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Chapter Forty-One
Leota snarled in frustration, seething as Phineas and Ezra continued to dart away in front of her, jumping through doors and out walls. Eyes narrowing into thin slits, she snatched at them, mind too clouded with rage to think clearly. They wouldn’t hold still long enough for her to concentrate. If she could just focus for half a minute, she would be able to tear their transparent tongues out! That would stop them from laughing!
Exactly why did she hate them so much?
Phineas floated ahead of her, a small guitar of unknown origin in his hands. Strumming it, he sang,
“She had a wagon in Sam’s traveling show;
Could tell your fortune for some money you’d throw.
Leota would do whatever she coooooooooouuuuld!
To stab you in the back and steal your goods!”
Ezra chimed in,
“Gypsy, soul stealin’ thief!
You’d hear it from the ghosts of the manse!
We’d call her Gypsy, soul stealin’ thief!
But ev’ry night Georgie’d come around,
And lay his money down!”
Well, that had a lot to do with it. But deep down she knew the real reason was because they had seen right through her from the very beginning. Everyone hated her now, but Ezra, Phineas, and Gus had been the only men to never give into her charms while she was alive. Asher had been eating out of her palm almost instantly. George had taken a while. Only after his beloved wife had been dead for three months had Leota been able to seduce him into her will. But those three idiots, whose slight of hand and smooth talking were nothing compared to her magic, had done what no businessman or aristocrat had ever managed to do.
There was one other thing that had wore her nerves thin…
“And I’m half Gypsy!” she screamed. “Why does everyone call me either Creole or Gypsy?! I’m both!”
Ezra managed to look apologetic, pausing to put on a sad face and clutch his hat sheepishly. “Oh, we’re sorry. We never realized. How ignorant of us!” Turning to Phineas, he said, “Did you hear that, Phinny?”
“Yeah!” Phineas started strumming a new song, but Ezra sang.
“My mother married a pure Creole man! I was never part of her clan.
Skin pigment said that I was black by law,
Daddy’s family said I'd have a hairy jaw.
Half-breed! That's all I ever heard!
Half-breed, how I love to hate the word!”
Cackling, the half brothers disappeared through the carpet, planning their next prank.
Hands curled into fists, she screamed a cry muffled through gritted teeth, and stomped a foot. Perhaps her anger had made her make the mental lapse, but she forgot for a moment she was wearing high heels. It had also been a very long time since she’d had feet, or, let alone, shoes with pointed heels that required a bit of balance to move in. She slammed her foot down hard, snapping the heel in half and sending herself crashing to the floor.
“Timber!” called Phineas.
Laughter resounded from behind the hallway doors, through the walls, and even down from the ceiling. She took off the shoes and flung them as far as she could. “Quiet!” she screamed. “I put all of you in your prisons! Stop your mocking or so help me I will send you some place far, far worse!” It was a bluff. Back when she was alive, she could drag spirits out of the outskirts of the underworld, the very edges where they teetered between Earth and purgatory. But she couldn’t put them there, or anywhere else not in the mansion, really. It was easy to summon those ghosts. Most were too afraid to go further, for fear of eternal damnation if they did. That was why the ones she got to help her were the wraiths, the cowards she could manipulate so easily with assurances of an afterlife. She didn’t tell them what kind of an afterlife, of course, but said there’d be one. They would get to it. Eventually. They would have to cross over sooner or later.
“Awww!” Ezra stuck his head up through the rug. “Leota fall down! Did she get a wittle boo-boo?” He stuck out his lip in a pout. “Does she need a kissy to make her feel better?”
Any sharp retort was bit back as she winced. Her tailbone had hit hard. The carpet was thin and threadbare, and offered no real cushion. It left her a little stunned. It hadn’t hurt that bad, it was just a shock. She hadn’t felt pain in so long that she had forgotten what it was like. She remembered inflicting it on others numerous times, but she couldn’t recall the last time she’d ever been hurt physically.
Gingerly, she pushed herself up. Leaning against the wall, she waited for the stinging to subside.
“You know, you wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t escaped,” Phineas pointed out smugly.
“Leave me alone!” she screamed. She didn’t care about them anymore. She didn’t even care about the crystal ball anymore. With luck, George would just stay stuck in it. It didn’t really matter if he didn’t. She had this new body. She had a life again!
