Voodoo (Halloween)
Title: Voodoo
Author: annushkazhivago
Rating: PG13
Genre: Horror
Summary: All Bam wanted was for Ville to like him.
Disclaimer: Fiction
Warnings: Voodoo, hoodoo, grave robbing
A/N: Please overlook any mistakes. I don't have time to read it one last time.
Voodoo
******
October 30, New Orleans, Louisiana
An ominous full moon hang in a starless pitch-black sky, shining its silver beams across the marble and brick tombs in the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. The centuries-old necropolis had closed its gate hours ago, but that didn't keep Bam, Dunn, and Novak from sneaking off from the tour group and hopping the fence. The twisting labyrinth of narrow walkways and dilapidated tombs was unnerving. Everywhere they looked there were aging mausoleums and massive wall vaults. It felt like at any given moment someone or something would jump out and attack them, which was quite possible. The cemetery was supposedly haunted and not to mention, it was located in a bad part of town and the above ground tombs made an excellent hiding place for thieves. But they were willing to take their chances. According to the woman at the Voodoo shop, the Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau was buried somewhere within the city of the dead. Legends says that the Voodoo priestess granted wishes from the beyond, and that, was what they were after.
Bam swallowed hard and gripped the strap of his backpack tighter as he nervously looked at the white washed tomb of the Voodoo queen. He was chickening out. He could feel it. Surely there had to be another way of getting Ville to fall in love with him than this. This was silly, stupid even, but he was out of ideas. He was in love with one of his best friends but he was terrified to tell him that. The last thing he wanted was to lose Ville as a friend, even if it broke his heart every time he was around him.
Bam took a deep breath and picked up a fallen brick from a nearby crumbling tomb and walked over to the Voodoo queen's final resting place, going over the ritual in his head. Bam took another deep breath and glanced behind him to see if Dunn and Novak had caught up with him yet. He had done his damnedest to leave them behind so they wouldn't hear his wish and it appeared that he had.
Setting his backpack on the ground, Bam got out his heartagram necklace as an offering and held it in his left hand. He walked up to the front of Marie Laveau's tomb and knocked three times (to wake her from her sleep) and then scratched three X's on the front of the tomb with the piece of brick and then knocked three more times. "I wish my friend Ville would fall in love with me."
"You what?" Dunn asked suddenly, starling Bam.
Bam quickly hid the necklace in his pocket and whirled around to see his friend standing behind him shaking his head. The other man looked disappointed in him.
"I-I didn't say anything," Bam stuttered.
"Uh, yes, you did. I heard you," Dunn replied.
"It was a joke. I knew you were coming." Bam laughed, hoping he would believe it.
"Bam, stop with the bullshit. I know you like Ville, but this isn't the way. If this Voodoo shit works would you honestly want a relationship based on a lie?" Bam didn't reply. "How could you sleep with him and not feel like you're raping him? Just because he would be willing it doesn't mean that's what he really wants."
Bam looked down at his feet as if Dunn's words had shamed him. "I didn't think of it like that," Bam whispered softly. "Dunn, I just want to be with him. It kills me seeing him with other people."
"Then tell him how you feel."
"I'm afraid he won't be my friend anymore if I tell him that. I don't want to lose him."
"Bam, I can't see how Ville doesn't know that you're in love with him. Your house is like a shine to him. It's pretty creepy, man. I mean, if he hasn't filed a restraining order against you by now then he's not going to ditch you for admitting you're in love with him... Maybe that's what he's waiting for." Dunn smiled kindly and slipped his arm around Bam's shoulder. "I think he likes you. I really do. You should talk to him."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah, I do." Dunn smiled and looked over at the Voodoo queen's tomb, seeing all X's. "You didn't finish your little Voodoo thing, did you?"
"No." Bam shook his head. "I didn't leave an offering. Someone interrupted me."
"I'm glad I did. After seeing this place I'm not so sure we should mess with things we know nothing about." Dunn pulled Bam against him and kissed him on the forehead. "There, that's your Voodoo blessing. Now can we get out of here?"
"Ah, man, look what I found!" Novak shouted loudly.
Bam and Dunn quickly turned around shushing their loud mouth friend. If there were thieves hiding in the cemetery they didn't want them to know where they were. Novak came walking toward them with something in his hand. The closer he got the plainer the object became. It looked like one of the skulls from the Voodoo shop that Novak had been whining about wanting earlier. Bam sighed. He knew Novak's tricks by now. Whenever Novak wanted something he would steal it and then pretend like he found it somewhere later.
"Goddammit, Novak," Bam hissed in aggravation. "We're taking it back. I don't care if they put your ass in jail."
"I didn't steal it."
"Horseshit. Hand it over."
"But Bam-"
"Give me it," Bam snatched the skull out of Novak's hand. Unlike the skulls at the shop that were smooth and glossy, this one was filthy and had rotting hair attached to the top. "What the hell did you do to it?" Bam held the skull up to the moonlight to see it better since he was afraid a flashlight would attract thieves. Now that he looked at it up close it didn't really look like the ones at the shop. "Where did you get this?"
"It was in one of those tombs over there." Novak tossed a thumb over his shoulder. "The side of it was open so I reached in a took it out."
"You what?" Bam looked at the skull in his hand and gulped. It had to be a joke. Novak wasn't stupid enough to steal a human skull, was he? "V-very funny." Bam laughed nervously. "This isn't real."
"Yeah, it is. I can show you where I got it if you don't believe me."
"Eww! Fucking eww!" Bam quickly dropped the skull and Novak picked it up. He frantically wiped his hands on his clothing, shrieking like a prepubescent teen at a pop concert, and then punched Novak in the arm as hard as he could. "That's considered grave robbing, you jackass!"
"I was going to bring it back when I was done with it," Novak defended himself.
"Why do you need a skull?"
"I need it for my Halloween costume. I'm going to be a voodude."
"I don't even want to know what that's supposed to be. Just take it back where you got it. Now!"
The hushed sounds of footsteps caught Dunn's ear. He took a step back and looked around the tomb, seeing shadows against one of the tombs a few rows back. Frantically, Dunn hurried over to his friends and pressed his finger to his lips to silence them. "Someone's coming," he mouthed and pointed behind him.
Bam stepped around Dunn and looked for himself. Sure enough, he saw the shadows against the tomb and heard their soft footsteps. He turned to get his backpack but Novak had already got it for it. Quickly, but quietly they hurried back to the exit, knowing it was more likely a thief than a police officer. They climbed back over the stone fence and hastened down the street like a trio of convicts who had escaped from jail. They made the usual ten minute walk back to the French Quarter hotel in less than five minutes. When they reached the front door of the Omni Royal Orleans they were out of breath and painting like whores. People walking down the street just gave them a strange look and went on their way, but a few people that they recognized from the ghost tour (they had bailed on) stopped and stared at them, one being their friend Frantz.
"Where have you guys been?"
"Grave robbing," Novak answered and Bam slapped him in the back of the head.
"Ignore him." Bam took another breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Is the others back?"
"I think Ville is. He didn't stick around long after you left. The rest of the guys are behind me somewhere or either still on the vampire tour with the other band. I think it started later than the ghost tour."
"So, Ville's back?"
"He should be."
Bam nodded and went inside, leaving his friends behind. He wanted to talk to Ville before he lost his nerve. He took the elevator to the third floor and found Ville's room. It was across the hall from his own. Bam lifted his hand and knocked and instantly chickened out. He ran back across the hall to his room and quickly got his key card out of his back pocket, but Ville opened his door before he got it open.
"So you were just going to knock and run?" Ville asked in a hurt voice.
Bam turned around and saw the dark-haired Finn in the doorway, his face was expressionless. "Uh, no, I just remembered how late it was and I didn't want to wake you."
"Bam, it's not even eleven o'clock. Why would I be in bed?"
"Jet lag." Bam shrugged.
Ville rolled his eyes and turned around to go back in his room, but stopped. He turned back to Bam and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did you invite me to go on that tour if you were just going to ditch me?"
"It was boring. It didn't think you would notice I was gone."
"I noticed," Ville whispered. "I was actually looking forward to spending - nevermind." Ville turned around to go back in his room and Bam hurried over and caught his arm to stop him.
"We can go on the cemetery tour in the morning if you want. I promise I won't run off." Ville looked back at Bam but his expression hadn't changed. "Or maybe we could get some dinner or something after the show tomorrow."
"Are you asking me on a date?"
Bam let go of Ville's arm and looked down. "... maybe," he mumbled.
"Then it's a date."
Bam quickly looked up in shock. A smile spread across Ville's face and Bam's heart skipped a beat. "You're-you're not just fucking with me are you? Because that would be so mean."
"I'm not. I promise." Ville lifted is hand and gingerly touched Bam's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." With a wink Ville turned and went back in his room.
"Fuck yeah!" Bam shouted and he heard Ville laugh from inside his room. He threw his hand over his mouth and laughed at his own outburst. He couldn't believe it. He had a date with Ville. It took every ounce of restraint he had not to run up and down the hallway yelping like a fool, shouting his happiness for everyone to hear. Dunn was right. Ville did like him. He didn't need that Voodoo nonsense.
Bam unlocked the door to his hotel room and went inside. He jumped upon Dunn's bed and did a little dance and flung his backpack in the floor and flopped down on the bed, grinning like an idiot, thinking about the beautiful green-eyed Finn. Before he knew it he had drifted off to sleep, but nightmares plagued his dreams. He tossed and turned restlessly, unable to shake the image of the skull and the cemetery from his subconscious.
"You silly boy. You don't know what you have done," a voice whispered. It was as clear as daylight.
Bam jolted awake and sat up in the bed, drenched in a cold sweat, breathing heavily and clutching his chest like he was an asthmatic. Fearfully, he looked around the dark room and breathed out a sigh of relief when he realized where he was. Reaching over to the nightstand, Bam turned on the light and nearly had a heart attack. Ville sat at the end of his bed staring at him.
"How-how did you get in here?" Bam asked in a startled voice.
"Ryan let me in," Ville answered with a smile. "He said you stole his bed last night."
"What time is it?"
"Almost 9:30. We still have time to make the cemetery tour if we hurry." Ville shrugged. "Ryan and some of the guys already left."
"Why didn't someone wake me?" Bam asked in a hurried voice, throwing back the covers. He started to get up but Ville crawled over to him and pushed him back against the headboard and gave him a peck on the lips.
"I told Ryan I would wake you, but I just wanted to get him out of the room."
"What for?"
Ville licked his lips and trailed his finger down Bam's chest and grinned. "I thought we could have more fun here."
Bam gulped. "Wh-what about the tour?"
"What about it?" Ville purred in Bam's ear. "Wouldn't you rather spend the day with me - in me?"
Bam's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Ville pulled away from him with a wicked grin and sat back on his heels and started unfastening his belt. Bam didn't stop him. He wasn't sure what was going on but if this was a dream he never wanted to wake up. Ville pulled his belt from the loops and tossed it in the floor and undid his pants and pulled them open. Bam lifted his hips without being told. Ville looked up at him and smiled. For a moment, Bam lost himself in Ville's beautiful green orbs, but a fire suddenly flickered in his eyes, scaring the living shit out him. Bam shoved Ville backward and got up, backing away from the Finn with his fingers crossed like he was trying to ward off an evil spirit.
"What's wrong?" Ville asked, but the question had a dark undertone.
"I-I think you should leave."
