Special Place in Hell

Warning

As I was lost in thought watching the scenery go by, we suddenly stopped. We had arrived at our destination. The French Quarter was starting to get back to normal, but it has taken so much time. Some of the buildings were never fixed and the businesses closed for good. Others were once again starting to thrive. It still took me back every time I looked at it and saw how very different life had become after the storm. It makes me sad to see the city I knew gone, replaced not by something better or worse, but different. You could see in the eyes of those who lived here that the memory of Katrina still lurks in the back of their mind. They no longer live as free as they did.

We walked the short distance to the restaurant where Mike and Tandy were sitting outside basking in the sun. Well, Mike was, Tandy was wearing too many layers to bask in anything. When we arrived, they both looked up and Mike waved to us. Shaila plopped down next to Mike leaving me to sit by Tandy. She just always had this doom and gloom vibe to her, no matter what she was doing.

“There’s a storm coming like no other we have ever seen.” Tandy begins. Well so much for pleasantries I guess it’s right down to it.

“What do you mean by that?” I ask. I was thinking it wasn’t quite hurricane season yet, even though it was being predicted to be one hell of a ride this year. I never in a million years could have thought she was going to take me into the most horrific and terrifying place in my life.

“The man, my visions, my dreams, the horror.” Once again Tandy was talking in riddles and I had to ask her to slow down and explain what she meant.

“Okay, open your mind to my world and you will understand. As you know, I meditate and I speak to the Voodoo Priests and Priestesses. I commune with my spirit animal and my shamen. I beleive that all things have souls and all things don’t just die, some of them hang around to finish something or to guide those that are still living. These spirits have been very restless lately and the other day I found out why. One of them shared with me their wisdom and knowledge for what is to come. They showed me in my mind’s eye what is happening. Divya, have you not been informed of the recent killing that has been tied to others over the years?”

I sat there with my mouth hanging open for a second before shaking my head yes. I caught Shaila perking her ears as she listened. Something strange was in her eyes, almost like she knew what was happening. I wonder if this was her big story. God forbid she was walking in the darkness with me. Her light was too bright to be there. I’ve always tried to shelter her from the evils of the world. It’s one of the reasons I chose to join the FBI. As Tandy continued, my brain began to whirl. “The latest girl was someone I knew from the neighborhood. She was a good girl, she didn’t deserve this. She also knew not to trust strangers. She was smart and it still happened to her.” This revealation made my head go even faster. How can Tandy know this girl? They come from different worlds, or at least I thought they did. I’ll have to learn more about this connection. It should help me in the investigation.

I had brought my sketchbook along with the drawings I had done this morning and as I listened to Tandy speak about how the evil was coming and we all had to be prepared, I couldn’t help but think to myself she was right. I didn’t know it at the time, but this evil would be closer than any of us realized and would end our peaceful lives forever.