Turning, she caught sight of herself in a small oval mirror hanging on the wall. A thin, somewhat long, pale face stared back at her. It was a far cry from the beautiful, brown tone. The nose was too thin. Rather than the long, gorgeous, thick black curls that had trailed nearly down to her waist, she had plain, thin, shoulder length brown hair.
She hated it! Resisting the urge to smash the mirror into a thousand pieces, she took a deep breath and tried to reassess the situation.
She glanced back at the glass. What did that four-eyed wimp see in Destiny?
Maybe with the right spells she could fix this, make her look like her former self. She stroked her—Destiny’s—rounded chin thoughtfully. Then she tapped it with her fingers. Oh, the little things she’d gone so long without! Appendages! How she had missed them!
What else did she miss?
Her new stomach rumbled. Eating! She missed eating! She hungered for the Cajun cuisine she hadn’t had since she was a much younger woman. Or maybe Indian food…or Italian! The more she thought about it, the hungrier she grew and the more her mouth watered. And there was also dessert too, afterwards.
Madame Leota looked down the long, dreary halls, listened to the muffled commotion from the graveyard, and heard the wails from inside the walls, and behind the doors.
Her plan to complete her spell, bring forth Hell on Earth, and reign supreme could wait a while. No one here was going anywhere.
In fact, she reflected, why even bother with it? All those that had wronged her were dead and buried, or just dead. George was stuck just as she had been. And if he got out…he’d just be stuck in the mansion. She could leave them all behind. She wasn’t bound to the grounds.
Grinning, she tried out her new smile. It would need some work.
After waiting through the long quiet, Phineas and Ezra popped up through the floor again. “Um,” Phineas raised a finger questioningly, “what’re you doing? Remember us? How about the crystal ball?”
Ignoring them, she walked to Destiny’s room and began pilfering through her closet. Finding a pair of sneakers, she pushed them on.
“Oh Mistress of Darkness?” Ezra chimed. The two men turned away politely as she took off the dress and pulled on jeans and a sweater.
Brushing right past them, she grabbed Destiny’s purse, and then walked out of the room…
“Crap!” Ezra shrieked.
“Hey! Get back here!” Phineas called as she strode through the foyer. “C’mon! Don’t you want to torture us? Come torture us! Please!”
She got into Destiny’s car. The keys were clipped to the purse and it took just a quick search through her memory to remember what to do with them. Clumsily, she backed the car out of the driveway.
“Uh! Uh!” Phineas sputtered, looking around desperately. “Uh...Ezra!” He grabbed the skinny man’s shoulders, shaking him. “Quick, follow her as long as you can!” Letting him go, he shoved him forward towards the direction Leota had left. “I’m telling the others!”
“Don’t know what I could honestly do to help, but okay!” Ezra vanished. He’d reappear in the backseat in a few seconds.
Phineas ran back into the house. “This is bad!” the plump phantom moaned, searching for any friends. “This is really, really bad! Oh, this is so bad! Ahh! Where’s Kamikaze when you need him!”
Tired, and form flicking from holding the object for so long, Destiny commanded, “Back off! Her ashes spill, you’re going back to…well, wherever it is you guys came from! I mean it!”
They stopped, giving this thought. Using the opportunity, Destiny, Dustin, and Koji ran back to the cellar.
After making sure the other two were half way down the steps, Dustin jumped in and shut the doors. “The fighting outside seems to have, heh,” he chuckled dryly, “died down a little. Without Leota there to tell them what to do, they get bored and start wandering around.” Quickly catching up with Destiny, he fell into step beside her. They looked at each other, smiling, and she slid her hand into his. “That was very brave of you, going into the crypt.”
She sarcastically waved it away with her free hand, wearing the same playful smug look she learned from George. “Tweren’t nothin’.” Winking, she gave his hand a squeeze, making him glance at the floor shyly and then back at her.
Going back to where they’d left George, Asher, and L. L., Koji ranted, “You know, if she could just bring in those simps, then why did she want to kill me? What was the point in that! It just makes me even madder!”