"But why?" Ville got to his feet and walked toward Bam. "Don't you like me?"
"Ville, you know I like you," Bam said in a shaky voice, continuing to back away from the Finn. "But-but I just remembered I have to be somewhere."
"Oh really?" Ville asked, his voice clearly straining to remain calm.
"Yeah, I have this thing that I - that I can't miss. I have to meet someone."
Ville stopped in his tracks and clenched his fist. "There's someone else, isn't there?" Ville asked bitterly. "Is it Ryan or as you call him Dunn? Is that why you two always share a room?"
Ville took another step toward Bam and Bam stepped back, shaking his head. "No. No. Dunn is just a friend. I swear."
"Then it must be that little blond pixie down the hall. I knew there was a reason you wanted us to tour with them."
"Who, Jonne?" Bam asked in shock. "I didn't twist your arm to make you tour with them. They're only filling in for a few dates."
"How covenant for you."
"Ville there is no one else. I swear to you." Ville took another step and Bam ran to the door and unlocked it. He pulled it open and Ville reached around him and slammed it shut, pinning him against the door.
"I won't let anyone else have you," Ville hissed in his ear.
Bam shuttered in fear and Ville turned him around and forcefully pressed his lips to his. Fire shot through his body and a flash of the skull popped into his mind, but it disappeared the second Ville pulled away. The Finn laughed and shoved him out of the way and left without another word. As soon as Ville was through the door Bam slammed it behind him and turned the lock. He sunk to the floor unable to catch his breath, his heart was pounding in his chest like tribal drums. He had never had a panic attack in his life but he was sure this is what it felt like.
Taking a few more minutes to catch his breath, Bam shakily got to his feet and walked across the room got his cellphone out of his coat pocket and called Dunn. Before the other man could speak, Bam started talking. "Dunn, man, where are you?"
"I'm standing outside of Reverend Zombie's Voodoo Shop waiting for the tour to start. Why?"
"Ville attacked me. I think he's possessed."
"What?" Dunn laughed.
"I'm being serious!" Bam cried. "There is something wrong with him. I saw fire burning in his eyes and when he kissed it felt like flames were shooting through my body and I saw that damn skull flash in my head."
"Bam, are you on something?"
"I wish I was," Bam admitted in a tearful laugh. "We did something to him last night. I know we did."
"Bam, are you sure it wasn't a dream?"
"It wasn't a goddamn dream!" Bam shouted. "He was in my room when I woke up. You let him in!"
The line went silent. "... You are not lying are you."
"No, that's what I've been trying to tell you."
"Do you want me to come back to the hotel?"
"No. I need you to find Novak and ask him what he did with that skull?"
"Bam, I don't know where he is. He was supposed to come on the cemetery tour with us, but Frantz said he was gone when he woke up. I tried to call him but he's not picking up."
"Then keep trying."
"Do you want me to check and see if the 'you know' is in the cemetery? I know he didn't have it with him when we left."
"Yes, please."
"Okay, just stay where you are and I'll call you if I find it."
"Okay."
Bam hung up the phone and quickly got dressed. He wasn't going to wait around for Ville to come back. He was going to find out what was going on and the only place he knew where he might find answers was at the Voodoo shop, but he had a strange suspicion that the place was nothing more than a tourist trap.
* * * * *
The entire walk down Royal Street Bam had the feeling that someone was following him. He kept looking over his shoulder in paranoia but he never saw anyone, though he had a sneaking suspicion that Ville wasn't far behind. When the skies started to grow darker, Bam picked up his pace and ran the rest of the way down the street. When Bam reached St. Peters Street the rain came, but luckily Reverend Zombie's Voodoo Shop was only a short distance away.
Last night, before the ghost tour, he had been in the shop but it was too crowded to do much looking around. But thankfully, today, it wasn't as bad. The Voodoo shop looked like organized clutter. The walls were lined with anything you could think of. There were candles, incense, potions, hand carved statues and tribal masks, rosaries and fuchsia beads, pendants and talismans, voodoo dolls, gris-gris bags, evil eyes, trinkets, charms, tarot cards, occult books, and much more. Even the ceiling was cluttered with strange items hanging from it, but they didn't let one forget that it was a souvenir shop. At the front of the store set all kinds of oddities, including postcards and t-shirts with the shops name on it.
Bam walked down the isle, scrunching his face up as he passed by some of the items. On one of the shelves set animal parts. There were alligator heads and paws, chicken feet, and three-legged pigs among other things. Bam picked up one of the alligator's heads and ran his finger along its teeth. He turned it over and looked at the bottom. Made in China. Bam rolled his eyes and set it back down. He walked to the back of the store where the carved saint candles were and a familiar looking blond walked out from behind a beaded curtain. It was Jonne. The young Finn had a shopping bag in his hand from where he had bought something. Bam was happy to see a familiar face. In truth, he really didn't want to be alone.
"Hey," Bam said. "What are you doing here?"
Jonne jumped and turned, looking slightly startled, but relieved. He took a moment to catch his breath before he spoke. "You scared me."
"Sorry. What were you doing?"
"I was getting my fortune read. Apparently, I was a woman named Matilda in past life." Jonne rolled his eyes and laughed. "I can't believe I missed the cemetery tour to be told that."
"Isn't there another tour in at 1:00?"
"1:15, but I don't want to go alone. The psychic kind of creeped me out when she said someone wanted to harm me."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just bullshit they tell everyone. 'Like you have great things ahead of you, but someone wants to harm you,'" Jonne mocked. "It's a bit contradicting if you ask me."
"Hmm, that's weird. I wonder what kind of reading they'd give me."
"It's a waste of time and money. That's how I missed the tour." Jonne pouted. "I could have spent that twenty dollars on the tour. I really wanted to see it. I brought my camera and everything." Jonne looked over at Bam and stuck out his bottom lip.
Taking the hint, Bam laughed. "Jonne, would you like to go on the cemetery tour with me?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I haven't got anything else to do." Bam rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the shop. "Any idea where they keep the books about voodoo magic?"
"I thought Voodoo was a religion and hoodoo was magic."
"Then, why don't they call those," Bam pointed to the shelf he was standing next to, "hoodoo dolls?"
Jonne shrugged. "I guess not everyone uses them for putting curses and stuff on people... But I don't know. All this voodoo stuff freaks me out. I don't really want to mess with this stuff."
"Then why did you buy a voodoo doll?" Bam asked. "I can see its straw head popped out of the bag."
Jonne looked down and laughed. He opened his shopping bag, revealing two more dolls and some other odd items, including a t-shirt. "Souvenirs. I got one for me and my brothers."
"That's fine as long as you don't go putting a curse on me, Matilda," Bam chuckled.
"If you call me that again I will." Jonne laughed and gave Bam a playful shove.
"So, do you believe in this stuff?"
"Just because you don't understand something it doesn't make it unreal... but everything I know about Voodoo I've learned from movies."
Bam's cellphone started ringing. Bam reached in his pocket and got it out. He flipped it open and saw Dunn's number. "I need to take this," he whispered to Jonne.
"I have to go back to the hotel. I'll meet you back here at 12:45, okay?"
"Okay." Bam nodded and pressed the button on his phone to answer it. "Did you find it?"
"No, but I found where Novak got it from."
"Ask the tour guide if they found it laying around anywhere."
"I'm not going to ask that. The man said bothering graves is against the law."
"Then see what you can find out about whose grave it is. I'll meet you at the cemetery with the next tour group."
"Okay... Bam, where are you? I hear people talking."
"I'm at the Voodoo shop looking for a book about curses and demon possession."
"Just be careful and try to stay with a group of people. I'll see what information I can get from the tour guide."
"Call me if you find anything. And keep trying Novak."
"I will."
"Bye."
Bam hung up the phone. He walked over to the shelf of voodoo dolls and statues and looked at the little signs with their explanation and instructions under them. He reached out to pick up one of the wax Saint statues and someone swiped it out of his hand. Bam turned to yell at the person, but his words caught in his throat when he saw Ville. The Finn looked down at him with his piercing green eyes and smirked.
"So you ditched me for Jonne because you think I'm possessed." Ville snapped the wax statue in his hands and stepped closer to Bam, forcing him to back up. "I won't let anyone take you from me."
"Ville, you-you misunderstood. I was talking about Novak. He thinks he's possessed."
"Oh, really?"
"And-and Jonne," Bam took another step back, "he-he missed the first tour group and he was afraid to go alone. You-you can come with us if you want."
Ville lifted his hand and gave Bam and slap on the cheek. "Oh, I plan on it."
Ville reached over to the shelf and dropped the broken statue next to the voodoo dolls. Bam wasn't positive, but it looked as if he picked something up and put it in his pocket. A loud boom of thunder suddenly echoed outside and Bam jumped. The lights in the shop suddenly flickered and went off. Bam felt Ville's hot breath against his ear and a finger brushed over his lips but no words were spoken. When the lights came back on, Ville was gone. An ice cold chill went up Bam's spine. He wrapped his arms around himself and looked out the shop door, seeing nothing but rain beating against the pavement.
A tap on his shoulder nearly sent him through the roof. Bam quickly turned around in a fright ready to scream, but it was just one of the workers. "Can I help you with anything?" the woman asked.
"Did you see where the man I was talking to went?"
"The tall one or the little blond?"
"The tall one."
"I think he left. So is there anything I can help you with?"
"Do you sell some kind of protection charms?"
"Yes, we have some near the front desk. Follow me."
The woman led him to some necklaces hanging near the front desk and pointed out a hexagon-shaped amulet with a strange eight pitch-forked design on the front and then went off to help another customer. Bam took one off the hook and read the paper tag hanging from it.
This Voodoo Charm carries the great power of Loa Eshu who will fiercely protect the wearer from harm. Please make sure that you only use this charm when needed as Eshu does not like to be called upon for no reason!
Bam turned the charm over and saw 'Made in China' on the back.
* * * * *
Bam didn't go back to the hotel. He waited at the shop since it was the meeting place for the tour, but his time wasn't completely wasted. He found a book about Voodoo that he hoped would help and also some items that were actually authentic, but finding them had been like a treasure hunt. He thought about getting his palm read to kill time, hoping it would distract him from Ville, but at the last minute he changed his mind, fearing he would hear something he didn't want to.
The rain had slowed down by the time Jonne walked through the front door. He was wearing a black and white cow-print coat with a fuzzy white party hat on his head and a matching white scarf around his neck. And if that wasn't enough, he had a black umbrella in his hand. Aside from his eye-catching getup, there was something different about him but Bam couldn't put his finger on it until Jonne started tugging at his scarf. His hair was shorter. It was still long but not as long as it had been an hour or so ago.
"I feel like this thing is choking me," Jonne complained, tugging at his scarf.
"What did you do to your hair?"
"Ville trimmed it up for me. He said it was looking kind of stringy."
"It looked fine to me."
"I thought so too, but Ville said it had split ends. Is that what you call it?"
"Yeah." Bam nodded. "Is he still coming?"
Jonne nodded and tugged at his scarf again, making a face like he was having trouble breathing. "He stopped at the coffee shop on the way."
"Jonne, just take it off if it's choking you."
"I can't. Ville tied a knot in it and I can't get it a loose."
"It's not even touching your neck."
"I know, but it's still bothering me."
"We can cut it off."
"No, my grandmother bought me this."
