Saint Joseph School

It was a good thing Jai had forced the window to gain entry into the suite-- folding space was still relatively new to August. A dull, tinny crash like a muted symbol and a split second burst of light heralded the hairless Creole girl's appearance in the room. Dressed in a shiny black jogging suit with red stripes, she had taken her faith in the loa of the crossroads to a more modern bent.
"Santa Maria!" Her violet eyes went wide with shock at Kris's thrashing and screaming. August let a black duffle bag slide gently from her shoulder to the floor, and crouched low to the floor, taking Kris's head in her hand and forcing eye contact. As she had done hundreds of times before, with Hellions, Outcasts, and even Spectral Minions, August felt her consciousness lashing outwards through her eyes. Like light through a window her mental force entered through Kris's eyes and traveled to the area of her brain that controls conscious movement, delivering a charge that shorted it out. In a split second, Kris was still awake and aware, but motionless and in no danger of hurting herself or others. "Per Iesu Christus Dominum nostrum," August whispered, "dona nobis pacem. Amen."
Standing and walking over to open the duffle, August admonished nervously, "This commando gris-gris on the fly isn't really my style, Jai." Jai looked mildly abashed and ill at ease, shifting from foot to foot. He deftly caught an object hurled at him by August-- a five pound bag of cornmeal. August proceeded to pull a helter skelter assortment of other items from the bag: a cannister of Morton's salt, a vial of clear liquid with a cross emblazoned on it, a bucket of Major Flanders fried chicken, a box of El Producto cigars, two 40 oz. bottles of beer, a bouquet of flowers, an assortment box of chocolates, and four white candles.
Lost in concentration and seemingly oblivious to Jai weaving intricate designs of cornmeal on the floor nearby, August had opened the vial and, with her right thumb, begun to apply the liquid to Kris's forehead, chin, and heart, whispering, "In nomine Patri, et Fili, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen." She then arranged Kris's body like a cross, arms perpendicular to her body. August walked around Kris, making a circle of salt around the semi-conscious girl, and placing a white candle at each of the four cardinal points.
His ve-ve complete, Jai looked over as August had completed her preparations, a quizzical expression on his face. "What do you expect?" August gave a brief chuckle in frustration. "She's Catholic, I'm improvising a little."
"I unnahstan', Miss DeVries," Jai replied.
"Let's hope the loas listen to convenience store ritual," August muttered with a sigh. "Oh, and whatever you do, don't step inside the circle." August knelt on the floor facing Kris, hands outstretched, palms upward. "Here goes."
August took a deep breath, and her violet eyes fixed into a stare. Swirling yellow mists coalesced inside the circle of salt, above and around Kris, but not touching her. As they roiled and hissed, August's eyes and body likewise began to emanate a yellow light. The voice from her mouth was like an old woman, forceful, wise, and powerful.
"Oye, Legba! Legba, je vous salue! Oeuvre la puerta pour nous, sil vous plait! Mantenga la via, soleil reflete! I ask for Erzuli Dantor to come forth and protect this young woman from what torments her! I offer myself as cheval for the Baron Samedi, that we may consult with him, and through him, have communion with the Ghede, those who have passed beyond."
To her right side, Jai's eyes grew wide. The fifteen year old girl had presented herself to be "ridden" by the loa of the dead.

Kris' eyes suddenly cleared, her unual bluish green eyes now a charcoal black, indicating it wasn't Kris at the wheel, for now. Looking about the room she saw the instigators of the little chit-chat. Sitting up, she straightened her clothes up, and looked around at the circle and smirked. Her demeanor was not the perky, yet mousey Kris, but of a person who demanded respect and commanded authority.

"So, you wish to parlez," she asked in a crisp and clear english accent. "I will grant it, but do not waste my time. This tom-foolery of yours is costing us the effort, you know. What do you wish to know?..."

A Little Later...