When they got to the quartet, they found the little girl, the ex-convict, and the lawyer sitting on old crates. The wooden boxes were still filled with full bottles of wine. Amazingly, Asher hadn’t ripped a crate open and started guzzling. Slowly, he and the other two gently pushed the crystal ball to one another with their feet, like a group of kids on a playground feeling too lazy to really play soccer, but not wanting to give up the ball. George looked a little dizzy and annoyed, but not the worse for wear.
Asher, who'd heard Koji's ranting, kept his eyes on the floor as he kept tapping the ball. "Oh, those gits have been here for years, mostly hiding in the walls and in the graveyard. They're not new. She can't bring in any new spirits."
In the short silence that followed, Destiny, Koji, and Dustin all stared at George, trying to figure out how to word their query. Reading their confused expressions, he sighed. “It keeps them entertained,” the aristocrat explained wearily, bobbing in an effort to stay upright.
“How’s everyone doing?” asked Destiny.
“Fine,” Asher shrugged. “’Aven’t had any problems. No one bothered us, actually, although we’ve been ‘earin’ some shoutin’ above us. We didn’t go up to check it out.”
Wheezing and clumsy footsteps made them all turn. Half jogging, half tumbling, Phineas bounced down the stairs into the basement. He stopped in front of them, bent with his hands on his knees.
“What’s wrong?” asked Dustin.
Phineas held up a finger and panted for a few moments more. “Sorry,” he gasped, standing straight, “I’ve been running all over this place!”
“You don’t even breathe!” Koji pointed out.
“Oh, right,” Phineas smiled, instantly refreshed. “Silly me,” he laughed brightly. Gus guffawed, pointing at him.
Dustin groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It could be the direst of circumstances…Come to think of it, it was! And that twit was still cracking jokes! “Phineas, what is it you need to tell us?” he asked, hoping his paper thin patience wasn’t showing in his voice.
Gravely serious, he answered, “It’s Leota. She’s just left!”
“What do you mean, ‘left’?” George demanded.
“Left, as in, not on the premises anymore. As in, walked out the door. As in, got in the car and drove away!”
Destiny collapsed onto one of the crates. “No! No! No! No! No!” she moaned with her face in her hands. Her expression was full of fury when she lifted her head. “My body! She’s got my body! What is she doing with it?! I thought she was bent on some world domination…cliché…plot!” She could hardly spit it out, she was so angry. “Why would she leave?!”
George rolled over to his granddaughter’s feet, giving her a sympathetic look. “Leota’s been trapped in this wretched thing for sixty years. She’s probably out doing the things she misses from her life.”
“Oh, and she took your purse,” Phineas added. Before Destiny could start screaming obscenities, he explained, “Ezra’s with her.”
“But how long will that last?”
“About fifty more minutes. Then if we lose her when he gets pulled back, we’re, uh, kinda screwed. But he’s keeping tabs on her now.”
“Now, yes, but what about later?” Destiny’s voice was sharp.
Little Leota bit her bottom lip, staring thoughtfully at her feet. Brightening, she looked up. “Mother,” she said softly, “used to spy on people using the crystal ball.” Pointing at it, she continued, “Maybe we can spy on her.”
Koji picked up the crystal ball, bringing it to eye level. “Okay,” he said. “How does it work? Like a Magic 8 Ball?” He shook it. “Show me Leota!” He got nothing but a very dizzy George Gracey, whose eyes were rolling around, as his head bumped into the sides with hard plinks.
“No!” L. L. laughed. “She says a spell to do it.”
Dustin’s eyes grew wide. “Her book! We had it before the fire! George, where did you leave it?”
Shaking his head from side to side, George tried to focus his vision. “I—I…” He waited until the two blurry images of Dustin he was seeing finally merged into one. “I recall reading it after Destiny was locked in her room.”
“Let’s go!” Gus cheered.
It was past three a.m. Only one restaurant nearby had been open, some little diner that just had EAT in red-orange flicking letters on the roof. The waitress—a middle aged, grease stained, plate jockey named Mable, whose bouffant towered on her head like some auburn colored Empire State Building—kept insisting she knew her. Correction, she knew Destiny. It didn’t matter if Leota had said she was Destiny’s twin sister and had never been to the diner before. It wouldn’t have made Mable shut up about her niece’s inability to get a date, and kept asking if “Kojo” was still available.