Bam reached over to help Jonne with his scarf and he saw Ville coming down the street through the window. He was dressed completely in black, except for the orange bag he had over his shoulder. The dark makeup he had around his eyes made him look even more like a vampire. Just before he got to the door he hid something in his pocket.
Jonne suddenly stopped tugging at his scarf. "That's better," he breathed out in relief.
Ville walked inside of the shop grinning like he had been up to no good, but the sexy smirk that twisted his lips made Bam weak in the knees, though he was terrified of him. "This should be fun," Ville commented.
* * * * *
Dunn was waiting just inside the cemetery gate when they reached the St. Louis Cemetery No.1 for the tour. The walk from the Voodoo shop had only been about ten minutes but the rain made it seem twice as long. Jonne tugged at his scarf almost the entire way until the tour guide stopped and took pity on him and helped him get it off. Jonne was thankful but he complained to Bam that the man had ripped his scarf, even though the tear looked like a piece had purposely been cut out. Ville lingered at the back of the crowd the entire way, making no attempt to catch up with Bam or Jonne.
"Thanks for waiting," Bam whispered to his friend. "Did you find out anything?"
"Just that the skull belonged to an ex-Voodoo queen, who was overthrown by Marie Laveau. So we have a vengeful spirit on our hands."
"Great," Bam muttered. "What am I supposed to do?"
"There's a stature of a monkey and a cock that's supposedly the most powerful voodoo hoodoo charm. It's supposed to immediately remove hexes. It dates back to Marie Laveau herself."
"And where do I find that?"
"You can try the Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. It's on the Bourbon Street. It's not far from the other shop. We can go there now if you want."
Bam glanced over at Jonne with his camera and shook his head, knowing how much the Finn wanted to see the cemetery. "After the tour, okay?"
"Sure, but this can't end fast enough for me. This place is fucking creepy, especially in this weather. I feel like I've stepped into an Anne Rice novel and Lestat is creeping along behind me." Dunn pulled his coat tighter around him, but it clearly wasn't doing him much good since he was already wet. "I'm surprised that you brought Ville with you."
"I had to. He would have followed me anyway." Bam glanced over his shoulder and Ville smiled mischievously. "He's seriously creeping me out. Try to walk faster. I don't want him catching up."
"Wow, look at that," Jonne said, pointing to a large ornate marble tomb behind an iron fence with Italia written under a sculptured figure of a woman. On top of the large structure was another figure holding a cross. Jonne snapped a few shots with his camera and walked over to Bam. "Can you take a picture of me? Please, please, please."
"Sure," Bam laughed. "Wait until the tour guide moves."
Jonne nodded and eagerly bounced on his heels in anticipation, like a little boy waiting in line at Disney Land.
"He's so cute," Bam whispered to Dunn, laughing. Someone suddenly bumped into him and knocked him forward. Bam grabbed to the wrought-iron fence in front of one of the graves to keep from falling and turned around seeing Ville standing behind him with a fake apologetic expression.
"I am so sorry. It's slippery out. You really have to watch where you step." Ville smirked and walked off, purposely bumping into Jonne along the way and disappearing behind the large Italia tomb.
Bam and Dunn glanced at each other with the same uneasy feeling. The tour group moved on to the next tomb and Jonne handed Dunn his umbrella and ran over to the tomb and struck a pose. Bam snapped the camera and then stepped back into the walkway to get a full picture of the statue.
"Jonne this isn't an amusement park. Stop smiling so wide," Bam chuckled. Jonne closed his mouth and Bam took a couple more pictures and laughed when he saw them appear on the screen. "You look like a skinny angelic cow in that coat," Bam snickered.
"I want to see," Jonne squealed, hurrying back over to his friends. But before he got there he suddenly fell, tripping over some fallen bricks, and hitting the ground hard. The painful scream that left his mouth seemed to echo through the tombs. "Oh God," Jonne wailed, curling up on the ground, holding his knee.
Bam and Dunn ran over to the crying Finn and knelt down to help him, but Jonne wouldn't let them touch him, fearing more pain. Before they even thought to call for help the tour guide came running back to them to see what was wrong. "Move out of the way," the man said. Bam moved back but Dunn stayed where he was holding the umbrella to keep the rain off them.
"It hurts. It hurts," Jonne sobbed.
"Honey, let me see it."
"Nooo," Jonne cried.
Hearing a faint laugh, Bam looked up and saw Ville peeping around the large statue. When he saw Bam he waved and disappeared behind the marble tomb. Bam knew that without a doubt Ville was somehow responsible for Jonne's accident, though he wasn't sure how.
* * * * *
Bam wanted to go to the hospital with Jonne, but he feared Ville would hurt the Finn worse. But he still called Seppo and told him the news so he could get word to Jonne's brother and his band. Seppo of course did as Bam asked and a short time later he called Ville, frantic about finding another band to open the show tonight. Which thankfully, got Ville out of their hair, allowing them to sneak off to Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo.
The Voodoo shop was similar to the other one except it was smaller and had an altar for Marie Laveau, with a sign nearby warning people not to touch it. Bam and Dunn both steered clear of it, fearing another curse. But just like the other shop, this too was a tourist trap. The front desk was lined with cheap overpriced odds and ends and even cigars and cigarettes.
Bam picked up a couple bracelets at the front desk for Jonne, knowing he would like the small gift. Though, he knew it would do little to cheer him up or make him feel better. He felt bad for Jonne. The blond had been so excited to play his first gig in America, but now it wasn't going to happen. Bam blamed himself just as much as he did Novak and Ville.
Moving through the rest of the shop with a heavy heart, Bam browsed through the items searching for the statue. He found everything from coffin nails to voodoo dolls but not the statue he was looking for. Either he was over looking them or they didn't have them. Bam was getting frustrated. He turned around and bit his bottom lip and looked toward the curtain in the back with Our Lady of Guadalupe on it. He knew that was where all the psychic readings went on but he was too scared to go back there. He started to turn away from it and something on the altar caught his eyes. A small yellow hand carved statue of a monkey and a cock sat on the altar. Bam wanted to hit himself. He had wandered around the shop for the past ten minutes searching for a monkey with a dick, but instead it was a monkey and a rooster.
"Uh, do you have anymore of these statues?" Bam asked the worker as he turned around. The worker nodded and said something but her words were lost when he saw Ville standing outside the window looking in. "Shit." Bam cursed. "Dunn," Bam whispered, getting his friends attention. He bobbed his head toward the window and Dunn turned around and groaned.
Ville walked into the shop looking like a true vampire in the dim light. The tattooed multi-colored haired Goths working behind the counter instantly seemed to turn their attention to him. Whether they recognized him as the front man of HIM or if they were just entranced by his appearance, Bam wasn't sure but he hoped they would keep his busy so he could get his statue and go.
But luck wasn't on his side. Ville waved the women off like they were flies and strolled over to the shelf of voodoo dolls with an evil glint in his eye. He picked up one of the voodoo dolls and turned around to face Dunn. "I have to be prepared," he laughed, and then set it back down. "It was a joke. Stop looking at me like that." Ville sighed, but it came out sounding more like a mock than that of frustration. Ville tapped one of the dolls with his index finger and walked over to Bam. "Those look cute with blond hair."
Bam's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. Ville had caused Jonne to get hurt. For the first time, Bam truly looked at Ville like a stranger. He didn't know the person standing before him. Whoever that was wasn't Ville. Ville would never hurt anyone. "Why are you doing this?" Bam whispered.
"Doing what?" Ville asked innocently.
"You know what I'm talking about," Bam spat softly. "Ville, you have to stop this. I know you're still in there somewhere."
"You are so cute when you're ranting like a mad man." Ville whispered and tapped Bam on the nose. "I wish I could stick around longer, but I have a concert to get ready for." Ville whirled around and turned so he was facing both Bam and Dunn. "You boys don't stay out to late. I'd hate to have to come looking for you." Ville flashed a wicked smile and walked over to a shelf and picked up a couple black candles. "Add it to his bill," Ville told the workers and walked out, leaving both of the women enchanted.
Dunn's cellphone suddenly started ringing. Dunn reached in his pocket and got it out, seeing Novak's number. "It's Novak," Dunn whispered. Bam snatched it out of his hand before he could say another word.
"Where the hell are you?" Bam snapped.
"I must have hit the wrong number. I was trying to call Dunn."
"You hang up and I'll strangle you," Bam warned. "Hang on a minute."
"Dunn, buy that statue. I'm going to take this outside." Dunn nodded and Bam walked out of the building. He looked up and down the street to make sure Ville was gone before he spoke. "Where are you?"
"In some swampy place outside of New Orleans. I'm looking for somethings for my voodude costume."
"I don't care about your damn costume. What did you do with that skull last night?"
"What skull?"
"Tell me what you did with it or I'm going to murder you."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Cut the crap!" Bam yelled. "Novak, please, just tell me where it is. I think Ville's possessed or cursed or something. He hurt Jonne."
"The little blond one?"
"Yes. Novak if you have it please tell me where it is before Ville hurts anyone else."
Novak hesitated. "... I put it in your backpack."
"You what!" Bam exploded. "You mean I carried it out of the cemetery?"
"I didn't know how else to get it out."
"Oh, my God," Bam mumbled. "It's no wonder I'm the one cursed. I fucking stole it."
"Are you mad at me?"
"If I survive this I'm going to kill you."
"Uh-oh." Novak hung up.
Bam closed the phone and turned around to go back inside and smacked into Dunn. "For fuck's sake," Bam breathed out.
"Sorry," Dunn apologized. "Did Novak tell you where it was?"
"It's in my backpack."
"Son of a bitch!" Dunn shouted. "I slept with that under my bed last night, well, your bed. Let's go back to the hotel and get it and take it back to the cemetery. Now."
"Ville will come after us. You heard him. Let's wait until the concert tonight night. It's the only chance we have."
"But it's fucking Halloween. All Hallows' Eve!"
"I know. I'll take the skull back and you break into Ville's hotel room and see if you can find those voodoo dolls or whatever he's using."
"I think I'm going to go back in that shop and buy every fucking protection charm they have."
* * * * *
That night, when the concert rolled around, Bam and Dunn rode to the venue with the band, pretending as if nothing was up. They hung around the backstage area until the concert started, and then made up some bullshit story about going to find a good spot to watch the show from. They waited until HIM was announced to go on before sneaking outside and calling a taxi to go back to the hotel.
Bam grabbed his backpack out of under the bed and wished Dunn luck and hurried back outside to the waiting taxi and had the driver to drop him a block away from the cemetery, even though it was raining again. He pulled his hoodie up over his head and hurried down the street, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. By the time he reached the cemetery he was drenched. It was hard to tell if the rain had soaked through his shirt or if he was sweating that bad.
Tossing his backpack upon the stone wall first, Bam then heaved himself upon the wall and took a minute to catch his breath before going any farther. He dropped down as quietly as he could into the cemetery and swallowed hard. It looked even scarier than it did last night. Bam found a hiding spot behind one of the tombs and crouched down and got out his phone and called Dunn. Dunn answered on the first ring.
"Did you find anything?" Bam asked.
"Not yet. Maybe he took them with him."
"Just keep looking."
"Are you at the cemetery?"
"Yes, and I'm hiding like a coward."
"Just be careful. Who knows who else might be there... or what else," Dunn whispered.
"Please stop saying that. I'm already freaked out enough. Where was that damn tomb again?"
"Did you hop the fence on St. Louis Street like I told you?"