Kris wasn't sure about what had happened but, when she came back to her senses, she was standing, and Jai and August were stepping into the hall. She looked around, and decided to put her books away, not wanting to damage the books she had checked out, or to draw any more attention to themm than had already been drawn to them. After putting the books away, she sat on the couch and began to dose off, feeling quite exhausted...

Jai and August looked at one another. Once again, the strange creole girl had surpassed their own expectations. Again, she had tapped into something much deeper and more powerful. And for a moment, neither of them had any idea what to do next.

It was August who finally spoke. "You have shown us things before," she said. "But cette femme has nothing to do with this. Why do you torment her?"

The body of Kris O'Sullivan twitched, and smiled. Her eyes, so alien, twinkled. "This girl made a promise. She swore an oath. Such oaths are not for the faint, and she must live up to her obligations."

Ginga started. "But dis one, she ain' ready fuh what yuh show her! She don' know wat yuh want from her!"

The entity chuckled darkly. "You misunderstand, Jai Marchan. It is not we who torment her, as you suggest. There are others involved beyond the loa. The Lost One shows the girl these things. It is you," the body of Kris O'Sullivan said, looking from Jai to August, "that demanded our intervention."

August frowned. "The Lost One?" She glanced at Jai, who nodded, urging her on. "You mean Lycia."

The entity shrugged. "It is not my place to say. Perhaps I do not even know." And then Kris smiled, humorlessly.

Jai leaned forward slightly. "We didn' mean nothin' by it," he said. The spirit made no reply. Jai was getting frustrated, and August laid a hand on his arm. He read the concern is her eyes, and he nodded. "Wat yuh expec' us ta do? How do we help the gyul? Should we help her ta find de prize?"

"What you do, or do not do, is immaterial," the entity replied. "The shackles have been put upon this girl. She has been bound, the spirit to the living, and she must fulfill her obligations." Jai struggled to hold the owrds inside. August's grip on his arm tightened. Jai made a sound of frustration, then rose and turned away. August was glad of it; his disrespect might have complicated things. No matter how frustrating the spirits were, they always demanded respect.

August locked eyes with the thing inside Kris O'Sullivan. "What would you have us do, then?"

Kris' face twitched again. She looked almost tender. "Be there for the girl. The prize will be found, as it must be. But the Lost One has misjudged, we see this. The stability of the living is often compromised easily by those who seek a return."

And then the entity was gone. Kris blinked, confusion spreading across her features. She drew in her breath sharply.

August smiled. "Kris?"

"I- Uhnnn... How-," she said, looking around a little confused. "I thought I was on the phone..."

Kris was way confused, and there was a certain ammount of fogginess in her head. What the hell was going on? She looked to the phone and stood as she stared at it. After a few moments she snapped back into the here and now, having gotten lost in trying to piece together everything and getting less than enough to make any sense.

August heaved a great sigh, looking down at the floor, her right hand rubbing the point on her right ear absentmindedly as someone else might run their fingers through their hair. "I think I've done all I can do. Dantor said you took an oath and that you are being held to the letter of your word." She gathered her things into her duffle bag and stepped to the window sill. "If you are to obtain any meaningful assistance, I would strongly advise divulging more information, if such is permitted under the terms of your oath." August stepped up into the window. "If we don't know more, I honestly don't see how we can aid you any further." She shouldered the duffle bag and pulled the hood of her jacket up over her head. "Let me know when you've come to a decision." With a muted tinny crash and a brief burst of light, the Creole girl was gone.

"Oath? What oath," she asked Jai. "I have no idea what she's talking abou-" Lycia "Oh, God!"

Kris cupped a hand over her mouth as the tears flowed so easily, this time. More so than any other time since Lycia's passing. She looked to the Carib boy and tried for a few seconds to talk, but could only manage keening sounds. After a few moments, she had calmed a bit, picking up the intent from Jai to calm down.

"I- I told Lycia... I told her I would always be there to take her home," she confessed. "And I meant it. With my dying breath I meant it."