After one look at the food, Leota left.
To top it all off Ezra would not shut up.
“Yeah, you’d think some place would be open, with Halloween and all. Hey! Look! Some kids are throwing a party in that house there! Let’s crash it!”
“It’s just a bunch of stupid teenagers,” Leota sneered, not even looking.
“But that’s what’s fun about it.” His attention was drawn back to the window. “Ooh! Look, an old boardwalk! They have rides! Let’s stop there Leota! Please, please, please!”
“It’s closed!”
“You picked a great time to go out and live again…Could you turn on the radio? None of that old stuff.”
She scowled into the rearview mirror. “I don’t like music.” It was so frustrating! She really wanted to pull over so she could wring his neck, but her stomach was still growling.
A horn screamed and she jerked her view back to the front. Yanking the wheel, she narrowly missed driving right into the oncoming traffic. There were more cars on the street than she remembered.
“Why don’t you just magically conjure up some food?”
“I can’t make things materialize!”
Ezra leaned back, hands behind his head, and legs up with his feet braced annoyingly on either side of the headrest of the driver’s seat. “You made ghosts materialize.”
“That’s different! I work with energy and spirits. I can’t just make some solid objects magically appear.”
“Ah…so you really can’t do anything worthwhile.”
She turned into a parking lot so quickly the tires squealed. Yanking the keys out of the ignition, she whipped around in her seat. After nearly strangling herself and wrestling with the buckle, she managed to undo her seatbelt, and flung it so hard she almost cracked the window.
Quicker than the ghost could react, she curled her fingers around his throat.
“I, uh, didn’t think you could do that,” he rasped, eyes bulging.
She squeezed a little harder. “Still think I can’t do anything worthwhile, Dobbins?”
Tongue hanging out, he tried to shake his head. “Seems a very valuable talent!” he wheezed. It wasn’t fair! He didn’t need to breathe. How could she choke him? He hated magic! His gaze happened to go past her, though, into the shop they had parked in front of. With the lights on and a few patrons sitting in booths, it was apparently open and serving…he strained a bit…ice cream. He felt a new panic wash over him when he spotted one of the customers sitting at the counter. The bandaged nose, black eye, and bruised cheeks were a dead give away!
“Cr-Craig!” Ezra gasped, pointing.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said condescendingly. “What was that?”
But he began to fade before he could tell her. Finally free from her stranglehold, he cackled as the old spell dragged him back to the mansion. “Ha ha! I love magic!” Glee would turn to panic however as the sight he saw before vanishing completely was Leota getting out of the car and going into the ice cream shop.
Everyone looked over her shoulder at the pages. “We have to put it on a hard surface,” Dustin instructed. Picking up the glass sphere and ignoring George’s complaints, he placed it on the seat of the chair. “Well, it’s uncomfortable, anyway. And do stop rolling sir, or you’ll go right over the edge.”
“And then I say the spell,” Destiny stated.
“Wait,” Asher interjected. “When Leota’d do the séances, she would always do the weird hand things.” When the others stared at him blankly, he explained, “You know!” Eyes rolled back and half lidded, he tilted his head back and waved his hands over the ball as if trying to feel for something he couldn’t see.
After a few seconds of silence, Dustin spoke up. “That’s the first time you’ve looked genuinely drunk since you died.”
“I get what he’s talking about.” Koji skimmed the page. “But there’s no mention of mystical hand waving. Maybe we should do it just to be on the safe side.”
“All right,” Destiny nodded. “Here it goes!” Waving a hand unsurely, she intoned.
“Vision from beyond this wall,
Show me in my crystal ball.
The one I seek who’s far or near,
Let this vision now appear!”
George’s face went rigid, his eyes becoming nothing but white. His mouth opened, not of his own will, but as if his jaw had just suddenly gone slack. The others watched in anticipation, leaning close. From his lips, poured an all-together too feminine voice to be George’s. The words had a hollow, bland sound, as if they had been played over and over and spoken by someone without much personality. His lips moved along with the words.
“I’m sorry. Your vision cannot be completed as chanted. Please clear your throat, and try again later.”
His mouth snapped shut and he blinked. “Did something just happen? I think I missed it.”