"No, Treme Street like last time. I forgot."
"You're at the back of the cemetery." Dunn sighed into the phone. "Do you remember the way to Marie Laveau tomb?"
"I think so."
"Okay, follow the same path we took last time but make a left when you see the first tree. It's near the center of the cemetery. Walk down the pathway until you see two white tombs with a path between them. There should be three tombs behind it that are setting at an odd angle. Walk to the left or ever which way you see a bunch of tombs close together. There should be a small crumbling unmarked tomb with the side open nearby. And that's it."
Bam repeated the directions in his head over and over, knowing that it wasn't going to be so easy to find it. The cemetery was filed with the tombs he described.
"Bingo!" Dunn yelled suddenly. "I found the dolls. They were in a box under the bed with a bunch of other weird stuff. I think he was in the process of making me a doll."
"Is Jonne's there too?"
"Yes, what do you want me to do with them?"
"Uh, put everything in a duffel bag and take it downstairs and have the manager put it in a safe... and get your ass down here."Bam dropped the phone from his ear, hearing a scraping sound. He carefully peeped around the tomb he was hiding behind but didn't see anything. Sighing in relief, Bam lifted the phone back to his ear. "Please hurry. I'm freaking out. I keep hearing things."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
"And call Frantz and make sure Ville's still at the venue."
"Okay. Make sure you have the phone on vibrate and I'll call you back."
"It already is. Please hurry."
Bam hung up the phone and crawled over to the next tomb on his hands and knees and hid behind it and listened for any sounds before moving on to the next one. His turtle like movement only worked for a little while before he was forced to get to his feet. The narrow walkways and close tombs had his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't tell if anyone was hiding behind them or not until he was upon them. He wished that he had been smart enough to bring along something for protection but he was in too much of a rush to get this over with to think about such a thing.
Taking a deep breath, Bam darted across one of the more open walkways and slipped between two closely set mausoleums with crosses on the iron fence in front of them and hid. Bam took another deep breath and listened for any movement around him. The rain was starting to come down more, drowning out the sounds of the cemetery. Though, he still managed to hear what sounded like a brick falling from one of the tombs. Bam gulped. He didn't want to go any farther until Dunn got here.
Trying not to let the eerie sounds freak him out, Bam forced himself to keep moving. He crawled across the next walkway and hunched down beside of a small grave with bricks piled on top of it. Bam didn't linger long, especially when he noticed that part of the top was open. If he had been with a group of friends in the daylight he might have looked inside but under these circumstances he wouldn't do it for money.
Hearing the scuffle of shoes against the paved path, Bam quickly wedged himself between two small plastered-brick tombs and hid. He lifted his hand to cover his mouth to silence any sound that might slip out. At first, he thought he was just hearing things until he saw two men in ski mask walk behind one of the tombs in front of him. Thieves. It was just what he needed. Not only did he have to worry about Ville showing up but he had to be careful not to get mugged. If he lost his backpack he was fucked.
Bam stayed where he was. He didn't move an inch until he was certain the men had moved on to another part of the cemetery. Slipping out between the tombs, Bam crawled down the walkway. He wasn't sure if he was heading in the right direction or not but he was too afraid to get up and look around to see if he could spot the tree Dunn was talking about.
The phone in his pocket started vibrating. Bam found a safe place to hide and answered it. He put the phone to his ear and whispered a soft hello but he wasn't sure if Dunn heard him or not. The phone was starting to lose service. Bam moved to another spot hoping it would help, but the weather seemed to be the culprit for the bad connection. "Dunn, I can barely hear you. Say that again."
"The show is delayed."
"What?"
"The show is delayed," Dunn repeated. "There's problems with the electricity."
Bam's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. "Is Ville there?"
"I don't know. Frantz couldn't find him."
"Oh shit," Bam whispered, looking back over his shoulder.
"Have you found the tomb yet?"
"No, I'm not sure where I'm at. I saw some thieves so I hid."
"Okay, just stay where you are and I'll come find you."
"Please hurry."
"I'm on my-"
The phone cut out. Bam tried to call him back but the phone was dead. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Bam carefully peeped out from around the tomb he was hiding beside of. He looked to his right and them to his left. He didn't see anything, but there appeared to be a strange white mist hovering above one of the tombs in the distance. Bam had heard this place was haunted but he didn't want to find out first hand. A cigarette dropped in front of him, snapping him out of his trance.
"Looking for someone?"
Bam quickly looked up and saw Ville sitting on top of the tomb beside him. Bam couldn't help the scream that slipped from his mouth. He got to his feet and ran, uncaring if the thieves heard him or not. He kept looking back over his shoulder. Ville was coming after him, taunting him all the way. He forced his legs to move faster and pushed himself on through the Gothic necropolis. The jumbled maze-like walkways were like a cruel joke. Everywhere he turned there were tombs. He could find his way out. He wanted to scream but he knew that would do more harm than help.
Hearing the thieves running back toward him, Bam darted between a couple mausoleums and hid. Breathing heavily, he covered his mouth to silence himself. He heard the mens footsteps coming from one way and Ville's from another. The Finn stopped a short distance from where he hid and turned around in circles looking for him. Their eyes suddenly met. Ville started toward him but a laugh grabbed his attention.
"Well, what do we have here?" a man asked.
"Looks like we found ourselves a pretty one," another man responded.
Bam peeped out from his hiding place and saw the two thieves walking toward Ville. Ville made no effort to run. He stood his ground and just stared at the men like they were wasting his time.
"Cat got your tongue, missy?"
"Missy," Ville repeated in an angry voice.
"It's a dude," the other man said in disgust. "Let's fuck him up."
One of the men got a knife out of his pocket and walked toward him. The other man followed, laughing as he got his own weapon out of his pocket. Bam got to his feet. Even if Ville wasn't himself he wasn't going to let some thugs hurt him. "Leave him alo-"
"Holy shit!" one of the men screamed, interrupting. He dropped his knife and ran off with his friend like a couple bats out of hell.
Bam stood frozen. He couldn't figure out what happened until Ville turned his head and looked at him with flames burning in his eyes, piercing the night. Bam stumbled backwards in fear and nearly lost his balance, unable to find his voice to scream. Ville walked over and picked up the knife and brushed his finger along the blade and smiled
"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." Ville licked the blood from his finger and turned around to face Bam. "But you leave me no choice."
"Ville, please, just put the knife down and we'll talk about this."
"What's the matter Bam, not having fun on our date?" Ville laughed, waking toward him.
Without warning,Ville lunged forward with the knife. Bam bolted, screaming all the way, begging for someone to help him. But a pile of fallen bricks brought him to his knees. He stumbled over them and hit the ground, sending his backpack flying off his shoulder. Ville's footsteps and the scrapping of the knife against the side of a nearby tomb met his ears. Bam quickly got to his feet and looked around to see where his backpack landed. Seeing it near one of the tombs, Bam hurried over to pick it up but Ville stepped out in front of him and snatched it up.
"Looking for this?" Ville asked, holding the bag up in front of Bam in a taunting manner.
"Ville, please just give me the bag. Let me fix this."
"But where would the fun be in that?" Ville asked. "I kind of like this little cat and mouse game. Maybe I won't kill you after all. I'll just go after your friends."
"I'll tell everyone what you are?" Bam threatened.
"Who's going to believe you?" Ville asked, walking toward Bam, grinning.
Bam reached in his pocket and pulled out the monkey and the cock statue and held it out in front of him as if it would protect him.
"Sorry, sweetheart, that won't work." Ville snatched it out of Bam's hand and hurled it into the neighborhood of tombs. Laughing, he turned back to Bam and lifted the knife to his chest and tapped it against his shirt. "I think I'll get rid of your friend Ryan next since that statue was his bright idea."
"Leave him alone."
"Leave him alone," Ville mocked, stepping back from Bam. He brushed his wet hair out of his face and looked around like he heard something. "Is someone else here?" Ville turned back to Bam, expecting an answer.
Bam turned and ran, darting down a narrow pathway. A flash of lightning lit up the night sky. Bam spotted the Italia tomb that Jonne had been so excited to see at the end. He was going the wrong way. Bam turned the first chance he got and ran back in the other direction, finding Ville around the next corner. Bam skidded to a halt and started to run but something caught his eye. He didn't have time to register what was going on until after it happened. Dunn ran out from behind one of the tombs and grabbed Ville around the waist and threw him into one of the tombs, knocking him out cold. The Finn hit the ground with a thud.
Bam looked at Dunn in shock. They stared at each other for a few seconds before they came back to themselves. Slowly, Bam walked over to Ville and knelt down. He reached out his hand to touch him, but fearfully jerked it back. Mustering all the courage he could, he touched Ville's cheek and then checked to make sure he was still breathing. He was.
"Get my flashlight out of my backpack," Bam told Dunn hurriedly. Dunn did as he was told and handed it to Bam. Bam turned it on and shined it against Ville's face. Ville's eyes were closed. He carefully rolled Ville's head to the side, seeing a large knot beginning to form and a small trickle of blood running down his head. Bam winced and looked back to Dunn. "He's going to feel that tomorrow."
"We're going to feel that in a few minutes if we don't put that skull back."
"Where does it go?"
"Over there." Dunn pointed behind him. "I'll show you."
"What about Ville?"
"I don't think he's going anywhere," Dunn commented, but still reached down and picked up the knife Ville dropped to be on the safe side.
Bam nodded. He leaned over and gave Ville a kiss on the forehead and got up. "I'm going to fix this so please don't wake up and kill me."
"Bam come on."
Giving Ville a final look, Bam followed Dunn back through the narrow paths. When they reached the small tomb Bam unzipped his backpack and got out the decaying skull. He looked at it and shuttered in fear and quickly put it back in the tomb. He stood there a few seconds expecting some magically show, but there was nothing.
"I hope that worked."
"Me too. Let's get Ville and get the hell out of here."
"I'm one step ahead of you," Bam laughed nervously.
They hurried back to the spot where they left Ville and the singer was still lying there. Bam slipped his arm under him in an attempt to get him up and Ville's eyes fluttered open, startling him. Bam's heart skipped a beat and he jerked away from him. Ville grunted in pain and lifted his hand to his head. Bam shined the flashlight on him, seeing squinted green eyes looking back at him.
"What happened?" Ville whispered.
"Is it really you?"
Ville just stared at him in confusion and repeated his question."
"... Someone tried to rob us. One of them shoved you and you hit you head, but they're gone now."
Ville nodded slightly and closed his eyes.
Hearing something behind them, Bam looked back over his shoulder seeing the faceless apparition of a woman in colorful clothing standing at the end of the path where they had taken the skull. Bam quickly turned back to Dunn. "Help me get him up. And let's get the fuck out of here."
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Dunn replied quickly and helped to get Ville to his feet.
After a few minutes of practically dragging Ville along with them, Bam had had enough. He picked Ville up and ran, swearing he'd never step foot in the cemetery again.
* * * * *
The end
A/N: I wrote this in less than a week so I hope it turned out okay. I was having trouble getting anything started so I was kind of going back and forth with stories trying to figure which one to do. I nearly ditched this story last night because I couldn't get it to come together, but I worked it out. It just took a LONG time.
Anyway, I hoped you liked it. Please comment. I want to know if it was worth the trouble. please don't flame me! *hides in corner*
Other Halloween stories (or more proof my momma dropped me on my head):
Reflection of the Moon
The Wooden Rose
Salem
The Hitchhiker
Northwood
Author: annushkazhivago
Rating: PG13
Genre: Horror
Summary: All Bam wanted was for Ville to like him.
