The Unrequited

Walking out onto the main floor of Rubenstein's Margaret beamed at the sight of her brother. Dressed in a silk white dinner jacket and black tux pants Gus looked like a model right out of a scotch ad.

"Woof!" exclaimed Longinus, one of the more flamboyant salesman on the floor as he admired Gus's look. "Such a nice line!!!"

"Well Mrs. Laveau? What do you think?" asked Abe Rubenstein, scanning his client's face for any sign of approval.

"I feel like a moron." Gus sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. He had to admit he looked good but it really wasn't his style. Looking over at his sister however he knew she loved it and sighed as he realized that despite any objections he might have, he would be buying it.

"Fabulous Abe, ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!" Margaret exclaimed as she clapped. "Now we will definitely take that, and let's see how those madras shirts and new slacks look."

Back at Zeke's the conversation had turned quite somber. Ed and Lorraine finally were beginning to open up as Jasmine pressed them for information. Sighing as she knew the reaction would not be good, she nodded and began to speak.

"You are correct Jasmine; you do have the right to know what is going on. Now, before I speak, I want to know exactly what the nature of your relationship with this man is."

Suddenly feeling herself grow flush as the attention switched to her, Doug started laughing.

"Yeah, this I want to hear!" Doug said as he smirked.

"Shut up Doug!" Jasmine snapped as she turned back towards Lorraine. "Well, with Gus it's complicated."

"Oh, is it?" Lorraine smiled as she placed her hand on Jasmine's arm. "Let me be more direct then. Are you sleeping together?"

Smiling Jasmine nodded.

"And do you love him?"

Looking down, Jasmine jerked at the question. The silence of her lips spoke volumes as Lorraine continued to smile. "I don't mean to be personal dear, but I need to know just how much you want to help Gus. This is not going to be easy and if you want to call things off, now is the time to do it."

"In fact" Ed interrupted. "I would recommend it. There are some pretty dark forces at work here and my honest recommendation is to walk away. Only if you are truly committed can this work."

Her eyes wide with fear, Jasmine looked up into his eyes and nodded. "I need to help Gus."

"Good!" Ed exclaimed as he sat back in his chair. "When doing battle with the dark lord, we need to make sure everyone knows what they are getting into."

"Dark Lord?" Zeke asked as he raised his eyebrows. "Who is the Dark Lord?"

Lorraine, looking over at her husband worriedly closed her eyes as she heard him speak.

"Why Satan of course."

As the afternoon dragged on, Gus finally protested loudly enough to stop the shopping spree. His sister had truly had a blast, dressing him like one of her paper dolls she used to play with when they were children. Now loaded down with numerous packages, she drove him back to Magnolia Grove. As they drove she gently kidded Gus as he gazed out the window.

"Now was that so bad little brother?"

Saying nothing, Gus continued to stare out the window. The day had been tiring and he was irritated. He generally wanted to humor his sister but this was right on the edge of his endurance. Poked, prodded and dressed like the yuppie fuckers he hated so much, he grunted. Pulling up in front of his house, Margaret smiled as Gus got out with his packages.

"See you at the party next weekend. I am sure Sarah will melt like butter in August once she sees you in that tailored white dinner jacket."

Saying nothing, he walked up the steps as he heard her call out one more demand. "And remember Gus, DO NO BE LATE! Bye..."

Rolling his eyes, his arms were too laden with boxes to wave as he saw her speed off. Turning to put the boxes down on the porch, he jumped when he heard his neighbor call out from her porch.

"Good Evening Mr. Le Blanc." Looking down at his feet and seeing the bright purple and gold boxes from Rubensteins, she smiled. "Ah Rubensteins! My late husband always shopped there."

"Yes, very nice store. My sister seems to really like it." He answered shortly as he fumbled for his keys.

"I am sure your little dog will be glad to have you home. She was barking up a storm all day, well, at least until an hour ago. Now she must be asleep."

"Oh, I am sorry about that." Gus answered. "I hope her barking does not bother you, you know how little dogs are."

"Yes, I do. Doesn't bother me at all dear, I am a dog person myself. Anyway, she is quiet now so she must have barked herself to sleep."

Waving goodnight back, he opened the door and wondered why Angeline was not there to meet him. Stepping inside he instantly felt cold.