Destiny pretended to cough into her fist to hide her laughter. Dustin and Koji were a little less inconspicuous with their close-mouthed sputters.
“I don’t get it.” Destiny scanned down the page. “I said it right.”
“Maybe,” Dustin smiled at Little Leota. “It takes magic to do magic. Why don’t you give it a try, L. L.”
Wringing her small hands, she mumbled, “I’ve never tried any of mother’s tricks before.” But she stepped forward. Book clutched tightly in one hand while waving the other over the glass, she repeated the spell.
The master’s face faded in and out, much like a distorting television screen. “Whoa! Hey!” Soon his visage was gone completely, replaced with an image of a room. Its floor was a checkerboard pattern of black and white tile. There was a long white counter with half a dozen red stools along it. Leota sat on one seat, happily twirling back and forth while scrapping up the remaining puddle of ice cream out of the bottom of her bowl. After licking the spoon, she tilted her head up slightly, as if looking up at the ceiling, but she was looking straight at Destiny. Then she winked and waggled her fingers. Turning back to a man behind the counter, she held up two fingers.
“She knows we’re watching her,” Dustin pointed out the obvious.
Leota turned back and nodded, mouthing, “Yeah.”
Watching Leota eat two more scoops of ice cream, Phineas chimed in helpfully, “Could be worse.”
“She’s eating strawberry!” Destiny ranted, ignoring him. “I hate strawberry! How dare she put strawberry ice cream in my mouth! I bet I’ll have the aftertaste when I get my body back, too.”
From seemingly out of nowhere and above their heads, Ezra materialized. Unprepared for the bizarre entrance, he fell and landed on Phineas, sending both of them crashing to the ground. Ezra, however, ended up sitting comfortably upright on Phineas’ stomach. “Aw, thanks for breakin’ my fall, Phinny,” he grinned down at him. You’re a true pal.”
“Ow. Don’t mention it.”
Ezra didn’t get up. “You’re kinda comfy,” he said as if it were a compliment, “like a pillow!”
“Get off!”
Ezra finally jumped up and dusted himself off. Phineas glared at him reproachfully and smacked him with his hat.
“Guys,” Koji interrupted loudly, nose in the spell book. He had been reading it since L. L. had finished the spell. “We have a problem.”
“Yeah, we have a problem.” Destiny crossed her arms over her chest. “She’s binging on ice cream with my money.”
“Not that.”
“Oh!” Ezra hit his forehead with his palm. “I almost forgot! Our favorite stalker is there with her.”
“What?” gasped Destiny. Peering closer, she could see him sitting in a booth in the corner. He was watching Leota intently. He got up and moseyed over to the bar.
Fist smacking the crystal ball, Destiny pleaded, “Leave! Don’t talk to him!”
Leota glanced at Craig, then back at the others. She blew a kiss at them and then snapped her fingers. Everything became green and smoggy, with George’s face reappearing.
L. L. tried saying the spell again to no avail. “She’s blocked us out.”
“Well,” Asher tried to be cheerful, “What’s the worst that could ‘appen?”
Staring at him incredulously, Destiny snarled, “She’s got my body! And—and that slime is planning God knows what!” She let Dustin pull her close into a comforting embrace. Any moment now, she’d wake up and this would be another nightmare, she told herself. But no matter how tightly she shut her eyes and opened them, everything was the same.
“We’ll get through this,” Dustin whispered into her ear. “I promise. At least we got the ashes.” He smiled, and that always made her smile back.
“Uh, guys.” Koji waved a hand to get their attention. When all eyes were on him, he cleared his throat. “I was reading about the possession spell. Something didn’t seem right. When George talked about Leota taking control of him, he was still there, just riding shotgun in his mind. The same with Emily. What Leota was planning to do with Destiny was a full possession, completely taking over her body for an indefinite amount of time. She did that, but as with the other two, Destiny was still supposed to be in there with her. That’s how possession works. One entity dominates over the other, but both are still there. It adds insult to injury, making the person see and feel all that the possessor is doing. Plus, it keeps the real person from making it known he, or in this case, she is possessed as long as he… or she is kept under complete control.” He took a quick deep breath. “They aren’t supposed to be split apart. Basically, somewhere along the way, somebody screwed something up.”