Disclaimer: Fiction
Warnings: Voodoo, hoodoo, grave robbing
A/N: Please overlook any mistakes. I don't have time to read it one last time.
Voodoo
******
October 30, New Orleans, Louisiana
An ominous full moon hang in a starless pitch-black sky, shining its silver beams across the marble and brick tombs in the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. The centuries-old necropolis had closed its gate hours ago, but that didn't keep Bam, Dunn, and Novak from sneaking off from the tour group and hopping the fence. The twisting labyrinth of narrow walkways and dilapidated tombs was unnerving. Everywhere they looked there were aging mausoleums and massive wall vaults. It felt like at any given moment someone or something would jump out and attack them, which was quite possible. The cemetery was supposedly haunted and not to mention, it was located in a bad part of town and the above ground tombs made an excellent hiding place for thieves. But they were willing to take their chances. According to the woman at the Voodoo shop, the Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau was buried somewhere within the city of the dead. Legends says that the Voodoo priestess granted wishes from the beyond, and that, was what they were after.
Bam swallowed hard and gripped the strap of his backpack tighter as he nervously looked at the white washed tomb of the Voodoo queen. He was chickening out. He could feel it. Surely there had to be another way of getting Ville to fall in love with him than this. This was silly, stupid even, but he was out of ideas. He was in love with one of his best friends but he was terrified to tell him that. The last thing he wanted was to lose Ville as a friend, even if it broke his heart every time he was around him.
Bam took a deep breath and picked up a fallen brick from a nearby crumbling tomb and walked over to the Voodoo queen's final resting place, going over the ritual in his head. Bam took another deep breath and glanced behind him to see if Dunn and Novak had caught up with him yet. He had done his damnedest to leave them behind so they wouldn't hear his wish and it appeared that he had.
Setting his backpack on the ground, Bam got out his heartagram necklace as an offering and held it in his left hand. He walked up to the front of Marie Laveau's tomb and knocked three times (to wake her from her sleep) and then scratched three X's on the front of the tomb with the piece of brick and then knocked three more times. "I wish my friend Ville would fall in love with me."
"You what?" Dunn asked suddenly, starling Bam.
Bam quickly hid the necklace in his pocket and whirled around to see his friend standing behind him shaking his head. The other man looked disappointed in him.
"I-I didn't say anything," Bam stuttered.
"Uh, yes, you did. I heard you," Dunn replied.
"It was a joke. I knew you were coming." Bam laughed, hoping he would believe it.
"Bam, stop with the bullshit. I know you like Ville, but this isn't the way. If this Voodoo shit works would you honestly want a relationship based on a lie?" Bam didn't reply. "How could you sleep with him and not feel like you're raping him? Just because he would be willing it doesn't mean that's what he really wants."
Bam looked down at his feet as if Dunn's words had shamed him. "I didn't think of it like that," Bam whispered softly. "Dunn, I just want to be with him. It kills me seeing him with other people."
"Then tell him how you feel."
"I'm afraid he won't be my friend anymore if I tell him that. I don't want to lose him."
"Bam, I can't see how Ville doesn't know that you're in love with him. Your house is like a shine to him. It's pretty creepy, man. I mean, if he hasn't filed a restraining order against you by now then he's not going to ditch you for admitting you're in love with him... Maybe that's what he's waiting for." Dunn smiled kindly and slipped his arm around Bam's shoulder. "I think he likes you. I really do. You should talk to him."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah, I do." Dunn smiled and looked over at the Voodoo queen's tomb, seeing all X's. "You didn't finish your little Voodoo thing, did you?"
"No." Bam shook his head. "I didn't leave an offering. Someone interrupted me."
"I'm glad I did. After seeing this place I'm not so sure we should mess with things we know nothing about." Dunn pulled Bam against him and kissed him on the forehead. "There, that's your Voodoo blessing. Now can we get out of here?"
"Ah, man, look what I found!" Novak shouted loudly.
Bam and Dunn quickly turned around shushing their loud mouth friend. If there were thieves hiding in the cemetery they didn't want them to know where they were. Novak came walking toward them with something in his hand. The closer he got the plainer the object became. It looked like one of the skulls from the Voodoo shop that Novak had been whining about wanting earlier. Bam sighed. He knew Novak's tricks by now. Whenever Novak wanted something he would steal it and then pretend like he found it somewhere later.
"Goddammit, Novak," Bam hissed in aggravation. "We're taking it back. I don't care if they put your ass in jail."
"I didn't steal it."
"Horseshit. Hand it over."
"But Bam-"
"Give me it," Bam snatched the skull out of Novak's hand. Unlike the skulls at the shop that were smooth and glossy, this one was filthy and had rotting hair attached to the top. "What the hell did you do to it?" Bam held the skull up to the moonlight to see it better since he was afraid a flashlight would attract thieves. Now that he looked at it up close it didn't really look like the ones at the shop. "Where did you get this?"
"It was in one of those tombs over there." Novak tossed a thumb over his shoulder. "The side of it was open so I reached in a took it out."
"You what?" Bam looked at the skull in his hand and gulped. It had to be a joke. Novak wasn't stupid enough to steal a human skull, was he? "V-very funny." Bam laughed nervously. "This isn't real."
"Yeah, it is. I can show you where I got it if you don't believe me."
"Eww! Fucking eww!" Bam quickly dropped the skull and Novak picked it up. He frantically wiped his hands on his clothing, shrieking like a prepubescent teen at a pop concert, and then punched Novak in the arm as hard as he could. "That's considered grave robbing, you jackass!"
"I was going to bring it back when I was done with it," Novak defended himself.
"Why do you need a skull?"
"I need it for my Halloween costume. I'm going to be a voodude."
"I don't even want to know what that's supposed to be. Just take it back where you got it. Now!"
The hushed sounds of footsteps caught Dunn's ear. He took a step back and looked around the tomb, seeing shadows against one of the tombs a few rows back. Frantically, Dunn hurried over to his friends and pressed his finger to his lips to silence them. "Someone's coming," he mouthed and pointed behind him.
Bam stepped around Dunn and looked for himself. Sure enough, he saw the shadows against the tomb and heard their soft footsteps. He turned to get his backpack but Novak had already got it for it. Quickly, but quietly they hurried back to the exit, knowing it was more likely a thief than a police officer. They climbed back over the stone fence and hastened down the street like a trio of convicts who had escaped from jail. They made the usual ten minute walk back to the French Quarter hotel in less than five minutes. When they reached the front door of the Omni Royal Orleans they were out of breath and painting like whores. People walking down the street just gave them a strange look and went on their way, but a few people that they recognized from the ghost tour (they had bailed on) stopped and stared at them, one being their friend Frantz.
"Where have you guys been?"
"Grave robbing," Novak answered and Bam slapped him in the back of the head.
"Ignore him." Bam took another breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Is the others back?"
"I think Ville is. He didn't stick around long after you left. The rest of the guys are behind me somewhere or either still on the vampire tour with the other band. I think it started later than the ghost tour."
"So, Ville's back?"
"He should be."
Bam nodded and went inside, leaving his friends behind. He wanted to talk to Ville before he lost his nerve. He took the elevator to the third floor and found Ville's room. It was across the hall from his own. Bam lifted his hand and knocked and instantly chickened out. He ran back across the hall to his room and quickly got his key card out of his back pocket, but Ville opened his door before he got it open.
"So you were just going to knock and run?" Ville asked in a hurt voice.
Bam turned around and saw the dark-haired Finn in the doorway, his face was expressionless. "Uh, no, I just remembered how late it was and I didn't want to wake you."
"Bam, it's not even eleven o'clock. Why would I be in bed?"
"Jet lag." Bam shrugged.
Ville rolled his eyes and turned around to go back in his room, but stopped. He turned back to Bam and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did you invite me to go on that tour if you were just going to ditch me?"
"It was boring. It didn't think you would notice I was gone."
"I noticed," Ville whispered. "I was actually looking forward to spending - nevermind." Ville turned around to go back in his room and Bam hurried over and caught his arm to stop him.
"We can go on the cemetery tour in the morning if you want. I promise I won't run off." Ville looked back at Bam but his expression hadn't changed. "Or maybe we could get some dinner or something after the show tomorrow."
"Are you asking me on a date?"
Bam let go of Ville's arm and looked down. "... maybe," he mumbled.
"Then it's a date."
Bam quickly looked up in shock. A smile spread across Ville's face and Bam's heart skipped a beat. "You're-you're not just fucking with me are you? Because that would be so mean."
"I'm not. I promise." Ville lifted is hand and gingerly touched Bam's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." With a wink Ville turned and went back in his room.
"Fuck yeah!" Bam shouted and he heard Ville laugh from inside his room. He threw his hand over his mouth and laughed at his own outburst. He couldn't believe it. He had a date with Ville. It took every ounce of restraint he had not to run up and down the hallway yelping like a fool, shouting his happiness for everyone to hear. Dunn was right. Ville did like him. He didn't need that Voodoo nonsense.
Bam unlocked the door to his hotel room and went inside. He jumped upon Dunn's bed and did a little dance and flung his backpack in the floor and flopped down on the bed, grinning like an idiot, thinking about the beautiful green-eyed Finn. Before he knew it he had drifted off to sleep, but nightmares plagued his dreams. He tossed and turned restlessly, unable to shake the image of the skull and the cemetery from his subconscious.
"You silly boy. You don't know what you have done," a voice whispered. It was as clear as daylight.
Bam jolted awake and sat up in the bed, drenched in a cold sweat, breathing heavily and clutching his chest like he was an asthmatic. Fearfully, he looked around the dark room and breathed out a sigh of relief when he realized where he was. Reaching over to the nightstand, Bam turned on the light and nearly had a heart attack. Ville sat at the end of his bed staring at him.
"How-how did you get in here?" Bam asked in a startled voice.
"Ryan let me in," Ville answered with a smile. "He said you stole his bed last night."
"What time is it?"
"Almost 9:30. We still have time to make the cemetery tour if we hurry." Ville shrugged. "Ryan and some of the guys already left."
"Why didn't someone wake me?" Bam asked in a hurried voice, throwing back the covers. He started to get up but Ville crawled over to him and pushed him back against the headboard and gave him a peck on the lips.
"I told Ryan I would wake you, but I just wanted to get him out of the room."
"What for?"
Ville licked his lips and trailed his finger down Bam's chest and grinned. "I thought we could have more fun here."
Bam gulped. "Wh-what about the tour?"
"What about it?" Ville purred in Bam's ear. "Wouldn't you rather spend the day with me - in me?"
Bam's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Ville pulled away from him with a wicked grin and sat back on his heels and started unfastening his belt. Bam didn't stop him. He wasn't sure what was going on but if this was a dream he never wanted to wake up. Ville pulled his belt from the loops and tossed it in the floor and undid his pants and pulled them open. Bam lifted his hips without being told. Ville looked up at him and smiled. For a moment, Bam lost himself in Ville's beautiful green orbs, but a fire suddenly flickered in his eyes, scaring the living shit out him. Bam shoved Ville backward and got up, backing away from the Finn with his fingers crossed like he was trying to ward off an evil spirit.
"What's wrong?" Ville asked, but the question had a dark undertone.
"I-I think you should leave."
