continued talking. "I really must insist. You see, I am a clairvoyant, mostly through my sense of touch." Winking knowingly at Jasmine she added "And I know you are QUITE involved with Magnolia Grove." Giggling as she closed her eyes again and saw more visions she repeated "Yes, quite involved. Ed and I would definitely like to talk to you as well."

Seeing Zeke approaching with the drinks Lorraine turned to him and asked "You don't mind if we interview Jasmine here do you?"

Placing the drinks on the table he said "No, of course not. Not a problem at all."

Pulling her hand away from Lorraine's, Jasmine was startled. "How did you know my name was Jasmine?"

Winking over at Ed, Lorraine answered. "Lucky guess I suppose."

"Ok, but really. I don't know anything about all of this. I was not even there when this picture was taken."

"No dear." Ed interrupted as he took Lorraine's hand off of Jasmine's. "But you have been at the home many times, much more than anyone else. I am sure you might have a lot to add to the investigation."

"How do you know these things!" Jasmine yelled as she stood up. Her nerves were already shot from the incident in the bathroom. Having two strangers now come in and suddenly know everything about her made her even more nervous.

"Zeke!" Lorraine called out. "This Brandy Alexander is fantastic by the way. Could you bring one for Jasmine?"

Smiling from behind the bar he motioned his thumbs up sign as Lorraine turned back to face Jasmine. "The drink will definitely calm your nerves dear. It is obviously very fortuitous that your friend Doug uploaded that picture this morning. Ed and I get thousands of submissions and most of them are well..."

"FAKE!" Ed barked out. "But this picture is the real thing, and once I found out it was from Magnolia Grove, well, we just dropped everything and decided to take up this case."

Starting to shiver Jasmine stood up again. "I can't I just really can't. All of this ghost talk scares the crap out of me..., I really can't take it." Tense as she sat at the edge of her chair she stood up and pointed over at Doug as she said "Look, it was Doug who sent the picture and it is Gus's house. I am sure if you contact him he will take you on a tour and Doug loves this kind of stuff. They are the guys who you need to talk to. As for me, well... I am out. COUNT ME OUT! I do not want to be involved at all!"

Lorraine's face fell and a look of sadness washed over her expression. "It is too late for that dear. Sadly, you are involved. Very very involved." Her face growing serious she stared into Jasmine's eyes and added "I am sure you don't want any more visitors in your bathroom now do you?"

Hearing her words Jasmine's eyes grew wide and she gasped. Her mind racing with a million thoughts as she sat down.

Back at Magnolia Grove Gus was laughing as he continued to walk through his house. "Jasmine! OK come out, jokes over. You certainly did not just come back in here to make me breakfast and leave did you?" Hearing nothing but silence he shrugged his shoulders and went back into the kitchen. Scooping the bacon and eggs from the pan onto a fresh plate he sat down and began to eat. Tossing a scrap of bacon onto the floor for Angeline, he called out again.

"OK Jasmine, if you are still here, I am going to go ahead and eat. Thanks for the breakfast!!" Smiling he added "This is your last chance to come out. If this was a joke to spook me, it is not working!"

When his phone rang at that very moment, ironically he jumped out of his chair. Grinning at being startled he picked it up and answered. "Jasmine?"

"No, it's Margaret." His sister's voice answered on the line. "Can you be ready for me in forty-five minutes. I need you to go somewhere with me today."

"What, who, Jesus... When do you NOT call." Preemptively sighing in defeat he asked "Where do you want me to go?"

"Rubenstein's. I have a fitting set up for you at one. Afterwards I thought we could grab an early dinner."

"Rubensteins! Why are you taking me there? I know this deal with Sarah's family next week is all high society and what not, but believe it or not I do own a tux and I will dress appropriately. Honestly Sis, sometimes..."

"Let me be the judge of what is appropriate or not. Now, hurry up and be ready for me in forty-five minutes. Mr. Rubenstein himself is going to help out personally, and trust me, he does not help individual customers usually."