"Angeline! Angeline! Daddy's home!" he cried as he walked into his foyer. Greeted only with an ear ringing silence he felt his blood chill as the first tendril of worry entered his thoughts. Normally she would be all wiggles and barks as soon as he entered, but today, nothing. Walking into the front parlor his eyes grew wide at the sight. Gone were the beer bottles, empty pizza boxes and other trash from the night before. The room, along with the rest of the house, was immaculate, the furniture gleaming as it had just been polished, even the pillows on the couch obviously having just been vacuumed and fluffed.

"God Damn it, Margaret!" he gasped. "If I wanted a maid I would hire one!"

Still fuming over someone having been in his house without his permission, he called out for his dog again. Hearing nothing he began to frantically search, worried that the mystery maids might have accidentally let her out when they left. Running into the kitchen, he heard a small whimper coming from the pantry. Unlocking the door, he opened it and smiled as his frightened, but obviously intact dog ran out.

"There we go!" he smiled as he scooped her up into his arms. "How did you get in there?" Feeling her shaking he looked down and saw fresh pink ribbons had been tied behind her ears as she had obviously just been washed and clipped.

"OK, that is it! It is one thing to hire a maid without telling me, but terrifying my dog is quite another." Putting her down on the floor, he felt her sit on his foot and continue to shake. Angry, he pulled out his cellphone and called Margaret. Getting her answering machine, he icily spoke into the receiver.

"Look Sis, if you want to fix me up with one of your staff I did not complain. I put up with all that bullshit today at Rubenstein's without bitching, but hiring someone to clean my house and groom my dog without letting me know is a bridge too far. You really need to learn that the world does not revolve around the sun at your command!"

Putting his phone back into his pocket he squatted down and petted Angeline who was slowly stopping her shaking. Walking into the foyer he started to walk upstairs to work out. Turning back, he saw her timidly peek her snout around the corner, but not enter the hall.

"Well come on girl! Come on, let's go work out."

Looking up the stairs Angeline yelped and ran back into the kitchen.

"Suit yourself then." He laughed as pulled off his shirt and walked into the workout room. Beginning his workout on the elliptical, he switched on the television and began cycling through his video options. Seeing one pornographic title after another he finally settled on "Heavy Hanger MILF Attack". Pressing play, the large breasted dark haired model on the screen began slowly stripping off her blouse as he sweated and grew hard in his loose fitting pants.

"Yeah baby, YEAH!" he called out to the screen as more and more of her luscious body came into view. Sweat poured off of his body while he strode faster and faster watching the images. Now hard as nails he grimaced as the screen froze and went black.

"Damnit! Not again!" he yelled as he reached for the remote. Stopping before he switched on the video he shivered as he felt the distinct sensation that he was not alone. Looking back to the open door he saw no one was there but he did spy several new broken rosaries on the floor, obviously having been knocked off by his phantom maids. Expecting to hear the clicking of Angeline's nails on the floor, he jumped when the television suddenly came back on.

Looking back to the screen his eyes grew wide as it was no longer the mammary delights of "MILF attack" on the screen but what appeared to be a video feed of the workout room.

"What the fuck?" he exclaimed as he watched his own image on the screen looking back at himself. Holding his right hand up he saw his image hold his hand up but when he put his hand down, the image did not follow suit. In growing terror, he saw that on the screen a figure was standing right outside the door, mostly concealed from view but with just one side of its face peering inside through the crack in the open door. The eye was large and dark and twinkled as the image of himself turned to greet the visitor. His spine tingling, he feared turning around himself, afraid of what he might encounter. Continuing to watch the screen he saw the video image of himself approach the woman just outside the door and begin to walk out of his sight. His curiosity now overcoming his terror, he quickly spun around and saw that he was still alone. His mind racing to make sense of this, he nearly fainted when the video returned to the moans of the large breasted model frigging herself frantically on the screen.

Out in the bayou Tony was very worried. Hearing the story of Justine and Antoine he knew he was in way over his head. Seeing Camille's face turn ashen filled him with soul chilling dread. She was a strong woman and wise in the ways of the paranormal. If something scared her it was definitely something worthy of being scared of.

"I don't understand Mamma. I mean, Marie and I have dealt with a lot of ghosts over the years and, despite the rather gruesome background story, I have never known a ghost to..."

"This ain't no ghost boy."

"What? I thought this was the vengeful spirit of Justine."

"That is why you two should not have gotten involved. This ain't Justine. A duppy could be dealt with, but this is worse. A ghost can't curse a house like this. A ghost can't harm the living."