"But why?" Ville got to his feet and walked toward Bam. "Don't you like me?"
"Ville, you know I like you," Bam said in a shaky voice, continuing to back away from the Finn. "But-but I just remembered I have to be somewhere."
"Oh really?" Ville asked, his voice clearly straining to remain calm.
"Yeah, I have this thing that I - that I can't miss. I have to meet someone."
Ville stopped in his tracks and clenched his fist. "There's someone else, isn't there?" Ville asked bitterly. "Is it Ryan or as you call him Dunn? Is that why you two always share a room?"
Ville took another step toward Bam and Bam stepped back, shaking his head. "No. No. Dunn is just a friend. I swear."
"Then it must be that little blond pixie down the hall. I knew there was a reason you wanted us to tour with them."
"Who, Jonne?" Bam asked in shock. "I didn't twist your arm to make you tour with them. They're only filling in for a few dates."
"How covenant for you."
"Ville there is no one else. I swear to you." Ville took another step and Bam ran to the door and unlocked it. He pulled it open and Ville reached around him and slammed it shut, pinning him against the door.
"I won't let anyone else have you," Ville hissed in his ear.
Bam shuttered in fear and Ville turned him around and forcefully pressed his lips to his. Fire shot through his body and a flash of the skull popped into his mind, but it disappeared the second Ville pulled away. The Finn laughed and shoved him out of the way and left without another word. As soon as Ville was through the door Bam slammed it behind him and turned the lock. He sunk to the floor unable to catch his breath, his heart was pounding in his chest like tribal drums. He had never had a panic attack in his life but he was sure this is what it felt like.
Taking a few more minutes to catch his breath, Bam shakily got to his feet and walked across the room got his cellphone out of his coat pocket and called Dunn. Before the other man could speak, Bam started talking. "Dunn, man, where are you?"
"I'm standing outside of Reverend Zombie's Voodoo Shop waiting for the tour to start. Why?"
"Ville attacked me. I think he's possessed."
"What?" Dunn laughed.
"I'm being serious!" Bam cried. "There is something wrong with him. I saw fire burning in his eyes and when he kissed it felt like flames were shooting through my body and I saw that damn skull flash in my head."
"Bam, are you on something?"
"I wish I was," Bam admitted in a tearful laugh. "We did something to him last night. I know we did."
"Bam, are you sure it wasn't a dream?"
"It wasn't a goddamn dream!" Bam shouted. "He was in my room when I woke up. You let him in!"
The line went silent. "... You are not lying are you."
"No, that's what I've been trying to tell you."
"Do you want me to come back to the hotel?"
"No. I need you to find Novak and ask him what he did with that skull?"
"Bam, I don't know where he is. He was supposed to come on the cemetery tour with us, but Frantz said he was gone when he woke up. I tried to call him but he's not picking up."
"Then keep trying."
"Do you want me to check and see if the 'you know' is in the cemetery? I know he didn't have it with him when we left."
"Yes, please."
"Okay, just stay where you are and I'll call you if I find it."
"Okay."
Bam hung up the phone and quickly got dressed. He wasn't going to wait around for Ville to come back. He was going to find out what was going on and the only place he knew where he might find answers was at the Voodoo shop, but he had a strange suspicion that the place was nothing more than a tourist trap.
* * * * *
The entire walk down Royal Street Bam had the feeling that someone was following him. He kept looking over his shoulder in paranoia but he never saw anyone, though he had a sneaking suspicion that Ville wasn't far behind. When the skies started to grow darker, Bam picked up his pace and ran the rest of the way down the street. When Bam reached St. Peters Street the rain came, but luckily Reverend Zombie's Voodoo Shop was only a short distance away.
Last night, before the ghost tour, he had been in the shop but it was too crowded to do much looking around. But thankfully, today, it wasn't as bad. The Voodoo shop looked like organized clutter. The walls were lined with anything you could think of. There were candles, incense, potions, hand carved statues and tribal masks, rosaries and fuchsia beads, pendants and talismans, voodoo dolls, gris-gris bags, evil eyes, trinkets, charms, tarot cards, occult books, and much more. Even the ceiling was cluttered with strange items hanging from it, but they didn't let one forget that it was a souvenir shop. At the front of the store set all kinds of oddities, including postcards and t-shirts with the shops name on it.
Bam walked down the isle, scrunching his face up as he passed by some of the items. On one of the shelves set animal parts. There were alligator heads and paws, chicken feet, and three-legged pigs among other things. Bam picked up one of the alligator's heads and ran his finger along its teeth. He turned it over and looked at the bottom. Made in China. Bam rolled his eyes and set it back down. He walked to the back of the store where the carved saint candles were and a familiar looking blond walked out from behind a beaded curtain. It was Jonne. The young Finn had a shopping bag in his hand from where he had bought something. Bam was happy to see a familiar face. In truth, he really didn't want to be alone.
"Hey," Bam said. "What are you doing here?"
Jonne jumped and turned, looking slightly startled, but relieved. He took a moment to catch his breath before he spoke. "You scared me."
"Sorry. What were you doing?"
"I was getting my fortune read. Apparently, I was a woman named Matilda in past life." Jonne rolled his eyes and laughed. "I can't believe I missed the cemetery tour to be told that."
"Isn't there another tour in at 1:00?"
"1:15, but I don't want to go alone. The psychic kind of creeped me out when she said someone wanted to harm me."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just bullshit they tell everyone. 'Like you have great things ahead of you, but someone wants to harm you,'" Jonne mocked. "It's a bit contradicting if you ask me."
"Hmm, that's weird. I wonder what kind of reading they'd give me."
"It's a waste of time and money. That's how I missed the tour." Jonne pouted. "I could have spent that twenty dollars on the tour. I really wanted to see it. I brought my camera and everything." Jonne looked over at Bam and stuck out his bottom lip.
Taking the hint, Bam laughed. "Jonne, would you like to go on the cemetery tour with me?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I haven't got anything else to do." Bam rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the shop. "Any idea where they keep the books about voodoo magic?"
"I thought Voodoo was a religion and hoodoo was magic."
"Then, why don't they call those," Bam pointed to the shelf he was standing next to, "hoodoo dolls?"
Jonne shrugged. "I guess not everyone uses them for putting curses and stuff on people... But I don't know. All this voodoo stuff freaks me out. I don't really want to mess with this stuff."
"Then why did you buy a voodoo doll?" Bam asked. "I can see its straw head popped out of the bag."
Jonne looked down and laughed. He opened his shopping bag, revealing two more dolls and some other odd items, including a t-shirt. "Souvenirs. I got one for me and my brothers."
"That's fine as long as you don't go putting a curse on me, Matilda," Bam chuckled.
"If you call me that again I will." Jonne laughed and gave Bam a playful shove.
"So, do you believe in this stuff?"
"Just because you don't understand something it doesn't make it unreal... but everything I know about Voodoo I've learned from movies."
Bam's cellphone started ringing. Bam reached in his pocket and got it out. He flipped it open and saw Dunn's number. "I need to take this," he whispered to Jonne.
"I have to go back to the hotel. I'll meet you back here at 12:45, okay?"
"Okay." Bam nodded and pressed the button on his phone to answer it. "Did you find it?"
"No, but I found where Novak got it from."
"Ask the tour guide if they found it laying around anywhere."
"I'm not going to ask that. The man said bothering graves is against the law."
"Then see what you can find out about whose grave it is. I'll meet you at the cemetery with the next tour group."
"Okay... Bam, where are you? I hear people talking."
"I'm at the Voodoo shop looking for a book about curses and demon possession."
"Just be careful and try to stay with a group of people. I'll see what information I can get from the tour guide."
"Call me if you find anything. And keep trying Novak."
"I will."
"Bye."
Bam hung up the phone. He walked over to the shelf of voodoo dolls and statues and looked at the little signs with their explanation and instructions under them. He reached out to pick up one of the wax Saint statues and someone swiped it out of his hand. Bam turned to yell at the person, but his words caught in his throat when he saw Ville. The Finn looked down at him with his piercing green eyes and smirked.
"So you ditched me for Jonne because you think I'm possessed." Ville snapped the wax statue in his hands and stepped closer to Bam, forcing him to back up. "I won't let anyone take you from me."
"Ville, you-you misunderstood. I was talking about Novak. He thinks he's possessed."
"Oh, really?"
"And-and Jonne," Bam took another step back, "he-he missed the first tour group and he was afraid to go alone. You-you can come with us if you want."
Ville lifted his hand and gave Bam and slap on the cheek. "Oh, I plan on it."
Ville reached over to the shelf and dropped the broken statue next to the voodoo dolls. Bam wasn't positive, but it looked as if he picked something up and put it in his pocket. A loud boom of thunder suddenly echoed outside and Bam jumped. The lights in the shop suddenly flickered and went off. Bam felt Ville's hot breath against his ear and a finger brushed over his lips but no words were spoken. When the lights came back on, Ville was gone. An ice cold chill went up Bam's spine. He wrapped his arms around himself and looked out the shop door, seeing nothing but rain beating against the pavement.
A tap on his shoulder nearly sent him through the roof. Bam quickly turned around in a fright ready to scream, but it was just one of the workers. "Can I help you with anything?" the woman asked.
"Did you see where the man I was talking to went?"
"The tall one or the little blond?"
"The tall one."
"I think he left. So is there anything I can help you with?"
"Do you sell some kind of protection charms?"
"Yes, we have some near the front desk. Follow me."
The woman led him to some necklaces hanging near the front desk and pointed out a hexagon-shaped amulet with a strange eight pitch-forked design on the front and then went off to help another customer. Bam took one off the hook and read the paper tag hanging from it.
This Voodoo Charm carries the great power of Loa Eshu who will fiercely protect the wearer from harm. Please make sure that you only use this charm when needed as Eshu does not like to be called upon for no reason!
Bam turned the charm over and saw 'Made in China' on the back.
* * * * *
Bam didn't go back to the hotel. He waited at the shop since it was the meeting place for the tour, but his time wasn't completely wasted. He found a book about Voodoo that he hoped would help and also some items that were actually authentic, but finding them had been like a treasure hunt. He thought about getting his palm read to kill time, hoping it would distract him from Ville, but at the last minute he changed his mind, fearing he would hear something he didn't want to.
The rain had slowed down by the time Jonne walked through the front door. He was wearing a black and white cow-print coat with a fuzzy white party hat on his head and a matching white scarf around his neck. And if that wasn't enough, he had a black umbrella in his hand. Aside from his eye-catching getup, there was something different about him but Bam couldn't put his finger on it until Jonne started tugging at his scarf. His hair was shorter. It was still long but not as long as it had been an hour or so ago.
"I feel like this thing is choking me," Jonne complained, tugging at his scarf.
"What did you do to your hair?"
"Ville trimmed it up for me. He said it was looking kind of stringy."
"It looked fine to me."
"I thought so too, but Ville said it had split ends. Is that what you call it?"
"Yeah." Bam nodded. "Is he still coming?"
Jonne nodded and tugged at his scarf again, making a face like he was having trouble breathing. "He stopped at the coffee shop on the way."
"Jonne, just take it off if it's choking you."
"I can't. Ville tied a knot in it and I can't get it a loose."
"It's not even touching your neck."
"I know, but it's still bothering me."
"We can cut it off."
"No, my grandmother bought me this."