Smirking, Gus said "I guess he does when one of them happens to be the future governor's wife."

"No doubt that helps dear." Margaret continued. "So, get ready OK. I want to make sure you look great for the party."

His tone irritated he snapped "I guess you don't trust me to dress appropriately for Pete's big contributor buddies. I guess you think your little brother is a doofus and does not know how to clean up properly!"

"Of course I don't trust you!" she laughed. "Look, just be ready ok? I want you to look nice and, well, let me just be your pushy big sister OK?"

"You forgot bitchy!" he laughed but agreed. Shaking his head, he threw another piece of bacon down to the floor that Angeline greedily devoured. Hanging up, he switched over to the text app and typed out a message.

"Thx for the bfast Jasmine. Wish you had hung around and shared. I might have wanted to have YOU as a snack afterwards >;>."

Gobbling down the rest of his breakfast he dropped the dish off in the sink and ran upstairs to shower and get ready.

Out in the endless bayou of southern Louisiana Captain Tony was in a panic. Miles from anything resembling civilization, no cellphone service and with his girlfriend undergoing some sort of weird paranormal attack, he was at his wits end. Holding Marie's hand, he winced as she dug her sharp nails into his hand. Laying on top of her in the car, he used his weight to hold her down from the frantic convulsions. Whispering into her ear, he continued repeating "Come back to me Love, come back." Slowly but relentlessly her wild thrashing subsided and her screams of anguish began to settle. Finally, after five minutes, she fell limp and Tony collapsed in exhaustion on top of her.

As the mid-summer sun beat down into the car and both were covered in sweat, Marie woke up. Seeing her boyfriend laying on top of her in the front seat of the car and with her left leg draped over the back of the front seat and her right jammed through the steering wheel, she was shocked.

"Hey Babe! I always enjoy a quickie, but somehow it seems out of place out here."

Looking down at her and seeing her eyes had returned to normal, Tony sat up and looked towards the sky. "Thank you Jesus, THANK YOU!" Caressing her face, tears welled in his eyes. "Boo, you scared the living fuck out of me. What the hell just happened?" Scooting herself back up on the seat and straightening out her dress her eyes grew wide as her mind cleared. "Tony, I have got to get to my Mom's right away. I obviously have been cursed here or something. I have never had a channel go on and on like this one. Something is really really wrong."

"Can you remember what you saw?"

"A little... I was in some house, it looked like an old style home down in the quarter I think. It obviously was a long time ago as I remember it being at night and only lit by candlelight."

"Was this more of the same vision you had at Gus's house?"

"I don't think so. This was different. I was in bed" holding up her hand in front of her face she added "and I was black woman this time. I don't remember much but there was another black woman in the room with me and I was, oh..." Wincing in pain she grabbed her stomach "I was giving birth. GOD, the pain. It was so real."

"It was freaky Marie. It all makes sense though based on what you said. It was crazy, your dress, it inflated off of your body, like you were growing. You actually looked pregnant there for a minute. Your whole body started to change right before my eyes and I have never seen anything like that ever before." Pausing as he cleared his throat he emphatically added "And I don't want to see it again. Whatever this thing that is happening to you is, we need your Mom to fix it. She is a powerful woman and I am sure she can tell us what to do."

Now drenched in sweat and extremely scared for Marie's health, he put the car into gear and rapidly pealed out of the gravel lot. The next twenty minutes went by quickly as Tony pushed the old Cadillac to the edge of its mechanical endurance as he flew down the dirt covered causeways in the swamp. Finally nearing late afternoon, he saw the large Duchamp house come into view across a wide field of tall green sawgrass.

