OOM
There was nothing particularly exceptional about Jean Merlot. Oh, he was prone to skimming a bit off the top, willing to be bribed to overlook things here and there, and absolutely certain that colored folk were lesser creatures, but these things were far from uncommon. What he was was ideally positioned for Saturday's purposes, a man in a high enough position that people would notice and remember what happened to him, but not important enough to attract much attention on a wider scale...
Merlot had been amused when Saturday warned him that he'd angered the spirits, until his life had begun to fall apart. Business deals fell through and misfortune dogged his steps, negotiations ended in disaster. Merlot's former friends wanted nothing to do with a man who was hemorrhaging money, whose involvement in any affair tended to herald disaster.
There are so many ways to break a man. Twist a memory here, place a suggestion there, convince him that he is being hunted by things out of his worst nightmares. Create just enough evidence that there is a sliver of doubt among observers as to whether the thing is real or a product of madness....
Jean Merlot made his last desperate escape at the end of a rope, and not even what was left of his family's influence was enough to get him buried on hallowed ground. Not that it would have mattered, in the end.
The grave was shallower than it should have been, and hastily dug. Even the grave-diggers had not wanted to linger too long around what was left of a man who had been plagued by such...unnatural events. Saturday smiled as his more than human senses detected that a very special concoction of his own creation had been among those used by the undertaker.
There was nothing for human senses to see as Saturday extended his powers toward the shallow grave and spoke one solitary word "Rise." Moments later, a scratching sound could be heard as the corpse of Jean Merlot began to claw its way out of the grave.
Merlot had been amused when Saturday warned him that he'd angered the spirits, until his life had begun to fall apart. Business deals fell through and misfortune dogged his steps, negotiations ended in disaster. Merlot's former friends wanted nothing to do with a man who was hemorrhaging money, whose involvement in any affair tended to herald disaster.
There are so many ways to break a man. Twist a memory here, place a suggestion there, convince him that he is being hunted by things out of his worst nightmares. Create just enough evidence that there is a sliver of doubt among observers as to whether the thing is real or a product of madness....
Jean Merlot made his last desperate escape at the end of a rope, and not even what was left of his family's influence was enough to get him buried on hallowed ground. Not that it would have mattered, in the end.
The grave was shallower than it should have been, and hastily dug. Even the grave-diggers had not wanted to linger too long around what was left of a man who had been plagued by such...unnatural events. Saturday smiled as his more than human senses detected that a very special concoction of his own creation had been among those used by the undertaker.
There was nothing for human senses to see as Saturday extended his powers toward the shallow grave and spoke one solitary word "Rise." Moments later, a scratching sound could be heard as the corpse of Jean Merlot began to claw its way out of the grave.