Bam reached over to help Jonne with his scarf and he saw Ville coming down the street through the window. He was dressed completely in black, except for the orange bag he had over his shoulder. The dark makeup he had around his eyes made him look even more like a vampire. Just before he got to the door he hid something in his pocket.
Jonne suddenly stopped tugging at his scarf. "That's better," he breathed out in relief.
Ville walked inside of the shop grinning like he had been up to no good, but the sexy smirk that twisted his lips made Bam weak in the knees, though he was terrified of him. "This should be fun," Ville commented.
* * * * *
Dunn was waiting just inside the cemetery gate when they reached the St. Louis Cemetery No.1 for the tour. The walk from the Voodoo shop had only been about ten minutes but the rain made it seem twice as long. Jonne tugged at his scarf almost the entire way until the tour guide stopped and took pity on him and helped him get it off. Jonne was thankful but he complained to Bam that the man had ripped his scarf, even though the tear looked like a piece had purposely been cut out. Ville lingered at the back of the crowd the entire way, making no attempt to catch up with Bam or Jonne.
"Thanks for waiting," Bam whispered to his friend. "Did you find out anything?"
"Just that the skull belonged to an ex-Voodoo queen, who was overthrown by Marie Laveau. So we have a vengeful spirit on our hands."
"Great," Bam muttered. "What am I supposed to do?"
"There's a stature of a monkey and a cock that's supposedly the most powerful voodoo hoodoo charm. It's supposed to immediately remove hexes. It dates back to Marie Laveau herself."
"And where do I find that?"
"You can try the Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. It's on the Bourbon Street. It's not far from the other shop. We can go there now if you want."
Bam glanced over at Jonne with his camera and shook his head, knowing how much the Finn wanted to see the cemetery. "After the tour, okay?"
"Sure, but this can't end fast enough for me. This place is fucking creepy, especially in this weather. I feel like I've stepped into an Anne Rice novel and Lestat is creeping along behind me." Dunn pulled his coat tighter around him, but it clearly wasn't doing him much good since he was already wet. "I'm surprised that you brought Ville with you."
"I had to. He would have followed me anyway." Bam glanced over his shoulder and Ville smiled mischievously. "He's seriously creeping me out. Try to walk faster. I don't want him catching up."
"Wow, look at that," Jonne said, pointing to a large ornate marble tomb behind an iron fence with Italia written under a sculptured figure of a woman. On top of the large structure was another figure holding a cross. Jonne snapped a few shots with his camera and walked over to Bam. "Can you take a picture of me? Please, please, please."
"Sure," Bam laughed. "Wait until the tour guide moves."
Jonne nodded and eagerly bounced on his heels in anticipation, like a little boy waiting in line at Disney Land.
"He's so cute," Bam whispered to Dunn, laughing. Someone suddenly bumped into him and knocked him forward. Bam grabbed to the wrought-iron fence in front of one of the graves to keep from falling and turned around seeing Ville standing behind him with a fake apologetic expression.
"I am so sorry. It's slippery out. You really have to watch where you step." Ville smirked and walked off, purposely bumping into Jonne along the way and disappearing behind the large Italia tomb.
Bam and Dunn glanced at each other with the same uneasy feeling. The tour group moved on to the next tomb and Jonne handed Dunn his umbrella and ran over to the tomb and struck a pose. Bam snapped the camera and then stepped back into the walkway to get a full picture of the statue.
"Jonne this isn't an amusement park. Stop smiling so wide," Bam chuckled. Jonne closed his mouth and Bam took a couple more pictures and laughed when he saw them appear on the screen. "You look like a skinny angelic cow in that coat," Bam snickered.
"I want to see," Jonne squealed, hurrying back over to his friends. But before he got there he suddenly fell, tripping over some fallen bricks, and hitting the ground hard. The painful scream that left his mouth seemed to echo through the tombs. "Oh God," Jonne wailed, curling up on the ground, holding his knee.
Bam and Dunn ran over to the crying Finn and knelt down to help him, but Jonne wouldn't let them touch him, fearing more pain. Before they even thought to call for help the tour guide came running back to them to see what was wrong. "Move out of the way," the man said. Bam moved back but Dunn stayed where he was holding the umbrella to keep the rain off them.
"It hurts. It hurts," Jonne sobbed.
"Honey, let me see it."
"Nooo," Jonne cried.
Hearing a faint laugh, Bam looked up and saw Ville peeping around the large statue. When he saw Bam he waved and disappeared behind the marble tomb. Bam knew that without a doubt Ville was somehow responsible for Jonne's accident, though he wasn't sure how.
* * * * *
Bam wanted to go to the hospital with Jonne, but he feared Ville would hurt the Finn worse. But he still called Seppo and told him the news so he could get word to Jonne's brother and his band. Seppo of course did as Bam asked and a short time later he called Ville, frantic about finding another band to open the show tonight. Which thankfully, got Ville out of their hair, allowing them to sneak off to Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo.
The Voodoo shop was similar to the other one except it was smaller and had an altar for Marie Laveau, with a sign nearby warning people not to touch it. Bam and Dunn both steered clear of it, fearing another curse. But just like the other shop, this too was a tourist trap. The front desk was lined with cheap overpriced odds and ends and even cigars and cigarettes.
Bam picked up a couple bracelets at the front desk for Jonne, knowing he would like the small gift. Though, he knew it would do little to cheer him up or make him feel better. He felt bad for Jonne. The blond had been so excited to play his first gig in America, but now it wasn't going to happen. Bam blamed himself just as much as he did Novak and Ville.
Moving through the rest of the shop with a heavy heart, Bam browsed through the items searching for the statue. He found everything from coffin nails to voodoo dolls but not the statue he was looking for. Either he was over looking them or they didn't have them. Bam was getting frustrated. He turned around and bit his bottom lip and looked toward the curtain in the back with Our Lady of Guadalupe on it. He knew that was where all the psychic readings went on but he was too scared to go back there. He started to turn away from it and something on the altar caught his eyes. A small yellow hand carved statue of a monkey and a cock sat on the altar. Bam wanted to hit himself. He had wandered around the shop for the past ten minutes searching for a monkey with a dick, but instead it was a monkey and a rooster.
"Uh, do you have anymore of these statues?" Bam asked the worker as he turned around. The worker nodded and said something but her words were lost when he saw Ville standing outside the window looking in. "Shit." Bam cursed. "Dunn," Bam whispered, getting his friends attention. He bobbed his head toward the window and Dunn turned around and groaned.
Ville walked into the shop looking like a true vampire in the dim light. The tattooed multi-colored haired Goths working behind the counter instantly seemed to turn their attention to him. Whether they recognized him as the front man of HIM or if they were just entranced by his appearance, Bam wasn't sure but he hoped they would keep his busy so he could get his statue and go.
But luck wasn't on his side. Ville waved the women off like they were flies and strolled over to the shelf of voodoo dolls with an evil glint in his eye. He picked up one of the voodoo dolls and turned around to face Dunn. "I have to be prepared," he laughed, and then set it back down. "It was a joke. Stop looking at me like that." Ville sighed, but it came out sounding more like a mock than that of frustration. Ville tapped one of the dolls with his index finger and walked over to Bam. "Those look cute with blond hair."
Bam's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. Ville had caused Jonne to get hurt. For the first time, Bam truly looked at Ville like a stranger. He didn't know the person standing before him. Whoever that was wasn't Ville. Ville would never hurt anyone. "Why are you doing this?" Bam whispered.
"Doing what?" Ville asked innocently.
"You know what I'm talking about," Bam spat softly. "Ville, you have to stop this. I know you're still in there somewhere."
"You are so cute when you're ranting like a mad man." Ville whispered and tapped Bam on the nose. "I wish I could stick around longer, but I have a concert to get ready for." Ville whirled around and turned so he was facing both Bam and Dunn. "You boys don't stay out to late. I'd hate to have to come looking for you." Ville flashed a wicked smile and walked over to a shelf and picked up a couple black candles. "Add it to his bill," Ville told the workers and walked out, leaving both of the women enchanted.
Dunn's cellphone suddenly started ringing. Dunn reached in his pocket and got it out, seeing Novak's number. "It's Novak," Dunn whispered. Bam snatched it out of his hand before he could say another word.
"Where the hell are you?" Bam snapped.
"I must have hit the wrong number. I was trying to call Dunn."
"You hang up and I'll strangle you," Bam warned. "Hang on a minute."
"Dunn, buy that statue. I'm going to take this outside." Dunn nodded and Bam walked out of the building. He looked up and down the street to make sure Ville was gone before he spoke. "Where are you?"
"In some swampy place outside of New Orleans. I'm looking for somethings for my voodude costume."
"I don't care about your damn costume. What did you do with that skull last night?"
"What skull?"
"Tell me what you did with it or I'm going to murder you."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Cut the crap!" Bam yelled. "Novak, please, just tell me where it is. I think Ville's possessed or cursed or something. He hurt Jonne."
"The little blond one?"
"Yes. Novak if you have it please tell me where it is before Ville hurts anyone else."
Novak hesitated. "... I put it in your backpack."
"You what!" Bam exploded. "You mean I carried it out of the cemetery?"
"I didn't know how else to get it out."
"Oh, my God," Bam mumbled. "It's no wonder I'm the one cursed. I fucking stole it."
"Are you mad at me?"
"If I survive this I'm going to kill you."
"Uh-oh." Novak hung up.
Bam closed the phone and turned around to go back inside and smacked into Dunn. "For fuck's sake," Bam breathed out.
"Sorry," Dunn apologized. "Did Novak tell you where it was?"
"It's in my backpack."
"Son of a bitch!" Dunn shouted. "I slept with that under my bed last night, well, your bed. Let's go back to the hotel and get it and take it back to the cemetery. Now."
"Ville will come after us. You heard him. Let's wait until the concert tonight night. It's the only chance we have."
"But it's fucking Halloween. All Hallows' Eve!"
"I know. I'll take the skull back and you break into Ville's hotel room and see if you can find those voodoo dolls or whatever he's using."
"I think I'm going to go back in that shop and buy every fucking protection charm they have."
* * * * *
That night, when the concert rolled around, Bam and Dunn rode to the venue with the band, pretending as if nothing was up. They hung around the backstage area until the concert started, and then made up some bullshit story about going to find a good spot to watch the show from. They waited until HIM was announced to go on before sneaking outside and calling a taxi to go back to the hotel.
Bam grabbed his backpack out of under the bed and wished Dunn luck and hurried back outside to the waiting taxi and had the driver to drop him a block away from the cemetery, even though it was raining again. He pulled his hoodie up over his head and hurried down the street, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. By the time he reached the cemetery he was drenched. It was hard to tell if the rain had soaked through his shirt or if he was sweating that bad.
Tossing his backpack upon the stone wall first, Bam then heaved himself upon the wall and took a minute to catch his breath before going any farther. He dropped down as quietly as he could into the cemetery and swallowed hard. It looked even scarier than it did last night. Bam found a hiding spot behind one of the tombs and crouched down and got out his phone and called Dunn. Dunn answered on the first ring.
"Did you find anything?" Bam asked.
"Not yet. Maybe he took them with him."
"Just keep looking."
"Are you at the cemetery?"
"Yes, and I'm hiding like a coward."
"Just be careful. Who knows who else might be there... or what else," Dunn whispered.
"Please stop saying that. I'm already freaked out enough. Where was that damn tomb again?"
"Did you hop the fence on St. Louis Street like I told you?"
"No, Treme Street like last time. I forgot."