The Duchamp family had lived on this land for generations. In the center of their land the original wooden shack that had been built by her great great great grandfather was long gone, replaced by something far more grand. After being freed from slavery, over the years the family home had been transformed from a lowly shack into an impressive two story seven-bedroom mansion. Since the Duchamps had long been heralded as Voodoo priests and priestesses, from all over the Parish the constant demand for love potions and various spells and healing powders kept the family quite well compensated. Marie was the youngest of eight siblings but was one of the only ones who had not pursued initiation into becoming a full Mambo Priestess.

Pulling up out front of the house, Marie's mother came out onto the porch and waved. "Lordy Lord, Marie! What an unexpected treat."

As soon as Tony helped her out of the car however, her mother's happy tone grew grim. One look at her daughter and she knew something was terribly wrong. Imbued with a strong psychic sense, Marie's aura was not the normal hue of orange or yellow but jet black. This obviously was a severe situation and indicated some sort of paranormal attack on her daughter and in a panicked tone she asked "Tony, what happened?"

"Where to begin! Here, let's go inside and we can tell you the whole story. Mamma, we are in real trouble here."

Cupping her daughter's face in her hand and looking down at her exhausted face she nodded. "Yes, that is quite obvious. Put her upstairs in the guest room and I will go start supper."

Stepping out of the shower and putting on his clothes, Gus quickly walked downstairs when he heard Margaret enter.

"Yoo-Hoo Gus, are you ready yet?"

"I really am beginning to regret giving you that spare key." He replied as he walked into the foyer.

Smirking as she looked up at her brother she shook her head. He was wearing his standard uniform; flip flops, cargo shorts, Hawaiian shirt and looked rumpled as always. "You are going to be quite the challenge for Mr. Rubenstein I can see. Well, we will get you cleaned up in no time."

"Christ Sis, don't you ever have anything good to say?"

Angeline yawning as she trotted down the stairs slightly growled when she saw Margaret. Seeing this, Margaret laughed and said "And if you don't watch it little dog, I will have you sent to the groomers."

Reaching down to pet her, Gus snapped, "Let's just limit your creative impulses to me, OK." Smirking, Margaret nodded and the two walked out the front door to her waiting car.

Back at Zeke's Jasmine grew increasingly alarmed as Ed and Lorraine spoke.

"Yes, it will be a real privilege to investigate Magnolia Grove, although it will be dangerous. We might have to call in a priest to help."

"Dangerous? What do you mean dangerous?" Jasmine gasped as her body began to shiver.

Turning to her and trying to calm her in a soothing tone, Lorraine spoke. "Well my dear, this is the Holy Grail of haunted houses. So many investigators would give their right arm to check this house out, what with its long history and all.."

"What history?" Doug interrupted, visibly shaking in excitement. "This is way cool, what kind of freaky stuff has gone on there?"

"Well..." Ed paused as he looked over at Lorraine. "The house is cursed, BIG TIME. Being in the same family for over two hundred years' no one has ever been allowed inside to fully check it out, but the stories and bloodshed linked to the home are legendary. Didn't your friend know any of this before he bought it?"

"No, I don't think he did." Doug answered. "What kind of bloodshed? Now you have me very intrigued."

"It all went back to some kind of incident in the early 1800s. No one quite knows exactly what happened, but the legend is the original owner, Antoine Laveau had some sort of love triangle with one of his slaves and she cursed the family and the house. Due to the prominence of the family there are no "official" records of what happened, but the number of tragic deaths associated with the house over the years is too large to discount. Supposedly the Laveaus were able to make some kind of arrangement with the evil spirits tormenting the family, but only if they stayed in the house. Up until your friend bought the house, the home had always been in the family and supposedly the spirits were appeased. Now that the chain is broken however, who knows what will happen."

Her hand trembling Jasmine nervously twisted her hair in her hands as she listened. "Wh-what kind of tragic deaths are you talking about?"

Lorraine, gulping hard, grabbed her hand and tried to calm her down. Hesitant to speak, she knew that if the truth were known this poor girl would freak. "Don't you worry dear, we are here to help. Now, perhaps we should meet this Gus and see if he will let us into the house."