"What happened to Justine then? I thought the spirit in the house was.."

"No one knows, but she might have been absorbed."

"Absorbed? Absorbed into what?"

"The demon that forced her to sacrifice her baby."

Back at Zeke's Jasmine now shot up out of her chair. "OK, that is my cue to leave." Although not a particularly religious woman, she was wise enough to steer clear of anything remotely related to Satan.

"I totally understand Jasmine, I really do. That is your prerogative, and if I were in your shoes, I might do the same thing." Lorraine added in a smooth comforting grandmotherly tone.

"Come on Jasmine." Doug goaded. "You can't back out now. I know you were not there when Captain Tony's girlfriend performed that Voodoo ritual back at Gus's but...".

Hearing this, Ed's head shot up and his face dropped. "Ritual...Wait just a minute. You didn't say anything about a ritual." Shaking his head, Ed mumbled something to Lorraine whose face also turned grim.

"Oh, sorry about that. I thought I had. One of our friend's girlfriend seems to be into Voodoo and she performed some sort of ritual over at Gus's house. It was after that ritual that I snapped the photo."

Gasping loudly, Lorraine whispered something back to Ed who nodded. "Oh...Wow, this changes things considerably. I am afraid this is very very bad news."

"What do you mean "bad news"?" Doug asked as Jasmine grew more and more concerned.

"Well dear" Lorraine spoke, her voice quivering in her brave but failing attempt to hide her true emotions. "You see regular spirits are one thing, but that house, I mean the ritual, well, that was not a smart thing to do."

Seeing the three clients confused Ed interjected. "My wife is trying to sugar coat things, so let me be more direct. The seriousness of this case is now dramatically higher. A ghost cannot hurt the living, but a demon sure can. Normally a demonic attack is fairly rare, and the dark spirits that inhabit that house have been contained for centuries. The ritual your friend innocently performed was an invitation, and once invited in, the evil force will remain until dealt with."

"OK, that's it. I am calling Gus right now and telling him to leave immediately. I know he will listen to me and wants no part of living in some sort of demon infested house." Jasmine cried as she started to dial her cellphone. Once again, the call dropped as soon as it began to dial Gus's number.

"Leaving won't help dear. Sadly, he has been marked. In fact, you all have been marked." Lorraine spoke as she tried to coax Jasmine back into her chair.

"What do you mean "marked"? Doug asked, his natural curiosity about all things paranormal now having bitten him in the ass. Listening intently, Ed began to speak.

"You don't understand, but when your friend Tony and his girlfriend had the Voodoo ritual the forces that had been trapped in that house were awoken. Everyone present that night has been marked by the beast for destruction and..."

"Hold on just a God Damn minute!" Zeke yelled. "I have an open mind and all, but now this is getting to be too much. I mean ghosts and spirits are one thing but marked by the beast, Demons, invitation to demonic attack. What is all of this bullshit?"

His face twisted into a frown, Ed answered. "It is not bullshit Zeke. Sadly, for your sake I wish it was. The supernatural is not something to be messed with by amateurs, but mostly it is harmless. Poor deluded trapped human spirits often wander the earth and pose no real threat to anyone. What infests Magnolia Grove however is no routine haunting, it is a true demonic infestation. Kept in check for hundreds of years by the Laveau family, now those dark forces have been released and must be dealt with."

His brave façade crumbling, Zeke said nothing as he glared at Ed. Even though he was a hard core skeptic there was no denying that something was going on. Jasmine, having been transfixed by the conversation finally bolted up.

"OK, that's it. I am out of here. I want no part of any of this!" Running out the front door, Lorraine tried to call her back to no avail.

"I hope she realizes that she is involved whether she likes it or not." Ed stated flatly. "Now, if you don't mind, Lorraine and I need to depart. Obviously things have taken a serious turn and we need help."

Now alarmed, Doug cried "Help? You mean YOU need help? I thought you were the experts."

"We are, and that is why we know we need help. This is way above our paygrade." Ed replied as he and Lorraine stood up.

"Just out of curiosity, who are you going to ask for help?" Zeke asked half sarcastically, half seriously.

"Father Leo Aviles. He is on staff at Saint Louis Cathedral and is an expert in these matters. He is one of a very small number of priests in America who have experience with taking care of this."

"And how is he going to take care of it?" Zeke asked.

"Why an exorcism of course!" Lorraine answered as she and Ed started walking towards the door.