"You're at the back of the cemetery." Dunn sighed into the phone. "Do you remember the way to Marie Laveau tomb?"
"I think so."
"Okay, follow the same path we took last time but make a left when you see the first tree. It's near the center of the cemetery. Walk down the pathway until you see two white tombs with a path between them. There should be three tombs behind it that are setting at an odd angle. Walk to the left or ever which way you see a bunch of tombs close together. There should be a small crumbling unmarked tomb with the side open nearby. And that's it."
Bam repeated the directions in his head over and over, knowing that it wasn't going to be so easy to find it. The cemetery was filed with the tombs he described.
"Bingo!" Dunn yelled suddenly. "I found the dolls. They were in a box under the bed with a bunch of other weird stuff. I think he was in the process of making me a doll."
"Is Jonne's there too?"
"Yes, what do you want me to do with them?"
"Uh, put everything in a duffel bag and take it downstairs and have the manager put it in a safe... and get your ass down here."Bam dropped the phone from his ear, hearing a scraping sound. He carefully peeped around the tomb he was hiding behind but didn't see anything. Sighing in relief, Bam lifted the phone back to his ear. "Please hurry. I'm freaking out. I keep hearing things."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
"And call Frantz and make sure Ville's still at the venue."
"Okay. Make sure you have the phone on vibrate and I'll call you back."
"It already is. Please hurry."
Bam hung up the phone and crawled over to the next tomb on his hands and knees and hid behind it and listened for any sounds before moving on to the next one. His turtle like movement only worked for a little while before he was forced to get to his feet. The narrow walkways and close tombs had his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't tell if anyone was hiding behind them or not until he was upon them. He wished that he had been smart enough to bring along something for protection but he was in too much of a rush to get this over with to think about such a thing.
Taking a deep breath, Bam darted across one of the more open walkways and slipped between two closely set mausoleums with crosses on the iron fence in front of them and hid. Bam took another deep breath and listened for any movement around him. The rain was starting to come down more, drowning out the sounds of the cemetery. Though, he still managed to hear what sounded like a brick falling from one of the tombs. Bam gulped. He didn't want to go any farther until Dunn got here.
Trying not to let the eerie sounds freak him out, Bam forced himself to keep moving. He crawled across the next walkway and hunched down beside of a small grave with bricks piled on top of it. Bam didn't linger long, especially when he noticed that part of the top was open. If he had been with a group of friends in the daylight he might have looked inside but under these circumstances he wouldn't do it for money.
Hearing the scuffle of shoes against the paved path, Bam quickly wedged himself between two small plastered-brick tombs and hid. He lifted his hand to cover his mouth to silence any sound that might slip out. At first, he thought he was just hearing things until he saw two men in ski mask walk behind one of the tombs in front of him. Thieves. It was just what he needed. Not only did he have to worry about Ville showing up but he had to be careful not to get mugged. If he lost his backpack he was fucked.
Bam stayed where he was. He didn't move an inch until he was certain the men had moved on to another part of the cemetery. Slipping out between the tombs, Bam crawled down the walkway. He wasn't sure if he was heading in the right direction or not but he was too afraid to get up and look around to see if he could spot the tree Dunn was talking about.
The phone in his pocket started vibrating. Bam found a safe place to hide and answered it. He put the phone to his ear and whispered a soft hello but he wasn't sure if Dunn heard him or not. The phone was starting to lose service. Bam moved to another spot hoping it would help, but the weather seemed to be the culprit for the bad connection. "Dunn, I can barely hear you. Say that again."
"The show is delayed."
"What?"
"The show is delayed," Dunn repeated. "There's problems with the electricity."
Bam's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. "Is Ville there?"
"I don't know. Frantz couldn't find him."
"Oh shit," Bam whispered, looking back over his shoulder.
"Have you found the tomb yet?"
"No, I'm not sure where I'm at. I saw some thieves so I hid."
"Okay, just stay where you are and I'll come find you."
"Please hurry."
"I'm on my-"
The phone cut out. Bam tried to call him back but the phone was dead. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Bam carefully peeped out from around the tomb he was hiding beside of. He looked to his right and them to his left. He didn't see anything, but there appeared to be a strange white mist hovering above one of the tombs in the distance. Bam had heard this place was haunted but he didn't want to find out first hand. A cigarette dropped in front of him, snapping him out of his trance.
"Looking for someone?"
Bam quickly looked up and saw Ville sitting on top of the tomb beside him. Bam couldn't help the scream that slipped from his mouth. He got to his feet and ran, uncaring if the thieves heard him or not. He kept looking back over his shoulder. Ville was coming after him, taunting him all the way. He forced his legs to move faster and pushed himself on through the Gothic necropolis. The jumbled maze-like walkways were like a cruel joke. Everywhere he turned there were tombs. He could find his way out. He wanted to scream but he knew that would do more harm than help.
Hearing the thieves running back toward him, Bam darted between a couple mausoleums and hid. Breathing heavily, he covered his mouth to silence himself. He heard the mens footsteps coming from one way and Ville's from another. The Finn stopped a short distance from where he hid and turned around in circles looking for him. Their eyes suddenly met. Ville started toward him but a laugh grabbed his attention.
"Well, what do we have here?" a man asked.
"Looks like we found ourselves a pretty one," another man responded.
Bam peeped out from his hiding place and saw the two thieves walking toward Ville. Ville made no effort to run. He stood his ground and just stared at the men like they were wasting his time.
"Cat got your tongue, missy?"
"Missy," Ville repeated in an angry voice.
"It's a dude," the other man said in disgust. "Let's fuck him up."
One of the men got a knife out of his pocket and walked toward him. The other man followed, laughing as he got his own weapon out of his pocket. Bam got to his feet. Even if Ville wasn't himself he wasn't going to let some thugs hurt him. "Leave him alo-"
"Holy shit!" one of the men screamed, interrupting. He dropped his knife and ran off with his friend like a couple bats out of hell.
Bam stood frozen. He couldn't figure out what happened until Ville turned his head and looked at him with flames burning in his eyes, piercing the night. Bam stumbled backwards in fear and nearly lost his balance, unable to find his voice to scream. Ville walked over and picked up the knife and brushed his finger along the blade and smiled
"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." Ville licked the blood from his finger and turned around to face Bam. "But you leave me no choice."
"Ville, please, just put the knife down and we'll talk about this."
"What's the matter Bam, not having fun on our date?" Ville laughed, waking toward him.
Without warning,Ville lunged forward with the knife. Bam bolted, screaming all the way, begging for someone to help him. But a pile of fallen bricks brought him to his knees. He stumbled over them and hit the ground, sending his backpack flying off his shoulder. Ville's footsteps and the scrapping of the knife against the side of a nearby tomb met his ears. Bam quickly got to his feet and looked around to see where his backpack landed. Seeing it near one of the tombs, Bam hurried over to pick it up but Ville stepped out in front of him and snatched it up.
"Looking for this?" Ville asked, holding the bag up in front of Bam in a taunting manner.
"Ville, please just give me the bag. Let me fix this."
"But where would the fun be in that?" Ville asked. "I kind of like this little cat and mouse game. Maybe I won't kill you after all. I'll just go after your friends."
"I'll tell everyone what you are?" Bam threatened.
"Who's going to believe you?" Ville asked, walking toward Bam, grinning.
Bam reached in his pocket and pulled out the monkey and the cock statue and held it out in front of him as if it would protect him.
"Sorry, sweetheart, that won't work." Ville snatched it out of Bam's hand and hurled it into the neighborhood of tombs. Laughing, he turned back to Bam and lifted the knife to his chest and tapped it against his shirt. "I think I'll get rid of your friend Ryan next since that statue was his bright idea."
"Leave him alone."
"Leave him alone," Ville mocked, stepping back from Bam. He brushed his wet hair out of his face and looked around like he heard something. "Is someone else here?" Ville turned back to Bam, expecting an answer.
Bam turned and ran, darting down a narrow pathway. A flash of lightning lit up the night sky. Bam spotted the Italia tomb that Jonne had been so excited to see at the end. He was going the wrong way. Bam turned the first chance he got and ran back in the other direction, finding Ville around the next corner. Bam skidded to a halt and started to run but something caught his eye. He didn't have time to register what was going on until after it happened. Dunn ran out from behind one of the tombs and grabbed Ville around the waist and threw him into one of the tombs, knocking him out cold. The Finn hit the ground with a thud.
Bam looked at Dunn in shock. They stared at each other for a few seconds before they came back to themselves. Slowly, Bam walked over to Ville and knelt down. He reached out his hand to touch him, but fearfully jerked it back. Mustering all the courage he could, he touched Ville's cheek and then checked to make sure he was still breathing. He was.
"Get my flashlight out of my backpack," Bam told Dunn hurriedly. Dunn did as he was told and handed it to Bam. Bam turned it on and shined it against Ville's face. Ville's eyes were closed. He carefully rolled Ville's head to the side, seeing a large knot beginning to form and a small trickle of blood running down his head. Bam winced and looked back to Dunn. "He's going to feel that tomorrow."
"We're going to feel that in a few minutes if we don't put that skull back."
"Where does it go?"
"Over there." Dunn pointed behind him. "I'll show you."
"What about Ville?"
"I don't think he's going anywhere," Dunn commented, but still reached down and picked up the knife Ville dropped to be on the safe side.
Bam nodded. He leaned over and gave Ville a kiss on the forehead and got up. "I'm going to fix this so please don't wake up and kill me."
"Bam come on."
Giving Ville a final look, Bam followed Dunn back through the narrow paths. When they reached the small tomb Bam unzipped his backpack and got out the decaying skull. He looked at it and shuttered in fear and quickly put it back in the tomb. He stood there a few seconds expecting some magically show, but there was nothing.
"I hope that worked."
"Me too. Let's get Ville and get the hell out of here."
"I'm one step ahead of you," Bam laughed nervously.
They hurried back to the spot where they left Ville and the singer was still lying there. Bam slipped his arm under him in an attempt to get him up and Ville's eyes fluttered open, startling him. Bam's heart skipped a beat and he jerked away from him. Ville grunted in pain and lifted his hand to his head. Bam shined the flashlight on him, seeing squinted green eyes looking back at him.
"What happened?" Ville whispered.
"Is it really you?"
Ville just stared at him in confusion and repeated his question."
"... Someone tried to rob us. One of them shoved you and you hit you head, but they're gone now."
Ville nodded slightly and closed his eyes.
Hearing something behind them, Bam looked back over his shoulder seeing the faceless apparition of a woman in colorful clothing standing at the end of the path where they had taken the skull. Bam quickly turned back to Dunn. "Help me get him up. And let's get the fuck out of here."
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Dunn replied quickly and helped to get Ville to his feet.
After a few minutes of practically dragging Ville along with them, Bam had had enough. He picked Ville up and ran, swearing he'd never step foot in the cemetery again.
* * * * *
The end
A/N: I wrote this in less than a week so I hope it turned out okay. I was having trouble getting anything started so I was kind of going back and forth with stories trying to figure which one to do. I nearly ditched this story last night because I couldn't get it to come together, but I worked it out. It just took a LONG time.
Anyway, I hoped you liked it. Please comment. I want to know if it was worth the trouble. please don't flame me! *hides in corner*
Other Halloween stories (or more proof my momma dropped me on my head):
Reflection of the Moon
The Wooden Rose
Salem
The Hitchhiker
Northwood