“What could have done that?” Dustin asked.
Koji shrugged. “It’s a sensitive process. With souls and a body merging it could just take a nudge to offset things.” He grinned haughtily. “This is why the paranormal community is gonna miss me.”
Chin in hand and brow furrowed, Dustin searched his memory. He blinked. “It’s my fault. I grabbed Destiny right before the spell was completed. I thought if I could pull her down out of Leota’s magic, it would stop it.”
Koji exhaled through gritted teeth and ran his hand through his spiky black hair. “Well, we got good news and bad news. The good news is we at least have Destiny here with us. The bad news is that because body and soul were separated, we have new rules to play by. If it had gone through as Leota planned, then time wouldn’t be an issue. But the body and soul can only be apart for so long before a soul won’t be able to gain entrance again. The body becomes a zombie without a soul. There’s no chance of that here!” he hastily added when everyone looked panicked. “With Leota’s soul there, the body won’t become a zombie. But Leota’s becoming, like…” He struggled for a second. “Attached. If we wait too long, Destiny won’t be able to get back in because her body will have accepted Leota.”
“How much time do we have?” Destiny asked, her voice cracking as her throat tightened.
Koji looked at his watch. “The way this all times out…Hey, well isn’t that a coincidence! Right around sunrise. We’ve only got a couple of hours.”
Destiny tried to mask the fear in her voice. “Then we need a plan, and fast.”
Leota arched an eyebrow. He didn’t even notice “Destiny’s” eyes were green instead of brown.
“You do lub me, right?” he pleaded.
“Meh,” and a shrug was Leota’s only reply and she dug into her fifth scoop. Ice cream was better than magic, better than…anything! How she had gone so long without it, she didn’t know. Now she was eating cookie dough and vanilla. Next would be rocky road, then after that, butterscotch. If she didn’t get sick, that is. But it wasn’t eating too much that was making her stomach turn.
“What arb you doing out ‘ere anyway?” he asked.
He was by far the most annoying man Leota had ever met. Asher was Prince Charming compared to this toad. Giving the spoon one last long lick, she took it and hung it on his bandaged nose. Rather than hypnotizing the waiter into believing she had paid, she went ahead and put cash on the counter. The deed would have been better had it been her own money, true, but it was the thought that counted.
She walked out and he followed her, the spoon clattering to the floor. He was right behind her as she took out the keys. Before she could unlock the door, he grabbed her thin shoulders with his large, strong hands and spun her around. Yanking her forward, he pressed his lips hard against hers. Stomach lurching, she pushed herself away.
“Why wonb you take me back?” he shouted.
She resisted the urge to kick him. No, physical pain was too good for him. Plus he’d taken so many beatings over the past few days already. If those didn’t give him a clue, then yet another kick wouldn’t either.
Besides, there were so many other fun options.
Taking his chin in her hands, she stared deeply into his eyes. It was hard not to cringe looking at those swollen cheeks and seeing how bloodshot his eyes were. She’d worked under worse conditions. “Look into my eyes,” she intoned.
“Mmm hmm,” he mumbled, still staring at an area below her neckline.
She frowned. “You’re not looking into my eyes!”
“Oh, sorry.” He jerked his gaze upward. Almost instantly, his irises filled with a bright green light.
“Your mind is under my control.”
“My mind is under your control,” he said robotically.
“You will not come near me or the mansion again.”
“I will not come near you or the mansion again.”
Smirking, she told him, “You are a dog.”
“I am a dog.”
She could have left it at that, but there was more fun to be had. “You are a miniature Chihuahua.”
“I am a miniature Chihuahua.”
Letting go of his chin, she watched as his eyes returned to their normal color. Exaggeratedly, she pointed at the distance, “Shoo! Scat!”
He whined, dropping to all fours.
“Get away from me, you stupid dog!” She gave him a light kick on the rear, sending him yipping and running down the sidewalk, hands and feet clumsily scrambling across the cement.
Finally left alone, she unlocked the car door and got inside. Grinning into the rearview mirror, she wondered where to go next.
The little diner called EAT and Mable both appear earlier in the story, in the chapter “Breakfast with Koji.”
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